Reborn a king
by havok038
Summary: Reawaking in the compound where it all started, where his decision to run led to the ruin of himself and the country. Ajay was determined to set things right this time whilst seeking revenge against Golden Path and Sabal for their betrayal despite all he'd done for them. However, there was something different about this Kyrat. Here, the mountains breathed life.
1. Chapter 1 - Rebirth

Author's Notes:

 **[Edited: 31/03/2018]**

* * *

Ajay lay in a pool of his own blood, the dirt caking his wounds. Bullet wounds to be precise, but who would want to shoot him now that all of his enemies were vanquished by him? Paul? Noore? Yuma?... Pagan? They were all dead! He had killed most of them or left them for dead. The Royal army and Elite guards had routed after the death of their leaders, without so much as a thought for revenge.

So why? Why was he staring down the barrels of rifles pointed at him by none other than the very people he fought alongside, fought for with his every muscle? His mind was preoccupied with the pain from the inch-wide holes in his torso which he held to keep blood from flowing.

The Golden Path guerilla fighters parted to make way for their leader. Ajay stared in shock and disbelief at the one who orchestrated all of this. Sabal stood looming over him with a look of disdain, an expression he had never used on him personally. The one who called him brother at every opportunity, shared laughs and drinks with.

"It has come to this Ajay Ghale. You have helped us liberate Kyrat from the tyrant, freed its people from the influences of foreign dogs, restored out hope…"

After everything he had done for him, supported his decisions during their arguments, protected throughout the campaign, even killed Amita just so he could have full power over the Golden-Path. When he forced Bhadra to take up the role of Tarun Matara, even though he objected he still respected their decision.

"But-... The best heroes truly are the dead ones." Sabal said as he drew his holstered sidearm.

"Goodbye, and thank you for being such a useful pawn. We'll always remember Ajay Ghale for his noble sacrifice! Sent Amita my regards." Sabal told him in a mocking tone to which his companions laughed.

A flash from the gun severed Ajay's life string and he collapsed back in the puddle of his blood, not dead but at death's door. Sabal and the Golden Path soldiers couldn't be bothered to finish him off properly and left him to die a slow and painful death all the while laughing triumphantly as they exited the homestead which Ajay lived in for the last four months.

The cold was taking over his body and numbing the pain from the shots but his strength was completely absent.

"Is this how I…..die?" He had single-handedly beaten Pagan's forces back by himself, liberated fortresses, saved lives. And this is how they repay him?! After all he had done for the Golden Path, only to be betrayed?

Resentment brew in him, not just for these people but for himself as well. He was naive enough to give in to them even as their reliance on him and audacity of what they asked was too great they wouldn't even dirty their own hands.

-…..Damn them all! Damn you Sabal! Damn you Golden Path!...Damn you Kyrat!...-

His vision blurred and the world was getting smaller, he felt so tired he could fall into an eternal sleep.

-So it's time huh? In the end I never achieved anything, back in the States and down here. To just leave like this without feeling any sense of self-satisfaction is just-…..just too cruel!–

Tears of anguish fell from his eyes and trickled down onto the soft ground. His strength was now gone. But if there was one thing he had done it was deliver his mother, Ishwari's ashes to Lakshmana

-Oh well. I hope my next life would be better. –

Ajay's eyes closed fully. The windows to his world closed, the last thing he saw was the strange wheel icon he had picked up from one of the hidden temples that had fallen out of his pocket.

Kalachakra. The wheel of time, the old monk told him.

-Hmph! How ironic… - His last thought dwindled and his consciousness left his body.

Ajay Ghale had died.

* * *

…..

…..

Ajay's eyes opened, to find his view obscured by something. There was light passing through it in several places but there was light nonetheless. His consciousness returned to him, it felt like he woke up from a horrible nightmare. Ajay sighed in relief, so it was just a terrible dream he thought.

-What time is it? I'd better get up. Argh! Huh?-

His hands refused to move. Not that they couldn't but something was preventing him from doing so.

-What the hell?!- He wriggled to get a better feel of himself, tied up was his conclusion. He was being tied up? Does that mean he had been taken prisoner? He squinted his eyes to get a better picture of what appeared to be a bag over his head. He was in a seated position.

"You give my congratulations to Ashley on your next visit home."

-Huh? That voice….!-

"Hahhh- I must say Paul, your little corner of Kyrati was rather beautiful! I expected more…. Chains and wailing- but knowing you somewhere around here is a dark place where the secrets flow like the blood…Ahahaha! That wry smile betrays you again, De Pleur." The voice chuckles.

-What the-! Hang on! Where have I heard this before?!- De ja vu?

"Well, go on! Take the bloody bag off his head!" A familiar voice demanded.

The obstruction was lifted off his head exposing him to the harsh sun light. He squeezed his eyes shut to block the light and adjusted by slowly opening them. Someone behind him who had probably been the one to lift the bag off had loosened the ropes around his hands giving back free reign over them.

He could make out a person sitting across him wearing a bright maroon colored leather jacket. As he focused his vision to make out behind the blurriness of his pupils a full definition picture of the person's face appeared before him.

It belonged to the last person that he had expected to see.

It belonged to Pagan!

"Again! Terribly sorry for what happened before!- This is more what I had in mind. So! Fresh start! Introductions.. Ajay Ghale our guest of honor! Paul, out…" Pagan continued with his intro which he had heard before.

-What in the world is happening?! Did I get caught while napping?! And what the hell is with his arrangement?! Is he trying to deny all that happened?!...Hang on!-

Ajay dug into his memory clearly. Pagan was dead! So then who was the person right in front of him?!

"Pagan?"

Ajay had interrupted him just as he was about to introduce himself.

Pagan was genuinely surprised. It was written all over his face. "You-…..You remember me, dear boy?"

"I-…am I dead?"

"Pffffttt!" Pagan burst out laughing at Ajay's straight up comment.

"No-NoNo! Heavens no! You're not going to die! Like I said this afternoon was a terrible misunderstanding. You are not going to die! Totally! It's all the golden paths fault for ruining this afternoon's pickup!" Pagan scorned them under his teeth.

"Uh- right!" Was all Ajay managed to say. His mind was still a mess.

"Where was I…..Ah!-" He took a seat back to his chair and picked up mother's urn. "Now your mother on the other hand she…..(Long Sniff)…. Understood me. She knew me in a way no one ever did….. that takes me back." He said while digging the ashes and eating it like it was KFC.

-Jesus! Why is everything like back then?... Don't tell me- …I…I went back in time?! – Ajay had finally made a relevant conclusion to his current situation.

"…That takes me back…. The last time I saw Ishwara was…woffhh- years ago…. She-."

"Told you see loved you….." Ajay completed his sentence just as he had said it long ago or at least when he first met him.

"Well yes! Isn't this surprising, I didn't think your mother would have told you this especially after what happened then." Pagan was getting all happily excited that Ajay had fragments of memories of him which pleased him greatly, he got up from his chair again and picked up his fork while walking towards Darpan.

Ajay noticed him and that was when the puzzle in his head was complete. He was definitely back four months ago. Darpan was where he was sitting right before he was tortured to death. Pagan was walking towards him to stab him in the back!

"Yes! I couldn't help but blame myself …..But then I realized… It's not meeee- no. It was the fucking Golden Path!" Pagan did as Ajay's had convicted to memory. Slamming him against the table and stabbing his back with the fork.

"Those fucking terrorist ruin everything…..Like dinner! Did anyone ever teach you its rude to text at the table?" Pagan slapped Darpan's hand incessantly to have him release his smartphone to Pagan as the latter proceeded to pick and read the text.

"Ah! I'm with Ajay Ghale….You'll love this part….Help!" He chuckled before dragging Darpan towards the balcony to force him to cry for help. The events were transpiring so quickly he hadn't had the time to react as Darpan was dragged away by the Royal Guards with Paul in tow. Probably to torture him to death. Pagan returned to the table to retrieve his cell before walking step by step backwards.

"Terrorists, right?...Now please ….stay right here- enjoy the Crab Rangoon….Don't move! I will be right back…Yuma we need to talk." He walked off while talking to Yuma.

Ajay was finally alone in the dining area of what was De Pleur's compound. He had all the time to himself to think about what was happening.

"I-…..I died…..no. I definitely died! Darpan is still here, Paul-….Pagan!" He had no way of explaining it but he was back to day one in Kyrat.

Ajay carefully recalled what had happened after the events that occurred after Pagan left. He was only one mind to try and escape back them, he passed an observation room where it overlooked a torture room. In it were Paul and Darpan being electrocuted, then…..Sabal!

He didn't know why but his hand tightened almost naturally just as the thought occurred of Sabal and the Golden path. That's right! After he had removed Pagan and the royal army presence from Kyrat the golden path…the Fucking golden path backstabbed him! And the one who did him in personally was Sabal.

Ajay continued to silently boil in his inner hatred until he realized his mother's urn was left open. The ash was being blown out by the wind. He quickly closed the lid to prevent anymore of her remains from parting from the urn instead of being with Lakshmana.

Then thoughts returned back to the time he last talked to Pagan in his fortress. His mother, Ishwari was sent by his father, Mohan ghale to spy on Pagan. He was apparently there as well but was too young to remember. He recovered parts of his father's diary to confirm this. Over the course of time his mother spent with Pagan, they fell in love. His mother felt no love in her arranged marriage to his father and so sought out love and affection from Pagan whom she was sent to watch. The result was Lakshmana, his half-sister. But fate had a cruel way of playing with their bond. His father soon learned of her betrayal and in a fit of anger killed Lakshmana who was still a toddler then. His mother killed him in return. With the loss of her daughter, his mother Ishwari could no longer stand the sight of Kyrat and the civil war brewing took him out to the states where they were free from the conflict and so she could be spared the memory of his sister. His father, the founder of the Golden Path.

The golden path again took away family from him, his mother's will to live, his half-sister. The thought only made him angrier. After all they declared about tradition and preservation of culture they would still kill family, Mohan killed Lakshmana, Sabal who called him brother killed him. In the end they were nothing but brutal savages, just like the animals in this god forsaken country! It was just as Pagan had said to him many times, but he would cast it aside as crazed rantings from a psychopath.

Ajay thought back to the time when he fought with Pagan and his army. He never seemed serious about killing him in the first place, always conversing with him cheerfully as Ajay was killing one of his lieutenants. He always thought the man had a few screws loose just like the rest of the vice lords. But if he were crazy why would his mother who was kind and compassionate ever fall in love for such a cruel person.

It might have been that Ajay had gotten the wrong idea about him all this while. Pagan had never intended to hurt him in the first place, and why was that? Because he was his mother's child, he too loved her in kind. Perhaps the grief over the death of his daughter was what had caused him to have sociopathic tendencies.

In another time he might have been a father to him, something Ajay had always yearned for but never had. His mother was his only family in the new world and now she was gone. Now he was here in the domain of his mom's former lover.

Why was he here to begin with? Was it just to deliver his mother's ashes next to Lakshmana? Then he should be done with it and get the fuck out right after.

But then, what would he go back to? In the states he had no one, no girlfriend or even friends now. He was all alone with no one.

"Oh! Fan-Bloody-Tastic! You sir are a gentleman… I sincerely apologise- we saw terrorists in the area and yada-yada! The Crab Rangoon, right? It's- (Tortured screams) -fabulous. Mmm! Well. Come on, let's go!"

Before he realized it he had spent all the time in deep thought that Pagan had finally returned.

"To Lakshmana?"

"Of course, where else!"

Ajay obediently followed Pagan to the parked chopper waiting to bring them to Pagan's fortress were Lakshmana's shrine was erected.

* * *

It was a surprise how short a trip one could take in a helicopter, what usually took a day or two due to the mountainous terrain making fast travel difficult. They were flying for barely twenty minutes and they already reached what was the north of Kyrat. If helicopters were more freely available then the people would have much better lives moving around Kyrat.

"Three point-landing!... You know….. a part of me is surprised that your mother asked you to bring her all the way back here." The Royal Guard Pilot stepped out of the cockpit to open the shutter door for them. "Thank you, Kamran!"

Ajay followed closely behind Pagan out of the chopper, of course carrying his mother's ashes.

"Did your mother ever tell you about your father?"

She didn't but he roughly knew what had happened.

"No never." He responded honestly.

"Mohan!... the great protector of the Golden Path. Hmph, he was a cunt! He whored your mother out. Sent her to spy on me. But, we fell in love, had a child and that….. is when Mohan showed his true colours. Hmph! He drove you and your mother away… even killed your sister, Lakshmana." Pagan disclosed the scandal that way their family as they walked up to the shrine of Lakshmana.

"Which brings us here. Lakshmana shouldn't be alone anymore. I'm so glad we're finally back together." Pagan waved him into the shrine, to enter alone. Ajay was about to enter the shrine when his heart was bugging him to say something to Pagan.

"To answered your previous question….."

"Mmm?" Pagan turned his attention to Ajay.

Ajay suddenly was overcome with feelings, and the desire to say something to Pagan with meaning. He breathed in to pace himself before speaking in a calm tone. "My mom may have left Kyrat to escape the grief of losing my sister. But…. There wasn't a day that went by in the states that she did not think about Lakshmana…. Or you." His words came from his heart, he wasn't sure why he said what he said, perhaps it was his sympathy for Pagan, maybe it was the ghost of his mother trying to give Pagan some peace of mind.

Pagan widened his eyes for a while without moving from where he was, he then lifted his head to keep what appeared to be tears back in his eyes, but his expression failed to keep back the pain as his mouth wobbled. He took a short time to overcome his emotions then turned back to Ajay and patted him on the shoulders. "Thank you, Ajay!" He said with a meaningful smile.

"Go on! After you!" Pagan motions him inside.

Ajay no longer wasted time and entered the shrine. Hanging in the centre of the interior was a portrait of his half-sister, Lakshmana. She was a beautiful child, would have grown up to become a gorgeous woman who'd make the crowd go wild. But her innocent life was cut short by an angry and betrayed Mohan.

Even so, she was just a baby. Why did she have to suffer for his mother's infidelity of their marriage?

"Aha...hahaha...AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHA!" His brooding face could not hold back the torrent that was his maddening laughter. -So that was it!- His crazed laughter vibrated off the walls of the shrine that only he heard.

If Mohan Ghale, the founding father and leader of the Golden Path movement was already this fucked up, it was no surprise that Golden Path were already rotten to the core. This irony was right in front of him, and yet he could not see it- no!...

He ignored it.

In the end, it led to thoughts about his father and the Golden Path. Bhadra suffered a similar fate of being forced into the appointment of Tarun Matara, the spiritual leader of Kyrat. Bhadra was not the only one, there were countless others which Ajay recalled being executed or tortured by Golden Path. Their only crime was being forced by the other side, Royal Army to comply. But Sabal, and his extended will over the Golden Path branded them as traitors and called for their swift end.

And where was the son of Mohan in all of this? The only one in Kyrat who had almost as much say as the founder of Golden Path himself? Who was responsible for elevating that double-crossing deceiver into the new leader of Golden Path and then Kyrat? He watched them die or turned his back.

Ajay finally stopped laughing in self-pity.

(Crash) His fist struck a mirror that hung on the wall, as if to let the visitors see themselves.

"That's not funny."

He said to his reflection, but even still, there was a small almost unnoticable smirk at the end on his mouth. It wouldn't come off as it became as natural as can be, an expression that would continue to mock his own existence no matter if he had a second chance. He let those things happen, he lived through those things. And now he was made to relive it.

NO!

His eyes burned with reluctance. This was a chance to make a few changes to the world that could have been. He now had the opportunity to do so... and the will.

As he silently swore to himself he had nearly forgotten his original task given to him here. He carefully placed his mother, Ishwari's ashes beside the urn belonging to Lakshmana.

-I love you and will always be with you.-

Those were the words that passed through him the last time he placed the ashes to rest but this time he could have sworn those words were as if speaking to him from an ethereal presence.

"Thank you for all you've done for me, mom. Be happy with your daughter, be happy with Lakshmana. Maybe one day, I'll join you here." Ajay murmured quietly for only himself to hear. Ajay said a silent hail mary for his mother and sister before leaving.

As he was reaching the door to the exit, he reminisced the time he had last come to the shrine after confronting Pagan, the last thing he said about coming out of the shrine.

...

"…..You know, the one and only time I walked in to this place. I came in a sane man and came out….. like this. But you, you will come out a king….."

...

Ajay's hand held the doorknob firmly without conviction as he recalled the words Pagan Min had used when they arrived at the shrine in the last life. Now, in a twist of irony. Perhaps the same had happened to Ajay. The ignorant man who let waves influence him and justify himself, full of innocence, stock full of naivety and a danger to himself and others.

And look what happened to that sucker? He gave Golden Path Kyrat and they gave him a bullet in return. That Ajay was long dead, in that world and in this one too. This time, he would return them the favour, free of charge. The moment he walked out he was reborn, the new Ajay.

He gripped the doorknob with newfound determination and turned it to open the door.

-Wait right there, Golden Path-... Sabal. I'll be coming for you soon.-


	2. Chapter 2 - Tango with Golden Path

Emerging from the shrine, Pagan noticed a change in the young man's expression. He smiled at the determination in his eyes.

"Ohh- good! You feel better now? Get it out of your system?...Hmph! Maybe now we can finally shoot some goddamn guns!"

Ajay sat back in the helicopter with Pagan as Kamran closed the door to the passenger compartment before taking off.

Pagan was a little bored so he turned on the radio which played a classic done by The Clash. Ajay found the tune catchy and sung along with the beat.

"Oh!- Should I stay or Should I go!..." He hummed while tapping his feet.

"We are not having a karaoke machine in here anytime." Pagan let out a straight comment.

Ajay laughed heartily. Pagan really did have a killer comedy wit, he figured it had to do with the change in perspective in Pagan as a person.

"So what's the plan, Ajay my boy?" Pagan inquired.

"Plan? I thought we were going to shoot some 'goddamn guns'!" He repeated Pagan's last sentence.

"Of course we could do that but I'm just curious! After putting your mother's ashes to rest there really isn't anything keeping you here!" He said over the noisy chopping of the propellers.

-At least that use to be the case, but I want to teach Sabal and Amita a lesson.-

"Of course there is, I have just one family member left! You!" Ajay replied.

Pagan was caught in a stupor again by his bold declaration. Every time he spoke he said something that caused years of built up emotion to pour out.

"You 'know if I was a woman I'd fall right in love with you! You, handsome devil you!" Pagan joked over the intercom. The chopper went into a sudden dive as the pilot had suddenly lost control but recovered it quickly.

"Apologises my king, I-….uhhhhh! Nevermind!" The pilot managed to say as he had caught word of what Pagan had said.

Pagan and Ajay laughed out loud at the blunder the pilot had to go through.

"Ahhh! Ajay my boy! I can't tell you how much you and I are gonna get along!"

"That's all fine and dandy as long as you don't swing that way presently!"

"Oh!- Deary, no! I'm not! Just to clarify so we're all good!" He declared his sexuality in an instant.

"Just pulling your leg, King!"

"Ah! Pagan, if you please." Pagan corrected him.

"Right, Pagan. You've really helped me in laying my mom to rest!"

"Ahh!- Don't mention it! I'd do anything for her for that matter! Besides, you, me, we're practically family!"

Ajay nodded in response and looked out the window. "This place has a really unique untamed beauty to it."

"It does, doesn't it! Careful though, what looks also kills out here." Pagan warned him about the wildlife here. He abviously knew what Pagan was referring to, he had experienced it first hand.

Lions and tigers and bears! There were also those weird freaks of nature Mr. Chiffon had him hunt for their exotic fur and pelts. And worst of all...Honey badgers.

"Goddamn honey badgers!" He accidentally spoke out loud.

"Ah! Yes, feisty little devils aren't they!"

"More like little torperdoes!"

"Ah! Now that's a detailed description of someone who's encounter their attacks."

-Shit! I'm giving away myself.-

"I once encountered them in a safari reserve on a field trip, wasn't a pleasant experience." He quickly cooked up a cover story.

"Hmmm...didn't know the little buggers proliferated the globe."

Pagan and Ajay turned their attention to the windows looking outside. And a silence took over between them.

"All this is yours Ajay! I'm giving you Kyrat!" Pagan said without turning his head.

It was just as he said it before in the other timeline. But he had been under a different circumstance, he had liberated Kyrat from Pagan then.

"And what about you?"

"Oh! Don't worry, I'll stick around. Hmm... from that confidence in accepting the role it seems you're mentally prepared to do something down here." Pagan made an analysis.

"I won't lie when I say I do have aspirations for Kyrat. One of them consists of annihilating the Golden Path." Ajay said without emotion.

"I wonder what they ever did to you!" Pagan chuckled.

"Nothing that has yet to exist, but if left alone they'll bring this country to ruin!"

"My my! Seems you were serious about it after all. Alright then, if it's destroying the Fucking Golden Path you can count me in!"

"Thanks, Pagan."

"Anytime my boy!"

The chopper neared its destination, and landed in an outpost. There a vehicle convoy was awaiting their arrival.

"We're heading over to Yuma's, lovely adoptive sister of mine though a little bitchy at times, must be the weather up there. Anyway we're taking the rest of the way by jeep as her place is a little difficult for the heli to get to."

Ajay knew where it was, Durgesh Prison. Or as he liked to call it little Siberia. The place had every essence of a gulag, from the freezing temperatures to the even more freezing temperature. Yuma had once thrown him in a cell back there but he escaped through sheer will, climbing down the steep cliffs to the blizzard of a weather down below.

The commander of the convoy reported to Pagan.

"Sir all hands stand ready for your departure, although... reports suggest increased terrorist activity in the road ahead."

"Isn't that why you're here? Unless there's another definition for royal 'Guard'." Pagan rolled his eyes as he sat on the passenger seat of the middle enclosed hummer.

"Apologizes my king! We're be on our way immediately!" The commander saluted before heading off to order the convoy to prepare to move off.

"Come on Ajay, let's get going!"

Ajay sat across Pagan in the rear facing seat.

Pagan opened the mini bar and pulled out a bottle of wine for himself.

"A glass for you?"

"Nah! I'm good."

"Suit yourself." Pagan poured a generous portion for himself, he swigged the glass to stir the contents.

"Now, I'm sure you've already guessed by now, Ajay but I am your textbook tyrant despot."

"I know. But that won't change my opinion of you, Pagan."

"Which is?" He asked curiously.

The thoughts of the encounters he had with Pagan in his past life whiffed the pass him, the last time he saw him he had stuck his kukri inches into his gut. The man grabbed his arm and said over his blood flowing from his mouth. "You're the son I never had. In the end even after all you're done I really couldn't bring myself to hurt you."

"You're my benefactor."

"Hmph!" Pagan took a huge gulp from the glass smirking.

Ajay looked out the window, they had yet to reach even the base of the mountain where the prison stood. He could remember from the last time he made his trip to the prison. All of his past life experience seemed like a dream to him. He was having trouble accepting it but was still grateful he was alive for the very least.

As he was adjusting his body to turn back from the window a metal chime sounded he felt something deep in his pants pocket fell out. He reached out to pick it from under the seat to examine it.

Shock filled his senses as he made out the detail just from feeling alone. Staring down at the object in his hand his fears were confirmed. Held between his fingers was the object he had last seen before his apparent demise.

The Wheel of Time. Kalachakra.

It appeared in the form of a carriage-like wheel with mystical runes and symbols carved upon it, the material seemed to be wood. But what surprised him the most was that he only acquired it a month before he 'died'. This medallion was there when he was at death's door as well. Did it actually have a part to play in his return back in time?

He bonded a string through the wheel and tied it to his neck. Whatever it was he was infinitely thankful to it, it became a really good luck charm to him.

-Does this mean I can control time at will?-

He figured it was a more of a one-time thing, not that he was complaining. What would he do if he could turn back time once more? Perhaps kill Sabal again just to savor the feeling. Dark thoughts swirled within.

"What's that you have there?" Pagan asked.

"Just something I picked up from a roadside store."

"And yet you're wearing it like-…." (BOOM) An explosion blossomed behind him taking him, Pagan and the convoy were taken by surprise. The lead vehicle was hit in a rocket attack.

"Ambush!" One of the Royal Guards shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Oh- Goddamn Monkeys throwing shit everywhere!-.. Ajay boy! Stay here!" Pagan said as he alighted the vehicle to send insults flying towards the Golden Path warriors through all the gun fire. The royal guards who were firing back were freaking out when Pagan stepped out into the open.

Ajay left the vehicle dashing towards Pagan. He noticed a glitter in the tree line, he instantly knew what it was and doubled his speed to Pagan.

Jumping into the air, he took Pagan off his feet just as a high-caliber round impacted the floor and dragged him to take cover behind the vehicle.

"Your highness!" The Royal guards behind cover were all wearing worried expressions.

"I thought I asked you to stay inside?!" He said angrily as Ajay pushed him to the arms of some royal guards.

"Stay here and don't move! I'll handle this!" Ajay's last three words had a powerful effect on Pagan such that he felt obliged to follow as Ajay ran out into the firefight again but with careful footwork. "Uh- Ajay!-."

Ajay picked up a fallen rifle and kukri from a dead Golden Path fighter. He ran through the tree line to find the sniper who almost took the life of Pagan.

-A real pity you had to encounter me!- As he ran up through the bushes the sniper noticed the disturbance he was making as he trudged through the dense forest towards him. He figured out quickly that Ajay was approaching him for anything but good intentions and took aim and fired.

But Ajay who had prior experience at the standards of marksmen in Kyrat from both Royal army and Golden Path acted on instinct. He dodged at the last possible second, making zig-zag turns through the trees every few seconds to break acquisition upon him. The sniper no longer took aimed shots as Ajay closed in the distance and stumbled to draw his sidearm PDW. Ajay took the precious few seconds the sniper had given him to make a final jump towards the sniper with his knife ready.

The sniper brought the sidearm to block his blow which he followed with pointing his assault rifle at the doomed sniper.

The sniper fell into despair as Ajay pulled the trigger unleashing a burst of rounds into the unarmored target. Ajay turned to the fighting and figured the sniper had chosen an ideal location to pick off opponents, it would be a shame not to put it to good use.

Pagan was getting impatient back in the convoy, Ajay had disappeared into the tree line and he was stuck here now that more Golden Path monkeys had gone for the direct approach now instead of the cloak and dagger approach.

"For King Min!" The Commander rallied the convoy guards against the charging fighters. The air was filled with roars from both ends. The Golden Path had the advantage of terrain and numbers while the Royal Guards were few but highly skilled.

"Your highness! Please escape with your life! We'll hold them off for as long as possible!" A sub-commander informed Pagan of the dire straits they were in.

"I am not leaving Ishwari's boy with these uncivilized monkeys!" Pagan shouted at them angrily, his rage was now unquenchable and he pulled out a handgun from one of the Royal Guard's holster to blow his steam at the Golden Path fighters.

Seeing their king fight alongside them renewed their hearts with vigor and they fought harder.

A few metres on the road ahead were the Golden Path fighters fighting inch by inch even though they had the greater number, the Royal Guards put up one hell of a field of fire. It was the difference they had to the guerilla fighter. They had been trained by the ex-Hong Kong SDU who in turn were trained by the British SAS. One on one, a Golden Path fighter was no match for even the weakest amongst their ranks.

Even so with their prowess all they could do was hold back the Golden Path forces for so long, their position was disadvantageous with the cliff to their back and the enemy to their front, a lot of them.

"Push on my brothers! We nearly have that tyrant! A little more!" A shout of encouragement came from the rear of the Golden Path. It was none other than Sabal.

He had felt on the edge lately with his failed operation to retrieve Ajay Ghale, his faction forces were nearly run dry due to the amount of resources it took to get him. But it was worth it, Ajay represented the living legacy of Mohan, enough to rally nearly all of Kyrat to their cause this included those stubborn old guard that refused to move from their given posts Mohan had assigned to them decades ago. But the operation failed, he hadn't expected Pagan to be there yet and Yuma's forces were waiting on standby. He had lost his only chance to recover Ajay Ghale and now faced the dire straits of having to contend with Amita over his position as one of the heads of the Golden Path. Amita was more determined than ever to usurp him as the only Commander of the group. As if in a twist of fate, the gods granted him a means of redemption. The spy from America leaked the planned route that Pagan was taking by chance. It was his lucky day, he had to win this or else there would be more hardships along the way for him in the party.

-Just a little bit more—(Bang) (Bang) (Bang) Three shots rang out clearly echoing into the background, at the same time three heads of the closest comrades to him had their brains bludgeoned by shots from a high-powered round.

"What in the-!"

"Sniper!" Some of the men ducked frantically for cover.

"Where is it coming from?!"

"West up the mountain!"

"That's Aadi's position!- You don't think!-." The last man's words spooked the rest of the fighters, a senior marksman had been killed and the assailant was using his position against them.

"Don't panic! You! Take five men and kill that bastard!" Sabal calmly gave orders. The man nodded and went up the cliff into the tree line to look for the new sniper.

Meanwhile behind the cover of the bulletproof Hummer, Pagan observed the happenings in the Golden Path's line.

"Something's happening!" One Guard stated the obvious.

"Ajay Ghale is drawing their attention, we'll use this opportunity to force them back." The Commander asserted control.

"Are you alright with this my king?" The Commander asked Pagan first.

Pagan reloaded the handgun he took and cocked the weapon.

"Let's teach these mountain apes not to mess with Pagan Min!" Pagan took the lead with handgun fire and the rest of the guards fired their weapons filling the air thick automatic. Several unfortunate partisans were caught in the heavy fire and were cut down where they stood, further rattling the forces morale. But with Sabal here, they weren't going anywhere, that is… so long as he was there.

As Ajay had anticipated a scouting party was sent to apprehend him he turned his attention from picking off exposed targets in the line to the five-man team.

"There!" The moment the lead fighter pointed out the rest fired their assault rifles and machine guns at him. Ajay calmly left the position on top of the sandbagged slope and threw a grenade he picked from the dead sniper at the fighters. He held the grenade a few seconds to cook in his hand first before throwing so that when he threw it-

"Grena-(BOOM)" It gave the desired effect. The explosive device exploded midair creating and airburst effect and inflicting more casualties than normal. With the trees splintering and causing a shrapnel effect of bark and wood. One was knocked out cold by the concussive force and two others were caught in the blast and killed instantly. One was screaming at the top of his lungs in agony from the hands he lost, the only one who survived unscathed was the leader who jumped into cover on reflex and left the rest of his companions to the blast.

Ajay jumped out of cover with the kukri raised in his hand. Running towards the leader's location, the lead fighter noticed his attempt and raised his rifle firing from the hip. Ajay ducked behind cover just as the gun was aligning to him, the tree in front of him provided the cover he needed against the assault rifle bullets. (Click)

The lead fighter forgot to watch his bullet count and ran dry. Ajay came out of cover expecting to go hand to hand with him but was surprised to see the man run instead. In the past when he fought the Guards, even the Army would have done otherwise. It only made Ajay feel more loath for the Golden Path. In the end, that was all they could live up to.

He fired the PDW that was in the dead sniper's possession at the lead fighter scoring a hit and turned his attention to the two unconscious man and woman. Ajay checked inventory, the sniper had a lot of weapons at his disposal. From rifles to anti-personnel mines. An evil plan came up in his head which he grinned satisfyingly.

* * *

Down below the fighting had entered another stalemate. Sabal was starting to become anxious, the five had yet to report to him concerning the situation on the sniper but he had no time to worry about that. At any minute, Yuma's QRF would arrive by helicopter to crush them he had this opportunity to kill Pagan and end this once and for all.

"For the Golden Path! Take the tyrant's head!" He rallied the fighters once more. Obeying their leader's decision, the fighters advanced once more closing in the distance between them and Pagan with his Royal Guard escorts. So far, the Royal Guards had yet to sustain a significant loss but if they were to enter close combat range they could over power them with numerical superiority alone, then the day would be there's. Pagan's head could be displayed to all of Kyrat and they would be finally at an end to the two decade long civil war.

(Bang) …..(Bang)… (Bang)….. (Bang)

The haunting sound returned to the ears of the Golden Path fighters. Four shots followed with four casualties sustained. All hitting their mark and killed all the more aggressive fighters in their ranks. Even with Sabal's commands, the fighters could not help but unconsciously duck for cover again. The Royal Guards who saw their stumble took the opportunity to lay a heavy barrage once more on the Golden Path Fighters since the heat was significantly taken off them from previously.

"Damn the gods! Why haven't they taken down that sniper?! Never mind! - I'll kill him myself!" Sabal left a lieutenant to manage the assault while he and two others went up the cliff to investigate and kill the sniper who was hampering his vision of a Pagan-free Kyrat.

Not long later he reached the summit where he had placed Aadi to provide the overwatch. He now understood the reason why the five-man group failed to report back. Bodies lay everywhere, including Aadi the sniper's as well.

"Sabal! Over here!" One of his men called out.

He arrived to see what it was that caught his subordinate's attention. Two survivors of the previous party were found tied and gagged to a tree together. As they approached, the two tied up fighters shook their heads vigorously as the two other fighters pushed them to the side to get to the ropes behind.

"No- Wait!-(BOOM)" But his warning was too late as one of the fighters had tampered with the bound up fighter and had released pressure from the mine under her and detonating it. A flash vaporized the two tied fighters and the two fighters alongside Sabal. Sabal was pushed back by the concussive force of the explosion and slammed against a tree and lost consciousness.

If Ajay had known Sabal had come up personally to find the sniper he would have carried him back to torture him slowly but he wasn't, he didn't even know Sabal had planned the attack to begin with. He had left the cruel trap to the next search party while he focused on returning to Pagan and the convoy escorts.

The lines in the Golden Path had crumbled significantly after Sabal left, the lieutenant was just not the same as Sabal, who possessed a unique charisma amongst the fighters young and old.

Pagan laughed madly while him and the Royal Guardsmen took the fight to them. It was pleasing to see the numerically superior Golden Path falter and begin to flee, there was no emotion like it.

It pleased him even more to see Ajay emerge from the tree line unharmed. But the latter had focused all his attention into firing at those Golden Path warriors who still stayed to fight. The simple action of him fighting hard on his own roused the hearts of the Royal Guard members and they followed suit in taking the fight back to them.

The lieutenant had long fled and went in the direction where Sabal was last seen to try and bring him away safely. This caused any hope of the attempt on Pagan's life to completely diminish and the Golden Path made a sloppy retreat. He found him rested against a tree with half his face scorched, carrying him along with his companions back to Banapur to see if they could heal him. Sabal had awoken from his unconsciousness to the agonizing pain the dominated his entire left face and upper torso, he cried out in pain as his men hurryingly carried his injured body to safety.

When the last of the fighters disappeared out of sight, the convoy Guards cheered loudly chanting Pagan and Ajay's name. Ajay walked towards Pagan with blood all over him just like when he first encountered Pagan in the previous life.

"I didn't know you could fight? Not that well at least! But still, it was a pleasant surprise! Well done, Ajay!"

"The states isn't as safe as everyone thinks, well….. at least in the crowd I mixed with in the past!" Ajay shyly confessed.

"This calls for champagne! Drinks on me boys and girls!" Pagan declared to the guards who fought hard for their king, another round of cheers filled the air.

Ajay smiled wryly, strangely enough the feeling was unlike any he had faced in the pass. When he completed a mission in the past for Sabal or Amita all he got was a "Good job, brother!" And they turned their attention to more important Golden Path matters. Fights like these were an everyday occurrence to him, he had even jumped in to rescue certain patrols who came under fire. But they never thanked him for what he did nor cheered his name, they walked on as if he was just a supporting element. Ajay could not help but feel his past life was so pathetic.

Pagan placed his hand on his shoulder. "Why the long face? You single-handedly changed the odds in our favor. Smile Ajay! After this We'll be heading back to my place where we'll get you fitted into some new clothes, what do you say?!" Pagan smiled like he had never smiled before or at least not since-…

The sound of chopping propellers resounded along the road in front of them to announce to the whole forest, the cavalry was here! Yuma's QRF had responded to their distress signal albeit too late, the troops inside the compartment stared in awe at the bodies that littered the road and dirt.

The two helicopters landed and the sliding doors flung open from the first one, Yuma ran out of the chopper to where Pagan and Ajay was.

"Tailoh, ni mou si ah!" She asked him in her usual Cantonese dialect.

"I'm fine, see? Not a scratch! All thanks to Ajay here! Ajay, Yuma and Yuma, Ajay! Yuma's my adoptive sister and my right-hand, always there when I get into a pickle." Pagan chuckled slightly.

Yuma didn't even spare a glance at Ajay before she scolded her older brother for taking the 'scenic route' without heavier escort.

If she was forced to respond to Ajay he knew she would be glaring at him instead. He had the unpleasantness of facing her in the past as she threatened to desecrate his mother's ashes. He knew the reason as well. Yuma hated his mother for breaking her illusion of a strong elder brother she saw in Pagan, she also hated him for doing the same to Pagan then. Where Pagan would always avoid killing him, Yuma was the complete opposite and he had to tango with her kill squads more occasions than he could count. It's not like he wanted to aggravate her in the first place, but he made it his personal mission not to piss her off in this timeline. Perhaps he could rekindle her-… whatever feelings she had for Pagan, it was better to make a friend out of her than an enemy.

-I'm being too optimistic here! But if she stands in my way It'll be really annoying! -

"…..Ok! Ok! I'll follow you back! Come along, Ajay!" Pagan said before heading straight to the heli Yuma provided. It became apparently clear that they could have flown the entire way but Pagan decided to take the scenic route for god knows! Was he trying to impress Ajay? Or was there some kind of strategy involved in his maneuver, his movement he had broadcast to the entire Golden Path?

Pagan tripped on a dead body comically on the way while Yuma reached out to support him.

-Nah! He's just showing off!-

* * *

Ajay was the last to board the chopper, he insisted the wounded Guards board first. Pagan did nothing to stop him or advise against it.

The wounded Guard who was sharing the helicopter with them thank him incessantly, although was slightly afraid King Min ordering his execution later. But Pagan was in too good a mood to be bothered, Ajay's performance in the firefight was outstanding. He graded it 9/10, one point for not listening to him, the leader. Yuma expressed her dissatisfaction with a snort, Ajay really couldn't be bothered with her behavior towards him so long as she didn't plot to have him killed like last time. Ajay honestly believed Yuma was the only one who put him on edge, unlike the other vice lords she actively hunted him.

-How do I convince her not to kill me?-

Ajay spent much time in the chopper lost in thought. Before he knew it he was already in her prison compound hovering above the helipad.

"Take some time with your sister, I'll find you later!" Ajay told Pagan with assertiveness as he helped carry the stretcher holding the wounded soldier off the chopper.

"Sure! Don't keep us wait!" He said in a chirper tone as he walked with Yuma to her command centre.

"Sir! Please leave me, do not keep his highness waiting!" The wounded guard pleaded with him, less he invoke the wrath of King Min. The other soldiers did the same.

"If he lifts a hand against you he'll have it from me!" Ajay affirmed them as he smiled from his blood stained face. It gave an aura of dread rivaling Pagan. The guards somehow felt assured Ajay would stand up for them and pleaded no more.

They passed through the barracks common area while heading to the medical centre. A guard ran ahead to inform the soldiers on standby to clear the narrow passage for the stretchers bearing the wounded soldiers through, he also slipped in the news that Ajay Ghale was amongst the people coming over. So naturally all the faces turned their attention to the corridor. There they caught sight of Ajay helping a wounded soldier towards the medical centre. As they passed through without obstruction, the soldiers followed them to the infirmary where the Doctor had received word of injured soldiers in need of immediate medical attention were arriving imminently.

"Place him here!" The Doctor ordered Ajay to rest his stretcher onto the operating table where she could begin immediate surgery. "Thank you, sir! Thank you!" The wounded soldier said before the curtains closed. He had never been thanked so much before in his entire life, he did nothing but participate in assisting the wounded just like everybody else. Just what kind of existence was 'Ajay Ghale' to the Royal Army?

A nurse passed by to check on the rest of the Guards that returned to see if they had suffered any unseen injures during their fight. The nurse came to Ajay last.

"Is everything alright for you? Are you experiencing any breathing difficulties or dizziness?"

"No. I'm fine, this isn't my blood. Thanks for asking!" Ajay said politely.

"Hey! What are you lot doing here?! We're in the middle of a surgery, get out!" The same nurse noticed a couple of heads poking out of the swinging door to the small medical room.

"Where is Ajay Ghale? I can't see him!"

"Argh! Don't push!"

"Is it him?"

The soldiers stared at Ajay, he was the only one that stood out for not wearing their military fatigues but his leather jacket and jeans. He saw the soldiers looking at him and scratched his head sheepishly not use to people staring so intensely at him.

Just then the group of soldiers who were looking from out the gap in the door all fell down on top of each other as a hooded soldier jumped over them. He identified the soldier as the hunter class, one of the most difficult adversaries he had ever faced. Alone they were bad news even for him, together they were unstoppable. Whole Golden Path operations had fallen because these troops narrowed down on their location. Ajay nearly died several times in the past because of them, these were the very troops Yuma employed against him. He could never fight them on equal ground and resorted to luring them into traps of his own. Numerous occasions they nearly got him it was never without severe injuries, he had to spend days in the homestead to lick his wounds.

"Nurse! Is my brother here? Is he ok?!" The hooded soldier grasped tightly onto the nurse's gown preventing her from doing her duties. The nurse was having a hard time today because of what was happening and was nearly about to scream for them to leave the premise. But Ajay placed a hand on her shoulder to tell her he'd handle it.

"Your brother is having an operation right now, It'll be best if you could leave for the time being or quieten down a bit, the doc needs to concentrate." He spoke calmly. But the hunter wasn't satisfied and crossed his arms, his face was obscured but his build was slim and petite like all the other hunters he encountered.

"And you are?" He asked more in the sense of what did this concern him regarding his business.

"Ajay Ghale. Your brother was with me in a convoy ambush, he got hit in the leg but he'll be fine, the wound didn't look serious and he could still joke along the way." Ajay said smiling.

"Ajay Ghale?" The hunter questioned himself.

"I knew it! It's Ajay Ghale the son of Mohan!" One of the soldiers who the hunter kicked out of his way declared in the back.

Ajay couldn't see the expression he had but judging from the body language he wasn't ecstatic like the rest.

"What's the son of the famous rebel doing here?" He stated coldly. The blood froze in the surrounding soldiers' bodies. The escorts knew what Ajay meant to King Min and the hunter was earning the right to sit in the cell instead of guarding it.

Ajay was calm as water however, he had undergone discrimination before. In the states as well as Kyrat for being an outsider. So this wasn't new to him.

"I'm here to lend a hand to Pagan." He said casually.

"Don't speak of our king so familiarly!" The hunter roared angrily.

-But that fellow is technically my step-dad.- Ajay frowned.

Ajay had experienced the zealous loyalty they had to their sovereign many times, it separated them from the normal royal army soldiers and most civilians. He found it annoying at times, Pagan wasn't the type to personally reward his subjects for their undying loyalty, not shooting you was his sign of good faith. He made a mental note to have Pagan cut down on the killing spree and try to be a little more tolerant of failure from his men.

"Whatever, once you're done patching yourself up get lost!" He said as he turned around to walk off.

"Hey!-" Ajay reached out to grasp the hunter's shoulder to confront him, was at the limit of his tolerance towards him. His estimation wasn't spot on and instead yanked back the hood from behind.

The hood came undone and revealed the face of whoever was underneath it. Sapphire eyes dazzled on a pretty face appeared shocked by the loss of the hood. With short brown hair whose fringe was long and swept to one side, stylish even for a soldier. But it wasn't the important part of his discovery; the hunter was a woman! But her build was almost undistinguishable from the other hunters he faced, unless-…

Then a revelation hit him hard.

-Holy shit! Have I been killing chicks all this while!?-


	3. Chapter 3 - Yuma's hunters

-Please don't let it be the case!-

A guilty conscience weighed heavily on Ajay, he could imagine thousands upon thousands cursing his grave on the other side for taking away gorgeous women from the spotlight. Ajay raked his mind to remember his encounters.

Ajay couldn't recall a time he had ever seen a woman among the ranks of the royal army let alone amongst the elite Royal Guards. She was a total enigma but also a complete bombshell of a woman, if that old bag from the media society ever found her, she'd scout her to be the next representative as Miss Kyrat for the Miss Universe competitions.

"Who the hell do you think you are?!" She shouted at him as she slapped his hand aside that unhooded her.

"QUIETTT!" The hunter's loud noise was the last straw. The nurse had had it with the commotion by the door and shouted at the top of her lungs. Ajay found the need to cover his ears from the loudness even when he never wore hearing protection during firefights. The wounded soldier who was undergoing surgery coughed violently due to the disruptive sound.

"""Sorry!""" The Soldiers were the first to leave, Ajay and the gorgeous hunter too expressed their apologies.

"Look, I'm sorry but your brother is undergoing surgery let's take this elsewhere shall we?" Having the hunter hold a grudge against him was one way of getting Yuma's attention.

The hunter glared at him with all the hate she could muster.

"Hmph!" The hunter turned away and walked off leaving him without answering.

Ajay sighed half relieved and half out of hassle.

He looked at his watch.

-Whatever. Time to find Pagan.-

* * *

Pagan was sitting comfortably in on one of the couches by the fire place of Yuma's warden office. Being the vice lord of her territory and the warden to Durgesh Prison gave her numerous privileges, she also had her assets and criminal empire in Hong Kong which she left to an overseer.

Yuma herself was standing by the fire. She had just heard Pagan's future plans for Ajay.

"Hmph! Whatever, as long as his interests don't clash with mine he won't have to face me."

Pagan chuckled at Yuma's hate for Ajay when she had only just met him.

"I'm sure the boy got the message quiet early on from you. Hahh…. My dear Yuma, must you really hate the boy because he is his mother's child?" Pagan said in his usual flamboyant attitude.

Yuma turned away from him. "That's not the reason I hate him.." She murmured under her breath.

"(Sigh)…. In any case, I hope you give him all the cooperation he needs. I guarantee you, he's gonna rock your socks off! Just as he did mine today." Pagan took another gulp of his favourite wine.

Yuma was slightly baffled by what he said. "ngoh mh ming baahk?"

"I'm saying Ajay Ghale killed over fifty people today, alone and by himself without batting an eye!" Pagan disclosed the disturbing information to his over anxious sister while grinning.

"…..You've got to be jok-! Hyiee!" Yuma tried to dismiss his claim when Pagan came behind her suddenly and pinned both her hands to the wall with his as he her stared down.

"Do you presume to doubt my word?" Pagan said in an intimidation expression that he rarely showed anyone, only when he was really really upset with someone. Yuma shivered and avoided the frightening gaze of Pagan.

"N-No! Dui mmh jyuh, Tailoh…." Yuma said with all the former cold front she had shattered.

"Oh- good! Just wait and see, he won't disappoint you!" Like a storm had just subsided, Pagan returned to his former cheerful behavior.

Yuma was gritting her teeth in her thoughts. He had not shown this type of behaviour for a long time, not since the bitch left after losing her child with him. She thought she could fill in the place which Ishwari left in Pagan's life but proved to be a disappointment, he shunned her away from him. Yuma was partly heartbroken to see him in that state of self-torture, if only he never fell in love with that whore, her brother would have been spared the pain. She hated Ajay more and more by the second.

The door to her office was knocked a few times.

"Go away! I'm entertaining a guest!" She announced.

"Whooo is it?" Pagan asked instead.

"It's Ajay, can I come in?"

"Of course! Come in, Come! Come!"

Ajay pushed the door open to find a luxuriously furnished office/lounge. All modern aesthetics instead of the traditional style, it was almost like a New York studio.

"Sorry, I'm late."

"Nah! No problem, right Yuma?"

"Hmph!" She looked away from him to avoid pissing herself off.

"Have a seat, my boy!"

"Uh…Sure." Ajay looked to Yuma first. But Yuma only wanted to stay indifferent.

"I was just telling Yuma about our little mountain adventure just now among the other things."

"Tell me then, where did you learn to fight like that?" Yuma asked in a cold tone.

"In the streets, I wasn't an angel back then either. I robbed, killed and fought to survive." Ajay remembered the harsh times he had in the states. Everyone thought living in the US was a breeze, that it was a land of opportunity and abundance. Perhaps it was due to his mother's non-citizen status that she couldn't qualify for certain welfare in the past. He remembered her often crying alone in the night when he should have been asleep.

Pagan and Yuma saw his expression as he recalled these images and both had complicated feelings regarding his past.

Pagan tried to change the subject.

"So I was thinking for your coronation ceremony, fireworks, invitations, a National holiday!" Pagan was already crafting ideas of how to present to Kyrat their new king.

"Actually I'd like to ask a favor."

"Oh?"

"I want Ajay Ghale to disappear for a period of time." Pagan and Yuma were both stunned by his request.

"Oh? And why might that be?" Pagan asked without the malice.

"There are a few things I'd like to sort out first, mostly concerning the Golden Path. I'll also need some special soldiers to help me in clandestine operations."

"You really despise the Golden Path don't you. Care to share?" Pagan was interested in why Ajay was so fixated on the Golden Path when he had only just arrived to Kyrat at tops two days. Yuma was just as astounded and was also interested in learning why.

Ajay really couldn't tell them it was to get revenge on Sabal because he hadn't even met him here.

"The Golden Path has run rampant for the last two decades unchallenged. For years it's portrayed itself as the righteous liberators of Kyrat, perhaps because Pagan, your portfolio is having all the traits for a textbook villain." Ajay smiled wryly.

"Heh!" Pagan chuckled.

"But in the end, any dictionary reference would tell you what they are…. Rebels. A lot of people have suffered under the actions of the Golden Path and the prolonging effect of the civil war, all of which they pass off as necessary sacrifices. They hold on to tradition like zealots, ignoring the needs of others. They think they ride a righteous cause because they fight a wicked man and that gives them enough justification to do what they want, take what they need, damaging the countries integrity! They forget you are the ruling sovereign and seek to create separatism because it suits their needs. If that isn't rebellion, then I don't know what is!"

Pagan seemed surprised at his thought process, Yuma carefully paid attention.

"We're all victims of them! You, me and countless others who lose their loved ones to their selfish actions in this civil war. I can't tell you how ashamed I feel to bear the blood of Mohan Ghale in my veins, a child killer! And a man that hurt my mother, the only family I had. To think the entire Golden Path was built on his principles. If family means only so much before tradition in their values, then they don't deserve to live! I will crush them!" Ajay declared ferociously.

A silence dominated the room. Pagan smiled and clapped his hands. "Bravo son, bravo! I knew you had it in you, the makings of a king!"

Yuma stared at Ajay silently but her thoughts was jumbled. "Family…" She whispered.

It would be a lie to say they weren't empowered by his speech, perhaps because all he said was true and Ajay had said it from the heart.

"Uh- Sorry! I got too worked up! Aha- Ahahaha!" Ajay laughed it off.

"Alright, fair enough Ajay. I'll hold the ceremony off for the time being. Now I do recall you mentioning something about needing some hands-…."

"You can have my hunter cadre!" Yuma took the lead in informing him.

Ajay and Pagan were surprised by her offer. "Well….I didn't expect you to be so forthcoming but-."

"Not another word!" She pointed to Pagan who surrendered his hands in the air. "Ok! Ok!"

She turned to Ajay sizing him top to bottom. She truly didn't think much of him at first and even now she still hated him as much as before, but… There was something about him that made her want to take the initiative in helping him. She was originally baffled why he stood against everything his father stood for but she didn't expect he hated him that much. What would she gain from assisting him? The Golden Path hadn't been a threat to her for so long, her operations had always run smoothly without problems. Was it because of Pagan? When she helped Ajay she indirectly helped her adoptive brother. It was quite satisfying to see him smile like he used to. Maybe if she could provide Ajay assistance she could also help restore Pagan in a sense.

-Yes! That should be the way!-

"Again, I'm saying I'll send a detail of hunters to aid you."

Ajay was shocked why Yuma wanted to suddenly dedicate her hunters to help him in his cause. The hunters, the most dangerous adversaries in his past life. The only few who posed a huge threat to him, he employed various means against them, traps, explosives, high-calibre weaponry. He'd never attempt to engage them at close range because he would regret it, even then he still comes out with heavy injuries or worse cases poisoned. Hurk was a big help to have around to watch his back, though slightly dim-witted and obnoxious he could fight pretty decently when compared to the normal fighters and wouldn't flinch as much as them in combat either, those were one of the killer reasons for losing one's life here. Just by turning away for a second you could lose track of certain movements, this was especially the case for the Royal Guard Hunters.

To have them on his side was a god given opportunity he couldn't miss out on. The power of the hunters at his disposal.

"You have my thanks. I won't disappoint you." Ajay bowed respectfully to Yuma. "Hmm!" She grunted in acknowledgement of him.

This, of course, brought a smile to Pagan's face. "Look at us! One big family working together!-…"

Ajay cocked an eyebrow while turning to Yuma to see she had done the same. They quickly broke eye contact for different reasons. Yuma didn't want the boy to get the wrong idea they were a family. Ajay, on the other hand, was afraid to look her in the eye again.

Pagan laughed at their reactions to each other.

"Well, it's time we head back. Won't want to take you away from work." Pagan winked at his sister. Yuma's heart quickened when he did that, and she turned away. "Hmph!"

Pagan laughed. "Shy as always, eh? Come on, Ajay. We're leaving."

"Right. Yuma… thanks." Ajay tried to give a grateful smile but Yuma glared at him instead. It seems Pagan was the only one who could get a different response from her, he really was a special existence to her. No wonder she hated his mother for stealing him away.

Pagan and Ajay left the room, Yuma sat at her desk massaging her temples. She looked at her telephone, pressing the number to her aide. "Send Maya up."

*Yes, ma'am!* The receiver responded before closing the phone.

Yuma had intended to dispatch a group to Ajay as she promised but that wasn't the only thing she wanted them to do for her.

A knock on the door sounded the arrival of her closest member in her retinue. "Come in."

The door knot turned and the heavy wooden frame door opened halfway. "Mistress, you called?"

"Have a seat, Maya." The one she called was none other than the female hunter Ajay had encountered at the Medical centre. Her right-hand woman who was also her protégé.

"I have a job for you."

"Anything for you, mistress!" Maya exclaimed happily, she rarely had been given tasks by her mentor, it was a good opportunity to prove herself worthy to stand by Yuma's side.

"I'm sending a cadre to be commanded by Ajay Ghale, I want you to be in it. To be my eyes and ears for me on him." Maya was shocked by Yuma's request.

-Ajay Ghale?! Working for that detestable man?!- Yuma saw through Maya's displeasure when she brought it up.

"You're not the only one who shares the same opinion of him, but I need someone to monitor his movement. I want you to watch him for me and report if there are any unusual activities. If he doesn't meet the standards I've set, I'll send you the kill order!" Yuma clarified her orders.

"Understood, mistress." Maya said satisfied with her mentor's response.

"Then, when do I start?"

* * *

It was nearly a week since Ajay had returned to the past. At very least, he wasn't waking up to the tune of "I got you babe" with a bag over his head at De pleur's table. Ajay took the time to exercise to bring his body fitness back to the level he had in the previous timeline, he also read books in the private library concerning warfare, agriculture and politics. He made no excuses for himself not to learn more. Upon returning, Pagan called in his chief designer to fashion him some new clothing to replace the bloodstained ones, ironically it was Mr Chiffon. In the previous timeline, Mr Chiffon took refuge in a hovel outside the towns and villages to evade Pagan who happened to have the mind of raising the value of his works by killing him. Ajay was wondering if his turning point had affected the original timeline of events that took place. Perhaps his interference presently had changed Pagan's former mood, always smiling away and laughing through the thin walls of the palace. It was quite heartening to see him up and about, Ajay had more a less considered Pagan as a part of his family even if it was by the will of his mother they would become family. Pagan had decreed that no one was to reveal the current status of Ajay and all who knew were warned or censored. So that Ajay could remain anonymous to the people and the Golden Path fighters.

A knock came on his door. "Yes? Come in." Ajay gave whoever was knocking permission to enter his room.

"Sir, Corporal Bipin reporting. I have been assigned to be your aide and guide through the Military zones. I hope to serve you to the best of my abilities, sir!"

"You're-…." Ajay recognized the guard's face, it was the wounded soldier and the brother of the female hunter or huntress. He couldn't forget her, he would be lying if he wasn't taken by her beauty.

"Yes, sir. Thank you for your kindness that day! I swore to repay you for saving my life that day."

"All I did was let you go in the chopper first." Ajay said puzzled.

"Usually that isn't something done especially in King Min's or Mistress Yuma's personal helicopter. If you hadn't asked his highness that day I would have been delivered to the nearest fortress by jeep which could have been a nine-hour ride. Possibly, I may have perished from bleeding out. Therefore, allow me to express my thanks once again, sir!" The guard bowed, Ajay reached out to bring him up.

"That isn't necessary, you did your job protecting your sovereign. You deserved to be commended, giving you priority was just a way of giving my thanks to you for protecting Pagan. Thank you, Corporal!" It was Ajay's turn to bow to Bipin which caused the young corporal to become frantic but also surprised by Ajay's humility.

"And it won't be necessary for you to call me sir, Ajay will do just fine." Ajay smiled.

"I cannot, sir!" Bipin insisted.

"Mmmm….. maybe not when Pagan is around but if it's just me it should be fine. Nice to meet you, Bipin. I look forward to working with you!" Ajay reached his hand out for a handshake, Bipin was stunned at first but quickly took his hand to give a firm handshake.

"Likewise, si-Ajay! Sorry! Sorry!" Bipin stumbled on his first time calling Ajay by his name, Ajay snickered lightly.

"Have a seat, I'll be with you shortly." Ajay motioned his hand to the coffee table and went to the walk-in wardrobe that was a part of his accommodation Pagan gave him.

"Ah! Y-yes!" Bipin took a seat quickly.

"How's the leg?" Ajay asked behind the wardrobe as he changed into a pair of military fatigues designed by Chiffon, the prototype to his 'Combat couture' series of outfits.

"Ah! Fine, sir-Ajay! The doctor recommended I shouldn't do any strenuous activities for at least a week."

"Don't worry, I won't ask you to do any heavy lifting or running. What I need are details about the army and the populous."

Bipin turned around and noticed the wall was elaborately decorated with pins and wires holding notes and pictures. Pictures of Golden Path leaders Amita and Sabal, the two headed elephant. A foreigner, Paul, even Lady Noore, King Min and Mistress Yuma. Bipin's heart palpitated, was Ajay plotting an assassination of his royal highness right after saving him? That's not right, he noticed the colour of the wires were different for Lady Noore, King Min and Mistress Yuma's. A blue string connected their picture and other related notes.

"I'm not plotting to kill Pagan." Ajay had finished dressing fully into his outing outfit and noticed Bipin staring at the board containing his planned thoughts. He read the young Guard's impression quickly.

"N-No! No! I wasn't thinking that!" Although it was apparent that he did.

Ajay brewed up two cups of Himalayan milk tea. He held it out to Bipin who received it with two hands. "Thank you, Ajay."

"I don't know how much sugar you wanted so I put just one. Sorry for not asking earlier."

"It'll do! The sentiment counts, thank you!" Bipin drank from the cup.

"Um…Ajay?"

"Mmmm?"

"Might I inquire what is on this board?" He looked towards the Investigation chart Ajay had set up.

"..."

"You need not answer! It was just out of curiosity!" Bipin tried to clarify himself.

"It's something to help me organize my thoughts so I don't miss anything out."

"Miss out?..."

"How I plan to make my moves against the Golden Path and how do I deal with the cause and effect of my actions. After all, for every opportunity, there is a consequence. I'm just making sure I consider all my options first." Bipin was surprised to hear Ajay was planning to move against the Golden Path on his own. From what he heard, in the rumours and briefing, Ajay had just returned from the Americas that day he escorted them. Yet the very individual that King Min had given priority in safety above his own had singlehandedly challenged the Golden Path attackers and forced them back with little help from them. He was having a hard time imagining how a person living in America could do things with such brutal efficiency. It was like he was an experienced hunter…. like his elder sister.

"Y-You mustn't move against them yourself, Ajay!" Bipin cautioned Ajay.

"I'm won't, today Yuma's sending a cadre to help me out. She sure took her time!" Ajay chuckled as he sipped his tea. Bipin was unsure of his familiarity with such high level figures and calling them by their first names, something no one would dare do.

"Uh...huh!"

"Which comes down to what I'd like from you presently…"

"Please ask me anything! I'll be sure to answer your queries to the best of my abilities!" Bipin beat his chest to express his commitment.

"Ok. Why don't you tell me a little about yourself? I'm curious of what the life of a Royal guard was like." Bipin was baffled but didn't delay, he gathered his thoughts quickly and organised his history.

"Um. This might be a little embarrassing but-…..(sigh). I'm an orphan!"

"Uh-huh." Ajay was not at all phased by what Bipin confessed, rather he was unaware of the reason Bipin was uncomfortable with this history.

"I'm sorry, does that have any significance in the Royal Army ranks?" Ajay inquired.

"Ah! Sorry for not making myself clear, of course you wouldn't know about it coming back from America and all. Again sorry!" Ajay waved that it was alright.

"The requirement for joining the Royal Guards is to be part of certain warrior family clans or lineage. If you can prove it to the recruitment camp they will grant you a path from the regular army to the elite guard training facilities. It's just that…" Bipin was about to give the reason why his case was abnormal. Ajay could see there was an outstanding difference in the regular army and the guards, and it wasn't in just attire and equipment. The guards were obviously paid and fed better than the average army soldiers.

"When me and my sister, Maya were young our parents were murdered by the early Golden Path rebels right in front of us and our belongings were burnt to ashes. We went through some rough times then. The problem was that our family charts were lost in the fire and so I had no way of proving that I was of warrior lineage and therefore could not support me and my sister as a guard and only as a private soldier or as a labourer. It was especially difficult as we had commitments in the orphanage we were raised in and wanted to provide our salaries to them."

Ajay sort of understood his circumstance of why he shouldn't be allowed in the normal way into the exclusive Royal Guards ranks.

"But then, Mistress Yuma came one day and found my sister. She took her in as her protégé, so she became one of the rare cases to become an elite guard hunter but also a skilled administrator. From there, my sister helped to pull a few strings to help me get in. Of course, my presence in the ranks was always questionable amongst my peers but they aren't wrong!" Ajay listened carefully to Bipin's circumstances.

"That's not the way I see it, you might not be able to prove you come from a clan of warriors but shouldn't it be your actions that prove whether you have the material to be a warrior? If you always think you don't deserve to be a part of the Royal Guards then you won't, so don't ever sell yourself short!" Ajay gave him a harsh reprimand.

Bipin looked up to Ajay meaningfully. "Thank you, Ajay. For believing in me! I promise not to let down my family's name."

"Good lad, now I'd like to ask are there any other women in the Royal Army besides your sister?"

-Moment of truth!- Ajay kept his fingers crossed behind his back.

"No, that doesn't seem to be the case. My sister is the rare exception by Mistress Yuma." Ajay breathed a sigh of relief. He had not indiscriminately killed women, just soldiers. He wondered why he never remembered encountering her when faced with the pack hunters in the past. Could it be she was one of the unlucky few who tripped on his booby traps early on?

"No women in the army, and yet the Golden Path employs both… any reason for them not to join or be allowed to join?"

Bipin thought carefully about the army rules and regulations, he even consulted the soldier's handbook which he lent to Ajay to examine and read.

"Nothing." Was Ajay's conclusion.

"What are the women expected to do then in society?"

"Well, raising the children and taking care of the household, it's usually the man's job to bring bread to the table."

"Mmmm…..right! I'll bring this up with Pagan, see what he thinks."

"What?!- I mean- is it really a good idea to disturb his highness?" Bipin had received more heart attacks today than ever with the way Ajay did things.

"Should be fine. This would increase the numbers available for recruitment roughly by fifty percent! Besides, if there are no laws enforcing men to work only then they should be given the equal opportunity to take up jobs. If women could take up jobs, then communities wouldn't suffer much shortage in manpower."

Bipin wasn't sure about the way Ajay was going about with the political affairs of the country. But he was reminded of the special relationship King Min shared with Ajay, quite ironic considering Ajay was the son of his enemy in the past. Just what was going on? He dares not ask.

"New question….."

"Yes?"

"What is the living conditions between the North-East and South-West Kyrat?"

Ajay wanted to know how much of a disparity there was in personal wealth between the Royal Army controlled North-East and the recently liberated South-West. Yes, during the span of a week virtually all contact with the outposts in the south around Banapur had been lost, somehow the strongholds of Noore and Paul including the airport were holding on. But the rest were lost.

"To be honest, the parts that his highness controls are the poorest, we sometimes barely have enough to feed ourselves. To avoid starving, we join the military or work hard in the farms. This wasn't always the case until a famine occurred twenty years ago in the North-east regions. At the time, the Golden Path had isolated the food flow from the prosperous South-East and hoarded stockpiles for themselves and the growing resistance."

Ajay didn't think Mohan would do this to his own people. To starve them out because they were still under Pagan's domain. So all this was happening while the North-East was suffering under the effects of a famine and shortage, Pagan's administration was also questionable. He had two prominent revenue streams in the country as he could recall, the drug fields for marijuana and medicine he exported. Then there was the rhino breeding program that helped them proliferate that Mr Chiffon told him about, he charged high rates for wealthy businessmen to hunt. Unless the money went into equipping and feeding the Royal Army then that was a different case.

Ajay knew he could no long concentrate on combat but think about improving the peoples' lives, it was his responsibility now.

"I'll need your help in performing administration as well, can it be done?" Ajay asked after coming out of deep thought to Bipin.

"S-sure, I'll try my best!" Bipin said with confidence.

"Alright… Well, let's get going. We don't want to keep the new guys waiting." Ajay left the room holding the door for Bipin as he went out.

"Ah!-" Bipin got up to follow him, although he was a little worried about Yuma's hunters. They were the crème de la crème of the Royal Army, the most elite special forces group in Kyrat. Even though his sister was in it, he was doubtful about the personalities these lone warriors had.

Ajay whistles the 'star spangled banner' along the corridor carefreely as they headed towards Pagan's palace Armory where they were waiting.

* * *

"Lieutenant Maya Kadayat, leader of the Royal Guard 3rd Hunters group. Under directions by Mistress Yuma to follow the commands of Ajay Ghale indefinitely." Maya said in a cold tone.

"Did Yuma send it in black and white that you work for me?"

"No."

"Then you don't." Ajay walked up to see the hunters numbering a three besides huntress Maya.

Maya hid her anger but her knuckles scrunched up at that attitude of his.

From Ajay's point of view, they were still Yuma's so whatever Yuma commanded they would follow. This included killing him if the conditions were given, Yuma had just dispatched to him his would-be assassins. He was sure one of them at least reported back to Yuma, most likely Bipin's sister following Bipin's account just now.

"I'll request from Mistress Yuma documentation in the meantime." Maya said.

-Meantime could mean anytime.-

"First off I'd like to know your names!" Ajay turned his attention to the rest there sitting on the weapon crates.

The three others were an assortment of people, they had their hoods down so he could see their different faces.

One with a large build took the initiative in introducing himself. "Anish, I've served in the Royal Army for five years, two in the Royal Guards."

"Nice to meet you, Anish. Ajay Ghale, you'll be working with me and not for me!" He made it apparent he was aware of their status towards him but would still use them anyhow. Ajay reached his hand out for a handshake which Anish took. The fellow squeezed quite tightly to indicate his strength, Ajay smiled at his display.

The next to stand from his seating position was a hunter that looked more like he belonged in a library than in the battlefield, this was made clear by the thick spectacle frame he wore.

"Prayan Hada, I am the communications specialist within the group but I also understand several Kyrati dialects."

"Good to have you, I might need you in translation sometime." Ajay expressed his intentions of using Prayan's natural skill soon. Prayan was ecstatic but hid it internally, someone wanted to make use of his interlect.

Ajay looked around to the last one, when he turned to the final one staring into his eyes and his face only inches away. Ajay froze in his position as the man gazed deeply into his soul.

"I see the makings of a king!" Darshan loudly declared with his arms raised.

"That's Darshan, he always seems high due to all the pot he smokes! Makes him more philosophical."

"I see three kings now!" Darshan said under the influence.

"See!" Prayan told him.

"I can see, though I'm not against you smoking or sticking a needle or two anything, just don't fuck up my operations and don't slow the others down. Other than that you're free to take in anything you want." Ajay wrapped his hand around the back of Darshan to steady him from swaying about and to look at him when he was talking. Darshan grinned.

"Good!" Ajay took it as a yes and looked at the rest.

"Ajay! I have the files you request- Maya?" Bipin came back with the intelligence on the area he requested from the communications office.

"Bipin! What are you doing here? I thought you were supposed to be in the ward!" His sister patted him down concerned over her younger brothers well-being. Maya turned around to glare at Ajay.

"You! What are you doing making him slave around for you, after he risked his life to protect you that day?!" She shouted at him. The rest of the hunters were astounded by their leader's boldness to confront Ajay whom the King favoured no less under Pagan's roof, she was really courting death.

"Sis! It's not like that, I came here on my own volition. To express my gratitude to Ajay for saving me that day, if you were there that day you'd know I wasn't the one protecting him!" Bipin immediately stood up for him.

"Bipin….Hmph!" She became helpless when her younger brother took a stand for Ajay and looked away upset.

"Sis…..I-."

"It doesn't matter what she or any of the hunters think. I just want them to do what they do best!" Ajay placed a hand on Bipin's shoulders to tell him it was alright.

All eyes were onto Ajay as he positioned himself in front of all of them, they expected him to explain what exactly would they be doing alongside him from now on.

"You're all probably wondering why you are here, well. The answer is quite simple, it's to break down the Golden Path!"

Maya snorted as she heard him, the rest raised their brows. Wasn't that what they were already doing?

"I have intentions to take the fight to them on their home turf instead of waiting for them. And to be honest, while working with me you're not gonna like what I'll do. I'm gonna commit several atrocities while I'm at it upon certain individuals, both Golden Path and a few on our side."

Ajay grinned for effect, giving off a chilling aura that he was not to be messed with. Bipin was well aware of what Ajay was capable of as he stated his intentions.

"So what you will be doing is taking part in and helping me achieve this goal. If it's not for Pagan then you can certainly do it for Yuma then." Ajay said the last part directly to Maya who he was sure was tasked with observing him.

"Questions?"

"What are we waiting here for? Let's go!" Anish said raring to get out

"We're all fine with what you intend to do, right leader?" Prayan said asking Maya in the end as he tried to bridge the gap between Ajay and the less willing his companions.

"What are we doing first?" Maya broke silence since she last voiced her opinion. Ajay grinned madly in response.

"I'm glad you asked! We're retaking a stronghold."


	4. Chapter 4 - Battle of Ratu Gadhi

Driving in the military SUV, the hunters didn't question Ajay where they were going as he took the wheel. Strangely enough he seemed to know where he was going. All of them remembered what he last told them, they thought he was absurd. The reason they were called strongholds was because they there the fortresses that overlooked the regions they were placed in, whoever owned the stronghold owned the region.

"Where are we going?" Maya broke silence between him and her.

"To the outskirts of the stronghold, didn't you listen to what I said back in the palace?" Ajay exclaimed in an annoyed tone.

"Which one?" Maya demanded.

Ajay sighed. "Patu Gadhi."

"That's mistress's-!"

"Not anymore. The Golden Path took it two days ago and their using it as a staging area to bring fighters safely through the South-West across the King's bridge." The info was apparently censored by the propaganda department to the general public and ranks in the royal army to prevent anarchy and break in morale.

"Ajay, we're only doing reconnaissance, right?" Bipin asked from the backseat.

"For the time being….." Ajay said then concentrated on the wheel.

The rest of the fighters were quiet in the back, Darshan began to light his marijuana pipe, taking in deep puffs. He was by far the calmest besides Ajay. His teammates admired his fortitude. Ajay opened the windows.

Not too long, Ajay finally reached the base of the mountains the Stronghold also faced and parked below. The hunters got out with Bipin.

"Bipin, stay here and radio us if anything happens to you." Ajay threw on his harness and slung the AK rifle he found in the armory. He checked his weapon and ammo to make sure he was ready.

"Ah!- Ajay! I should follow you instead, it's my responsibility." Bipin insisted on following, his sister was about to stop him, for once she agreed with Ajay. His recovering injury would only get worse especially with all the climbing.

"Bipin! Think of your injury!" Maya told him.

"I'm gonna make them climb all the way up the mountain, don't worry! The next part is crucial so I'll need your help later." Ajay made it sound less like he was a burden and more of a critical component to his plan.

Ajay tested the mobile phones radio functions and ensured they were synced, he passed one to Bipin. He dug into the boot and retrieved a submachine gun and gave it to Bipin for self-protection.

"Relax, I'll take care of things!" Ajay assured him as he went up to lead the hunters up the mountain.

They had walked up for nearly two hours, although the grounds were not as dangerous as what one might expect from a steep mountain it extended the trip by a few minutes. Either way it was extremely safe, how did Ajay know these routes?

"You might want to watch out, this place is a popular breeding ground for Tigers!"

"Uh?…. Ajay, sir!- How do you know all these things?" Prayan asked inquisitively.

Ajay pointed to the droppings on the cliff. "Oh."

"You're not what we expected, Ajay!" Laughed Prayan.

"I get that a lot, America isn't as safe as everybody thinks! I did some trekking way back so I have some knowledge on climbing." Ajay fashioned an excuse to his pre-timeline knowledge.

"Move aside!" Maya pushed her subordinate so she could walk alongside Ajay. Prayan walked back with the rest upset he was pushed by his leader.

Ajay didn't start anything with her and just continued to navigate for them as they followed him.

"Thank you….for saving my brother." Maya said awkwardly.

"No worries. He did me a favor then as well."

"Which was?"

"Taking the hit for Pagan."

"…"

Maya wondered why Ajay cared so much for King Min, he was the rebel leader's son and yet he was doing these things for and not against the King.

"I'm sorry for shouting at you those times, it was because I heard that my dear brother was sustained a life threatening injury."

"And making a fuss outside his operating room was gonna help him?"

"Like I said I'm sorry!" She shouted flustered again.

"No you're not." Ajay told her coldly as he walked ahead of her.

"Tsk!" Maya bit her lower lip hard, he was becoming more and more intolerable by the second.

Finally, after much walking up the steep slopes and using the grapple to climb certain areas, they had come upon a decent surprise.

A natural path led all the way towards the direction of the Stronghold. It would allow them to walk above the stronghold and theoretically rappel onto the stronghold from the cliff above. So that was why Ajay had them climb they figured. But the question loomed over their heads again, how did Ajay know about this path?

"We'll take a break." He told them as he observed the condition of the hunters, they were all exhausted from climbing with the equipment he made them carry. Apart from climbing mountains not being their thing, they were originally light infantry shock troops. Most of the times he encountered them, they used light bows rarely firearms. But that didn't make them hold less firepower. The arrows could be incendiary, explosive or poisoned depending on the effectiveness against their opponents. He encountered a few which used the standard royal guard weapons but they were the small exceptions.

As it turned out all except Darshan were holding rifles, truly a coincidence he bumped into this rare group. He went around with his bottle of water to hydrate them as they lay flat against the rocks.

"Aren't you tired?" Prayan asked him as he seemed as alright as he had appeared to not even sweat while he was carrying loads as heavy as them.

"I've had training, open your mouth." Ajay poured the water into Prayan's mouth and the same for Anish. There was strangely enough no change in Darshan, he offered but the latter politely refused. He still smoked the pipe contently, but it was clear to Ajay that Darshan though older was a notch above the rest here.

He came over to Maya to offer his bottle to her. Tired and thirsty, she had not strength to refuse it and Ajay tilted the bottle for her to drink from it as she sat against the rocks. When he was done, he sat down and looked at the map and charts again to confirm the distance and direction.

Maya was feeling skeptical about Ajay's treatment towards them, he stated early on he would use them and yet was concerned enough to monitor her men and their well-being, her brother who couldn't travel by foot he also took that into consideration and didn't force him.

"Ajay, how much longer to the stronghold?" She asked panting.

"Quarter the time it took to climb, it should be a joy stroll from here on out then we'll wait for nightfall."

Even the way he described it was also pleasant.

"I-… I see!" Was all she managed to say.

Ajay checked his watch, three hours had passed. He decided he should check in on Bipin just in case. He may be a guard but he was alone and anything could happen. Taking out the mobile phone and pressing the call button, unfortunately the signal wasn't strong enough from where he was. The walkway which they were on was a cave so the hard rock was sheltering them from the harsh glare of the sun but also blocking his signal.

"I'm gonna check in on your brother!" He said before standing and walking towards the ledge with the mobile phone raised.

While Maya watched him Prayan moved over to her and asked her quietly.

"Do we kill him here?" Prayan asked his leader. Maya thought about it, there was not much benefit for her to kill him here.

Although the conditions were just right, they could throw him off the cliff and declare it an accident. Maya wondered why she was starting to have second thoughts about killing him, was it because her mentor had yet to give the ok? But there was also the possibility that they could lose the opportunity to take back the stronghold for Mistress Yuma by themselves.

Prayan was already aiming his rifle at him and dialing in his sights just for small calibrations. Making sure not to miss at him.

"Prayan, w-wait-." Maya stopped him from being too reckless although he turned around. But not to her, but what was behind her.

A wet growl was heard from behind Maya as she slowly turned her head.

"TIGER!" Prayan howled as he sprayed lead at the wild cat. The cat went for him first being the most threatening target in the area. "Oh god! No!- ARRRGHHH!" The tiger pounced onto him and went straight for his neck instantly ending his life.

Maya was frightened beyond belief that such a creature could come all the way up here. She crawled backwards to get away, stumbling as she did so. Far on the right, her comrades were staying a distance, as frightened by the tiger as she was. She would not have help from them, it was hopeless.

The Tiger turned to her as the next easy prey and pounced towards her. In that instant, she felt time slow down as the Tiger was in mid-air about to land onto her and devour her in a second. She had so much regrets, Mistress Yuma, Bipin, the orphanage. She looked upon the avatar of her doom. A beautiful specimen with brilliant white fur and a large powerful jaw dominated by its piercing eyes and gorgeous stripes.

But in the end, she still didn't want to die! She shut her eyes tightly to avoid seeing the gore.

-Somebody!-

The Tiger was almost upon her when a lightning quick strike slammed into the two hundred kilo body and sent it flying in a different direction. The Tiger landed neatly on its feet just like all cats did.

"Yo- girl! Didn't think I'd find you so soon!" Ajay stood between Maya and the Tiger.

Maya opened her tearing eyes, she looked at Ajay grinning maliciously at the Tiger armed with nothing but a kukri. He was going to challenge a Tiger?

The tiger locked on to her new opponent that dared to injure it. The coat at its stomach area was stained red by the dripping blood where Ajay had punctured it with his knife as he slammed into it.

Ajay had not seen this coming, in fact he never expected it to be here. It being the legendary man-eating white tiger, aptly named 'sky-tiger'. Due to the generally high places it liked to perch on but also because of the clear and beautiful white fur. He knew this because Chiffon sent him in the past to claim a tiger handbag out of it.

"Come on!" He taunted the tiger. Unable to take Ajay's arrogance over its recent miscalculation it pounced angrily once more, determined to show him it was a mistake to go against it by himself. Ajay dived under it as it flew over him and he held the kukri above his head to let the sheer size of the tiger be used against it. The knife sliced a whole portion of the tigers hide but the brutal force of the two hundred kilo body took the knife from Ajay's hands as it was left embedded in the tiger's lower body.

The Tigress roared in agony, shaking and trying to ply the knife from its body. Ajay did not give the Tiger a chance to act. Peppering the tiger with the rifle was not an option, he didn't know how much rounds it took to take it down with. He leaped onto the tiger's back and slung his rifle around its neck, pulling back to strangle it to death. The tiger fell on its back trying to get up but Ajay yanked the rifle back with all his strength with a roared outmatching the tiger. The tiger struggled for a while till its body went limp and spasmed a few times, a minute later Ajay loosened his grip around the rifle which had bent out of shape from the tiger pressing against it. He breathed a sigh after what seemed like forever for the tiger to lose its breath.

"I'm gonna need a break now." He said panting, but there was no response. He turned his head to Maya and the remaining boys.

They stared in shock and fear. They couldn't believe their eyes, many had gone up the mountains in search of the sky-tiger to claim its rare and expensive fur and none had returned. A testament to the tigers ferocity and deadliness. Some had gone up with assault rifles, shotguns, elephant guns.

But the way Ajay killed it was even more absurd, he killed it with his bare hands. Maya and the rest looked at Ajay as if he was a monster. If they told this story no one would believe them, and yet here they were to witness the awe inspiring image of Ajay wrestling with the tiger.

"That-….was…..AWESOME!" Anish declared cheering as he jumped up and down.

"Did you see that?! Did you?!" He went from Darshan to Maya to confirm with them that his eyes weren't playing him a fool then went to the tiger's carcass and checked to see if it was still breathing.

"It's dead! It's dead! Holy cow, Ajay! What the hell are you made out of brother?!" Anish slapped him on the back. Anish had never approached Ajay due to skepticism of about Ajay's true ability in acting on what he said regarding the Golden Path. But he no longer dared to question it, he did something that no one would, where Anish had just stood there shocked and afraid. It was the natural reaction to encountering a wild cat so close to one, did that mean Ajay was abnormal?

When Ajay had caught his breath he ignored Anish's praise and turned to where Prayan was. He got up and walked over to the corpse and knelt beside it.

He checked Prayan's body for breathing or a pulse but there was none. Prayan's eyes were still open in shock from the tiger mauling him, so Ajay closed them for him.

"Did he have a family?" Ajay turned to Maya who had just recovered from her stupor and walked over to Prayan's corpse. "A wife and child just recently." Tears formed in her eyes as she looked upon her dead subordinate and dear friend, Ajay remained silent to respect her wishes to the dead.

She reached into his shirt and pulled out a simple beaded necklace held by a string, clasping it with her two hands to her chest as she wept for him. Anish had read the mood quickly and stopped celebrating. Darshan went over with a pendant and chanted a prayer over Prayan's body, performing some sort of Kyrati last rites for his body.

When Ajay judged they had more a less settled down he ordered the two, Darshan and Anish to carry the tiger's body on a stretcher to their intended location, Ajay carried Prayan's body on his back.

"Urgh! Ajay! Why do we have to carry to tiger?" Anish complained.

"You want to carry dead Prayan?" He asked in return. Somehow Anish got a little discouraged by the idea. It was superstitious to hold a corpse perhaps. Ajay didn't make Maya carry anything except one of the packs while leaving the rest, it wasn't professional letting a woman do the dirty work. Just as they were about to move on an animal yelp came from behind the rocks. Ajay put down the corpse and went to investigate. The rest were traumatized by the tiger attack and were fearful of going in deeper. There were sounds of struggling again.

"Ajay!" Maya called out of concern.

But she and the rest didn't have to worry as he returned and in his hand was a little surprise.

A white tiger cub, only a few months old possibly the cub to the tiger he killed was dangling from his grip as he held it by the back of its neck.

"Here, hold him. We're bringing it back later." He said as he threw the corpse over his back once more and continued walking.

"Ah!- Should we?" Maya wasn't sure about bringing it out of its lair.

"It will die anyway if we don't take it, the choice is yours." Ajay led them once more along the preplanned route to the designated location vertically above the stronghold. Throughout the trip Ajay did not complain once as opposed to Anish. He took turns with them dragging the tiger on the stretcher, thank god it was a straight road going down slop or else it would have been nearly impossible to carry it.

The tiger cub made no attempt to escape from Maya's arms, realizing that its only means of survival was to depend on them now that its mother was killed.

At last they reached their destination almost one hundred and sixty metres above their target, Ajay placed the corpse gently against the rock wall and the two collapsed from exhaustion once again.

"'Huff' 'Huff' We should have just left Prayan back there then you could have helped us carry the tiger, three men instead of two!" Anish sprouted nonsense again and earned a slap from his superior.

"Not another word!"

"Shhhh! Do you idiots want to compromise our position after all the effort coming up here?" Ajay warned them as they were directly above the stronghold presently swarming with Golden Path fighters.

The three quieten down and rested once more.

Ajay took out his camera to observe the stronghold, actively taking pictures while the rest were trying to restore their strength. Maya had to admit he was a hard working fellow, but why was carrying the tiger's body necessary.

She approached him after he had finished recceing with photo shots.

"What do you intend to do with the tiger's carcass?" She asked him straight.

"To sell it….." Maya felt a temper boil up inside of her like none had ever seen.

-You want to sell it after it took one of my friends?!-

"… How else am I gonna compensate his family?"

"Eh?" Instantly Maya's rage vanished.

"That thing is probably worth what….two-three hundred grand American? That should at least cover his families living for a decade or two here!"

Maya was too astounded to say anything. He was not going to claim the reward for killing one of the most infamous beast in all of Kyrat but was intending to send the proceeds to his wife and child instead. It should have been his right to have it in the first place as much as she grieved her friend's passing but he was passing away a fortune for the victims of Prayan's death.

"Ah! If I remember there's also a reward for killing it, talk about double bonus! I guess his family won't need to work on the fields for much longer, eh?!" Ajay laughed out loud.

"Why?..." Maya trembled.

"Hmmm?"

"Why are you doing such a thing? Are you taking pity on Prayan? Are you looking down on him for being so sorry?!" She lashed out at him. Ajay looked at her and spoke calmly.

"I do feel sorry for him." He said and continued. "This whole excursion was my idea to begin with, and it had gotten him killed in the end! How can I not make amends for it?" His point of view startled Maya once again.

Maya started to have complicated feelings about Ajay now, she thought he was initially a spoilt child looking for adventure to please King Min, arrogant in his attitude. Yet he thought about the consequences of his actions and was willing to do all he could to make up for it the best he could. The thought of plotting against him completely vanished from her, after all the fright that had happened today she was still recovering from the most eventful day she had just undergone.

Maya didn't know was words to convey to him, her head was in pain. The tiger cub looked up licking her chin from where she held it, all her negative thoughts diminished and she turned her attention to the cub again.

"Um…. Could we at least have a cut from the tiger's profits?" Anish asked timidly. Ajay chuckled.

"That'll depend on your performance later!"

* * *

Night had fallen over all of Kyrat, the stronghold had lit it's torches and turned on its lamps. Ajay and the hunters had a quick meal from the MRE's he brought along. Maya begun to have a growing attachment to the tiger cub, she fed it most of her portions in the meal. Since it was process meat it was technically ok.

The night patrol details had already taken over the day guards allowing them to have their meals before sleep.

It was time to take action with use of the night as cover. Ajay disassembled the bags Maya carried and took out four pairs of night vision goggles he got from the armory. Handing it to each of them to wear.

Anish secured the ropes to rappel down off, he was especially eager to prove himself to Ajay to get entitled to a portion of the lump sum waiting for him. Maya scorned him while Darshan looked the same as always, Ajay ever wondered if the man ever said anything or expressed himself. He seemed to be almost high all the time, even though he contributed quite heavily as Ajay asked him to.

"Ready!" Anish whispered so as not to alert the guards.

"Darshan, maintain overwatch." Ajay told the crack head, the man grinned so he wasn't sure if it was a yes or no.

"Maya, let go of the cub!" Ajay told her. She seemed reluctant to part from her new friend.

Ajay sighed and went to his bags he left behind retrieving a cloth. He wrapped the cub and slung it around Darshan so that it was snug and wouldn't roam about.

"No problem, right?" He gave Darshan a thumbs up.

Maya went to take her position by the ledge with Anish.

"Finally, some action!" Anish was raring to go after being made as a travelling mule for half a day.

"Bipin! Come in, are you there?" Ajay called out on his mobile.

*Yeah! Yeah! I'm here, Ajay! What do you need?*

"In the back of the SUV you'll find a rocket launcher. I want you to fire it sixty degrees to the South-East. In sixty seconds starting from…..now! After that, head to the stronghold in five minutes. Out!"

*Ok! I'll do it! Stay safe ok?*

Ajay put away the mobile phone and attached his harness to the rope Anish attached to the rocks. He waited a while.

Bipin fired the rocket launcher and an illumination round went off in the distance. The on duty guards responded with a small group assembled on a jeep sent out to investigate the flat land where it was lit above.

"Alright, here we go, in….3…..2…1….go!" The three of them rappelled down the lines towards the highest roof of the stronghold.

No one suspected a thing when they touched down upon the roof quietly. Ajay screwed on his suppressor onto the sidearm he was carrying, he'd lost the rifle to the tiger so he had to make do. Although he could leave the ammo there making his trip easier without the assault rifle ammo and lighter.

"We'll go for the power box. Anish go for the sniper nest, Maya you go for the alarm box." Ajay gave his orders and they split up. He wasn't sure how they fared separately but he was confident they could maintain stealth.

He passed the lamps through the darkness and on to the generator where he cut the wires on it. Instantly the lights went out in all of the locations. Power outages were common in Kyrat so one of two soldiers would automatically go to fix the generator. He left a trip mine near the generator while he went to the barracks full of sleeping men, placing a C4 charge inside the room and closed the doors.

He regrouped with the two after they had accomplished their tasks. "What now?" Maya asked.

"Two more things, kill the stronghold commandant and the patrol they sent out."

"I'll take the care of the sentries on the walls." Anish volunteered.

"That just leaves the commandant." Ajay said.

"Guess it's settled then." Maya added in.

Ajay and Maya carefully climbed the steps to the commandant's office. There were torches lighting his room from the window. Ajay and Maya stood on either side of the door ready to storm the room. Ajay moved the door open silently with his silenced handgun raised, but he did not anticipate his adversary would detect foul play so quickly. The commandant slammed the door on his body from behind the door and Ajay lost the grip on his pistol. The commandant proceeded to send a wild haymaker towards his jaw, which Ajay countered with a cross elbow and jab to his throat to silence him. Grabbing his hand had spinning him onto the floor but the Commandant crushed the table with his body causing a racket.

But the Commandant was a large man and wrestled with him on the ground nearly overpowering Ajay. The Commandant reached out for a fountain pen to stab Ajay in the throat as he was held down by the Commandant's body weight.

Ajay struggled to fight back against the point of the pen facing his chest. (Crack) And the Commandant fell to his side motionless, Maya had cracked his skull with the wooden stump of the table.

"Thanks."

"No worries!"

The trip mines he set near the generators path got set off and killed the unfortunate mechanic. This woke everyone from their slumber.

"Attackers in the perimeter! Sound help! Wake up the Commander!" Someone shouted from the barracks.

-Shit.-

Ajay pressed the detonator to the C4 he left in the barracks. A huge explosion engulfed the barracks and anyone caught in it died instantly. Although some made it out from responding faster to the call.

"Let's kill them before the patrol comes back!" Maya nodded her head and followed closely with her rifle raised.

"Commander-!" Some fighters had come up to inform the Commandant and await his orders only to stare down the barrels of Maya's assault rifle as she peppered them with auto fire.

"There! Intruder on the wall!" The Golden Path fighters who guarded the roads inside the perimeter caught sight of Anish dispatching the last of the sentries up on the walls and pinned him down with automatic fire.

Taking opportunity of their distraction, Ajay and Maya attacked the unsuspecting guards with their backs turned.

"We're is the Commander?!"

"Why aren't the lights turning on?!"

"The alarms been cut!"

"Oh god! We're doomed!"

All the golden path fighters panicking voices were music to his ears. He no longer went the stealthy approach and went in guns blazing. The fighters noticed him as he converged onto them. Firing his handgun at a few with potshots as he used the running momentum to impale a fighter with his kukri. A few fighters appeared from a blind spot, so Ajay turned the dead body towards them and pulled the pin on a lodged grenade before kicking the dead man towards their direction.

The explosion from the grenade killed them all. Ajay turned to another group rounded up behind sandbags and fired his pistol with aimed shots, the men dropped like flies before Ajay's true aim and all but two remained. The last two in the entire base.

Looking upon the fierce appearances of Ajay, Maya and Anish who joined them they instantly gave up all intentions of fighting.

"W-We surrender! (Bang) Aurrgh!" Ajay gunned down one of them and turned to the other. "Wait! Wait! Please, I have a family!"

Ajay lowered his pistol as he walked towards the submissive fighter. "I'm sure you do, but you know what? So did they!" Ajay stabbed his kukri into the man's temple all the way through the other end.

Ajay and the two walked to the roof, just on time the patrol vehicle had returned. Seeing the fire in the stronghold from the exploded Barracks they rushed back immediately.

"Hey! Look what I found!" He carried a rocket launcher over to them. He passed it to Ajay who placed it on his shoulder and aimed it at the incoming patrol jeep, but then he lowered the launcher.

"Maya, do you want to take the honors of reopening Yuma's Stronghold?" Ajay smiled as he held the launcher in front of her.

Maya was genuinely surprised but in a good way, she smiled back with a heartwarming feeling it made Ajay stumble from seeing such a beautiful smile.

The patrol jeep blared the car horn for them to open the gates still oblivious to the situation inside. Maya took up the launcher and aimed it at the jeep. She depressed the trigger igniting the rocket and it flew to its final destination, which was the driving compartment of the jeep.

The patrol jeep exploded into flames, there by ending the Golden Paths control over Ratu Gadhi and the end for the counter attack on the North-east protected regions. Ajay and the hunters had single handedly ended the offensive capabilities of the Golden Path across King's bridge.

* * *

Bipin rode the SUV up to the gates of the Ratu gadhi stronghold, from far in the dark he could see the fire from inside and was genuinely worried for Ajay's safety but also his sister's.

"Ahoy there!" Ajay called out from the wall with a smile plastered to his face.

"A-Ajay! Did you manage to take down this entire Stronghold yourself?!"

"Of course not. I had the hunters! Anish! Open the gate!"

"Aye sir!" Anish pulled the lever to release the complex mechanisms that powered the gate, the doors creaked open slowly.

Bipin drove in and bore witness to the carnage that Ajay and his sister's group had delivered upon the stronghold, his mouth refuse to close.

The Stronghold that was declared Nye impossible to capture without at least a battalion of soldiers was taken overnight by six men.

Bipin got out of the SUV and walked towards Ajay whom he saw talking casually with his sister Maya. Bipin was starting to become more baffled by the minute, didn't his sister despise him yet now she was having a normal conversation, even showing off her beautiful smile to him. What the hell happened?

"Ah!- Bipin! Good job!" Ajay turned to Bipin.

Maya ran over to embrace him. "It's good to see you're ok!"

"I should be saying the same to you, how in the world did you take down a stronghold on your own? I just find it hard to believe even now!" Bipin shared his doubts.

"Common strategy in defense is to use the terrain as defense, for this case it's the mountain Cliffside the stronghold used to cover the rear. So when they were posted to guard the place, they were confident no one would attack them there, so they devoted all the energy into protecting the flanks and front."

"A-Ah!-" Was all Bipin managed to say as Ajay went lightning speed on his explanation.

"You were quite essential in getting their attention to the front with the illumination round, thereby heightening their guard to the front. While we rappelled down the cliff, there was a possibility of being spotted by a random patrol but not if all faces turn to the sudden bright light!"

"Ohhh!" Bipin understood now. "So what now?"

"Call communications and tell them Ratu Gadhi has returned under Royal Army control! Kudos to Yuma's hunters." Ajay said as he walked to the generator to fix his recent sabotage.

Bipin turned to his sister for answers. "Don't look at me, you have a job. Be quick about it!" Bipin froze for a while and quickly went to the comms room where the antenna was.

Maya went over to where Ajay was, the latter was reconnecting the wires he cut and checking the condition of the generator. His experience as an automotive mechanic granted him the ability to make it work.

Maya sat by the crates as Ajay was working, he was preoccupied to entertain her at present.

"It's really been an eventful day today, Ajay. I wonder if every day working with you would end up like this! It'll be tiring, yes! But, probably unforgettable, I might even crave for the excitement after we're done!" She laughed naturally.

"….."

"Hey, Ajay…"

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry for all the things I said…. And…. Thank you-… for saving me!" Maya said it this time with a genuine smile.

"….No worries!"

With the generator fixed Bipin could send a message to the Communications back in the headquarters, they were sending a group of guards by helicopter and would be inbound any minute.

Ajay took this time to slowly lower the corpse of Prayan and the Tiger's dead body down the cliff. Darshan came down after all the remaining equipment was lowered, Maya removed the cub from the sling. It seemed that it was all she really cared about as she played with it.

Bipin stared at the Tigresses carcass wide eyed. If capturing a stronghold wasn't enough, there was the legendary Sky-tiger lying dead before him. He rested his body against the wall of a hovel to manage the dizzy spell he was having. The kind of accomplishments they were having in just one day, there was no way this couldn't escape the ears of the people or the propaganda department for that matter.

Anish bragged to Bipin concerning the method that was used to kill the white tiger.

His heart dropped from his chest into a deep pit. Turning to Ajay who was scratching the itchiness behind his ear.

-Just what kind of monster is he?!-

Ajay noticed Bipin had returned.

"Ajay, I've sent the message. The reserve troops sent to become the new garrison will be in bound."

"Good! We'll stick around until then, help me organize the intel in the commandant's office to find out what the Golden Path have been up to." Ajay gave him his next task, he was surprised at his efficiency and focus regarding the situation instead of celebrating like he should be.

"Yes, Ajay!" Bipin went up the steps to the Commandant's office.

Ajay dragged the bodies to the centre square of the stronghold where he gathered all the bodies, Darshan and Anish did the same to clean up the place without being asked to. After they were almost done, Anish went over to Ajay.

"So Ajay, what do you think about our performance?" Ajay deadpanned to Anish.

-This fella only thinks about money, well I guess that's alright! But if he takes it too far…..-

"You've earned it!" He told him.

Anish couldn't hide his excitement and zipped around dancing but went back to diligently finish up with the bodies.

Soon they could hear the distant chopping sound of the helicopters coming, it was still midnight so Ajay wasn't expecting them to come this fast. As the choppers entered visible range of their markings, Ajay knew why they were early.

"Anish. Call Maya and Bipin over immediately! ASAP!"

"Uh- Oh! Ok!" Anish replied before running off. The first chopper landed and out came the protection Royal guards who stood in a defensive formation awaiting the landing of the second chopper holding the guest of honor.

Maya appeared with her younger brother. "You called us? What's the matter, Ajay?"

Ajay didn't answer them verbally, instead he motioned his head towards the chopper who had just landed. The doors slide open and out of the passenger compartment came Pagan. The hunters were taken by surprise by the arrival of such a high level person, the head of state.

Pagan walked towards Ajay smiling, he lifted his arms emphasizing the feat which Ajay had achieved here.

"""Your Highness!""" The hunters saluted him crisply, he waved a quick return and looked to Ajay again.

"Hahahaha! Ajay, my boy! You really know how to take the breath out of me dear boy!"

"I wasn't expecting you here so soon." Ajay grinned.

"Did you really think I'd not be watching out for you, Ajay? Besides, what else can I do in the palace?" Pagan chuckled.

"….."

"Ohhh myy! What have we here?" Pagan noticed the majestic tiger's carcass.

"And I suppose you did this as well?" Pagan smiled through his teeth.

"Nope. It was him!" Ajay pointed to the dead corpse of Prayan.

The hunters were stunned by Ajay's claim, because it obviously wasn't the case but they couldn't say anything. Maya realized he was probably trying to set a good image for Prayan to his family and King Min.

"Ohohoho! For me? What a loyal subject! His king is truly blessed that he'd give his life to present me the gift of a new Tiger jacket!" Pagan, too use to taking things laid claim to the tiger's fur.

Maya couldn't believe what she held, as upset as she was that the king was taking the prize which was supposed to fund Prayan's family she sure as hell couldn't convince the king to spare a few coins.

"Actually, this tiger belongs to his family! You see if he hadn't been there I'd be mauled by the tiger, Pagan." Ajay said it without a hint of tension.

"Oh! So the tiger fur wasn't for me?"

Ajay laughed at Pagan, that's when the hunters were truly afraid. He had the audacity to deny the king and laugh at it.

"No! No! No! Pagan, I have another surprise in store for you! I'm sure you might quite like it!" Pagan's temporary frown turned upside down into a contented smile.

"Really?...Do tell!"

* * *

It was early in the morning, sunrise and the newly arrived convoy of Golden Path fighters were eager to enter the frontlines. Sitting in the passenger seat of one of the trucks in the troop convoy was Amita. In the Golden Path, Amita's faction had made considerable progress where Sabal failed twice in getting Ajay Ghale and assassinating Pagan. When he entered the HQ with the bandages wrapped around his face, Amita laughed her head off. But soon stopped when Sabal revealed to her a frightening side of him to her, she avoided all contact with him after. And that was why she was out in the front where the action was. Two days ago, her fighters had taken Ratu Gadhi stronghold. It was a significant victory for the Golden Path as it over-watched the region around the King's Bridge, the only way through to the North-East Royal Army controlled territories. She was now on her way to lead the counter offensive against Pagan's forces from this fortress.

Already in the lead of supporters, she had nothing much to worry about Sabal hampering her ambitions unless she screwed up this one and lost control of the offensive.

"We should be there in a few minutes!" Her driver informed her.

"Mmmm!"

"Didn't think this day would come, to take the fight to Pagan is what our predecessors have long dreamed of!" Exclaimed the driver happily.

"Neither did I, if we weren't mucking about those old statues this day would have happened a lot sooner!"

"Umm…I'm not really sure about that Amita! If Sabal hear-!"

"Sabal is a vessel for long dead wishes! The Golden Path needs to get out of the stone age of tradition and culture or there won't be anything left after we retake the country!" Amita shouted.

"My subordinates did a good job at capturing Ratu Gadhi days ago. I'll need to congratulate him when we get there, this is a turning point for the Golden Path and for my faction!" Amita was content with the way things were going.

As the stronghold entered in sight and the convoy was on the road heading to the gate of the stronghold, the driver horned the guards inside that they had arrived.

(Crack) (Splat) The wind shield was smashed and splatted with a red blood stain.

"Huh?" Things happened too quickly as she looked up to see her driver had been shot by a heavy slug to the face causing his head to explode and the gore stained the seats and trickled onto Amita's face.

She screamed and reached for the steering wheel as the truck began to tip to the side and crashed overturned. The passengers in the back were flung from their seats around in the compartment, some were knocked unconscious others suffered fractured bones. Being the lead vehicle in the convoy it naturally stopped it as the trucks hit the brakes to behind and next to the crashed truck. Men and women got out of the trucks to check if they were alright, still oblivious to what had actually happened. One reached to ply the passenger seat door to check if Amita was still alright.

"Amita! Are you alright-!" (Splat) The person who checked on her had his head explode too as a high-velocity shell passed through it.

"Ambush!" Amita warned her oblivious comrades to the danger that was present.

"What's happening?!"

"I dunno, did she just say ambu- Fuurrghh!" Another got hit by the shots

"Tulasi!- Ambush! Enemy in the open!"

The Golden Path warriors in the convoy started to get wary and get out of the vehicles and draw their weapons.

"Where's it coming from?!"

"There!"

"But that's the stronghold!"

"What? You don't think-…!"

Just as the fighter had thought of the correct answer. Rifle flashes came from the walls of the Stronghold at them.

Bullets started to rain onto the convoy.

"Enemy in the stronghold! Fire back!"

"What?! I thought we captured it recently?!"

"Who cares, just shoot!" Indiscriminant fire laced the air in the direction of the stronghold but the range of the assault rifles was not as effective from three hundred metres away. But they still fired hoping their comrades would bring up heavier weapons like the machine guns to support them.

The Golden Path Fighters struggles to put up a fight, several capable commanders regrouped them and formed a firing line to cover the rest of the convoy.

Unfortunately, they had not expected the next form of attack which came in the form of howling bombs. A mortar was present in the Stronghold and it was used to great effect against the bunched up fighters. Shells were lobed into the convoy supply trucks as well, one carrying high explosives ignited into a massive fireball taking out anyone near it.

The fighters and commanders had no choice but to fight where they were, they were out in the open fields that surrounded Ratu Gadhi so there was no available ground cover. To retreat would sustain heavy casualties as well.

Amita came out of the wreckage apparently shell shocked by the events that took place around her, the screaming, explosions and bullets cutting down her soldiers. It wasn't a losing battle, it was a massacre!

"Amita! My group is providing support fire have the rear fall back orderly!" The field commander told her as she was a strategic commander and not one involved in combat.

"How could it turn out like this…" Amita still had trouble accepting the reality of her situation.

"Amita!"

"Y-Yes?..."

"Fall back-(Splat)." As he was telling her to leave a bullet passed through his neck and killed him instantly and the blood splattered against her face once more. Amita fell on her back in shock at the sheer brutality of the killings that were happening.

Those precise shots that killed her driver of the lead vehicle to stop the convoys' approach, slowly picking off the commanders in the field and heavy weapons soldiers all came from the same shooter.

That shooter was Ajay, firing high-caliber slugs from the anti-material rifle on top of the wall three hundred and fifty metres away from the convoy. Maya provided spotter intel on targets of opportunity. Next to them were the Royal guards from Pagan's escort firing the machine guns at the convoy and suppressing the firing line of fighters.

The Golden Path fighters were losing comrades left and right to the combined firepower of the garrison and the mortar fire manned by more Royal guards. And just as things couldn't get any worse a helicopter flew out from the protective walls of the stronghold towards them.

The helicopter approached them and turned to the side exposing a minigun and wielding it was none other than Pagan Min!

"Hahaha! Have at you, shit-throwing monkeys!" Pagan taunted maniacally as he depressed the trigger unleashing a three thousand round per minute hail of lead at the convoy and shredding the unprotected Fighters standing behind the trucks.

The appearance of Pagan's helicopter gunship shattered the morale of the fighters and they began to run, every man for themselves. Regardless of the strict orders from the experience commanders who were lessening due to the crack shot Ajay was.

Seeing the hopelessness in the situation the next field commander ordered some men to take Amita away before she got killed by a stray round. Several men dragged her hollow shell away from the killing field.

Moments later the same commander lost his life to Ajay's .50 caliber shot. Ajay zeroed the scope onto the group carrying Amita. Through the crosshairs he could see the shattered expression on Amita's emotionless face.

"That's right, I want you to suffer…" He murmured as he released his finger from the trigger allowing her to flee back to Banapur.

The intelligence from the commandant's office on the roster told him a large convoy was inbound early in the morning, it also informed him who was the Commander due to arrive.

This was his gift to Pagan, a turkey shoot of unsuspecting Golden Path fighters fresh to the field. And Pagan couldn't be happier as his minigun tore away at the fleeing fighters.

"Running away are we? I think not!" Pagan cackled from the troop compartment in the helicopter as he spun the Gatling gun at the defeated Golden Path warriors.

"This is the best gift, Ajay! EVERRR!"


	5. Chapter 5 - Third Parties

The retaking of the Stronghold at Ratu Gadhi became news that reach every corner of Kyrat, for the Golden Path it was the most devastating lost yet and for the Royal Army and citizens under their protection it was a crushing victory. It meant that the North-East region would no longer be hounded by further attacks. And the author of this audacious operation was Mistress Yuma who dispatched her Royal Guard Hunters to perform the grueling task. Merely six were sent to take the fortress on their own, if anything sounded impossible it was that they accomplished their task sustaining a single loss. Rumors were that King Min had personally participated in the defense of the stronghold against the Golden Path which sought to retake the stronghold.

Other news that wasn't as exhilarating were the death of the 'sky-tiger' by a Royal Guard named Prayan at the cost of his life. There was also a small portion with the article writing 'Have you seen this man?' A portrait of himself was present in it. Ajay Ghale to be precise.

Ajay chuckled at the glorification done by the propaganda department on the newspapers.

"Something funny?" Mr Chiffon asked as he did the measuring.

"No, nothing! But to think that this satchel is worth a hundred thousand!-"

"It's not a just bag, Ajay! It's an accessory to Combat Couture! If the materials are worth that much then I can't imagine how much more it's worth with my handiwork in place, millions perhaps! Besides, with the entire carcass I could even fashion His Royal Highness the jacket he always wanted."

Just as Ajay had stated the value of the carcass, Pagan had actually offered to buy the carcass from Prayan's family for four hundred thousand. What Pagan did with the carcass was have it sent to Mr Chiffon to have him do his jacket and more. Mr. Chiffon with access to this new addition to materials had some used in his 'Combat couture' collection which was worn by Ajay, his model and advertiser.

Maya and Ajay helped settle the transaction as he would send her the money to deliver to the wife of Prayan. When Pagan handed Ajay the money the former winked at him, he probably guessed it was actually Ajay that took it out but did not question why he took such an approach. In the end the Tiger's carcass belonged to him so he could do what he wanted with it.

Pagan knocked to announce his entry. "Ajay, boy! I heard you're going out after this, can I talk with you for a minute?"

"I'll be right there! Mr. Chiffon, we'll stop for the day, shall we?"

"Of course, Ajay! Go, don't keep his royal highness waiting…."

"Stay safe, Ajay. Oh! And remember, be fierce!" Mr Chiffon left him his signature adieu when he left the tailor's quarters.

One of the perks in having a personal tailor of Mr. Chiffon's quality, all the clothes were just right without discomforts anywhere. If it suffered a tear which was rare Mr. Chiffon would mend it, he was ok with Ajay being rough with the clothing because it gave it the war torn look.

Ajay went to the balcony where he found Pagan often having tea at.

"Hope I didn't take too long, is there anything you need me to do?" Ajay offered his services.

"Good man, Ajay! That's just the response I wanted to hear!"

Ajay took a seat across Pagan. "Well?"

"It's a rather tricky situation we have concerning arms, my dear boy!"

Ajay raised an eyebrow.

"It appears we're beginning to run dry on our weapon stockpiles."

-What?! Since when were the arms running out?-

"That's not the worst of it, our dear supplier has turn-coated. The cunt joined the Golden Path supplying them with weapons supposed to be in the Royal Guard armories. At this rate, we'll be fighting them with a pointed stick while they wield mil-spec weapons!"

Pagan expressed a moment of anger that could kill the traitorous Arms dealer with his gaze alone.

"That doesn't sound like a very enterprising thing to do for an arms dealer!" Ajay expressed his thoughts.

"Exactly! That was just what I was thinking! I pay him good hard cash….. sometimes in rubies! What does he expect those Golden Path monkeys to pay him in, twigs and dirt?!"

-Of course not, there's some foul play going on. I'll need to investigate!-

"So anyway, after proving you're such a capable lad back then with the stronghold I was wondering if you could help us out with the weapons shortage we have at the moment!"

"Be happy to help! In fact, I have rough idea of who might be willing to supply us arms for the time being!"

"Oh!...Really?" Pagan was delighted instantly that Ajay had a solution.

"Really! Just leave it to me!" Ajay assured him.

"I will! I can't tell you how delighted I am to hear you take the initiative in running the show!"

Ajay chuckled. "Alright, I shan't keep you from your day to day activities! Go on now!"

Ajay walked out of the shaded balcony just stopping shy of the door.

"There's just one thing…."

"Yes?"

"This arms dealer is a little eccentric and that includes his mode of payment."

"I'd give him anything at this rate, rhino horns, crack, fucking diamonds!"

-Close.-

"He might accept if it's conflict diamonds! He has a certain policy of working for the underdog see! So I'll just show him we're not doing so well at the moment."

"Conflict diamonds you say…. I do have a few of those things lying around somewhere…. Need to get some from Yuma later…." Ajay looked at Pagan meaningfully.

"Don't stress yourself over nothing, I'll handle it so just relax!"

"Hehe! Alright!...Now go quickly before I find someone else to do it!"

"Aye aye!" Ajay left for the armory.

Pagan was alone in the balcony, looking out the window.

"Go get'em kid!..."

* * *

Ajay came down to the armory in the basement where he found Maya waiting for him by the door.

"Morning, Ajay!" She said with a bright smile.

"Good Morning!" Ajay replied. It was a sharp contrast to three days ago where if looks could kill he'd be dead on first glance from her.

Ajay raised a cloth bag to her and jingled it to hint what was inside.

"Ah!- The money, you got it already?"

He tossed it to her as he made his way to the armorer to request some firearms and a kukri.

"So what's the plan today?" She asked him.

"Do I have documentation from Yuma yet?" He asked about the written order from Yuma.

"Uhhh-…."

"Figures." Yuma must intend for their cooperation to remain off the books.

Maya was now feeling awkward because she couldn't perform the one job he asked.

"Where are the rest?" He changed the subject.

"Um. Anish and Darshan went on leave. Bipin stayed over at the orphanage."

-There's this orphanage I keep hearing about, I'll need to pay a visit sometime.-

"That's a shame, I'll be giving his share to Prayan's wife." Maya giggled at his bullying of Anish's love for money.

"Morning, Ajay! The usual?" The armorer returned to the shop.

"Morning, Samar. Yes, same as usual!" He informed the armorer.

"So I still haven't heard what you intend to do!" Maya inquired today's activities.

"Here you go!" Samar the armorer passed over his kukri and customized pistol and a new AK rifle with all the appropriate ammo.

"Thanks, Samar."

"Anytime." The armorer waved.

Ajay turned to Maya to answer her queries.

"I have a job to do for Pagan first, then I'll meet with Prayan's wife. Is that ok?"

Maya nodded. Ajay slung his rifle after holstering the other weapons and ammo.

"Then let's finish this job as quickly as possible."

"Mmm! By the way, who was the buyer?" She let curiosity get the better of her.

* * *

In the jeep they were riding Maya remained perfectly quiet in the passenger seat.

She was stunned due to learning who had purchase the Sky-tiger's carcass off him.

"Is it that frightening?"

"That is a nightmare! I wouldn't even dare to do such a thing! That's like bargaining with the devil!" Maya expressed her shock to which Ajay chuckled.

"Is that how he looks? I wonder what kind of impressions people have of him then!"

"Uh- I didn't mean it like that! We're grateful to his highness for watching over us, although-."

"Let's just say he's scary shall we! There are several things he's done of questionable nature that makes him a tyrant." Ajay answered for her. "But to tell you the truth that's not what I see in Pagan." Maya wondered what he meant as she paid attention.

"What I see in Pagan is a torn man, who lost the love of his life and the product of that love! When he lost the things most precious to him, everything else seems trivial or worthless. He used his anger as an excuse to do what he wanted, but the consequences he really didn't care. If it killed him at least he wouldn't have to live another second in this wretched world."

As Ajay told Maya part of his analysis of Pagan's drive she shuddered to think of the lonely life the king must have endured.

"Then it seemed that he found his peace in watching over me, hoping he'd be able to at least redeem part of his soul for all the terrible things he did over the years."

"That-…..Sounds tragic!" Maya worked up the courage to say.

"It is, but I'm not about to let him fall! That's why the Golden Path needs to go!" He said with determination in his voice.

Maya looked at Ajay deeply.

-So that's why you want to destroy the Golden Path. To save his poor wretched soul.-

"I've also done some things of questionable nature, things I'm not proud of. That's why I kind of understand him." Ajay confessed.

Ajay had done equally horrible things, Maya couldn't imagine. But then, that might be justified with his abilities and prowess in combat despite only arriving two weeks ago.

"You're not as bad as you say, Ajay! Even now you plan to hand over the fortune of your kill to the victim's family." Ajay had a quick glance to see Maya smiling brightly at him.

"Thanks Maya…."

"Your welcome."

Ajay continued to drive deep into the valley, he had actually passed the King's bridge and was technically within the Golden Path territory.

"Where are we going?"

"An arms dealer that stays here." Ajay into an old ranch that was converted into a target range.

Ajay and Maya got out of the jeep and walked towards the only shack that was in the area.

"Now I need to warn you he's a bit….. weird! But likeable! Or so I heard from a friend!" He made the last part sound less like he actually knew the man.

"I dunno about that, the way you describe him sounds dubious!" Maya said as she strained her eyes at him.

As Ajay reached the door he opened it for Maya. "Ladies first!"

"That would be you!" Maya didn't like how she was sent in first.

-Ouch!- Ajay chuckled defeated and went in before her.

Sitting against a pile of crates reading a bible while wielding a submachine gun was Longinus.

"Welcome! I am Longinus!"

"Ajay Ghale!" Ajay introduced himself.

"Ajay? The Ajay?"

"The one and only!"

"Welcome Ajay! To my church…. away from church!

"That sells guns?" Maya said surprised.

"Of course! For the meek shall inherit the earth, my friend! All they need are some good guns." Longinus exaggerated with his two hands like a preacher to Maya and his weapon crates.

Maya gave a brief glance to Ajay wondering if he was really going to deal with this nutcase.

"Revelation 5:5…It is the most… invigorating read!" Longinus gestured to his guns.

"And on the elders sayeth onto me, Weep not: behold, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David hath prevailed to open the book, and loose the seven seals thereof!"

"What the-.." Maya barely finished her swear as Longinus continued his sermon.

"It is our savor! It is our savior returned to us as a lion, a warrior!... So, I started thinking to myself. When the Son of God is reborn, what gun would he use?"

"Wh-What-?"

"When Christ returns to break the seven seals and bring about the rapture, he returns as a lion yes? A lion needs teeth!"

He walked to his gun rack. "What gun would Jesus choose?"

"What makes you so sure Jesus needs guns to get the job done?" Ajay posed him that question.

Longinus turned around about to continue on but stopped halfway to think about what Ajay said.

"Mmmm… didn't think about that!" Maya wanted to drop backwards at Longinus doubting of his own faith.

"Sure, Jesus might not need guns, but the same can't be said for his followers!"

Longinus banged the table. "Exactly!...Exactly! To give the sheep the means to guard against wolves, they need guns!"

"Well, we have that particular herd of sheep in need of guns!"

"Really, and who might they be?"

"The Royal Army." Longinus spat on the floor upon hearing that name from Ajay.

"More like a pack of wolves wearing sheep's clothing!" He snorted.

"Are you sure that's the case? Or are your eyes so clouded that you mixed the truly helpless with those who seem like they're the really helpless!" Ajay's play with words caused contradictions to form in Longinus's head.

"What are you trying to say?!"

"I'm saying you're supporting the wrong side, but you wouldn't know! You're here only looking to redeem yourself of that past 'business'!" Longinus stormed towards Ajay and grabbed him by the collar.

"How do you know of such things?! I have told no one of such!" Longinus interrogated him, Maya tried to separate them but Ajay waved her not to.

"A vision!"

"A….vision?" Longinus blinked when he said so.

"Yes! A vision led me here. To the man that had done wrong but was saved by a bullet and baptized under the Goka Falls!" Longinus stared at him with disbelief at the things he had just said, no one knew of his past, no one except god.

-Thank god I remember his history! How could I forget after he preached them day after day! Urgh!-

Suddenly Longinus looked at Ajay with sparkling eyes. "It is true…It is true! The lord has watched over me and my work!" He proclaimed. "Praise be to his name!" Longinus knelt weeping tears of joy at Ajay's feet.

-God forgive me.-

Longinus wiped his tears away and placed his hands on Ajay's arms.

"What does the lord require of me?"

"The lord doesn't require anything, I was just given directions."

"Then what is the path which you must walk? What need is there of my guns? There is much to be desired from the Royal Army and Pagan! What is it you seek?"

"To become king!" Ajay got too caught up in Longinus's pace that he unveiled his true intentions, a slip of his tongue. Maya looked at Ajay with widen eyes.

"To become king, Mmm?…many have tried few have succeeded! Do you truly seek to become king…..or a puppet?" Longinus casted a doubtful look on Ajay.

Longinus continued to stare long and hard at him, to discern his true character. Ajay had to admit, he may be crazy but he was vastly intelligent. "You're worried of Pagan."

"How could I not be? That man is a devil! So the Golden Path tells."

"But the devil was once a man. And the one who turned him was them!" Longinus was surprised at what Ajay said as he continued. "My purpose of becoming king is to save him from himself and free Kyrat from the shackles of tradition! This Civil War has gone on long enough, I intend to put an end to it. And to do that I need to do unspeakable atrocities to achieve this goal, few die for the many.

You speak of Pagan as a tyrant, and a cruel man he is. But he's only human, but right now….. he's trying to redeem himself by restoring Kyrat to its natural order. Longinus, doesn't that sound like someone you know?" Ajay meant him and he knew it, Longinus took in all that Ajay said to him as he looked down deep in though fighting his contradictions.

"What's the point in seeking forgiveness if you can't even forgive others, Longinus." Longinus looked up at him shocked but also enlightened by his foolish action.

"He isn't the only one to suffer from the Golden Path, when the North suffered from famine and the Golden Path prevented food from passing through because they supported Pagan. They are blind to their own people because of who stands with them! Is this something a noble cause does?

Then just recently the Royal Armies arms dealer sided with the Golden Path and the Royal Army was left without a provider of arms, I've yet to find the reason he jumped ship but I'll find out soon. So now the Royal Army is losing its ability to protect the people and the sovereignty of this Country. So tell me Longinus! Who is the meek?"

Longinus was invigorated by his speech. It wasn't just him but Maya, Ajay did not know it but he had a talent for speaking to the masses and rousting spirit. Longinus closed his eyes to think and meditate on his decision.

"You have convinced me!...Let us do… business." Longinus took a seat with Ajay.

"Let's, Pagan can pay you in various means but there is only one you seek here, isn't there." Longinus nodded his head.

"Diamonds, conflict diamonds to be precise. Fragments of the terrible 'business' you were involved in so long ago! My conditions: All related conflict diamonds that have fallen into this country in exchange for indefinite supply of arms until the end of this civil war."

It was better for Kyrat not to have them at all. It was already stained with enough evil and cruelty.

Ajay reached out his hand. "Deal?"

Longinus smiled his pearly whites and caught his hand. "Deal!"

* * *

The drive to their next destination was a quiet one between Ajay and Maya. After finishing business with Longinus, Ajay informed him to keep quiet about his existence until such time that he personally reveals it, Longinus took it as the 'lion returning' and seemed to take a liking to Maya for her attentiveness to his sermons. He coordinated a meeting area between Samar and Longinus to settle supplying of the Army from his mobile. Sending a message to Pagan as well.

*It's done! I've arranged an appointment between Samar and Longinus (Arms Dealer). *

* :-) * Pagan sent back.

* Don't kill the crazy African * Ajay sent just to make sure his sociopathic tendencies don't victimize Longinus.

* ;-) * He hoped that meant trust him.

With that errand out of the way, he hoped to visit Prayan's widow to hand over the reward money.

Maya hadn't spoken to him since his accidental confession. To be honest, he also didn't know why he exposed his plan like that to Longinus. But the end result was better, at least he didn't have to keep secrets from Longinus and their deal was clean and simple.

"I hope you can keep quiet about this as well." Ajay asked Maya.

"Huh!- O-Oh!" She obviously had something on her mind.

"What's the matter, Maya?"

"It's just-….. this all seems extremely deep, to be involved in workings this big….. I'm not sure I'm ready for it." She confided her inner thoughts.

"That's fine."

"Huh?"

"You know….. until last week I was just a son trying to return my mother's ashes next to my half-sister. Then thrusted into the chaos that is this civil war that raged on since I was a child and longer."

Ajay reminded her, he was just a person. Although he seemed strong from all the feats he had done, he was a flesh and blood human being with problems of his own too big to handle others' difficulties.

"But I take comfort knowing my work with help those around me and myself." He released a gentle smile that caught Maya off guard and she blushed.

She hastily turned away to hide it from Ajay.

"Do I turn here?" He changed to the road directions with Maya.

"Ah!- Yes!"

The jeep moved up the small mountain and came to a plateau which the village was built upon.

The village was a charming little sanctuary away from the troubles of the outside, it was so high up the mountain and had little strategic importance to the Army and Golden Path that it was ignored.

"Oh! Maya's here!" A villager announced and all faces turned towards their parked jeep.

"Welcome back, Maya!"

"So good to see you're safe!"

"How was Mistress Yuma treating you?"

"She's taking care of me, how's everyone?"

The villagers gathered around her inquiring about her absence from the village to work in the Royal Guards. Ajay figured she was like the village celebrity, though not surprising. She could win that contest with her looks alone.

Ajay was treated like an extra as he went to secure the vehicle and holster his arms. But it didn't bother him one bit, in fact it was quite refreshing from the old days. Nearly everyone knew his name and how he looked like, they also got too familiar with him even though he didn't know them. He patiently waited for the crowd to disperse around her, playing with the necklace wheel around his neck. Every time he looked at it he was reminded of the horrors he had to face every day back then and the finale. He tightened his grip over it as he recalled Sabal's mocking face.

"Sorry for that Ajay, I'm a bit of a town hero here see-….Ajay?" Maya came over to find him deep in thought.

"Huh? Did you say something?" He returned the pendant beneath his shirt.

"Is everything alright?"

"It's fine, shall we go?" Maya nodded her head and led the way in the unfamiliar village settlement.

"This place seems untouched." Ajay gave his opinion of the village.

"You're right about that, although times can be equally tough here when crops fail."

"What is this place?"

"There's no name for this village so we simple name it 'Sano Pahada' which basically translates to little mountain."

"That's still better than some places I've heard of."

Maya chuckles. "Elina lives around the block." Maya led Ajay through a maze of high walls, it gave him the impression they were used for protection, but from what?

Maya opened a gate to a small cottage house with the same high wall fence and was greeted by a little girl. "Maaaayyyaaa!" The girl ran up to her ecstatic. Maya lifted the girl onto her shoulders.

"Hello again, sprout!" Said Maya.

"Muuuuu! It's Alisha!" The girl pouted but her expression soon changed to one of happiness once more.

"Maya? Is that you?" An older woman came out of the cottage, Ajay assumed it was the widow.

"Elina… I'm sorry for your loss."

"It's alright, one day I'll get over it. But for now, all that matters now is the growth of our darling daughter!" Prayan's wife wiped the tears from her eyes. After a minute of grieving she turned her attention to the unfamiliar face.

"And who might this be?"

"You can call me Badala." The alias Ajay operated under while Ajay Ghale was listed as missing persons.

"Maya, is this by chance your boyfriend!" Elina told Maya slyly.

"Don't even get me started." Maya completely shot her down. "He's my subordinate-."

"Like hell I am!" Ajay responded almost immediately.

Elina giggled at their comedy a slight bit, the same could be said for the child called Alisha.

"Why don't you two come on in, I'll brew some hot tea and snacks." Elina invited them both into the cottage house.

After seating them at the table Elina disappeared behind the kitchen. Leaving Ajay and Maya alone.

"Hey! What was that just now?" Maya whispered to him upset by his shun.

"You being my superior? Don't make me laugh."

"You're using the alias Badala, a Royal Guard, right? I'm an officer in the Royal Guard so obviously you're my subordinate!"

"Absolutely not! When did I ever say I was in the Royal Guard? I just work with you guys, I'm more like Pagan's runner!" Ajay argued with Maya.

They stopped their debate on Ajay's pending status as they noticed the little girl giggling away at their stand-up routine.

Maya cleared her throat and introduced them to each other. "Badala this is Alisha, Alisha Badala!"

"Hi!" Ajay said. The little girls smiled back at him like a little angel.

"Are you big sis Maya's boyfriend?"

"Everyone seems to think so, is she that out of touch with guys?" Ajay said wittingly.

"Wh- Why You!" Maya kicked him on the shin causing the latter to hold his leg in pain.

"Ready, sorry for the wait!" Elina came around the corner with a tray of tea cups and Kyrati biscuits.

"It's fine! We came uninvited anyway!...Thank you!" Maya received the cup from Elina.

"Thanks." Ajay said his thanks for the tea and biscuits.

"So what brings you both here? I'm afraid this'll be the last time you'll see us here, I'm moving back with my mother and father."

"You won't need to, that's why we've come!" Maya said to her holding her hands.

"I don't understand." Elina said baffled by Maya's cheerful behavior despite the dilemma they fell into of losing the only supporter of the family.

Maya placed the cloth bag Ajay gave to her this morning on the table. "Huh?"

Maya opened the string revealing the bank notes neatly tied in bundles thrown inside. Elina received the shock of her life.

"This- Maya… I cannot accept this!" She had gotten the wrong idea that Maya had loaned the money from her mentor as it was the only plausible reason for her to possess so much cash.

"Seems she's misunderstood, I'll take it from here!" Declared Ajay.

"Ma'am…."

"Y-Yes!"

"This money comes from the reward for slaying the tiger that your husband killed but suffered mortal wounds. His last wish was for you to take it and raise his child on behalf of him and apologizes for not being there with you."

"This-….." Elina began to tear again as Maya lent her a shoulder.

"Um… Big bro? What happened to my daddy?" Alisha tugged his sleeve innocently. Ajay looked up at Elina unconsciously who gave the expression she had yet to tell her child.

Ajay's expression held warmth as he looked into those large bubbly eyes. "Come over here and I'll tell you about the story of how your father fought the 'sky-tiger'."

The girl obediently sat across him and listened carefully.

"We were travelling on the mountains to perform our mission, after a long day of climbing we took a break."

"How high was it?"

"Up into the clouds!" Alisha gasped in shock.

"That's right, so high your house wouldn't even appear as a dot from how high it was. Anyway, as tired as we were we took a long break when suddenly-….a tiger appeared right behind Maya!"

"Ohh-no!"

"But it wasn't any ordinary tiger, it was the 'sky-tiger'! The legendary beast that preyed on unsuspecting mountain travelers. Many tried to organize hunts for it, none came back from their expeditions. And here it was, right in front of us!"

Maya giggled at the way Ajay conducted his story telling as did Elina who calmed down as Ajay explained on her behalf.

"The beast was as deadly as it was beautiful, oh! If you could look upon that fur you'd be just fascinated, beautiful white fur with perfect stripes! As for us, encountering such a fearsome beast was something we least expected. So the natural reaction to a tiger at such close distance was to freeze! We all froze where we were….paralyzed by fear, completely defenseless against a hungry tiger!"

Alisha covered her eyes cutely.

"And what do you think happened?" He asked her. Alisha cocked her head not to sure.

"Your father fired his gun at the tiger."

Alisha's eyes brightened. "Daddy did that?!"

"He sure did! His challenge infuriated the tiger who was used to having prey cower before it and so the tiger turned its attention towards him!"

Alisha gasps once more.

"The tiger leaped onto him as he fought alone for his dear life wrestling with the tiger's claws and powerful jaw."

"He emptied his magazine into the tiger, but it proved resilient and landed a fatal blow on him!"

"Daddy!-"

"Your father then looked at us and understood one thing. If the tiger was allowed to live we would all be eaten." Ajay added the note of despair into the story.

"So he did the most unthinkable! The tiger who thought he would lie dying turned to Maya for another easy prey."

Alisha started to get excited. "it was going to go after Big sis Maya?!" Maya held a hint of sadness on her face as she realized that she was the cause of Prayan's death, had he not fired, it would have gone for her instead. He sacrificed himself to save her.

"Hands wrapped around the tiger's neck pulling it back towards your father as he choked the tiger with his barehands!"

"Wow!"

"The tiger struggled as it realized for the first time someone was going to kill it finally! It kicked and scratched him but he held on with his dear life, knowing if he failed we would all die!"

His dramatizing had a good effect on the girl as she seemed to come to terms that her father made a choice in sacrificing himself for his friends.

"And then finally, the tiger let out its last breath and fell beside your father motionless. Your father had killed the beast of suffering and ended the reign of future tragedies! But your father was on the verge of dying, there was no medicine that could cure his injuries in time and he expended too much energy on subduing the tiger. And that's when it appeared!"

Maya was wondering where he would lead the story to.

"What appeared?"

"Kalachakra! The wheel of time."

"Wheel of time?"

"It snatched up your father and took him on a voyage across time!"

"It took my daddy?"

"It did! It took him before we had a chance to respond, but before he was taken he threw his pendant to us and said to pass it to his daughter so that he returned he would come to find her when she grows up!"

Maya and Elina finally understood the goal of Ajay's story. Ajay had crafted a story that would allow her to live in hope she could continue her life without the warmth of her father. Elina wanted to burst into tears again but held back.

"Maya, you have the pendant don't you?"

"Ah!- Yes, I do! Come, Alisha!" Maya took a knee near where Alisha was standing.

"May you always treasure it and know your father is always watching you from the sky!" Maya told her using the story as reference.

"Ummm!" Alisha nodded her head.

"Can I show my friends?" She asked as she held it up with her small hands.

"Sure, daughter." Her mother gave her permission. And the girl dashed out excitedly.

"Thank you, mama! And thank you Big sis Maya and Big bro Badala for keeping it safe for me! I'll always treasure it!" Alisha disappeared from the house leaving Elina with Ajay and Maya.

"Thank you for giving my daughter hope, Badala! And thank you, Maya! For providing us with the money we need to continue on without him!"

"No problem." Ajay said as he went for his tea again to moisten his throat after telling such a long story.

"It was the least we could do for him after he rescued us from the tiger!" Maya said but Elina looked doubtful.

"Um. He really didn't kill the tiger. I know my husband better than anyone, but….. thank you for conveying it in a way for my daughter to accept it! It should have been me telling it to her so once again thank you, Badala!" Elina lowered her head as a sign of respect.

Maya was partly troubled by the fact she could tell Prayan barely did any of the things Ajay had made up.

"If anything, Maya should be grateful to him. He was after all the only one not frightened to fight with the tiger back then and acted first saving her life!" Ajay revealed the truth in the story.

Elina looked up in surprise.

"So you have nothing to feel shameful of, you're the wife of the hunter who fought a tiger!" Ajay grinned mischievously.

Elina let out tears again but not of sadness. "Thank you, Badala."

"No Worries."

Maya was left pouting at the way Ajay had made her sound like she was completely hopeless.

"Oh! Cheer up, Maya! I'm sure that scoundrel must feel really proud he died for a beautiful woman. I have two minds of teaching him a lesson when my time comes." Elina joked as the two laughed.

After sharing a few good laughs and stories they figured it was time to leave.

"I still can't believe there's so much. Is it really ok for me to take it?" Elina asked as she looked at the stacks of bank notes piled up.

"They're for both of you, to take care of yourself and make sure Alisha has a good upbringing. Don't stress yourself out over nothing. Take care, Elina."

"Badala….thank you. And take care yourself!" Elina waved to him as he went ahead to start up the jeep.

"Well it's time for me to go as well, don't worry yourself. And stay safe!" Maya said her own good bye.

"Uh!- Maya?"

"Yes?"

"The tiger…. Who was it really killed by?... Was it Badala who did that?" Maya couldn't lie before her so she nodded.

"I don't know how to ever repay you or him for what you've done for me and Alisha today!"

She smiled at Elina "Then don't." Maya picked up Ajay's way of dismissing things. As she left waving her hand from behind.

Sitting in the jeep on the way back to Pagan's palace, Maya looked up into the night sky blanketed with stars shining boringly. It reminded her of the story Ajay made up on Prayan's passing.

-Kalachakra, he said.-

Maya wondered where he had heard of that ancient mythology. But he seemed well versed in some of the stories to come up with such a colourful story, she felt he could have become a fantasy book publisher if he put his mind to it.

Ajay noticed a stare. "What?"

"I just thought you'd make a great story writer that's all!"

"As if!..."

"Don't be modest. It was really good, the way you crafted it….. it just took our minds of Prayan's death and painted it in another picture!"

"Especially the part about the wheel of time! Even I couldn't think of incorporating it into a story like that. It sounds like her father became part of a legend."

"Should I have told her he went to Shangri-la?" Maya laughed heartily, she of course didn't believe in such a myth.

"You wouldn't believe in time either, would you….." Ajay quietly murmured to himself.

* * *

On the outside, Banapur was the same old town, home to the legendary Mohan Ghale. But inside it was utter turmoil. Within the council room, the top leader representatives in the Golden Path were having an emergency meeting. The purpose was to discuss the future of the Golden Path in light of the recent disaster at Ratu Gadhi. No one had expected the Royal Guards to take back the fortress so quickly and quietly that they could catch the inbound expeditionary force completely off guard and destroy them. Being Yuma's fortress, she was bound to act sometime soon but the word was going around from the propaganda department of Pagan was that it was done with only six Royal Guard hunters.

Something absurd because Ratu Gadhi was herald as invincible. The last time they tried to take the stronghold it took years of planning and consolidated resources by their top frontline commander to besiege the place in the shortest time possible, the same commander who held the garrison. Yet these hunters completely cleared out the stronghold including said commander, it went to show how dangerous this particular group of Royal Guard hunters were.

"Quiet!" Sabal roared at the bustling heated discussions going on. All mouths sealed before his demand. After his failure to kill Pagan that also resulted in the disfigurement of his face, Sabal had become a frightening existence within the Golden Path. Not because of his scars but complete flip in his personality, he became more aggressive and possessive. Even Amita was too afraid to confront him now and left for the frontlines to direct what was the disastrous failure at Ratu Gadhi stronghold.

Bandages still loosely swung from his half covered face and upper body making him appear as if he was a ghoul, or 'Rakshasa' as some were whispering about Banapur.

"Let's begin the assembly, now." He said in an authoritative yet calm voice.

"With all due respect but some the elders and Amita have yet-!"

"Let's… BEGIN!" Sabal was releasing a frightening aura as the representative who spoke was impeding his progress.

"Y-Yes, Sabal!" The said person cowered back.

"First off, where is she?" Sabal demanded.

"Her lieutenant reported she had yet to leave her room since 'that day'. The elders in favor of her actions thus far have been busy trying to rebuild the forces we've lost but it was still a crippling blow, that it was. It would take years to bring us back to our former strength." A lieutenant reported.

"She's like this after failing once? Hmph! I guess that's all she could measure up to in the end. No matter, the Royal Army will still be unable to move from their location, not with their main distributor of arms switching sides that is." Sabal laughed so sinisterly it sent chills down everyone's' spines.

But as he just mentioned, the Royal Army was now without means of replenishing their weapons and ammo. So if they wanted to go on the offensive once more it was not impossible. How had that happened was a mystery to even the top level commanders.

"I say we hit them once more, an opportunity like this rarely comes. Quickly, while we still have strength to spare." A representative opened the debate.

"Are you insane?! In the state that we're in we won't have anyone left to defend Banapur!" Someone objected.

"Who needs to defend it if we're on the offensive and they the defensive!"

"I second that!"

"As do I!"

"Aye!"

Majority expressed their desire to continue fighting the Royal Army. Many of them were the younger representatives while it was the old guard who adopted the reserve approach to consolidate their forces.

Sabal raised his hand.

"I'd like to make a suggestion." And all eyes fell on him.

"We've always been two minds about things so I feel we should start by picking one approach and go with it all the way." Sabal folded his hands resting on the table.

An elder from the conservatives stood up. "And how do you suggest we do that?"

Sabal grinned. "By picking a leader, I mean…. an actual leader that will make calls and veto as and when it's necessary."

The representatives talked among themselves.

"So with that said, I'd like to represent myself to be the leading figure of the Golden Path." As Sabal said these words there were a lot of jeering and arguing among young and old.

"Does anyone want to stand against it?" Sabal asked after clearing his throat and looked around.

The same elder from before stood up again and was about to declare he would. (Bang)

The elder plopped forward onto the table in front of him as all sounds ceased. Sabal had shot and killed the elder.

"Does anyone 'else' want to stand against it?" He asked again. But this time no one made a sound, they dare not even check the dead elders body to see if he could be alright or saved at the last minute.

"Good! It seems you are all loyal followers of the Golden Path and its principles the great Mohan Ghale had set for us." Sabal smiled innocently.

"For my first plan of action. There are a few people I'd like to introduce to you my brothers and sisters. Two people as a matter a fact!" He said in a playful manner now.

Footsteps creaked the wooden floor as a man with blond dye hair and a stylish business suit entered the room combing his hair. Thirty years of age, a handsome looking man of Chinese descent walked to the opposite side of the table from Sabal.

"First up I'd like to introduce everyone to our new supplier of arms. Mr. Solomon Khoo. As dashing as he looks, he was a member of the Hong Kong triad families. Quite the superstar back there too, he ran the largest human smuggling operation in the 2000s until Interpol crackdown upon him, now he smuggles weapons instead of humans. In fact, most of you would have recognized his handy work for the past few years because he was the very supplier of arms to the Royal Army." Sabal said in his sinister grin.

All attention turned to Solomon, several even drew their weapons at him as well.

"What is the meaning of this, Sabal? You bring a rat into our ranks?!" An elder demanded furiously as Sabal instantly waved for him to sit before sending a threatening glare at him when he was too slow to back off.

"I'm sure you all have grievances with Solomon here as do I, but…. I am willing to look pass the past transgressions for the sake of the future of Kyrat and the Golden Path."

"…. And in doing so you will all receive the best in military hardware one can get on the international market, all sparkling brand new with a lifetime guarantee." Smiled Solomon in a British accent.

"And why would you, switch sides to join us? What benefit is there for a snake such as yourself, sir?" A gallant commander asked of him.

Solomon chuckled. "A righteous cause!"

"You've got to be kidding me!"

"I kid you not. Ai-yah!(Sigh) I was as ignorant and blind to the true callings of Kyrat, luckily Sabal was there to set me straight! So now I stand with Sabal in the Golden Path ready to do righteous work!" His acting skills were appalling and hinted he was working for other ulterior means. After all, one does not simple give away their products for free.

Some men entered carrying crates, mercenaries to be exact. They placed the crate in front of Mr. Khoo and plied it open with a crowbar. Lo and behold, within the crates were stacks of assault rifles similar to the ones issued to the Royal Guard in the past. Solomon pulled out an AR-derivative rifle holding it up in front of the table.

"My first sign of friendship and goodwill to the Golden Path. Enjoy!" He placed the rifle on the central table for all to see.

The mercenaries were passing the guns out from the crate to issuing them like samples. The commanders inspected the weapons, their faces could not hide the pleasant surprise of these weapons' superior handling to their own.

"You said you'd introduce two people, who is the other, Sabal?"

"I'm glad you asked! Our next guess is a foreigner also, yes!- But an old friend of Mohan during the early revolutionary days, he supplied arms to the Golden Path under a mutual aid pact between Mohan and the American Central Intelligence Agency. And now, he's come to pay a visit."

Lighting his cigar in the dank corner of the room where no one had previously noticed his arrival, came a burly American in Police shades walking to the table.

"25 years and I still can't figure out if that smell is bad sanitation or just the abject loss of hope!"


	6. Chapter 6 - War in Kyrat

Ajay sat by his table drinking his morning coffee after he had updated his investigation chart. It was vital to him planning his actions out carefully, the past few days in this new timeline had taught him on thing. The future is always uncertain.

The fall of Stronghold Ratu Gadhi, the 'sky-tiger', an arms dealer switching sides! These were all instances that didn't match the line of events from his past life. The major change in this timeline was him, him staying in De Pleur's Mansion led to not meeting Sabal and instead he delivered his mother's ashes right then and there. If the past him knew of this route he would be tearing the hairs from his head.

There were also things he didn't know about Kyrat then, the people in the North were truly not against Pagan as he did treat them with the basic amount of human dignity despite being crazy. Perhaps broken was a better word used to describe him. It couldn't be helped, he had been brought on the first day thinking he was a psychopath and the 'savior' was the Golden Path. Of course he would only see things from their perspective! Thinking the north regions were enslaved by him and his army, the propaganda department was to blame for making a too glorified image of Pagan which was entirely different from his idea of Pagan then.

Ajay was glad he died then, he deserved it!

But now there were changes in the history he was familiar to.

It meant that this was no longer the Kyrat he was familiar with, he had to thread carefully. But it wasn't all that bad for him, he still had his skills he learnt from the past and he had a detailed account of every single person that played a key part in the civil war with a few exceptions, their personality and their motivations. Just like when he visited Longinus, his past knowledge came in handy knowing what Longinus was in Kyrat for. Presently the arms dealer had set up shop within the Royal fortress and distributing arms across the Army formations, his supply of arms unfortunately wasn't enough to cover all units but would at least re-equip the frontline groups and elite forces, the rest had to be rationed with the low priority areas.

"Samar and Longinus seem to be hitting off well!"

"I'm afraid the African might try to convert him into an equally crazed nut!" Bipin confided his concern.

Ajay laughed at the thought of them roaming the battlefield as machine-gun preachers.

"That's not funny!" Bipin tried to make it sound serious.

"Right! Right! Anyway I hope you've rested well these few days."

"Thank you for your concern, Ajay! It's safe to say my injury has fully recovered and I'm ready for active duty!"

"Good to hear! Because I'll be sending you to do heavy lifting soon." Bipin immediately regretted presenting too much confidence in his recovery, he had only just taken off the bandages now Ajay was going to work him hard. He had seen the way he slaved his sister's group and gulped a few mouthfuls of saliva."

Ajay looked at his chart again. Most of the people he hoped to meet were in the South-West region which was still partly Golden Path territory with the exception to Paul and Noore's places. But they were too far and remote for him to travel there without encountering armed Golden Path patrols, it needed to be unofficial. There was a chance someone might actually recognize his face and who he really was and spread it.

"Looks like in the end I'd still need to travel south..." Bipin caught him murmuring his intentions to go to Golden Path protected areas and immediately became adamant with Ajay he should not go.

What Ajay needed was a different face to go along his fake alias. But where to find that face?

"So have you heard about the Yalung killings recently, a terrible manslaughter of his victims. He always leaves behind a mask of Yalung in the crime scene and a note saying it was dedicated to quenching Yalung's thirst." Bipin talked about the recent news in hopes to change the subject and dissuade Ajay from going.

"That's it! The face!"

"What face?!" Bipin asked confused.

"Get a jeep ready, we're going hunting!" Ajay said grinning deviously

Bipin regretted ever opening his big fat mouth.

* * *

The goat was up early in the morning, it was wasteful not waking up before sunrise to begin one's daily routine. Those who say otherwise deserve to die!

Life in the Army barracks was simple and Spartan, always about doing something meaningful. The goat liked this style of life although the same ideals were not shared with his colleagues, he had the mind to slid their throats at night but proved too much of a hassle if they couldn't report back. He'd bide his time for the right moment until then.

The life he once had as a clergy in the monastery was now distant memory, he remembered the day his fellow clergyman ganged up against him and convinced the head priest to excommunicate him. His crime was being too extreme in his teachings.

-They were too feeble!-

Spending their days doing nothing but praying and receiving alms for doing absolutely nothing in society. While others hunger in the streets, sacred animals are hunted for their valuable fur, and a civil war still goes on they sit in a corner being indifferent.

-They are the biggest sinners here!-

"Dhami! The boss has a job for you!"

"Oh- Ok! I'll be right there!"

"Be quick about it! We want you to take over our shift on schedule."

-Little snottish prick!-

"Yes! I'll be right back!" The goat left his bunk.

The lieutenant had assigned him as a message courier to the recaptured Stronghold Ratu Gadhi from their base on the other side of The Valley of Death. The Goat had served as dispatch in the Royal Guards for some time now. Often, it was the most avoided job because it meant traveling out without protection or backup, but to the Goat it was perfect. It gave him the liberty to roam around as he please, his home and lair were also located between his deliveries points.

Bouncing around in his bag while he was riding lay the mask of Yalung, the signature item he left behind on his sacrifices to appease Yalung. So why did the former holy man become a killer?

A vision.

One night in the monastery the Goat had a dream. Monsters roamed the mountain slopes slaughtering all in their path led by the dominant and intimidating Rakshasa. On the opposite side, a torrent of blood gushing out from the awakened demon Yalung. These two forces clashed with an unimaginable force that Kyrat burned brightly like a star, then he woke up from his vision. He questioned himself why he had such a dream. His analysis, an impending apocalypse, it was punishment for the evil that man had done on Kyrat. Day in day out people were killing each other over ridiculous reasons, ideals, greed or simply insanity.

So what could he do to stop this catastrophe from happening, he was just but one man. He had no idea what the Rakshasa was but it wasn't the case for Yalung. His teachings taught him of the sacrifices needed to appease Yalung with goat. The Goat thought long and hard about it, the nightmare was imminent, he knew it and had to act fast but what could he do?... Sacrifices! If he could appease Yalung the monster need not appear on the battlefield and in doing so, neither will Rakshasa! So the Goat sacrificed a goat everyday hoping his contribution would keep Yalung in slumber, that's probably when his colleagues started to notice something off about him and became more distant.

One of his colleagues approached him to ask why he was doing what he did, should he tell him? He asked him to meet under the roof of an abandoned house on the Valley of death, they met and he confided in him the details of his dream. But the colleague dismissed him as going insane, the Goat didn't know why but a sudden anger welled up inside of him. He was actively trying to prevent a tragedy and his colleague chose to remain ignorant to it despite knowing about it from him. Before he knew it he had smashed his colleagues head inside out with a stone, the Goat had killed for the first time.

Nervous from committing the crime he tried to hide the body throwing it into the well belonging to the house. But he failed to hear the splash from the body hitting the water, instead there was an echo like a cave. He rappelled down to investigate, the well had been empty or was simply a cover for something more significant within. He held the torch up at the vastness of the cave, lo and behold, a humongous statue sitting in lotus position of none other than Yalung

Then it became clear to him, he was brought here for a reason. The reason was to appease Yalung, to do that he had to make the sacrifice, and the choice of sacrifice became apparent from all the skeletons lying around the great statue idol, human skeletons. Therefore, what Yalung preferred was Humans. But the Goat wasn't as vicious as he thought he was, he needed to kill but only those he thought deserved to die the most, thieves, poachers, smugglers, those who do not live up to his expectation of how one should live should all die, should all become sacrifices!

So the Goat killed out of necessity and went on his rampage, but how would his kills be differentiated from mere manslaughter. The Goat crafted masks of Yalung to go with the victims, so that Yalung would be watching over the killings and know they were his sacrifices.

He was excommunicated on the pretense he was involved in his late colleague's murder but they lacked proof, only an alibi they were together before his disappearance. The head priest could only dismiss him from service as a clergy, the Goat left and joined the Royal army. Hoping to get into action and claim kills in the name of Yalung. He worked hard and trained harder, eventually being selected to join the Royal Guards but was sadly disappointed when he was posted to the quiet outpost near the Valley of Death. At this rate, the event would take place in the near future. Luckily there was a courier duty available which he took to allow him to roam the place looking for victims while he was on duty.

Coming back to the present. He checked his bag, there was only one mask left. He would have to make more, so he took the detour to the house where the statue was. He parked the ATV and slid down the rope, before him was his base of operations. A table lined with tools to cut open the still living victims before the statue, the wall was lined with pictures of potential sacrifices all waiting to give up to Yalung. He did not have much time to waste, the row of Yalung masks were before him stacked neatly. He just needed to take a few and be off-

"Hello, Goat!"

The Goat immediately turned to the sudden voice in the dark with his pistol drawn. An iron grip caught his shooting hand and a knife plunged into his chest where his heart was. The critical wound left the Goat in a dying state as he collapsed to the side.

-Not like this, I still have sacrifices to give up to Yalung! To prevent the massacre!-

The Goat tried to make out the face of the assailant but the light was too dim. Another person appeared next to his killer speaking in a soft but cautious voice. His assailant picked up a mask from the rack and examined it. He placed it upon his face, making small adjustments to fit him and walked over to the Goat.

The assailant who wore the Yalung mask crouched down before the dying Goat.

"You've been sloppy in the way you killed. I'll be taking that face from now on! Continuing where you left off. By spreading the same terror of Yalung onto my enemies!" The assailant said with delight in his voice.

-Taking the face?... Before you're enemies?-

Then the thought rushed to his head, the enemy of the mask of Yalung was Rakshasa. His person was the one in his vision, Yalung! His enemy meant Rakshasa. The Goat made sense of this terrifying hypothesis and dreadful truth, that regardless of what he or anyone did, war was coming to Kyrat.

-It was all for nothing….-

With his death, the Goat had made the final sacrifice for Kyrat.

* * *

The constant hammering of steel against each other resounded throughout the armory under the Royal Palace. Where this sound was actually coming from was the forge and the one working at it was Ajay. Under the supervision of the King's Armorer Samar and the extra hands from Bipin Kadayat, Ajay forged a piece critical to his progress in the Southern Regions.

Bipin sat waiting anxious, Ajay had taken him out to find a certain place on the Valley of Death. Incidentally there was a secret cave under the well which they came down to, watching over the cave was an idol of Yalung. Ajay said it was the staging area of the Yalung killer from the masks that seemed in production there. They waited for the killer to come down, which wasn't long and Ajay killed him there and then. How he knew where the killer was, Ajay never said. But Bipin figured he had access to an undisclosed intelligence network to find out the location and the killer which turned out to be one of the Royal Guards.

Bipin sent a report to the office informing them of the identity of the Mask of Yalung killer from the papers in his jacket, Dhami was his name. But it no longer mattered.

Immediately upon returning Ajay brought the mask he recovered to the armory to replicate.

Samar assisted in the early sketches and outline while Ajay casted the metal and hammered it. The process occupied the whole day but was making quick progress.

Ajay dosed the hot molten steel into the oil to quench it, he walked over with the quenched steel held but metal thongs and placed it in front of Bipin.

A half completed the mask was fashioned like a bushido mask from japan but shared similar aesthetics but more streamline to the previous Yalung Mask which was bulkier. Bipin now understood that Ajay merely wanted to use the mask of Yalung as a basis. But lighter, stronger, more durable and more face fitting for him. Ajay intended to wear it.

"Ajay, why are you doing this?" Bipin could no longer keep it within him.

"There's a chance someone might know how I look like and it'll jeopardize everything. So I need a means to conceal my face."

"But even so…. Why the Mask of Yalung?" It was highly inauspicious to wear a visual manifestation of the demon Yalung.

"Does Yalung scare you?" Ajay asked.

"When I was a kid, the director of the orphanage told me scary stories about the demon and its thirst for Goats and warned not to act foolish or he might develop a taste for children instead. When we were a lot older the picture still stayed in our minds."

-It's the Kyrat boogeyman after all!-

"I bet the Golden Path fighters who follow tradition even more closely fear him even more!" Ajay said hammering another portion with Samar holding it in place.

"Ah!-" Bipin finally understood why he went for this as a template.

"Unfortunately, someone else was holding the 'trademark' to the design so I had to get rid of him so he wouldn't interfere with or impersonate me later." Ajay explained why he went for the Yalung Killer.

Bipin was finding it hard to keep up with Ajay, the man was too focused on the task at hand. Rather, he always seemed to know what he was doing.

Ajay had Samar's ingenuity at metal works to thank for the brilliant craftsmanship. The mask was entirely Samar's design from the old one.

"You wanna help?" Ajay asked Bipin who was sitting around in idle.

"What do you need?"

And so, Ajay and Bipin with the help of Samar supervising the project proceeded with the ironworks until the evening came.

Samar returned from his break and volunteered to continue on with the project overnight. "Both of you get some chow, it's later!"

"Right, thanks for helping me out!"

"For you, Ajay… anything!" Ajay guessed Samar's attitude was due to the introduction of Longinus to him. While Longinus was a little nutty, they shared a common interest in guns albeit for different reasons though. Samar could talk weapons all day with Longinus and the latter would not get bored, it was the same vice versa so Samar was grateful to Ajay on this.

Accepting Samar's offer they turned in for the night.

Bipin returned to the Royal Fortress while Ajay went to have dinner with Pagan. Pagan was enjoying his favorite Crab Rangoon for the evening and it was served by a chef who seemed pretty familiar.

"Back in time for supper, eh? Patrick, cook up something for the boy will you."

"Yes, your highness!" The chef went back into the kitchen to brew up something.

"Please, sit Ajay!" Ajay took his seat across Pagan.

"So how's my boy been doing?" Pagan asked about his day as he gracefully cut the crab meat with his knife.

"I'm doing just fine. Currently prepping to go into the South incognito. Just wanna ask… what do you think of Yalung?" Ajay asked Pagan.

"Mythical boogeyman. Most of the religious hookies are terrified of him! Why do you ask?"

"Does that include the Golden Path?"

"I guess….. something you want to talk about?" Pagan wasn't so sure himself then asked again what it was on.

"It's nothing, just a little experiment I'm doing… So how's things on your end?"

"To be honest Ajay, things are getting shittier by the day! Seems Solomon-"

"Who?"

"-our former arms supplier was confirmed to be supplying the Golden Path with armored vehicles now. It's completely absurd! He didn't even offer it to me!"

"Pagan. I suspect there is a third party involved. They're standing in the background behind the Golden Path to get what they want."

"So I wasn't just imagining it, eh?" Pagan seemed to have the premonition regarding the changes.

"I don't want it to happen but there might be a reality of a war looming about. If the civilians to get involved-….."

"Well then, we'll just have to think of something eh, Ajay?" Pagan let loose his sly grin.

"Yes! I think we're have to do some about it!" Ajay smiled in kind.

"I'll be attending a war council in surprise tomorrow, I'd like you to be there to…. Add a little spice!"

"I'll be there. And I'll make them tango if you want!" Ajay assured Pagan.

"Sir, your Crab Rangoon in congee. Enjoy!" The chef delivered Ajay his dinner and he began filling his stomach with food fit for a king.

The next morning, Ajay was down the basement to check on the completion of the Yalung Mask. Looking around he found Samar dozing off next to a finished end piece which was already polished up. The man was really dedicated when it came to his job. Ajay tested the fitting and when he was satisfied he left a note thanking Samar for his help.

Entering Mr. Chiffon's workshop as his next stop.

"Oh! Morning, Ajay!"

"Morning! Say, Mr. Chiffon-….. what do you think goes with this?" Ajay placed the Yalung mask in front of the work table.

"Ohhhh!" Mr. Chiffon was impressed with the workmanship of it and looked at Ajay instantly imagining what type of clothing would it go with.

"It's time the Golden Path learns the true meaning of fear!"

* * *

Durgesh Prison was cold all time around, the guards on duty and the prisoners in their cells were freezing their asses off. While Maya enjoyed the warmth of the fire place in Yuma's office. Yuma read the file Maya consolidated on Ajay while the latter sat opposite waiting patiently.

Despite propaganda claims Yuma retook Ratu Gadhi, it was clear she didn't neither did she authorize any of her forces to retake it. It was entirely done by Ajay, from the report Maya believed he could have done this entire op on his own but intentionally brought them along to use as publicity cover. The made Yuma reassess Ajay on his intelligence. But by far the most intriguing was the report on killing the Tiger with his 'barehands'. His character demonstrated foolhardiness, planning, bravery and relentlessness. Yuma actually admitted these traits but had he not been born to that whore she would have accepted him.

Yuma was frowning more often than once upon reading the accounts regarding Ajay's combat prowess but she trusted in Maya to speak the truth on these accounts. Yuma was on to the last account, she read carefully on the final lines.

"Become king? Hmph! Naïve!" Yuma tossed the file towards Maya.

"You did well, dear! Couldn't be more proud!" The smile Yuma gave to Maya was akin to a mother praising her daughter. Maya was glad Yuma appreciated her work, she wanted nothing else.

"Thank you, mistress!"

"So what do you think of him personally?"

"Mistress? He still is rather intolerable, stubborn at times. But thus far his actions can justify his arrogant behavior!" Yuma scanned her protégé to determine whether she was telling the truth.

"Is that really what you think?"

"Yes!"

"Mmmm…..I don't want you falling for him midway." Women's hearts were always vulnerable to this sort of man. Ajay had qualities to be a womanizer so Yuma just wanted to double confirm.

"F-Far for him?! I- No! That is just impossible, I'd rather swallow cyanide than become his plaything!" Maya declared adamantly.

"I never said plaything." Stated Yuma to tease her protégé.

"Urgh!" A slip of tongue caused Maya to turn red with embarrassment.

Yuma smiled wryly at her adorable behavior despite being one of her most valuable subordinates.

"But you're not wrong, Maya! To some men, we're just playthings! But in most instances they don't realize the same can happen to them." Yuma said as she played with the little figurine of Pagan. Maya just silently listened. Yuma studied her body and facial appearance under the light as she made rounds around Maya.

"I wonder, Maya. If you have what it takes to seduce him!"

Maya couldn't believe what her mistress Yuma had just asked of her.

"Y-You want me to…. Seduce him?"

"Test him out, play the waters with him. I want to see how long he keeps the charades of 'becoming king' going with him! If there's any change let me know."

"O-Oh! Ok!"

"Good girl! Please take care of your body as well. I don't want you down with a cold or flu, especially from up here!" Yuma showed her care and concern for Maya once business was out of the way.

To her, Maya was like the daughter she never had. More precious to her then she actually lets on. If Ajay stole her as well, there's no telling what she would do when she finds him personally. His mother had already taken away someone she loved, and yet he might do the same.

"Ah! Mistress, concerning the current weapons stockpiles-…" Although Longinus had already begun distributing his arms, they were insufficient to support the bulk of the Royal Army.

Yuma rubbed her temples at the thought of their turn coat partner.

"Solomon…. Pok Gai! She cursed their former associate and sighed.

"We'll watch and see what Ajay does about this problem! He seems to have a knack for this sort of guerilla warfare." Since she figured Ajay was on the job why not see how he responds to it.

"Yes, Mistress!"

"Right, we're done for this week. Return to the palace and had a good rest!" Yuma smiled to her.

"I will, thank you Mistress. Good night!"

"Good night, dear!"

When Maya disappeared behind the door she breathed out a big sigh of relief, due to all the stress of maintaining a poker face.

When it came to things concerning Ajay, she wasn't sure herself. Initially she hated his attitude but found no fault in it but merely misunderstood it, she felt quite comfortable around him as a matter a fact. Her confusion of how to treat Ajay was what she was afraid to show to Yuma less she interprets it as having feelings for him. But it was when Yuma asked her to attempt to seduce Ajay that she really felt confused with herself. But when it came to doing it for her mistress she would of course try to make it happen. It's just that-

"Even if you ask me, how am I supposed to seduce him?"

* * *

The war council, an assembly meaning for the Royal Army Chiefs to meet and discuss on changes within the political geography. Today they were all here to address the stance they should have the army take towards the imminent Golden Path offensive.

"Reports indicate a buildup of forces and what appears to be an armored convoy amassing at several 'muster' points recruiting and gathering manpower for a major push into the Northern regions."

"What is the current status of the arms distribution?"

"Barely sir, only the frontline and quick reaction forces have received barely adequate resupply of weapons and ammunition. The rest are on their reserves and are expected to use up by next month if things go as they are."

"….."

Arjun, the Chief of Army pressed his hand against his forehead. It was problem after problem, the worst part was the insufficient arms to handle the bulk of the army forces.

"We should pull out all forces from the south to fortify the north pass King's bridge!"

"Are you crazy?! We'd lose two of the most important strongholds that gives us a foothold in the Southern regions in the first place!"

"At this rate, if we don't bring back those forces in time they'll be wiped out!"

A clash of high ranking officers between the conservative and steadfast approaches exploded into a fiery debate between the two sides.

"Order! Gentlemen, I will not have you forget your role as officers you need to uphold." Arjun silenced their arguments.

"While the Golden Path grows stronger day by day, it should not allow us to shy away from challenge! We are the Royal army of Kyrat, I think that role speaks for itself."

Arjun had always been the pragmatic sort of person when it came to situations. When Pagan had taken the crown he believed his loyalty was still to the throne, which Pagan held. His fellow Royal Guard companion Mohan thought otherwise and chose to rebel against the new rule, Arjun didn't think he was wrong in what he did. But as time went by Arjun felt Mohan's intentions were becoming more to sought the throne for himself using his wife's position as Tarun Matara to claim it as by tradition. Arjun's loyalty was also to the people and he would not let Mohan's rebellion threaten the safety of the people he protected from the civil war he started.

"Quite right, General!" Pagan came into the conference room announcing his presence by commending Arjun on his stand.

"Your Highness!" Arjun had not expected the sovereign to appear at today's meeting, all the other officers stood up to greet the king.

"Arjun!... Everyone, take a seat." Pagan motioned them to sit. While he took his seat at the chair overlooking everyone else.

"Please… continue!" Pagan told them.

"Yes your highness. As I was saying, we will not be considering falling back on any of the territories within the Southern regions. Period."

With the use of Arjun's authority to enforce their actions, the officers were left with the 'stand and fight' alternative which was anything but pleasant at present.

"I have a suggestion." All faces turned with hope towards the person who said that.

"There is a way we can mitigate the imbalance between the supplies we can allocate and the army we can support. The army cannot shrink that is a given, but we can reorganize the system such that there are strong points that supply a certain area in its circumference instead of spreading out the weapons and supplies. This will allow the distribution only when the patrols detect suspicious activity. And that ends my suggestion on managing the defense of the Northern Territories with minimal arms allowing the Southern forces to be fully equipped. Although this would only be a temporary measure." The commander spoke was Saraswati Roka. His beloved daughter and the jewel of his life.

Like him, she aspired to become a protector of the crown and the kingdom. She had initial struggle with breaking the culture barrier where women could not take up a man's job, but she went with the blessing from her father to do what she thought was right in her heart. Despite these obstacles, she was able to progress on her own to a unit commander. It pleased Arjun in his heart.

-If only she could have been a man, then these lazy twats would be more useful and respect her authority.-

Arjun sighed to himself, it wasn't like he could just change fate.

"Interesting suggestion, Captain Roka! But unfortunately that leaves many roads unprotected and majority of the forces with a slower reaction time to the threats available." Said the Commander of the Royal Guards obviously out of spite.

"I don't expect the commander of the Royal guard who sits his ass in the fortress all day to understand what we are attempting to achieve here!" Saraswati coolly returned the comment.

Sugun, the Commander of the Royal Guard grit his teeth in silence because what she said was true.

"I'll give your daughter credit, Arjun she really sets the mark for the Royal army!" Pagan said chuckling at the inner strife going on in his army.

"You're too kind your highness!" Arjun bowed respectfully.

"As for the idea of passing weapons only when needed, I dunno….. What do you think, Badala?" Pagan called out a name none of the officers including Arjun had heard before.

"I guess that covers the defensive aspect of the territories but I've yet to hear anyone talk about attacking the Golden Path in this golden opportunity!"

All the officers gazed in amazement as a person appeared from the shadow of the dark in the room, but it wasn't his guile they were wordless to. It was the mask that the man wore, with the purpose of concealing his identity and something else they rather not know. The mask had a demonic design to it, made in a similar way to the old samurai masks. One name pops up in your mind upon looking at the mask.

Yalung.

They had all seen it in thangkas as children or in their adult life. There were even the recent killings with a mask not dissimilar to it. The officers could not help but tremble before the wearer.

Arjun admired the person for having the grit to wear something so inauspicious, but it gave the desired effect to the wearer. And that was fear, the frighten his enemies and those who dared to raise a hand against him.

"Attacking the Golden Path?" Sugun laughed uncontrollably. "Someone get this idiot out of the conference room." He jeered the masked man Badala.

"You must be truly blind to not notice that the Golden Path is more vulnerable than it ever was for a week."

Sugun frowned as he was treated as if he was incompetent, but from the way Badala spoke about the situation it made it seem as if it was general knowledge. Saraswati giggled at Sugun's foul mood.

The other officers were more curious about how the Golden Path was more vulnerable, he seemed to have confidence in the way he spoke.

"The Golden Path has always used guerilla warfare on the Royal army because it had neither the strength nor manpower to directly confront conventionally armed forces, always hit and run but never a direct assault like now. But to think they brazenly muster forces in open grounds, aren't they asking to be attacked with their pants down?"

The way Badala explained it to be simpler, made the officers realize there really was a chance they could prevent the full on assault. Why hadn't they thought of this sooner?

"Personally I couldn't blame you all for missing this point, you've all fought a guerilla army for the past two decades without any other type of warfare." Badala even went to the extent of justifying their lack of ideas, preventing them from looking like idiots.

Arjun was sure he did it to prevent the army officers from looking badly on him. It brought a smile to his face that there was another brilliant strategist willing to protect not just Kyrat's people but their dignity.

"Hmph!" Although Sugun had a different perspective regarding Badala. Arjun probably guessed he saw him as an eyesore trying to climb the ranks and was therefore inferior to his noble prestigious background. Sugun was the scion to an elite warrior family in Kyrat, protecting the kingdom for generations. Arjun wondered how their great dynasty had come to this annoying tick.

"So what will you do?" Badala posed the question to the entire conference. His sentence suggested he was merely giving his opinion and not attempting to take control of them, the officers felt a little easier.

"We should attack while the opportunity is ripe, give those Golden Path bastards something to remember!"

"A chance to strike a blow they might never recover from!"

"I think Sir Badala's suggestion has a valid point!"

"As do I! General what are your orders?"

Invigorated, the officers' attitude towards fighting the Golden Path had been renewed. Arjun stared at the mysterious man for a long while, he tried to read him behind the mask but his attempts failed not because of the ornament blocking his face but those determined eyes through the eye slits. He could feel that he had good intentions towards protecting the people and was therefore a friend.

"I'm curious what other ideas you might be keeping in reserve, please share them! We're open to suggestions as it is, one more won't hurt right?" Arjun wanted to see if Badala really could turn the table on their predicaments.

"Bahh! General, there is no need to waste our time on someone who has yet to even enter the battlefield or actually understands strategy!" Sugun apparently had his own ideas about Badala, but his words caused some contradiction in the officers' thoughts, was Badala really a tactician or was it just words.

"I wouldn't be so hasty to judge!" No one could disguise their surprise that it was his highness that spoke up for Badala.

"Especially you Sugun. After all he was the mastermind behind the capture of Ratu Gadhi!"

The conference room burst into loud discussions and surprise of the truth being revealed to them. For a while they were under the impression that it was Sugun that authorized the successful recapture of the stronghold herald as invincible. But it seemed that it wasn't the case, Sugun was even more so shocked by this new. When he heard that the stronghold was retaken by his Royal Guards naturally he thought to bathe in the glory that his subordinates achieved.

"This truly is an astonishingly new discovery! Please, if you have anything-….." Arjun asked again.

Badala thought for a moment whether to say anything.

"Haven't you all felt that the situation has reversed with the Royal army and the Golden Path? It means we can now do what they had done to us for the last twenty odd years, and that's guerilla warfare on the Golden Path. Launching raids on their muster points, commandeer their weapon supply convoys to use their weapons against them, attack to drain their morale."

Badala expressed his opinion that they should think the way the Golden Path had thought for the entirety of the civil war until now.

"For now, they won't expect an attack on them. So you'll have the element of surprise."

"Sir, let us go with what Sir Badala says!"

"Agreed, he has some interesting theories! I can't wait to see the surprise on the Golden Paths' faces!"

Badala had won overwhelming support from the military to conduct any operation he desired. For the next half hour, the officers listened attentively to Badala as he explained what he would do if he was in command. They treasured his valuable opinion as they returned to their bases to see what they could do about the situation, their subordinates noticed them hard at work for the next two weeks.

As the last camp commander left, Badala was left with Pagan, Arjun and his daughter Saraswati who stayed behind out of interest in him.

"Well, I've heard enough. Take care of things for me, Badala!" Pagan winked at Ajay as he left him to the general and his daughter.

Ajay turned to them and said.

"Just as his highness says, will there be anything you require of me?"

Arjun laughed heartily while Saraswati was giggling lightly under the cover of her hand.

"Modest as always! I thought you were meant to have an intimidating presence under that mask!"

"Only to my enemies, unless you want to become one…."

Arjun waved his hands in front of Ajay to say it wasn't what he meant.

"In any case, how will we communicate in future? I know! Saras, come over here!" Arjun motioned his daughter to come over.

"This is Captain Saraswati Roka, a commander of one of the forward bases in South Kyrat. I'm hoping that she would be your liaison officer in your campaign!" Saraswati was shocked by her father's move but guessed what he was trying to do, which was keep a close watch on Badala. There weren't many her father thought highly of and he wanted to get even closer to him, naturally she thought the same and didn't refuse.

"Nice to meet you, just Badala will do!"

"Hello Badala, you can just call me Saras. All my friends do!" She smiled kindly.

Arjun placed his hand over Ajay's shoulders in a friendly way and said into his ear. "She's also my daughter, so if anything happens to her-…."

"You're free to come by and visit me in the South." Ajay said causally. He wasn't intimidated by Arjun's warning.

"Making an old man like me go down south, you sure are cruel boy!" Arjun broke out laughing again from Ajay's humor.

"Well! I'll leave you both to it, best of luck!"

As Arjun was leaving he made a quick glance at Saraswati who looked back and winked. Satisfied he finally left.

Ajay had actually seen the contact they had, but pretended he didn't. Sighing internally.

What kind of military political strife will this father-daughter pair drag him into?


	7. Chapter 7 - First Strike

The brief time he spent within the conference room he could tell that there were factions fighting for power within the army itself, most prominent were the Chief of Army, General Roka and Chief of Royal Guards Sugun as they were two different armies. The Royal Army was the nation's national army but the Royal guards were a privately funded army from Pagan and Yuma's pocket on its own. Therefore, it did not take orders from the Army chief but Pagan himself, although the army chief was still a higher ranking officer than the guard chief. This explained the disparity in equipment they each equipped their soldiers with.

Some things happened and he landed himself with Saraswati, his new liaison officer to the Army headquarters. She was critical in getting assistance from the army while in the south regions, he couldn't just depend on his now four-man squad of elite Royal Guard Hunters to do everything for him, even Bipin his personal assistant was worked like a workhorse as it was.

"So what do you think about the situation in the South, Badala?" Saraswati asked him from the passenger seat as he drove back to the palace armory.

"I'm more interested in the forces backing the Golden Path than the group themselves, I do have a pretty good idea who it is as well!"

"Ohh? Really, who is it?"

"Solomon Khoo, the arms supplier for the Royal Army and Guards. Switched sides and now supplies the Golden Path, I don't know about his motivations though…."

"Everyone knows about his betrayal Badala." Saraswati laughs unrestraint.

"There is also another person I'm sure is on that side."

"And who might that be?" Saraswati said not so seriously expecting an answer from him.

Ajay had a hunch the one running the show presently was Sabal, he recalled the shattered look on Amita's face that day he destroyed the expeditionary force she led. Seeing that prideful face of hers she always wore break gave his heart great satisfaction, Pagan enjoyed the end of the day as well. Chopping down those Golden Path terrorists with his own hands, he wore a contented look the next following few days. That said, she was in no condition to fight against Sabal for power implying he might have likely taken full control of the Golden Path and begun this invasion with the help from the arms dealer…..

…and that asshole Willis Huntley.

There was no way Ajay could forget about the CIA case officer. That dick sent him on a wild goose chase after helping him land, manipulating him into hunting down CIA assets for him from Yuma's lieutenants. It also explained why he was quite reserved about sharing things with the hunters other than Maya and Bipin. Maya was loyal to Yuma so she wouldn't be a double agent, Bipin was always close to him and he could read from the man's eyes his efforts were always genuine.

But it was for another reason Ajay truly despised the man. If it was just that for the intel he provided to him he would have left it as a business transaction with a shrewd businessman. But at the end of their agreement Willis tossed him to Yuma directly to fulfill his end of the deal by, "Asking her yourself…" He was imprisoned on Durgesh Prison as a result of that. The memories there left a scar on his sanity, the bone piercing cold, the hungry predators and the narcotics Yuma pumped into him.

"Badala….Badala? Helloooo?"

"Uh….sorry! Just phasing out that's all!" Ajay responded recovering his sense.

"Mmmm… you were awfully quiet back there, don't tell me you really know the players behind the scenes?"

"…"

"And, you probably keep it withheld because I don't need to know. Is this your way of protecting me?"

"How the hell did you get that assumption?"

Saraswati smiled thoughtfully at Ajay. He hoped his blush would not be seen from behind the mask.

-Why do all the women in Kyrat have this kind of charm?-

* * *

"So with that said, Captain Roka will be our support within the Southern Kyrat territories!" Ajay had given the gathered hunters a brief introduction to his liaison officer with Army HQ.

"A pleasure to be working with you all, you can call be Saras when we're off duty!" She purred. Ajay wondered if this was the image she wanted to set herself with Yuma's minions.

"I like her already!" Anish declared immediately enchanted by her wiles.

"Shut up, Anish!" Maya warned him with a kick.

"So these are the brave men…. and woman who took back Ratu Gadhi!" Saras looked at every one of them before turning too Maya last. Saras smiled at Maya warmly with her smiling back. It seemed seeing a fellow woman in the same circumstances brought them to admire one another. Ajay had no problem with that.

"Um…A-Ouch!-Badala! What's with the mask?" Anish asked him and nearly revealed his real name but luckily Maya was close by to kick him again to remind him.

"Do you not like it?" Ajay grinned maliciously at him, to silence him.

"Uh- nevermind!" Which he successfully did leaving Saras with only a suspicion of what Anish was trying to say.

Ajay gave a brief introduction of everyone to Saraswati.

"Maya, documentation…." Ajay reminded her about the proof they worked under him.

"Oops!" She stuck her tongue out cheekily. Ajay sighed.

-If that's how you want to play it…-

"Then our engagement is annulled. You'll report back to Yuma today! I wish you a-."

"Hey, wait a second!" Maya shouted frantic. She really didn't think Ajay would tell them to leave, the rest expressed just the same expression as her.

"You are all supposed to be stationed at the Royal Fortress or Durgesh Prison. There's nothing that says you're working with me, so that means you are all AWOL. And as I said before specifically, you're either useful to me or you're not!" Ajay stated the facts.

Maya bit her lower lip, because even if he was being mean he was right. There was nothing to keep them together with him, it wasn't good especially for Maya's case because she was sent to report on Ajay, what would her mistress say?

"Alright, just please!- Let me get on the phone with Mistress Yuma to convince you otherwise!" She hoped her mistress would settle this for her.

At the mention of Yuma, Ajay turned pale. Being made to talk with her over the phone was a terrifying thing!

"Alright! You can stay, just please don't ever mention talking too Yuma!" He rubbed his forehead from the massive headache he would have had to go through.

Maya was in stupor for a second then smirked, she had just understood from this that Ajay was actually terrified of Mistress Yuma. It may have come terribly close to losing control of the situation quickly, but this new knowledge would serve her well as a trump card against him in future.

"Right, pack up we're going to Captain Roka's base near Bagdahur Fortress."

"What are you staring in thin air for?! Get your asses going!" Maya commanded them to move out.

As Maya went off to settle their logistics before moving out she had a passing glance at Ajay and Saraswati, curious as to what their relationship was.

"Don't you think you were a little harsh on them?" Saras went over to Ajay when their backs were to them.

"My missions are one of the most dangerous, they already lost a comrade on the first mission when we barely even reached the area. They're not obligated to follow me, plus they are technically Yuma's troops."

"Oh! So they were loaned to you by mistress Yuma."

"No… they're here to watch me."

Ajay, Saraswati, Bipin, Maya and the hunters boarded a truck headed deep into the Southern territories over King's bridge. Loaded on it were all the supplies, the ammunition and weapons provided to them as they were temporarily detached from their main unit to aid Ajay.

Saraswati carefully moved through the packed passenger compartment to where Maya was.

"Hi, do you mind if I sit next to you?" Saras said with a cheerful smile.

"Sure." Maya had no reason to refuse her and went back to stroking Bishal, the white tiger cub she named who was lay on her lap chuffing.

"Soo Cuuutee!" Saraswati was late to notice what the white fur ball was but was pleasantly surprised with the discovery.

Maya held out the cub to her.

"May I?" Saras asked.

"He won't bite." Maya placed the docile cub in her hands as she stared at the fine coat of the tiger cub, it was after all its mother's child.

"He's beautiful!" She squealed as she pressed the cub's soft fur against her cheeks.

"He is." The tiger cub chaffed cheerfully not minding the rough handling of Saras.

"Where did you find him?" Maya was reminded of the scene where she and the rest were locked in fear of the sky-tiger, its mother and left Ajay alone to fight it to submission. Then there was Prayan's death. Saras noticed she touched on a sensitive topic.

"It's alright, I'm sorry I asked!"

"No, it's fine!" Maya shook her head as she received back the cub.

"It's mother killed my friend and Badala in turn killed it, as we were about to be on our way we stumbled upon him. Badala handed it to me saying it if I didn't take it in it will die anyway."

"I'm sorry."

"No. It's alright, I'm already over it. I don't regret anything now."

"That's nice to hear. Say, are you and Badala-."

"NO!" Maya seemed to know what she was about to ask.

"Oh! You seem awfully sure what I meant, do I take it as a yes?"

"NO!" She shouted louder getting the attention of the rest in the passenger compartment.

"Why does everyone think he and I are a couple?!"

"Well, the way you two talk with one another seems like you're very close."

"Well, we're not!" Maya's expression changed almost immediately from a frown to a smile in the presence of the tiger cub. It had a special soul healing ability for her, but then- Ajay was the one who gave it to her.

Saraswati giggled at Maya's reddening expression while she was still dazed.

"Say, what's he looks like under that mask? Surely you've seen it!" Saras became interested on Ajay's hidden appearance, who wouldn't be when you publicly conceal your face.

"He wears it to hide his shame." He still was intolerable!

"I heard that!" Ajay shouted from the front.

"How do you always hear me?!"

"Who else talks behind my back?!"

"Just shut up and drive will you!"

"If I wasn't on the wheel, I'd gag you and toss you on the road!"

"Jee! I wonder what Mistress Yuma would think about my disappearance?" She replied sarcastically.

"Urgh!" Being reminded of her sent shivers down his spine, Maya was now using this weakness of his without restraint to get her way because he knew she'd do it and Yuma was watching for her always.

Saraswati and the hunters laughed at Ajay and Maya's comedy skit and earned glares from both of them.

"They're really like a couple, aren't they?" She said to Anish.

"They are, like an old couple. Just don't say it directly to them. Funny thing is, after a while they forget they even had the fight and go back too normal." Anish had been around their interactions for nearly two weeks and studied the trends between them.

After the surprise assault on Ratu Gadhi, Ajay took them on missions to destroy hidden Golden Path cells within the Northern regions until there were absolutely none left. He also did it to gauge the strengths of the hunters, and was not disappointed. In the past he had to do everything himself, having someone as capable as him alongside helped save valuable seconds. As expected of the hunters that were sent to kill him.

Ajay's mood turned foul because of the stress Maya caused him, Darshan sits next to him in the driving compartment smoking as usual without a care in the world.

"Don't be so rough on the young miss." Ajay though he was hearing voices, the one who spoke was Darshan himself. He had actually never heard him speak, just smile or grunt but never a compete sentence.

"I don't want you guys getting too comfortable to me." Ajay answered.

"Mmmm….. it's good to be cautious but it might force you to take the lonely road." Darshan spoke casually before sticking the pipe in his mouth once more.

Ajay was having conflicting views of what Darshan was really like. At times, he was hazy and high, quiet and contemplative staring into the sky. But never as a person with collected thoughts, Darshan left him wise words to ponder upon. Who the hell was this forty-year-old bearded junkie? He was an even bigger mystery than any of the others.

(Screech) Ajay slammed the brakes when he spotted something on the road.

"Golden Path! Lower your arms, step out of the vehicle and surrender your cargo!" Shouted a guerilla fighter leading the ambush group.

"You've gonna be kidding me…!"

* * *

"Royal Army, get out of the truck!" The man repeated.

Ajay scanned the surroundings. An eight-man group divided in two for the front and rear. Ajay was more than familiar of how the Golden path organized their armed parties.

"Bloody hell!" Maya cursed from the back. "There's a kid back here!" She scolds at his brake skills. Can't she read the mood?

-One of these days I'm gonna toss that cub of a cliff!-

"Stay in the vehicle! I'll handle this!" He said in a pissed off tone.

"You'll handle it?" Saras didn't see the odds in their favor, they were caught unawares from this entire capture.

"Just watch." Darshan said coolly smoking as if nothing happened.

Ajay alighted the vehicle menacingly without any visible arms on him. Ajay was anything but happy now.

The Golden Path fighters backed off unconsciously as they met the unfamiliar presence of Badala donned in the terrifying mask of Yalung.

"Identify yourself!" The leader demanded with his weapon raised to react to any sudden movements this dreadful foe might present.

"Do you really wanna know?..." Ajay grinned maliciously through the mask adding terror to the fighters. "It may cost you your life…"

That's right, the Golden Path fighters arrived just when he needed them. He would take out his stress on this sorry lot.

"Fuck! Kill him!-" Sensing hostility and imminent danger the leader made his decision. The moment the leader turned his head to announce to his men, Ajay sprinted forwards and pressed the kukri in his possession against the leader's throat from behind. He kicked the man as he drew the pistol from his holster, the man fell forward and his throat grazed against the knife killing him.

The fighters barely had the time to register what had happened as Ajay pumped a few shots into two and threw his kukri at the last of the four men in the front of their vehicle. The rear group noticing the commotion up front came to investigate only to find four dead corpses of their comrades.

"Guuurghh!" A female fighter in their rear guard fell with a gorge in her back. The remaining fighters looked around cautiously for the assailant but in vail. As a shadow fell from the trees above and cut off a fighter's arm, the man screamed at the top of his lungs.

"Gyyyaaaaahhhh!" Squirming on the floor as he held the stump where his hand was.

"Shit! Where is he?!"

"Dammit! This is a goddamn nightmare!"

The two untouched Golden Path fighters announced their fears to one another one last time before a knife stabbed them one after another in the heart instantly killing them, they collapsed with widen eyes expressing the traumatic death they bore witness to.

"Hyiiiee!" The last one-armed fighter made a squeal sound at the terrifying visage of the blood soaked demon finished with the rest of his comrades turning his attention to him.

Ajay picked up his kukri and licked the blade out of favor to add dread to his image as he approached the final fighter who was using his other arm to push himself away from Ajay.

Ajay was right in front the fighter after a few effortless steps forward. "P-Please!- No! Not like this!- Have mercy!" Tears and snot were flowing from his face, a yellow stain trickled down his pants.

"Mercy…." Ajay murmured.

"Please let me live! I'll sacrifice a goat every day in your name!" The reply the fighter gave intrigued him.

"Oh? So you know what I am?"

"L-Lord Yalung! Please be merciful, I assure you an offering will be given every day!" The fighter slammed his head against the floor kowtowing to Ajay till his forehead bled.

"I dunno….. to me goats blood and man's blood makes little difference!" Ajay said spinning the knife in his hand over the fighter.

The fighter's pupils shrunk in despair.

"I have a message for Sabal."

"Name it! I will deliver it with haste!" The fighter said instantly.

"But you know what?... I think it'll be better if he comes here to see it for himself, if you know what I mean!" Ajay cackled diabolically. The fighter gazed up lifeless as he knew he was finished.

(Bang)

"That'll do for a message." He exhaled from all the relieving the built-up tension Maya put him through, Ajay spent a while doing something with the corpses lying around. He picked up the weapons and ammo on the bodies and threw them in the truck with the help of Darshan and Anish before they all returned to the truck and Ajay drove it on with his trip to Saraswati's base.

She had taken a glimpse out of the back compartment covers to see what was going on outside, the hunters didn't seem bothered by the ambush of Golden Path fighter which was all too strange. But later she knew why.

As the truck had continued on its pre-planned route Saraswati looked at a bloodstained Ajay with horror, she had difficulty processing what had just happened. "Wh-…..What in the world just happened?"

"The usual..." Ajay said changing gears.

"The Usual?! That was a bloody slaughter!"

Bipin was laughing in resign in the back. "I guess you thought he was the brains type didn't you, sadly he isn't wearing that mask to impress the ladies."

Maya snorted at her brothers comment about it being for picking up girls. Saraswati's mind was a mess, she'd never seen anyone kill so quick and efficiently as he had. From the way Ajay had conducted himself rationally in the conference to their first meet, she had always thought-

"You thought wrong." Maya showed her ability to read minds and hers as was no exception.

"Huh?"

"You were probably thinking he planned the attack at Ratu Gadhi while we were the ones who did the hard labor. But in actuality he could have done the siege on his own, we just happened be with him to speed things up." Maya spoke without turning to Saras as she stroked her dear Bishal to sleep.

"….H-Himself?..." Saraswati's heart raced in shock.

The hunters with Badala were all doing their own thing as if that ambush had never happened indicating that it was a normal occurrence.

Saraswati sighed to herself, there was no point dwelling upon it. She had to just except the facts.

Badala was a both a genius in strategy and monster of warfare.

* * *

The group had spent nearly two days in the encampment of their temporary home. Saraswati provided them with a bunk to sleep in with the option for a private quarter for Ajay and Maya. Maya took the private quarters as was afforded due to her commission status, but Ajay opted to sleep where the rest of the men were which was the bunks despite her insistence he take up a personal quarters. To him, it didn't matter where he slept, he was used to sleeping on the cold hard floor in the past so a bed was already considered a luxury to him.

Ajay realized the situation on shortage of arms throughout the Army was a serious affair. When they arrived at the camp armory there was only weapons and ammo to fully equip only for fifty people in the hundred-man camp, that left the other half unarmed. The weapons and ammo taken from the dead fighter was immediately distributed to the camp patrol groups, Ajay offered up some of their ammo reserves to Saraswati's camp which she politely excepted.

Ajay had finally finished his preparation and planning on his next line of attack on the Golden Path. He coordinated his plan with Saraswati who directly wired the plans to her father, it was not until morning did General Arjun corresponded to Ajay on the Army Headquarters status of preparation.

Ajay opened the letter, inside a simple note slip writing…. "You have First Blood!"

Ajay gathered the hunters in the planning room where he shared his intentions with them and Saraswati's troops.

His operation consisted of three major points. Attacking and securing the airport, reinforcing the route between them and Bagduhur Stronghold. Last but not least, strike an arms depot to steal much needed supplies to arm the rest and hold out till morning.

This was all supposed to be done within an hour or two so that when the next Golden Path patrol comes, it wouldn't matter if they tried to call reinforcements as the place was already reinforced.

"Why the airport, sir?" A soldier asked.

"That's where the Golden path gets its shiny IFVs and additional firepower through. Kyrat's natural mountainous boundary prevents heavy vehicles from passing through in large numbers so they can't come in from anywhere but by airlift. Doing this prevents the Golden Path from equipping soldiers any further than before and keeps the group from amassing. We'll be capturing some of the weapons already stockpiled there against them so there won't be ammunition shortages."

The soldiers seemed to get why they were so focused on the airport now.

"Anything can happen during this raid, but if successful it'll delay the attack from the Golden Path and damage their fighting spirit! The attack begins at midnight so that the Golden Path response will be slower in the within the darkness." Ajay states the unpredictability of the operation.

"But if we are successful, wouldn't the Golden Path focus all efforts on retaking it?" Maya was the one who posed the question.

"They will and that's the entire point! Their attention will no longer be to invade the North but fighting to retake the airport. That's the only way their arms and supplies can come into the country quicker to support the growing army at Banapur." The group seemed to understand why they were doing this operation and what kind of significance their action played in preserving the North.

"But we won't be in the hot pocket when the Golden Path sends all forces to our location!"

All of them were interested to hear why was that.

"I've coordinated with HQ on the reinforcements that arrive at sunrise. The air cav will arrive exactly at sunrise to reinforce us after we take the airport and dig in. Oh! And, there will be a surprise guest among the reinforcements!" Ajay smiled.

The soldiers began to talk among themselves about who could it be? Some shared their belief it was Miss Anika, the Royal Army poster girl. Maya and the hunters seemed to have a clue on who was most likely coming again.

"We'll move at dusk, so eat up and rest up, we've got a long night ahead of us!" Saras was in the process of dismissing her men.

"Permission to speak ma'am!" One of her lieutenants asked.

"Speak!"

"What is the probability of success and what are the chances of survival?" All heads turned to Saras for her answer.

"Badala tells me the odds aren't in our favor, we are after all a hundred fighting the entire Golden Path expeditionary force and local protection groups. We'll be depending entirely on the reinforcements to break the enemies advance."

Many expressed their reluctance towards such an insane mission.

"If you're looking for proof whether there's a chance we make it out, you should know Badala was the one who devised the recapture of Ratu Gadhi." Saraswati shared Ajay's impressive track record with the company who immediately dispersed after receiving a satisfying response.

The room was left with just Ajay, Saras and the hunters.

"Now that they're gone, what will we be doing?" Maya asked.

"We'll be launching the raid to take the airport after of which we will monitor the defense line and assist when possible."

"That's it?" Anish voiced his thoughts earning a kick from Maya.

"Not quite, we'll be dividing into two groups. One side takes the troops to capture the airport while the other needs to ransack the supply depot, which is critical to the plan if we want to hold out till morning. And-…. I have a target for assassination."

His last objective widened their eyes.

"There will likely be two Golden Path VIPs there managing the assault to take back the airport. One is Sabal, the Golden Path's top commander, the other is Willis Huntley, CIA case officer."

"What?! The hell's the CIA doing here?!" Maya nearly shouted. Saras guessed this was the person he was aware of within the Golden Path.

"Anything in the 'interest' of the states, but as usual at the expense of others….."

The atmosphere had changed a little around the hunters, their usual carefree attitude changed into one of tension.

"This is serious, why would the CIA be involved here?" Anish asked still having trouble believing.

"Mohan Ghale was aided by Willis ages ago, the asshole is here to finish what he left out!"

"You've met him?"

"Guy's a deucebag, uses people to get things done all for the 'Greater Good'! I've seen him use others only to deny liability for the actions he made them do, really scum of the earth! He just-…"

"Um… Badala?-"

"WHAT!" Ajay just realized he was shouting, the subject on Willis was getting him worked up for no reason. The hunters were astonished to see him so angry.

"Sorry. It's just-….. forget it! Be at the square at six!" Ajay walked out of the room with an expression they had never seen on him before.

All heads turned to Maya on reflex as if expecting something out of her. Like she was the closest to him.

"What? What has this got to do with me?!"

No one said a word, instead they directed their stares at her.

"Urgh, fine!" She stormed her way out of the planning room.

-Now where the hell is he?-

Maya spent a good time searching for him but recalled a certain place he might be. It was one of the nearby village special places, cliff overlooking the horizon under a rock formation where lover's met.

She was spot on as she saw Ajay sitting against the rocks without his mask on, gazing into the setting sun with the sadden lonely expression on his face. The expression was somehow pulling at her heartstrings, she had never seen him this way before. He'd either be angry most of the time, or wearing that malicious grin of his or simply a blank face. The image of a battle menace slowly melted away into a troubled young man. Suddenly the words of her mistress returned to her mind making her hesitate to come closer to him. This was the prime opportunity her mentor had been speaking of the day after she received her orders, Yuma gave her some tips on seduction 101. But Maya has not an ounce of confidence to pull it off.

-What do I do?! I'm already here so I shouldn't back out now!-

"A-Ajay!" Maya announced her arrival as she closed the distance.

Ajay turned around shocked that someone was behind him.

"Y-Yo!" She greeted. Ajay blankly stared back at her which didn't help her in forming what she wanted to say.

"…Were you crying?" She broke ice in a humorous way.

Ajay rolled his eyes obviously not humored and walked pass her to get down the cliff. But Maya reached out and grasped his hand.

"Hey! Wait! What's wrong, can't you tell me?"

"I can manage."

"No!- Urgh!" Ajay and Maya struggled as he yanked to break free and she pulled him towards her.

"AJAY! STOP!" She had to shout for him to stop trying to get away which he did.

Ajay sighed and leaned against the rock boulder wall signally that he had given up running.

"What did Willis do to you?"

"When a fellow countryman asks you, would you do it for your country, would you do it? Even if the task is horrifying."

"Oh Ajay! He didn't-…."

"Like I said before, I've done wrong that's why I know Pagan better than anyone." Ajay laughed with sadness in his tone. Even though the things the he did have yet to happen, he had still done them before and to live with the shame was unimaginable, when the task had been done with Pagan's death he spent weeks' soul searching on top of Ghale Homestead. There had been plenty of drinking involved.

Maya had no words to give to him, he was under the pressure of a heavy burden of guilt she might never know of.

"In the end, he double-crossed me and threw me to the people I'd been killing. Then I was subjected to a freezing cold, dosed with drugs, tortured! Something I never want to remember again!"

"Ajay….I'm sorry." She gave her condolences as she knew nothing else to give.

-But these things have yet to happen and I'll be damned if I let it!- Ajay overcame his depression.

"No, it happened a long time ago. I'll get over it someday, thanks for the help!" He said with a cheerful smile which baffled her.

"But I didn't do anything!"

"You were there to listen to my thoughts, that was all I needed."

-That's all?- Maya could feel he was not telling the full story but if he was ok as he was then she wouldn't question his threshold. -Why the hell am I worrying my ass of for this idiot?-

"(Sigh) Feels great to have let it out!" Ajay stretched himself feeling relieved. Walking down the rocky slope but stopped midway.

"You coming? We've got an airport to take."

"Uh-Yeah! Wait up!" Maya caught up and walked alongside him.

"By the way, I found out that was Lovers' arc cliff! Quite ironic isn't it?" He said smirk.

"Congrats on meeting your imaginary girlfriend!" She responded harshly to him.

"Oh- come on! Don't be like that! You know I was just joking with you! Can't you give a man something to smile about?" Ajay cracked off a laugh.

"Smile about something else then!"

"Hah! Tongue sharp as ever!"

-(Sigh) I really suck at this, seduce him? That's not something I know!- Maya gave up the notion, it wasn't her style.

But somehow this talk had brought Ajay closer, more comfortable with her even if she didn't know it yet.

The hundred men strong company known as the 3rd Company boarded the trucks after loading on the equipment on board. Saras joined her men she would be leading, while Ajay and the hunters were taking a separate route on the ATVs that were in the vehicle depot.

They organized a secure radio channel to keep up to date with one another's activities before going their separate ways.

That night, Ajay set off the flames of war in Kyrat.

* * *

"What the hell are you doing?! Get your arse back to the trucks!" Solomon kicked his lazy hired guns in the backsides for taking a smoke break in an untimely period.

The mercenaries whined but still obeyed his orders on boarding the convoy of trucks to deliver the next shipment of arms and vehicles to Banapur before turning in for the night after a long day of escort duties.

"…I still can't figure out why you jumped ship!" Willis came to him asking Solomon just as he was climbing onto the SUV.

"Ha! Even a spook like you can't figure that out, you must really be a slouch! Then again maybe that's why Langley forgot about you all those years ago on Rook Island!" Solomon antagonized Willis.

"Hmph! This coming from a little shit who fucked up bad in Hong Kong, I'll take that as a compliment!" Willis sparred with him.

"Yeah- well! Try having Interpol hounding your ass every single day, breaking all your safe houses and fall back plans, I'm actually impressed they thought so highly of a minor triad leader like myself!"

Willis threw one of his cigars to Solomon who caught it and popped it into his mouth, lighting it then taking a big puff out of it.

"The reason I pulled out of Rook Island, eh?... Seems you didn't get the word, Hoyt's dead. The little Americano 'Snow White' shivved him!"

"Holy fuck! That SoCal deucebag actually pulled it off, damn!" Willis processed the update on his old site but still found it hard to believe.

"So of course, with no one to pay me for my fucking merchandise I simply cashed out!"

"So what's the deal with supplying guerillas?"

"I should ask you the same question. Why is the CIA helping terrorists?" Solomon grinned back.

"I'll have you know the Directorates' definition for these fellows is 'Freedom Fighters' since the 80s."

"Mmm… with a single change in phrase, the United States decides its allies and enemies! Well, my reason for joining is simply a matter of playing my cards right!"

"Cards eh?"

"From harsh lessons learnt on Rook Island It had taught me a way to avoid unfortunate sudden changes in the market. And the answer is, always work for the winning side."

Using his intel sources, Solomon was able to determine the political geography and who would be on the advantage if he joined. Naturally, it was the Golden Path. There were vast quantities of rare materials only found in abundance here on Kyrat on demand internationally. If he continued to work for Pagan he'd receive a fixed sum every time, but as Solomon had learnt from long ago it was never safe to simply leave things as stagnant as they are.

"So you are smart!"

"I'll take that as a compliment from Langley."

Willis laughed. Solomon started his engine and pushed down the hand brakes.

"Hey Solly, I'll be a shame to let you die in this cesspit so before you go I've got a word of financial advice for you!"

Solomon pulled up his handbrake and turned to Willis.

"Between you and me, this Sabal kid isn't the soundest of minds so I'd consider planning short-term!"

Solomon smiled and nodded.

"Noted, thanks for the tip. Oh!- And it's Solomon, not Solly…. Gwei Lo!" Solomon drove off to lead his convoy of mercenaries back to the airport.

Willis buried the finished cigar under his heel.

"(Sigh) Another deuce bag…."


	8. Chapter 8 - The Free Army

The sun had long fallen and the crickets chirped to the pale moonlight. The night shift of perimeter guards yawned tiredly to another day of inactivity with protecting shipments that were inbound for the muster points in the Golden Path bases, most prominently Banapur.

So in their complacency they were unable to detect the agile shadows darting around within the darkness of the night. The leader guard of the electric gate went around the corner of the checkpoint to settle his business and returned to-

"Huh?-" He returned to a blood soaked post full of his guard companions, standing amidst them was a figure cladded in a black outfit and wearing a mask. The leader could not move from his position due to the frightening scene the unfolded before his very eyes, he wished it was just a nightmare and hoped to wake up soon.

The figure rushed towards him barely making a sound with its lightning footsteps and the leader's world begun to spin. His head landed sideways against the soft grass and he realized he had just been decapitated, the masked fully turned to him revealing the culprit behind his death and for the first time regretted not visiting the temple often enough.

The same figure led four other similarly cladded figures through the opened gate up the cliff as they reached the end of the plane runway. Pointing towards the directions he intended for them to go to complete their individual tasks.

The Said figure crept to the surveillance room below the air control tower to disable the guards inside as well as to take over the security footage to aid his allies.

That figure was Ajay.

Ajay was in the midst of embarking on the most ambitious plan yet in order to cripple the Golden Paths upcoming offensive on Northern Kyrat by striking the most vulnerable area in their position. That was the airport, where supplies, armored vehicles and advance weapons were brought in by airlift via Solomon and Willis's sources. Depriving the Golden Path from further amassing their forces from the villages they had been force levying by cutting the supplies needed to maintain their massive army.

Taking back the airport also had its benefits. The weapons and munitions stockpiled there would serve as the means to prolong their defenses until reinforcements from the Army could arrive in the morning to destroy the Golden Path forces sent to retake the airport.

The main consequence of the operation was that taking the airport flagged them as the highest priority target throughout the Golden Path forces in Southern Kyrat. Nearly everyone would be upon them when they realize their allies here weren't responding to their night checks.

Ajay and the hunters were the only ones sent to clear out the airport guards and staff as he only trusted them to be quick and efficient doing so. Saraswati's 3rd Company were lying in waiting in the forest below wait for them to clear the place before converging on the site to fortify it against the attack that would progress throughout. He could not afford to screw this operation up less they respond to quickly and wipe them out, the 3rd company which at a strength of a hundred men was still under equipped due to the betrayal of their main arms supplier, Solomon who was now supplying their enemy.

"Gate clear, move in Saras! We're now working on clearing the Airport and Supply depot."

*Understood. Be careful out there Badala. Saras out!*

*Maya here, in position to clear the supply depot.* Maya reported her status to Ajay just as he neutralized the guard watching the cameras in the surveillance room.

*Control tower empty.* Darshan gave a simple report. Ajay had assigned him to stay on the tower to provide over watch for the rest in the even they were unable to take down certain targets when their hands were occupied.

"I've just cleared the surveillance, you're free to thread pass the cameras now!" Ajay also informed them of his progress. He marked the positon of the guards he could see on the cameras to the team before leaving the room to join Maya, her brother and Anish by the walls closing off the Supply Depot which was an old hangar repurposed to house the airlifted supplies.

Ajay stealthily moved towards the walls where the rest were waiting.

"Took up long enough!" Maya pouted.

"I've no excuse."

"Well, at least we're down to one last objective."

-Maya was unusually understanding, what was going on?-

"What's the head count in there?"

"Ten. Two on the sniper towers on both ends of the supply depot area, the rest just went into the hangar." Anish reported the numbers dutifully.

"Alarms?"

"One by the door to the hangar, we haven't cut it yet." Bipin chipped in.

"We'll neutralize it while we take them all down. Maya, Anish. Towers!"

""On it!"" They responded quickly making their way toward the towers.

"That just leaves us, shouldn't it be better to wait for them before we take on the eight remaining inside the hangar?" Bipin again advised Ajay not to take rash aggressive actions like he always did.

"…"

Bipin was surprised Ajay was strangely cooperative to his safer suggestion. They snuck to the alarm box and cut the wire, waiting by the door of the hangar in case anyone stepped out for a smoke or something.

*Sniper 1 down*

*Sniper 2 down, heading back to your location!*

Maya and Anish crouched next to Ajay and Bipin after they returned.

"What's the plan now? We don't have a visual of them inside." Maya stated their standing problem, it wasn't easy for four to silently take down eight no matter how good they were to prevent any sound from being made like a rifle discharge for example.

Ajay thought an idea on the go.

"We'll lure them out."

"How!"

"I'll get Darshan to play a tune on the speakers to have them come out to investigate, we'll take them down one at a time! How does that sound?"

"Better than jumping them as we enter, alright!"

Ajay and the hunters took their positions behind certain scattered crates in the supply depot awaiting the distraction that Darshan was about to set.

The speakers turned on to the state propaganda channel blasting its propaganda messages on speaker. It annoyed the guards who yelled from inside to stop playing the monotonous radio channel but their demands went unanswered.

The four came out as a gang to teach the person behind that prank a lesson. -Gullible!- Ajay thought. And they were dispatched in no time at all reducing the remaining number to four, exactly the same number as them so they could take one down each.

That would have been the case if Bipin hadn't struggled with his own target and he ran off if not for Ajay clearing after him with a throwing dagger.

"S-Sorry!" He apologized, his mistake nearly cost them heavily.

"Don't sweat, just learn from this." Ajay replied without disappointment in him.

"I-…..I will!" Bipin gave him a determined look which satisfied Ajay.

Ajay didn't expect much from Bipin even if he was a Royal Guard, he wasn't Royal Guard hunter level yet but if anything Bipin made a competent secretary to carrying out tasks he set for him while they were in the palace.

"Saras, airport and supply depot clear. Bring in the supply trucks!"

*We're just entered the compound. See you there.*

"Now what?" Anish asked as their job was complete.

"Let's open the crates and see what kind of goodies they have for us!" Ajay smiled. Maya giggled at the way he said it.

They began moving around to open the crates, Bipin found some crowbars lying around and handed them around for them to use. They started to ply open the crates just as Saraswati and some soldiers she assigned to carry the munitions on board the trucks to the fortifications they were currently building at the only entrance to the airport.

Saras divided her Company into four groups, three to build three lines of defense to fall back upon and a small scout party to monitor the road ahead for patrols or the returning supply convoy which had yet to return.

She had just entered the inside of the hangar that acted as the shelter for the supplies and found them opening the crates like it was a competition and chuckled at their light heartedness despite the gravity of the mission. Then again they were the elite forces of the Royal Guards who took Ratu Gadhi so she had no say.

"Ah! Saras, nice timing! Coordinate with Bipin on the supplies to bring to the defenses!"

"Where are you going?"

"Looking for the supply manifest, need to know how much equipment is here and how much more is coming." Ajay told her as he passed them to the door.

"I'll help!" Bipin volunteered.

"You're supposed to help Saras with the supplies here! No, I'll go with him!" His sister told him off.

Saras chuckled away as Maya unhesitant followed Ajay to the control tower. Digging into the drawers of the office within the control tower looking for intel leading to supply manifests or clues to the next scheduled flight to intercept.

Ajay rummaged through the piles of papers lying on the table and stumbled upon a roster. "Found something!"

Bingo! A flight manifest containing the contents of the latest airlift of supplies. Below was a signature with the initials 'Solomon. K', it was clear that this was the real deal.

An American arms company was supplying unregistered AR-derivative assault rifles through a channel in Khyber Pass, Pakistan. Ammunition came from an ex-Yugoslavian factory. Heavy machine guns, rocket launchers and mortars from China through Bangladesh.

-Every country in the world seems to be doing their part in ensuring Kyrat continues its civil war.-

One thing caught his eye on the manifest. There was another unmarked source for an unspecified object in the registry housed in an adjacent hangar. It was just spelling out for Ajay to take a look at it.

"Ajay, I've found the flight schedule! There's a shipment coming in next afternoon!"

"Wouldn't they be surprised to find who's there to collect it!" Ajay and Maya smiled. If they could hold the Airport successfully till morning for reinforcements to come, then the shipment will be there's.

"Come on! There's something in one of the hangars we need to check out."

* * *

Solomon passed the wheel to his subordinate to drive the rest of the way to the airport while he took a short nap. They were just one more trip to transporting the last shipment before turning in for the night in a lavished hotel by Kyrati standards right next to the Shanath arena. Solomon had been to the arena once with Pagan where he introduced him to a stunningly gorgeous thing known as Noore. Like a rose she was as beautiful as she was full of thorns, he had to admit his cruel heart instantly fell in love with that ferocious beast of a woman. He wondered what surprises she could have in store in the bedroom as well.

Pagan told him the irony of her work. To save the lives of her family she was made to direct drug field production and source fresh meat for the ever gory arena. He also told him her family was long dead, De Pleur had played with them till their flesh began to rot. He had to admit, he had seen sick fucks in Hong Kong during his triad days but Paul was a notch above making those guys' work seem like playing with their food. Sabal had a plan with Paul soon but fry face wouldn't tell.

"Boss, we're nearly there!" His mercenary shook his shoulder from the driver's seat to tell him to ready his papers for entry into the Airport pass the checkpoint.

"I'm up! And next time don't touch my suit with your greasy hands again!" He nagged at his merc. The merc just rolled his eyes, he'd dealt with Solomon's egotistical attitude before but wouldn't do anything about it as he was still on his payroll and the man paid him in gold bars.

Being the lead car to the convoy of trucks used to deliver the cargo to the muster points they were the first at the powered gate which lead to the Airport.

"Papers please!" A guard came to ask for his identification. Strangely, there was twice the number of guards than there usually were. Also the men he didn't recognize, he never bothered to interact with the guards beyond showing ID but he did it every day. Eventually he remembered nearly all of the faces of the regular guards to the Airport.

An unsettled feeling welled inside of him as he reached for his sidearm slowly.

"Where's Sammy boy?" He asked as he handed his papers.

"Sammy's in the loo, I'm stepping in for him for now." The guard who received his papers replied with a smile.

"Oh? Really?..." Solomon said in a deadpan expression.

(Bang) Solomon drew his pistol in a quick draw fashion and gunned down the impostor in quick succession. His fellow guards responded with hostile force as they fired their assault rifles at the unsuspecting mercs on board the trucks behind them and on Solomon's SUV killing his driver and some others.

Solomon was luck to hide behind his dashboard which held a bulletproof jacket to protect him from the incoming fire that moment. "FUCKK!"

The mercs in the trucks began to notice the commotion in the front and alighted their vehicles with their rifles at the really.

The firing at Solomon stopped as they came to the front, by then the impostors were already out of site.

"Boss! You still alive?!" A mercenary leader called out as he came running towards Solomon's SUV.

Solomon came out of the 4WD kicking the jammed door off its hinges that were damaged by the rifle fire.

"I'm fine no thanks to you!" Solomon spat sarcastically at the leader, his mood was foul.

-All that dough and they were still worthless!- He lamented on their unreliability despite high upkeep cost.

"Seems we have a serious problem at our hands, gentlemen!" He announced to the gathered mercs.

"Somebody has taken the Airport right under our noses, that includes all the stuff that was airlifted here to this god forsaken place!"

The mercenaries expressed their uneasiness at the way things sounded from Solomon's correct analysis of the situation.

"Do we take it back then?"

"Of course, we're taking it back! You want to leave it to the Golden Path monkeys to do your job better than you could you?" He taunted. And the mercenaries bought it as they showed him expressions of disdain for the being in the same league as the Golden Path partisans.

"No sir, I didn't mean that! Shall we converge?"

"Let's Samson! Let's!" He agreed with his mercenary leader.

The mercenaries gathered their weapons and ammunition. Motivated themselves and begun their walk up the hill to where the Airport was with Solomon in tow. As he was climbing the hill with his hired guns, Solomon was having critical thoughts about this whole situation.

-This seems highly unlike what those fellows in the Royal Guard would do! Who in the world could think of such an audacious plan? Don't tell me it's the same guy who took that Stronghold overnight back then!-

Solomon was starting to have a really bad feeling about his actions at the moment, as if he was playing into somebody's hands presently.

He took out his cellphone and dialed in a recently added number. After a few rings the other side picked up.

*A call from you is never good…..* Veins bulged on Solomon's forehead.

-Still have the time to joke around, eh?!-

"It'll get worse if you don't get your goddamn Kyrati ass here at once!" Solomon shouted into the phone.

*I don't believe you have the right to talk to me that way, Mr. Khoo! We have a business arrangement, and that arrangement can be easily severed.* Even on the phone the voice was as intimidating and threatening as meeting him in person.

"Well you might want to reconsider because by sunrise it will no longer matter! Someone's taken the entire Airport! Get all available forces here NOW!" He didn't have time to accommodate Sabal's ego, there was a serious problem that could threaten his prospects in Kyrat that was ripe for the picking.

*… Go and play with their defenses first. Help is on the way!*

"Who's coming?"

*…Everyone!* The phone beeped to indicate the receiver had ended his call.

Solomon stashed away his cellphone and turned to his mercenaries who looked to him for orders.

"Don't just stand there! We have an Airport to recapture!" He stuck with his original plan.

"Sir, about this plan of action….. I think-."

"You're not paid to think! You're paid to get the job done as best as possible! You are all trained soldiers, and are you telling me you can't deal with a bunch of ragtag militia men?" After questioning his every action, he finally had had it with his Mercenaries.

"If this airport isn't taken before sunrise, you're all not gonna be paid." Solomon gave them his ultimatum to their whining. They all expressed their contempt for him but he was still their employer.

"If you do succeed in taking back the airport by sunrise, I'll double your month's wage in advance!" The ears of his mercenaries perked up at the sound of the incentive he had proposed to them and they showed vigor in their previous actions.

-Humph! Money scourging scum!- Solomon silently held disdain for his hired guards.

It didn't matter, he'd use them till they were spent! Perhaps he could save a buck or two with rate they would take their losses.

* * *

Anish was levering the crowbar against the chains to try and force them off the doors to the next door hangar. "Here, let me."

Darshan, without warning placed a plastic explosive over the chain and lock, seeing his method Anish immediately ran for cover.

"FIRING THE HOLE!" He yelled as the rest heard and took cover.

A small controlled blast smashed the chains and lock into smithereens without damaging the doors themselves.

Ajay pushed the knobs of the hangar doors and opened them with Bipin. The doors slowly creeked open due to the weight of the doors. Ajay shined a torch into the hangar to reveal its hidden contents. Inside sat an elongated armored hull, Ajay instantly realized what it was.

Sitting comfortably in the hangar was an eight-wheeled armored vehicle with a massive gun turret, the gun barrel pointed forward intimidatingly.

"I'll be damned!" Anish couldn't control his mouth.

"Looks like we hit the jackpot!" Maya commented.

"Indeed, come! Let's see if we can start it up." Ajay climbed onto the hull checking the hatches which wasn't locked.

Bipin found a file lying next to some crates near the vehicle and read from it.

"M1128 Mobile Gun System….. there are parts on this manifest that are highlighted with black I can't make out."

"That's because it's not meant to be traced back to the unit it originally belonged to. I recall seeing this on the discovery channel back in the states. It's a fire support platform that's air transportable, no one else but the US Army has it presently in its inventory so it's pretty clear who supplied the Golden Path with this." Ajay stated his hypothesis.

"Willis…." Maya guessed the correct channel which it passed through.

"How deep is the CIA in this?!" Bipin shared his nervousness.

"Deep enough they want to overthrow Pagan!" Ajay stated as he begun applying his mechanical knowledge to the figuring out how to start this vehicle from the driving compartment.

"Can it be turned on?" Maya asked curiously.

"It's a matter of when, twenty minutes maybe!"

"We're gonna use this?"

"Why not! Anish, go look for the 105mm shells for that cannon." Ajay already gave his instructions to look for the ammunition to load up, Anish immediately scurried around the crates excitedly searching for the shells to the cannon and machine gun.

"What about us?" Bipin was just about to ask when Saras commed in.

*Badala, we have first contact. The scouts encountered the returning convoy. We'll be wa- CONTACT FRONT! (Firefight erupting)* A soldier spotted the enemy and shouted causing rifle fire to be sent on both ends. They could hear on the radio an engagement happening where Saras was in the trenches of the first defense line.

"Saras! Hold them off, I'm sending Maya and Darshan to you. The rest of us will be there shortly!" Ajay responded.

*…. What about the rest?* The intensity of the firefight had increased as she comms back the second time.

"We're working on a surprise, e.t.a ten minutes!"

*Alright! We'll hold… just hurry up! The arms weren't fully distributed when we had encountered them!- Watch those flanks!* Saras acknowledged his assistance and went back into leading her men in the trenches they dug.

They could hear the echo of gunfire and explosions in the distance now.

"Get going you two, we'll catch up." Ajay told her.

"Ok!" She and Darshan sped off into the night to help Saraswati.

Ajay went back to inspecting the transmission and the driving compartment controls. He found a manual shoved between the driver's seat and took a browser through it. When he figured out what he needed to do he passed the manual to Bipin.

"What do I do?" Bipin was now left on standby. Ajay pointed to the turret cockpit with the massive autoloader and the gunner's seat.

"Figure out how to use that."

* * *

Maya took the ATV with Darshan down to the defense line where it had broken out into a fierce stalemate.

"What's the situation!" She asked Saras after approaching her from behind the trenches.

"We're locked in skirmish! These fellas aren't Golden Path, they're some sort of mercenary force! My men are sustaining losses on this line! What's Badala doing?!"

"He's bringing in a game changer! We just need to minimize the causalities for now!" Maya assured her.

"Easy for you to say! They've been suppressing us with heavy fire as they advance, at any rate they'll be upon the trenches!"

The situation was not as they anticipated. Early in the planning Ajay and Saraswati decided to stick with a three layered defense to hold back the enemy all night, losing the first one right after taking the airport wasn't acceptable. They were expecting Golden Path fighters, but it appeared that fate wasn't so kind. They were foreign mercenaries, likely professional army trained and they combat hardened making it difficult for the Royal Army 3rd Company to repel them.

They had sustained a loss of five men so far only because of their superior terrain position and high cover, but the mercenaries were taking less despite their poor position. That was testament to their prowess in fighting.

"We need to get rid of them before the Golden Path main force arrive, buy me time to think up something!"

"Whatever! Do it quick!" Saras shouted as she helped a trooper to carry out a machine gun they held in reserve to lay down a suppressing barrage at the converging mercs.

Maya studied the enemies' movement from the protection of the trench while Darshan assisted Saras in applying pressure against the attackers.

Yuma had personally tutored her in the art of warfare among the other things. Despite her mentor's wishes she take up a staff position by her side, Maya chose the Royal Guard hunters whom Yuma was a patron to. Because she believed by being in the frontlines would she be able to rid her mentor of all the problems that would pop up. But her transfer to the hunters wasn't just about ideals, she was physically more qualified to join that even most of the other hunters. Scoring top in shooting proficiency, hand to hand combat and tactics.

But what made her stand out amongst her peers was her ingenuity at strategy in the field.

She looked into the forest to scan the surrounding in which the mercenaries were fighting in. Tall dense trees that provided one man cover for each of them, they had to climb an incline to get to the trenches and the slope was covered with fallen leaves.

-Got it!-

"Saras!" Upon hearing her name called out she immediately ducked down into the trench and looked to Maya.

"Yes, dear?"

"How much explosives and incendiary bombs do you have?"

Saras consulted a lieutenant she left in charge of distributing the logistics and captured munitions to the defense lines.

"Twelve satchel charges and three incendiary grenades! Why?"

"We're gonna box them in with those trees and light them up!" Basic 101, no matter how strong he was, man was always afraid of fire.

"Will it work?"

"The ground is literally packed with tinder, we'll use the charges to blast the trees in a certain direction to prevent them from getting pass us!"

"Alright, we'll go with that!"

At the bottom of the slope, within the safety of the densely packed trees, Solomon observed the skirmish with a pair of binoculars. By his side was the mercenary leader observing his men and directing their directions they were going in carefully.

Peering through the pair of binoculars he spotted two females. One was a high ranking officer from the looks of it with distinct long curly auburn hair. The other one was a brunette with short wavy hair. Both these women were fine specimens, such gorgeous things that he least expected in this kind of hellhole they call a country and taking this line of work at that.

He was under the impression women weren't allowed to join the Royal Army.

-So what's with these bombshells!-

Solomon was having a bad feeling again at the pit of his stomach. These two 'special cases' aren't low in their rank that was for sure. They were in fact possibly part of an elite group where gender weren't major concerns which meant this operation was really high in the Army chain of command. If they were just a decoy, then where was the main force?

-They haven't showed all their cards yet. I'd better split!-

Solomon slung his binoculars and prepared to walk down to his SUV to flee but kept a seemingly calm façade in the presence of his mercenaries.

"Keep up the assault! I'm going down to find out why the Golden Path dipshits haven't arrived yet!"

The mercenary leader nodded and turned his attention back to the fighting. After crafting an excuse, he moved quietly down the hill slope to his parked vehicle to make a run for Banapur.

(Boom) (Boom) (Boom) Satchel charges were blowing the trees and not aimed for the mercenaries.

"What the hell's happening?!" The leader asked through his radio as he observed the bombings.

*Those Royal Army boys are chucking the charges away from us! Bad aim perhaps!* A forward comms specialist within the fight informed him.

"I don't like the look of this….."

No sooner did he think that when three orange fireballs ignited in and behind where the mercenaries were. The mercenaries covered their eyes thinking they were flashbangs or flares of some kind.

Taking this opportunity, Saras ordered a suppressing barrage of all soldiers in the trench upon the mercenaries who had stopped firing at them. The mercenaries ducked in cover to recover their eyes and reload their weapons, they failed to notice the brush fire that were growing with and around them.

Until the fires had reached waist height did the mercenaries stop their attention on the trench firing soldiers and look to the ever intensifying fire. They scrambled to escape but found burnt trees that had previously been blown from the stumps had blocked their exit.

Realizing that the tables had been turned they struggled to focus on providing suppressing fire for them to move but also think on how to get out of the maze of fallen trees.

Moving from the cover of the tree thick trunks cost them their only means of protection against the hail of lead that was coming from the trenches up ahead. Many of the mercenaries were gun down, while others attempted to cross the blazing fallen trunks and burnt themselves in the process. Seeing their comrades fall in numbers to these two actions the will to continue fighting in this hopeless situation was now gone. The mercenary leader was not one to sit and watch from the back and rushed up the hill to join his men.

The sight of him gave them courage. He yelled out that the only way out of the forest fire was forwards and so the remaining mercenaries fought like their very lives depended on it.

"Shit!" Maya realized what she had done.

"Like cornered rats, right?" Saras wasn't helping by giving the appropriate analogy.

"Ma'am! We're on to the last box of ammo!" A lieutenant reported their current ammunition reserve that was placed in the trench. Like she had reported to Ajay, the distribution of munitions was not complete as they only managed to place limited ammo in the first line by the time the mercenaries came knocking.

Saras curled her lips. The situation was far worse than before, at this rate they would be upon them in seconds.

What should she do, abandon the line for the second defensive position? But then they're only face more dire straits when the Golden Path guerillas arrived in full force.

(Bang) (Boom) A loud percussion sound echoed from behind and a fireball appeared in the tree line near where the mercenaries were causing them to stumble due to the nature of the explosion filled with flechettes that shredded some trees and men who were in the closest proximity. The mercenaries stared up in shock and awe.

Saras turned her head to her men who shrugged their shoulders.

-But who-?-

Her head spun 180 and her sights landed on a vehicle on the road with a smoking barrel.

* * *

"Y-You missed!" Anish nagged.

"How am I to blame?! This is my first time!" Bipin argued from the gunner's seat at Anish sitting next to him.

"Here! Hand over the joystick!" He shoved Bipin aside to have a go.

"No!- Go away! Get your own!" But Bipin resisted his push.

Ajay sighed as the two were like children fighting over a new and exciting toy despite being grown-ass men. He pressed the pedal to move the armored vehicle forward.

"Stop bitching and fire on them!" He ordered from his driver's seat.

"Ah!- Right!" Bipin lined the crosshairs on his LED screen onto the mass of the unfriendly that appeared as white shadows in a black white background from the vehicles night-vision cameras.

"Away!" He called out as he depressed the trigger on the gunner's joystick. The vehicle rocked back and forth from the cannons massive recoil. A white explosion engulfed the mass hostile targets dead centre.

"Conserve ammo! Use the machine gun!" Knowing that the enemy already knew the firepower at their disposal, Ajay told Bipin to use the vehicles co-axial weapon which was just as effective against the exposed infantry. And he did just that, still mumbling from not getting a turn Anish opened the hatch to have access to the heavy machine gun to have a whack at them as well.

Streams of tracer fire impacted the trees in the mercenaries position and hit some of the exposed mercenaries turning them into red puffs of smoke. "Get sommmeee!" Anish gets overly excited as usual.

Ajay switched seats to the commander's seat to watch through the digital camera what course the mercenaries would take now.

He noticed a distinct action from a single mercenary amongst the rest. "Ceasefire! Anish! Get off the turret!" He informed them both and kicked Anish in the leg for being slow to his orders.

"What? What happened?" Anish returned to the inside of the turret.

"Both of you sit tight with hands on the triggers, don't fire unless I say so! I'm going out!" He went out of the rear hatch.

"What are you doing, Ajay?"

"Accepting a surrender!" He said before moving off after closing the hatch.

Ajay walked over the trench line where Saras, Maya and Darshan followed closely behind. The mercenary leader came out of cover unarmed with his hands in the air.

They were just metres from the trench where they met.

"Is it just you surrendering or the lot?" Ajay asked because he was the only one showing non-hostility by coming out.

"Drop the gun fellas!" The leader ordered. To which the mercenaries did reluctantly.

"So what do I call you?"

"Whatever your pretty face wants it to be." He said smart-ass about his mask.

"Badala would be mine, Mr. potato head!" The mercenary leader chuckled slightly at his timely joke.

"Samson's the name."

"Samson, where's your employer?"

"The snake ran off just now... must've seen this coming and used us to escape. Fucking Solomon!" He cursed.

"Solomon's your employer?"

"Aye! And he 'was' my employer!"

The others with Ajay were astounded, they just inches away from one of the most wanted traitors and he slipped from their fingers just like that. Maya physically punched a tree trunk showing her frustration.

"To my knowledge, mercenaries don't have basic rights like armies….." Ajay gave him a preview to his desperate odds.

"Whatever, we did our job our employer gave us! These men are my responsibility. The music I'll face but these men don't deserve to die just yet!" He said gritting his teeth.

"Don't deserve to die?! You kill for money you-!" Maya was about to pounce on Samson when Ajay grabbed her collar and pulled her back.

"And you kill for country! What difference does that make with us?!" He questioned Maya's ideals.

"You-.."

"Shut up!" Ajay roared with such power it silenced both of them. Maya backed off though reluctant.

"Saras, what's the losses?"

"Nineteen." She promptly replied.

"And you, Samson. What's your current strength and the losses?" Ajay asked Samson.

"….. twenty-five men present, fifteen lost."

"Right! Samson, you have a choice to save some of your men. But… you have to decide who." Samson looked at Ajay in shock at what he demanded.

"You get to decide out of the twenty-one who gets to live and who dies. Then we talk concerning the treatment regarding you and your men."

The mercenaries caught whiff of what Ajay's clear voice said and shuddered where they stood. He was asking Samson to kill four of their comrades to match the loss Saraswati's 3rd company took.

Even Samson felt light headed when hearing the conditions. But he didn't falter for long. Steeling his resolve, he turned around and drew his pistol gunning down four of his comrades. The mercenaries and Royal army soldiers were surprised by his display of brutal efficiency.

He said a silent prayer for them. Then turned his attention back to Ajay.

Ajay grinned at him fearlessly and asked...

"Tell me Samson, how would you and your twenty-one like to enter a long-term contract with me?"


	9. Chapter 9 - Allegiances

"A-…. A contract?" Samson replied flabbergasted.

The 3rd Company soldiers and mercenaries alike were just as stunned as their leaders, Samson and Saras.

"That's right, a contract." Ajay confirmed.

"I-…What-…." Apparently Samson was resigned to taking responsibility for the death of his comrades with his torture to death.

"How much did Solomon pay you last time?" Ajay was already talking rates.

"I-…Ah!- Ten grand a month!" He said hesitantly but forgot to mention that was his pay as the senior member and leader.

"Mmmm…. Would you accept in stones?" When Ajay mentioned this Samson's mouth hung from his mouth, the mercenaries had the same reaction. Payment in precious stones.

"Badala, it this really wise?" Saras inquired on behalf of her Company and Maya and herself. Maya nodded her head.

"As it is we're nineteen short in manpower and they're twenty-one plus Samson. I figure we'll need everyone in the fight tonight. You've all had a taste of how dangerous their attacks are, can you imagine the same on the Golden Path?" He reasoned.

"What do you say? Or perhaps just an agreement till tomorrow afternoon then you can sod off to whatever place you came from."

Samson thought long and hard about Ajay's generous proposal.

"Do we have a choice to refuse?" He asked.

"Saras, get the shovels! They're be digging their own graves!" Samson couldn't help but come to fear this man despite his own years of brutal one sided killings. Ajay gave him the cruel response although he had every right to decide their fate, he was already being overly accommodating by offering a contract to them. At the moment they were still enemies, unless Samson changed that.

Samson took a brief look to his mercenaries who nodded their heads incessantly for him to agree. "We accept your offer, sir!"

"Good! Welcome aboard then! Tonight we'll have a trial run with you lot to see how you fare then you can decide again whether you want to have a deal with me!"

"I-… Yes sir! What are your orders?"

"Have your men gather at the Airport hangar after they disarm you. Bring your wounded along, we'll have them checked."

"T-Thank you, sir!"

Samson ran back to organize with his fellow mercenaries while Ajay was confronted by Saras and Maya.

"This seems like a highly unsafe plan, what if they turn on us when the moment is right?" Maya reasoned with him.

"You're not wrong on that, but that Samson seems rather professional at handling things. I'll be casting my lot on him to stay loyal to his agreement and I'll stay true to mine."

"I hope you know what you're doing." Saras said.

"I'm sorry about your men, Saras."

"No. It's fine, we knew this could happen. I know you're looking out for all of us, I'm sorry for putting doubt in your plan." Saras smiled at him sweetly.

"I wonder who's the lucky bastard that'll get to marry you." Saras laughed away. Maya kicked him for flirting.

"Read the mood!"

"Oh!- Come on, Maya! He was just trying to lighten the mood for little old me! Don't get jealous!"

"W-Who's jealous?!" She said with a reddening expression before storming off. Darshan looked at Ajay for a while then followed after his leader, Maya.

"That girl isn't being true to her feelings!" Saras chuckled.

"That's one of the worst jokes I've heard from you yet. Newsflash! I said she's sent to spy on me and kill me on her master's whim!"

"(Sigh) Is there a denser idiot than you?"

Samson's return prevented him from retorting.

"Sir! We're all ready, the wounded have been secured." Samson came back to report to him.

"I've keep in touch, go settle your new playthings in!" She purred.

Samson caught sight of her walking off.

"You've got quite the girl, sir!" He complimented Ajay.

"Yeah? You should meet her father, he'll make sure you don't even have ashes when you die!" He said in a sarcastic tone. Ajay rubbed his head from the headache he was having.

"Come on! Let's get you sorted out back at the Hangar."

The mercenaries obediently sat in the supply trucks with Ajay and the hunters who were having a watchful eye on them.

Ajay left Bipin to get men from Saras's 3rd company soldiers to teach on how to operate the armored vehicle.

Samson sat in the passenger seat next to Ajay who was driving.

"So, were you formerly a military man, Samson?"

"Italiano Folgore, I was….. discharged for an offense I didn't commit."

"An Italian paratrooper? What was the charge?"

"My superior left my platoon for dead, when I returned intact he charged me for leaving my post to save his sorry ass!" Samson was surprisingly open to Ajay, that or he was doing it to suck up to him.

"What went through your head when you gunned down the four?" Ajay tested his psyche.

"….. I thought-…. I knew you'd kill them if I didn't make my decision fast! Those men, I killed them because they were the most harmful to the rest."

"That sounds more like a person making excuses. Since when did others' lives become cheaper than another's." Ajay's words made him reflect upon his actions.

"Y-You're right!... In the end I killed them-."

"And in doing so preserved the lives of twenty-one others. I'm not gonna lie to you, Samson. I intend to use you to get my way until you and your men can barely walk. When this battle finishes tomorrow I'll give you and them the opportunity to fly out of this country if that's what you decide!"

Samson couldn't decide whether this person was magnanimous or malevolent, either way he was a scary person beneath that mask.

Samson sighed as he found it hard to decide and no longer bothered. His priority was fulfilling his new employers wishes.

"Thank you, sir."

"I wonder what kind of face Solomon would have when he sees you on this end?"

Samson laughed aloud, so loud that his fellow mercenaries and the hunters heard him from the front compartment. But his laugh assured them that the genuine prospect of death was gone and their hearts felt a little off the edge.

* * *

The Golden Path commanders gathered at a table with charts placed on it under the moonlight. The Golden Path guerillas were lining up to receive their weapons and magazines from the supply trucks before gathering to form a formation at the ready.

Sabal by the table, looking upon Solomon with contempt, he was the only one to return at the cost of his own private army whom they weren't sure made it or not. If he didn't need Solomon's connections to procure arms and other helpful resources he would have thrown him to the hungry dogs a long time ago. But this showed how serious the situation up at the airport was, an entire group of professional soldiers were killed trying to take the airport themselves.

"Have a seat."

"I'll stand." He refused.

"Who took the airport?"

"The Royal Army, I've never seen women in the Army before have you?"

"Stop playing about with your words."

"I'm not playing!" Solomon shouted.

"Then why are you here instead of there?"

"When did you get the balls to order me around?"

"…." Sabal could be bothered to look at him any longer.

"What's the status of our preparation?"

"Just waiting for your call, Sabal!" The commander responded on behalf of the table.

"Then your orders are to retake the airport with minimal collateral to the infrastructure."

The commanders at table nodded and went back to their relaying with their groups.

Sabal walked over to Solomon who was leaning against a tree lighting a cigarette but fumbling with the zippo. Sabal took the zippo out of his hand and lit it for him with his steady hands.

"Mmmm…thanks!" Solomon took deep breaths to calm his nerves.

Sabal silently waited for him to construct his thoughts, what he knew could be critical in retaking the airport.

"He is there-…."

"Who's there?"

"The one who took Ratu Gadhi, I'm sure of it!"

"Did you see him?"

Solomon shook his head.

"The composition of that Royal Army contingent was weird."

"As in-?"

"When was the last time you saw women in the Royal Army? It wasn't just that, they were officers leading the trench line on the front. They put pressure on my men despite being militia, trained men! And I don't even know if they made it out at all."

"A death squad?"

"Close, I was thinking something on those lines, meaning they were destined to confront heavy pressure from us. That also spells out that they were anticipating our arrival."

Sabal was starting to understand what Solomon was getting at.

"The question is where is the main force?"

"Your guess is as good as mine, I checked with my sources at King's bridge, there were a few trucks passing through this evening. I thought they were evacuating the strongholds in the South!"

"…"

"So are you gonna continue with the assault knowing their somewhere nearby?"

"If I don't move, they'll still be lurking around. I need to get a fix on them."

Just then, a few armored vehicles like the one from the hangar drove by them.

"Bringing the big guns already?"

"If we don't take this airport quickly enough we can't respond to whatever surprise they have for us."

"…"

"Where's the spook?" Solomon asked about what Willis was doing right about now.

"He's working on my movement onto De Pleur's territories and Paul himself." Sabal said, meaning he wouldn't be involved in their activity at the airport any time soon.

"There's a shipment coming in tomorrow, if this airport isn't taken by morning we'll have a really big problem on our hands." Solomon warned him.

"Don't worry, my brothers and sisters will ensure that the airport falls back into our grasps."

"I hope they do…Rakshasa!"

* * *

The hunters and mercenaries arrived at the hangar where Ajay would process them and brief them on their job coming soon. The wounded from both sides were sent to a triage centre hastily assembled in the control tower building, there they were given equal medical treatment under Ajay and Saras's orders.

Anish seemed to hit off well with the mercs, probably their shared interests in money. He was sitting with them and gossiping when Ajay returned with Samson after having a short discussion with him.

"Boss! Everything alright?" One mercenary asked on behalf of everyone else.

"No worries, Badala promises that after tonight if we want to we will be given safe passage off this country on the next flight out."

There were lots of sighing of relief among the mercenaries.

"What?"

"Anish here's been telling us crazy stories about-… our employer, that he was the one who took that Stronghold overnight!" The same mercenary informed him.

Samson darted his head towards Ajay as if he had just met a famous celebrity behind him.

"What?" Ajay asked.

"No- It's just-…. We've been hearing stories about you from the Golden Path! Taking the legendary stronghold with six men and decimating the previous expeditionary force, led by Golden Path leader like Sabal."

"That was just careful planning, the one who really did damage to Amita's forces was Pagan." He gave a casual response not accepting the credit for that day but he released a bomb that was Pagan's actual participation. Even if that fella was simply blazing away with his minigun at helpless exposed fighters.

"Humph! That's not all, he even took down that tiger with his barehands!" Anish boasted proudly. Ajay wanted to throw his shoe at Anish for being such a braggart.

The mercenaries stared in awe at Ajay, he didn't like those starry eyes stares, it was embarrassing.

"I remember Anish in that one-…." Ajay said, Anish smiled thinking Ajay was going to incorporate him into the story somehow.

"You were frozen stiff with a yellow trail running from your pants." The other hunters and mercenaries laughed at his embarrassing story. Anish turned red at Ajay disappointing his expectations. "Aja-Gurgh!" Anish unconsciously was about to shout Ajay's name but was saved by a timely kick to the butt by Maya adding to his embarrassment.

Ajay gave Maya a thumbs up as she returned one to him.

"Uh- Is he your fool?" Samson asked.

"No! That's just tonight, he's still my most hardworking minion." Ajay corrected him and Samson nodded.

"So what's the plan boss?" Another mercenary asked eagerly.

"We're going to act as an advance scouting party for the Royal Army. At the moment, the Golden Path are unaware of our switching of sides so we'll go deep into the enemy command post and study their movement then hopefully Solomon will give us the order to return to the front. Which we will and without problems at all." Samson grinned deviously as did his men.

"We're with you till the end Boss!"

"That's right!"

"Can't leave you doing all the work!"

The mercenaries showed them their camaraderie with Samson.

"Good lads!"

"Follow me, I'll get you resupplied." Ajay led them to the supply depot hangar where they went to pick up weapons and equipment from the crates.

"Maya, Anish, Darshan." He called out the remaining hunters.

"Yes?" Maya asked.

"Take some of the explosives and plant them around the hangar, the supplies and the runway. Have them linked to a single control on the air control tower."

"What?-"

"In the event we fail to hold this airport by morning we'll make sure the Golden Path get nothing out of it!" Ajay was explaining to them literally scorched earth.

He would rather destroy these benefits than let the Golden Path have them again. Maya processed her thoughts on his decision.

"Alright, we'll do it!"

"Great! Head back down to the defense line after you've all resupplied." Ajay gave his instruction and they went to collect the right amount of charges to place around the airport.

When the mercenaries were reequipped they went back on board the truck and went to the first line of defense where they would make their way back to Solomon.

The soldiers were still cautious over the mercenaries and shot arrows with their stares as they walked by.

The mercenaries weren't blind to the stares, but they didn't say a word.

"Aren't you worried?" Samson asked.

"Mmmm?"

"That we might run back to Solomon and report your capabilities?"

"Not at all, if that were really the case then it will just show that in the end that was all your honor as soldiers amounted to."

The mercenaries were wary of his challenge to their professionalism.

"Besides, It'll only make it more fun for me to chase you!" An inverted crescent waned from Ajay's mouth sending dread amongst the mercenaries and soldiers alike.

"That wouldn't be the case, we sweat on our honor we will abide by our contract!" Samson placed his fist to his heart as he said it.

"I'll take your word for it then. Happy hunting!" Ajay told them as he waved back to him while they went on their way.

Saras was there to see the interaction Ajay had with the mercenary leader.

"You've seen to have won their respect! Were you serious about what you said if they turned?" Perhaps she was expecting him to say it was just to intimidate them but Ajay gave a diabolical laughter instead.

The soldiers in the trenches were so glad he was on their side.

"Jokes aside, how's Bipin managing?" Ajay asked about his right-hand who was supposed to be instructing some Royal Army soldiers Saras personally selected to operate the tank destroyer.

The tires screeched from Bipin making a hard turn with the eight-wheeled vehicle, men on board shouted in excitement.

-He's having way too much fun!-

The hatch opened and Bipin popped his head out of it.

"Ajay! Ready to have a go again?"

"Bipin, get off the vehicle." He said so clear it sounded like a threat. Bipin heard this tone and dared not dally, climbing out of the hatch and ran towards Ajay and Saras.

"How's their progress on the vehicles controls?"

"They've learnt everything and practiced a few. I was just taking it for a spin just to see how far its tolerances were!" Bipin confessed. Saras giggled at his adolescence showing.

"I'll leave the tank destroyer in your command then, Saras!" Ajay handed her full control over the tank destroyer.

"Thanks, I'm gonna need it!" Saras ordered some of her men to position the vehicle in a hidden place to provide fire support for them.

"There will likely be armored vehicles like this one coming, I'll advise your men to conserve the tank rounds for them." Ajay warned her.

"Mn! I'll relay it to them! Where will you be going?"

"I'll be thinning the waves if that's alright with you."

"I'd welcome it!"

"Ma'am! Scouts report the first sightings of Golden Path groups have been spotted at the base of the hill!" A lieutenant reported to her.

"Yes, thank you." She thanked her subordinate for the heads up then turned back to Ajay.

"Once wave one arrives get rid of them quickly! Don't leave them to report the layout of you defense line." Saras nodded.

"What about the mercenaries?"

"Samson's smart, he knows somethings happening soon and he doesn't want to be in the maelstrom when it happens. My offer for him to fly out is the best he'll get anytime. As for the Golden Path, they've move cautiously. They're under the impression there's a 'main force' out here lying in ambush, so destroy them quickly before they realize!" Ajay advised.

"I will!"

"Mmm!" Ajay walked off to sneak behind enemy lines, but a hand grasped his sleeve and pulled him in.

Saras pressed her lips against his and dug her tongue into his mouth. Her men who saw this made oh so much of a racket, but Ajay was just as shocked as they were. She finally returned his mouth after what seemed like a while.

"Damn! I thought I was gonna suffocate." He said wiping his mouth with his sleeve.

Saras chuckled in her usual alluring fashion.

"A good luck kiss, we may never know if we will make it out of this one!"

"We will! If we can't, I'll make sure you and your men aren't there to suffer the consequences!" He said to her with a determined look before picking up a rifle from the stack and disappearing into the dark of the forest.

Saras smiled at his sweetness to her, he had shown that he was looking out for her more than once.

She looked back to the trenches where Bipin and her soldiers in the 1st line still had trouble closing their mouths.

"Shall I give each of you one, just in case?"

The soldiers gulped down their saliva in unison but quickly turned back to doing their duty.

"Man!..." Bipin sighed to himself.

"Maya's not gonna like this."

* * *

Maya and her hunters rejoined with Saras at the first line after they had finished planting the bombs, calling Ajay on the radio only to find out he ran ahead of them while the Golden Path had yet to come. They had missed their opportunity to link up with him now that the Golden Path were upon them.

"Glad you could come!" Saras said over the gunfire and whistling of rockets passing overhead.

"We bought the RPGs your lieutenant asked for, what's the situation?" Maya asked.

"As you can see!-….."

The Golden Path had amassed a substantial force of over two hundred for the first wave of attack, all fully equipped with the latest bulletproof armor and weapons. For the time being, the 3rd company was just as well equipped with the captured supplies from the airport hangar but they'll be subjected to fatigue whereas the Golden Path will send waves to weaken them.

"Your brother took the armored vehicle to the rear to reload and stay in cover for when we move to the second line!"

-Boys and their toys.-

"I think we'll need that ingenuity you displayed the last time to get us out of this mess! Badala said not to retreat from the first wave!"

"Alright! I'll think of something, just don't waste your men's strength." Maya took out the binoculars to observe the enemy movements once more.

Saras had full confidence that Maya would get them out of this pickle, she had nearly done so before with the mercenaries. But these were Golden Path guerillas, they weren't as combat harden or trained as the mercenaries and would break if they saw too many of their allies die around them.

Just then they heard the sound of screaming bombs about to land. "Mortar! INCOMING!" A soldier screamed at the top of his lungs to warn the rest.

Fireballs of explosive compound detonated around the area of the trenches forcing nearly all the soldiers to hug the walls of the trenches for cover. Maya and Saras were doing the same. The mortars were indirect and were not crewed by skilled men but were able to provide suppression for their comrades advancing and scoring some hits with their shrapnel hitting and injuring some from 3rd Company.

"As if things couldn't get any worse!-"

"Don't jinx it!" Maya warned her.

"…."

"There's nothing much we can do from here! We don't know where the mortars are and the Golden Path fighters will be upon is any moment!"

"…..Then we'll just have to depend on Badala." Saras pressed her hopes.

"I'll comms him, get your men to reload and prepare for close combat!" Maya instructed.

Saras nodded and left to give her lieutenants orders to relay.

"Badala come in! We're receiving mortar fire-."

*I know.*

"Then do something!" She shouted.

*I've found the mortars but I'll need some help. Remember what I asked your brother to do at the stronghold?*

Maya remembered clearly, she went to one of Saras's lieutenants to request an illumination rocket from the RPGs she brought. She threw it over her shoulder pointed skywards.

"Where'd you want it?"

*South-West.*

She turned the rocket launcher to that direction and depressed the trigger sending the illumination round off into the night sky in that direction.

A miniature star blossomed into the night sky catching the attention of the invading Golden Path wave, the mortar team and the Command centre where the Golden Path field commanders and Sabal was.

-Hurry!-

* * *

Previously Ajay had evaded the Golden Path's first wave with careful stealth and use of darkness to mask his position. Before, when the mercenaries tested their lines Ajay hadn't position anyone in the front to flank the attacking forces, hence it became a battle of how hard the opposing forces pushed.

He would not let that happen again. The remnants of Saras scent was in his mouth was quite pleasant throughout his journey. For some reason, the image of Maya frowning appeared in his mind.

-That woman!-

Saras planted the idea in his head even when he knew there wasn't in hell's way that was happening. But then impossible things happen somethings… just like time travel.

Ajay shook his head to clear his thoughts, he was midday on a mission to take the airport for the Royal Army. He had just reached a cliff where the mortar team had position themselves to get a overhead view of the battlefield, they had clear visibility to the trenches and their own comrades fighting up the slope.

There were three mortars and tons of ammunition for the respective weapon assembled at the end of the cliff. Crewing them were three fighters each and four guards watching over the security of the mortar positions.

A bright light flashed in front of the mortar team and all of them covered their eyes from the harsh light of Maya's illumination shot.

Ajay took this chance to attack. Dashing forwards at the guards he lodged his blade into one and pulled his grenade pin before kicked him at the other guards. Tossing another grenade at one of the mortar assemblies while the men had yet to recover their eyesight. Two explosions erupted amongst them killing eight out of thirteen. The remaining fighters stood frighten at the visage of a Yalung mask standing before the burnt corpses of their dead comrades, it was barely even five seconds for that to happen.

One fighter fought against his fear and sprayed his assault rifle, earning himself a kukri to the head that was used as a throwing knife.

Ajay didn't give them time to recollect their thoughts as he converged on them and massacred them with brutality. Blood stained the mortar tubes and crates from his viscious strokes of the knife slashing away at the fighters.

Ajay stood standing over a corpse with a terrified last expression and began having a reflection upon his work.

-In the end, that's all I was ever good for….-

A break in static from a radio transmission broke him from his stupor of staring at the corpse.

*Badala, are you done?!* She asked frantically.

"A-.. Yeah! Send me a fire mission!" Ajay said over the radio as he went to position the mortar tube to the direction of the trenches and firefight.

*On grid, south-east one hundred metres from our position! Fire for effect!*

Ajay adjusted the mortar screws to position the tube right, he read the reference material on the sheets of paper they wrote on and measured through the sight with the reference stakes.

The mortar was already pre-adjusted to hit the trenches so all he needed to do was redjust to change the target to where Maya had told him.

"First salvo, away!" He dropped a mortar round into the tube and it self-ignited sending the round flung into the air.

Ajay took out his binoculars to see where it landed.

An orange mushroom cloud blew the trees seventy metres from the trenches.

*Off by fifteen metres away from target towards you! Send another!*

He picked up a mortar round from the box and dropped it down the tube and peered through the binoculars. Another explosion happened in the tree line, this time he could make out flying shadows of people where he hit from the bright orange explosion.

*Dead centre! Adjust in five metre increments towards us!* That sounded like the Golden Path fighter were trying to get out of the barrage area and closer to the defense line.

He adjusted the mortar again and lobed two shells before adjusting the tube again like Maya asked and repeated the process till it was measured in forty metres away from the trenches where it was unsafe to fire any closer less he hit his own men.

*Keep it raining! They're breaking!* Maya sounded jubilant over the radio translating into how the situation was unfolding over there.

The Golden Path fighters thought their own mortars had made an accident with the salvos and cursed under their teeth but found out that wasn't the case. They tried to get out of the kill zone by advancing further up front but Maya's forward observing help correct the barrage to hit them with lethal efficiency.

Being unconditioned to this type of warfare in direct confrontations, the Golden Path fighters were on one mind to retreat from the front. Those that were alive retreated into the depths of the forest back to where the Golden Path main force was waiting.

The forest in front of the first trench line was devastated with broken trees, craters from shell and rocket impacts and littered with hundreds of mangled and tattered bodies. Men and woman lay on the leaf covered slope, the smell of burnt fresh permeated the air.

But this did not dampen the 3rd Company's morale. They cheered for the first victory against the Golden Path after a long time. For years under previous commanders they sustained casualties to guerilla attacks by the Golden Path without inflicting any damage back on the illusive fighters. So today when they killed hundreds of those same partisans, they were washed with a satisfying feeling that they had avenged their fallen comrades who died without so much as sending back hurt.

"Great job, Badala! We managed to repel them!" Saras voiced out into her radio.

*I was merely supporting. You did great holding!*

"Modest as ever. Just accept that you contributed in some way!" Maya said on her own set.

*I couldn't have sent those shells if you didn't send me the right directions. You did well too, Maya.*

"Uh-..Yeah! I did!" She stumbled in her speech.

*Right, I'm coming down. Don't know when the Go- (Gunfire) -Shit!* Automatic fire erupted on Ajay's end of the radio.

"Badala?! Badala come in!" Maya's complexion turned pale as she knew what was happening.

An explosion resounded in the distance. Maya grabbed her rifle and proceeded to climb out of the trench. But an iron grip pulled her back down.

"Let go, Saras!" She said calmly.

"I know you're worried about him but going into uncharted places alone isn't helping him either!" Saras told her sternly.

"Then you want to just leave him?!"

"We have a plan to abide by, he knows the seriousness of the situation he's gotten himself into he'll get out!"

But Maya's stubborn attitude prevented her from believing otherwise and slapped the hand away as she rushed to climb. Saras was helpless to stop her. Maya was nearly out again when a hand chopped her on the back of her neck and she plopped onto Darshan's shoulder. He climbed down with his superior on his shoulder and walked towards a stack of sandbags, gentle placing her against them.

"Thank you, I don't know what she would have done!" Saras thanked him.

"She's always been this way…." Darshan said in his usual manner.

"She's really lucky to have such good subordinates!" Darshan turned around to look at the direction the Golden Path were in.

"He'll be alright, the Golden Path will find it hard to kill him." A simple sentence but one that assured Saras that Ajay was indeed alright.

* * *

-Ten minutes ago-

Solomon was sitting by the command table where Sabal and the field commanders were discussing the following waves, he smoked down a cigar provided to him by Willis as he watched the ready Golden Path fighters converge on the airport pass by him with a boring look on his face.

He noticed familiar faces coming out from the direction of the airport towards them and got up from his seat. A grin planted itself on his face.

-So they did survive.-

The faces that he recognized were the mercenaries, with Samson still in the lead. They were tired and blood soaked but alright, only twenty-one of them were remaining out of the forty that he originally had on his pay roll but that was alright still. He could have other uses for them.

"Oh, your back! Go wash up before coming back to me, you smell!" He dismissed them casually as he walked towards the command table to listen in on the current situation.

Some of the mercenaries were gritting their teeth and tightening their fists. He sent them into a sure death situation while he sat his ass in the safety of the Golden Path command group. Their friends and comrades were dead because he insisted they climb up the slope and engage the Royal Army to test their defense and was the first to run off.

Samson raised a hand to calm them down.

"Boss!" A close member of the mercenary group called out at him preventing them from getting flustered.

"Not now. We have a job to do, he'll get what's coming to him sooner or later. But we need to relay intel to Badala, our employer."

"Are we really gonna work for that masked demon? He made you kill some of our buddies! The way I see it he's no better than Solomon but scarier." His friend since his Italian Paratrooper days asked.

"He did that to protect those important to him so that we wouldn't fool around in his presence. But if you're asking me to choose between Solomon and Badala, I'd still stick with Badala."

"Why?"

"Do you see any future working for Solomon after what happened back there? Badala is at least offering an avenue to leave this god forsaken country while the ambers of the civil war are still small. He knows that as well. So if we want to continue surviving then our lots need to be cast with Badala."

His friend nodded after being shared a rough idea of what was on Samson's mind. It was due to Samson's foresight that the entire mercenary group survived this long, because he could see the outcome of conflicts and steer clear of danger. So whatever Samson chose they would follow till the end.

"Will he keep to his word?"

"He has our wounded friends, we don't have a choice." His friend realized the guise of which Badala's charity had as he held their comrades' hostage.

"But he'll keep to his word, provided we keep to ours. This is the chance he gave us to prove ourselves, it's time to show that we can be trusted!"

"You seem really taken to our new employer here!" His friend chuckled.

"Of course, until now all our client has been self-entitled little shits! This is the first one I've seen with real balls!" Samson admitted.

"He is rather scary!"

"Aye! I'll agree on that! So let's try not to be his enemy, he'll only take pleasure in hunting us!"

The mercenaries nodded in unison, Ajay was just dreadful.

"Achoo!" Ajay sneezed as he was aligning the mortar tubes. "Damn Maya….."

The mercenaries went around observing the site where the Golden Path had assembled at the base of the valley on route to the airport. They sabotaged supplies and other essentials when it was convenient and took in the surrounding layout of the temporary base as well as the kind of units assembled. The numbers were exceeding two thousand and were growing by the minute. It just showed how important the airport was to the Golden Path and how much Ajay was endangering their plans.

A radio operator reported to Sabal and the field commanders on the situation with the first wave.

"It's terrible Sabal! The first wave is suffering heavy casualties and is receiving mortar fire!"

"Oh?" He said curiously and looked at the map on the table that showed the geography of the location.

-They wouldn't be able to send mortar barrages from that close a distance and so steep an angle unless…. It's one of ours!-

He scanned the areas that were plotted with troop positions and found his target. Sabal started to have a familiar feeling like when their sniper position was taken by someone else, the person who gave him that scar on his face and the most humiliating feeling he ever felt. His face started to burn red hot with fury at the thought.

-It must be him!-

"Assemble a hunting party! I'm going hunting for our mortar man!" Sabal made up his mind to pursue the person who might possibly be that person.

"Now hang on a sec!" Sabal threw a twisted glare at Solomon who spoke of stopping him.

"What!"

"You sure you'll be fine with just those ragtags you call fighters?"

The field commanders' faces were filled with anger at Solomon's insults.

"What are you suggesting?"

"Who are you to judge our brothers and sisters in arms?!"

"You're nothing but a slippery worm!"

The commanders tossed insult after insult back at Solomon who chuckled to their naivety.

"Take my men with you, Sabal. Maybe they could teach your brothers and sisters a thing or two about warfare!"

"Sure!" Sabal was not opposed to the idea of having help when it was given.

"Right, Samson!" Solomon called out for his mercenary leader who came running.

"Yes, sir?"

"Follow our friend here on his hunt, if possible don't get in his way! He doesn't like anyone stealing his kills, but if they need a hand then give it!" Samson nodded.

"Good! Off you go then!"

Samson gathered his mercenaries and followed Sabal and his Golden Path fighters in the direction that was unspecified.

They later came to understand what they came for not too long later.

Hiding behind some sandbags at the edge of a cliff, and firing back when there was an opportunity. His metallic mask gleaming terrifyingly in the pale moonlight to cast a frightening image on the Golden Path fighters who were expecting a few soldiers, but instead….

….. it was their new employer.


	10. Chapter 10 - The airport is ours!

The bullets from the forest in the form of rifle flashes were cascading off his cover. He wasn't expecting this quick a response from the Golden Path, that just meant that a competent commander had just taken command. After rigging the last mortar tube to blow he hid behind the sandbags to shoot back at the Golden Path who were closing their distance.

He threw some smoke grenades that were on him to provide further concealment, but saved one just in case he wanted to make a dash for it.

With the mortar tubes gone there was no way to use it against these Golden Path members, not that it would have worked with them being so close to him, it wasn't in the minimal range. He was suddenly inspired by a certain World War two movie with all the mortar rounds lying around. Tossing primed mortar shells at the Golden Path fighters that came through the smoke only to be blasted to smithereens.

The sounds of explosions and the screams of their comrades discouraged them from advancing further.

"What are you shivering in the background for, he's just one man! ONE MAN!" Sabal couldn't believe what he was seeing. "URRGHH!" Sabal shouted his frustration as he was the only one advancing.

"Shall we help sir?"

"Gee, if you would! Please do!" He said with sarcasm in his tone.

"On our way sir! Please tell your men to ceasefire."

"Oh? Showing us the way, eh?" Sabal was referring to Solomon's previous comment about them being superior in combat.

"Mercenaries of Solomon! Prepare to charge!" He shouted loud enough for Ajay to hear him, which he did and held his fire.

The mercenaries charged up to where Ajay was behind the smoke in a walking fire stance but fearlessly charged through the smoke. And some time passed with no even a sound, then the smoke cleared and the mercenaries were gathered around Ajay who was kneeing with his hands seemingly tied.

Sabal shrugged his shoulders.

-At least they got him!- He would plan to have a long talk with his own comrades on their limits in tenacity.

Sabal walked up to where the single assailant was, just standing a few steps away from him and the mercenaries with two of his guards standing with him always.

"And who might you be?" Sabal asked.

"I don't think we've been acquainted, the names Badala!" The masked man replied calmly despite his current predicament.

"Oh? Vengeance? What could you possibly be avenging brother?" Sabal uncovered the meaning behind Ajay's alias, Ajay was slightly agitated by his use of the word 'Brother' he had horrid thoughts circling that use of that word.

"Myself… So who do I owe the pleasure under this beautiful full moon?" Ajay asked for Sabal's name again. He didn't recognize who he was because of the bandages that were poorly wrapped around half his face and the twisted face Sabal always wore.

"You have the honor of being in the presence of I! Sabal, leader of the Golden Path!" Sabal matched Ajay's theatrical intro.

"Sabal?...Sabal?!" Ajay stared at Sabal in shock of who he was. Sabal was feeling smug about what kind of effect his presence had on his enemies.

At least that was what he thought until Ajay burst into an uncontrollable laughter. He laughed till he cried.

"Sabal? Maybe you should stick with the nickname 'Fryface' instead!" Ajay continued to laugh while Sabal's expression twisted with unimaginable hatred.

"Shut up!" He kicked Ajay in the gut to silence him.

Ajay lost a few breaths but recovered with a smile on his face. Sabal took a while to recover his composure, he was facing a dead man in a while after all, these were nothing but last minute rants.

"I should ask you about that mask!-"

"Do you like it?" Ajay grinned.

"Yalung, right?"

Ajay nodded.

"Pretty unauspicious, are you ready to receive the consequences of wearing that mask?"

To Sabal it was still a cursed item that even he was cautious of.

"This mask has a simple meaning, Sabal. What Yalung does I'll do onto all of you too!" Ajay wore a vicious smile that sent shivers down the spines of the Golden Path fighters.

"No longer…." Sabal drew his pistol with the intention to execute him.

"Actually that's where you're wrong!" Ajay was still smiling creepily.

"Oh? From my point of view, you're out of ideas and out of luck, about to receive a bullet to the head!" Sabal laughed at Ajay's foolhardiness despite his fate.

"Yeah- See! That's not what I see! Because from my point of view you need to choose your friends better…"

Ajay turned to Samson.

"Isn't that right, Samson?"

As he announced this, the mercenaries raised their rifles at the unprepared Golden Path fighters and went guns blazing. Only Sabal was quick to realized what was going on, he grabbed one of his comrades supposed to guard him and used him as a meat shield as he ran into the forest.

"Damn the gods! Curse you foreign dogs! Curse you Badala!" He continued to run without stopping. By then all the Golden Path guerillas that followed him were killed.

Ajay undid the loose binds that Samson's second-in-command hastily placed on him in the feint.

"Nice job! Too bad, Sabal got away! We could have dealt serious damage if we had his head!"

"Apologies, we weren't aware he was so slippery." The thought of Sabal slithering away made him chuckle.

"Neither did I, that's alright! No harm done. So what have you guys found in their camp?"

"There are over two thousand guerillas gathered there presently, the armored vehicles have already set off on the next wave. We did as much damage as we could to their logistics as possible while under cover!"

"Good! I think it's time to head back, Saras may have ordered the 3rd Company to fall back to the second line by now." He checked his watch to monitor how many hours it was before sunrise.

The mercenaries picked up whatever ammo and weapons they could salvage from the dead fighters and followed Samson and Ajay down the cliff.

"How did you guys know where I was?"

"We didn't, Solomon ordered us to follow that commander to look for a mortar that was hounding his troops!"

"…"

Suddenly Ajay chuckled without warning.

"Sir?" Samson asked.

"I was just thinking what Sabal would do to Solomon when he gets back!"

"ah…aHAHAHAHA….!" At first, Samson laughed with Ajay then the infectious laughter spread throughout the ranks of the mercenaries.

* * *

They arrived at the site where the first line of defense was, the place stank worse than the two previous assaults. There were even taller piles of bodies that lay throughout the slope it looked very much like the aftermath of a huge battle. There were derelicts of armored vehicles that lay abandoned from severe damage around the trenches. There were scorch marks from where the RPGs warheads penetrated the fighting compartments detonating the ammunition stored. Bodies of Royal Army soldiers and Golden Path alike lay around the trench where they engaged in a melee.

"Looks like the Golden Path used the vehicles to advance and take the heat off their fighters. Amateurs!"

The armored vehicles were the same type of vehicle as the tank destroyer but with the absence of the tank gun in exchange for a machine gun or internal mortar. The Golden Path didn't seem to know how to use these vehicles to their specific design properly.

"Let's move quickly! They should be upon the 3rd Company in the second defense line!"

"Yes, sir!"

Samson and his mercenary comrades force marched up the slope pass the devastation in the first defense line.

As they advanced up the slope the sound of a battle grew and they could now make out figures of the Golden Path fighters running up the slope towards a road blockade with sandbags and barbwire blocking their way to the only road that spiraled up to the airport entrance.

Behind the sandbags, the Royal Army soldiers of 3rd company fought hard against the Golden Path fighters who were bottled in by the narrow road on the cliff to the airport on top of the plateau. But it seemed that it was the Golden Path who were taking more losses than the Royal Army, because they had the high ground again.

The Golden Path fighters had no choice but to converge up the road in a tight ground with made them more susceptible to the rifle fire that the Royal Army was spraying at them. The tank destroyer was behind the blockade firing its machine gun at the Golden Path members too.

The Golden Path second wave were still a force of over three hundred left with two armored vehicles and a few technical mounting heavy machine guns as well. The Golden Path fighters were getting smarter and used the vehicles to absorb the fire again.

"Orders?" Samson asked.

"We'll move in quietly and take out all the rear elements, field commanders if any, logistic soldiers and use some of the heavy weapons against them."

Ajay went for the stealth approach for the time being since the waves attention was all focused on climbing the slope and breaking the barricade.

"Badala to 3rd Coy. We're at the rear of the wave keep up the fire for us to flank them." Ajay said over his radio.

*Badala? You're alive?!* Maya responded.

"Why wouldn't I be? The mercenaries are with me. Keep their attention to the front!"

*Uh- Yes!*

The mercenaries converged on the rear elements of the wave. Behind the frontlines where the Golden Path were storming the blockade were a commander and his communication specialists relaying orders to the fighters up front and their activities to the Command Centre. Next to them were a battery of recoilless rifles firing barrages at the barricade in an attempt to demolish it for the fighters to advance.

The actions were quick and swift as Ajay and the mercenaries gutted and slid the throats of the artillery piece crew men and their field commander who were all to shock to respond to the appearance of him and the mercenaries attack.

Meanwhile, Saras stood by her men at the barricade holding out against the Golden Path assault. The hunters returned with the ammo they so desperately needed, hastily distributing it among the 3rd Company soldiers at the barricade.

Saras had divided her men into two groups to rotate so as to not fatigue them after hours of fighting. Maya insisted she do the same by taking a rest but she kindly refused, her presence in the frontline was what kept the soldiers morale at its peak knowing their leader was with them throughout the fight.

"I think you'll need a vacation after this to recover those bags under your eyes!" Maya still had the wit to joke.

"Don't we both!" Saras indicated the sleepy eyes of her companion.

"After this we're gonna hound Badala with all sorts of requests!- I can't wait!" Saras chuckled at Maya's resolve.

"Read the mood! Will you!" Anish screamed over the incoming hail of small arms fire.

The road up to the airport was wide enough to have two armored vehicles roll up side by side. The vehicles at the Golden Paths disposal were in a zip-zag formation so in case the lead vehicle were destroyed the others could pass it on the narrow path instead of blocking off the path entirely.

Suddenly the road ahead where the Golden Path were on erupted. Smoke trails led back down to the base of the road leading up to the Airport where the recoilless guns that were used to barrage and suppress Saras and her 3rd Company were used against the armored vehicles whose vulnerable side armor was exposed to. A continued barrage destroyer the lead armored vehicle and the crew from the second armored vehicle abandoned theirs for fear of being burnt alive in a burning wreck.

"The mercenaries are boxing them in! Forwards! Advance!" Saras ordered her soldiers to leave cover and counterattack.

So the Golden Path wave was now in a dilemma, the barricade to the front and the mercenaries to their rear. There were a few brave souls amongst them attempting to rally the huge force but their influence was not capable of swaying their emotions over the certainty of death.

Samson and Ajay with a few mercenaries moved up the road killing men and women by the dozen every few seconds. The advantage of a good formation and discipline were the difference in what made the Mercenaries able to kill the Golden Path and break any attempts they had of mustering a strong retreat.

"Ohhh Gods! We're doomed!"

"Shit! How could this happen?!"

"Screw this! Retreat! Retreat!"

More and more fighters announced their intentions to withdraw made the rest who still had the will to fight no longer want to take the route which meant they died without achieving anything. The entire Golden Path force attempted to rampage over the few mercenaries in their rear, but soon realized they were heading into a meat grinder.

"I surrender!"

"-Give up!"

"Please spare us!"

One after another the now a hundred strong Golden Path force gave up their attempts at assaulting the barricade that led to the airport.

The 3rd Company celebrated once more as Saras and Maya came out of cover.

But would Ajay spare them all?

"Gather them and make them clear the road of bodies!" He ordered the mercenaries to disarm them and made them clear the bodies of their comrades from the road.

"Badala!" Maya came running towards him.

"Were you worried?" He said with a smirk.

"W-Wha-HAH! Who would worry about your damn ass?! You got us into this situation, you'd better not die halfway through!" Upset that he teased her but also glad he still had the wit to tease.

"Yah! Yah! I get it! I'll make it up to all of you, but first! We need to get this place sorted out soon, there's no telling when the next wave arrives!"

Maya nodded.

"What's the plan?"

Ajay looked at his watch, they were an hour and a half till sunrise. He frowned a bit due to the slowness of time but then he wasn't exactly a time lord who could manipulate time.

"What's the condition of 3rd Company?"

"Battered but not out of the game! We sustained twenty casualties during the defense at the first line before Saras had them pull out. She had us take shifts and fighting into a stalemate at the barricade."

Ajay looked at the soldiers manning the barricade, they looked exhausted and with a few wounds and grazes but still holding up.

"Have them rest up for now! I'll have Samson's mercenaries do most of the work for the time being, as for our prisoners… I have a little surprise for Sabal!" Ajay smiled.

Maya went to call the soldiers to return to the hangars to rest where they would make their final stand at

He walked up to the rounded up prisoners of war, nearly a hundred were gathered at the entrance to the airport under supervision by the mercenaries.

The Golden Path fighters notice him walking towards them and became rather nervous due to his intimidating presence. Most remember him as the person who stood at the front with the mercenaries when boxing them in and it was also partially because of him they were afraid to retreat as well.

"Now what to do with you…?" Ajay grinned deviously at them.

* * *

Sabal finally returned through the forest to the base camp where the Command post was. Solomon was the first to catch sight of him and he waltzed angrily back to where the Field Commanders were.

"I didn't think you'd actually use them to the point they'd never come back, never mind! As long as they were of some use to you!" Solomon smiled.

"Use to me?" Sabal laughed so hideously that Solomon wondered if there was something wrong.

"You're hired guns felt it better to switch sides to his end! Talk about turncoats, eh? Like employer like employee!"

The color on Solomon's face vanished. "W- What?!" Solomon dug into memory, he realized there was a gap of time he wasn't in contact with them. That was when they tested the hill and he left them. They must have lost but were spared, Solomon really regretted the way he treated his mercenaries but that wasn't the worst of it. They had returned likely to gather intel or even sabotage certain logistics here. That explained why there were so many commotions around the temporary muster point.

Sabal's belittling of Solomon only served to fuel the fury within him. They tricked him, and if there was anything in the world he hated more than it was to be deceived. He had a taste of that in Hong Kong years ago by his fellow triad lords who turned him over to Interpol. He would forever remember this humiliation the mercenaries gave him.

"That damn Badala!-….."

"Is that his name?"

"I'll kill him if I ever get the chance!" Sabal swore as he returned to where the field commanders were.

"Sabal, all forces have arrived and are prepared to converge. We're ready for the final attack, we're received intel on the enemy's compound layout and the number of forces in the area. Over a hundred strong company was used to capture and fortify the area surrounding Meh Teh airport."

"Make that plus twenty mercenaries." Sabal added to their report to which they all wore complex expressions as they were unsure of what he meant.

"It makes little difference we'll still attack now that we have a rough idea of what's happening around. The Royal Army had us fooled, there is no army lying in waiting." His announcement rocked the field commanders.

"T-Then-.."

"It was a ruse to take our focus off invading the North!" Sabal was now sure this plan was concocted by Badala and he was likely the one who took back Ratu Gadhi from right under their noses. Though he resented him he held a modicum of respect for him, he was the one who broke Amita's will giving him full reign over the Golden Path after all. For that he was thankful, for making the Golden Path strong again.

-A worthy opponent for me after all!- Sabal's expression lightened up from his usual hateful look which surprised his commanders.

"We'll move as plan! Have them move out now!"

* * *

The soldiers and mercenaries were hard at work refortifying the barricade and planting landmines in their flanks and blind spots. Tons of ammunition was distributed around the Airport so they wouldn't have to return to the supply depot to resupply. The soldiers were extremely quick in building structures, he gave them that. They were apparently not known to his previous knowledge the 3rd Company of the Combat Engineering Regiment.

Building trenches and forts were their thing, so he made them build as many they could. The mercenaries with the guidance of Samson and Saras did much of the distribution of arms and ammo around. Maya and her hunters planted trip mines throughout the compound, she pulled her brother along with her to keep him away from his favorite tank destroyer.

As for Ajay, he went to work on a special surprise for the Golden Path and Sabal. They had long abandoned the barricade to the airport on the cliff which was their second line of defense. But it would serve to separate the fighters from their vehicles and force them to dismount when fighting them.

"Sir, preparations have been complete!"

"Great timing, move the wounded to the supply depot and have a rest yourself."

"Yes, sir!" Samson left to do as he said. Ajay had finished his preparation and picked up a Draganov marksman rifle and sat on the balcony of the air control tower.

Maya and her hunters finished up their part and went to the depot to rest, except for Maya. She asked around and found Ajay on the roof and sat next to him.

"(sigh)… Long night…."

"One the Golden Path will never forget."

"…"

They remained quiet to treasure the silence of the night, in the far distance glimpses of light could be seen coming over the horizon. Day was almost upon Kyrat, with only just a few minutes till dawn and sunrise.

"Ajay-…."

"Mmm?"

"Why do you help our King?" To Maya it was the question that bogged down on her the most, why was the son of the rebel helping the King his father opposed?

"To tell you the truth, me and Kyrat have nothing much in common. I don't remember much about it other than the vague descriptions my mother gave. To her it was a place of solitude and of suffering…."

Maya listened on attentively not to spoil the moment that he had the time to share his history with her.

"My mother and Pagan elope when I was a toddler, apparently she wasn't getting enough love and affection from my dad who was power hungry at the time and sent her to spy on him. Things didn't turn out the way they were supposed to and in this union came Lakshmana, my half-sister. She should have been in her twenties if she were still alive that is….."

Maya unconsciously gasped at this info, it was something no one had the privilege of knowing.

"Mohan, my father took her life and at some point my mom took his. She took me and left all this behind for the states, thinking it would save her from the pain. But it only served to tear at her over the years, she would always tuck me in early at night so she could cry without me noticing but I always did have a problem sleeping early." Ajay laughed sadly.

"As for me, growing up in the projects wasn't as easy as everyone thinks. My mom was juggling jobs to pay the rent and I often had problems as a growing child with not enough to sate my stomach so I robbed or pickpocketed. Time went by and process turned into stealing cars or looting apartments, at first it was just a means to get by but then-….then it was to pay of my mother's hospital bills. She was suffering from breast cancer and her fate was struck years later."

"I'm sorry Ajay…" Maya could find no words to give her condolences.

"It's fine….. actually, it's not. She was the last of my family, I had no one in the states and knew no one in Kyrat. And that's when legal went through her will and handed me her last request. "Take me to Lakshmana!" She wrote. At first, I thought it was a place like Shangri-la or something. At the time I was thinking, there was nothing stopping me from going back. Maybe I can find a life there again, so I booked a ticket to India and a guide into Kyrat carrying my mother's ashes. Turned out my guide, Darpan was working for the Golden Path to divert me to their side to have me represent them as I found out later. But that wasn't what happened, instead I got the pleasure of meeting with Pagan. Crazy sunnovabitch killed a checkpoint guard because he fucked up at stopping the bus that held me when the Golden Path went berserk on them. So all that considered he made the worse possible first impression on me. But he did take me to the one place that I wanted to go that no one else would have known about."

"To Lakshmana?" Maya guessed correctly. Ajay nodded.

"To Lakshmana, or at least the shrine which housed Lakshmana. Before I went in he told me about the connection I had with him and her. What all this was about. Did I find it hard to accept? Yeah, like most people would when your mom's lover tells you his scandalous affair. But did I hate him, no! He was after all the man she loved, if not Lakshmana wouldn't have happened and Mohan wouldn't have lost his shit. Then he started talking about enthroning me as King of Kyrat, and he always had this look in his eyes. The same one as my mother did when she told me stories about Kyrat, how she reminisced the good old days. That was when it became clear to me he didn't see me as Mohan's son but his. So with that said, Pagan is technically my step-dad."

Maya seemed to have difficulty processing that, Ajay was the step-son of King Min.

"I'm not calling you prince!"

"No! Please don't!" Ajay retorted quickly.

"So is this the reason you help King Min? Because he is family to you?"

The thoughts of his death at the hands of Sabal and his group returned to his mind.

-Fucking Sabal! Fucking Golden Path!-

"Mmm…. That's only half the story. Let's just say that the Golden Path doesn't remind me too much of fond memories. Well, I guess that should be a lot to tell Yuma about."

"So you knew."

"Yes. I heard a story about her when my mother left. She tried to fill the void in Pagan's heart but wasn't too tactful about it or maybe Pagan didn't want anyone to fill it. She has every reason to hate me as much as my mother. The reason I'm afraid of her is because she can do anything if she's angry, like desecrate my mom's resting place behind both mine and Pagan's back."

"Mistress would never!-" Quick to defend her mentor Maya was.

"I'm not so sure on that one myself, but I wouldn't push her either way. For all the angry women I've know she shouldn't be any different."

"In the end, we're all broken things. Pagan, Yuma, me-… And who was the culprit of all this? Mohan Ghale and the Golden Path which was built with his values. This is why I fight, Maya. To get rid of that stain in my family's history. And I'll do it even if it requires me to commit dozens of atrocities!"

Maya truly felt pity for Ajay.

-Mistress wants this man dead, but he has absolutely nothing even before he was aware of it. He's been suffering just as much as she and King Min have. Am I just going to let things take its course?-

Maya did some heavy soul searching. Ajay wondered why he bothered tell Maya all of this, perhaps closure.

"Do you mean any harm to my mistress?" She had to know if he'd strike back if hurt.

"No! In fact, I want to help her patch up with Pagan! Those two don't notice it but they're a match in heaven!"

Maya chuckled at his explaining.

"I'll help you then! No! Let me help you!" Maya smiled.

"Sure. Any idea on how to get a psychopath to date a crime lord be my guess!" He said shrugging his shoulders as he shared a laugh with Maya.

Maya looked deeply at him.

-Those two aren't the only ones I'll be helping!-

Perhaps she could help him find solace.

(Boom) An explosion rippled in the distance where the forest was.

"That would be my surprise to the Golden Path!"

He took up a remote detonator and pressed the button.

(BooBooBooBoom) A sequence of explosions took place with the signal from the detonator sent.

The forest right before the incline up the road to the airport rippled with mushroom clouds and great big fireballs of smoke.

"What the heck was that?" Maya asked again.

"Like I said, my surprise for the Golden Path!"

* * *

The Golden Path's full frontal assault group had reached the base of the hill that Meh Teh airport was above. The front elements stumbled upon men and women from the second wave tied to the trees in a row in front of them. If Sabal were in front at the time he would have told them to not go any further. As one fighter attempted to untie one that was gagged to the tree his rough handling released pressure of the landmine Ajay set at the person's feet and blowing him and those tied to that tree to smithereens.

The wave stopped at observed what had just happened, that's when Ajay flipped the switch to the C4 he hid a few metres before the trees as a rough estimate to where the rest of the forces would be. Making an explosive trail that vaporized all of the remaining hundred members of the second wave and several from the final assault. It may have done trivial damage compared to the entirety of the Golden Path fighters that were gathered there but it had served its purpose. And that was to rattle the hearts of the fighters. Ajay's method of winning a war, terror tactics against the Golden Paths current stance of shock and awe with their numerical superiority. Most of the men that were in the blast radius survived but lived to tell the tale in the form of heart wrenching screams, frightening the rest of their unscathed comrades.

Had Sabal not arrived sooner to the front to take the lead, the entire mass would have stopped in their tracks. He boldly strides forward with confidence, it gives the rest of his men courage when he led by example.

-That bastard, now I'm sure it was him!-

Sabal had suspicions but this trap was proof that it was the same person. It was Badala who disfigured him! Sabal grinded his teeth in uncontrollable hatred, just wait till he got his hands on him then he'll torture him slowly.

-He'll wish he died accidentally!-

Sabal leads the last assembled thousand Golden Path fighters up the road to Meh Teh Airport in the final attempt to retake the airport.

Back at the top of the plateau where the airport was, the mercenaries and soldiers alike assembled behind the cover they had spent all night building for the Alamo that Ajay and Saras devised.

Sandbags were layed on the tarmac of the runway and near the structures like the supply depot and the air traffic control tower. Next to Ajay was Maya and Darshan equipped with sniper rifles to thin out the numbers that would approach. Anish and Bipin were assigned by Saras to man the tank destroyer since they were the most adept to the controls. They sent an entire break arguing who should man the gun, Saras could only sigh. Their job was to zip around running and gunning to make themselves hard to hit but hit hard they would on the Golden Path.

It was half an hour till sunrise, and the first signs of the Golden Path reaching the wire gate of the compound could be seen. There were only foot troops because of the blockade at the Cliffside road being in the way of their vehicles big and small so they were left with walking through.

"For the Golden Path and for peace in Kyrat!" Sabal shouted his warcry that rousted the vigor of the Golden Path fighters who shouted at the top of their lungs. """VICTORYYY!"""

Charging towards the gate and through to the airport field.

(Boom) (Boom) (Boom) (Boom)

"It's a trap!"

But the Royal Army 3rd company had the whole night to prepare for their arrival and lay a welcome trap that dwarfed Ajay's in the form of a minefield carefully laid in front.

The power of their charge made them ignore the losses taken from crossing the minefield but helped clear it for the rest as they came pouring through the breach.

Ajay, Maya and Darshan began picking off targets to thin the ranks for the mercenaries and soldiers to finish off. Their field of fire was good which prevented the Golden Path from advancing through the breach and started to spread around the outer wire fence to look for alternative ways of entering.

"We only have a while till they bring in the vehicles to support them. Make your shots count!" Ajay advised as he took two down with a single shot. They were charging in packed like sardines so there were little opportunities for them to miss a shot.

Some of the mines in the perimeter were blown with grenades thrown by the Golden Path in an improvised attempt to clear a path through them.

The Golden Path were now bringing in heavier weapons such as the RPGs or automatic grenade launchers. The tower snipers did their best to snipe their crew men when they have a visual.

They say that friendships are formed in the battlefield and one such friendship was budding between the soldiers and mercenaries, previously bitter about the casualties on both sides. A common enemy helped solve that. They would drag wounded men into cover, to the supply depot if possible and pass magazines around when someone was empty.

This fierce firefight continued on for ten full minutes without signs of progression into the airport.

Ajay was aware this wasn't a good sign and radioed Saras.

"Saras, they don't seem to be breaking! Gather the wounded to our designated exit!"

*So it's come to this…..* Saras came to terms with the inevitable.

"Samson, organize the soldiers to withdraw in an orderly fashion to the supply depot. Behind it is the exit out of here!"

*Understood!*

"I'm sorry I couldn't keep to our agreement on getting you a plane out."

*You can do that when we all get out of here, sir!*

"I'm afraid that's not happening for me." He made the last comms to Samson. Maya was stunned by Ajay's declaration.

"A-Ajay-…. You're not thinking of what I think you're doi-." She didn't want to believe what he was going to do. She refuse to.

"Darshan, take this idiot off the tower!" But Ajay only confirmed it, he knew arguing with her was useless.

"Hey-…Wait! Ajay?!- It can't end like this! What about helping Pagan-… Mistress!?"

"I am helping them, getting rid of the Golden Path for Pagan and removing myself from Yuma's sight. But if you die here, Yuma is gonna hunt me to hell!" He joked.

"AJAY!" She said in an almost crying voice.

"The hell are you doing, take her out!" Ajay shouted at Darshan for his slowness to react but he did take her away with little effort from his large frame. As per usual her stubborn spoilt attitude made her scream out for him to take another route, her cries echoed through the stairwell and slowly faded as they left.

Ajay turned his attention to the advancing Golden Path fighters and continued to snipe them across the tarmac.

*Badala, we've cleared the wounded from the supply depot and are pulling back the troops through the exit as well.*

"Good! It was nice knowing you!"

There was a long pause between his transmission as he announced his stay while they left.

"I already told you, I'll make sure none of you suffer the consequences of my actions, Saraswati Roka!" He said in a lightened tone while firing his weapon.

*I've never known anyone like you, Badala. And I don't think I ever will…*

"You will, you just don't know it yet."

Saras chuckled on the other side of the radio.

*Charming, even until death…..Good bye, Badala!*

"Catch you later!" Ajay spoke into the mic devoting his full attention to the Golden Path. The reason why he stayed in the Control tower was because the main switches to the explosives rigged throughout the airport were there. The Golden Path were now pouring en masse through the breaches and into the airport compound. His Draganov ran dry and he chucked it aside and picked up the M249 SAW just as some fighter entered the building. He went down the stairs to apprehend them.

They came up the stairs and were greeted with a hail of lead from his SAW as he went to the entrance and encountered more men he hosed down with a barrage from his machine gun.

-Just a bit more.-

What Ajay was trying to accomplish was to take the Golden Path forces with him in the destruction of Meh Teh Airport. This would cripple the Golden Path long enough for the Royal Army to take at least some action and prevented another major invasion in the North for a couple of years he estimated.

The tank destroyer was holding off at the supply depot drawing majority of the weapons fire. He gunned down the fighter that converged on the supply depot hangar with their backs turned to him. And then, the Golden Path forces started to take him as a serious threat as they moved in to take his life. He hid from the fire in the building of the control tower where he needed to be and reloaded the SAW while he had the chance and returned to the balcony where he hosed more fighter attempting to storm the control tower building.

Some lucky shots finally landed in places that hurt, hitting him in the left shoulder and right thigh. He collapsed against the cement wall inside the glass observation room. A few Golden Path came up to the place uninvited and received his baptism by lead with his sermon delivering tool.

Longinus's way of speaking was starting to rub off on him in his thoughts.

-So this is how far I make it doing the right thing! At least I didn't let myself down this time…..-

Ajay picked up the single remote plunger that detonated all the explosives around the Airport. He took out the icon of Kalachakra to look at one last time as it seemed appropriate.

-It would have been nice to see more but I guess it was a nice change of pace, I did get to see Sabal and Amita suffer… thank you, Wheel of time!-

Ajay closed his eyes and the images of his new and past life drifted by in an instant as he pushes the plunger down.

But an iron grip prevented him from doing so.

Ajay raised his gun thinking it was a guerilla fighter but it turned out to be the last person he expected to come and join him.

"Samson?!"

* * *

The Italian mercenary smiles at him wryly.

"The hell! Why are you still here?!"

It wasn't just Samson, it was his entire mercenary unit. All of them smiling away.

"And let us live through a world of hurt? Don't forget, you still owe us for our services and we intend to receive it from you in full!"

Ajay looked at his fellow mercenaries to see if he was hearing correctly.

"Once he's made his mind he'll stick to it, we'll just follow him anywhere!" His friend responded.

"You'll get paid by Pagan now get out! The reinforcements weren't quick enough so there's no point in holding this place any longer!"

"See! We usually would but it's just that I don't know if we'll ever come across another boss like you!"

Ajay was stunned by what Samson said. They wanted to stay because they thought he was worth saving.

"Could you be….homo?-"

"What gave you that idea?!" His fellow mercenaries laughed at him.

"I'm kidding, although you really are a scumbag, Samson! Choosing your employers when it suits you…. Well I guess you do have skill to back up that kind of wayward behavior!"

Samson grinned widely. "I'll take that as a compliment."

"A reckless employer for a reckless employee!" His friend laughed.

Some of the mercenaries had been fighting while they were having a nice cozy chat in the control tower. Ajay did a quick first aid to his wounds and wrapped gauze around his arm and leg, giving himself an adrenaline shot to keep him going.

"Your orders?"

"Hold the control tower till the last man, whether reinforcements come or not! Last man pushes the plunger and sends these Golden Path losers to hell with us!"

"You heard the boss, let's move! Spread out and engage, keep those corners tight!" Samson went back to forming a defense around the control tower.

By now, the Golden Path had their sights on the control tower, their commanders figured out there was something of value inside for Ajay and the mercenaries to defend it with such tenacity and not merely as a good place to snipe them from. So majority of the invaders went for the control tower instead, with use of the emplacements as cover to converge of the building itself.

Ajay stayed on top of the tower to get a better view of the situation. It was seven minutes till the E.T.A of the reinforcements Arjun promised although dawn had broken.

Why was Arjun's reinforcements so important you ask? Ajay had planned to lure the supposed 'main force' of the Golden Path force to contest with him the entire night until it reached dawn, their fatigue would make them easy targets. The dawn light provided excellent visibility for the artillery or air fire support as they were caught out in the open of the airport.

Ajay spotted familiar figures by the supply depot heading in his direction.

"Cover fire to the supply depot!" He immediately announced to the mercenaries who followed his order with efficiency.

Three people to be exact came running through fire up to the tower once more.

"You're really asking to die here! And you'll get nothing from it!" Ajay threw his harsh remarks at the stubborn girl.

"Don't run!" Maya shouted at him in a sullen tone.

"What?..."

"Don't run from living with the consequence, Ajay!" She was on the verge of tears.

"I-…."

"We'll get through this together! Or we won't!" She said in resolve.

No words could form in his mouth, but in his heart sprouted an intense desire to live on. He remained quiet to steel his own resolve in his mind.

"Thank you…. I will." Maya was relieved to hear that.

-That's right! I haven't tried everything just yet, I shouldn't seal my fate so hastily.-

"Samson!" The mercenary leader came over when his name was called.

"Sir?"

"Leave one man by the plunger. We're taking the fight to them!" Was all Ajay said to which Samson grinned.

The mercenaries assembled by the entrances to the control tower waiting to move out. Ajay was the first to leave the shelter of the control tower.

"To the barricade! Seal the breach!" He said and everyone knew what he was trying to achieve.

The spread themselves out on the tarmac facing the entrance to the airport which had the breach in a walking wedge formation that gunned down those in their field of fire.

The Golden Path fighters couldn't believe what they were seeing, a group of merely twenty were directly confronting a force of over almost a thousand strong fighters. But the strength of the wedge that they formed was cutting through the mass of their forces like a hot knife through butter.

Sabal bore witness to this and it couldn't infuriate him any further, because at the tip of the formation was Badala.

"Kill that man!" He roared.

"Seagull on me!" Ajay gave his formation command with his middle finger pulling back his index. The group formed into a zig-zag with two lines of men. Ajay moved the formation by sprinting forwards as the group followed his lead.

The formation made the group into a tight group as they ran towards the barricade but allowed them to focus on killing those that passed by them on the left and right. They were a small target for those in front too.

Ajay's mask that shone in the sunlight made everyone aware of it, his sprint towards the barricade where majority of the Golden Path were trying to cross into the airport sent shivers down their spines. Added to the fact that he ran right in the open without any shots seemingly hit him due to the intense field of fire from him and the mercenaries. It gave the feeling that Ajay was infallible as the Golden Path fighters stumbled backwards from being disheartened.

As Ajay, at the head of the formation was within ten metres from the barricade he threw his incendiary grenades at the barricade. The barricade lit up preventing the Golden Path forces on the other side from crossing. Sabal was right there on the standing on the barricade when he threw the incendiary bombs and quickly jumped off to the side with the bulk of the force was still waiting.

"Damn the Gods! BADALA!" Sabal screamed.

He and five hundred others were sealed from the rest of the forces already in the airport.

"Samson, Maya! Smokes to our rear!"

The group now had the blazing barricade to their backs as they turned their attention to the Golden Path forces that made it inside the compound.

They threw their smoke canisters to their rear to provide concealment from the Golden Path forces within the airport which numbered up to two hundred still.

"Give them everything you've got!" Samson roared as they blazed away with their ammo reserves at the fighters that came through the smoke in an attempt to break Ajay's separation between them and the main force.

Ajay had a quick look to his watch. It was already time for them to have arrived but there was still no sign. He had to plan a mode of attack where twenty of them could fight now a hundred and fifty inside the base and five hundred to their rear. Just then, the blazing barricade blew up. The main force had found a way to breach the barricade with explosives. Some mercenaries turned to fire at the Golden Path warriors coming through.

The tank destroyer with Bipin and Anish had yet to leave the airport and was circling around moving down the coverless Golden Path.

"Bipin, over here!" He comms for them to come to them.

*Yah?* He comms back on his portable radio.

"Use the vehicle chassis to seal the breach!" Ajay pointed at the human size hole in the barricade which had been extinguished by the explosion.

Without any further words, Bipin skillfully drove the vehicle to block the breach once more. The height of the turret loomed over the barricade so the gun was able to see hundreds over warriors on the other side with their respective vehicle that could not come through.

"Cheese!" Anish pressed the trigger to his joystick firing both the main and co-axial gun at the shocked Golden Path warriors on the other side of the barricade on the cliff.

The Golden Path struggled to put up a fight with the armored vehicle but their small arms were insufficient to penetrate that thick armor. They shouted for more potent weapons to quickly come up front like the RPGs to deal with Bipin and Anish's tank destroyer.

While they were dealing with the Golden Path forces on the other side effectively, Ajay made the mercenaries and hunters converge on the remnant forces still in the airport being cut off from the rest. Those within the airport didn't put up much of a fight, they instantly forgot they had the advantage in numbers but were hopelessly outmatched by the combat quality of the mercenaries and hunters.

Most of the Golden Path in the airport either fled in the direction of the cliff to risk climbing down while others threw down their weapons. But Ajay didn't have time accept their surrender so the mercenaries chopped them down mercilessly.

At that time, Ajay's group were back at the control tower. Bipin and Anish abandoned the tank destroyer when it had sustained too many hits from the RPGs the Golden Path brought up and had disabled the gun turret on the vehicle. They left the tank destroyer just as the ammunition inside detonated and blew the barricade with it.

"Shit!" Maya voiced out everyone else's thoughts.

"I'm sorry I couldn't hold them!" Bipin came over apologizing.

"You done great so far, Bipin." Ajay shook his head.

"What do we do now?" Anish asked as the Golden Path came pouring out of the breach, this time with their vehicles that couldn't pass through previously.

"BADALAA!" A high pitched voice came from behind them at the supply depot.

"Saras?!" It wasn't just her but the entirety of 3rd Company that was still able to fight.

She came over to them exhausted.

"What happened to the wounded?"

"I've deposited them below in a village for the time being. I should be asking you the same thing, what happened to the fireworks?!" She was referring to the grand finale explosion that would turn the Meh Teh airport into a crater.

"How was I able to push it with these fools still here!"

Saras chuckled like usual.

The 3rd Company joined with the mercenaries and shook hands as the Golden Path seemed not to fire upon them but were getting into a line formation so the mercenaries and 3rd Company did the same.

Now there were two armies in a face off on either side of the runway. The Golden Path obviously stood in a ratio of six to one as more forces from the valley joined in with the Golden Path main force. Sabal came out to the front expecting to negotiate with the leader of the opposition.

Ajay stayed where he was.

"You've fought admirably today, Royal Army and turncoats! But the Airport is ours now, with the mountain to your back and my brothers and sisters in front outnumbering you in quantity and firepower you have no hope of coming out of this alive! So I'll only say this once, drop down your weapons and we'll treat you with dignity!" Sabal smiled as arrogantly as if he had already won the game.

"The airport is yours?" A mocking voice from among the Royal Army answered him, that voice of course belonged to Badala.

"Since last night all we've seen is these idiots you call brothers and sisters running from the fight when threatened, you are no exception Sabal. You've at least run twice in this entire battle, so how can my forces mercenary and Royal Army stand down to a bunch of losers?" The Royal army and mercenaries laughed at his taunt.

The Golden Path warriors expressed their resentment but they couldn't fault his words, the way the mercenaries and Royal Army slaughtered their fellow comrades, they felt lucky to even be alive.

Sabal's face twisted with untold fury and hatred for his adversary.

"I see…. So you've chosen a painful death then?"

"You can take this Airport from our cold dead hands!" Ajay said to which the Royal Army and mercenaries alike let out a war cry that shook the Golden Path forces.

"Brothers and Sisters! Leave none alive!" Sabal waved his rifle for them to charge which they did after roaring with such power it shook the place and echoed down the hill.

"Here it goes!-…" *All you women-…..who wanna man on the street-…* "Hang on! You hear that?" He asked the people next to him.

Ajay heard a familiar sound in the distance that was getting closer, he turned his head to the direction of the end of the runway and realized what was making the sound-… no.-…..music!

"Sabal! Look!" A soldier called out to the same direction. Sabal and the Golden Path stopped in their tracks as they saw what was coming towards them.

The beating of propeller blades coming closer was outmatched by the music that was coming out of the speaker mounted below the eight helicopter gunships that were fully laden with miniguns and rockets.

Ajay now remembered what kind of music it was.

([AC/DC - Shoot To Thrill] continues streaming)


	11. Chapter 11 - Vice-Lord of Kyrat

Pagan took a drink from his nightcap. He woke up early for this occasion that Ajay prepared for him and the Royal Army. Chiffon and Samar threw on him a custom body armor to protect him from serious firepower up to 7.62mm NATO FMJ before he went out.

"As requested your highness, the speakers have been installed onto the under belly of three of the helicopters which will be participating today!" His guard escort informed him across his seat.

"Three? I thought I asked for all eight?! Now how the hell are the Golden Path monkeys gonna hear it over their own squabbling?! How is Ajay gonna hear?!"

"My King, the speakers themselves weigh more than the unguided rockets pods! If we minus on firepower it might be worse for the ground forces that may already be under fire!" The escort reasoned.

There were eight helicopters, militarized versions of the S-70 Blackhawks. Four out of eight carried troops internally while the remaining four were made into improvised gunships with rocket pods and Gatling gun pods mounted to the wings. Pagan was in his usual helicopter piloted by his favorite pilot, Kamran.

*We're approaching the site, my king! Twenty seconds to arrival overhead! * Kamran transponded over the microphones.

"Already? Great! Now-….where…. did I…" He dug around his pockets for the smartphone which was wirelessly linked to the speakers on his and the other helicopters.

"Damnit! At a time like this, where is it?!- Ah!" The escort brought it out to him where he found it next to Pagan's feet.

*Ten seconds.*

"Oh dear! We're nearly there- you know what? Just hit shuffle!" Pagan told the escort as he opened the cabin door to the helicopter, the cold air rushed in but he was well clothed for the morning cold.

Pagan positioned himself behind the minigun as the escort went through the music library and tapped one quickly.

The sound of a metal guitar twang in a certain way made him recognize which music the escort chose.

"Oh! Perfect choice!" He chuckled.

(AC/DC - Shoot To Thrill begun to play)

The helicopter loomed over the airport and the Golden Path forces could now be differed from the group of Royal Army soldiers and so other force.

The gunships aligned themselves to their targets that were positioned on one end of the runway for some reason.

"Right, little monkeys! It's time for round two!" Pagan spun his minigun as the chorus came.

*Shoot to thrill…Play to kill….Too many women…. too many pills-…*

"Yeahhhh!" Pagan shouted excitedly as the minigun roared.

The gunships fired their arsenals as well at the Golden Path so tightly grouped, there wasn't a more perfect opportunity for targets.

"Forward, advance!" Ajay called out as the mercenaries and 3rd Company soldiers charged with their guns blazing.

"Cut them down!" Saras shouted.

"Kill that little bitch!" Samson pointed at Sabal who was in a stupor.

The Golden Path began to disperse in chaos trying to get out of the way of the missiles and Gatling fire.

"Sabal! You have to leave!"

"The Golden Path cannot afford to lose you brother!"

The Golden Path fighters around him pleaded for his escape. Sabal roared in frustration and mounted a jeep they provided for him as they covered his retreat. The Golden Path fighters now without a leader, ran for the protection of the forest at the base of the hill as the gunships did strafes at them. The troop carriers carrying the Royal Guards hovered about the control tower and its passengers rappelled down the ropes.

They added their ground firepower to the overwhelming fire support of the helicopter gunships.

The sounds of chaos could be heard even from the neighboring mountain, a mix of explosions, gunfire, screams and that awesome rock music. Villagers stopped their work wondering what was happening in the direction of Meh Teh Airport.

In just three minutes over three and a half hundred Golden Path fighters were killed and the remaining two hundred and fifty were chased through the forest by the heli-borne Royal Guards and blocked off by a blockade built by the Royal Army below the hill. Screams and shots could be heard from the forest now but the battle at the airfield was done.

The mercenaries and 3rd Company Royal Army soldiers broke into a cheer and danced around celebrating to the crushing victory for the Royal Army over Southern Kyrat. This mere company of Royal Army soldiers and band of foreign mercenaries were part of a turning point in the history of Kyrat. Leaving them a story to tell to their children and grandchildren if they turned old, they would return heroes to their home towns.

Ajay left them to celebrate as he walked up to the King's personal helicopter that was making a landing. Saras, Samson and the hunters followed behind him. Ajay started to limp as the combat drugs were starting to wear off, so Maya and Samson helped him walk.

The helicopter touched down and out came Pagan in body armor which he proceeded to take off as it was too cumbersome for him.

Pagan walked up to their group laughing satisfyingly at the work Ajay had yet again pulled off.

"I swear, if you keep giving me this kind of surprise I'll take it for granted one of these days, Badala boy!" Pagan complimented him, although he wasn't in the shape to stand on his own now.

"You look worse for wear." Pagan started the conversation.

"You were late, I almost blew the airport you know…" Ajay said with a smile.

"Better late than never, eh? Besides, you didn't blow it after all. Oh cheer up Badala! Do you know what you've done or shall I spell it out for you?"

"He has struck a critical blow to the Golden Path rebels, one that'll take them years to recover from if they ever think of doing the same as they have recently." The one answering Pagan's question was General Arjun who came over from one of the helicopters to personally come down to the site.

"Quite right, Arjun!" Pagan praised him.

"Thank you, your highness!"

"Father?!" Saras wasn't expecting him to come down to this place.

"He insisted he had to know if his darling daughter was alright and that Badala didn't fool- Uffffhh!" Arjun punched his subordinate in the gut for being too frank.

"Great to see you haven't a scratch on you, dear! Badala, you did well!" Arjun complimented him as well, but he was clear it was more than just a compliment.

"Yeah, sure!"

"You know, with all the success Badala's had in his standalone career I think we might be on to something here! As it stands you've managed to not only subvert the invasion of those rebel monkeys but you also broke their pointed stick! I think this calls for a promotion."

"I agree my king, although I'm not sure what Badala's standing is at the present moment-."

"How bout I make you Kyrat's second vice-lord!" Pagan announced.

Everyone became stupefied by what Pagan had just declared.

"Yeah!... I, King Min declare Badala the second Vice-Lord of Kyrat! Round of applause, please!" Pagan affirmed it himself and asked for some audience support. Samson started an awkward applause which nobody else but Arjun followed, he felt silly but Pagan gave him the thumbs up.

"I, Badala…. Graciously accept." Ajay responded after he took in what Pagan had said.

"Great! Now that you're officially a lord on paper I'll give you the choice of where you'd like to establish your domain!"

Ajay hadn't really considered this far so he took a while to respond. Where would he choose to build a keep to help the people in Kyrat? Where was the place the people hard the most difficulty developing and getting by everyday? The thought of the village that Maya took him too, her home for the last decade. They were the furthest away from other major villages and towns which made them the least valued. They made ends by selling poorly grown crops in their area and through Maya and Bipin's generous donations. If he remembered correctly that place was called-…

"Valley of Death….." Maya was dumbfounded by his request.

Pagan raised an eyebrow as he was unsure if that was what Ajay wanted.

"You sure? That place is the most desolate place in the whole of Kyrat, literally nothing grows there, not even weeds! Most chaps don't stay there long before leaving."

"I'm sure your highness. I have a few plans for that place which requires a lot of space." Ajay confirmed with Pagan.

"Ok!... It's your choice. I'll have someone send you a budget, Bimpin-…Pipin- Whatever his name was!" Maya chuckled unconsciously at Pagan's remark of her brother's name.

"Well I'd best be off! General, I'll leave the situation to you! And Badala, see me at my place for dinner will you?"

"Yes, Your Royal Highness!" Arjun saluted him.

He patted Ajay's shoulder and smiled before boarding his helicopter again. It was the equivalent of 'Be back for supper!' to Ajay.

Ajay turned around to the group that was staring at him blankly, no words could convey the experience they had just now.

"You have problems getting over it, what about me?!"

"What are you complaining about, you became a bloody lord on his highnesses whim!" Maya pouted. The rest were having cold-sweat, Maya was the only one who dared to speak to Ajay in that tone especially now when he was a vice-lord, who was just as powerful as Yuma or Noore.

"And what about us? We who contributed to you live endangering plan!" Saras added fuel since Maya started it.

"What do you want?"

"Eh!- Daughter, don't be unreasonable!" Arjun warned his daughter not to push Ajay but he waved that it was ok. "It's fine, so what will it be?"

"A look at your face." She answered. Arjun was biting his fingernails because it was apparent Badala wanted to keep it on.

"That's it?" But Ajay spoilt that myth.

He reached for his mask buckles about to pull it off.

"Hang on! Not when everyone is around. Sorry guys, but this is my wish." She winked at the rest.

"Ok?"

"Me next!" Maya said excitedly like Ajay had become some sort of Kyrati Santa Claus. The other hunters wouldn't dare make any such request from him.

"(Sigh) What is it Maya?"

"You owe me one favor."

"Done." He didn't want to argue or she would just make her request more absurd.

"Yayyy!" She didn't expect him to be so generous.

"Maybe I should have asked for that instead….." Saras said regretting her decision.

Samson stared at Ajay with sparkling eyes.

"Aren't you on my payroll?" He denied him the possibility of claiming a reward.

Samson looked downcast as he reminded him.

But Ajay didn't disappoint him for long, reaching into his vest pocket he took out a bag and tossed it to Samson.

Curious to what was the contents he poured it onto his hand. And out tumbled precious rubies the size of bubblegum balls.

"It's to share amongst you and your men on your trip out of here!" Ajay reminded him that he had the opportunity to take the next plane out of the country.

"Thank you for your generosity, sir! My companions will never forget the trials we have gone through with you." He said before walking to meet with his mercenary buddies to relay the news and show off their payment.

"Honestly, if you keep giving such valuable things in your possession you'll become the poorest lord in history!" Maya scolded him for his spendthrift ways.

"Even if I didn't have a cent to my name that's alright, that's not what I value the most!" Was what Ajay reasoned.

"Ah!-…." Maya was reminded about his story and said no more.

"Well this calls for a celebration! Drinks on this new lord, eh?" Anish proposed.

"Aye! I believe Badala here owes us all drinks!" Saras joined in.

"Drinks….." Darshan also approved of the idea.

"Oh!- Come on!"

"Hey, guys! Beers on this sucker!" Anish announces to the mercenaries and 3rd Company, they rush towards him and hoist him in the air like some football champion. And when they got out of this close shave with the Golden Path and elevated their prestige they didn't even shake his hand. The power of beer.

They carried him on the way to the airport lounge where one of the soldiers said there was a bar there. As the soldiers were laughing and cheering happily a racing truck was screeching its tires as it steadied itself due to the reckless driving of the driver. The truck screeched into a halt in front of the victory parade making the guys wonder what was the deal with this person.

"Did we miss it? Dude, noooo! We did not just miss the action!"

-Here we go….-

* * *

"Who the fuck are you?" Anish seemed to be on a rather bad mood when being denied a straight path to the pub.

"Mannn Tsk!- I'm the cavalry, man! I was gonna roll up here like God damn Clint Eastwood!"

"That-….. doesn't answer my question." Anish was being to feel he was talking to a straight up idiot which he was.

"(Sigh) I'm Hurk!"

"Who?" Maya responded.

"Hurk." Ajay repeated for her.

"Yeah that's right, Hurk!" Hurk squints his eyes at Ajay.

"Hang on a dang minute! I heard about you man, taking names and writing checks out to: 'Kicking ass' man. That's why I'm here, because you and me together….. the Golden Path won't know what hit'em, right in their faces!"

"Yo! Trash! You're in our way!" Anish was starting to hate the guy.

"Man, I—do—not—understand—what—you—are—saying, I—don't—speak—your—language!"

"You son of a-!" Hurk had officially blew his lid and he went up to drag him out of the truck, the mercenaries and soldiers quickly held him in place. "I'll show you how to speak our language!" Anish began cursing and swearing at Hurk.

"Look, Hurk. The battle has been going on since last night. The men are tired and seriously need a de-stressor right now!" Ajay explained. Although he knew clearly that Hurk had known the battle had taken place since last evening. Hurk was more timid than he let others think he was, he couldn't do jobs on his own, always making Ajay do all the dangerous jobs while he kept mouthing off. The only thing he was really useful for was gathering intel which Ajay felt the need to have especially now when things have changed tremendously.

Also, he had a severe monkey fetish.

"Dude, seriously?" He exclaimed in a false but obvious way.

"Okay, new plan then! Pre-eeemptive cavalry, that's right! You need help, you call, we swoop in and help you—me or my uh….ahhhh-….tsk!"

"Royal Army?"

"Royal Army buddies, that's right."

The crowd was finding him to be rather obnoxious and glared at him.

"Dude, your Royal Army buddies are giving me the old stink eye!"

"Hurk!-" But he went on talking about at his own pace.

"You and me man, the new and improved tat bros, that's right living the dream! Come on! Punch it in!"

Hurk held out his fist.

-Are you serious?- He had done this before already, but if he let him hang he'd be terribly embarrassed and fail to show himself for a period of time.

Ajay reluctantly reached out to fist bump him.

"Boom! I went French Fries you stayed potato. That's all right. You kinda came in on the slow bus too- but you got there, so I got respect for that. I'm gonna see you around, ok? Okay! Let's roll! Whooooo!" Hurk hit the gas and sped off down the cliff and bumped onto some boulders on the way.

Maya and Saras giggled at his comic routine. "He's a funny guy." Saras said.

"He'll be a handful, just watch out!" Ajay advised them.

* * *

The men packed the bar till there were no longer seats for all so most stood up having theirs. Samson went behind the bar to serve since the bartender seemed to be absent. Ajay, true to his word placed a ruby stone in the cash register to pay for the drinks for over a hundred men.

"Ehem! I would like to say a toast, to a hell of a night!" Anish proposed.

"""To a hell of a night!""" The crowd resounded and drank from their glasses.

Ajay and the hunters sat at the bar counter.

"What will you have?" Samson asked them in sequence starting from Darshan.

"Whisky." Was his response.

"Cough syrup. Seriously, what else? Whisky!" Maya said.

"Can you make cocktails?" Bipin asked.

"Just a few."

"How bout Margarita?"

"Sure." Samson turned to Ajay last.

"Brandy, a bottle." He asked for the whole bottle which Samson went to the shelf to take out and placed it in front of him with a shot cup.

"Thanks."

"Mmmm!" Samson went back to doing Bipin a Margarita as he asked.

But Ajay's use of the brandy wasn't entirely for drinking and he took a swig of it to drink first before pouring some on his wound. "Urghhh….." The pain was pulsing on his wound, he had yet to remove the bullet fragments and seal the wound.

"You'd better get that looked after!" Maya came over to sit next to him.

"I'll do that when we leave." Ajay assured her.

"Then let's have a small toast!" Samson proposed after passing Bipin his tequila and pouring a cup of vodka for himself.

"To what might I ask?" Asked Saras who returned from a discussion with her father.

"Ah!- Miss Roka, right on time! Let's see….."

"To a continued winning streak." Ajay gave one.

"To a continued winning streak!" The clicked their glasses, Ajay poured a glass for Saras from his bottle that he used to cheers with the rest.

"Thanks!" She replied to the glass he gave.

"So what did daddy say?" Ajay asked curious what Arjun dragged Saras away for.

"Seems the airport wasn't the only place the Golden Path attacked last night, Varshakot stronghold was nearly overrun last night."

"De Pleur's fortress?" Saras nodded.

Personally Ajay didn't care for Paul. But there was one thing he couldn't forgive him for, and that was what he did to Noore's family years ago. The way Noore died caused him nightmares for months, he had difficulty getting over how he hadn't help her sooner and more carefully. He hoped his intervention this time would prevent that from happening again. Something Maya said to him when she came back with the hunters set a spark on how he could confront her and prevent her fall into despair.

At the moment, he didn't have the means to get in contact with the two of them and he was now given his own domain to manage, things were only getting harder. He needed it to settle down before taking up other tasks. For the time being they didn't seem to be any activity from the two of them so it was sort of dormant at the moment.

"You seem to be thinking about something at almost every opportunity." Saras broke his line of thought.

"It's nothing, just brooding on the past."

"Speaking of past, mind sharing yours? Your accent already gives away the fact you didn't live in Kyrat for a while."

"No. I didn't, I lived in Brooklyn for most part of my life. Kyrat is just as alien to me as any other country."

"And yet you seem to always know your way around here." He had to admit, Saras had a keen observation skill.

"Perhaps I'm quick to adapt." He came up with an excuse with a composed expression careful not to reveal to many spoilers.

"So that's why you speak like an American, I thought you were one of those eccentric kids!" Samson voiced his assumption.

"Does an American sounding kid go around killing people without blinking an eye?"

"Fair enough!" Samson responded.

"That just reminds me about my betrothed who also came from the states." Saras said.

"You have a betrothed?" Maya asked.

"I wouldn't be surprised, he must be a damn lucky fellow, ma'am."

"Thank you, Samson!"

"So who is he? Do tell." Maya got curious and questioned her excitedly like a gossiping girl.

She took a drink from the glass Ajay provided and Ajay offered to refill it.

"Thank You, Badala." She accepted graciously.

"Well he's someone you'll all know about." Now they were all curious, was he that famous everyone knew about him in Kyrat?

"Although he's been missing for the last few weeks since he supposedly returned to Kyrat."

"Oh-no! That's terrible!"

"It's alright, I'm sure he's fine somewhere. Perhaps the King is holding him safely somewhere."

"Now you've got even me curious! Who in the world would Pagan keep a secret from everyone?" Ajay asked as he was drinking from his bottle.

"My betroth is-…." She leaned closer to them to whisper.

"Ajay Ghale."

"Pffftttt!" Ajay sprayed the liquor away from the counter when he heard the most absurd thing. For Maya who knew who Badala was actually fell into a stupor.

"Quite amazing isn't it?" Saras said chuckling at their overreactions.

"Um-… who is Ajay Ghale?" Samson being from another country was unaware of who Ajay was.

"Who is Ajay Ghale?!" Anish came around from a drinking game he was having with the lads.

"Ajay Ghale's the son of Mohan Ghale, leader of the Golden Path and of Ishwari Ghale the Tarun Matara!" He said in a drunken way as he used Ajay's shoulder to support him.

"Hakuna Matata?"

"No, dear friend!...Tarun Matara….. basically it's dis holy woman, rightful ruler of all Kyrat! (Hick) Ask Badala! He should know best…. He's-" Anish never got to finish his sentence as Ajay punched him off of him and kicked him at a table.

He slammed into the table breaking it and went unconscious. Usually that sort of commotion would start a bar fight but this was Badala they were talking about so there was an awkward silence. Darshan went over to pick him up and threw him on a couch, everyone went back to their drinking and merry making as if nothing had happened.

"That's fine. He deserved it!" Maya said as Ajay turned to her. He returned to his seat.

"So how did that happen?" Maya took the liberty of asking, Ajay also wanted to know.

"Mmm…. It happened a long time ago. My father and Mohan were members of the Royal Guard to the previous Monarch, the one King Min deposed. Back then before King Min ascended the throne they were the best of friends, comrades in arms, the drank together, fought together and were sort of sworn brothers. So one day they made a pact that if they had a son and daughter respectively they would be betrothed."

This was a new piece of info to Ajay he had never heard about his father's line of work before, but it made sense. He was probably unhappy for giving his allegiance to a king that was not from the original royal bloodline. Kyrati tradition was that the Tarun Matara was the next ruler if there was no monarch fit to ruler over the kingdom of Kyrat.

There must have been others who thought like him and formed the Golden Path out of it. Coincidentally, his wife was Tarun Matara so she would have been the rightful leader over Kyrat instead of Pagan who claimed by conquest. But the diary entries he read from his father showed he had been moving his mother around like a chess piece, so that was the true intention of Mohan. Ishwari was a tool for him to take over Kyrat, it was proven when he sent her to Pagan as a spy instead of as a commander as she requested.

Perhaps upon learning about Lakshmana he wasn't only betrayed and jealous, but afraid of what Lakshmana represented. Union between the King and Tarun Matara, nothing more could solidify Pagan's rule over Kyrat.

-This family of mine...-

It gave him a headache thinking about it.

"So if Arjun and Mohan were best buds why didn't he join the Golden Path?" Was that all their friendship amounted to?

"From what my father told me, he could not fault Mohan for what he believed in because he wasn't wrong. But to my father, nothing mattered more than the stability of the kingdom and the throne. To him the throne was only a position, it didn't matter who sat on it so long as the people were happy and the country prospering."

"..."

-He was more pragmatic than Mohan.-

"So like that, I don't really think your betrothal would still be standing."

"Oh? Are you jealous that I, Saraswati am betrothed to such a celebrity?" She said with a smirk.

Ajay just gave her a deadpan stare, to which she laughed.

"I'm kidding! Kidding! I've never taken that vow seriously even once. That'll restrict all my future candidates….. like you, Badala."

"Excuse me?" Saras chuckled in her usual way.

She coiled her hands around his body as she leaned on his shoulder.

"Perhaps you don't see it but you're a pretty rare find!"

"I'll take that as a compliment." He responded calmly.

Maya pulled her away from him.

"Oh? Is little Maya getting jealous?"

"Jealous? I'm trying to save you from making the biggest mistake in your entire life! This masked bastard is actually a shitty jerk!"

"Oi! Don't cross the line!"

"Or what? You gonna send that person to stop me, what was his name?-….Michael-Mc-Doesn't-Exist?"

"Big words for a little girl that hides behind Yuma. You must feel real proud of yourself, purring your way up the ranks through her."

"Nobody talks an about mistress that way!" Maya glared.

"Wasn't talking about her, I was referring to you!"

"Jerk!"

"Spoilt brat!"

"Okay! Okay! Settle down, stop bickering like a married couple you two." Saras smiled while the crowd was laughing at their romance-comedy routine but instantly turned away as Ajay and Maya sent their strong glares in their direction.

"(Sigh) I'm going to the bathroom, need to get the bullets out." Ajay said as he dismissed himself.

"I'll help, who knows!... This sort of delicate procedure might need a woman's touch." Saras got up from her seat to follow him.

"Suit yourself, don't blame me if it looks messy."

Now Samson, Maya and Darshan were the ones left at the bar counter. Darshan was drinking his whisky quietly.

"Aren't you gonna follow him?" Samson asked Maya.

"Why would I?" She replied in a hostile tone.

"Looked to me that you were more like his missus!"

Again, people were saying they were a couple.

"Hmph! Samson, more whisky!"

Samson sighed while handing her another cup.

Ajay was in the bathroom of the airport, he opened the medical box that was hanging on the wall and placed its contents by the sink.

"Here, let me undo it for you." Ajay didn't stop Saras as she carefully removed the wrap bandages around his arm and leg.

After washing the wound, Saras took a pair of tweezers to draw out the fragments in his body while he shone a torchlight on them.

"You don't make much noise even though it should hurt."

"That's a testament of how good your skills at taking out the bullet are." She giggled at his honestly.

"I wasn't referring to right now, you've had those in you since early morning. You should be crying out in pain as doctors operate on you!"

This was a common occurrence for Ajay, he didn't visit a doctor to treat his wounds. It was always done on the go while on the mission.

"I've been shot at more than once."

Ajay pounded the coagulating agent onto his clean open wound and injected Saline to prevent infection, lastly taking the antibiotic powder as an extra precaution against infection or shock.

"You certain seem to have a lot of experience at treating gunshot wounds!"

Saras went on to sterilize a needle which she used to sew his wounds together with fine precision, Ajay barely felt the needle poking him.

"You're really good at this yourself!"

"… I used to sew the wounds on my father, he always did such a poor job at it himself."

Saras threw on a bandage as a final piece to his first aid treatment. "There."

"Thanks! It was really done well."

"So…."

"Yes?"

"Can I have my wish now?" She was referring to the mask on his face. It seemed like a good time since they were alone at the moment.

"Sure-." Ajay saw no reason not to let her see it, it wasn't like she knew what Ajay Ghale looked like anyway. As he proceeded to take off the mask she stopped him again.

"May I?" She asked, Ajay put his hands down and let her take it off herself. She ended up leaning on him to take it off from the front. Her bosom and well-endowed body pressed against his front torso.

-Cunning fox!-

Taking her time to remove the clasps and peeling it off his face. She took in his features of a healthy tanned skin with sharp features and piercing eyes which caused her to gasp. Saras smiled and leaned closer to him.

"Can I ask for another request?"

"What is it?"

"…..A kiss-."

She didn't wait for him to answer and instead took his lips again for the second time. Ajay did nothing to stop her from doing so, instead he placed his hands around her waist and fought back with his tongue. He wouldn't allow this woman to treat him like some plaything.

It caused her chuckle in surprise by his assertiveness.

* * *

In the afternoon, the cargo plane came right on schedule. The traffic control tower gave them permission to land and the crew came out of the rear exit expecting the Golden Path but were looking down the muzzles of the Royal Army instead. After a short interrogation with the pilots and the crew inside by Ajay and Saras they found that they were a private air delivery company who did this deal of shipping crates without seeing its contents, a little bit of underhand business.

Ajay allowed them to return to their home on the condition they provide the mercenaries accommodation to India, where they could go anywhere they wanted from there. The shipments were confiscated by Arjun's men on his orders to take what appeared to be Stinger missiles back to the Royal Fortress. One of Willis's contributions to the Golden Path in countering the Royal Army's helicopter fleet. Almost reminiscent of the CIA supplying the Mujahedeen in Afghanistan.

The last of the mercenaries boarded the cargo plane after saying their goodbyes to the 3rd Company. Ajay could not help but laugh at the irony, just last night they were at each other's throats. But both sides were nice people, it was just that their occupation involved a lot of dark areas.

Ajay watched as Samson and a few of his companions from the paratroopers were discussing something outside the plane.

"This plane isn't gonna stay forever, Samson!" Ajay called over to remind him.

The mercenaries wore grave expressions when he said something and gave serious advice against whatever he was doing before Samson shakes his head. The last of the mercenaries board the cargo plane and the propellers start to turn.

Samson instead walks towards Ajay.

"Would you still be willing to offer me a contract?" He asks, meaning his intention was to stay.

"Are you sure? Shouldn't you follow your friends?"

"They have had enough of conflict so they'll be returning home to Florence. I-… I can't explain why but I wish to continue in the business of war!" Ajay smiled at him.

"There's nothing to be ashamed about desiring to be in the fight, that's just how we are. Warriors, so long as there is war we'll be there. And my answer is yes, welcome aboard!" Ajay caught his hand and shook it.

"Thank you, sir!"

They turned to watch the cargo plane retract its ramp, but just as it was about to close halfway Samson's friends jumped out with their bags, all seven of them.

"You guys!-….." Samson didn't understand why they had left going home behind.

" _Come folgore dal cielo-….."_ _His friend's response was a creed._

 _"…..Come nembo di tempest." Samson completed it smiling._

"You didn't leave us then, we won't leave you now!" The only female member in their group said.

"Did you really think we could let you have all the fun?" They laughed together.

"Grazie a tutti!" He thanked them all for their loyalty.

"So with this we hope that lord Badala-."

"Yeah!- I'm gonna stop you there, don't call me that ever. It makes me sound like some dark lord."

"I'm sorry, I only meant to address you to your title. So how should I address you?" Samson's friend said.

"Boss will be fine, or Sir. Um?" Ajay hadn't really taken down their names, it had only been one long night and they barely interacted.

"Ricardo, sir!" He instantly got what Ajay was looking for.

"Nice to meet you."

"And these are Luca, Antorio, Emilio, Luigi, Alberto and the lovely lady is Stella." Ricardo introduced him to the people of their group.

"Are all of you from Samson's former unit?"

"Sì, sir!"

"Alright, let's see-…." Ajay pondered for a while.

"Sir?"

"Oh- I was just thinking it would be troublesome to call you mercenaries all the time, did you guys work under a company?"

"Uh-no, sir. We merely drifted wherever there was conflict to lend our services, that's how we met Solomon in Eastern Europe before he brought us here."

"So what did he call you?"

"You lot!" Samson mimicked Solomon's voice as best he could, the mercenaries laughed at his comic attempt. Solomon was officially the worst boss in existence.

"Mmmm. Because I plan on making a company in which you all fall under. I will have you do things for me but you can lend your services to others if the price is right. Escort duties to VIPs, training militia, kidnapping High value targets-…."

The last job type was a little on the poor moral side, but they figured this was how Ajay was most of the time.

"So what to call you?..."

-They're Italian Paratroopers from Florence, they come from the same unit. Betrayed and turned mercenary…..Italian mercenaries-….-

"I've got it!" Ajay announced.

The listened closely to what Ajay had decided for them.

"Your group shall be known as… Condottieri!"

Upon hearing that word, a smile came across their faces.

"So boss, what's our first course of action?" Stella asked in a spunky way.

"Something as ambitious as taking an airport and ending an invasion?" The man called Emilio asked.

"Oh- Just as ambitious! We'll be doing something really pioneering here!" Ajay grinned.

The Condottieri were anxious to hear his plans.

"We'll be forming Kyrat's first arsenal!"


	12. Chapter 12 - The Rifle of our lord

It was easier said than done, to build an entire nations defense industry from scratch without prior experience. The mouths of the Condottieri dropped when he spoke of such.

The lesson with Solomon switching sides and causing such a fiasco with the Royal Army and Guards taught Ajay that Kyrat couldn't always depend on foreign suppliers for arms. Especially one of Kyrat's two armies size, even if Pagan was wealthy enough to fund both from his drug, mining and rare species hunting events trades. It wasn't a permanent solution to the ongoing war with the Golden Path or external threats. When he shared this with Pagan at dinner the man, chuckled loudly. But he was truly looking forward to Ajay proving him wrong again like he always had. Arjun was supportive of the idea and was willing to lend manpower to assist. He also placed an order from Ajay for rifle ammunition in the coming month believing he would make it by then.

There was an impending crisis in the Armies logistic that Ajay had been aware of since learning of Solomon's defection. The chief of supply and logistics gave him an estimate that after a month their entire Armies munitions would run dry. If everything went smoothly as Ajay planned, he would at least be able to produce ammo for the Royal Army to solve one of their most pressing issues. He learnt that the Royal Guards had been hogging the munitions that were spoils from the airport raid instead of sharing it with the army since they were the ones there to claim it even if it was actually Ajay's. So Ajay sent a letter to Sugun, the Chief of the Royal Guards. His guards were to release half of his entire munitions to the Army or he would come over in person to replace him with a more competent commander regardless of whether he only answered to Pagan. He hoped that idiot wouldn't do anything stupid. The Royal Guards barely left the North while the Army was constantly warring with the Golden Path yet they were better equipped, he wondered what they were doing all day instead of lending a hand.

So Ajay wanted to build an Arsenal, naturally the people to consult were Samar and Longinus, both were gun fanatics. One was a skilled armorer and gunsmith while the other had a handy list of connections.

Their advice: He needed a place of which to build a warehouse sized building that would act as his factory, he also needed to secure raw materials to make his weapons, there were also the issues of manpower, security and what gun would he make for a first attempt. But most importantly, he needed the machinery to make the components of the weapons and the bullet cartridges. That was on the way onto being sorted out, Ajay had Longinus source for an Ammunition Manufacturing equipment and a rifling machine. Two of the most complex pieces of machinery that weren't found anywhere in Kyrat so he couldn't cut corners with. Longinus went on a 'mission' to procure his machine tools from a source in Former Yugoslavia from the blackmarket.

He sent Samson and his team to escort Longinus on his trip in case he bumped into any disturbances and authorized them to use lethal force if necessary. That was almost a week ago and their purchased equipment were expected to arrive soon at their recently purchased warehouse in the Valley of Death region that was now Ajay's territories. Ajay still made sure the previous owner he bought it from was adequately compensated, not that he would dare to say no to a vice-lord.

The warehouse was located in a rather unusual place in the Centre of the Valley of death between two hills. When Ajay went to inspect the place he found several metal lathes inside, just his luck as it turned out the warehouse used to be a metal works so it had all the appropriate tools and drill bits to form metals into parts with.

Upon purchasing the warehouse, he had Bipin contract some locals to clean up the place and repair damages to the building structure. He borrowed the amazing building abilities of Sara's 3rd Company to build a fencing 5 acres around the warehouse with the appropriate security layouts. 3rd Company were only happy to lend their support to Ajay after the experience they shared with him.

They built a fence surrounding the circumference of the 5-acre compound with a decent guard post, watch towers, a shelter for the raw materials and a two-story admin building made to look like a wood cabin. They never ceased to amaze him. The cost for their service was a favor from Saraswati which he didn't really mind when it came to her and what she'd use the favors for.

Bipin also posted out advertisements for job applicants around the towns and villages in Ajay's domain, didn't matter if they were male or female but the age limit was sixteen. He wouldn't violate basic protocol by recruiting child labor.

"I thought the AK was supposed to be the easiest to manufacture?"

Ajay was in Samar's armory going through some of the rifles that belonged to the Royal Army inventory and several samples brought over by Longinus. This was of course to look for a candidate weapon to use as the first basis model for producing arms.

"With the current machinery at our disposal it will be difficult. The Kalashnikov's parts have every tight tolerance not so much of building the rifle. But when compared to weapons like the P416 or AR-derivatives its way cheaper and cost effective to build, of course faster as well."

"Damn, I was under the impression the AK could be built from a simple workshop."

"If you've been in the gun trade for decades or maybe came from Khyber Pass then I think that wouldn't be a problem! For an untrained work force to build AKs in an instant is nothing but fantasies." Chuckled Samar.

"…."

"If you're asking if we can make AKs we can, but again with the current tooling and machines we wouldn't be able to roll out large amounts. Perhaps twenty a month, fifty if we boost up out working speed. Maybe if we had CNC machines at our disposal to run some of the more complex milling by itself then the numbers could increase to five hundred, depending on production management." Unfortunately, that wasn't Ajay's strong area, but he knew someone how was.

"If that were the case then I would've solely focus on ammo production instead! It isn't the Army and Guards that need weapons, I intend to equip the villages and towns as well."

"You gonna send them out to fight the Golden Path?!"

"No! I'm not. I'm making precautions so that in the event the Army and much less the Guards can't defend the people, they can at least fend for themselves." Samar sighed in relief, nearly thinking Ajay was becoming tyrannical."

"What about this one?" Bipin happened to return from his task and helped out Ajay in selecting a basis rifle.

"Ah! The AR-18, stamp steel alternative to the AR-15. Supposedly conceived to cater to poor third world countries without the adequate manufacture capabilities to produce the more complex AR-15 or M16 as they're called."

"Oh? So its simpler to make than an AR?" Ajay asked.

"It is, in fact it's even simpler to design than the AK since the operating mechanism is only a few metal rods where the AK uses a long piston which is the part that takes the longest to build out of the entire rifle." Samar stated the facts.

"What are the qualities to a simple and quick design to make, Samar?" It was getting more complicated by the minute, was the AK easy to make or not.

"Stamped sheet metal receivers, wood furniture that could be done by mere carpenters and other components that take the least amount of time to mill from a solid block of steel." Samar gave him the criteria.

"Does this AR-18 fall under that category?" Samar nodded.

"Okay, we'll keep it on hold." Ajay told them that rifle was to be placed on their list. Bipin handed the rifle to Samar to pack.

Meanwhile Ajay and Bipin went browsing through the many variety of weapons that were laid out for them, while Samar gave them the specifications of the rifles and what was the possibilities in mass producing.

Somehow Ajay's eyes landed on a rifle that looked like the previous rifle they talked about but was nearer looking and looked like a cross between the AR-18 and AR-15 in a cruder form yet more elegant than the AR-18. Ajay held up the rifle for Samar to appraise the weapon.

"That's a descendant of the AR-18, Leader Dynamics T2 Mk 5 it was designed by an Australian for his national army. It was built in the same manner as the AR-18 with the exception of the triangular bolt head which is easier to build than the AR-18's multi-lug bolt."

"So you're saying it's even simpler than the AR-18?"

"Yes."

Ajay examined the rifle once more, although the rifle had seen better days it was rather simple in design.

"The handguards and stock are plastic." This plastic, he didn't have the means at hand to produce it.

"If you want they could be replaced with wood furniture." Samar suggested. Now Ajay saw the rifle in a different perspective.

"We'll use this as a basis for the new production rifle-…" Ajay declared his pick.

"But we'll need to do some amendments to the design to suit our needs, could you help?" Ajay asked the royal armorer.

"Need you ask? I'm here to assist you, sir!"

Fortunately, Samar was a competent gunsmith and worked overnight with Ajay to form blueprints from the measurements and redesign the gun to meet their production means. Ajay did a brief research on the weapon through the internet on his smartphone.

It was as Samar said, it was simple to make from the most simpler manufacturing infrastructure. There were a few versions of the gun in military, civilian in semi-automatic and a straight-pull variant. Some of the more appealing features were that it shares the same 5.56mm NATO ammo and magazines as the P416 that was the Guards mainstay weapon and in limited service with the Army special groups. There were some parts that were borrowed over in the T2 Mk 5 from the AR-15, like the trigger assembly which was identical. Perhaps they could redesign the gun to share commodity with existing weapons in their inventory, Ajay gave his feedback.

Samar had a natural gift for making arms, he may have been only tasked with keeping, cleaning and repairing the palace weapons but in other circumstances he could have been an arms designer. Like the project with the Yalung mask, Samar worked overnight but it didn't bother him. In fact, he yearned for activities and Ajay was giving him the exact stimulation he needed.

On the following morning, Longinus and the Condottieri had returned from their trip with the necessary equipment in several crates that were airlifted over. Ajay had to push them a little further into escorting the equipment to the new facility even though they had just returned and were likely tired.

"Were there any problems along the way?"

"Just a couple of punks not knowing their boundaries but the transaction went smoothly. Longinus bought it from a fellow arms dealer, he knew from his home country, the guy goes by the name 'Jackal'. He's American apparently, and gives off the same feeling as Willis." Ajay's eyebrows tightened upon hearing that he resembled their local CIA spooks mannerisms.

"Could he be trusted?" Ajay asked.

"We returned with the orders, that should be a sign that we can. Longinus seemed to trust him, he was somehow responsible for destabilizing his country but saving its people from genocide. Whatever happened, it appears he doesn't work for Langley any longer."

Ajay was satisfied with his answers and drove the truck, one of many in the convoy bearing the equipment back to the warehouse. When they reached he showed the Condottieri what he was up to while they were away and they were astonished he had done this much within a week's span of time. Longinus was also with them and was impressed at Ajay's attempt to build a 'church'.

He led them to the two-level cabin that was the facilities administration building, this was to be their temporary quarters until something better gets built. Ajay's attempt to build an arsenal was a very sensitive thing even if they were deep in the northern territories, he needed them to watch over the warehouse and all the irreplaceable equipment that was currently being unloaded and placed in the spaces of the warehouse.

"It's rather nice, we were expecting to share rooms in a house!" Stella admitted but was evidently happy she didn't have to share the room with the boys.

"Nice? This looks like the retreats in Austria!" Praised Emilio in his usual quirkiness.

The two-level cabin was more like a chalet retreat, he really had 3rd Company to thank in building. There was clean water flowing, a fireplace and four bedrooms in which to house the security force of the compound.

"All of you have a good rest, get up early tomorrow, I won't need you to do anything just yet but guarding the warehouse is paramount. Are we clear?"

"""Crystal!""" They responded happily like they were treated like guests instead of employees.

"Alright, good night." Ajay left them to enjoy their stay in their new comfortable cabin home.

* * *

Deep within the recesses of Yuma's ice fortress that was Durgesh Prison, Maya gave her usual report to her mentor. The fireplace gave the office a comforting warmth, yet Maya was uneasy when handing her report on Ajay.

Yuma suddenly bursts out laughing as she reads the report, Maya had rarely seen her laugh at things done by others.

"Ahahaha-…aha! (Sigh) I'll hand it to Ajay this once, he surely knew how to give Solomon the ridicule that he deserves!"

"The mercenaries now work under him though."

"….."

"I-I didn't mean to sound pessimistic mistress!"

"It's alright, dear. Although, what's this I hear about him establishing an arsenal?"

"Yes! It was a measure he's been attempting to reduce reliance on importing arms. But from my analysis, he sought to provide jobs for the Valley's remote villages and towns that have not been producing enough crops nor enough revenue streams to keep the place moving."

"So he's trying to revitalize the economy? If I recall correctly I picked you up from there as well, was he aware because you showed him the state of your home town?"

"Mistress…. I did it because he also wanted to give his condolences to Prayan's family."

"I'm not angry with you for what you did."

"Mistress...I-..

"Yes, Dear?" Yuma asked as she was now in a rather good mood.

"Perhaps we have been wrong about Ajay-(Bang)" Yuma interrupts her by slamming her table. Maya flinches terrified as Yuma gets out of her seat and walks towards where Maya was seated.

"Are you getting soft to that boy?" She said softly but in a threatening manner.

"I-…no."

"I've said it before, dear. Don't let men fool you with they're feigns of vulnerability. But at least this tells me that Ajay isn't as simple as a brute who uses his strength to get what he wants, as expected of that whore's son."

Maya could see her mentor was adamant on Ajay having ulterior motives even if she couldn't see it. There was nothing she could do to sway her mentor's ideas. She put persuading Yuma to cooperate aside for the time until she could find a solution.

"Ajay requested me to take up management over the arsenal he was building." Maya reported dutifully to her mentor.

"Then answer it."

"…..Yes!" Maya took rather long to answer from what Yuma could see.

"Are you having convictions? I wouldn't be surprised. Let me tell you something Pagan once told me years before we came to Kyrat, when I told him that I loved him…" Yuma shared a very personal history.

"Women can tell you that they love you, men on the other hand only notice you when much distance passes between you and him. Men can only love you in hindsight."

* * *

Three days went by in the organization of the arsenal. Ajay had successfully established the facility into three divisions. Munition production, Weapon production and servicing divisions.

Munition production, focused on maintaining a steady stream of ammunition in the small arms department. The first ammo they were producing was the 5.56mm NATO rounds for the assault rifles. There were intentions to expand into pistol rounds, shotgun buckshot and high-powered rounds like the 7.62mm NATO and .50 BMG but for the time being they would make the ammo that worked in 75 percent of the guns operated by the Royal Army and Guards.

Weapon production seeks to build brand new weapons to distribute to the armed forces and civilian militia as Ajay intended. There first weapon was to be the Leader T2 Mk 5 copy remade for their specifications by Samar, the royal armorer. The AKs were simple to build but require more man hours to make with the equipment they had at hand presently, so the Leader T2 Mk 5 was chosen as the gun they would take baby steps from. Samar suggested they purchase the more advanced CNC machines which could mill steel on its own after inputting a computer image of a product. Ajay looked into acquiring one for the facility but it would take time.

The Servicing Depot was a division that focused on receiving old worn out weapons and refurbish them back to working condition. This way, the arms inventory of the Army and Guards stayed refresh all the time.

Samar had finished the redesigning of the former Leader T2 Mk 5 into what he calls the ARP-1 which stood for **A** ssault rifle in the **R** eign of **P** agan Min, Model **1.** Ajay had no objections to the designation, in fact it made it easier to call. Samar had plans to improve the design when the facility could manage producing the weapon steadily in the form of modifications. So the current design was called ARP-1 mod. 0 and the next iteration would be called ARP-1 mod. 1 and so on. He also drafted out variants for different uses. A basic model, a carbine, paratrooper model with a folding buttstock, civilian semi-automatic in a rifle stock with no pistol grip which was easier to make than the basic model as well.

For the time being they'd stay with the basic model to see how first. Samar had gone to the liberty of making a prototype in his workshop, he used the rifling button machine that was recently brought over to rifle a barrel blank because that was the only part he couldn't do in his workshop. Now, the prototype was currently handed to Ajay to inspect.

"It only feels a little heavier but it's pretty solid, you did well!"

In his hands was the first prototype of the ARP-1 mod. 0. Looking exactly like the Leader T2 Mk 5 with the exception of an AR-type flash hider and wood handguards, pistol grip and stock. His stock was hollowed out and reinforced inside with a sheet-metal lining to add rigidity for storage space for a cleaning kit which was a nice option.

"These wooden furniture's can be outsourced to small wood craftsmen establishments or carpenters leaving the metal to us."

"Right. Let's go test this at the new proving grounds!" Ajay and Samar went over to a plot at the back of the corner that hand the weapons production division with a mound up in front and targets lined up for them.

Ajay loaded the AR magazine in without problems and cocked the rifle. He switched the selector to fully automatic fire and blazed away at the steel targets at seven hundred rounds a minute. Upon expending the magazine, he loaded a fresh one. He depressed the trigger and the gun worked flawlessly as the expenditure of the first magazine. Ajay repeated the process until he had used up ten magazines worth of ammunition with was three hundred rounds.

"Time for the torture test!" Samar nodded as he accepted Ajay's demand to push the rifle to its limit to see how it would perform under environmental pressure. He submerged it under a barrel of water, threw it in sand and mud. In the end the rifle functioned rather well with few malfunctions but was within acceptable margins.

"Fantastic! With this we can start making rifles soon!" Ajay was thoroughly impressed with the performance of the weapon, it went to show that if made with care these rifles could perform as well as the one Ajay held.

"I've already drafted up blueprints and measurements to follow in making the parts!"

"You've really haven't ceased to surprised me, I wanna reward you for your efforts but there isn't much I can do!"

"Don't mention it, Sir! It is a pleasure to be given a challenge such as this." Samar humbly replied.

"Say. Let's show this to the Condottierri, see what they think about it from a typical end user's point of view!" Ajay suggested as they went to the admin cabin building.

Outside the cabin was an entire line of people there to be interviewed by Bipin and Maya inside the admin reception. They sat side by side at a table taking down the interviewees particulars and accessing them for employment. The requirements set by Ajay were that they had to have their hands and feet of course, they also needed sharp eyes and have a positive working attitude. These were all that Ajay really needed, the skills they could teach them.

Majority of the applicants were women, it went to show how heavily the traditions of women being unable to take up the men's job of feeding the family went.

-Since when has tradition taken priority over feeding one's family. A bit contradictory if you ask me, aren't there women fighters in the Golden Path.-

Ajay's conditions were a loop hole to this tradition, there were few that dared to point this out to him, a vice-lord. His words were law in these parts, but he was sure they'd be stupid people who leave it up to their own interpretation of his conditions, there always were stupid people. If anything, women were better in paying attention to detail which was especially good when it came to his arsenal that required precisely made parts.

"How are things?" Ajay asked as he entered the administration cabin

"We've registered forty candidates so far, is that the new weapon?" Maya informed him before the rifle in his hands caught her eyes.

"Yep! Designation ARP-1 assault rifle, Kyrat's first domestically made assault rifle!" Ajay cheerfully announced. The applicants gazed at the weapon with wonder and a tinge of excitement, this was the product in which they were going to produce here.

"Just had it do a field test, if all of them can perform like this baby here we might be able to start supplying the Army to supplement their current arms!"

"Alright, now go to the back to show off to someone else and don't disturb me while I'm doing my job." Maya sends him away with a flick of her wrist.

"So cruel, aren't I the boss around here?" Ajay joked as he left for the back of the cabin where the Condottieri who were off their guard shift were lodging by the sofa by the fire.

"Boss!" Emilio got up from his seat as he announced Ajay's arrival to the rest.

"It's alright, at ease. I just wanted to check on you guys. I was also wondering if you could help us on something." The condottieri turned to each other puzzled.

"If it doesn't clash with our shift-…"

"No, it won't coincide with your guard duties it's just I want your opinion on this!" Ajay said as he presented the prototype.

"Wow! Is this the first one?" Emilio took it from Ajay's hands and felt the weapon before passing it to Luigi and Antorio for them to have a weigh.

"That's the first working prototype Samar built, I've had a rough test of its function and capabilities but I want a second opinion from you as well."

"That's a pretty good weight for a basic rifle." Antorio gave his take.

"Can if fire in adverse conditions?" Luigi asked.

"In sand, water and mud! Mean failure was four out of a thousand." Ajay told him.

"This gun is still a pre-production model, we expect to implement a few more details to make it more trooper friendly." Said Samar.

"What's the accuracy on this thing?" Emilio asked.

"Wanna go find out for yourself?" Ajay's suggestion put a smile to their faces.

They passed through the door that separated their living quarters from the administration office to find Maya and Bipin at odds with a large group of people by the door. Their intentions were anything but subtle.

"What's going on here?" Ajay asked them.

"Are you the manager of this place?" A representative who was over fifty-plus years old asked in a stern manner.

* * *

"That would be me." But Ajay had no reason to feel intimidated and replied with a customer support smile.

"Mind explaining why you are permitting these women into you companies' factory?"

"First off, this Arsenal's criteria to join does not enforce gender so they have no restrictions to join and have equal opportunity to work and be promoted." Ajay said nicely.

Some of the women hearing it brightened up when it came from the horse's mouth, to just work and provide for the family was enough but this workplace provided equal employment benefits to them as it did to men.

"This is against tradition! What your factory is doing is breaking the taboo that has been in existence for over hundreds of years!" The feeling he gave was akin to a village elder.

"I'll say again. This place doesn't enforce women working here."

"Then they should from now on!" The elder said like it was a warning.

"That won't be decided by you!" Maya said in a hostile tone.

"Silence, woman! To be so audacious to speak when an elder is speaking and a man at that! Boys! Take that broad outside and teach her a lesson!" The elder shouted at her.

"Oh- I wouldn't do that if I were you. Not even I would, with Yuma looking over her!" Ajay took a step in between Maya and the seeming minions to the elder that was here to sprout trouble.

He hoped the mention of the warden of Durgesh would ward them off her. But…

"Humph! I don't even know why I've wasted time talking to desk staff, if you don't bring your real manager here I'll-."

"You'll what." Ajay's mannerisms went 180 when the elder seemed to push his limits causing the elder to stumble back a step at the sudden change from a helpful young service provider to a tyrant.

-I didn't expect the 'stupid people' to come right now. Well whatever, I'll at least make an example of them!-

"How dare you talk back to an elder!" He screamed.

"(Sigh) Are all old goats around here like this?" He turned to the Maya and then to the women, neither gave him the desired response.

"You-…..You-…!" The elder heated up like a tomato.

"Maybe I should set a new condition, ages sixteen to fifty. What do you think, Maya?"

"Don't ask me. This is your place, you decide." She turned away disinterested.

"Ha! Treating me like the boss when it suits you!" Ajay laughed in resign.

Being left in the sidelines by a young upstart, the elder couldn't tolerate it no longer.

"Men! Give that boy a lesson!" Ten from his group moved in to hold down Ajay to beat him but the Condottieri stood in their path, facing unfamiliar opponents they backed off a step. Ajay placed a hand on their shoulder as he walked forward.

"You've cause quite a disturbance here, old goat. I'm gonna kindly ask you to leave the compound immediately or else…"

"Or else what!" The elder challenged.

"Or else I'll cut you down where you stand!" Ajay released a lethal aura at the group of troublemakers to discourage them.

They weren't stupid enough not to notice it and slowly stepped backwards.

"Hmph! All of you let a brat tell you what to do, you are all truly blind!" A large man walked through the crowd evidently on their side. Seeing him gave the elder the courage to fight back again.

"Khan! Teach this brat a lesson!" The elder pointed at him.

"Yes, elder!" The large man stepped forward.

"Might I ask who and where are you people from first?" Ajay asked.

"Nadī village, and I am elder Aadinath! We're here to remind this place's owner that there are traditions to abide to."

"Again with the traditions... Do you enjoy using the word tradition as a means to get your way around here?" Ajay was now frowning.

He didn't think that the traditions were so heavily enforced by society. All the women in the queue gave him the wrong impression, yet they were bending culture to do what was necessary. Valley of death was the hardest place to live in, there was poor crops all year around and the people in this region had difficulty making ends. His industry was a way to keep them fed and earn a living. Most families had only women so how were they able to feed the rest if they couldn't take up jobs that were available to men?

-They had so much time to bother over tradition when life was already so miserable.-

"No hard feelings, but you asked for it!" The large man swung his broad hands at Ajay. Ajay had seen the stroke from a mile, he bent out of the way of the incoming fist and lunged with his own fist presented out. The large man's punch missed Ajay's face by an inch while Ajay's hit his square in the jaw sending him flying at the host of men by the elder's side. They all heard a crack from the large man's jaw bone break but were too stunned to move.

"No hard feelings, but you asked for it." Ajay repeated back at him then turned to the elder.

"Elder Aadinath, I want you and your village to write me an explanation for today submitted to my secretary by tomorrow morning. If not, I'll come over to your village to personally find you." He made it clear that he was the genuine boss of the arsenal when the elder didn't take him seriously.

The elder shuddered at the hidden might of Ajay as he made his way out.

"W-Who should it be addressed to?" He asked as he hadn't even bothered to ask for Ajay's name.

"To me, Badala." Ajay's words hit him like lightning, he turned dead pale upon finding out who Ajay was.

"T-The N-N-Northern Demon?!" A man called out frightened.

The elder realized the weight of his crime, questioning and threatening to beat the lord of their lands. He was a dog challenging a tiger.

"Fo-Forgive me, my lord!" The elder went on his knees. His followers did the same.

"I don't want you sorries, I want my letter! I want an explanation on why you question my practices within my own territory, why am I not allowed to let whoever I want run my arsenal, and why an elder sees it fit to push 'tradition' onto me?" Ajay's tone was calm yet held authority.

Every remark made the elder shudder, it was the marks of wrong he had done against Ajay. Ajay had given him the formalities he deserved as an elder but the same could not be said for him giving it to Ajay. If he didn't give a satisfying response to Ajay by tomorrow he could face death or worse.

"You may go back and enjoy the rest of the day, please leave my arsenal the same way you entered." Ajay's response went back to the friendly assistant voice again making his presence twice as terrifying.

The elder and his followers turned to leave quickly.

"Don't forget your friend here!" Ajay happily reminded them about the large man.

They dare not dally and carried him on their shoulders and sprinted out of the compound.

The people in the lines were left in amazement.

"That's Badala?!"

"He's so young!"

"I thought they said he always wore that mask, so that's how he looks like!"

"He's pretty cute!"

"Oi! Shhh! He's looking this way!" A group of women gossiped about him and quietened down when he looked at them, their comments made him feel embarrassed and he started to scratch his head unconsciously. Was this Badala? The legendary figure that beat the Golden Path back at Ratu Gadhi and Meh Teh airport was the young man before them? It became clear to Ajay that the elder only recognized Badala, the vice-lord from his Yalung mask like everybody else. Evidently he wasn't wearing it right now and seemed like a young admin staff to the facility.

"(Sigh) First thing in the afternoon…..Now where were we?" Ajay sighed in resign and inquired what were they intending to do originally.

"Sorry, sir. It's time for our shift! Maybe another time." Emilio informed him as he and the rest passed by him equipped with their rifles.

"Well, I think that's about it for second opinion, Samar."

* * *

Author's notes:

To the dummies in guns, sorry for being too technical in this chapter. Just take it as Ajay went through a long grueling process to produce weapons in with the simplest manufacturing method possible. I promise I won't do this again.

 **Controversy on Kalashnikov AK-pattern rifles.**

I know I've at least offended a few if not all AK fanboys in this chapter, but sometimes the truth hurts. Lol. Kidding! These are entirely my views on firearms production.

From my knowledge there are two production methods of the AK:

Milled receiver. A solid steel block cut into a shape.

Stamped sheet metal receiver. Metal sheet with cutouts bent into the desired shape.

But it's the operating system which is the most complex part to build. I.e. The Long-stroke gas piston with the bolt carrier and two lug bolt.

But these are all built in large state factories in Russia, even the countries that manufacture the AK need to have similarly advance production capabilities to produce such arms.

Ajay's warehouse/Arsenal only has the equipment equivalent to a large gunsmith's workshop.

 **On Leader Dynamics T2 Mk 5**

For those of you who don't know what this rifle is or have never even heard of it see: forgotten weapons/rifles/australian-automatic-arms-sac/

That's if you're diligent enough.

The basic summary of the weapon is that it was conceived by Charles St. George, fellow aussie. Designed guns in the 80s and was looking to replace the FN FAL variant that the Australia army was using at the time. Although failed to appeal to the Army that adopted the more advanced Steyr AUG instead.

His design incorporated several production benefiting features. Largely comprised of sheet metal, simple operating system, triangular bolt design. Each part was easily replaceable or made at a local metal works.

His triangular bolt in fact was copied by Barrett in designing the M82 Barrett 50. Cal rifle which you all would be more familiar with. Coincidentally he worked for Barrett at the same time but wasn't part of the design team.

I imagine it more like the 'Sten gun' of assault rifles. In a long enduring war, production should be kept simple in manufacturing arms in large quantities.

 **What's an AR-15?**

Brainchild of Eugene stoner. Military designations more commonly recognizable are M16 or M4 carbines. Utilizes several rifle design technologies like a straight-line recoil design, minimal moving components, ergonomic controls, Patented Direct Impingement system. All of these features made this rifle extremely accurate as it was controllable. Made from aluminum to reduce the weight to under three kilos unloaded makes the rifle very desirable to top line armies around the world.

 **AR-18**

Eugene Stoner and Co. designed an alternative to their AR-15 design which was the AR-18. Built heavily off stamped sheet metal for simplicity of manufacture. Not many were built, but its operating system paved the way for many great firearms such as the L85 british bullpup, Heckler und Koch G36, Sterling SAR-87, Howa Type 89, SAR-80 and piston AR-15s.


	13. Chapter 13 - Infilitration

Another week went by quickly where Ajay and friends were occupied with bringing the arsenal up to speed.

After the incident with the elder Aadinath and his group, word seemed to spread around the territory until everyone in the North knew that there was employment for the young and old, men and women. There was also the choice of payment in grains or the ill-fated Kyrati rupees with Pagan's face on it. They could choose a combination of any of the two as well.

Presently, Ajay's arsenal had over three hundred employees currently receiving training on operating the machines and their respective jobs. But like all workers, they needed a break and to be fed so Ajay had an invitation to food caters to come and setup shop within the compound. They setup a mess hall for the employees to grab a bite and rest their sore backs.

Within some of the classes hosted by Samar, the on-the-job training employees were surprised to find Ajay with them learning and studying with them the ropes on cutting the metals, milling steel, rifling barrels, assembling parts and operating the machinery. Nearly everyone had seen and attended their lessons with Ajay as he learnt the trade along with them. This gave them a sense of pride that they were part of something special in Ajay's project.

Ajay had an advantage of being in metal-works before, he worked in a machine shop building automotive parts for cars and bikes before in the States so he was quick to pick up the trait. He needed to understand the working conditions and how well they could do their work in this arsenal. His week of engaging in classes with the employees paid off as he both understood how the machines worked and how quickly the employees could adapt and build certain parts or operate machines by interacting with them.

Maya occupied the desk job which he was supposed to sit in, she had undergone rigorous training in accounting and management studies from Yuma and some private tutors, part and parcel in being Yuma's protégé. She enjoyed sending for Ajay to her desk like his boss to find out what he intended to do on certain aspects. Ajay would come into the office covered in grease and sweat while in a working attire causing her to chuckle softly at him truly playing the part of her subordinate.

Bipin had successfully established a transport line for delivering their goods or bringing in raw materials which Ajay purchased from the steel mill and lumber yards.

"When did they come about?" Ajay stood at the entrance of the compound to find people setting up a whole row of shops for produce or merchandise. Some were building wooden shop houses still in progress, others had simply set up a tent to shade them from the elements.

"Isn't this good? Your industry is creating a market for spending!" Maya who had accompanied him said. Naturally with the employees earning money, there was opportunity to spend and people gathered to the outside of Ajay's compound in the once uninhabited centre in the Valley of Death to make them spend on their wares.

-All according to plan.-

"What are the numbers on the ammunition and rifles?" Maya took out a file as he asked for a report on the progress.

"The employees began working after finishing their training two days ago, so far production is at fifteen thousand rounds a day judging from the amount they've produced recently. As for the weapons production, they're been producing parts but Samar says they're still not up to scratch."

"It can't be helped, we'll have to wait till they can perfect the quality in production before building." Ajay knew it wasn't easy to bring weapons production up so easily. It could take as long as a month to do that.

Samar had made his amendments to the ARP-1 mod. 0 assault rifle and set it for production after Ajay had approved it. He produced samples himself for the employees as reference material, hoping they would quickly get the knack at it. The employees themselves were trying the best they could to improve on their workmanship and the quality of the parts they made, they didn't want to let down their employer who had done much for them.

In the meantime, he needed to free up the Condottieri from guarding the compound so he set up job vacancies for security guards which was instantly filled. The Condottieri gave their replacements a rough course over the layout of the compound and the protocols that needed to be followed in certain situations. The reason he didn't have soldiers guarding the facility was because of spies, although the same could be said for normal civilians. He didn't want to give the spies in the army the chance to sneak in under the guise of a superior officer to which a guard soldier would find it difficult to repel.

Ajay stretched his arms.

"If the Golden Path don't attack now I'm gonna get bored!" He exclaimed.

"After the way you struck them, how would they have the strength or momentum to mount another assault!"

"…."

He guessed Sabal was tearing the hairs off his head and screaming in frustration for the horrific loss the Golden Path suffered weeks ago. But it was not like him to sit around and wait for the next time Sabal launched a pre-emptive strike against one of the Royal Armies important locations. There was also the absence of Willis at the airport which he was sure he would have been there to oversee the shipments of weapons to the Golden Path, but he wasn't.

Willis was the one of the only people with the ability to change the playing field between the Golden Path and Pagan's two armies using external forces. Willis was after all a CIA case officer, he had an enormous authority over certain assets around the Himalayan region he could requisition from his headquarters. The next time they fought, he could very well bring in mercenaries or worse, US special forces specializing in clandestine operations, if he was that good.

Ajay had absolutely no intel on the Golden Path's current activities and it worried him, he didn't know what Sabal or Willis were up to. What happened to Amita? Where was Bhadra in all of this? The thoughts of the girl who was forced into a role she never wanted to be manipulated from behind by Sabal made his heart feel anxious. The group here seemed to be managing well on their own, they just needed time to get things right. He needed to see for himself what has become of the South.

"I'm gonna join the Golden Path…." He murmured.

"What?!"

"Covertly I mean." He tried to ease down a shouting Maya.

"At a time like this?" She was referring to the work he needed to approve for her as the manager of his operation.

"This arsenal just needs time, it's the Golden Paths motives that I'm worried about. They wouldn't just be sitting around to regather their strength hoping we wouldn't attack them. Train someone quickly to take over you, I can't have you working in the arsenal all the time!"

"Who the hell would be able to do what I do?"

"Probably someone you trust." She thought about what he said and snapped her fingers when she thought of a candidate.

The next day, it was Elina that came over with a smile on her face. She thought it was a pleasant surprise to see Ajay again after the things she heard about him recently. She already had the intentions of coming over here to work in the Arsenal to support herself and Alisha. The money that Ajay handed her, she gave to the orphanage instead, leaving some for a contingency only.

"I don't want my daughter to grow up spoilt, it's better she takes the hard road in life to achieve her own greatness." Elina's reasoning brought a smile to Ajay's face because what she said was right.

He coordinated with the Condottieri and Saras on his infiltration into Banapur, how he would establish contact with him on his latest mission and left instructions for Samar and Longinus on the continuation of their work in the Arsenal. Maya was still in the midst of showing the ropes to Elina to take over her temporary job before returning to the field with the hunters. Ajay settled all of this before heading over to Southern Kyrat. In the meantime, Ajay coordinated with Hurk to infiltrate the Golden Path.

Ajay redialed the number Hurk called him with.

*Wassup, brother!*

* * *

Despite housing the Golden Path, Banapur still had a majestic sight of looming mountains and lush greenery, Ajay took in a breath of that fresh air and wiggled about in his former outfit to adjust. There was a recruit depot off Banapur looking to replenish the losses they took at Ratu Gadhi and Meh Teh. Ajay and Hurk were just outside Banapur and walking towards the recruitment depot which was almost empty except of a recruiter that was leaning against the desk in front of him.

Before Ajay left, he settled things with the Arsenal, the Condottieri and the Army. He also sent an important message to Pagan concerning his present activities and what Pagan could do since he was there. Pagan always found it fun to play along with Ajay because he hardly disappointed in surprises he had in store for him.

"At this rate, they'll even recruit a chimp!" Hurk laughs confidently.

"I'm counting on the fact they'll be lenient on our background checks to replenish their ranks! I need you to do an intro with me while we enter the Golden Path."

"….Waitwaitwaitwait-…Wait!...Did you just say we? I thought it was just you?!"

"Who else am I gonna coordinate with in their camp!"

"Ohhhh! We so both sneaking like two terminators and slip out into the night-… get booty action! Ok! Ok! So why am I doing the intro?" Ajay sighed, Hurk was exasperating.

"I can't hide my accent, nor can I read or write most of the Hindi characters. So I need to play the part of a mute so I can't talk throughout our period within the Golden Path. I need you to tell that to the recruiter."

"Oh!- Ooooh!... Dude, that's genius! Maybe I should do it too!" Ajay slapped his forehead.

"Then who's gonna introduce us?!"

"I could get Coco IV to do the intro? It'll be tatbros II coming to the kick Royal Army butt!"

"Hurk!" Ajay shouted at him to stop fooling around.

"Ok! Alright, I'll do it. So what was your name again?"

"Soren, my history is being traumatized by a Royal Guard raid on my village resulting in my status as a mute."

Hurk remains quiet for a while.

"It means I can't talk."

"Ah-Yeah! I know what it means, I was just testing you."

Ajay sighed again. He didn't want to rely on Hurk other than tell him the things he wanted to know about the Golden Path but the fella seemed to be preoccupied with collecting the monkey statues than actually doing missions for the Royal Army. He hoped that his status as a foreigner coupled with elements that made him less of a threat and more of a fool would help in getting them recruited. The Banapur recruitment depot was just in front of them.

"Say Bad's?... After this, you'll gimme a chance to join your neat little outfit, right?" Hurk whispers in his ear, Ajay doesn't answer him as he needed to stay in character in the recruitment depot.

"Welcome, brothers. Could you be interested in joining the Golden Path's fight against Pagan?"

"That's right homie! The tatbros at your service! Hurk and uh-!..." Hurk instantly forgot Ajay's alias, he really wanted to punch him hard.

Ajay walked toward the desk and wrote his name.

"Soren, eh? Why do you want to join the Golden Path?" The recruiter asked.

"Yeah- My buddy Soren don't speak much! In fact, he doesn't speak at all, not since that childhood tragedy with the Royal Guard fellas!" Hurk plays his part even if he was slow to start. Either way, he had convinced the recruiter of Ajay's disability.

"I see….. and what is your drive, Mr Hurk?" He turns to Hurk wondering what business a foreigner had in Kyrat's affairs.

"Man! Righteous cause, brother! Saw some Royal Army dudes beating up some civvies and thought, someone better deal with these hussies then I saw your poster and thought hell yeah!" Hurk cooks up a story.

"I- Is that so…."

"Damn right it is!" Hurk winks at Ajay who ignores him.

"Alright come over to the back where the firing range is, I'll test both of your accuracies and weapons proficiency." The Recruiter got up from his seat and escorted them to the backyard where a shooting range was, on the table were a variety of weapons ranging from the weapons purchasable at the gun stores of Kyrat to the weapons brought in by Solomon.

"Take your pick and hit that steel target 150 metres out there." He pointed to a steel gong in the shooting range at the hundred and fifty mark.

"Right, let's get to it!" Hurk walks over to pick up the Remington 700 with a proprietary scope on and aims it down range.

(Click) "Sorry!" He forgets to chamber a round and stumbles with the bolt handle to do so then lines his shot.

(BAAM) His shot kicks up the dirt near the gong.

"First try! Just practicing!" He justifies his miss.

(BAAM) The second shot was just as good as the first.

"Damn! Must have been a passing wind!"

"That's only 150 metres and you're using a high-powered round." The recruiter said.

"Jeez! Relax, I'm just playing you a fool here! This one ain't gonna miss. Promise!"

Hurk says a silent hail Mary and aims his scope at the target.

(BAAM) (GOOONNNGG) "Alright! Hi-five!" He raises his hands to the recruiter who takes it slowly and awkwardly.

Ajay's turn, he looks at the desk and picks up the AK and examines the chamber and rounds in the magazine. He loads the weapon and cocks the gun. Aiming at the same target that Hurk tried three times to hit, he switches the selector from Safe to Fire.

(BANG) (BANG) There's no gong sound, instead the ropes holding the gong up are sliced by his two shots and the iron gong falls face flat on the ground.

The recruiter stares at Ajay with amazement. "That was incredible, where did you learn to shoot-…oh! Right!" The recruiter remembers he couldn't speak for some psychological reason.

"Well I'd have to say that both of you are at least better than the average shooters coming around, your help is especially needed now after those failed expeditions to the North. As it is both Sabal and Amita are contesting for the position as the Golden Path leader again, since both had lost tragically and are roughly evenly matched in support now."

"Are you insane?! What were you thinking, allowing that little American worm join us?!"

"He didn't join us, we merely have coinciding interests…."

As the recruiter was bringing out applications to join there was a loud argument getting louder as whoever was doing so was coming closer. The door flung open with Sabal and Amita walking through it whilst arguing on the move, Amita chases after Sabal. Ajay had his guard up as Sabal turned to watch where he was going and caught sight of Ajay. But he moved pass him instead.

-He doesn't recognize my face?-

Looking back at memory when he first encountered Sabal in De Pleur's compound the man had his pistol aimed at him while asking if he was Ajay Ghale. So Sabal never knew how Ajay looked like, perhaps that was what Darpan was for. To lead him to Sabal until they both got intercepted by Pagan. So Darpan was the only one from the Golden Path who knew what Ajay looked like and he brought it with him to the grave.

-Perfect!-

"Come back here!" Amita shouts at him.

"I'm wasting my time bickering with you, you can keep pointing out my failures. You should look to yourself first before commenting about me. Go and bother someone else, I have things to do!" Sabal says all he wants before ignoring Amita entirely and walking off.

"That, Sabal-….I've just have it with him!... What?" She notices Hurk's gaze on her and glares at him causing him to move back timidly.

"Amita, these are the new recruits, Soren and Hurk." The recruiter introduces them.

"Oh! Well you've come at one of the direst times we've ever faced." She said with little interest and continued on her way.

"Man, she like some sorta Ice queen!...I dig that!" Hurk expresses his appeal for Amita which they were better off not knowing.

"I guess I'd better get you to your units first. Let me contact the local Commander first!" The recruiter dismissed himself and went to the wire phone and dialed a few numbers.

Hurk stuck his thumbs up at Ajay who stared at him deadpan.

"What?...I tried my best! What about you, man? Showing off like that, I thought we were bros!... Whatever! For now, I'm not talking to you." He declared.

-Oh god, finally!- Ajay unconsciously smiled.

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean? Answer me!" He caught sight of Ajay's smirk.

Ajay remained quiet like his character demanded causing Hurk to feel deprived of attention much to Ajay's enjoyment. A little while later a lieutenant came by to the depot as the recruiter had called him.

"I've got to good lads for you to consider on the frontline, that fellow over there is an exceptional marksman, Soren's his name I think. Although he's a mute." The recruiter gave his appeal of them to the lieutenant who sized them up.

He came over to them and greeted them, then asked them to follow him. They walked to a parked vehicle and hopped on while he drove them to an unspecified destination.

"Where're we going?" Hurk inquires, Ajay already knew where just from the trail.

"To Chal Jama Monastery, A little something special we do for all our initiates. You'll need to know why we fight for the Golden Path."

"Sounds great!"

The lieutenant took them into the monastery compounds after they had reached. Inside, the underwater stream flowed out from the rocks down into the valley. Monks roamed the grounds consulting with one another and accepting prayers from the visitors.

They went into the monasteries interior which was carved from the mountain, decades of work put into carving the rock into sculptures and rooms. The reward was that it lasted for hundreds of years and endured the elements for many generations to come.

They reached a table with prayer items and the head priest was standing ready to greet them.

"Good afternoon, holy father."

"Hello my child. And these are-…" The head priest looks upon Ajay and Hurk.

"New initiates to our cause, we were wondering if you could guide them through what we most fervently protect, holy father."

"Of course, come front young ones."

"Banashur, god of gods, sang the world into existence. For that, we give him thanks. We thank the gods for giving us life. Please, take an offering basket." The senior staff of the monastery presented the baskets for them and awaited the before proceeding on, he would take them through the process.

The lieutenant motioned for them to pick up the baskets presented to them on the table. Hurk hesitated while Ajay picked up the basket as soon as it was offered to him, they followed the priest's assistant.

They walked through a corridor into the inner sacred grounds of the monastery, before them stood a candle stand for prayers.

"A candle reminds us that growth only comes with a willingness to step beyond our usual boundaries." He chanted.

Ajay took out the match from the basket and showed it to Hurk before he lit his. When it came to religion, Hurk was absolutely respectful. He barely talked since they entered the cave-in monastery, perhaps he was brought up to be religious.

The took the steps to an altar with an incense holder.

"Life is as tenuous and fleeting as a wisp of sweet smelling smoke. The incense represents our mortality."

Ajay and Hurk planted their incense sticks and lit them. And descended another few steps behind where a large bon fire lay.

"Life without emotion is no life at all, but a life controlled by emotion is to be consumed by it. Add the powder."

-Have I been consumed by emotion?-

Ajay thought about the turns in his life, especially his new life. He had been so consumed by hatred for Sabal that he wanted to destroy the Golden Path. In Pagan's words. "as an excuse to do whatever I wanted to do…" He was using Sabal as an excuse to do what he wanted against the Golden Path without empathy for those honest folk within that organization.

-No. My decision stands! The Golden Path will be destroyed, I may do what I want but I'll do it so that there wouldn't be as much suffering as if I leave things as it is.-

"Psss…. Soren." Hurk awoke him from his deep thoughts. "I threw your powder for you."

Ajay smiled and followed the Priest's assistant behind Hurk as they moved on to the next site. A Mani wheel stood just off the steps by the right.

"The gods bless us with wisdom, and we collect them in the prayer wheel to purify ourselves from bad thoughts. Spin the wheel."

Ajay spun it once, Hurk spun it like the wheel of fortune.

They completed the ritual and returned to the entrance where the Lieutenant was waiting for them.

"So how was it?"

"I feel fuzzy, is that alright?" Hurk confesses.

"That's ok, so long as your trip wasn't wasted. And what of you Soren?" The Lieutenant laughed.

Ajay just nodded, the lieutenant just remembered he couldn't speak and felt awkward about it.

"Well with this you are officially brothers to the Golden Path! We should get-." A radio chatter broke his speech as it held grave news.

*Banapur is under attack! We need fighters here now!*

The lieutenant reached for his radio quickly. "Sabal, what's happening?!"

*We're under attack! Stay away. It's-*

"Sabal? Sabal! Shit! Get in the jeep, we're leaving!" The lieutenant ran ahead as the followed close behind. Boarding the jeep on the quickest route to Banapur.

Even from their trail back, smoke was rising from where the Golden Path headquarters was.

"I'm sorry your first day has to be so rough, but we'll need you in the fight brothers. Can I count on you?" The lieutenant asked from his wheel.

"No problemo! That's why we're here! To kick some Royal Army butt!" Hurk psyched himself for the coming fight but was gazing mostly at Ajay hoping he'd protect him. "Dude, I've got your six all the way!" He declared as his bumped Ajay's shoulder with his fist.

-So long as you don't get in my way.- He said it with his eyes.

They were already at the base of the hill where Banapur was located. And they could hear the gun fire and screaming, a few helis flew over head towards the town.

-So they've come.-

Before he left the palace, Ajay left Pagan a message saying to provoke the idiots in his war office like the idle yet arrogant Sugun that they weren't doing enough of the fighting like Badala was. Ajay hoped that he would clear out those stupid fellows that were getting in Arjun's way of properly waging war against the Golden Path. They would die 'heroically' in battle and life would move on.

The attack on Banapur is the answer they had to Pagan's provocation, they so easily bought in to the idea. Either that or Pagan was a master at acting.

A pile of burning wrecks prevented them from advancing further.

"Stay close and follow me!" The lieutenant was the only one sufficiently armed at the time, Ajay only had his kukri he brought with him.

The moved in carefully on the Cliffside path to the town. The Lieutenant pressed his radio.

"We're here, Sabal. How's the situation?"

*Damn it. Keep your head down and save whoever you can. I'm not far, I'll be there soon with help.*

-Wasn't he at Banapur just now? So he ran right when the shooting started.-

It became clear to Ajay what his most hated enemy's personality was like. He would use big boastful words on how his actions were for the righteous cause but fled when he was in danger and regardless of the casualties suffered.

"There, three more!" A voice came over the next row of wrecked vehicles and a stream of bullets followed soon after.

The coordination of whoever was commanding was significantly better than your average Army soldier, because the ones attacking Banapur presently were the Royal Guard.

The burst of rifle fire grazed the shoulder of the lieutenant and he fell against the wreckage of the car. Ajay and Hurk took cover behind the car as well as the Royal Guards pinned them down with suppressive fire.

"Arghhh!" The lieutenant moaned in pain at the injury he sustained, Ajay immediately applied pressure to his wound.

"This isn't good…. Arrghh!... At this rate, Banapur will truly be razed!" The lieutenant tried to get up with the support of his rifle but Ajay pushed him back down and took the rifle from him. The lieutenant was confounded for a moment but realized what Ajay was trying to say, he smile painfully.

"I leave the fate of our people in your hands brother…." The lieutenant faints from the blood loss.

"Keep the pressure to his wound, safe down." Ajay told Hurk who nodded.

"Go get'em!"

Ajay stood out from cover with the rifle aimed and fired single shots at the Royal Guards, hitting one in the head and forcing the rest into immediate cover behind wrecks of their own. He ran forwards while maintaining his stream of fire. He mounted the wreck and landed with him kukri into one of the Royal Guards behind cover.

Quickly turning the impaled guard towards his comrades as a meat shield against their automatic fire. He discarded his rifle and pulled out the handgun holstered on the dead guard's waist and blazed away at the rest. Five Royal Guards were lying each with a bullet in their heads. Ajay did some quick looting of weapons and ammo before proceeding further into the town.

Another few Guards were lining up civilians by the firing range to execute on the spot. He gunned them down in an instant, they barely had time to respond as they're guard had been down. The civilians ran off in the direction of the exit of Banapur.

Ajay moved with guile to sneak up on them and slid their throats thereby not attracting attention to his position. The streets were filled with angry shouts and wailing. The local security forces had all but wiped out leaving the helpless civilians at the mercy of the Royal Guards' interrogations and torture. But there were small pockets of resistance in the town, one such was a young Golden Path fighter who had been cornered as by the Royal Guards, he fought alone because all his allies had died around him. Ajay was just over a wall above them waiting to pounce onto the Royal Guards when he noticed him.

The young fighter fired his rifle until there was a click from his empty chamber, signaling to the Royal Guards he was on an empty gun. They left cover wearing unsightly grins as did the young man who raised his kukri at them, but was hit in the back of the head by a flanking Royal Guard and dropped to the floor losing grip of his knife. They brought him to his feet and began pummeling him with punches and kicks for aftertime fun.

"What's this….?" A royal guard ripped his shirt off revealing bindings holding back a well-endowed bosom. The Royal Guards looked to each other with wolf-like expressions and pushed her back on the floor. They argued on who would have the first taste and sadly none of them ever did.

Ajay jumped off the steps lashing them in the throats and legs to make them lose balance before he stabbed them in the heart and caused them an agonizing last few seconds.

He turns to the girl who hugs her chest while leaning against the wall to her back. Ajay took a moment to remove his jacket which made the girl nervous for a moment but he threw the jacket over her and went on his way to clear the town.

"T-…Thank you….." By the time she said so Ajay had already left the scene.

A few minutes later, Ajay had single handedly cleared out all of the Royal Guard forces in Banapur. The civilians popped their heads out from their barricaded houses to hear the commotion that was happening. They were falling into despair as they knew the local town watchmen had already died and the Royal Guards would be after them next. Instead they found the Royal Guardsmen lying dead on the ground with wide open expressions of horror and disbelief.

The sound of rotor blades was closing in on the town, and a microphone cleared itself.

*Attention citizens of Banapur, for harboring rebels against his royal highness you have all been wanted for treason! Give up your struggle and we may guarantee your safety and fair treatment, hand us the leaders to the Golden Path and we will consider you redeemed! Refusal to do so will be met with death!*

The microphone blared from one of the three helicopters that was loitering around the town in the rice paddies. Ajay recognized that voice, it was Sugun.

The Chief of Royal Guards had come himself to personally take charge of this witless operation to prance straight into Banapur and hope to get the Golden Path leadership in an instant.

-Pagan must have really taunted them into getting to work.-

As far as Ajay knew about Sugun from meeting him personally and Saras's description he was a Pompous fool within the Royal Armed Forces assembly, inheriting his post through nepotism from his Father who was at least more capable. The Royal Guards held sixty percent of the military budget despite being a smaller force and Sugun had been decadent in the way of spending the nation's capital on elaborate parties he hosted with Kyrat's upper class among the warrior caste. Pagan didn't really bother with him because of the influence he had with the majority of his subjects in the warrior clans and families that made up the bulk of the Royal Guard and officers in the Royal Army.

That was at least until Ajay's suggestion. Ajay could get rid of him by natural means, Sugun would die by the Golden Path's hands and someone else under the recommendation of Pagan and Arjun will fill the gap he left, probably a more capable officer no doubt.

-Now all I need to do is ensure he doesn't make it out of here alive.-


	14. Chapter 14 - Tarun Matara wants a hug

Throughout his thirty years of living, Sugun had never lived through much difficulty. Being born to the Chief of Royal Guard was a prestigious honor like no other, since the crib his fate had been set for greatness within Kyrat's high society.

His father flaunted over him and spoilt him for being the only heir to his bloodline, all he had to do was remember to uphold the honor of his clan. The people around him always stuck to him like glue, at first he thought it was because he was popular, later he realized it was because of his position as son of the Chief of Royal Guards, the position he was destined for.

Sugun often met with trouble, he had once raped a village girl who caught his eye. The charges were wavered and his father compensated the girl's family. He soon understood the power of his place as a higher caste.

Sugun lived his life in decadence knowing he would never be wronged. After coming of age and joining the Royal Guards as was rightfully in his bloodline to do so he immediately took up a high ranking position by his father's side to learn the ropes of commanding the highest authority next to King Min.

The feeling of power was great, he could order men to their deaths or someone to a higher position on a whim. Then one day in a Royal function, his eyes fell onto the daughter of that Stubborn Rhino Arjun in a velvet dress. Her long flowing auburn hair to her smooth well-endowed body and soft eyes made her the woman of his dreams. The Chief of Army's daughter was a beauty rarely seen in the courts or among the other high position families. He just had to have her, and for the first time in his life his father could not grant him his wish.

His world where everything belongs to him crumbled. The girl, Saraswati Roka was already betrothed to Mohan Ghale's son of the same age, a brat that wasn't even in the country as his mother had taken him away decades ago. But that old fool hung to his promise and Saraswati didn't oppose her father's wishes either.

-No I refuse to believe that! One day, I'll have her! If anything gets in my way I'll crush it!-

Sugun swore to himself quietly. Much later, Saraswati joined the military and Sugun's mouth hung. A lady of the house of Roka wanted to take up arms, perform the job of men?

She should have been waiting in the mansion for her husband to return and that was him! Sugun wanted to apply influence to her career to discourage her from continuing, unfortunately she didn't join the Royal Guards but those plebeians in the Royal army instead. Sugun pulled the hairs on his head, why was this woman so troublesome?

He calmed down as he realized that although she could not be a direct subordinate he could influence her people in the Royal Army with promises of a position amongst the Royal Guard. Something that all members in the military all coveted but was only decided from birth and family.

But Saraswati endured and countered his ploys with equal measure, soon she was at a high position next to her father. There wasn't much Sugun could do now, but force the factions against Arjun and apply pressure to his position in the Army as the Chief. That way there would be no one protecting her any longer.

But then, one day he intercepted a transmission from the King to his forces. Ajay Ghale was coming back, if he had returned then the possibility of having Saras would be almost impossible.

So Sugun did what he did best, pull strings. The Royal Guards King Min placed there to intercept him would kill him instead and blame it on the Golden Path, he paid his clan a hefty fee to get the job done. Little did he expect King Min himself would arrive there to personally pick him up. Sugun was almost at his wits end so he made the last final attempt, he leaked Ajay Ghale's location to the Golden Path hoping they would scurry to rescue the son of their founder. It failed again, Sugun screamed at the table smashing the items around it. He thought he had lost, but then there was an SOS sent by King Min's convoy. The Golden Path had ambushed it once more hoping to kill their liege but had failed as well. Then Sugun received the report that Ajay Ghale was officially MIA, joy returned to his heart. Did he get lost in the forest? For a city-dweller on his first trip to the wildlife of Kyrat anything could happen. Chances were, he was dead within five minutes of getting lost nothing made him happier although curiously Saras had never brought up the disappearance of her betroth. Sugun didn't care, if she wasn't interested in their union in the beginning, she was all his and nothing could change that.

That was until he came.

That masked bastard, Badala. Although King Min had never mentioned his appointment, the way he talked with him made it clear he was in the King's favor. It turned out he was the one who took the Stronghold Ratu Gadhi that the Golden Path attempted to use as their staging area to Northern Kyrat but also destroyed their expeditionary forces. If that was all he would have just been considered a passing star in the echelons but then he mounted that insane offensive against the second invasion, heavily supplied by Solomon and some outsider with advance weapons and equipment.

Again, Badala broke the invading forces of the Golden Path. Sugun heard that Saras had been involved in that attack, it worried him that she unnecessarily flung herself into combat when she could have relayed orders from the back. But what was truly worse was that they succeed, King Min awarded Badala a vice-lord position of a barren land but nonetheless a Vice-lord. Second to only King Min and Mistress Yuma. Badala ended the headache that plagued the war council for years in just weeks. The war council was talking only of him and how they hoped to become friends or help them in problems on small intensity conflicts at some regions. The Northern Demon was the name given to him by the people both in the Royal Army and the Golden Path alike. Both for the mask he wore and the terrifying ferocity he displayed at the airport where he went toe to toe with the Golden Path army with a mere hundred soldiers.

What infuriated Sugun the most wasn't the success of Badala but Saras discussing only of Badala in the war council, but worst of all he was helpless to stop it.

There were some in the same faction that shared his animosity for Badala, especially for his unknown origins. The only hint he gave was his American accent, could he have been in one of those US military colleges which explained his apparent competence in strategy?

Presently he heard he was building an Arsenal in the Valley of Death which was his domain. He also sent him a letter threatening him to give half his army's supplies and munitions over to Arjun's Army or he'll take action against him and Sugun believed he would.

One night, the King invited the war council over for a meal in his palace. The subject was of course on Badala. The King expressed his disappointment in the council for leaving it to his subject to do the job they should have done. And then he went on to mentioning how even if the Golden Path were weak as they were, it was impossible to get rid of them once and for all. That sparked a light in Sugun and his faction officers. The Golden Path no longer had the strength to fight and the Royal Guards had sustained no losses or lack of equipment even in light of Solomon's defection. All they had to do in restoring their prestige would be to kill or capture the Golden Path leaders and bring them before King Min. They would complete a task even Badala couldn't by ending this twenty year long civil war. After a brief discussion with his faction members they agreed Sugun should personally lead the assault for publicity sake so they could say he had led the forces in the field to victory.

"Sir, might I suggest we stay clear of the ground. We could risk weapons fire." His pilot advises him for the fifth time.

"From whom, the ground forces have all been dealt with…." Sugun chuckles.

The other two helicopters in their group went about depositing yet more troops in its compartment to reinforce the advance team that-…

"Where's the advance team?" Sugun had heard them say they secured that town and awaited his arrival so where were they?

*Ground teams, spread out! Take him down!* He heard the Royal Guard squad leader announce on his channel.

The Royal Guards which descended from their helicopters were preoccupied with a single individual which was hampering the efforts of the reinforcements of over fifty men on top of the seventy that landed on the first strike.

*Damn the gods! Why can't we kill him?!* The radio traffic was getting more frantic as Sugun could hear the men screaming one after another to an unknown assailant which he could see behind the smoke from the burning houses while up in the helicopter.

*Aaahhhh!* Finally it was the leader of the ground forces that screamed his last and the entire radio chatter went quiet.

"Ground team, report! Lieutenant, answer me!" Sugun growled at their silence.

*….Ahehehe!-…. So naïve, you thought you could actually beat the Golden Path by prancing straight into their home town?* A familiar mocking voice came from the radio belonging to his ground team commander.

"T-That voice-….Badala!" He could remember his voice anywhere, the one that belittled him in front of the war council and was in the midst of stealing his woman. But why was he here?

*Did you really think Pagan gave you that challenge because he wanted you to succeed? You were manipulated by him so easily, it seems you aren't competent enough to handle the Royal Guards.*

"Where are you?! And who are you calling incompetent?!" Sugun roared into the tiny microphone of his radio set.

The smoke cleared out and Sugun could see visibly on the roof of the building a man with an RPG. The man pressed his radio.

*You tested me when I told you to give up those supplies to the Army. Don't worry, everyone will always remember you for what you are…..* Those words on the radio matched the movement of his lips, Sugun realizes who it was.

Sugun stared in disbelief and horror, that person was none other than his rival. "Badala…."

Ajay shot the rocket at the helicopters cabin detonating the cabin fuel together with the rockets own deadly explosives. The helicopter exploded into a fiery wreck landing on the paddy fields, Sugun had perished in battle.

"A fool…" Ajay finished his sentence.

And just like that, that poorly planned assault by Sugun had failed with his death. Ajay jumped down from the roof that gave him the vantage point to shoot down the chopper. In front of him was the girl from before.

"Uh- I….." The girl stuttered as if asking something. "Ahhhhhh!" A scream could be heard from the burning house. Ajay held out the RPG to her.

"Eh?-…. What do you want me to do with this?" He dropped it into her hands as he rushed to the burning house which most likely held Bhadra. "Uh- Hey! Wait!"

The house was blazing from the front with no clear way inside. The reinforcements that Sabal gathered had arrived but were unsure of what to do with the burning house other than to call for some buckets of water.

If memory served him correctly there was a window in the back, he could climb into. Ajay ran to the back, thankfully the window had not caught fire yet. He vaulted over it into the second floor of the house, smoke filled the room with little air to breathe, he had to act fast. Jumping to the lower level he looked around and quickly spotted her lying unconscious on the floor. He picked her up and ran to door, using his back to smash through its loosening hinges.

Ajay tumbled through the opening while losing grip of Bhadra. As he recovered his shoulder was on fire and he quickly extinguished it. Looking up, Amita and Sabal had arrived to the screen as the fighters called them over.

Amita and Sabal immediately check on Bhadra.

-Your welcome!-

"The people need to see her. It'll comfort them." Sabal said oblivious to the traumatic experience the young girl just had, it instantly set off Amita's nerves.

"She's just a child, Sabal, and she's terrified! I'll take her home and then we'll worry about the people. Okay?" Sabal wasn't happy about what Amita said and felt she just said it to oppose his decision and pushed Amita aside. "Get out of the way." Amita didn't have the strength to contend with Sabal and was flung to the side in shock of Sabal's ruthless action. But he couldn't get close to Bhadra either way.

Ajay stood between him and a terrified Bhadra causing him to flinch at his defiance against a leader.

He had complicated thoughts about the person that just saved the life of Tarun Matara, he'd seen him before only just today.

"You're that new recruit, right? Thank you brother, you don't know how much saving her means to us!" He looked onto Ajay with gratitude. Ajay maintained his emotionless face to his obvious ploys to rope Ajay in.

As Sabal was preoccupied with Ajay, Amita went back to Bhadra's side but Bhadra went over to Ajay instead and hugged him. The fighters who were standing there were shocked just as much as Sabal and Amita were. "Thank You!" She said as she pressed her face against Ajay's torso.

Ajay smiled and tussled the hair on her head slightly. Before Amita pulled her back to her side.

"Brother, I would like to ask you, are you the one who did all of this?" The question that loomed over all of the fighters' heads as they entered the town and feared the worst but discovered the bodies of the Royal Guardsmen instead of the civilians. Ajay honestly didn't want to answer that question.

"It's true, he massacred the Royal Guards all on his own! I saw it with my own eyes!"

"He saved the town on his own!"

"It was unbelievable!"

Unfortunately, the civilians who saw him admitted for him.

"I can attest to him, he saved my life!" The girl from before came out of the crowd of civilians that gathered.

"You are….?"

"Kamala Malla, I was one of the guards here in Banapur. If he hadn't come by I would have had my virtue shamed by those Royal Guard bastards!"

Sabal tried to read her further but his gaze became intrusive as she tugged the jacket to cover her exposed skin. Sabal quickly looked away so as not to draw attention to his actions, he turned back to Ajay instead.

"So it was you, I can already tell you'll be a great asset to the Golden Path's cause brother."

-You mean a great asset to you.-

Sabal tried to reach a hand out to place on Ajay's shoulder, Ajay's every vibe was telling him he didn't want this bastard to touch him and he did the most unbelievable thing in response.

He slapped Sabal's hand away, Sabal and everyone around were left in a brief shock by what Ajay did which was unnecessary. But Sabal didn't dwell on it too long.

"I wonder if I've done something to offend you, brother?" He asked nicely and Ajay answered him with silence. Lines started to bulge on his forehead at this foot soldier's arrogant attitude.

"Sir, reports say that Sugun Hamal was personally leading the charge here!" A fighter came up running to where Sabal was.

"And where is he?"

"Dead, Sabal! We searched the wrecks of the helicopter wrecks and found a brooch attached to a singed corpse. It had the Royal Guard Captain insignia, it's him!"

Sabal turned back to Ajay.

"And you did that too?"

Ajay responded for the first time by pointing to Kamala. Everyone's gazes turned towards the young girl. Sabal saw the RPG in her hands and guessed it to be so.

"Kamala is it? You've done us all a great service. All of the Golden Path will know of your deeds!" Sabal proclaimed as he turned his attention to Kamala instead as the star of this raid. Ajay turned around and walked off into the distance. He passed Kamala who made a quick glance towards him for answers as to why he threw this credit at her. He gave her a wink and moved on to look for Hurk.

Sabal was content to know that the fighter knew when to leave just when he had it with him. He showered Kamala with praise and the crowd did the same as him, so easily swayed.

* * *

It became known to the Golden Path and Royal Army alike, the failed attempt by Chief Hamal's ambitious assault on the home town of the Golden Path and at the cost of his life.

Those in the Army knew it was a fool's errant. No intel on the immediate locations of the Golden Path leadership, no backup forces to provide an escape. Many thought he was trying to replicate the success of Lord Badala but lacked the necessary intellect to tell him it was one of the worse plans to ever be conceived by a military commander. His clan became the target of mockery and they barely got a body in return to cremate. His faction members were quick to deny their involvement to save themselves from the greatest humiliation yet in Kyrat.

The news quickly travelled around Kyrat that a young girl was responsible for this, Kamala had held out against the attack by the Royal Guards and survived. She used a rocket launcher to take down the helicopter that held Sugun. She quickly became a rising star in the Golden Path and was promoted to a sector leader and was posted to watch over the region around Banapur as her priority. Sabal censored the events that happened regarding the silent soldier named Soren who was the real culprit responsible for killing all of the Royal Guards in the town. In the hopes that he could perhaps use him as a trump card against the Royal army or even Amita's faction. But his first impression with him wasn't the best. The mute warrior didn't seem to hold favor for Sabal and he found it to be a danger to him, if Amita was thinking the same thing she might get her hands on someone who he really didn't want to mess with.

The new sector commander Kamala requested for him to join her almost immediately after he appointed her the position. Sabal supported the idea, perhaps if he was Kamala's subordinate he could manipulate him through her. A foreigner appeared claiming to be the friend of Soren and joined him in their new outfit with their new commander.

All of this intel was made clear to Ajay through Hurk who was a double agent for him with Sabal who Hurk offered to watch over Ajay's activities. For once, the loudmouthed monkey lover was useful for something. Perhaps he was the last person anyone would think of as a spy which made him the best choice for that particular trait.

Ajay patrolled the area around the lake off Banapur where the sacred burial grounds was, he sat on the grass covered slope looking down on the cremation grounds to take a break. There was a cremation going on and two bodies were burnt which the family members of these two dead people mourned for them.

"Paying respect to their families!" Ajay turned to the voice and found Bhadra standing next to him.

Ajay wanted to say something but his alias didn't allow it. Bhadra sat next to him and quietly watched the ritual come to an end.

"I wonder what life is like outside of Banapur, out of Southern Kyrat…."

"Maybe there is something else behind those mountains besides what Amita and the rest tell me about that place, Pagan's torture camps, military strongholds, prisons!" Ajay laughed at Bhadra for her lack of knowledge and she pouted at his mockery of her.

Ajay shook his head to tell her it wasn't so.

"Have you seen what it's like over there?" She asked curiously. Ajay nodded and it caused a brightness to flare in her eyes.

She began talking about all her theories about the North what her caretakers said and what might be. Not being able to talk was rather annoying, he wondered if actual mutes felt this way. But he didn't get held back by it, he took out his smartphone and began typing his thoughts for her to read.

-What have you been doing for the past sixteen years of your life?- Ajay typed for her.

"How did you know I was sixteen?" She smiled.

-Lucky guess.-

"It was a good estimate, as for what I've been doing…. I don't know… Ever since I was young I've always been told what I was told to do." She seemed to reflect on her life experience after Ajay asked her that question. Ajay typed in another.

-When did this Tarun Matara mantle fall upon you?-

Ajay wondered how did a person qualify to be Tarun Matara, how did his mother become one?

"It was given to me from birth, the head priest of the sacred Jalendu Temple had a prediction though some sort of ritual of the new borns of that year. Apparently it was me."

-What do you think about being given this title?-

"I don't know, for quite a while, I'm not sure what I wanted."

-So you don't mind this position?-

"You're pretty talkative for a mute!" She laughs, but ceases quickly after realizing it was very rude of her to laugh at his disability. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean-… please don't think bad of me!" She begged.

-I won't.-

Bhadra's expression gladdened with Ajay's understanding. She stood up and held out her hand.

"I'm Bhadra, nice to meet you!" Ajay typed a few words before shaking her hand.

-Soren, resident mute.-

Bhadra chuckled at the fun he poked at his own disability.

"Soren, eh? It's a nice name!"

-Would you like to go to the North some day?-

"I'll eventually go there when Amita and Sabal figure out a way to get to the North again. Sabal wants me to ascend to becoming Tarun Matara, where as Amita says she'd break the Golden Path than to let that happen to me."

-What do you want to do?-

"Eh?... Mmmm…. I'm not sure."

-Perhaps what you lack is exposure. Sabal and Amita keep you here as a means to protect you from external influence but this prevents you from learning new things.-

Ajay gave his honest opinion.

"Perhaps. I wouldn't know. Maybe it would be greener on the other side!"

-That's up to your own interpretation, you're a sixteen year old girl, you can decide things for yourself.- Ajay encouraged her.

"Y-You think so?" She asked eager to know if she was allowed to.

Ajay was starting to feel that she was like some caged bird that had spent its entire life in a small cage, knowing only the things within but not outside. Those cunts, Amita and Sabal deliberately kept her like this to use her as their figure head when they ascended power, they were no different from his father.

-I do, people can tell you what to do but it's up to you to decide whether you want to follow it. You might disappoint people who had expectations of you in certain ways when doing so but at least you're liable to your own actions. You can't say someone else told me so I did it for long.-

"…..Thank you, Soren!" She exclaimed cheerfully and embraced him as thanks.

"Ah!- I'm sorry, I shouldn't be so forward with people-…." She felt embarrassed that she went and hugged a person she was unfamiliar with.

-Is that something you say to yourself or what others tell you not to do?-

Ajay didn't fault her but asked her if she did it because she wanted to or should she not do it because someone said it wasn't right.

"C-Can I hug you?" Ajay thought about why she said that as her answer.

-Not opposed to free hugs.-

"Huh!" She sits on the grass and hugs him happily again.

"Mmmm… I could get use to this-… I mean uh!- Not that I have ulterior motives behind hugging you-.. Ah!" As she stumbles to explain herself Ajay smiles and pulls her towards him and positions her in front of him so that he hugs her from her back.

Bhadra was shocked for a moment on what Ajay was trying to do and when in his embrace felt her cheeks warm up a little. But she did nothing to break out of his embrace and treasured to few moments she could have this feeling of closeness. No one had ever offered her an embrace, not since the passing of her parents. They didn't dare to even approach her due to her special status as an icon of a deity.

After a few minutes, Ajay typed again.

-You have a familiar air about you.-

"What do you mean?"

-It was like looking at myself years ago. If I was there then, I wish I could have lent that boy a hug. Thanks for granting a selfish wish of mine! -

He said years ago but he really meant his former life. At the end of the civil war he was left with nothing, no one. Alone in the Ghale Homestead watching the clouds drift by, until that fateful day Sabal came. Maybe Sabal did him a favor by putting him out of his misery, he was a really pathetic human being back then anyway.

She turned around and embraced him from the front.

"I don't know what life you lived but I'm glad you came through with it. Because I got to meet you, Soren!"

Her words touched his heart in a way he couldn't explain, he had longed to hear those words from someone. That his life wasn't meaningless.

-Seriously, what a pathetic person I am!-

* * *

Later Kamala came to find him at the sitting at by the lake, he had been long overdue for returning from his shift and she found him lounging in the grass. She had the mind to teach him a lesson, that was until she saw the Tarun Matara sitting with him and she was lost for words.

Ajay went back with Kamala but only after Bhadra made him promise to come back here to talk again, he turned to Kamala to throw this on her. She naturally couldn't refuse a request from Tarun Matara and agreed to let Ajay come by some time.

On the way back, Kamala questioned what he was doing with the young girl.

-That's up to you to decide.- He wrote in his smartphone.

"Hey! Aren't I your superior? Answer me!"

-My phone batteries low can't continue to write.- He switched off his phone.

"What's that supposed to mean?! Hey! Don't just say silent, speak damnit!- Oh! Right!" Kamala realized he had deliberately cut of communicating with her entirely, it bugged her that he could do this to his direct superior. So she tried to question him instead, but all Ajay did was reply with a blank stare.

"Arrrgghhh! Why did I pick such a troublesome fighter?!" Frustration got to her in the end. Ajay thoroughly enjoyed her agony. He also realized he was colder than usual with the absence of his jacket that was still on her persons. Why didn't she wear her own set of clothing?

-You sure are comfortable in my jacket, when can I have it back?- He indicated by pointing to his jacket and the expression he wore which was a smirk.

"Uh!-…It's not like I enjoy wearing it because it belongs to you!... Just give me a few days, I'll wash it and return it to you alright?" She asked with pleading eyes.

Ajay spent the next few days patrolling the same place, meeting with Bhadra for an afternoon conversation. Eating, sleeping. Practicing shooting skills with Hurk and gathering intel on the Golden Paths movement and current formation.

At present, they were a five thousand men strong unit with many more sub-groups supporting. As it was, Ajay's recent exploits had destroyed over half of their former strength leaving them relatively short manpower to defend their bases and sacred sites, not that the Royal Army was gonna attack those religious icons anyway.

It turned out that there was a vast majority of forces that swore allegiance to Mohan Ghale and were assigned to certain areas and did not recognize Amita or Sabal as the leader of the Golden Path. These 'old guard' stubbornly stayed in their locations with all their forces scattered awaiting to rally behind the legacy of Mohan Ghale, and that was Ajay.

This explained why the Golden Path could make such a gargantuan push to the North in his old timeline. With him at the front, the old Guard eagerly followed Sabal whom Ajay had put favor for.

As for Willis, there were reports of him on a mission in Paul's territories. What he was doing there wasn't made clear to him, either that or Hurk missed out of crucial details. As for Solomon, with the airport no longer theirs he was hard at work having a supply route established between India and Pakistan. He sourced weapons from there now and had them sent by caravan, he didn't have much of a choice now that the only airfield was taken back by the Royal Army. Although he heard a rumor of an airdrop in the area just off Chal Jama Monastery, likely Willis at work there.

Ajay was finding it difficult to know what the spook was up to even when he integrated himself among the Golden Path members. Was that guy operating on his own? He hoped his arsenal was ready for production for whatever the Golden Path would throw at them now. He knew nothing on Willis yet that may not be the same for the CIA agent. He was after all sent to clear out CIA assets in Yuma's rank of officers up in the mountains. Perhaps now, that Ajay's actions had made the CIA reassess their outlook on Kyrat with Willis's testimony.

"Soren?...Soren!" Ajay looked up at his commander.

"Were you listening to everything that I said?" Ajay shrugged his shoulders.

"Argh! We're retaking an outpost and rescuing hostages from said location."

Ajay tapped his watch.

"E.T.A five minutes! Look….. about that prowess you showed back in Banapur, please try to tone down on it. We're a team, let's work to together instead!" She said with a smile. Ajay felt she was a good commander despite her certain quirks, not depending solely on his monstrous ability but with everyone fighting. She should have been the one to leader the Golden Path instead, that way they wouldn't have wasted all the lives like they did.

Ajay smiled in response.

"Good, I'll be counting on you then, Soren! Watch over us." Ajay nodded.

As they arrived at the outside of the outpost behind a wall of trees that masked their approach. Ajay and Kamala stepped out of the vehicle to meet with three others that assembled in the thickets, one of them was Hurk.

"Where are the rest?" One of the fighters asked.

"It's just us." Kamala informed him.

"What?! They want us to take out an outpost and rescue all of the hostages, with just five people?!"

"That's insane! Who does Sabal think we are?" The other fighter complained.

-Was he counting on me to solve his problems, what a fucking asshole!-

"Things ain't looking pretty over there boss!" Hurk informed Kamala.

"What's the status of the outpost?" Kamala asked for an update.

"Twenty in the outpost, five hostages spread throughout the compound. Should be easy right?" At least Hurk was positive about it. Or was he gonna sit out on this one like almost every other time he was with Ajay?

"So what's the plan fearless leader?" The fighter asked sarcastically. Kamala slightly frowned but thought up her plan of attack.

Ajay tapped on his smartphone screen to type a suggestion.

-Break into two groups. Take both ends of the compound and silence the alarm first before engaging the rest, or alternatively stay stealth throughout the journey if you can.-

"Ah-…. That'll work! Alright, we'll go with Soren's plan then."

"What, is he now the leader because he makes the decisions?" The fighter was not agreeable to Ajay's suggestion.

In the end, he expected too much of typical Golden Path fighters to do such a simple job. He typed a message to the fighter and his companion.

-You're welcome to sit and wait.-

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

-Exactly what it means.-

"Why you!-."

"Enough! We're here to do a job, if you don't have anything constructive to contribute then I suggest you shut up!" Kamala warned him.

The fighter cursed under his breath.

-It seems they aren't up for it. I'll go myself, just babysit these losers." Ajay typed and showed it to Kamala before moving off on his own.

"H-Hey! Wait!-.." Kamala called out to him just as Hurk tugged at her jacket.

"Best not go, you'll only get in his way!" Hurk was smart enough to understand that. Kamala reluctantly watched the back of Ajay as he walked into the distance.

Ajay crept up on the outpost and took his camera out too recon the area. The numbers were now down to fifteen, five had boarded the only vehicles in the carpool and left for a patrol. He just needed to dispatch the fifteen before they returned and everything should be good.

As he was about to close in and hand touched his shoulder, on reaction he drew his kukri and placed it on the persons neck.

"Y-Yo! It's me!" Kamala had followed him instead of waiting with the three stooges. He motioned what was she doing here?

"And leave you to do all the work? Not a chance, what kind of commander will I be then?!"

Ajay laughed. "Hey! Why is that funny?!"

Ajay waved that it was ok, he tapped on his phone again.

-If there were more commanders like you on the front, maybe we wouldn't be at odds with the Royal Army now.-

"Ehehehe!" Kamala scratched her head shyly at Ajay's first compliment to her.

-Follow me and stay close. Watch my six.- Kamala nodded in response.

Ajay converged with Kamala on his tail. The first soldier to take a smoke break behind a building became his victim, but instead of killing him he struck him on the neck and placed him up right against the wall unconscious. Kamala was a little perplexed by the way he was handling this, as he did the same to another five and she knew she wasn't seeing things. They came up to a tied up hostage who was calling for help non-stop. Ajay raised his finger to his mouth and pointed to the hostage for Kamala. "You want me to unbind them?" Ajay nodded and disappeared outside to handle the rest. Kamala didn't have time to question him and went about to untie the hostage and escort him through the safe area they travelled through. Kamala returned to the compound looking carefully for the remaining two hostages. She moved stealthily as Ajay had shown her pass the group of guards who were yet to be taken out.

She untied the second one without problems and moved to the final one. The last one was in the building with a soldier walking over her unfortunately.

-Looks lie I'll have to take this one out myself.- She said to herself.

Silently creeping up on the guard who didn't seem to notice her presence with her family heirloom kukri in hand, she tried to stab him in the back while clasping his mouth to silence his yells.

Somehow the guard noticed when the hostage stared at Kamala for a period of time and turned just as she was almost upon him. The guard kicked her in the stomach launching her against the wooden walls. "Shit…." She quickly stood up to confront the guard who moved onto her with a machete in hand, yelling a cry as he swung the big knife at her. The knives clashed and formed sparks from their contact. Kamala was sure the noise she made with her failure would have attracted the rest of the guards' attention, she just hoped that Ajay was alright.

She continued to clash with the guard to quickly take him down but realized quickly that he was more than a match for her, he was a better knife fighter and was a lot stronger. She had really hit the bottom of her luck as the guard pushed her back in her footing and swung the kukri out of her grip from the heavy swing. The kukri impaled the wooden wall on the far end and left her defenseless for the moment. She reached for her sidearm not caring for stealth any longer but the guard was already upon her with his machete ready to impale her with. That was until Ajay tugged the guard backwards and he came crashing down on the table, had he been any second later the machete would have entered Kamala's chest. "Soren!"

Ajay was preoccupied with the last of the outpost guards. The guard swung his machete at him which he picked up the stump of the wooden table to catch the blade and yanked it from the guard's grip. He then tackled him to the ground and wrapped his leg around the guard's neck to choke him unconscious. The guard entered a long struggle to break free and was gasping for air, a few seconds passed and the guard too fell silent on the wooden floorboard.

Ajay got up and untied the last of the hostages, he typed.

-All guards neutralized. Your little stun nearly cost me.-

"Soren, I'm sorry!" She looked down as she had put him at risk because of her actions.

Looking at her depressed he didn't have the heart to condemn her.

-Help me load them on to the truck.-

"Uh- Ok!"

Ajay and Kamala dragged the unconscious guards to a truck that was half stopped on the road. Apparently the patrol returned earlier than expected, but to Ajay it proved little of a threat as he dispatched those inside as well.

"Wow! You really did it!" The fighters from their group came out of hiding.

"Hang on, why are you guys tossing them on the truck, why aren't they dead yet?" The more observant of the fighters pointed out.

"That's alright, we'll just finish them off now." The fighter pulled out his pistol and aimed it at one of the guards closest to him. Ajay grasped his pistol slide and pulled it out of his grip, he then glared at the fighter which caused him to stumble.

"W-What's your problem?"

"That is none of your concern, you didn't participate so why bother! Just go sit in a corner or something!" If there was one thing Kamala despised the most it was cowardice. They didn't want to get in a fight with the guards and they dared to kill one while he was helpless.

The fighter grumbled and walked aside as Kamala, the superior officer commanded.

After loading the guards onto the truck, Ajay placed one in the driver's seat and slapped him till he woke.

"Huh?..." The guard woke to the person that had knocked him out earlier and was startled. Ajay raised his smartphone for him to read.

-This base belongs to the Golden Path now. Your comrades are safely loaded in the back, head back to your HQ. Tell them, Badala sent you.- The guard widened his eyes as he saw the name he had written and looked at Ajay. He was about to say his name out loud when Ajay covered his mouth and typed again.

-Get out of here now!- And jumped off the truck. The guard didn't dally any longer and drove the truck with his comrades in the troop rear compartment off into the distance.

Kamala watched from the second floor where the outpost radio had been. She wondered why Ajay had done such a thing when he clearly had the power to kill them all in a much shorter time. Why did he spare them all and let them return home? She thought that if she had been one of the guards it would have been her lucky day if Ajay was the one taking the outpost. If only all fights could be like that, without bloodshed. That's when it hit her, Ajay was more compassionate than what most would think him for. Perhaps he slaughtered the Royal Guard because they were doing such a wicked thing as to pillage and raze Banapur. The Royal Army guards of the outpost were merely fulfilling their duty as soldiers.

Kamala changed her output on Ajay once more.

* * *

Night had fallen onto Kyrat the stars blanketing the sky shone brightly tonight, especially that one star that blinked rapidly as it moved across the sky. In the silence of the night, twenty parachutes opened in the calm wind, covering part of the night sky in a long row of rounded mushrooms.

Ajay's worst fears had come to Kyrat.

The Force Recon Marines had come to answer Willis Huntley's call for assistance.


	15. Chapter 15 - Nothing but Chess pieces

Life was bustling in the Valley which was once a barren plain with the only resource it was plentiful in being hard granite rock but unfortunately there was no market to import those heavy rocks.

There had been drastic changes to the landscape particularly around the compound to the Arsenal, along the entire stretch of road to the gates were shop houses and tents with merchants and market grocers.

The Arsenal had formed a steady paying job for three hundred employees and with the numbers steadily growing. Naturally, people sought to either join or at least make a living out of such a large concentration of people in one area. Sales businesses and markets wanted the employees to spend their recently earned salaries on their wares and so it wasn't just people looking for a job in the arsenal that gathered. In a matter of three weeks, a small town had formed at the entrance road to the arsenal.

It was Maya who had the foresight to make full use of this influx of people coming to the valley. She contracted Saras to have the super-builders of 3rd Company build for her ready-made shop houses to rent out to merchants for a more permanent shop. They were also made to build a small inn to accommodate short-term visitors, a public well for daily water consumption and a soup kitchen to provide low costing meals for the construction workers and others that were around the arsenal. These were all worthy investments that Maya took into consideration as it would stimulate the stagnancy in his domain and drastically improve the standard of living for the people. Within the two weeks which Ajay wasn't around, these projects had already been completed by them. For their quick yet efficient work, Maya payed them handsomely from Ajay's pocket.

Ajay was considerably wealthy despite his dressing of denim jeans and working jacket that he wore on his free time and the only other pair of combat fatigues that Mr. Chiffon designed for him when he donned the mantle of Badala. Maya had accompanied him on several occasions where he went treasure hunting for diamonds, rubies and other valuable items scattered around the mountainous regions of Kyrat. Hidden over centuries with no one to lay claim to them until Ajay picked them with relative ease like they were already his. He had a natural skill as a tomb raider for finding these treasures as well as getting to them which was not a feat just anyone could perform. There was also that occasional hunting of rare animals for Mr. Chiffon who paid him top dollar for their unique hides. She once had the pleasure of meeting the man who first laid eyes on her and declared her the Aphrodite to Ajay's Adonis. Offering to pay her to wear his clothes, Chiffon was quite well known amongst Kyrati high society who waited in a line and paid high premiums to bid for even one article of his clothing. So there really wasn't a reason to refuse, if it made him happy, she'd just try on his creations. But it wasn't like she wanted them in the first place, absolutely not!... Definitely-…not!...

There were also the funds which King Min provided to him as a Vice-Lord which he used mostly to purchase the machines and procured the raw materials with, not forgetting the employees' salaries as well. All the additional costs were however covered with the riches he acquired. Ajay handed control over his assets to her as Maya asked of him. The last time she saw him give away those precious stones to the rest of the mercenaries that left the country, it worried her about his spend thrift ways.

As for the rest, Longinus was out procuring machinery that Ajay ordered from him, his purchase was legitimate this time. They were brand new CNC machines and rifling machines coming from Switzerland for precision cutting. They were the most expensive purchase yet, it almost depleted Ajay's considerable wealth, Maya still couldn't understand why he went to the extent of buying such expensive machines for only simple production. Samson figured it was for long-term planning. He wanted good quality machines to not only build weapons and special cartridge cases but further. Ajay wasn't around to share this with her at the moment but she planned to ask him the moment he returned.

"At least he isn't wasting those funds on lavish parties or other stupid purchases!" Maya ended voicing her complaints with the only bright note to his entire operation. Lending an ear to her complaints was Saraswati who happened to stop by to check on how she was doing.

"Ah!- Thank you!" Saras received the cup of Kyrati brewed tea from Elina's steady hands who offered them tea before returning to her new office to run her duties.

Saras took a whiff of the fragrance before indulging in the milk goodness. "Mmmm….. this tea's really good, reminds me of the cup I once had in the Royal Palace."

"That's because it is from the Royal Palace…" Saras realized it was too good to be true, just how did Maya come to acquire such highly demanded tea leaves?

"If you're wondering how I got it, it was through Badala's connection with the Palace kitchen." She tried to save herself time on explaining in a roundabout way that she simply mentioned Ajay to the Chef Patrick and Royal Supplier and they threw a crate full to her.

"So what have you been up to?" Maya only just starts to ask about Saras.

"Well I've been fine, thank you very much!" Saras chuckles in her usual manner at Maya's slowness in checking on how she was and going straight to talking about how horrible it was to manage all the workloads with Ajay gone.

"Lots happening after Sugun's humiliating demise, father left me to manage the Army in his stead while he was reorganizing the Royal Guards."

"Mmmm…." Maya was aware of this change but was still unsure how it would affect her arrangement, she was after all still a Royal Guard too although of a very special category.

The Royal Guard had indeed been divided though careful planning. Half of its strength was used to form four regiments, one was assigned to be border guards and another became rapid response units to internal and external threats. The last two were made into light infantry regiments specializing in heli-borne operations and high-speed raids on mounted vehicles. And the other half of its strength was in the midst of reorganizing into the first Kyrat National Police Agency.

There was still a feeling of exclusiveness to the units that the Royal Guards formed into although they answered directly to Arjun and his successors in future, no longer directly to Pagan. This would appease the warrior clans and prominent families in Kyrat's court that have had a long history in serving dozens of Kings over the course of its sovereignty. Ajay had said many times that the Royal Guard being a separate entity from the Army was redundant. They would have their own budget and spending, which took from the portion that was allocated to the Army. Having them together they could utilize over a hundred percent of the military budget to fund and equip their soldiers consistently. Besides, the Royal Guards did nothing while the Army had been warring with the Golden Path in the South for decades.

The projections showed that the average trooper was now adequately dressed and was equipped with body armor as standard. Arms and munitions were still a problem that the now twice as large Royal Army was facing. But they had the munitions that Sugun had the Royal Guard hoard in the armories, including the stinger missiles that they recovered from the airlift. Although those anti-air weapons weren't much use against a non-air oriented Golden Path they were still dangerous weapons they couldn't leave lying around. Arjun had them kept in reserve with a mobile unit in case there was ever a need to use them, hopefully there wouldn't be.

"Managing the Army on your own? That just makes what I've been doing all this while seem cute in comparison!" Maya had great respects for Saras as a model to base on.

"Aren't you doing a good job yourself, Mistress Maya?" She replied jokingly about her position of running the arsenal and the newly constructed town.

"Touché!" Maya stroked the soft fluffy fur of Bishal who was too keen to have contact with its mistress. The white tiger cub grew quite considerably since they last found him, and was about the height of a fully grown Lynx. While still young, it would grow to be as fierce as its mother and put on a few dozen pounds more. Being a hunter, Maya had been taught the secret methods of domesticating wild animals but her bond with the tiger made it seem needless. She literally went on walks with Bishal unchained as it wouldn't attack anyone so long as Maya was around. This garnered the attention of everyone, and it became a symbol of her power in Ajay's domain so nobody questioned her again like the last time.

Looking out the window, the hunters Darshan and Anish were running around doing some errands for her and Bipin.

"Just a while longer then I can finally get back to the field!" Maya stretched her limbs.

"You certainly seem excited to return to where Badala is!" Saras giggled loudly.

"I know what you're implying and the answer is no!" She told her straight.

"You're starting to get good at reading me, dear!"

"Please don't put me in the same category as you."

"Oh? And what would that be?" She was peculiar of Maya's perspective of her.

"Wile, flirtatious, thinking of yourself as just irresistible!" Saras smiled gleefully.

"I'll take that as a compliment. I'm not just some pushover woman that obeys her husband like those wretches in the court or elites." Saras admits to her ideals.

"I guess we're the only ones that made it this far, huh?" Maya said smiling, referring to her and Saras as the only ones with actual authority in the military. Every other woman were ladies of their houses.

"Indeed." Saras agreed as she helped herself to the brewed tea once more. The continued to gaze as the flowing traffic of passing caravans down at the street below from Maya's office.

"Look at what he's done to this place, I bet if our kids ever knew this place was once the desolate Valley of Death they'd have shaking legs!" Saras exclaimed.

"You plan to have children?" She didn't seem the type to want brats.

"Of course, and needless to say with whom."

"I'll say this as advice once more, you might want to rethink your decision. He's not like what he portraits himself to be." Maya cautioned her.

"Oh? Then pray tell, what's he like then?"

"First off, what's your impression of him? Why are you so interested in him? He's killed like hundreds without flinching, commits atrocities like forcing Samson to kill his men or rigging human traps for the Golden Path fighters. He even admits that what he does goes against human rights! What's so appealing to you?" Maya wanted to know, was she one of those sick people?

"What Badala's real name, Maya?" Saras asked instead.

"All I can say is the King has censored it personally." Maya remained quiet about it.

"I see….. and why do you suppose he chose the name Badala and donned that Yalung mask?"

"I-…. To scare his enemies, I guess…" Saras shook her head.

"He's afraid he'll implicate us in his fights. It feels like he's thinks he's fighting the Golden Path on his own…. You remember, right? When he tried to blow the Golden Path at Meh Teh Airport with him before sending us away."

Maya remembered clearly, how couldn't she. It was like Ajay was on some suicide rampage.

"That strength is what I admire, but if it were just strength alone I'd fall for any old how that displayed their power. He's a rather romantic fellow too!" Saras chuckles as she recalls her last request from him.

"So even if he really did hide something from me, I don't find it a problem. Because he would never let it hurt me."

"Saras-…" Maya didn't think she'd think on her relationships so seriously, despite her nonchalant character.

"That's just my thoughts, you don't have to dig into it too hard!" She laughs.

"Do you want to know his name?" Saras was caught by surprise by what Maya said and hesitated for a while but said….

"No." Quite seriously.

"Why?! Isn't it what you wanted, won't you feel secure knowing something about someone that you're interested in?!"

Maya looked to Saras eagerly for answers, while the later drank from the teacup calmly.

"What's the point if I don't hear it from him myself, that I didn't make an effort to improve my relationship with him and cut corners instead? I don't feel gratified, neither does feel like I put my all into making him mine!"

After Maya heard this from her fellow woman she laughed, but it was more of on herself as what Saras saw.

"I really envy you Saraswati Roka… not everyone can be as honest as you!" She said without making eye contact with her.

"Envious on me? What about yourself?"

"Huh?"

"It isn't just being indulged to such sensitive info but you. Among everyone else, you are the only one that seems to understand him the best and he knows that. That's why he relied on you this much, how can I not be jealous!" Saras said smiling warmly.

Maya sighed. No wonder everyone thought they were a couple, because they were interacting like one. Except there was no smooching or lovey dovey nonsense, they were arguing or discussing all the time in the presence of others. But in the more private moments, Ajay turned to her for closure, there were things that even he couldn't keep bottled inside. So she was there to lend an ear to listen as he poured out why he had been fighting all this while.

Her conclusion, Ajay was more broken than what many believed him to be. Something in his past had shattered him so badly that he turned to helping the kingdom, helping King Min in order to redeem his soul. And he went at it with little regard for his own life.

-What does he expect to get out of doing all this?-

Maya hoped that Ajay could return to enlighten her further on it.

* * *

Day 17, and the Golden Path still didn't suspect him. Nobody questioned his origin nor inhuman abilities in combat. How dumb were they? He overestimated Sabal and Amita on these accounts, because all they cared about was using him against the other party. Even in this timeline they still fought with each other, not that it surprised him or anything but there were subtle changes in their behavior from before.

Particularly Sabal, he was more prone to aggressive behavior and even lashed out when something didn't please him. What was responsible for this change was the disfiguring of half of his good looks. Combining his aggressive attitude with a frightening visage of bandages poorly covering the wounds earned him the name Rakshasa amongst the younger fighters, a terrible foe unleashed onto the Royal Army and Pagan. It didn't seem to affect his charisma though, in fact it made him more assertive towards his demands which was causing Amita strain on her end. Ajay asked around on how Sabal attained that scar and to his surprise they responded it was Badala. He had apparently been in the proximity of a trip mine that was underhandedly laid beneath some tied up comrades on the attempt on Pagan's life.

In other words, Ajay did that to him.

There was a tinge of joy in Ajay's heart, knowing he inflicted great hurt onto Sabal.

"You're worn that creepy smile for three days now, what in the word are you so happy about?" Kamala asked him out of concern for his mental state.

-Nothing. Just some good tidings.-

"O-Ok?... So anyway, how about I treat you to dinner tonight? What do you say?" Kamala asked eagerly.

Kamala was one of the better people in the Golden Path that he met. Ajay saw her as what the Golden Path should have been like but was unfortunately too incompetent and conceit. That's what happens when there are two conflicting ideals in leadership represented by Sabal and Amita.

Sabal looked to religion to overcome one's problems, to seek inner peace and sanctuary in the tradition that was set in stone by their ancestors.

Amita on the other hand was more into industry, how to improve the lives of the people and women in particular. Making her extremely popular with the same gender.

But if there was anything they had in common besides wearing the same uniform would be their lust for power. Ajay knew Sabal well enough to know that he was only using tradition as an excuse to justify his actions as a righteous cause, what he truly wanted was power over the masses. Bhadra was one of the means to get closer to that dream of his. In the past, when Amita accused him of wanting to marry Bhadra which he didn't deny nor admit to it.

Amita wasn't an angel herself, on one occasion where he was deployed to capture and not destroy the brick factory that produced heroin and meth he saw a glitter in her eyes as she looked upon the factory goods being brought out. Even Rabi Ray Rana was hosting talks about how she would expand a drug empire from Kyrat. So far, what balanced the power between them was Bhadra who was by Amita's side presently.

If Bhadra was on Sabal's end, he'd have full support over the Golden Path so that was how important her supposed position was as the next Tarun Matara. Ajay didn't have good thoughts about that mantle, to him it was a curse that need not have been. The cause of more death than any other reason in Kyrat, take Ishwari as an example.

Like usual, Ajay visited Bhadra to hear her thoughts and dreams. Bhadra was especially happy to see him as it was one of the things she looked forwards to the most. Ajay was the only one not to acknowledge her position as the Tarun Matara which seperated her from same age peers or simply someone to talk to. Amita became aware of Ajay's closeness to Bhadra as was expected of being her guardian. And she tried to tag along with her on their meetings to determine if the silent soldier could join her cause through Bhadra. She mentioned to him in one of their meetings what Bhadra might have to go through if Sabal were in full power and she wasn't wrong on that. Ajay knew best of all.

He did consider Amita's suggestion though, not like he thought she was any better than Sabal but by giving her a hand he might be able to balance the power between the two parties while they were at each other's throats and kill each other off or just plot against one another. This made it significantly easier for the Royal Army to counter attack while they were still arguing on what they should prioritize on. That just left only one more variable, Willis.

Since his entry into the Golden Path he had not even seen that Alex Baldwin sounding fucker. Truth be told, he hated Willis as much as Sabal and not being able to find him made him really pissed off. The last he heard from rumors were that he was over at Varshakot doing something with Paul's forces. Saras's report was they were in a stalemate with the Golden Path but Ajay wasn't convinced.

Willis was here for a purpose and that was to destabilize this region in the interest of his agency and country. There was also a rumor of a supply drop by air, no one else would have that ability in the Golden Path except him.

If staying here wouldn't help him enough, then he was heading over to Paul's region to investigate.

As for Sabal and Amita, they were the same as ever so there really wasn't any need to interfere. But Bhadra… To the victor his spoils, Bhadra was that prize. To use her as a figure head to rally the Kyratis' to fight behind them and as a means to control Kyrat through back stage manipulation.

Bhadra was a cheerful girl, although reserved to things that are unfamiliar because Amita kept her in close areas. Ajay had formed a special bond with the girl, although she didn't know it, she had a special ability at listening and providing others the words they needed to hear in times of trouble. What this the reason she was chosen as Tarun Matara, the spiritual leader?

Ajay really wanted to take her away from this place that he knew would ruin her in time to come, but only if she wanted to.

-I wonder what type of effect it'll have on the Golden Path when they find out I kidnap Bhadra.-

The another day of patrols had ended with the sunlight fading. The jeep parked at the curb and the five of them jumped out making their way up the steps to Headquarters to report their success at delivering a shipment of precious artifacts. It was dark in Banapur but a figure could be made out from the torches waiting for them at the end of the steps.

"Sabal?"

"I expected nothing less from you, sister!" He placed his hands on Kamala's shoulders as he congratulated her on a job well done. Ajay walked pass them onwards back to the bunks where he could finally sleep, he hadn't eaten yet but fatigue took hold of him.

"Uh-." Kamala had intended to go out with Ajay to have a dinner on her for the help he did.

"Yah! Took'em down and save the damsel's in distress like Robin Hood!" Hurk exclaimed as he joined the party with Kamala and Sabal, denying her the opportunity to leave them and catch up to Ajay.

Ajay yawned as he was walking back to his bunk, he took out his phone when he received a message.

*Finished up with delivering the Royal Army their supplies. Turning in, goodnight!* It was a text from Samson reporting on his job being finished for the day.

*Good job. Return to standby in the Arsenal, have a good rest.* He wrote before closing the phone.

"Soren, is that you?" Ajay turned to the young voice, the light from inside the house revealed it to be Bhadra, who opened the door to the house she lived in with Amita.

Ajay waved and went on his way.

"Soren, wait!"

Bhadra came running over to stop him from moving onwards. Ajay patiently waited for her to speak.

"Um-….. have you eaten yet? Would you like to join us?" She offered but was almost like she was pleading him to.

"Why not give in to her, she's been talking about inviting you over since this morning!" Amita came over smiling. That woman had a really beautiful smile, if she wasn't always pissed off because of Sabal perhaps he might have supported her instead in the past. Or was that the secret to her success, a charismatic smile?

Ajay nodded, there wasn't any reason to refuse either.

Bhadra pulled him excitedly into the small house with Amita giggling on. Being around with Bhadra, he would of course encounter Amita who was sort of like her guardian. The Kyrati woman had often tagged along with Bhadra to see Ajay, he knew why she was doing so too.

To get her hands on that secret Golden Path weapon, Soren before Sabal did. Ajay's hypothesis was, if Sabal was as cunning and deceitful as Ajay knew him to be, then Amita would be just as good at it as well. If not, she wouldn't have been contesting with Sabal over control on the Golden Path leading to their name, the 'Two-headed elephant'. It meant that if his choice had fallen upon Amita, the result would have been the same; the destruction of Kyrat and his death at their hands.

On the table was set for a Kyrati cuisine, three matching plates and silverware were placed on the table neatly.

-Looks like I've been expected.-

Bhadra brought him to have a seat before they did.

"I hope you're alright with something spicy tonight." Amita informs him, he types on his phone and presents it to her.

-I'm not a picky eater, It's the thought that counts. Thank you.-

"Don't mention it, Soren. Now come, let's eat!"

They dug in and Ajay quickly learnt Amita was giving him a heads up on the chilli found in the dishes. He was coughing and gasping for water, nearly broke silence too. Amita and Bhadra laughed long and hard at his agony.

-Seriously! What's in here?! Not even Pagan's chilli crab was this hot!-

Finally, Bhadra came over with a glass of water from the sink. Ajay gratefully accepted to quench his thirst and to clear the chilli still burning his mouth. That was Kyrati spice for you, even hotter that those Thai spicy fried chickens he had before.

Ajay went onto the other dishes, a nice stir fried vegetable with garlic quickly became his favorite dish out of all of them.

"You like it?" Amita noticed him taking fancy to that dish. Ajay gave a thumbs up.

"It was made by Bhadra, good for you squirt!" She tussled her charges hair on her head. Ajay writes on his phone.

-I'll hate to disappoint my host but it was the best dish in the spread in my opinion.-

"Really?" Ajay nodded, Amita pouted at his comment but laughed anyhow.

-I'm a poor appreciator of spice so forgive my transgression, ma'am!-

Ajay made a mock worshiping motion to Amita who chuckled at his humor and played along.

"I pardon you." She said with her left hand held over Ajay's head.

Bhadra laughed loudly at their routine. "Amita only knows how to cook spicy meals-."

"Bhadra!-…"

Ajay laughed so hard he almost spoke again.

They took a while to settle down before they returned to their seats. Bhadra started explaining her day and what she saw outside. She'd ask Ajay for his opinion on the sights she had taken in on her journey to and from Chal Jama Monastery and the crematorium, these were the only two paths she walked along for the past ten years before her family died.

Much time passed and it had already reached midnight.

"I think it's time for you to sleep, Bhadra." Amita reminded her.

"Awwww!" Bhadra whined.

"You still have to wake up early tomorrow to practice on your archery."

Bhadra turned to Ajay.

"Well, I'll guess I'll see you tomorrow then!" She set a meeting with him before turning in.

-It's time for me to go back as well, goodnight Bhadra!-

"Goodnight." Bhadra said before she went into her room.

-Thanks for the dinner, Amita.- Ajay typed for Amita.

"No worries." He took his rifle from the porch ready to leave when-

"Ah!- Soren, might I have a chat with you before you turn in?" Amita blocked his way to the door dangling a bottle of whisky in hopes to persuade him for to stay for a few words.

-Here we go…- Ajay knew what she was about to do, but stayed for a free drink.

"Thank you. How bout we have this at the patio?" Ajay just nodded.

In the patio was a coffee table with two rocking chairs facing the open air, the moonlight shone on the patio adding to the serenity and ambience.

Amita took her seat at one of the chairs and offered the other to Ajay, she poured out some of the whisky for him and for herself.

Ajay nodded to show his appreciation for the drink as she handed it to him.

Amita gulped down her drink in an instant. "Ahhh!" With a satisfying sigh. Ajay took careful sips from the cup but held it in his mouth, he wasn't sure if Amita spiked it so he let it splash around in his mouth for a while. He didn't need to move his mouth so it was fine, he'd just let it stay for five minutes to see what were the effects on Amita who took a drink as well. Call him suspicious but he had absolutely no defense against Sabal's honeyed words the last time.

"A ten-year bottle, something I found on one of my first combat missions when they let me go. It was also the time I tasted first victory over capturing an outpost from the Royal Army, it was the best taste ever with nothing coming closer! I've only drunken it on days of celebration or when I feel down to remind myself of the good times. You might be the first person I've ever shared it with, don't you feel lucky?" She said with her signature smile.

Ajay typed quickly on his smartphone with one hand while the other held the cup.

-To the first then.- He raised his cup to Amita, she chuckled at his humor and collided their cups in cheers to her first guest that shared her prized whisky.

This time Ajay gulped down the previous dose and drunk the second at hand.

"You truly are an enigma you know that, Soren? I won't lie, the first time I saw you I thought nothing of you. Just that you were a little braver than others for signing up just when we suffered a horrible defeat to the Northern Demon. Now all the fighters and commanders are so terrified when his next assault on the Golden Path will take place. We have literally no defense against him in the event he attacks Banapur himself… That was until we meet you."

There was no change in Ajay's expression, he wanted to reveal as little as possible for her to play at him.

"Slaughtering an entire company of Royal Guards and killing Sugun without receiving so much as a scratch in return!"

Ajay raised his finger to point out that he was not responsible for Sugun's death but Amita held her hand in front to stop him.

"I don't know what were your intentions on handing away the credit to that girl but it hasn't changed the Golden Path leaderships' opinion of you, Soren. I know they've been handing you recommendations to move to the frontline but you've refused them on every occasion. Might I ask why? Isn't your goal fighting the Royal Army to avenge your family and friends in this civil war?"

Amita was well informed on the history he posted to the recruitment, it seemed she had been doing some research on him but could only come up with this half-ass attempt to persuade him.

-It seems I've been misinterpreted.- Was all he said to her causing her to lose her cool as he got up from his seat to indicate he was leaving.

"I've misread? Wait! Then please tell me why you fight with us then?"

Ajay looked into her eyes and found she was genuinely interested to see what drove him rather than use it as a means to bring him over to her faction.

-I'm only here to stand against indifference, not to influence waves.-

"Indifference?... Influence?..." She was having trouble comprehending what kind of meaning there were to his sentence.

-It was nice of you to share this bottle, I'll remember this show of generosity.- He typed to her before picking up his rifle for the second time before leaving. This time Amita didn't prevent him from leaving, she was still thinking about what he said.

Amita had never expected this mute to be so intelligent to know what she was planning, a miscalculation on her part. There was never anyone like this among the grunts, Ajay had proven this to be wrong. She still didn't know why a person of his caliber was still a mere fighter instead of a strategist or a field commander.

One thing remained in her thoughts, she would stop at nothing to attain herself the silent soldier.

* * *

Ajay was now wide awake thanks to the alcohol in his system but he planned to do his best to get some rest for the next day's routine.

"Little late for night visits isn't it brother?" A familiar an ever annoying voice came from the shadow cased by the buildings in the narrow alley.

Sabal steps out of the cover of darkness to face Ajay. "Your interaction with Bhadra isn't exactly subtle on any level, brother. I assume Amita gave you a sob story on how harsh life was as the pioneer woman in the Golden Path no doubt. Believe me, she did that to me as well."

Sabal chuckled at the irony that the lowly soldier became his direct opponent to full control over the Golden Path. Except for those old geezers in the old Guard who only wanted a dead man to lead them. Ajay walked around Sabal and continued on his way.

"Whatever she meant to you, it won't matter in the future when she is crowned Tarun Matara!" What Sabal said stopped him in his tracks just as Sabal had planned.

Ajay turned around to Sabal and gave him the deadliest glare he could muster and it successfully made Sabal stumble a few steps back with nothing coming out of his open mouth. Ajay continued on his way to the bunks leaving Sabal alone to wallop in the empty streets.

Sabal grit his teeth in anger. He didn't know why but that look made him feel all the fury burst out of him, he had been made aware of Amita's attempt to recruit him but wasn't sure of her result. Waiting outside to determine if he was really joining her but it didn't seem to be the case which was fortunate. He planned to convince him of the way Amita handled things would only lead to a failing state and how he was different in hoping to restore order by giving the people the spiritual support they needed in their daily lives. But then again, those piercing eyes made him forget his original objective….. and why did it look so familiar? Sabal had the feeling he had only just recently seen them yet it made a huge impact on him, but right now the thought was merely drifting in his head with no clear answer. Still, if Amita didn't manage to attain Soren's support that was alright.

"Sabal-.." A dispatch came to him.

"WHAT!" His mood had fouled already. The dispatch bent his head timidly when faced with his wrath. Sabal quickly corrected his mannerism.

"Forgive me, brother! I was just having a really bad moment, I didn't mean to shout at you. So what is it you wish to tell me?" The dispatch accepted it rather easily after Sabal explained.

"It's a report from the elements in De Pleur's region, the American spy has call in help from his country."

Sabal's face was full of fury.

"That bastard!-…."

Sabal had stressed many times that Willis was not to bring in soldiers or military advisers from the US or any other outside nation. Mohan had done the exact same thing before, because the moment foreign intervention came into play, there was a possibility for higher collateral damage in the end or a prolonging of the conflict at the interest of outside groups. Sabal remembered seeing on the television that one foolish president from the United States that launched an attack on a certain Middle Eastern which had nothing to do with an attack on his domestic soil on two skyscrapers. The possibility of Kyrat facing a similar fate as that middle east nation was only a stone throw away with the unwarranted things Willis was doing.

"I swear, I'll gut him! Send a message to the council, bring in the reserves to the staging area at Varshakot. We've got some spring cleaning to do!"

* * *

Willis took a deep puff from his favorite cigar to clear out the smell of the air he found distasteful.

"I know you're there, why don't you take that silent and deadly crap you people've learnt and shove it right where it belongs!" He said without turning to the forest to his back.

Out from the trees and bushes came men dressed in the forest green camouflage not native to Kyrat.

"Agent Huntley?" The leader asked.

"Who else? Don't you jarheads read the files before dropping?"

The marines were already finding him to be a prick on first impressions but remained quiet about their thoughts. Their leader stepped forward to greet him.

"Captain David Goh, 4th Recon Marines, Force Recon. JSOC has sent me here to pick you up."

"Woah there!-… pick me up? I sent a request for black assets to help me fuck up the local ecosystem here! Besides, I'm far from done here."

"Agent Huntley, we've been briefed on your little detour off the route which was specified to you. I have direct orders from the director Lynch to pull you out of Kyrat and back on track to Russia. We can do this the easy way or the hard where I'll have Perkins here tie and gag you, where your trip the rest of the way will be anything but comfortable."

The marine officer motioned his subordinate already to move over to restrain him.

"Hey! Hey! Hey! Hands off buttercup! And what was that you said?-….Lynch?" Willis found something hard to believe in the Officer's report.

"That's right, sir. Director Paul Lynch has sent-."

Willis broke into a hysterical laughter and began bending over to hold his guts that were hurting from laughing. The marines did nothing while he struggled to recover from his laughter.

In a few seconds he recovered and looked at the Officer with a serious expression.

"No. Go back and tell Paul where the fuck does he get off telling me of all people what to do?! After what he did to me! Left me to take the blame on that op gone south! I spent twenty years on Rook Island! 20 YEARS! Because he didn't man up, and now you're telling me he's the fucking director?! Tell him to fuck off, I'm doing this op right first!" Willis screamed twenty years of built up anxiety at the marines

The marine Officer had no words to convey to him, apparently the director left this bit out from his briefing and the file he was handed.

"We aren't here to chit-chat, we're here to throw you back on track. With or without your permission. Whatever affair you had with Director Lynch is none of our concern."

"Oh yeah?!- Then let me put you on the same page then!" The marine officer wasn't sure what he meant when he said so.

"(Sigh) You know… I almost knew this day would come…luckily I prepared for it!" Willis took out a file that looked extremely worn.

"Yunno-…. I'd bet sitting in the director's seat in Langley must be really comfortable. So comfortable that you could almost forget all the trivial details of the mess you went through in your younger days in the field. I wonder what kind of face he'll wear when this gets released to the public, that'll probably feel like the dream you worked your entire life to achieve getting shattered in an instant!"

Captain Goh frowned, he was more than aware of what Willis held in his hand, it was Lynch's dirty little scandal with Willis. Enough to end his career in the CIA and their involvements under his authorization in several theaters around the world if he is found with this scandal. Willis was blackmailing them.

"Do you know what twenty years does to you in the field? It's horned my skills to the very best, I've got backup plans within backup plans and I've been doing it before you even left the cradle! So don't think you can just take me out and burn this file and think that'll be it, I've got loads of these back in an undisclosed location!" Willis told him expressively as he probed the Officer's shoulder.

"So what'll it be sunshine? Were you sent to pick me up or help me destabilize this country?"

Captain Goh thought about it for a while, he'd have to contact Lynch to inform him of the situation.

"What do you want us to do, sir?" Captain Goh gave up his idea of dragging Willis back for now. Willis's grumpy looks turned upside down with glee.

There was no way a slouch in a desk job could beat him at a game he'd been playing for decades.

"I want you to kill a guy that goes by the name Badala. But first, you'll need to rattle a cage first to find him!"


	16. Chapter 16 - No Bhadra No Absolute Power

Ajay ran through the thickets deep into the wilderness away from Banapur.

"Soren, where should we go?!" Bhadra turned to Ajay for comfort in leading the way. Ajay just held her small hands firmly as he cleared through the forest with determination to take Bhadra to safety.

So why was Ajay escaping with Bhadra in hand? Ajay had severely underestimated Sabal's redefined determination, he wouldn't just wallop in sorrow after experiencing a constant defeat, he'd go at it till he won and that was precisely what he was doing now. Sabal was taking full control over the Golden Path with the help of a platoon of US spec-ops troopers that Willis requisitioned. That meant usurping control even from Amita, the first place he ordered his men to go looking was Amita's house where Bhadra was located in order to take custody of her.

"Over here! I've found them!"

"Hey, stop right there!"

"Traitor!"

On their tail were the fighters Sabal sent to collect Bhadra but Ajay had got to her first. One thing led to another with him taking the easier route by killing eight of the twenty guys sent to get her.

-How could one foreign asshole cause so much trouble!?-

* * *

That same morning-

On his way out of the barracks he noticed everyone whispering to one another.

"Dude, I think somethings up!" Hurk came over to report. Even he was aware that something was happening.

"Hey brother, mind filling us in?" Hurk came over to have a friendly chat with the usual group that kept the rumor mill spinning.

"Hurk. Not good I'm afraid, brother! It appears that American Spy Sabal invited has brought over company from his country." The gossiping fighter told him.

Ajay's eyes widened, he didn't want to believe Willis was actually capable of calling in outside forces. Why did he rely on Ajay the last time then? Was it to reduce liability onto him and the CIA or were things getting so desperate he requisitioned the US military's spec-ops to help him out?

-What type of soldiers were they?- Ajay showed his message to the fighter.

"I dunno brother…. Oh!- Wait! Byas! Didn't you receive a picture of them from Abiral?" The fighter called out to his friend who came over while scrolling through his phone.

"Here!" That friend passed his phone over to Ajay.

The smartphone could capture a high-definition picture of Willis and Sabal conversing angrily with the Golden Path fighters on one end and the spec-ops soldiers on the other. Ajay zoomed in on the emblem of one of the soldiers.

The emblem was a black spade facing upright. With the Latin words 'Semper Fidelis' initialed below its circumference. There was only one branch in the US military that had it.

-SOCOM marines, Willis has really done it now!- Ajay couldn't help but frown at the rapid change of events

"You know who they are?" The fighter asked as he seem to show some figure of understanding upon looking at the picture. Ajay typed out his thoughts for the fighter and Hurk.

"Damn! That's some real serious black-ops shit right there!" Hurk declares in his usual bombastic way but with a hint of fear, this was after all having a slight probability of contending against 'merica's finest.

Ajay tapped Hurk on the back and presented him his text.

-I have a bad feeling somethings happening. Be prepared to leave tonight, we're returning.- Ajay had gone through with him some contingency escape plans while incognito and expected him to follow through with it.

Hurk nodded understanding what Ajay was conveying and went about doing what was necessary. Through the three weeks with Ajay, Hurk had matured considerable. Ajay had taught him to fight on his own and even given him lessons on CQC which Ajay remained unchallenged within Kyrat. Hurk himself was aware of how far he'd lost touch with his own life, but it couldn't be helped. Ajay learnt from his past one day over a few glasses of beer, Hurk had been subjected to a lifetime of unfairness in life. Hurk was the way he was because it helped him forget the pain of loneliness, so Ajay found they had more in common than most. Which was why Hurk was still a better friend even in his past life. They did what they did in order to find their place in the world and others to accept them for who they were. Except Ajay never got to live to see that day, he didn't know what became of Hurk then after leaving.

"Morning, Soren. Are you well and rested?" Kamala came to pick him up for their daily missions.

-I am, thanks for asking.-

"No worries, we'll be doing an assassination mission today. Off the tea factory, there's been a contract for a hit on a Royal Army sniper that's been killing men, women and children along a roadblock. It's time to end his miserable life!"

Even in the Royal Army, there were a few evil and sick people that needed to be wiped from the face of the earth. Ajay had no qualms with clearing the ranks in the Royal Army through the Golden Path. When he got back he'll begin enforcing heavily on military justice within the Royal Army and whatever became of the Royal Guards, which he learnt had been broken up into smaller groups. Punishments would be done by a certain mistress in Durgesh Prison.

Ajay nodded and followed her.

"Where's Hurk?" Kamala asked.

-He won't be joining us today, he's running some errands for me. I'll cover for him, don't worry.-

"Ditching work on you again? And just when I thought he was cleaning up that act." Kamala sighed.

-No, I'm being serious this time. He's helping me.-

"Oh- Oh! Alright, let's head off shall we. Then we can be back before sunset!" Kamala told him in her usual cheerful mood.

Ajay travelled off with Kamala and her usual crew, completely unaware and unprepared for what was about to transpire in the Golden Path and in Banapur.

* * *

Sabal arrived at the staging area of the attack of Varshakot stronghold where he met with Solomon, Willis and his new plus twenty. Gathered with him were over three hundred seasoned warriors of the Golden Path he had called in from the reserve.

"Willis, what is the meaning of this?" Sabal asked for an explanation in an intimidating tone.

Willis certainly knew what he was talking about, because him and Mohan had told him the same thing before. So he had crossed the line by bringing in the soldiers.

Captain Goh and the marines were taken a little aback by Sabal's appearance.

"Damn, who's the comical villain?" One of the marines couldn't help but whisper to his Officer.

(Baam)

Sabal had heard it and drew his 1911 without warning and gunned down the marine who mocked him mercilessly. The marine lay dead from next to his Captain whom was too shocked to comprehend the turn of events.

"Sunnovabitch!" The marines aimed their guns at the ready pointed at Sabal and the Golden Path warriors aimed theirs at the marines. They entered a standoff with no one pulling the trigger yet.

"Give the word, Sir! And I'll drop him!" Perkins shouted angrily.

"That won't be happening sergeant." Willis stepped between them and lowered Perkins rifle as he walked up to Sabal.

"But-."

"Perkins, shut up! All of you, lower your weapons! That's an order!" Captain Goh commanded, as the marines obediently lowered them, albeit reluctantly.

"You've set a pretty poor first impression on my homies, Sabal!" Willis said smirking, disinterested in the actual welfare of his expendable assets.

"That's the whole point, you were told not to bring in external elements which I had told you time and time again! That dead one was a reminder to all of you, that is how you'll eventually end up if you interfere with the work of my forces. You can die here and no one will ever remember you, because your country will deny liability towards you! So take a moment to think about your loved ones, what kind of humiliation they would have to go through when the news of you renegading against your country!" Sabal told the marines with a cruel grin. His words were like a sharp knife because they could imagine that happening and it was worse than death.

"With all due respect, sir. We will be sure to carry out our mission without interfering, you have my word!" Captain Goh said with respect towards Sabal with all the rational composure he could muster, he was silently gritting his teeth due to the manslaughter of his man by Sabal by the latter was right. Their presence was not supposed to be known in Kyrat.

How could he and his men fall so deep into this CIA maniac's game of power. He had contacted the Director on the situation and Lynch's answer was…

"Oh! Trying to finish were he started, eh? Well in that case give him what he wants, your mission still stands so don't get wise or I'll send in another team to do you job!" Giving Willis command of them in an instant, just as Willis had foreseen. In the end, all the CIA executives truly cared about were their careers. Sending good loyal men to their deaths, just to satisfy their lust for power.

But David had no choice, if he returned without Willis to Russia or state side he'll be instantly marked as a traitor, him and his men. The marines looked to him eager for words of comfort when they were enlightened on the situation they fell into. Despite his reluctance, he couldn't give his dear men any answer. There was only one route for them, assist Willis in his request and take him to Russia where he should have gone and hope they all make it out alive. Except they had taken their first casualty and it wasn't to enemy fire. Sabal was the head of the Golden Path which Willis was trying to get to usurp the local dictator's power. His personality was less than desirable but to Willis he was what weakened the country's integrity in the first place. It was almost like Panama, David wondered if his predecessors went through the same kind of dilemma.

"Right, now that we've gone through the unfriendly formalities, pardon my French! Let's talk about what they can do for you!" Willis treated the death of the marine as if it was Sabal squashing a bug under his boot which aggravated the marines but what could they do.

"Now that you mention it, I'd like them to do a few things for me. I wanna see what the American special forces are truly capable of!"

"I've already plan for them to kill Badala soon, but I heard you've been having problems with Amita again." Sabal grinned maliciously at Willis's suggestion.

"Yes. Yes I have…. I think it's time to erase that problem permanently!"

* * *

Ajay and his patrol unit had returned from the assassination mission to Banapur. It had taken longer than expected because the sniper was on the run and they had to search for him. They eventually tracked him to an outpost where he tried to hide from them. Unfortunately, they got to him first before he entered the outpost where he could have sought protection from the outpost guards. Ajay took his signet ring as evidence for the kill and gave it to Kamala to collect the reward, which she did.

The family which posted the request thanked her fervently but she passed it as just doing their job. Ajay could see that Kamala really meant it, it was also her simple actions that taught him humility and righteousness.

His burning anger and hatred quenched considerably from when he entered this timeline on several occasions. He wasn't thinking of just causing hurt for Sabal and Amita any longer. Maya, Bhadra and Kamala, were all partly responsible for this change in his attitude. Maya taught him that despite his grievous mistakes of the past he should always fight on regardless and learn to depend more on others. Bhadra taught him to treasure his existence more, he wasn't just a mindless killing machine, he was capable of bringing joy to another person's life. Kamala taught him that despite all the shitty people that were around there were also good honest folks who genuinely wanted to make a difference.

All of these aspects gave Ajay the rational thought he needed to carry out his plan to destroy the Golden Path on their own while still save as many people on the South who might have been dragged into the conflict. The people in and under the Golden Path territories were still Kyrati citizens, the kingdom's people which the Royal Army was still sworn to protect. It meant that just because they were near the Golden Path didn't mean they supported the Golden Path's actions.

Ajay had come across dozens of opportunities to kill Sabal and Amita, that's how lax the were within Banapur. But he refrained because if they weren't balancing each other out, the Golden Path would rip itself inside out. Then there was Willis, who would no doubt step in and manipulate whatever weak remnant leadership of the Golden Path was left and justify US intervention in Kyrat. Ajay knew better than to go up against the world's most powerful military force, whatever ulterior motives they had. Kyrat was abundant in all sorts of precious stones and minerals, that was exactly what Willis was trying to get at for the United States and its voracious economy. Pagan's illegitimate rule was only further justifying the need for American involvement. The only way for the Royal Army to win is to find Willis and kill him while destroying the Golden Path at the same time. That way, when the war is won and there is an outcry for US involvement, the US congress will quickly deny it. Then they would try to pull out all assets involved in Kyrat.

Another critical part in this battle was Ajay's coronation ceremony in the latter stage. Because he was the son of Tarun Matara and of Mohan Ghale the founder of the Golden Path, these two facts made him the most qualified to rule over Kyrat. The death of the final bloodline of the Kyrati monarchy meant the state was to be handled by Tarun Matara, Ishwari Ghale. Ajay's status as Mohan's son taking the throne would prevent the Golden Path from moving any further. There was a large majority of old guard still loyal to Mohan and to have his son take power was the dream they always wanted.

The reason he delayed the coronation to fight with the Golden Path was because if he went straight to becoming a king, many would think Pagan was manipulating him from behind and that would give the Golden Path enough excuse to war against the Royal Army. But the months of involvement in this civil war as Badala would prove he wasn't under his control. He also needed the support of the people during his ascension which was why he worked at improving the lives of the Kyratis' as a simple person, until Pagan made him a vice-lord.

"EUhhhghh… finally it's over!" Kamala stretched her limbs as they alighted from the back of the truck in Banapur in the evening.

"(Sigh)…. Maybe I can treat you to that dinner like I promised."

Kamala reminded him, she seemed adamant about having him tag along for a meal or drink. Ajay found her a little over-friendly at times, not that it was a flaw in her character. He just nodded his head to agree with her and she led him to a popular local eatery that sold barbequed pork on rice.

"Thanks!" Ajay handed her portion after collecting their food and placed it in front of her at a quiet corner of the restaurant.

Kamala dug into the hearty meal after saying a prayer, Ajay patiently waited for her before eating out of respect even if he didn't pray to one.

Ajay had often pass but never eaten in the restaurant in his past life, and really regretted it because it had decent food and a rare ambience in the form of mountainous scenery.

-Thanks for the meal, Kamala.- He wrote.

"No worries! You deserve it, I'm sorry we haven't been having much fortune in the way of rewards but I'll do my best to ensure you have a competent commander!" She declared with a thump on her chest. Ajay chuckled at her tomboyish ways, making her pout at his mockery of her.

-Kamala, I have something I would like to tell you.-

"Mmmm?.. What is it?" She asked with her mouth full from eating.

-I'm leaving.-

Kamala choked on her food as she saw the message, Ajay passed her a cup which she took and drank to clear her windpipe. Then she grabbed his hand to steady his hand to read the phone message.

Kamala's expression crumbled as she confirmed the text and fell back in her chair.

"Why… Is there something that displeases you working with me?!" Ajay shook his head. Kamala immediately reached over and clasped his hands afraid he would leave the next minute.

"Soren. Please tell me why you're thinking of leaving!?" Ajay's expression held composure as he typed it out to her.

-This has nothing to do with you leadership quality. By far, I still think you have more qualification to lead the Golden Path than Fryface and the Ultra-feminist.-

Kamala snickered a little, forgetting the original reason she asked him.

-My time here is up.-

"Time? Don't tell me… you're dying!- Ouch!" Ajay hit her on the head for thinking that.

-I haven't been truthful to you this entire time, in fact my very existence is a lie.-

"Huh?... No! It doesn't matter! As long as you're around, I don't mind!" She was wearing a pleading face to him as he looked straight at her.

-Please don't do that.- Ajay said to himself.

Ajay wrote a final message to her.

-I've enjoyed our time together, Kamala. But I have a mission to accomplish, I hope I'll be able to see you again after this civil war. And not during it. Farewell.-

"S-Soren?... Wait-…"

Ajay got up from his seat and walked off leaving her in the restaurant alone. Kamala neither chased after him nor called out to him again. Instead, she was left in tears from the loss of someone dear to her.

* * *

Departing from the restaurant left Ajay with an ugly emotion, disgusted at himself for hurting Kamala but he had no choice. He prayed in his heart he wouldn't encounter her again when he returned as Badala or for her to throw her life away in some ridiculous assault.

A message pinged on his screen.

*Packed and ready! Waiting by the buzzer.* Hurk had already prepared his things and said his goodbyes before heading to the evac point with a hidden buzzer they parked in a cave not far from their position in Banapur but by the lake.

*Good, I'll be their shortly. Just want to ask someone something first.*

Ajay texted as he returned to his bunk to collect his things, the person he was referring to was Bhadra. While not being too optimistic about bringing her to a better environment he did have hope, he could take her to a place where she could explore her inner self and make her own decisions. He'd be there to support her the entire way, it's all he ever wanted to do for a dear friend.

Ajay threw his things onto his backpack as he headed in the direction of Amita's house.

(BANG) (BABABABABANG) The sound of machine gun rippled in the air followed by shouts and screams from the terrified villagers.

-Did the Royal Army attack again!?-

There was no sense in attacking Banapur, neither did he receive any pre-emptive info that there was an impending attack.

-Bhadra!-

Ajay ran up the steps towards the small house where Bhadra was, Amita wasn't around at this time as she was at The Tea Factory sorting out her usual shipments of drugs to the medical centres around Pacchim Valley.

"AAHHHH! Help!"

"Stop struggling! We won't hurt you, we're just sent here to collect you for Sabal that's all!"

"NOOO!"

The house came into view and Ajay saw bodies of Amita's hidden guards lying dead around the street, up where the house was, a group of men were dragging Bhadra out of the house.

Bhadra saw Ajay below and called to him with pleading eyes. "Soren, HELP!"

Ajay stumbled for a moment as her calls awoke some distant and guilt-ridden memory in his sub-consciousness. The day he let Sabal crown her Tarun Matara, she too begged Ajay to help her. Back then, he thought although she didn't want it now she would come to understand the importance of her job in saving lives. But he was wrong. He noticed too late Sabal's true colours and was sure she fell into his grasps because he let her.

Ajay's body was filled with anger and hatred packed to the brim ready to explode. He knew what he had to do this time. Pulling his kukri out from its scabbard and rushing towards the ten-odd men.

He roared with a fury to overcome all of his past sins and carve the future as his own.

"NEVER AGAIN!"

* * *

A red haze that clouded Ajay's vision faded restoring his sight to what was in front of him, bodies lay rupturing with blood flowing down the steps with equal amount splashed across the walls. Ajay took account for his previous actions. He had seen Bhadra being taken against her will after Sabal's men tried to take her, he stepped in with knife in hand and they didn't take kindly to his aggressive action.

Guns were blazing at him as he jumped to the safety of a wall while throwing his knife and impaling a fighter in the head. A fighter informed them of who Ajay was and they continued to pepper his location to suppress him from coming out to attack them, Ajay threw a smoke grenade at them which separated their eye contact from one another. He converged inwards and stole a knife from one of the fighters and started to butcher them. When the smoke cleared, there were bodies littering the street in blood and gore. Bhadra was stumped at the door shivering at Ajay's handiwork. He found it difficult to approach Bhadra as he realized what he had done in front of her, reluctantly turning around to make his way towards the evac point.

"S-Soren! Wait!" Bhadra caught up to Ajay and slammed into him with her hands around his waist.

"I'm sorry!... It's my fault!- (Hic) Because I called for help-…they!-…" The girl began to cry. Ajay had misread her emotions. She wasn't afraid of Ajay but felt responsible for the deaths of those men even if they killed her caretakers and tried to kidnap her.

Ajay silently consoled her with a hug as she cried against his shoulder. After a brief while when she had stopped crying, Ajay separated her from him and held up his smartphone.

-I intended to leave Banapur today, and was heading to your home to ask you. Would you like to follow me out of this place?-

Bhadra gasped at the message, as she didn't know how to take it, Ajay held out a hand.

"Will you let me give you the means to find your own happiness?" As Ajay spoke his first words to her, Bhadra's eyes widened with shock and blushed bright red as she found his voice to be so gentle towards her.

"I-…..I-…..I will!" She reached out and grabbed Ajay's hand. And for the first time in her life, Bhadra had made her own decision.

* * *

Returning to the present, Ajay and Bhadra ran through the forest with Sabal's men hot on their heels.

"There they are! Stop right there!" The commanding voice only made them double their steps. Bhadra made a miscalculation on her steps because of the darkness of the road ahead.

"Oww!" Bhadra tripped and Ajay quickly came over to her side.

"Ouch!" As she lifted her leg the pain from a sprained ankle was agonizing.

"You've sprained it." Ajay could see they were short on time and reached over and picked her off the ground and carried her instead.

"Bear with me." Ajay said as he ran with her in his arms.

"Uh-U-Um!" Bhadra nodded and held on tightly as Ajay increased his running speed through the thickets and bushes.

Close by in the back, torchlights were shining the surrounding looking for them. Originally there were twenty, now there was an entire search team of fifty. Sabal may have been informed of his groups failure and dispatched more to apprehend him.

Ajay continued to run through the forest at top speed without a thought of looking back, he ran for almost five minutes and slowly the distance between them and the fighters was increasing thanks to the warriors losing breath to Ajay's amazing cardio. But he didn't stop then.

Ajay picked up his smartphone and hit the speed dial.

*Yes?*

"Bring the buzzer to this location!" Ajay tapped on the GPS in his screen.

*They chasing you?! Alright! I'll be there ASAP, E.T.A damn quick!*

"Whatever just hurry! I have an extra passenger too!" Ajay said before putting his phone away.

*Y-You what?! Hey wai-!* Ajay had cut off his sentence as he stashed his phone.

"Was that Hurk?"

"It was, he was with me in this!" Ajay took the time to tell her.

When Ajay reached the evac point which he specified to Hurk on the coordinates on his phone, he stopped and bent down to place Bhadra on the ground.

"….. I don't know if I want this…. But I know if it isn't here I'd certainly fall within Sabal's grasp!" Bhadra contemplated aloud, although she wasn't wrong with that analysis.

"…"

"Where are we going, Soren?" She asked eagerly looking to him for guidance.

"To the last place they'd suspect, to the Uttar Region, Northern Kyrat!" Ajay explained to her. Bhadra couldn't help but leave her mouth wide open. She had talked many times about how she would love to go to the top of the mountains were in the North just to see what it was like and now Ajay was granting that wish. Although in a more desperate situation.

"Don't worry, so long as I'm here they won't lay a hand on you." He assured her.

"Mmm! I trust you, Soren!"

There was a brief moment to serenity between them and the surroundings, the wind had completely cut off.

"Bhadra, I haven't been entirely truthful about myself….."

"Hmm? You mean like you could speak this entire time? That's all right, I fact I like your voice! It's so kind!" She told him honestly, Ajay couldn't help but smile wryly at her simple words.

"That's not all, the truth is my nam-."

"There's the traitor!"

"Get'em!"

Ajay was interrupted by the Golden Path search team as they found him with his back to the ledge of a cliff.

"Stay behind me!" Ajay called out as he raised his rifle.

"Uh!- Yes!" Bhadra positioned herself behind Ajay for cover.

"Hand over the Tarun Matara!" (BAAM) "Urgh!" Ajay gave the man his answer and took aim at the others and started firing focus shots at the torchlights which were giving their position away in the darkness of the forest.

(BAAM) (BAAM) (BAAM) (BAAM)

Ajay fired in single shots at the Golden Path fighters taking out one by one with each precise shot. The Golden Path fighters fired at him indiscriminately forgetting that Bhadra was with him, at the moment their lives mattered more. Ajay maintained his footing on the coverless cliff ledge as he sent a constant stream of lead at the fighters. He reloaded with streamlined efficiency and fired with lethal accuracy, showing them what he could do with an AK at a 150 metres.

"Damnit! Why did it have to be Soren?!" One of the fighters expressed their regret at making Ajay turn against them.

They were all aware of what Ajay was capable of from what Sabal told them but they knew the importance of their mission in retrieving Bhadra to solidify Sabal's control over the Golden Path permanently. Sabal was presently working to make Banapur and the Golden Path main camp his, they could not afford to let him down now.

But going up against Ajay was the one thing they dreaded since his debut and today their nightmare had come true.

For every shot Ajay fired, a comrade fell. Just why in the world did Bhadra mean so much to him?

Ajay dedicated his every ounce into dispatching the warriors to reduce the probability of him getting hit on open ground, he was the only thing between them and Bhadra. So he would do everything to protect her. Bhadra shut her eyes tight with her hands cupped around her ears behind Ajay, doing her best not to scream or faint at the killing that Ajay was doing.

"Hurk! Where the hell are you?!" Ajay cursed under his teeth. The Golden Path warriors were getting smarter as they understood their flashlights were giving them away in the darkness and switched them off, but Ajay was patient enough to wait for the muzzle flash of their rifles to shoot back.

The sound of a propeller blade beating the wind became louder, Ajay didn't need to turn his head to know Hurk was close by.

"Soreennnn! I'm hereeee!" Hurk yelled out.

"Fly past! We'll latch on in-flight!" Ajay ordered him to strafe past them instead of land as it made him the prime target for the warriors below.

"Alright- Ok! I'll make another pass!" Hurk circled around to fly over them again.

Ajay took out his last set of smoke grenades and threw them on the floor to mask their visibility to the Golden Path fighters.

"Their flying out, don't let them get away!" The Golden Path fighter advanced out of cover to quickly reacquire them.

Ajay fired a burst through the smoke and scored a lucky hit on two warriors but made the rest reconsider running blindly through the smoke.

"Soren! We'll give you one last chance, we'll even turn a blind eye to all of this just hand over Bhadra!" The lead fighter tried a last ditch attempt to negotiate with Ajay.

"Soren…" Bhadra became concerned with the situation she put Ajay into and wanted to resolve it by turning herself in.

Ajay reached out and pulled Bhadra towards him, holding her tightly in one arm. "Ah!-" Bhadra was surprised by his action.

"Never!" Ajay responded coldly, he gave his final response causing them to be stunned as the mute spoke to them.

"Soren last chance!" Hurk called out as the buzzer made a last pass.

Ajay drew out his grappling hook and twirled it around and launched it at the hardpoint under the buzzers belly. The buzzer carried Ajay and Bhadra away from the ground into the air before the Golden Path had time to respond.

"Hold your fire! Do you want to hit Bhadra?!" The leading member shouted at the rest.

"But Soren!-."

"We've lost them this time, but there isn't much places to hide in Pacchim Valley. We'll find them eventually." The leader informed them and made his way down the hill back to join the coup d'état in Banapur. But by then, Sabal had already usurped control.

Meanwhile on the buzzer, Ajay was struggling to bring himself and Bhadra who was clinging onto him to the provisional seat of the buzzer. The buzzer wasn't meant for more than two people so it was having a hard time flying when they were carrying a four-person weigh. That's right, Hurk was twice the weight of an average person on Kyrat.

"I've sent a call to that Saras chick you told me about, we should be able to see them when we reach King's Bridge!" Hurk informed him of their pickup.

"Good job, Hurk!"

Ajay finally sighed in relief as they passed over the last of the control points of the Golden Path without resistance or retaliation.

"Soren, are we really going to the North?"

"We are, there are a lot of things I wanna show you there. I guarantee, you won't regret it!" Ajay gave her a reassuring smile, she put her trust in him so he wasn't going to left her down.

Bhadra's eyes glittered with excitement that she almost forgot the vertigo she was afraid of a moment ago.

They passed over the monastery of Chal Jama, Bhadra looked long and hard at the famous landmark.

"I've never been further than there before, this is all new and very exciting for me!" She admitted.

"Whatever adversity you face, know that I'll be watching over you from now on." Ajay placed his hand on her head gently.

Since Bhadra was sitting on his lap because the buzzer offered her no space to sit she leaned further into Ajay, treasuring the contact she had with him while there was the opportunity to do so.

They flew through the quiet night without disturbance except from the beating wind from the propeller blades. Up ahead, a convoy of jeeps and trucks were waiting for them.

Hurk skillfully landed the buzzer near the road as they stepped out of the mini-helicopter.

Saras happened to be waiting up in front.

"You didn't have to come yourself." Was Ajay's response as a greeting.

"Well, hello to you too! I've not seen you for three weeks so I thought of getting a look at you all scruffy like!" She said in her usual playful manner.

Bhadra hid behind Ajay unsure of this new contact.

"Oh? And who's this gorgeous girl? Don't tell me your strike zone has gone so low that it encompasses younger girls too!" Saras laughed as she joked.

"Jokes aside, Bhadra this is Saraswati Roka."

"H-Hello."

"Hello dear, my friends call me Saras so you're free to call me that too!" Saras gave her a big warm smile to ease the young girl's heart.

"Saras, this is Bhadra. The person that the Golden Path believes to be the next Tarun Matara." Saras was taken astounded by his remark and couldn't help but look at Bhadra once more. It made Bhadra feel embarrassed when Saras stared too much.

"Oh! So sorry I made you feel too uncomfortable!" She apologized.

"It's alright, Bhadra. Saras is a dear friend of mine."

"Mmmm….Dear friend? More like potential groom candidate am I right Badala?"

"W-What?..." Bhadra took a step back when Saras mentioned Ajay by another name than Soren, but a name that everyone in the Golden Path feared.

Ajay could see her stumble back slightly afraid.

"I'm sorry I lied to you, Bhadra. If you had known would you have talked to me normally?"

"N-No…. I mean- It doesn't matter who you are, I trust you, Sor-uh- Badala!" Bhadra told him with all the courage she could muster. Ajay and Saras chuckled at Bhadra's unfamiliarity to his name.

"You can stick with Soren if you want!" Ajay told her gently.

"No. If that was your real name all this while then I'd rather call you by that name, Badala!"

"Wow! Isn't she a lively one!" Saras whistled at Bhadra's confidence.

"Can we go back now?" Ajay wanted to return to the valley for a hot bath and change of clothing.

Saras chuckled once again before calling her units in the convoy to saddle up in their respective vehicles.

Bhadra sat with Hurk in the back of the jeep Saras was driving as Ajay sat shotgun to the driver's seat. Saras started the engine and drove off.

Saras chuckled again midway without an explanation.

"What?"

"No. I was just thinking, you wouldn't believe how much Maya has changed the valley!"


	17. Chapter 17- Uninvited Live-ins

He had spent an entire day running around and fighting, it was wearing him out and he wanted to turn in early to receive an update on the happenings for the last three weeks the next morning. Hurk given a room at the new inn in the town to sleep for the night, seeing that he was a friend of the lord of their domain, the innkeeper gave him the best service he could possibly provide for Hurk. Unfortunately for Ajay, the Palace Guards came to receive him on his way to his little homestead he bought on top of the hill overlooking the newly built town next to his Arsenal.

They were here for only one thing, to escort him to Pagan as requested of them.

"Could you take care of Bhadra for a night?"

"What do I get in return?" She asked smiling, knowing Ajay had no choice but to give her something worth her while.

"Can we discuss this later?" He wanted to settle things quickly.

"It's really late in the night and I should be turning in early to get my beauty sleep!"

-Tsk! This woman!-

"(Sigh)…. What do you want?" Saras's expression instantly brightened at the magic word, Ajay was too tired to think of the consequences of his wish grant, he didn't want to bargain the rates with this shrewd woman.

"Promise me a favor, how about it?" Saras smacked her lips.

"A favor from you can mean anything!"

"Of course it can, that's why it's called a favor! Hurry Badala, the clock is ticking…." She now gave him a time limit to chose.

'Damn it. Fine! Just not something that pisses Maya, you have a nasty habit of doing that to her. She always gets on my case immediately after!"

Satisfied with his remark she went back on her jeep.

"Come over child! Badala has to work late, you'll be coming home with big sis!" She waved to Bhadra who turned back to Ajay.

"I'll see you in the morning, have a good night's rest, Bhadra." Ajay gave her his reassuring smile.

"Mm! Alright, goodnight!" She said before turning around and boarding Saras's staff car. Saras started her engine and looked to Ajay once more with a mischievous grin and responded…

"No promises!..." Before driving away.

"Pftt!" One of the palace guards couldn't control his laughter.

"You think that's funny?" Ajay glared at him with a power that rivaled only King Min.

"Uh- Forgive me my lord, I meant no disrespect!" The palace guard immediately apologized upon realizing his rudeness.

"(Sigh) Whatever, take me to his highness ASAP! Let's finish this quickly, I know I'm wasting your time as well." Ajay responded with forgiveness and sat obediently in the SUV which the palace guards drove in.

""Yes, milord!""

The Palace Guards dare not dally for Ajay or their liege's sake. Ajay had no choice but to lean back on the seat and take a short nap instead of a comfy bed.

* * *

Pagan's Personal Assistant, Gary led Ajay through the posh corridors to where Pagan was waiting for him in the balcony overlooking much of Northern Kyrat.

"There he is, my super spy!"

"I'm not against reporting now, but I didn't think you would want me to give it at this hour when you're usually sleeping." Did Pagan even sleep at all?

Pagan smiled wryly as he sat in his chair by the balcony. "Have a seat, Ajay."

Ajay went over to the seat that paired with Pagan's and took a seat. He reported the line of events to Pagan. The status of the Golden Path, what Willis had done and finally Bhadra.

"Hahaha! You stole the Tarun Matara?! I admit, Ajay. You really know how to bludgeon goffers!- Oh! I can already imagine their ugly faces right now!" Pagan laughed at the critical blow that the Golden Path and Sabal in particular received.

"I took her away for my own selfish reason, not because she was a chess piece!" He said with a serious expression.

"Ha!..." Pagan chuckled at the nostalgia. He drank out of the glass of Chardonnay that was provided to him while gazing out into the stars. Ajay said no further so as not to ruin that calm and serene moment.

The night sky was blanketed by bright sapphire stars and down below where the Valley of Death was, was filled with its own glittering lights.

"I've never really had a good sleep in a while, truth be told." Explained his calling for Ajay in the night.

"Was it because of my mother?"

"That… and shame." Pagan turned to Ajay.

"I know I've been an evil bastard before and after Ishwari left, watch you actively fight out there made me realize that. For me to fall in love with Ishwari was probably the greatest gift in my life….. and the most potent curse." Pagan swigged his glass of Chardonnay and held it up to the night sky, giving his cheers to the god of the skies.

"Would it matter if I said I was sorry for all the things I had done? Ha! I doubt it!" Pagan had genuinely thought about all the things he had done over the years. Ajay sighed scratching the back of his head.

"Lately that's what everybody's been saying, including me."

"What could Ishwari's boy possibility commit to feel this way?" Pagan laughed in resign.

"I killed my step-father." To Ajay, his confession was as truthful as one could be. So Pagan was could not hide his surprise to what Ajay declared. Ajay fiddled with the pendant in his hand as he thought about how to portray his history.

"It was after mom died and I ended up drifting around. There was this weird guy who knew mom and took it upon himself to adopt me as a sign of gratitude for her being good to him in that short period they knew one another. I was a reckless foolish idiot, getting swayed by the wrong crowd and simple impulse. And yet he never once lay a hand on me despite not being his flesh and blood. Neither did he get mad at me, to him it was merely a means for me to let out my frustration for being born into an uncaring world and felt responsible for my upbringing." Ajay took a long pause as he unveiled the darkest part of his memory to Pagan.

"And then, one day when I became beyond reproach, I murdered him because somebody told me to." Ajay smiled sadly.

Pagan tried to read Ajay but found no falsehood in his words making it difficult to express words for Ajay, so he just sat and listened. The person Ajay was referring to was of course Pagan, but he left out the name. The memory of Pagan still smiling in a pool of blood as Ajay stabbed him with his kukri was an image that made him rethink his entire involvement in Kyrat, until that fateful day.

"Then for the first time in my life I truly felt alone, I realized that I had destroyed the very last person that cared about me. I spent a month in my house just living on my own, surviving…. Every day was just….. pure torture, reliving a nightmare repeatedly over and over. But I thought it was alright for me, it was divine retribution for my unforgivable sin. I deserved every ounce of it!" Ajay let out tears of anguish and remorse, he quickly wiped the moisture from his face. Pagan had never seen him cry before so it was all too new to him, here was the legendary demon of the north weeping for the terrible things he had done.

"Then one day, my legal services came to me with mom's last wish. "Take me to Lakshmana." I figured I should at least have the decently to fulfill mom's dying wish before anything happened to me. So I came here, met you, learnt about Lakshmana, the past my mom escaped from and my predicament. But it was only at Lakshmana's shrine did I truly believe…. I might not be able to save myself but I could save others from a similar fate. Perhaps it might seem like self-gratification and it probably might be just that, but I think we owe it to Kyrat for stain in our family."

Ajay turned to Pagan smiling sadly. Pagan couldn't help but find their paths very similar, but Ajay was a lot stronger than he was when faced with similar adversity, he wanted to seek forgiveness whereas Pagan merely didn't care.

-He's too much like Ishwari!- Pagan laughed in resign once more.

"It might be as you said, Ajay….. both of us might be beyond saving. (Sigh) Even if it took me twenty years to admit it."

"… On that we agree."

"Mmmm…. Perhaps returning Kyrat to its former glory might do us some good, so there wouldn't be another Pagan or Ajay born within the confines of these mountains! What do you say?" Pagan's eyes burnt with a new found strength when he asked Ajay to follow him in an endeavor to save Kyrat.

"Aye. We'll do just that!"

"It's settled then, for our past transgressions….." Pagan held out a hand.

Ajay caught that hand and finished his sentence.

"… And our children's future!"

* * *

The Palace Guards escorted him back to his homestead before retiring. Too tired to think of anything else, Ajay jumped onto the bed without changing his clothes.

Ajay slept soundly throughout the night, having a comfy mattress to lie on made the difference between a mediocre rest and an excellent rest. Ajay was awoken to a sweet smelling fragrance that stimulated his senses. And pushed his way out of the bed but felt something heavy was leaning on him.

He moved his hands to feel for what was on lying across his chest it felt like a hand, an a slender one at that.

He heard a woman's soft moan.

"Mmmm….Good morning…." A charming woman's voice whispered into his ear, Ajay peeped through the slits of his eyelids to find Saras lying on his bed in front of him. Closing his eyes to clear his vision from dirt a few times, to make sure he wasn't seeing wrong.

"Did you have a good sleep?" Saras asked with an equally charming smile.

"How did you let yourself into my house?"

"Let myself in? I've been staying here since you left for the south."

"What?" Ajay got up as and pulled the bed sheets off of him.

"Hyah!" Saras let out a seductively playful yelp and Ajay realized why. She was completely-

"Why are you in my bed naked?!" Ajay threw the blanket towards her which she used to wrap around her body.

"I'll have you know, twenty-five percent of people in the world sleep without clothing!" She gave him an answer he never asked for.

Ajay rubbed his temples trying to recall what happened last night.

"Why aren't you watching over Bhadra?" No sooner did he ask when a knock came to the door of his room.

(Knock) (Knock) (Knock)

"Saras?... Are you awake? I've cooked breakfast for-"

Bhadra came into Ajay's room with a kitchen apron on to find Saras in his bed with him.

"Uh-…S-S-S-Sorry!" she quickly rushed out blushing in embarrassment.

"Oh! Now I've done it! Eh-he!" Saras said trying to act cute after all she did.

-This woman! Why is it I'm feeling she's becoming more aggressive in her approach?-

"Get dress, you have a Company to lead and you've already passed their revelry!" He picked up her shirt that was flung on a chair and turned around to throw it at her, only she was already wearing a shirt. But it wasn't hers. The size of the shirt could cover the parts of her that counted.

"Get out of that. I'll not have you going to have breakfast with Bhadra in that!" She had already caused a major misunderstanding at this point.

"You'll have to take it off me first!" She stuck her tongue out.

She was really testing his patience, Ajay decided not to bother and head over to breakfast.

At the dining table, Bhadra had taken the initiative to cook breakfast for the three of them. Bhadra was sending darting glances at Ajay and Saras, who was still wearing his shirt. Saras was happily munching on a bread roll bought from one of the markets in town.

"First off, why are both of you in my house? I thought Bhadra was staying with you at your place. Second, why do you have access to my house?"

"Eh? But big sis said this was her marital house!" Bhadra informed him. Ajay placed both his hands to cover over his face and exhaled heavily.

-What else has this woman fed Bhadra?!-

"Ajay Ghale does not own this house, I do!"

"A-Ajay Ghale? Big sis is engaged to Ajay Ghale?!" Bhadra gasped in surprise at her celebrity background.

"I've said it before, Badala. I chose who I want to be with!" She declared boldly in front of a kid, making Bhadra cover her mouth to hide the surprise.

"That usually works when the feelings are mutual!"

"And are they?" Saras asked with seriousness in her tone, as if expecting him to reply in kind.

"They aren't. I have priorities to this country-….. what's so funny?" As Ajay shot her down immediately without hesistation, Saras laughed at him in mid-sentence as he was trying to refuse her seriously.

"Is that the best excuse you could work up? For country? Then I should have used that excuse at every marriage meeting mother forced upon me."

Saras closed the distance between her and Ajay, siting just next to him and was invading his personal by almost leaning on him.

"I know somewhere deep inside you've given thought to being together with me, even if you don't admit it now!" Ajay turned away not wanting to answer that question, he continued to eat the breakfast Bhadra had made while trying to avoid eye contact to Saras.

-So you do care….-

His silence proved to her that Ajay did consider her in his life and it brought a smile to her face.

"If you're asking how I've been letting myself in, on the day you bought the house I took possession of one of the keys from the previous owner."

-She did such a thing?-

She dangled the keys right in front of him which Ajay tried to snatch back. "Gimme that-." But she was quick on her feet and jumped back and stashed the key between her cleavage.

"I told him I was your significant other and he didn't even question me!" Saras laughed out loud.

"Who would dare claim to be related to a vice-lord of Kyrat?!"

"-Unless they are the real deal!" What Saras said made sense although she was not in a relation with him.

"I'm done arguing with you, I feel I'll have better luck on a suicide mission than play with you mind games."

"That just means I win! So just accept the details as they are!"

Bhadra was starting to think this was a common occurrence between the and let out an unreserved giggle.

Ajay and Saras looked at her laughing and found their actions to be so silly and laughed with her.

"No seriously, put on your clothes!"

* * *

As much as Saras wanted to follow Ajay and Bhadra to introduce to him the changes in his valley she had priorities to attend to. Just as Ajay said, 3rd Company might be waiting for her all this time.

Before they left, Ajay had Bhadra tell him what did they do exactly last night and what had Saras been feeding her.

Saras had told her they were going to stay at her fiancé's house that she had been staying since he got the house, but Ajay left immediately after purchasing it so he didn't know Saras had actually moved in or taken the spare key. Bhadra stayed in the guest room that night and slept immediately after being tucked in by Saras. She did happen to hear footsteps along the wooden planked corridor but assumed Saras's fiancé had returned from work. The next morning when she

"This is your town?" Bhadra asked with an excited tone.

"When I was here it was just a bunch of tents and shacks, Maya must have gotten 3rd Coy to build most of the infrastructure here." Knowing Maya she would definitely invest in improving the lifestyle here.

"Where are we going?"

"There's someone I want you to meet, hopefully she can help me find a place where you can interact with peers your age."

"I'm fine with you, Badala!"

"I am too, but you have an entire youth ahead of you and I won't let you waste it!" Ajay wanted to assure responsibility for her upbringing. Something he wished he could have done for the old Bhadra and now he could finally fulfill it. There was an indescribable feeling of contentment taking the effort to open up new horizons to Bhadra.

"I don't know exactly where she is so we'll be heading to the Arsenal for now."

"Mmm!" Bhadra agreed and obediently followed him.

Walking through the guard post was no problem for Ajay, although they were skeptical about the sixteen-year-old girl tagging alongside him. Ajay pointed out she was with him so as not to cause misunderstanding.

As they walked through the factory, the staff members immediately recognize and greet him which he returns in kind every time. They reach the office wing where the head office is located.

"Hi Elina."

"Badala? It's been so long!" Elina got up from her seat.

"How've you been?"

"Fine, how about yourself? Maya told me you were on a mission but I didn't think it would take so long."

"Sorry to worry you, is Maya here?" Elina shakes her head.

"She went to pay a visit to the orphanage."

-Great, she in the one place I wanted to ask where it was.-

"Who is the young lady with you?" Elina noticed Bhadra behind him.

"This is Bhadra, she's a friend of mine I was hoping I could have get together with the kids in the orphanage on her free time." Ajay explained his objective.

"Oh? She, to the orphanage?"

"She's staying with me, but I wouldn't be around most of the time. I was hoping to get her to interact with peers in her age group."

Elina raised an eyebrow.

"She's staying with you at your home alone?"

"Yes, is that wrong?" Ajay asked rather innocently to which Elina sighed.

"Maya told me about your background before. It seems you're still unaware that a young unmarried girl should not be staying together with a young single man."

"Tradition?"

"Tradition." Elina answered clearly.

"Ok. But I still need to find Maya, maybe I can arrange for her to stay with her if that isn't too much trouble."

Elina thought about what Ajay suggested.

"How about Bhadra stay over at our place, I'm sure Alisha would be delighted to have a friend over."

It's not that Elina's idea bad or anything but Elina was exposing her and Alisha to an unforeseen danger in the form of hunting teams searching for Bhadra.

"I'll still like to have Maya's feedback on this first, sorry Elina. It's not that I don't trust you in fact I'm quite surprised you would offer to house Bhadra here but the situation is quite delicate you see." Ajay answered honestly.

"Ohh…. Ok! No harm done, so I could write the coordinates on your map if you like to go their yourself."

"That'll be wonderful, Elina. Also, could I trouble you for a full report on the three weeks I was away?"

Elina almost laughed uncontrollably.

"I never thought my employer would ask me so kindly for the work I'm expected to perform for him, pardon me!"

Elina went to the back where a shelf full of archived files were stored while Ajay and Bhadra waited.

"You mean I was gonna stay with you?"

"I did say I was gonna keep a watchful eye on you didn't I? Did you not like the idea?" Bhadra waved her hands in front of him to emphasize that it wasn't the case.

"MmMmm! There's no place I'd rather be than with you, Badala!"

Ajay's eyebrows rose at the girl's declaration.

"That's cute, but you should save that for your future life companion." Ajay reminded her.

"Uh- What?!... What gave you that kinda Idea?!" Bhadra fell into a terrible stutter at Ajay's remark.

"Don't hold it too much to heart, those are just some advance phrases you could use on him when you grow older." Ajay said smiling, oblivious to her feelings.

"Badala you idiot…." Bhadra murmured under her breath.

* * *

The report had finally arrived on the manager's desk which Ajay took a seat in and read the contents. The report read as such:

Week 4 from establishment,

Ammunition production online and working as scheduled. Production capacity at ten thousand rounds of 5.56mm NATO a day. Distributed to Royal Army frontline outposts and Frontier barracks.

Production of ARP-1 mod. 0 begun. Roll out rate at two hundred a week.

Raw material supplies holding steady.

Week 5,

Ammunition production maintained.

ARP-1 mod. 1 finalized for mass production, replacing mod. 0 in current production. Mod. 1 amendments include lightened bolt and furniture, featuring strengthened construction and improved rigidity of parts.

Servicing Depot organizing complete. Commenced refurbishment of Royal Army weapons. First batch of one thousand assorted arms. AK, 1911, Dragonov, A-2000, P416, vz.61, Z93 and Bison weapon systems found within batch.

Week 6,

Ammunition production maintained and increased due to human efficiency. Steel case magazine production to commence.

ARP-1 mod. 1 experiencing delays due to deficiencies found in quality control. Production halted as effect of Day 3. Total ARP-1 rifles assembled are 853 completed receivers. 147 rifles short in due shipment to Royal Fortress.

Service Depot reports refurbishment on schedule.

…

Ajay read the report and was pleased with the results despite his absence. The shortage of the new rifles that Arjun ordered, he'll have to explain but Ammunition production and repair and refurbishing of old arms were more than fulfilling their role at maintaining the Royal Army's ability to sustain itself with a constant supply of bullets and repaired weapons.

Ajay was thinking of talking to Samar about beginning new projects on different weapon varieties such as handguns, shotguns and machine guns. He had an idea of which weapons to produce as well from his fighting experience. The Royal Army couldn't depend on assault rifles in every single situation and the absence of their ammunition types having yet to be produced have left those gun types in idle or in demand for ammo. In the end, ammunition was a more important concern. Longinus had yet to return with his special machinery order from Austria and Switzerland, several batches of CNC machines, rifling machines and ammunition manufacturing equipment. Mr Chiffon even crafted him a decent set of suits to look the part of a businessman. Longinus wouldn't fail him, the idea of building a nations defense industry made him beyond ecstatic. Like building a cathedral, was the way Ajay saw Longinus imagine it to be. He was scheduled to be back tomorrow in fact but there could be unforeseen circumstances that delayed him and the shipments return. There was only one mode of travelling with such large equipment and that was by airlift.

The Condottieri were being contracted by Arjun to do a HVT escort mission till tonight, so they weren't around in the cabin at the moment. Ajay wondered if they'll wear a surprised face to see him back, he doubted so. Reminded about that time after the Meh Teh Offensive victory. They only acknowledged him after he paid for their drinks, it showed that he who grants drinks was god.

Ajay took Bhadra to the carpool where they procured a vehicle for their departure to the coordinates that Elina gave him. Bhadra sat in the passenger seat staring out into the breathtaking landscape, a huge contrast in the scenery to the valley in Southern Kyrat. The coordinates to the orphanage were off somewhere between Elina's village.

Ajay hadn't visited last time because the night had come after spending time at Elina's place and there wasn't a need to visit immediately after.

Ajay drove through the familiar route to the hidden village within the Valley of Death, not far from the Arsenal itself and only a ten-minute drive. The last time he drove with Maya, she was directing for him and wouldn't entrust him with the location. Perhaps because he wasn't familiar enough or it was to protect the village from external influences through Ajay's knowledge. But since Elina gave it to him causally he figured it had to have been the former.

He parked the jeep by the side of the road and walked through the street following the coordinates. People were sparing glances at them, they were unfamiliar people after all. But they didn't disrupt their daily routine to interact with them so it was fine.

They walked up a bending road up towards an enclosed stone courtyard. The sound of children playing around could be heard as they made their way up the final set of steps. Reaching the entrance of the courtyard they could see an old wooden estate that had seen better days, but it didn't deter the children, ages six to seventeen from enjoying their time in the centre field with a game of ball.

A kid kicked the ball towards Ajay and Bhadra.

"Ah! Arnav! You kicked it down the slope! How are we-."

"Look out!" The oldest looking boy called out to Ajay and Bhadra for the incoming ball.

Ajay had seen it come towards them slowly and skillfully caught it with his leg and juggled the ball around with his thigh.

"""Ooooo..""" His skill with the ball attracted the attention of the kids and good first impressions for him and Bhadra to the orphanage.

Ajay caught the ball with his hands and walked over to the eldest kid, the 17-year-old boy.

Ajay tossed the ball over to him which he caught with both hands.

"Whatcha doing here mister?" The boy responded seeming to care what was his business here. It seemed that there weren't a lot of adults that came up to the hill except the ones they already knew like their caretakers and former residents that grew out.

"I'm looking for Maya, is she here?"

"What's it to you?" The boy adopted a defensive manner of speaking.

"Biraj! That's not the way you talk to people!" An elderly man came out of the house while hobbling towards them.

"Gramps! You shouldn't be walking out in your condition!"

"And not greet the guests to our home? What's become of all those manners I've taught you!" The elder scolded the boy for his ill-manners. The boy came over to support the elder who walked in Ajay's direction. Ajay walked forwards to try and close the distance so he needn't walk too much.

"Hi, I'm Badala and this is Bhadra. We just moved into the region not far from here."

"Greetings young ones, I am Bibek the caretaker of the Asako tara orphanage. How can I be of help to you who've come all this way up the mountains?" The elder Bibek was extremely polite to Ajay.

"I'm looking for a friend of mine, Maya Kadayat and I'd like to introduce someone to your family. Bhadra come over."

Ajay called for Bhadra and brought her to meet with them.

"This is Bhadra, I was hoping to have her get to know some friends in the area."

"Any friend of Maya's is ours, come inside. I'll take you to her. Biraj, perhaps you would like to play some games with our young friend over here?" Bibek suggested Biraj introduce her to their small community.

Bibek seemed in a daze as he stared at Bhadra, Ajay chuckled a little as he say the rowdy boy was attracted to Bhadra beauty.

"Oi, squirt!" Ajay waved his hand in front of him to wake him from his spell.

"Ah?! What's your problem?!" The Biraj boy got mad at Ajay for breaking his fantasy.

"Biraj!"

"A-Ah!-…. Sure! Come along then!" Biraj walked up ahead and turned around waiting for Bhadra.

But instead of following Bhadra glared at the boy. The reason was quite obvious, he was already setting a horrible first impression by being rude to Ajay.

"Bhadra." Ajay called out to her to stop her from breaking the boy's confidence.

"Uh?- Yes?"

"Remember, you're here to make friends not chew hopeless brats." Bhadra giggled at Ajay's response.

"Who you calling hopeless?!"

"Right, elder Bibek. Please lead the way.-." "Hey! Look at me when I'm talking to you!" But Ajay ignored the boy's rantings and followed the elder into the estate.

"Ah-ehehe! Hi! I'm Biraj!" Being left alone with the pretty Bhadra made Biraj's cheeks flush red.

"Hmph!" Bhadra turned away.

"Uh!-…." Biraj looked in pain as Bhadra walked in the opposite direction towards the other kids who were all just as excited to meet and be friends with her. Ajay didn't have much to worry about her because she became instantly popular with the other girls near her age and were spending time talking and gossiping with one another.

Ajay had been led through a series of narrow corridors with creaking floors and the smell of rotting wood.

"This house seems to have a lot of character to it." Ajay opened up.

"Hahahahaha!….. You certainly seem to have a way with modest words, my lord. And please forgive that young rascal for his rudeness, he's always been a mischievous one"

"Badala will do, elder."

"Heh!... It's just as Maya had said, you really are a humble lord despite your impressive exploits!"

"That title was given by his royal highness, not something I was born with."

"Mmmm. If only all the nobles were like you…..(sigh)" Biraj lamented.

"How long has this estate stood for?" Biraj still didn't tell him the houses history.

"Ah, yes! This house has existed longer than even my aged self, it was once the house of a famous warrior general but was left in its current debilitated state. Over time it has switched hands through the centuries until it fell into my hands through inheritance."

"You were that general's descendent?" The old man nodded.

"Although the glory that was once the house of Khati has long gone. I'm the last descendant of that glorious line. Now, I life the simple life of a caretaker to the orphans I've picked up over the years. I'm not complaining about it, there is nothing more enjoyable than watching your children grow up. But… I'm getting old, and as their only means of support I worry for their future… I'm sorry, I let this old man get to you with his own personal problems." Bibek apologized for making it their conversation too personal.

"That's alright, was Maya raised by you?" Maya had mentioned this place many times as did Bipin, they seemed to hold dear memories to this place.

"I won't dare to say I raised her, that mantle of responsibility fell onto Mistress Yuma's capable hands. But this house did provide shelter for the two orphan siblings Maya and Bipin Kadayat when they lost their family."

"I see…."

They reached a door where Ajay could hear two female voices laughing in their conversation on the other side. Bibek knocked on the door.

"Maya girl, you have a visitor." Bibek said before sliding the door open.

"Who is it?"

Bibek stepped aside the doorway for Ajay to come through.

"Ajay?- Op!" Maya realized her mistake for saying his real name.

"It's been a while. You've made me send a half a day looking for you!" Ajay said with a smile.

"Uh- Badala-."

"There's no need to keep up the act now that you've spoilt it for the elders." Ajay told her.

"S-Sorry…."

"How have you been, Maya?" Ajay asked out of concern.

"I'm fine, no thanks to you! Leaving and making me run the factory in your stead!"

"I left it to you because no one else could do the job as decent as you, wasn't that what Elina was for. To manage the factory instead."

"Elina is managing the arsenal?!" The elder cried out in surprise.

"Our daughter is running a business?!" The old woman who seemed to be Elina's mother did the same as Bibek.

Maya panicked as she had not informed them yet of Elina's new job.

"Uh-…. I can explain."

* * *

Ajay joined Maya and the elderly couple, Bibek and Aasha Khati for tea in their living room. Who Ajay learnt were the parents of Elina and grandparents of Alisha.

-So that's why she gave away her fortune.-

Things were starting to make sense to Ajay. A large portion of the reward money was given to supporting her parents and the children in their household who needed it more than just Elina and Alisha. Prayan, their son-in-law was also giving a portion of his paycheck to maintain the livelihood of the orphans in the Khati household.

"This is a really noble thing you're doing for the children, sir and ma'am." Ajay commended them as he took a sip from the Chai which Aasha brewed for him.

"It's all for good karma for me and my beloved wife and our dear daughter and her family. I've heard from her your generosity, for that you have my eternal thanks, Badala." Ajay stopped Bibek from bending over to thank him.

"Still…. To be a vice-lord this young… my! What sort of achievements did you garner to attain such a prestigious title on your own?" Aasha still couldn't believe Ajay was the lord in their land.

Posters and village heads, briefed by the King's representatives were to only way the people knew of Badala. Although word of mouth had been the means of which they heard of Ajay's achievements.

"Ha! You call him a lord but he lives in a simple homestead on a hill. The townsfolk were even taking to calling him hovel lord!" Maya chuckled as she belittled Ajay. But instead of getting angry like he use to he spoke his reason for living like that.

"I've been living pretty modestly over the years, just having a good mattress, and a warm place to sleep is enough for me." Maya frowned slightly at the change in Ajay's attitude.

"There's something different about you, you've changed! What in the world happened during your mission?"

"Well let's just say, I've learnt to calm down a lot better now." Ajay picked up his cup to drink the addictively good chai.

"Oh really? Or is it because you get to wake up next to a naked hussy every morning!"

"Pfftt!" Ajay spat out the chai through no fault of its own.

"What the…. You knew Saras was living in my house and didn't say anything?!"

"Why would I? That's not my problem what she does in your house!" She puffed her cheeks.

Bibek looked to his wife who simple shrugged her shoulders at their bickering.

"Urgh…. Your right, it's not." Ajay cooled down quite quickly, much to Maya's dismay. So far, their conversations had always had arguments as a means to communicate with one another. Now that Ajay was giving in to her in the argument she was starting to feel a bit disillusioned.

"Uh- Yeah! Uh-hm! So why were you here in the first place?" Maya quickly changed the subject so as to not leave him hanging.

"I came with a young girl here."

"Didn't think you would turn so low-."

"Can you let me finish my sentence first? I brought Bhadra out of Banapur because she was being abused and hoped to give her asylum and a chance to enjoy her youth like she should!" Ajay rubbed his head, why did he always have to shout with Maya?

Bibek and his wife now understood why he brought the girl with him.

"I originally planned for her to stay with me but Elina said it wasn't socially correct. So I was hoping she could stay with you."

Maya put her hand to her chin thinking about it. When Bibek opened up.

"Why not have her live here? We'll always welcome another and I think the young girl's presence will please all the children."

"I appreciate the thought, elder. Elina offered the same but I refused her as well because of a certain condition."

"Oh. I see, well that's alright then."

"Maya, could I have a moment with you?"

Maya and Ajay got up to their feet and walked outside the living room where Ajay told her of Bhadra's special 'condition'.

"WHAT?!" Maya shouted in surprise. Making the Khati elders curious on what Ajay told her.

Maya came back with Ajay.

"Bibek, Aasha. I'm sorry but can we call it a day, I'll like to help Badala settle his new friend in."

"Oh don't worry about it, you're free to come by and visit anytime! Badala, please take care of our child Maya. She may be sharp tongued at times but that doesn't dissuade her from caring about the people close to her." Bibek went up to wave his goodbyes.

"I know. Don't worry yourself, elder. Take care of yourself and your wife."

"May Banashurs light shine on you." Bibek raise his hand over Ajay for a blessing.

"And may it shine upon you too." Ajay returned one to him.

Ajay left with Maya to lead the way out of the mini maze that was the estates complex corridors, she really did live here for some time.

"Did Yuma find you here?" Ajay asked.

"Mm! Even if she didn't I'd still be happy from the warmth of a family Bibek and Aasha gave me and my brother. I owe them everything."

"Then give them everything, you're welcome to borrow from me anytime." To Ajay, nothing was more priceless than the joys of family kinship. His time with his mother were the most precious years he had in his life and he treasured those memories dearly.

"So what's this about kidnapping the Tatun Matara?" Maya went straight to the point.

"She's not the Tarun Matara, and I'll burn Jalendu Temple if they ever dare to do that!" Ajay said as they made their way out to the exit.

"Was this because… of your mother?"

"…" Ajay was reminded of his late mother, an his expression saddened when he was reminded of the grief she endured.

"I'm sorry, I was being insensitive. Come on, let's take this girl back to your place."

Ajay meet with Bhadra who was happily conversing with some of the orphans, she had successfully gotten to know some same age peers that she could relate to. Ajay wasn't going to be around all the time and needed some place to take care of her while still giving her the freedom to enjoy.

"Bhadra, this is Maya." Ajay gave a brief intro of her to Bhadra.

"Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too." They both shook hands.

"Badala, who is she?"

"She's your new bunkmate. There are some concerns by a few of my associates about me being alone at home with a younger girl."

"What, that's ubsurd! You don't think of me that way, do you?"

"Try telling that to them." Ajay said to her.

Ajay, Maya and Bhadra walked down the mountain to the village where Ajay parked the jeep and drove back to his house to get Bhadra's things which Ajay bought from the market in town recently. Sets of clothing, toothbrush and a few sets of clean underwear.

They reached the pathway of his house after a half hours ride down the hills. When Ajay begun to wonder where Maya had stayed all this while.

"Maya?"

"Hmm?"

"Where exactly do you stay? Not the Royal Fortress by any chance."

That was a military facility and Bhadra wouldn't be allowed to stay there at all, not that it was the ideal place for her anyway.

"Of course not….."

"Ok."

"It's right here." Maya pointed to Ajay's homestead. Ajay stopped on his track to his house.

"I'm sorry, I thought I heard you just direct to my house."

"Yup, here!"

Then it hit him, how else did Maya know Saras slept naked other than live in the same place as her.

"Maya, where's my key?" If Saras had one then by chance-

"Saras is the only one that has one, don't worry."

"Don't worry? You two have been living in my house without my permission since I left to infiltrate the Golden Path!"

"Jeez, don't be such a stingy miser! You made me work at your arsenal every day, I had to wake up early to read the reports and balances. The least you could do was accommodate for my convenience by letting me stay in your place that's like what-…. A three-minute walk to the Arsenal."

Somehow, Ajay could not fault her on that. She was doing him a huge favor in running the Arsenal for the last three weeks. So he should have just given in to her.

"So that was your plan, huh? Adding you into the household would solve the problem of living alone with Bhadra."

"Uh-huh!"

Ajay sighed, but it wasn't all that bad. At least he could keep a close watch on Bhadra now, although his house had an extra occupant.

"Thank you."

"Don't mention it." Maya puffed her cheeks, she always felt good when Ajay gave his sincere thanks.

"So we're staying together?" Bhadra asked joyfully as she didn't think it was possible.

"Looks that way."

Bhadra skipped cheerfully to the front entrance of the house and waited for them to hurry up to where she was.

Ajay took out the keys and inserted it into the lock but found that the door was left open. He pushed the door open with his wits up ready to receive whatever was on the other side of the door.

"Welcome back dear!"

But his wits weren't ready to receive Saras wearing nothing but a kitchen apron.

"Oh!" She noticed Ajay with Bhadra and Maya this time.

"Back early, Maya?" Saras greeted her casually. -So they were staying in my house together!-

"Yeah." Maya went in like nothing had happened, leaving Bhadra the only one with an open mouth.

"Put something on before you catch a chill!" Ajay still couldn't believe she came back waiting for to surprise Ajay. Did she skip out on work early just to do this?

"Is that all? After I went through all the trouble to prepare myself for you!" Saras pouted.

"Clothes. We'll go out for dinner tonight." Ajay gave up on convincing them to leave his house. Saras was satisfied with his proposal and went off to his room to change. She still treated this like her house.

Ajay sighed with his hands to his face.

-I wonder what kind of life am I gonna live together with them?-


	18. Chapter 18 - Lady of the town

Nineteen silhouettes waddled their way through snow knee deep, the weather had turn for worse and a blizzard was threatening to cancel their expedition to the Uttar Region, otherwise known as Northern Kyrat.

These brave men were the Force recon marines of USSOCOM, on a mission that deviated from their original briefing. They had been caught in a silent war between the pen-pushers at home and the field Agent gone rogue. Willis had the current Director of overseas operations in South-East Asia by the balls and they were helpless to change it. Pressure from Command was for them to follow that arrogant bastard till whatever he was doing was complete.

In the end, Captain Goh and his men were the patsies.

They spent a day to clear out targets for that coup de tat hosted by the right-wing leader Sabal, which successfully took total control of the Golden Path. Unfortunately, his rival a woman named Amita and her supporters and contingent were nowhere to be found. While he did take over Banapur, Sabal was anything but happy with the hollow victory. He sent a team to capture the Tarun Matara, some sort of spiritual leader but failed when an asset went rogue and took the little girl to away into hiding. David watched as Sabal executed the survivors of that mission in a silent corner, that guy was just as disgusting as Willis and he wanted nothing to do with him but it wasn't his to choose.

"No word from JSOC. We've got nothing, no air support, no satellite imagery, no on-site assets. Nothing, sir." The communication specialist reported to Captain Goh. It was to be expected, Paul probably wants the activity coming out of Kyrat to remain minimal in case NSA monitors this sight and catch him red-handed. He was a real pussy.

"Fucking spooks!" Perkins cursed as he threw more fuel to the fire which warmed them during the night in the chilling mountain tops.

"Everyone shares the same opinion Gregor, it can't be changed." Said Captain David Goh.

"Is there nothing we can do?" His other sergeant asked him.

"The most straightforward option would be to kill this Badala, who's a lieutenant of that Pagan fellow."

"Assuming that's all Agent Huntley wants us to do!" Perkins thought more deeply into the situation than the others did.

"….." But it was true, who ever said it'll stop with the vice-lord's assassination. David knew they were on their own in this and there was no guarantee that's all Willis wanted. He was willing to threaten the highest ranking officer all the way in Langley, they were nothing but mere chess pieces.

Their target was in the Northern Region of Kyrat in a place called the Valley of Death, not a very imaginative name but easily recognizable. The only pathways to the North were through a heavily guarded bridge or through the snow packed mountain slopes with unpredictable weather patterns, today wasn't their lucky day. The Sherpa leading them through made them set up camp inside a cave. Currently he sat near the outside of the cave entrance on lookout.

"The other alternative would be to get the files and dirty records on Lynch, but then we'll have Lynch to worry about." If Paul ever knew they somehow got their hands on his secrets he'd call in a fuel air bomb on their location, just to make sure.

"Urgh….. I think I've got frostbite!"

"Where?"

"My ass cheeks!"

"You sure, I thought that was the hottest part of you?"

The marines always remembered to crack a little humor in their direst of times, now was one of those moments.

"So what's so special about this guy that the spook can't handle him? I heard Willis arranged an entire airlift of weapons and armor for those Golden Path rebels." Perkins asked his superior.

"Badala, real name unknown. In his mid-twenties and apparently an American-Kyrati. Reports suggest that the King brought him in to deal with the Golden Path which he successfully dealt with. He has special links with the Kyrati Military High Command which give him exclusive access to their assets and equipment. The Golden Path guerillas call him the 'Northern Demon' because he lives in the north go figure, but also because of a trademark mask he dons in battle. Made in the likeness of a local demon."

"So he tried to establish himself as the local boogeyman, eh?" Perkins could understand their targets intentions. David nodded.

"The liaison commander from the Golden Path says he gave Sabal the pretty looks he has now, the psychopath hates him more than hell."

"I'm starting to like him already!"

"You should hear the track record this guy has. Ending a previous invasion into the North led by that rival of Sabal's, Amita by taking a fortress with six guys. Has over four hundred confirmed kills in two weeks. Often charges into a firefight with a knife." David was finding it more and more unbelievable himself as he briefed his sergeant on the target's known abilities.

"Recently, he orchestrated an attack on the Golden Path supply chain with just a hundred men and a few mercenaries that switched sides with their employer who was an arms dealer for Sabal. The Golden Path tried to retake the airport which was bringing in the equipment we sent and failed miserably. If I remember the numbers correctly it was a little under two-thousand warriors that died that day."

Perkins whistled at the beyond impressive kill-count.

"Damn! No wonder Willis wants us to do the job for him. So what do you think our odds are?"

David wasn't sure about it, he never encountered anyone like this before. He doubt anyone in JSOC had either.

"I dug around for intel on Badala from the survivors but all of them say the same thing…. He can't be killed. He's a demon. I shouldn't be alive." The warriors were too stuck in superstition and Badala used it against them to his advantage.

"That's not very helpful, what about the terrain over there?" Perkins always asked the more practical questions, much to David's favor.

"We've got nothing, Willis just gave us an old map of the North he got years ago but there's no guarantee there hasn't been any changes. The North has been cut off for so long, the Golden Path barely even knew what went on over the other side except from rumors from the people that travel to and from."

The guerillas couldn't exactly sneak past the territorial guards without risking detection so only warranted traders and those from the North could freely go between the bridge.

"Supposedly his fortress in the centre of this Valley of Death, the place as a lot of large rocks so we'll have good concealment till the walls of his fortifications."

"Valley of Death… doesn't sound very appealing, what do you think he does there?"

"Some nasty shit. Probably torture POWs and dumping them once they've been run dry on intel?" Sergeant Grilles suggested.

All of these were assumptions with no real hard evidence to back them up. They'd have to scout the place in advance before proceeding to zero Badala's location. It wasn't an easy mission to undertake even for soldiers of their caliber, that's why none of the Golden Path warriors ever attempted it.

(Roarrrr)

A piercing roar echoed into the mountain top and entered their cave.

"What was that?!"

"Local wildlife maybe….. Probably a bear."

"Nah, man! It sounded bigger!"

"You don't think it's the Yeti, right?"

The marines broke into a hearty laughter.

-Yeti….. Yeah right!-

* * *

Ajay took a quick shower that was afforded to him and changed into a new set of clothing which he bought from the market. A simple traditional attire that kept him warm and comfortable in the chilly weather they were having. He waited for the girls at the door, they were taking their own sweet time to prepare for dinner.

-What could they possibly be putting on? It's just down the hill.-

Despite complaining internally, he waited patiently for them.

"We're ready! What do you think, Badala?" The three of them appeared together. Saras asked him about their appearance.

They were also wearing traditional garbs but with more vibrant colors which brought out there figures in the subtlest of ways yet very matching.

"Need I say? Bhadra looks very cute in that, your skirt is a little too short." Saras looked down as the length but found no flaw.

"Ha! Made you look!" Ajay was actually poking fun at her, and she pouted for not being on her guard for such a simple ruse.

"And Maya… You should stop wearing a uniform." Ajay told her honestly.

Maya suddenly felt her cheeks rise in temperature and was tongue tied by his compliment.

"Ah- Thanks… I guess!"

"Why couldn't you give me praise like that!?" Saras complained.

"When you look like you're gonna pick up some young guys and squeeze them dry all night?" Even in a traditional dress the garments focused on bringing out the already voluptous proportions she held.

"Or just one man…" She said with a smirk. Ajay walked ahead, not wanting to get dragged into another meaningless conversation.

Maya made a whistling sound the hunters did to call in their animal friend. For her case, it was Bishal the white tiger cub, or should he say young adult tiger. The cub grew to tremendous proportions the last time he saw it, as the tiger saw Ajay it bent submissively when passing by him. It was still afraid of him, its mother was killed by Ajay and right after that, Ajay grabbed him and threw him to its doting owner, Maya. Ajay thought it would growl or try to avenge its mother but it didn't seem so, for now. Ajay had once tried to approach it out of curiosity and the wild feline jumped in the air like a scaredy cat.

"Hello boy, let's go for a walk, 'k?" Maya scruff Bishal's well-groomed fur which the tiger thoroughly enjoyed and let out a chuffing noise.

Bishal walked next to Maya, leaning against her leg looking to be showered with care and affection from her. "Wow! So cool!" Bhadra couldn't conceal her excitement to seeing an actual domesticated White Tiger.

"You should have seen him when he was this tiny!" Saras emphasized Bishal's small proportions when Saras met it as a cub still.

The four of them made their way down the pathway on the hill towards the town where they hoped to get some grub, perhaps at the inn.

It was night time, and the streets were packed with the movement of people. Some were had just arrived in town and were looking for a place to stay, others were workers taking a night walk with their family to have dinner just like Ajay and company. Overhead were lanterns dangling from wires slung across the buildings adding to the ambience of the towns plaza.

Having Bishal around was quite convenient especially when everyone recognized who was with it.

"Ah! It's lady Maya!"

"Lady Maya's here!"

"Going for a late night stroll, milady?"

The crowd stop and turn to cheerfully greet her, some of the newer folks came to see what the head of the Arsenal looked like.

Maya maintained a dignified smile and curtly waved to the people as she walks through the crowd to make way for the rest. Bishal was receiving pets and treats from the people that passed by.

"Wow! You really weren't kidding." Ajay said to a chuckling Saras. "I told you, she completely assumed your role as the head of the Arsenal."

"Well she deserves it." Ajay was well aware of the work she had done in his absence, he only asked her to maintain operational capacity of the Arsenal. Instead she created an entire town that oriented around the Arsenal, even providing the basic necessities needed to sustain living in the area such as the well, the inn and the road planning for the entire town.

There was no way anyone wouldn't know her, she even gave out loans to certain shop owners she felt were essential to a community to set up a business here. Although she did use a considerable amount from Ajay's budget and his private funds, he didn't mind so long as she used them properly.

"So where should we eat them, your treat of course." Saras already set the dinner to be his to pay for.

"Since I'm deciding, I'll get to decide right?" Ajay hadn't had much time to explore the new town but there was one place he wanted to stop first.

The inn stood right in front of them, it stood three levels high with the reception and dining on the ground floor. After much greeting of folks Maya rejoined their group, apologizing for breaking off without informing.

They entered the dining where waitress stood at a front counter to coordinate seats between customers.

"Welcome in- Ah! Lady Maya and Huh!- M-My lord?!" The waitress was stunned to have to high officials of the town in the small dining.

"Table for four please." Ajay represented their small group.

"Uh- Yes! One moment!" The waitress quickly went to the back of the kitchen to find the manager to inform him of the situation. A few seconds later the waitress walked back with the manager in tow, rubbing his hands together.

"Greetings, Your lordship! Lady Maya to what do I owe the pleasure-."

"Just a table for the four of us, in a quiet part if possible. We can wait."

"Yes! We'll get that sorted out immediately!" He gave clear orders to a few of the waiting staff.

"Manager." Ajay called out.

"Yes, milord?" The manager responded crisply.

"Calm down, we're here to have chow just like everybody else. There's no need to displace your customers to accommodate us." Ajay informed him.

"Uh- Very well." The manager went out to sort them a table without moving the existing occupants.

They were directed to a table at the balcony that overlooked the plaza which was quite fortunate of them. The manager personally took it upon himself to waiter for them and awaited their meal orders.

"Right, what do you guys want?"

"You're paying, you chose." Maya reminded him.

"Mmmm.. Ok. Manager, what's this joint's special?"

"Yes. The specials we have for tonight is a combination of lamb casserole with Naan bread, stir fried vegetables and a curry fish head."

"That sounds nice, may we have it?"

"Yes, lord. We'll have it ready as soon as possible!"

"Tell the chef we're in no rush, so take your time. Thank you, manager."

"Thank you, milord!" The manager disappeared after taking his order.

"I'm already watering from hearing him say it!" Bhadra confessed.

"I'm sure you are! Squirt!" Saras who was sitting next to her tussled her head.

"We have Maya to thank for bringing this town into this state."

"Indeed you do!" Maya proudly stuck out her chest.

"Sooo… Badala, mind telling us what you did in the Golden Path for the last three weeks?" Saras initialed the conversations.

Ajay began to share most of the details in his adventures in the Golden Path that he was allowed to disclose to them in public.

"Well, aside from communicating two ways to clear the 'trash' in the Royal Guard and Army. It was mostly patrols around the Golden Path camps and meeting up with Bhadra here."

"Ehehe!... You would not believe what Amita and Sabal thought of him then when he killed the captain of the Royal Guard and his attacking force."

"Really….. what was that about?" Maya asked curious.

"Those two idiots were too busy like always arguing over all the pettiest of things to even do a proper background check on me. They actually wanted to use me as a deterrent against myself."

-I guess which ever timeline they'd still be fighting.-

Maya and Saras laughed at the possibility.

"It was like asking me to hit myself!" (:-I) Ajay wore a deadpan look.

Even Bhadra was giggling at the idea.

"So what have you both been up to in the Royal Fortress and the Arsenal?" It was their turn.

"Mmmm… Maya's been mostly contracting my company to build her town for her, and at a hefty price might I add. I bet your treasury is completely empty by now." Saras chuckled as she whistle blew Maya. Ajay turned to Maya who took defensive measures against his incoming accusations.

"W-What?... I needed to spend that money to support the town! It's not like I spent exorbitant amounts on a single purchase like you!"

"Relax, Maya. I'm not accusing you of anything, you've done a pretty good job thus far."

"Your damn right I have! Which reminds me, what was with that purchase you made weeks ago from Switzerland?" It was the opportunity she had been looking for to ask him.

"Ah! That! Well, I did it because I could afford to at the time. So I sent Longinus to collect it and give the payments as well, you should have seen him all shaved and wearing a fine fitted suit! You'd hardly think he was the crazy arms dealer at all!" Ajay chuckled at the thought.

"Still, to get the machinery that could have been purchased like last time through the blackmarket-."

"That was because we desperately needed it, to start operations and fix all the bugs before starting production. But I intended to have one of the very best in precision machinery at my disposal so It'll ease on the errors of production and give us the best money's worth of using our precious raw materials in Kyrat. Besides, the valley isn't the only place we'll be having an arsenal."

"What?!" She almost got out of her seat.

"You think an army can be supplied by a single small arms factory? Ratu Gadhi fell in the first place precisely because the defending forces ran out of ammo." Ajay unveiled the real reason the fortress fell into the grasp of Amita's field commander then.

"I see….. so it was all part of a bigger plan was it?"

Ajay nodded. Maya made a fist of her hand, she didn't know why but being told her work was only a fraction of contributing to Ajay's motives made her feel used and manipulated. It was as Yuma said, he really didn't care about her.

"It's not like I planned this way in the beginning, I'm not that smart."

"Huh?"

"It was just something that I decided when things were going so well here thanks to you. Look around you, Maya. Do you remember what this place use to be? The barren valley of death, now it's the centre of trade and commerce because you pull a little effort into even the smallest of details. I can tell you, out of all the other territories I've seen I'm proud to call this my own. If the same could be done to other parts of Kyrat then I don't see why not." Ajay took a drink from the lime juice that was provided to quench his dry throat.

Maya's thoughts were jumbles, she once again made an assumption of Ajay. One that would have made her regret her childish actions against him. Her mood darkened.

-Why did I even care what he thought about me?!-

"Looks like someone was overthinking something!" Saras was not blind to Maya's thoughts as she expressed it through her eyes.

"Uh- What?"

"Little Maya was almost disappointed Badala didn't pay enough attention to her that she almost threw a tantrum!" Saras said laughing to her embarrassment as she turned red pouting.

"Cool off, Maya. You should be familiar with how Saras likes to tease us, so don't let her get a kick out of your reactions." Ajay advised her.

Hearing it from Ajay she let out a breath to calm herself once more, but it did nothing to improve her mood.

"Muuu… no fun!" Saras pouted when Ajay spoilt her enjoyment.

"Milord, Lady Maya. Dinner is served!" The manager came with a few assistants holding the tray full of dishes. They put out the spread on their table for them to eat.

"Woah! I'm famished!" Bhadra declared as she saw the wide and luxurious spread of good food laid in front of her.

"Dig-in! If it's not enough, I'll ask for more." Ajay announced.

"So generous of you!" Saras chuckled as she helped herself to the spread.

"Manager, I'll have a bottle of your strongest whiskey." Maya asked.

"Right away, madam!" And went off to retrieve it.

"You sure that's alright before eating to drink, wouldn't you get tipsy faster?" Ajay was worried about her.

"I'll be fine….. I have a craving for it that's all!" She smiled sadly, Ajay was having complex thoughts about what kind of emotions she was having.

-What could possibly make her so upset?-

The manager came back with the bottle and an extra glass, but she drank straight from the bottle instead. And it became her drinking alone at the corner of the table.

"Seems you're rather concerned over little Maya over there." Saras whispered into his ear.

"Why wouldn't I be? What the hell's got her so upset, did I not praise her enough? I really meant what I said you know!" Hearing Ajay say that, Saras let out a sigh but more of relief.

"It seems you're still poor at reading a woman's heart, my darling!"

"I thought that's the one thing that was impossible to read for us men."

Saras laughed at his honest yet quite true remark.

"Quite right. Then let me give it from a fellow woman's perspective. She's angry with herself."

"What?"

"I'll leave it to your imagination." Saras went back to eating and making sure Bhadra had enough on her plate. Ajay threw a raw steak that the manager seemed to remember about Maya's furry friend to Bishal in the corner so it would be fed as well, the white tiger happily gorged itself into the fresh meat.

Ajay shifted his cup in front of Maya.

"If you're gonna drink at least have the decency of sharing."

"…."

She poured out some for him but still held the bottle to herself.

Ajay ate sufficient portions of food with his drink, Maya on the other hand had not even touched her food. Bhadra seem to stuff herself in all the nice food, she went for seconds which surprised Ajay and Saras at her eating capacity. Saras poked fun at her for having a stomach of a whale making her a little conscious of her eating.

Those two were fine but to his oldest friend, was in a spot of trouble and he didn't seem to have a solution to it.

"Saras, could you take Bhadra home after she's had her fill, I'd like to take Maya on a little walk to help her blow off some steam." Saras smiled and nodded. She understood that Maya wasn't feeling well and Ajay was doing something about it.

At the counter, Ajay paid in advance and asked for another bottle of the same whiskey to bring with him and a flask of cream soup with a naan to carry on the way.

"Come on, Maya. We're going for a trip." Ajay returned to the table wiggling the new bottle in front of her.

By then, she had already finished the first bottle and her face was all red, her movements weren't straight either.

"Hmmm?…. Pass me the bottle." She reached out for his second one.

"Not so fast, you'll have to work for it!"

"I'll just get one from the restaurant." She raised her hand to call a waiter.

"There's none left, this is the last one. I've checked with the manager."

"Tsk!" She clicked her tongue in dissatisfaction.

She got up with little difficulty and walked out of inn.

"What are you waiting for, let's go!" She grumbled, the white tiger Bishal followed her wherever she went so Ajay needn't bother about it.

"Don't stay up too early, you two." Ajay said to both of them before leaving to follow her.

* * *

Ajay brought her to the jeep parked near the homestead the four of them lived in, Bishal seem to return to the homestead patio where it was shaded to sleep.

Ajay drove for a long while, the cold wind awoken Maya's senses a little from the intoxicated state she was in. She made him stop midway to puke at the roadside. That was what she got for drinking before eating.

"Where are we going?" She recovered some wit to ask that question.

"A rather special place I have in store for us, we're not too far from it now." Maya took the time to close her eyes to rid some of the dizziness she had still in her head.

The sound of the tires stopped and the engine turned off.

"Come on, let go." Ajay said as he brought out a pack with his things and a shotgun for emergency.

Maya followed him quietly, by now much of her senses returned and she was out of her drunken state and feeling hungry.

(stomach grumbling)

"I've packed some soup and bread from the inn you can have first before a few glasses." Ajay chuckled at her.

"T-Thanks…" Maya continued to hug her growling stomach to hold her hunger at bay.

Ajay had led her through a cave in near the mountain slopes, there was no need for a torchlight because the other side of what appeared to be a tunnel they were travelling through had ambient moonlight shining through it. There was the sound of water flowing on that side as well. As they got closer, lo and behold. They appeared to be the within a vertical cave on the opposite end of where they were, was a waterfall trickling down into a lake at the very bottom. And above….. above was the most catching collection of stars that could be seen through the top of the pit.

Maya was left with her mouth agape to the most jaw dropping of scenery she had ever seen. There happen to be a shack that was built into the wall of the cave, whoever lived here previously could have this scenery almost every night.

"How-….."

"Come over and have a seat." Maya turned around to find Ajay had already laid a rug to try and soften the rocky floor. On top of it he poured out the soup from the flask into a cup.

"Hurry up and fill that stomach of yours, then we can have a drink together!" He handed out the cup to her.

"Uh- T-Thank you…" Maya was still in a daze from the gorgeous scenery. The sound of the waterfall, the calmness of the night and the dazzling stars overhead collectively added to an ambience not found anywhere in Kyrat or most other places for that matter.

As Ajay had instructed, she drank down the warm soup, he also passed her the naan bread to go with it which she wolfed down on it like she hadn't eaten in a while.

"I'm sorry for ruining your appetite back there." Watching her eat, Ajay felt partially responsible for her situation with her drinking instead.

"Uh- No! It wasn't your fault!"

"Well…. I hope this letting you in on this place of mine will make up for that." Ajay smiles wryly.

"This place… I don't think I have any words to describe something so magical. How did you…?"

"I came here by accident one day, I was looking for a certain family treasure and my grapple broke from the rocks and I landed right here." He pointed to where they were.

"When I came to, it was already night and I got to see exactly what we're seeing now."

Ajay and Maya gazed up into the sky when suddenly a flash of light passed by.

"Was that a shooting star?"

"What an occasion, what'll you wish for?"

Maya closed her eyes for a while to make her wish and opened them when she finished.

"What?" She turned to Ajay who was giggling away.

"You actually believe in wishes? How old are you?"

Maya felt she could die of embarrassment from what Ajay did to trick her and got up to kick him several times. Ajay was a mixture of laughs and grunts from her kicks.

"So what did you wish for?"

"You don't need to know!" She went back to drinking her soup.

"Was it for Yuma to get hooked up with Pagan? I'm still thinking on that and even now, I don't have a clue." Ajay held out the flash to pour more for her.

She gratefully accepted it, Ajay was full of surprises. It was difficult to stay mad or happy with him for long.

"No…. it wasn't." She took a while to respond.

"That's weird, I thought that Yuma was usually priority one on your commitments."

"…"

"What would you wish for then?" Maya asked him.

His expression changed to one of deep thought as he stared up into the sky.

"… Solace."

Ajay sighed as he scratched his scalp.

"There's nothing so cruel as memory. Things you wished you didn't do, things you wished would have happened and things you wanted others to do instead. All collective pieces of an unperishable part of me known as past."

Maya always wondered what Ajay's past was like that he'd become how he was.

"You might be wondering, where did I learnt to fight like I did, to kill without flinching. The answer is practice, practice that came in the form of thousands upon thousands of dead corpses. Until I came to the conclusion that the only thing I was ever capable of was taking another man's life. Sometimes I wish I wasn't born into this life where I was made to choose this path, why was I born with these hands? Why couldn't I just live like all the other kids at school?"

Ajay gazed upon his hands.

"That's why I don't believe in wishes."

Maya felt he had gone through an unforgiving childhood to turn out this way.

"I'm sorry, Ajay. I really am, no words can express my sorrow for the life you've lived. To be honest, you might have already known mistress Yuma ordered your death at her whim."

"She'd only be doing me a favor." Ajay smiled.

"…. I've-… I've tried telling her about you…. To make her understand the life you've gone through but-."

"It wouldn't work. Pagan was everything to her and within a few months he was stole by my mother. Her wrath can't be quenched even in this lifetime, I kinda understand her grief a little."

Ajay had a taste of treachery himself from Sabal and his hatred passed over to this life.

"And if she realizes the target for her misery is gone, she'll become self-destructive and hurt everyone and everything regardless of whether she once cared about it or not."

It was the catch to solving Yuma's wrath, because it was the only thing she clung onto in her existence.

"But neither will killing you free her." Maya was intelligent enough to figure that out.

"Maybe, maybe not. She isn't the only problem, the only woman in Pagan's life was my mom. He even told me a few times, and look what it did to him. It threw this country into this pitiful stalemate."

Ajay remembered Yuma once told him, she loved Pagan for his strength but when his mother came into the picture that strength vanished into thin air. Could his talk the other day rouse Pagan back into action? He wasn't sure, it could have been a once time feeling for him.

"When the time comes, and Yuma gives the order. I want you to follow it."

"Wha- Ajay!" Maya was so shocked by his declaration she stood up.

"Don't worry. If she sends you or Darshan to hunt me, I can still run. But if you betray her by standing up for me, she'll become beyond saving."

Ajay was telling her the seriousness of the situation in saving Yuma.

"I understand." She said after some thought.

"Great, now let's enjoy the bottle of whiskey shall we?"

"Let's!" Being reminded of the one full bottle still in Ajay's possession made her expression lighten considerably, it would help wash away all the negative thoughts they both had over a drink. That was what the ambience was for anyway, these feelings they conveyed were merely a way they shared their anxieties with one another and then they'd let go of it right after.

"Um…..Ajay?"

"Hmm?" Ajay poured her a cup full from the bottle he had.

"…. Why Darshan?" She seemed puzzled by Ajay's choice of people chosen to hunt him.

Ajay cocked his head slightly, it seemed Maya wasn't aware of how unfathomable the hazy man that had accompanied her for so long was truly actually capable of.

It may have been a hunch, but there were rarely instances his hunch was wrong.

* * *

Trundling through the forest towards their destination after weathering a blizzard, the marines came had finally arrived into the North and were at a cliff that overlooked the valley of death.

"I was not expecting this…" Perkins spoke his thoughts exactly.

"Seems we've all had the wrong impression of Badala all this while." The Golden Path's description of him was vague, it encompassed him being as dreadful if not worse than the other governors. Yet they were looking at a small settlement that looked like a frontier town of the old west but with a slight Kyrati touch to it. Either way it was far from the chains and wailing of prisoners behind high thick walls.

The scouts in disguises returned for their report, also bringing with them food they purchased from the stalls too conveniently as one would have expected.

The marines ravished the meals hungrily after that long and strenuous trip through the mountains.

"Stew, how's the terrain over there."

"You mean, what's the town like, sir. I checked with some of the travelling Sherpas, this town is totally legit. It revolves around an Arsenal for the Royal Army sponsored and run by yours truly. From our intel, our man lives in a house on top of a hill not far from the weapons factory."

"And here I was expecting a palace or castle!" Sergeant Leon expressed his eagerness to go out to finish the job.

"We're not going anywhere, we still need intel on the garrison here. He wouldn't just leave his Arsenal unprotected. They're definitely forces lurking somewhere else." David remained coolheaded in his approach, they were after all alone behind enemy lines without support from JSOC or the Golden Path.

"Speaking of forces, I heard there was an armed group of mercenaries in the area going by the name Condat- Condie-…um, what was the name of those venetian mercs?"

"Condotierri." David answered for him.

"Yeah! That's the one!"

"Who did you hear this from? Didn't the Sherpa that guided us leave after his contract was finish, how did you speak hindi?"

"Actually it was this redneck that I met at the pub, said he worked for Badala."

"You met an American civ all the way here? And was working for Badala, how and why did he feel like telling you all of this?" David wanted to confirm the validity of the intel he was receiving.

"I didn't need to ask. He was just bragging it over a pint I bought him, his name's Hurk by the way."

"Boss what do you think?" Perkins had a rough idea of how they could use that Hurk fellow but he wanted to confirm with his superior.

"Does he know you're an outsider?" David asked the scout.

"It didn't seem like he cared, he was brattling on about how he and Badala infiltrated the Golden Path weeks ago under false alias and stole their holy woman, that Tarun Matara right under their noses."

David was surprised by this news, he and that weird fellow American went in and took the most valuable person to the Golden Path by themselves. David wondered if they were stupid or something.

"Wait, I think I heard something about this!" Perkins recalled something.

"They said a mute warrior took her away when the coup was in progress, I think that may have been our guy all this time!"

"Right, I'm gonna make a satellite call to our friendly neighborhood spook to get all the info on that warrior. In the meantime, Perkins. Follow Stew into the town and gather more intel on our targets house and locations, also scan the Arsenal's perimeter."

"We planning to blow some stuff up?"

"That Arsenal spells trouble for the Golden Path, the longer they take to manage their resistance on their own, the longer Agent Huntley's gonna dally about!"

* * *

Author's notes:

I've opened a forum in Far cry on regards to the better paths that should have been but were simply not implemented into the game due to developers rushing the release:

forum/Farcry-4-The-Alternate-Routes/196003/

I'd love to hear your grievances of the game's lack of positive choices.

* * *

On deleted Anonymous review:

A while ago some anonymous guy posted a comment while positive quoted this story was a harem.

That was never my intention, originally.

While nothing needs to be said about Saraswati, Maya's case was never about an early romance. Maya's not some dumb broad that falls for a hunk because he saves her from certain death. In fact, I intended for her to cover certain aspects Ajay wasn't capable of handling on his own. Ajay may be a monster in combat with Mary Sue abilities, and plot armor but he's still far from the be all end all. She was meant to be a person Ajay trusted but also had troubles of her own, as for the romance in her avenue it may be later in the story but not now.

Then for Bhadra's case, regards to her age when 'playing' with the other orphans. I had never mentioned Ajay telling her to play with them, that was the elder because what else would an elder tell two younger folks to do to enjoy their time. I planned for Ajay to introduce her to same age peers to rebuild social confidence, particularly that one lovestruck kid, Biraj. Perhaps I'll cover the orphanage another time to explain, perhaps the kids might take up part-time jobs to keep the place running.

I respectfully removed that review because it gives the wrong idea of the story and worried it might affect other's story reading experience; other's might have a different interpretation of the story.

Spoiler:

Maya is the Main OC. And her story is quite elaborate.


	19. Chapter 19 - Honey Badger don't care

"There! Get her!" With a patrol in hot pursuit she dares not look behind.

(Panting) Kamala ran confused by the turn of events.

One minute she was left to grief the departure of her friend, the next, a coup had engulfed Banapur. The orchestrator was Sabal, with the aid of his American friends he bulldozed his way through the opposing faction camps indiscriminately killing them all. Kamala was too shock to react to the purge and then it became her turn. A lieutenant of Sabal came to her inquiring about Soren's location, she didn't have a clue where he would be. Then the lieutenant disclosed the shocking news to her, Soren had taken Bhadra, the young Tarun Matara out of Banapur to escape from Sabal's grasp. When they couldn't find them they turned to her because she was his Commanding officer, but she was just as clueless as them. They didn't believe she didn't know and began to interrogate and beat her, but she still wouldn't know where they were.

So she ran, and when she did they chased her.

She ran in the only place she could sought refuge for a fugitive such as herself, the Northern side of Pacchim Valley. Where there was still a significant Royal Army presence to discourage her pursuers from chasing.

Kamala stopped in her tracks, kicking the dirt and rubble under her feet as she skid. A granite wall prevented her continued running, by the time she turned around the head back where she came they were already upon her.

"Hehe!... Girl, you've made us chase you for quite some time. We'll make you pay for that!"

"… In your body that is!"

Her pursuers' wore dirty smiles as they cornered and cut off her escape route. Converging on her slowly, Kamala pulls out her knife.

"Oh? You wanna play, ok!"

She holds it towards her neck to their astonishment. Almost getting raped before was bad enough and Kamala refused to have her disgraced this time.

"Oi! Oi! Oi! Do you really wanna die? Perhaps the lads and me can promise to be gentle if that's what you're as-(BABABABAAM)"

The man barely had the chance to finish his sentence when automatic fire ripped through the four of them at once. The men still wore expressions of disbelief as they died, Kamala dropped to her knees as shadows came out from the tree line. Were they the fabled Royal Guard Hunters she had heard rumors about, if so wouldn't she be dead too?

"Are you okay, sister?"

The light casted on the figures revealed them to be her Golden Path brethren but at the same time not. They killed loyalists of Sabal, there was only one explanation. The splinter group under Amita, the Golden Path separatist faction.

"Must have been a rough day for you sister, come! We'll take you to see Amita and settle things there!" The leader of the patrol told her. "Uh- Yeah!" Kamala hesitantly agreed.

The patrol brought her to a camp not far from the Royal Army controlled airport. This group had taken an outpost and turned it into a make shift forward base and triage centre for Amita's consolidated forces that were rescued from the sudden betrayal.

Inside a workshop that acted as the command centre, Amita briefed her field commanders on the preparations.

"Amita-" The patrol leader called out.

"Not now!"

"We found someone!"

"Then send them to the triage or arms cache to resupply, not to me!"

"It's commander Malla!" The leader called out in a joyous tone.

Amita who didn't even bother to turn her head was incline to do so now with the appearance of such a high profile member of the Golden Path in their midst.

"I'll leave the rest to you, ladies and gentlemen. Come!" Amita beckoned Kamala to follow her to a quiet spot at the hill near to them. Stronghold Baghadur could be seen in the distance.

"So where is he?"

"Not you too!" Kamala exhaled tired of hearing the same thing from Amita's side.

"Weren't you his superior? How could you not know what he did?"

"That's what I keep telling everyone! I don't know where he or Bhadra went! On that day itself he told me he was leaving the Golden Path!"

"What?!"

"It's a long story!"

Amita grasped her shoulders. "Tell me, tell me everything!"

Kamala was forced to spill her side of the story to Amita, hoping they would at least provide some kind of protection from Sabal's men if she did so.

When Kamala finished telling her saga, Amita slumped against the tree that was providing them shade from the sun.

"Did you know?"

"How would I know he was gonna grab Bhadra!" Kamala pleaded her case again.

Amita sighed and rubbed her forehead.

"Alright, I believe you. But I think it's better this way, Soren has involuntarily taken the heat off us for the time being by pulling Sabal's focus towards recovering Bhadra. This'll give us some time to fortify and assume a foothold to balance our fragmented power."

"What exactly are you planning here, Amita?"

"I'm not entitled to say unless you're in on this, although I know you certainly didn't kill Sugun back then the troops don't know it! You'll be a great addition to the cause in building up our morale, what do you say?"

Kamala's mind was in anarchy, the purge had scattered many allegiances to the Golden Path so suddenly it was difficult to discern who was friend from foe. Kamala breathed in to calm herself and thought about what was the best situation for her.

"Alright, I'll join you on this. It's the only choice I've got now that Sabal's men are probably looking for me as we speak."

"Great, go to the command centre to get brief and be detailed a group of warriors. Get equipped before dusk, we'll be launching an offensive tonight." Amita told her as she was on her way to walking down the hill.

"Offensive? Tonight? Uh- Who are we attacking?!"

"We need a place where we can hold out in future as well as have a strong foothold on the territory we own. Tonight we'll be attacking that!"

Amita points in the direction of Stronghold Baghadur.

* * *

The next morning, Bhadra was yet again at the kitchen cooking breakfast for them. It seemed to be part of her daily routine when living with Amita so she was used to it, now the kitchen had become her sacred grounds that no one else could enter without her permission. Not even Ajay.

Saras was the first to the table followed by Ajay, Maya was suffering a hangover and was left alone. Today, Ajay was heading to the Arsenal in her stead. He planned to assess the situation and advance in their production capabilities.

"So for your routine…. number one. Capture or kill rare honey badger that's disturbing the Nadī village. Hmmm… aren't those the fellas that made trouble for you during the recruitment period?" Saras read from his to do list which he handed over for her to look at.

"I don't dwell on the past as much as you think, so long as they don't do it again."

"Mmm… fair enough! Let's see, number two is to meet with Samar to expand production to new firearms, quick review of the Arsenals progress. Number three, pick up Bhadra from orphanage for weapon familiarizations….. I wanna join! I hope you could correct my... posture!"

"Are you even handling 3rd Company properly?" With her carefree attitude, he was concerned she was not performing in her job as a soldier or as a vital member in Arjun's faction.

"They're all big boys so I have nothing to worry about, knowing what happens when they don't do as they're told…. But that rarely happens!" Saras had unleashed a dangerous aura for a split-second which Ajay caught and understood that she did manage her men fairly well.

"Fair enough, it's your Company after all."

"MmmHmm! Number Four, return for night lessons with Mistress Saras-." He didn't have a fourth one, it was merely made up by Saras. Also didn't like the sound of her assuming the dominant role in the bedroom.

"Cancel my last appointment." He said like a manager to his secretary.

"That one is inevitable I'm afraid!" She told him with a grin.

"I'll just not be there for it then." Ajay smiled back.

"We'll see!" Saras chuckled before returning to filling her stomach with Bhadra's decent breakfast.

Ever since he returned from the South, Saras was being rather intrusive in his life. If it were any other person, they'd instantly say he was a deuce for overlooking this beauty that was flinging herself onto him. But Ajay felt he couldn't give her the affection she truly deserved, not as Badala and not as Ajay Ghale either. He was a jerk and a mass murdering psychopath, he knew it in his heart. Not matter how much he yearned to have a normal life or family, it was something he'll never have. He had been in a relationship before in the states, but that was a long time ago. He wished she had found someone that would look after her.

-I wonder how she is right now?- Ajay stowed his thoughts to the start of the day.

"Right, Bhadra let's get you to the Khati household! I hear you're getting together to raise funds for the buildings repair costs today."

Bhadra nodded as she washed her hands after cleaning up the kitchen.

"Arita told me we'll be working in the bazaar to advertise wares for the shops!"

The main reason he hooked her up with the Orphanage was to get her involved with them and the townsfolk on their small time jobs to keep the Khati household in shape. That way, she wasn't just sitting around at home all day or under guard. She was at least under supervision by the old caretaker and monitored or with friends who kept a close eye on her. Speaking of the Elder, Bibek had apparently stashed the money Elina gave him for safe keeping. He intended to give a portion to each of the children when they came of age, so they at least had capital to start a life on their own. It seemed Elina inherited that trait from him. Bhadra had made a few friends on her own these two days, she acquired their cell number and was communicating with them till eleven in the night. Ajay had to tell her to go to sleep, it wasn't good for a young girl to sleep late at night and he wasn't going to allow her to do that.

"That's great! Meanwhile, I'll be hunting out hunting one of the nastiest buggers in Kyrat today." Bhadra giggled at his complaint.

"Stay safe!" Saras waved to them as they departed.

"Thanks! Same to you. And make sure Maya knows you've left."

"I will, bye!"

Bhadra sat in the jeep patiently waiting for Ajay to return from the underground cellar where he kept all his weapons and ammo.

Ajay returned in his combat harness and weapons. He threw a shotgun and a ARP-1 rifle in the back of the jeep and a duffel containing the protruding barrel of an anti-material rifle.

Bhadra raised an eyebrow at the kind of firepower he was bringing to hunt the small honey badger.

"You sure you're hunting just a honey badger or an army?"

"Trust me, honey badgers aren't as easy to kill as everyone thinks. Especially this one!"

Bhadra shrugged her shoulders, if Ajay said it was then it would be alright then.

As Ajay was getting into the jeep, he stopped and turned to the forest.

"Something wrong?" Bhadra asked curious to his sudden halt in action.

Ajay hopped back into the seat and turned the key to start the jeep.

"…No. Nothing, probably just a wrong feeling."

* * *

Not far from their location in the very forest Ajay was looking towards, Captain Goh and his sergeant observed via binoculars.

"That's some freakish instinct he has there." Perkins exclaimed.

"That looked like the kid they were looking for too."

"You thinking of nabbing the kid too?"

David thought carefully, they weren't exactly running on unlimited resources. Killing Badala a.k.a Soren and striking the factory. Going for two targets was already pulling the cord to its very limits and to go for the kid was just plain greedy. And greed had consequences, how were they gonna bring her back with them across the same way they came with forces in pursuit to avenge Badala?

"No. The Golden Path doesn't need us to do their job for them, they'll eventually find her."

"Seems to me that girl wasn't taken against her will or anything!" Perkins was actually monitoring their expressions and behavior and he found no foul play in their activities.

"Sabal reports Soren was spending most of his time with her while on patrols."

David also received the combat report, he killed over two hundred members of the Royal Guard who attacked Banapur by himself and was suspected of killing the Royal Guard Captain that was involved in the raid.

-Spring cleaning perhaps?-

Either way, it wasn't good news. If they didn't plan this carefully, they'd only add to his kill count.

"So what did the fryface do when the asshole told him about Soren being his arch-nemesis in disguise?" Perkins enjoyed seeing Sabal fail most of the time, him actually failing to acquire the Tarun Matara was hilarious enough on its own.

"You certain like to imagine Sabal wearing an ugly face don't you."

"What can I say, him and Willis are total dicks! What am I gonna write to Derek's wife when we get back? That we helped a warlord who shot her husband because he laughed at his scars?"

David sighed, he didn't want to admit it but he wanted to kill Sabal just as much. But he had a job to protect the rest of his men and he could afford to put them into any further harm's way.

"Woah, hot damn! Well would you look at that!" David looked through the binoculars at the house to see what Perkins was so bothered about.

At the door of the house was a woman with voluptuous proportions and long wavey auburn hair. Buttoning her jacket as she walked towards her staff car.

"Man that is a fine piece of ass!"

"She's wearing a uniform of the Royal Army. So she's an officer?"

"This guy isn't just demonic he's also goddamn player! He's so damn lucky!" Perkins couldn't stop talking about the woman. It seemed it was his one weakness in the missions he attended in. He was always looking at the exotic woman from different countries and sizing them up and staring at them.

"No for long."

"..."

"Are the preparations complete?"

"Only Stew and Grilles haven't returned from their scouting trip and intel gathering yet."

"Ok. We'll move out at midnight then, in the meantime have all the men rest. It's gonna be a long night!"

* * *

Ajay had deposited Bhadra with the orphans at the entrance of the town and went on his way. The Nadī village was not far from the Arsenal and was a short drive back through the town which still had no name to the village in question.

As he parked his jeep at the entrance of the village and drew his weapons, he could hear wailing. Walking up closer to the centre of the village it was clear what had happened, crowd gathered around four dead bodies laid in a row.

"Elder Aadinath, we meet again."

"My lord! We were not expecting you to come!"

"What happened?"

The elder wore a grim expression.

"It's that damnable honey badger! We sent four of our men with the hunters we contracted and it killed all of them. Look at this!"

By some fortune they were able to bring back the bodies, what's left of them that is. They were like jigsaw pieces of the corpses brought back.

"What type of firepower did they bring?" He had to gauge how much the badger could take.

"They didn't have any weapons, it is forbidden by the crown to carry arms without the proper hunting license and papers."

Pagan being paranoid as ever, prevented the proliferation of arms to the common people, that was what the Royal army was there for and much less the former Royal Guard.

"I see, I'll do my best to get rid of this problem."

"The appropriate compensation for you service-."

"I don't need compensation for something that involves my domain, in fact I should be compensating you and the families for the losses incurred today. I didn't dispatch any forces to watch the villages."

"No! No, my lord! It is not your fault!"

"Here." Ajay passed his assault rifle and ammo pouches to the elder.

"I'll get the Arsenal to send over more weapons and ammo. You'll probably need an instructor to learn the manual of arms, so please be patient."

The crowd them had bulging eyes, the elder stood in shock as he was passed a weapon.

"But, my lord. The restrictions!"

"So long as you don't carry it out of my territory it should be fine, I'll tell the King and Army High Command it'll be my territorial law. So you won't have problems with the Army patrols in future. Right, I have a honey badger to catch!"

Ajay went on his way like he knew exactly where the honey badger was already. It wasn't hard to find because of the smoke trail in the forest and the lines of blood from where the villagers dragged the bodies back from. The elder and villages were left in stupor to his changes to the law that they forgot to warn him about the dangers of that particular Honey Badger.

Ajay arrived to a convoy of wrecked cars, blood trails led out of the seats indicating the Honey Badger named Gulo had dragged the corpses or live bodies out of the vehicles.

-Honey Badger don't care, Honey Badger don't give a shit.-

He unslung the anti-material rifle from his shoulders and assembled it. Today he brought serious firepower so as not to get up close to the Honey Badger which it was the most dangerous. The tracks and paw prints indicated it was up in a structure chiseled out of rock, and old temple no doubt. Ajay lay a chunk of meat on open ground and went into hiding on top of a boulder. He lay the Gepard Lynx rifle on the rock surface and waited for his prey.

Not long later the sound of grunting and growling could be heard and out from the old temple came a white torpedo too quick for the eye to track. Guro had come out from hiding, the honey badger circled the meat suspiciously for traps before gorging into the fresh meat that was laid there.

Ajay aligned the crosshairs with the honey badger and prepared to take the shot.

"SSSSsssssssSSS!"

Then in the most unexpected twist of events, a viper appeared from the crevices of the boulder just next to Ajay's right hand. He fumbled and hit the trigger sending a round hitting the dirt near the honey badger, alerting it of his presence and the little bugger came running furiously towards him.

"Shit!" His heart beat rapidly as it closed in, but Ajay had more important things to handle at the moment. The snake had taken to attacking him as well so he stepped on the viper and chopped it's head off with the kukri. The body danced around on top of the boulder and fell to the floor where the Honey Badger now was. But that's not the only thing that fell, Ajay's rifle had fallen when he was startled by the venomous snake.

The Honey Badger had reached the boulder he was on top of but the steepness of the boulder prevented it from climbing up to get to Ajay. He thanked his preparation in position that saved him from those nasty claws and teeth. If this was a Tiger or Leopard he'd even go at them with a knife, but it wasn't. It was a Honey Badger, he'd seen on the National Geographic how the fended off Lion prides on their own and gave them scars to remember it by. Mumu Chiffon had sent him last time to turn this freak of nature into another of his accessories, back then he came with an RPG. When he recovered the body, the fur was surprisingly still intact. The force of the explosives had made it's organs into mush though. So that was why, Ajay came with the appropriate gear to deal with it, unfortunately the only tool to handle it was next to the white terror.

-Think, Ajay! Channel Crocodile hunter!-

He had watched a documentary of it during his highschool days, the thing had a diet of smaller animals, rodents and snakes alike. It could even digest the poison of the snake venom and still tumble to the side like it had a stomach ache and get up a few minutes later.

-That's it!-

Thankfully the snake head was still under his heel, Ajay took out a throwing knife and pressed it against the venom glands of the viper until it had lubricated the entire blade. Gulo was still grunting and scratching against the rock towards him, but it had stayed in place for long enough.

Ajay positioned his throw at the Honey Badger, he'll only get one shot.

The throwing knife whizzed in the air and stuck itself into the badger's fur, the little white terror growled and tried to ply the knife from its fur, it then went back to trying to reach for Ajay. But as time went by its movement became lethargic and it dropped to the side.

"Yeah!" Ajay did a victory pump. He slid down the slope and picked up his anti-material rifle and slung it.

He took out a cloth bag and threw the little devil into the bag and tied it from its tail end so it couldn't upright itself when it woke.

When he returned to the village, the elder and his followers yet again was left in disbelieve. He came back without so much as a scratch on his body and with Gulo in his bag.

"How the-…..!"

"Elder Aadinath, I'll be sending some Royal Army instructors to teach you and your village how to operate the weapons, so for now I'd advise on bringing that out in the open." Ajay threw the badger roughly into his jeep along with his rifle.

"My lord!- I-…. On behalf of our village I thank you for your generosity!" The elder lowered his head and the villagers followed in suit.

"Don't fret it. Come by some time to visit the town, ok?" Ajay boarded his jeep and left the village onto the next task at hand.

* * *

Ajay was just arrived at the gate to the compound of the Arsenal, getting his credentials checked by the new security guards. The Honey Badger woke up and growled inside of the metal meshed cloth bag Ajay put over it as a double precaution. On the route to the Arsenal, Ajay was deciding what to do with the little white terror. Should he throw it into the river and hope an alligator or demon fish eats it? Should he just run over it with a car? He didn't kill it cleanly with a bullet while it was sleeping, Ajay wondered if he was getting soft or something.

-Ha! Soft for a honey Badger!- Ajay chuckled.

But then another idea popped up into his mind, what if he threw this from a parachute into Banapur. The thought of Guro wreaking havoc in Sabal's new base was quite pleasant, for the time being he'd hold on to it.

"Um, your lordship? What is that?" One of the security personnel asked.

"Here, hang on to it until I return. Careful not to open it though, or it might tear you up!" Ajay handed the jumping and growling bag which the guard reluctantly received.

Ajay made his way to the cabin where the Condotierri were resting, he didn't have a chance to meet them when he returned and thought now was a good opportunity to do so.

"Boss!" Ricardo was the first to notice him as he opened the door.

"How were things in the South?" Samson asked.

"Tricky, I still didn't manage to meet Willis or Solomon. They seem to be doing something at Stronghold Varshakot and De Pleur's territories although it's weird they haven't taken it with the strength they had, also Sabal took full control over the Golden Path." Ajay indulged them on the most recent news.

"Whatever you have in store for us we're ready!" Stella affirmed the groups intentions, to which the rest nodded.

"Does that include taking on SOCOM marines?"

The Condotierri wore concerned expressions.

"Don't tell me, Willis actually brought help?"

Ajay tapped his smartphone to show them the image he received from that one Golden Path gossiper.

"Oh boy!-…."

"I need a smoke!"

"Count me in!"

Luca, Luigi and Alberto left for the backyard to have a cig to calm their nerves.

"Where are they?"

"They could be anywhere by now, even over here. I've been getting the feeling since this morning that I've been watched from afar." Ajay told them his thoughts as there was no need to hide them, he wished the feeling that morning was just a fluke but knowing how paranoid Willis was, they were likely here for him. The biggest thorn in Sabal and Willis's plans.

"So guard duty then?" Ricardo asked if that was their purpose.

"Guard duty it is, but you'll be watching the Arsenal not me." Samson looked worried.

"Are you sure? They would likely go for you!"

"I know, but the Arsenal is just as important. Knowing American initiative when they arrive they'd likely hit it to help the Golden Path."

They were all quietly thinking of the possibility that the American Marines were coming here.

"Um. What will it take to come all the way here?" Emilio asked.

"The airport is ours so they're stuck with the foot option and King's bridge is a no go so they'll likely cross the mountains, and after recceing and assassinating Badala they'd have to cross the way they came. This sounds like a suicide mission, are you sure they'd be so gungho?" Stella asked.

"Hopefully not, it would make more sense to help the Golden Path reclaim the South than go after the boss's head!" Samson gave his feedback.

"I think I'm worrying all of you over a feeling, sorry! But I still want you on standby in the compound until I sort out expanding the facilities operations. Is that alright?"

"Sure boss!"

"An employer that asks us to stay at home and still be paid, this is the dream life! Ouch!" Ricardo couldn't shut his mouth as Stella kicked him.

"Maybe we should send you on a scouting detail instead." The Condotierri laughed to Ricardo's embarrassment.

Ajay left the cabin after giving them access and clearance to the Arsenal's match shop in the refurbishment center for special weapons and ammo loads.

Ajay met Samar in his workshop while the man was teaching some apprentices the trade of gunsmithing. He shared his plan with Samar who seemed to have expected his response.

"Expanding the weapon variety and ammunition types, eh? Longinus has yet to return although he was scheduled to return tonight, perhaps a flight delay or something."

"Either way it'll take time to install the new machinery and calibrate them to the right adjustments."

"True, so what will it be? Shotguns, handguns and light machine guns."

For the shotgun, Ajay chose the pump-action MP-133 that was already in service. For the handgun, the trusty 1911 and for the LMG he chose the Ultimax 100 which he had a pleasant shooting experience with.

Ajay indicated the changes that he would like to have with the weapons they were going to make, using more modern furniture for the shotgun and redesigning the magazine well of the Ultimax to fit the AR-type magazines.

Things were going slowly but steadily, without trouble yet.

* * *

Pyres burned from the inside compound of Baghadur Stronghold, Amita's faction forces had successfully taken the fortress and begun fortifying the surroundings. The cost was heavy, but without this foothold the cost would have been heavier.

Kamala helped shift the bodies for the Royal Army garrison troops from inside the fortress and outside to the pyres. When they assaulted the fortress, they garrison sent a distress signal calling for reinforcements in the form of an armed convoy.

Luckily thanks to Amita and her field commanders' leadership they were able to keep the situation under control. Now they had a place for the supporters of Amita to rally to.

Amita was busy directing the supply trucks to unload their cargo into the inner parts of the hollowed out mountain.

Kamala walked into the inner sanctum of the fortress, it comprised of a villa like design. Everything ornately beautiful and esthetically pleasing to the eye, was this something Noore did for her own fortress? It have the touches of a palace carved from the mountains. There were many rooms on two levels that allowed them to shelter people and equipment. Baghadur was the perfect hideout for Amita's faction.

"I was not expecting this but if we're to live here I wouldn't mind staying here indefinitely." Amita came around to meet with Kamala. Amita felt that this place suited them nicely as well.

"You did well, Kamala."

"Um- Thanks, I guess…." Amita could see she was brooding over something despite the good start.

"Are you worried about, Soren?"

"Mn!"

"I'm sure he's taking good care of himself and of Bhadra too. Perhaps they might hear news that we've established ourselves here and come seeking refuge. Then we should do our best to welcome them."

"Is it because you seek Soren's power?"

"I won't lie, I do! We all do if we're to survive against both Sabal's forces and the Royal Army. We're fighting on two frontiers with limited resources and manpower as we speak."

"…."

"(Sigh) Why did it have to come to this? To think he actually did the most treacherous thing and even bring foreign intervention. That bastard is trying to ruin Kyrat!" Amita knew they were at odds but the choices he made weren't one of rational thought any longer. He was power hungry with an insatiable thirst at that.

Amita hoped that the two monsters, the Golden Path Rakshasa and the Northern Demon would clash till they were both gone from this earth.

* * *

"We're back!"

Ajay came home with Bhadra in the evening.

After sorting out with the Arsenal and meeting with the Condotierri he went over to pick up Bhadra for some time at the range. Strangely enough, she seemed rather good at handling a gun. Amita never let her hold one so she didn't know if she could use it to great effect, apparently Bhadra proved them wrong.

Ajay hung the wriggling bag that held Gulo the entire day on the porch, he had thrown in a chuck of meat to feed it while it was still captive and the bugger burped with satisfaction. It still struggled though.

"We're brought food back! Saras, Maya?"

Saras had yet to return from her job, in the first place she was never supposed to return to the house when the day was over. A note she left on the table confirmed that. At least she was doing her job, Ajay thought.

"Can I leave you to prep the dishes while I go check on Maya?" Bhadra nodded her head and went to work with the reheating of the food and setting the dishes.

(Knock) (Knock)

"Maya, you in?"

There was no reply so he knocked again.

"Maya, you awake?"

This time there was a soft moan in pain, which made Ajay extremely anxious.

"I'm coming in, alright?"

He opened the door to her room and found the place to be in a mess, but she was still inside and lying in the bed.

"Maya, you alright?"

She was breathing heavily while her eyes were close from having a terrible nightmare. Ajay had a suspicion so he reached his hand out and touched her forehead.

His hand burned to the touch, it was as he suspected.

"Bhadra, looks like it'll just be us eating. Maya has a fever."

"Oh- ok!"

Ajay went to retrieve ingredients from the pantry and begun making something for her.

"Ouch!" Ajay received a kick from Bhadra to the shin.

"Did you forget the one golden rule? My kitchen, my rules! You're making porridge, right? I'll do it, make sure she's hydrated and cool." Bhadra took total control over the situation, she seemed to have experience in the matter, probably with Amita.

"Yes, ma'am." Ajay responded and went to do just that.

He returned to Maya's room with a bucket of cold water and a towel.

"Maya, I'm gonna give you a cold wipe down."

"…Mmmm…." She gave a weak response but acknowledge nonetheless. Ajay positioned her to sit up right on the bed and took off her shirt and pants, stripping her down to her underwear and began wiping the sweat from her body with care.

"…Fssss…..cold….." She shivered from the sudden cold touch on her skin. She was surprisingly more sensitive than he thought.

"Just bear with it for a while, I'll make it quick." He did his best to finish the job and used a dry towel to remove the moisture from her washed skin. Throwing a towel over her shoulders to keep her warm as he went to her wardrobe to look for a pair of comfortable dry clothes. While he did that, he also pulled out new bedsheets and pillow cases to change out with her current dampened ones. He worked quickly to allow her to lie back down and by the time he did, she was in comfortable clothing and a dry bed.

Ajay made her drink warm water from a jug he brought to hydrate her for the night. Was she like this the entire day, how could he have missed this? She was suffering in an internal prison all this time while they were all out working.

Ajay got up from her side and walked out of her room.

"I'm sorry…."

Ajay walked along the corridor to the kitchen to see if there were any herbs he could pound into a quick remedy.

"I'll be almost done, whatcha doing?" Bhadra inquired his search through the pantry.

"Making an old recipe I learnt a while ago."

"Hmmm….." She seem to let him do his thing as she had the porridge to attend to and she couldn't let it burn while she didn't watch over it.

In his time in Kyrat, Ajay had learnt all sorts of herbal concoctions from herbalists, Sherpas and witch doctors. Everything using the natural flora and fauna found in the land itself, he also knew a few formulas for combat. One to increase his hunting perception, stamina, endurance to pain and many more. But he also learnt important medicinal remedies in the event he caught a fever like Maya presently or anti-bodies against neuro-toxin from the many venomous creatures and plants of Kyrat.

The pantry had a few flower buds and seeds which his took, his bag also had some of the more critical plants which he always collected for contingency and there so happened to be one right now.

"All done!" Bhadra declared as she lifted the claypot onto a tray, Ajay came over to her as she was on the way to Maya's room.

"I'll take it, I don't want the possibility of you catching the fever."

"Mmmm, not being able to go out with Arita and the girls would be bad, ok!" She passed the tray of food willingly.

"Good choice. You should grab a bit before the food gets cold."

"Oh yeah!" Ajay had reminded her they had yet to eat, she went to reheat the food once more.

Ajay returned to the room with the plain porridge and a remedy stirred into some hot water for her to drink after her meal.

"Maya, get up and eat." Maya was still in the weaken state that he found her in, for some reason it pained for him to see her unwell.

"I'll feed you, so let's get you seated upright shall we?" Ajay reached out and pulled the pillows from the side to put behind her back to raise her from incline. He gently blew on a spoonful and fed her one mouthful at a time, he did it patiently as she took a considerable time to swallow her food but swallow nonetheless.

Somehow the feeling reminded him of the time he fed his mother as she lay in the bed weakly after chemo-therapy. The feeling brought painful emotions back from the recesses of his memories. It was one of the few times he actually spent time with her when he grew older, he had to admit he was a real jerk back then. A rebellious little twat who was oblivious to those he hurt around him, his mother, his ex-girlfriend who stayed with him for so long until she finally gave him up and left for Southern California. Then there was Pagan, Yuma was right about what he did, Pagan's love for his mother allowed Ajay to do as he pleased in Kyrat. And so Ajay destroyed Kyrat and got what he deserved from Sabal. No. Death was still a luxury he couldn't afford, fate gave him a second chance to save Kyrat and all the innocent lives at stake. Ajay would gladly do it even if it meant trading his life for their happiness.

"…..Ajay…"

Maya's weak call broke him from his line of thought.

"Uh- Yes?" Ajay promptly responded to her request.

But instead of saying anything she reached her hand out and touched his face.

Wiping a tear from his eyes. "Huh?- I'm sorry, was I just showing you something you didn't need to see from me?" Ajay quickly wiped his eyes as he laughed.

"Thank you….. Ajay….. You don't know….. how much pain….. I was in….. just now." She smiles weakly, Ajay held her hand with both of his.

-No. Thank you, Maya. For giving my pathetic life meaning.-

* * *

David adjusted his radio to the frequency that was linked to Perkins group which was gathered at the outskirts of the town.

"Hunter-Actual testing, how copy?"

*Roger, Hunter-Actual. Hunter-One reads you loud and clear! Over.* Sergeant Perkins responds on the other side.

David had divided the team into two groups, ten went with Perkins to strike the factory while the remaining nine followed him in assassinating Badala.

They donned their black face masks and night-vision goggles. Cocking their rifles and rechecking their additional magazines. They were ready.

"Hunter-Actual to Hunter-One, what's your current position? Over."

*Hunter-Actual, we've reached the hundred-yard mark from the compound, security in sight. Awaiting orders. Over.*

David's plan was simple, when Perkins hit the Arsenal he'd alert the guards and QRF to the Arsenal while they'd take the opportunity from the Royal Army focusing on the attack on the Arsenal to kill Badala while he was probably sleeping. As for the Tarun Matara, he decided against bringing her. He refused to risk the safety for his men just for the convenience of Sabal and Willis, if they question him why then so be it. The girl could take care of herself or there would be people here that would see to it, it was up to the Golden Path to see how they could recover her.

Perkins was just waiting for his go ahead to move onto the Arsenal.

"Hunter-One, you have the greenlight. Go get'em!"

* * *

Author's notes:

The use of the word "Stronghold" as opposed to "Fortress" like it says in the game. Around Chp 4 i forgot, that the four fortresses were called fortress and not stronghold. But as time went by with more fortresses mentioned it sounded nicer with the name to call it Stronghold.

I.e. Fortress Ratu Gadhi to Ratu Gadhi Stronghold

Fortress Baghadur to Baghadur Stronghold

If you don't agree please, comment so I may change it.


	20. Chapter 20 - Night Raid

The town didn't operate 24/7, the shops closed their doors and locked away their merchandise at around ten on the weekdays. That day happened to be a weekday. There was not a soul in the streets of the town where the lanterns still shone throughout the night. Except for Sergeant Perkins and the marines in his detachment under the designation Hunter-One by Captain Goh.

"Move in quietly!" He said in a low voice to the marines and Sergeant Grilles who accompanied him. Up ahead at the end of the street was the checkpoint to the compound of the Arsenal, under a rotated guard.

Perkins hooked on his suppressor on the last minute to his rifle, not that he wanted to use it any way. The guards were civilians and they didn't need to die, they were here to blow the Arsenal not kill civvies. He had instructed the marines in his command to do as he said.

"Huh?- Muhhh!"

"Muuuhhh!"

Stew and another marine dispatched the only two standing guards at the checkpoint and moved into the gate to check the security surveillance that monitored the four corners of the compound. There were several watchtowers and a cabin nearby but Perkins had neither the time nor manpower to assume total control over the arsenal. The rest including Perkins moved in swiftly and reached the warehouse entrance which was chained, Grilles pulled out the bolt cutters they prepared earlier on to break the chains after throwing a cloth over it to muffle the sound of the metal to metal contact.

"Go go go!" Perkins made them go in one at a time before entering himself.

Entering the warehouse, they could see from the catwalks they were on the vastness of the operation that was going on. There was ammo being produced, old and worn weapons being refurbished to zero condition, there was even an assembly of rifles.

Grilles and his squad demolition expert distributed to them the C4 explosives charges.

"Plant the charges on both sides of the machines to crush all its working components in the blast, it'll make the machines less salvageable." Grilles advised the men as they went to plant the charges.

Perkins went to plant his charge on a rifling machine assembly, as the rest were in the process of doing theirs he picked up one of the rifles on the working benches to inspect it.

It looked like a Sterling Assault Rifle he'd seen from one of his friend's collections with some subtle differences. The gun was obviously well made even for such a simple design, then it hit him. It was precisely why this weapon was manufactured, Badala had intentions to create a domestic service weapon that didn't depend on imports at all. He was gearing the Northern Kyrat to have a prolong war against the Golden Path. Had they not found this factory in his land, the Golden Path would have been in for some serious hurt, especially when the airport was denied to them. The only way to bring in equipment was through the narrow mountain roads into Kyrat or by airdrops.

JSOC and the CIA weren't proving cooperative with Willis and them because the United States wasn't supposed to have involvement in Kyrat. Why Willis was so stuck on turning the current de facto monarchy inside out was beyond him. The man's mindset was like he was still living in the Cold War era where if they weren't Allies they were definitely reds or potential enemies. The Golden Path were now depending on a local arms dealer and Solomon's special connections.

"Whatchu' got there?" Stew came over after laying his set of charges.

"Some attempt to domesticate arms in Kyrat, we're lucky we got to it first before they went full fuck force."

Perkins passed the rifle to Stew who examined it.

"Bring it with us, Dave needs to see this."

Stew nodded and slung the rifle on his shoulder. Grilles rejoined Perkins as they gathered to make their way out of the warehouse.

"A little more and we shou-." "Hey! You're not supposed to be here!" Grilles was cut short by a guard that appeared from a back door shining a light at them. He was likely doing an internal patrol of the facility.

The guard pressed his radio. "Intruders in the comp-."

(Crack) The sound of the suppressed shot hit the man's skull ending his life.

Grilles rifle smoked from the shot. Perkins grabbed his vest and pinned him to the wall.

"What the fuck did you just do!?" He knew, it was pure and simple manslaughter.

"Don' gimme that righteous bullshit, Greg! You of all should know what's our occupation so don't give that double standard crap! If I didn't put a bullet in his head we'd all be compromise."

"That was the point! We were here to lure the Army to us, did you not get the memo?! Don't!- And I mean don't EVER step out of the line again!" He threw his hands off of him.

"Hmph!" Grilles ignored his threat and carried his bag ready to leave.

The alarm went off in the far end of the warehouse outside the compound.

"I thought we cut the wires!" Stew was sure he cut them at the guard post.

There must have been another in the cabin they avoided. "Shit! Grillles, we'll talk about this later!"

"Form up, we're leaving. Heath, take point!" Grilles still thought what he did was the right thing and went about ordering his squad regardless of whether David had put Perkins in charge of their detachment.

"Hunter-One to Hunter-Actual, we've been compromised but mission success. We're clearing the blast zone. If you're gonna strike the house it's now or never! Over!"

*…. Hunter-Actual copies, see you at the evac point. Out.*

"Let's get the fuck outta here! Its only set for ten minutes." Stew accompanied Perkins out last from the warehouse.

(BABABABAAM) A burst of automatic fire struck Heath who was on point. "Fuck! Spread out!" Perkins threw his orders out to the men to the ambush they received. They took cover behind the many crates laid about the compound awaiting shipping away and opening.

"Two O'clock! Cabin, nine targets!" Someone called out. A heavy blanket of fire from that position forced the marines into a prone position.

"Suppressing firing!"

Automatic carbines fired in the direction of the newcomers.

The silhouettes of the nine were performing rather advance firing maneuvers for civilian guards from what Perkins saw from overseeing the situation, in fact they were almost similar if not better than his groups'.

"Loro Fianco! Ricardo, prendere a sinistra! Sinistra!"

"Roger!"

He heard some of them shouting in Italian. There movements were highly disciplined with little commands given by their leader as they moved forward fluidly to flank the marines at the gate. Were these the mercenaries he heard about that double crossed that Arms Dealer? If so, they were put in a very tight spot.

"Grilles, take the left, I'll take the right! They're trying to flank us! That mustn't happen!"

"Right!" They gave their men orders to divide their forces to pincer the foreign forces.

As they were forced into a stalemate firefight between two sides, the opposing force split with two of theirs running into the factory. Likely to check if there was any tampering or sabotage being done by them. It was their chance to get out while the firepower had thinned out.

The gate was on their left and Perkins group was on the right closer to the factory. His men would fall back while Grilles's side covered them before getting out. "Fall back in an orderly fashion from right to left! Marlowe first, go!"

In about one and a half minutes the charges were about to go off, they couldn't be here for it.

The fighting continued on with Perkins as the last to fall back, his group had already run pass the gate in the direction of the house to support their Captain if they needed it. Leaving Perkins and Grilles squad left who were supposed to provide covering fire for him to fall back.

"Grilles, where's my cover fire?!" Perkins stared at the maverick sergeant as he casted a look of disdain towards Perkins. He saw him order his squad mates to fall back and leave Perkins in the mess.

"Fredrick, you sunnovabitch!" Perkins cursed him as he left with a malicious grin, but not before pointing his rifle at Perkins and pulling the trigger.

(Crack) The shot hit him in the thigh, immobilizing Perkins from making a run for it.

"FREEDDRRICCKK!" Perkins called out the name of the person who betrayed him. The mercenaries were now focusing fire upon him, now that he was the only one left. With his leg injured, ammo almost depleted and under heavy fire, he had little choices. It was either a bullet to the head by him or capture and an excruciating torture with low probability of rescue. Grilles would likely tell David he was dead, even when it was he who left him for dead. He had always been at odds with the other sergeant who was an aggressive rogue who liked to things on his own, Captain Goh was the only one who kept him in check. But when David wasn't watching he abandoned him here.

So Perkins was left with two options, suicide or capture.

He placed the handgun in his mouth, ready to depress the trigger. It didn't matter anyway as he checked his watch, the explosives were about to go off in ten nine eight seven six-…..

"Drop you weapon! Let's see some hands!" A woman came around the corner with her gun raised at him, when she saw him with the gun to the mouth she fell into a state of disbelief.

-Such a hottie!- To be blasted by the flames would be a waste. Five four three-…

Perkins jumped on the woman before she had time to raise her weapon, he wanted to shield her from the imminent blast. At least his death was able to save someone instead of killing for once. Perkins was a sucker for beautiful exotic women after all. Two one- (BOOOOMMM)

A series of detonations erupted from the Arsenal turning half of it into a wreck. Perkins looked to the burning building, the explosion didn't reach them. The men that separated from the rest seemed to have disarmed most of the C4 but not all and were caught in the blast of the last few.

The woman pushed him off of her as she got up gazing into the fire.

"Antorio…Alberto…NOOOOOOO!"

* * *

(Smash) Ajay was beside Maya still half-asleep after feeding and attending to her when she needed it the most, when he heard the sound of breaking glass coming from the patio downstairs.

Heavy footsteps made an inevitable creak in the wooden decking, clearly unfriendly company.

Ajay made a quick check of inventory, he was still in his combat harness and Kukri with him but that was it. When they returned he didn't change but instead went to treat Maya's fever.

"Maya, we've got intruders indoors." He shook her and whispered into her ear.

"…Mnnnn…" She moaned in pain still, her temperature was off the charts, it was induced by the remedy he gave. It required that she had an uninterrupted rest for a night to fully kick in, Ajay was in a hitch with avoiding collateral when he was near to her. He had to distance himself from Maya and Bhadra who was likely awake with the noise out front.

Ajay carried her quietly to Bhadra's room while he still had time. "Badala-." Bhadra was indeed woken by the loud sounds downstairs. He tried his best to keep the noise down as it would only incur itchy trigger fingers to the sounds he might make.

"Shhh! Stay here, and watch Maya. They're after just me. Call this number and tell him I'm being targeted. Understood?" Bhadra nodded her head quickly in response.

"Good."

"Be safe, Badala!"

"I will."

Ajay ran to Bhadra's window and jumped out of it. His commotion alerted the intruders who were in the midst of climbing the stairs to the private rooms and hastily searched the house.

(Bang) They kicked the doors one by one. Until they found Bhadra holding on to Maya.

"Clear! One woman and a girl." A few men cladded in black wearing helmets with green glowing night vision goggles scanned the room at the ready.

"He's not here!" She shouted at the assassins. The window was opened with the blinds fluttering from the cool night breeze.

"Shit! He's outside, go! Out of the house now!"

"What about the girl?"

"Don't go off mission!" The leader warned his subordinate.

They went down the stairs quickly to try to find their target. Bhadra took the opportunity to call the number Ajay redialed.

"Come on!-Come on!-Come on!"

Every second that went by was one Ajay had to wait for help. And then, finally after ten rings the other side picked up.

"Heelllloo?" the other side answered in a peculiar way.

"Please you have to help us! Badala is in danger! Come quickly!" She shouted into the smartphone. The other side remained quiet for a period of time.

*….. Excuse me for a minute, dear- Gary! Fetch the chopper and call Arjun, my boy's being attacked!... Right, my dear! Help's on the way.* The voice in the phone was talking in a rather cheery tone to her despite the jeopardy Ajay was in, although he did ask for preparations to be made like he instructed.

"Uh- ok!..." Time elapsed after the recipient's answer and Bhadra and the recipient with nothing to do.

"Sooo… you must be Bhadra, the Tarun Matara that my boy Badala brought back!-….. So tell me, have you enjoyed your stay in the North?"

Ajay sprinted through the forest which he managed to reach, there was no cover except for the rocks found around the house so he needed to get cover and concealment immediately. Over his shoulders was the bag holding the Honey Badger Guro who was rudely awakened from its sleep when Ajay grabbed it from the patio before running off. Guro growled and groaned within the mesh bag.

Ajay made sure to leave some tracks to his location so as to lure the assassins to his location faster. He reached a clear ground in the midst of the forest, a perfect place to lay his trap for his pursuers.

Ajay immediately went to work on building his unique sure-kill trap.

* * *

David wasn't having a great time, upon entering the house which he expected Badala to stay and fight in had instead run out. The reason could be seen with the girl and the sickly woman in her arms, Badala was trying to bring them away from them where they wouldn't get hit by shrapnel or stray shots.

David and his men had no choice but to follow, they spotted him running into a nearby forest but was too far to hit with the weaponry they had at their disposal. But, Badala had run out in such a rush that he didn't bring any firearms with him as they found so they still have a good chance. But it was obvious the place he headed was still familiar grounds to him and not them, he had the home field advantage.

"Tracks lead here." The point man indicated for them.

"Keep an eye out, he's expecting us soon." David cautioned his men. They maintained a close distance to one another to support if one of them were attacked, they could gang up and take him down together instead of individually. They kept their assault carbines at the ready for a sudden attack.

They reached a clear area within the forest and scanned the surroundings with extreme prejudice.

(Plop) The sound of a bag hitting the ground behind them made them turn their guns towards the sound. A gunny sack appeared before them with stifled movements from inside. The rope holding the bag came undone and a mole-like thing came out growling, the resolution of their NV goggles was not enough to discern all the characteristics of the creature as it grunted and sniffed the air. The moment the marines let down their guard to the creature was the moment they had already fallen into the vices of the Honey Badger Gulo.

Gulo pounced onto the nearest marine with amazing agility pinning him onto the ground. "Ahhh!-Get it off! Get it off!" The honey badger mauled his face and bite onto his neck. David and the rest of the marines were too surprised by the tenacity of the creature to respond.

"Keep still!" One of the marines aimed to shoot the badger off. The marine Gulo pounced on plummeted to the ground motionless and Gulo disappeared into the bushes only to jump on the next marine and do the same.

"Shit! What the fuck is that?!"

"Keep still!" David rushed forwards to ply the badger off of the marine that was now bleeding from his neck as well and would perish at any moment. How could such a small creature do so much damage.

"Arghh!" As he pulled it off of the gravely injured marine the creature turned around and bit his hand. David threw it a distance and the Honey Badger landed on its feet like a feline. David fired a few bursts of his rifle at Gulo, scoring a few hits. He thought the creature dead and was sadly mistaken as it rushed towards him like it hadn't even been hit! "Holy fuck, what is that?!"

The marines added to the firepower and shot at the Honey Badger as it went for the closest one to it and mauled another marine, but this time the Honey Badger was limping towards them and slowly with the added firepower, Gulo was riddled with holes until it could no longer stand. The honey badger still grunted rebelliously but lost the ability to chase.

David walked forward to put it out of its misery. (BAAM) A clean shot to the head ended the poor badgers suffering once and for all since its capture that morning.

David went to assess the damage of the damnable Honey Badger. "Two dead, three injured! Sir, we can't do go after him any longer."

David thought heavily about the options and agreed. "Alright, we've bit more than we can chew. Hopefully Perkins has done some damage to the Arsenal at least. Walt, Alex, help carry the wounded. We're linking up with Hunter-One and leaving… Walt? Alex?" David turned around when there was no answer. His alertness level heightened, he had made a serious tactical error. He disregarded Badala in the middle of the confrontation with the Honey Badger that was released from the obvious trap.

He looked to where the remaining four and saw a shadow descend on the only two remaining marines that were still unharmed. "Guurrgghh!" A Kukri impaled one of the marines from behind.

"TED!" David called out to the recently decease Ted, their likely target pulled a pin to a grenade on his jacket as he kicked him towards the remaining marines. David was quick enough to see it and vaulted in the opposite direction for cover as he shouted "grenade!"

(BANG) The grenade had been of the flashbang variety and instantly burnt out the nightvision that the marines were wearing, blinding them for a moment. David could hear the muffling sounds of shouts and cries but he was helpless himself at the moment, both blinded and deafened. David pulled off his pair of goggles and threw his helmet after unbuckling both. And just as he turned to where his men and Badala were a blade came for him.

David raised his rifle to block the descending arm and successfully stopped the strike. The blade cut against the surface of the rifle causing sparks to fly off the friction.

And for the first time, David and Ajay were face to face with both arms holding their weapons to lock each other.

"I really underestimated you, jarhead!" Ajay said with little effort.

"So did I!" David kicked against Ajay's torso to break from the lock and turned his gun to face him. Ajay saw his intentions and threw the Kukri towards him.

David had little time to react and raised his arm out of reflex to block the flying knife. "Urrghh!" The Kukri impaled itself into his left arm rather deeply. David tried to balance the rifle with his right to shoot Ajay one handed, but wasn't quick enough as Ajay appeared before him and elbowed his arm aside and used his palm to hit David square in the jaw sending him flying backwards and hitting the ground with a thump. David tried to get up but Ajay was quick as ever and pressed down on the knife still stuck on his left arm and nailed him to the ground. "AAAHHHHH!" David roared in agony and lost a majority of his strength to the pain. Ajay kept him pinned to the ground. David turned his head from side to side to wrestle the pain and in doing so he could see the opened eyes of his men lying on the floor in a pool of their own blood. Ajay had killed them all. David closed his eyes, knowing he was next. He'd let down all of his men.

"I knew Willis would send someone else to do his dirty work, how confident are you he'd let you leave this place after witnessing the things he's done, Captain?" Ajay took a quick look at the man's rank under his webbing.

"Arrghh….. We didn't have a choice!... We were his patsies the moment we landed here!"

"I don't wanna kill you as well, Captain but I'll need something as a guarantor to your life!" Ajay told him in a ruthless tone.

"Stop talking and just get it over with!" The officer gave his final answer, he would rather keep his mouth shut that expose his remaining comrades and country.

"Semper Fi, eh?" Ajay twisted the blade to pull it free.

"Dave!" And not a moment too soon, Hunter-One came to his aid after running from the destruction of the Arsenal which could be seen from the flames and smoke rising from that general direction.

Ajay removed his Kukri from David's wound. "We'll play again some other time then, Captain!" And melted into the forest.

David gripped the wound that the knife cause to his left arm, thankfully there were no major arteries there when he pierced it and twisted the knife.

"Glad you could drop by…" David thanked the remaining marines for coming when he needed them the most. Stew helped him to his feet, as David looked at them he noticed a few missing.

"Where's Perkins?" David asked in a worried tone.

"He…. He died." Grilles informed him.

"Are you sure, Fredrick?!" He demanded angrily if the sergeant had seen with his own eyes and not assumed like he always did.

Grilles nodded.

The news hit him hard and his expression was void of emotion. "We're getting out of here!"

"But-."

"We've done all we can! I'll not waste another marine on a fool's errand!"

"…."

"You heard the Cap, let's move out! Jared take point!" Grilles organized the remaining eight marines out of the nineteen that came over the mountains.

Stew carried him on his back the entire way.

"Sir, what the hell happened?" Stew quietly asked.

"We got our asses handed to us! And Stew-…."

"Yes, sir?"

"Did you really see, Gregor fall?" It was common knowledge within their platoon that Captain Goh and Staff Sergeant Perkins shared a uniquely exclusive comradery with one another. They were best friends out of the uniform. So when David had yet to see his corpse with his own eyes he couldn't be certain Perkins was gone.

"I-…. I don't know! We went ahead as he ordered us and it was just Sergeant Grilles and his men. I don't wanna point fingers but I don't believe it either!"

"Ok, Stew…. I'm sorry you have to lug me all the way back!"

"For you sir, anything! We still need you to handle that asshole spook, yunno!"

David chuckled briefly but not for long, he still failed at his attempt on Badala's life. While they managed to sabotage the Arsenal it was of little consequence compared to a still breathing Northern Demon. They had given their very best in their shot at Badala and he still overpowered them, it wasn't just his close quarter combat fighting as David experienced but his tactical wit and ingenuity. While weaponless, he used the nature to his advantage and in very split second decisions. And for once in his life, David believed the rumors had some truth to it.

Badala couldn't be killed.

* * *

The marines struggled to escape the North before the QRF forces came to hunt them in their current weakened state. And thankfully for them, with patience and guile they evaded them successfully as Ajay learnt later from Army High Command.

Ajay dragged the bodies of the late marines out of the forest one by one and popped a flare in his possession for the QRF helicopter to find him. In a matter of minutes, the quick reaction heli-troops disembarked and secured the area around him.

"Load the bodies back to the Royal Fortress, have the general notified of the transfer." Ajay told the lieutenant.

"Yes, your lordship! And you, milord?"

"I'm fine, I can make my way back on my own. Just bring the corpses back."

The lieutenant saluted him and dispatched his men to bring the bodies on board the helicopter for inspection and investigation by the more familiar in the field under Arjun's command in the Royal Fortress.

Ajay walked the entire way back, blood caked his body but none of it was his. Somehow everything turned out alright but Ajay was far from contented. At that moment, he had actually endangered both Bhadra and Maya with his lack of initiative and carelessness. He let optimism cloud his better instincts and judgement. He even had the feeling they were watching this morning and yet he didn't stay somewhere else or vacate them temporarily.

Ajay arrived at the top of the hill where the Homestead was, a helicopter bearing the King's insignia was parked next to it. He could make this out because the light was already breaking over the horizon although it had not reached sunrise yet.

Sitting in the porch at the front door was Kamran, Pagan's personal helicopter pilot. Bishal was nowhere to be found, where had the scaredy cat gone when the marines were at the door? Kamran saw Ajay come up to the steps of the porch and stood up.

"At ease, Kamran. When did Pagan arrive?"

"A just few minutes ago, the Royal Physician is attending to your lady friend."

Ajay sighed in relief, as Maya received immediate medical attention after what happened last night.

"Thanks, Kamran. For coming early."

"I did it for his Royal Highness so don't mention it, Ajay." He took out his cigarette and lighted it.

"Could I have one before I go in?" Ajay asked, Kamran took out a stick and lighted it for him as well.

"Thank you." Ajay took a puff to calm his nerves which he needed to do right now.

"You look like hell! Are you sure you're alright?" Kamran looked at his tired expression and the mess of blood splatted all over him.

"I'm fine, I'm going in. Thanks for the bud."

Kamran waved as he opened the door for Ajay.

Walking up the steps to the living quarters, Ajay could hear Pagan and Bhadra talking with one another. In an ironic twist of fate, Pagan was sharing stories with Bhadra in a normal fashion, much like a father telling his daughter a bedtime story. Bhadra was not at all frighten or put off by Pagan, much to his relief. The man had come all the way to help him.

"-And so I said…. Ah!- My boy returns! Did you deal with the intruders?" Pagan looked at the amount of blood all over his clothing and face.

"Badala!" Bhadra was glad to see him back in one piece.

"Not all of them, but they won't try this again any time too soon! Thanks for looking after Bhadra, and I'm sorry I called you at this time." He went over to receive an embrace from Bhadra who was under a lot of pressure for a young adult.

"It's fine! That's what family's for, get used to it!"

He looked around them. "Is-."

"Ah yes!- Yuma's girl, right? I had the doctor look at her just now, they should have been done by now. Go have a look, my boy!" Pagan sent him off in the direction of Maya's room.

Inside her room, the Royal Physician was browsing through his duffel bag to find the appropriate tonics and remedies. Gary was assisting him keeping Maya's condition under control.

"How is she?"

"Your lordship, might I inquire how long she's been having this fever?"

"Since last morning I think, the night before we had a drink together."

The physician nodded and contemplated on the situation.

"I'm afraid this isn't a common fever, your lordship!" The news was pass to him in the gravest of manners.

"What is it, and can it be cured?"

"Her symptoms exhibit signs of her anti-bodies fighting a neura-toxin."

"What?!" Ajay could believe what he just heard, Maya was poisoned?

"My lord please calm down and let me finish! T-This neura-toxin is a very rare type not commonly found unless one ventures into certain caves or caverns where a certain mushroom releases its toxic spores, but it can be only be done under moonlight."

Ajay started to make sense of the possibilities, he brought Maya to the secret cave for a drink that night under the light of the moon shining through the cave top. She must have inhaled some of the spores from the bottom of the cave. In other words, this was his fault she was now in this state. Ajay's mind raced and his heart beat rapidly.

"What's the cure, what's the remedy?!" Ajay grasped the physician by the collar.

"W-We've run out of the herb in the dispensary b-but! I-It's a rare type of snow flower that grows in the Himalayan mountains! Records indicate it grows quite abundantly in the mountain tops of Hajura 'Amako Hatama."

Ajay's eyes and body froze stiff at the mention of that mountain. "S-Say that name again?..."

"My lord, I said Hajura 'Amako Hatama."

Ajay had heard it clearly on both accounts, the second time he had heard it word for word slowly. Its name was unshakeable in Ajay's memories, the one piece in Kyrat that almost cut short his adventure.

Because it was where the sacred Relic of the Yetis lay.

* * *

Author's Notes:

There will be Yetis.


	21. Chapter 21 - Walk In a Valley of Yetis

Next Chapter coming soon in a few hours.

As for a review by Icestar100:

I've been having more trouble making sense of your incomplete sentences than figuring out what you're saying. You're probably upset i hailed Maya Kadayat as the main heroine of the story, therefore it flags her as the eventual only love interest. It was very confusing because you marked this review on Chp 16 when i talked about it only in Chp 18.

From my point of view I haven't really disclosed anything. I only said she was the Main OC and it was because of how her existence affects the story from the game we know, it doesn't translate into being Ajay's only love interest. I made that rather clear in that answer to the previous anonymous review.

* * *

Hajura 'Amako Hatama was a mountain holding an immeasurable secret to the outside world. But most of all it was the home to those near invincible Yetis. It was at the hardest time he had endured in the Himalayas after escaping Durgesh Prison did he run into that expedition force driven insane by that hallucinogen they called the "Elixir".

-I'd rather not go there again!-

"Can the herb be imported?"

"I'm terribly sorry for this my lord! I had instructed my attendants to watch the stored amounts at t-."

"I don't want your excuses! Can it be brought back in time?"

The Physician was sweating from his forehead. "This condition needs to be treated within 72 hours! Y-You have mentioned that this young lady had this fever since yesterday, that means the time left would be 48 hours or less! She needs the concoction before the given time or else the neura-toxin will take full effect and cause serious damage to her nervous system and might possibly lead to death as well!"

The moment had become the most tense for him after receiving this kind of bad news. Of course life was a cruel bitch and had to make it less convenient for him. But it was the most straightforward in decisions he had to make, Ajay had more a less settled his heart on what he wanted to do.

"Send me a picture of the plant, I'm gonna look for it." Ajay told the Royal Physician.

"Uh- Yes! Right away!" The doctor scrambled inside his bag and retrieved a book containing all the flora and fauna specimens, an encyclopedia of rare plants. After a quick reference with the glossary page he flipped to the page and presented it to him. "This one your lordship!"

Being given the book Ajay had a brief scan of the page on the characteristics of the plant. It was some rare variant of Wolf's bane, so it was essentially a poison to fight a poison. A bell-like plant with indigo petals.

"It's the root of the flower that we need, you'll need to collect at least 30 milligrams grinded down for me to make into a viable remedy." The doctor informed him.

"…..Ok. Please keep her stable, doctor. And thank you!"

"It is a pleasure, your lordship!" The Doctor bowed to him consecutively as if he was expecting to be executed for failing him initially.

Gary followed Ajay out of the room towards Bhadra's where Pagan was.

"Can I speak to you for a minute?" Ajay knocked on Bhadra's door.

"Excuse me my dear, I'll be right back!" Pagan followed him to the empty corridor.

"Let's hear it then!"

"I need a favor of you." Pagan raised an eyebrow, Ajay never asked him for anything apart from sealing his identity.

"Alright?"

"Could you take care of Bhadra and Maya until I return?"

"You don't even need to ask! That young girl is a real treat, of course I'll take care of her! And Yuma's Girl I guess….. Where're you off to?"

Ajay explained the condition Maya was in and the availability of the plant critical to the antidote up in the Himalayas.

"Don't kill the doctor."

"I wasn't thinking that, geez! Have some faith in your old man for god sake!" Pagan crossed his arms.

"Thank you. She has a deadline of 48 hours or less I can't dally. I'll be heading off after I've checked on the Arsenal."

"I'll arrange for a team to follow you-."

"No need! It'll just be a quick in and out." Ajay cut in suddenly.

"Ajay, you hiding something?"

Pagan was too shrewd to hide things from.

"I can't say, just please believe me for once. The more people you send the more danger I'll be in."

Ajay spoke in riddles, but it got Pagan thinking to just let him go and trust he would return.

"Alright, Ajay. I'll arrange for a helicopter to ferry you there and back, that's it!"

"Thanks, I owe you!" Ajay smiled at him and left immediately.

Gary who was standing nearby and bore witness to this closed the distance to his king.

"Should I send the scouts to tail him?"

"No. Call them off, there hasn't been a time he's ask me this desperately. I could see it in his eyes, he needed to go alone. Ha! To think he'd do all this for Yuma's girl, she must be a really special existence to him!" Pagan chuckled before returning to Bhadra's room to tell her the great news.

"Good news my dear, it seems Badala has plans. For the time being, you're coming to stay over with me!" Pagan announced joyfully.

* * *

Ajay approached the entrance to the Arsenal compound, when he was being chased by the marines he saw the flames erupting from the direction of the town.

A crowd gathered outside of the compound, both the townsfolk and the Arsenal employees. Though they heard the gun fighting last night, they stayed indoors. The next morning, they were expecting to return to work only for the Arsenal to be half wrecked.

There were a lot of voicing of concern that they had lost their employment. Ajay passed the crowd that made way for him and reached where the Condotierri had gathered, there appeared to be a marine amongst them who was tied up in the corner.

"Boss!"

"Is everyone ok?" Ajay asked for their wellbeing as first priority.

"I'm afraid not….." Samson stepped aside giving Ajay full view of their losses.

"Antorio…Antorio… Antorio-…." Stella cried against the body of her fallen comrade. She embraced the singed corpse of her friend. Next to her was a heavily injured Alberto whom was also in grief.

"Alberto, what happened?"

"W-We were disarming the bombs and then….. Antorio pushed me aside-….and then-…" Being made to retell the story of how Antorio selflessly saved him at the last minute took the light out from his eyes.

"Rest. Don't think about it anymore, don't squander the life he saved." Ajay pushed his head gently back to lie in the stretcher that his body was placed upon. Alberto pressed his hands to his face as he broke into tears as well.

Ajay got up and walked to Samson.

"Pagan has a chopper at my house, I suggest you bring Alberto to tag along so he can get emergency treatment. There's a doctor there as well, just tell them I told you to come." Samson nodded and called Emilio and Luca to carry Alberto to the hill.

"Antorio's body, we'll make arrangements to ship back to Florence."

"You need not worry yourself over these matters, we'll handle it. As for the Arsenal, I'm afraid-…. I'm sorry, we've failed you!"

"No. You haven't, we might have lost most of the equipment by we still have the most important element still alright and that's the employees are safe. The equipment can be replaced with the shipment Longinus was bringing in today, It'll take some time to restart but we'll rebuild. When I get back I'll sort the deal with the Arsenal. Until then, maintain public security of the town and block off this compound. Tell the employees they'll be on three days leave then I'll explain out intentions for the future. For now, I'll assign Bipin to oversee the Towns administration and Elina to the Arsenal."

"Understood, I'll tell them. Um-…. Where will you be going?"

"Maya's suffering from a rare ailment that's life threatening. I'm going to the mountains to retrieve an antidote!"

"Then some of us should accompany you!"

"No. I need all of you to manage the situation here!" A whiff of authority was used in his tone on Samson.

"Very well, boss. Um….. this might not be the best time to say it but….. we have someone you might want to see." Ajay knew who he was referring to as they both turned to the marine that was taken prisoner with Ricardo standing guard next to him.

"Hi!" The jarhead responded brightly, avoiding the fact that he was captured.

"Keep him under house arrest in the cabin or the shed. Don't let Yuma get her hands on him or he'll spend his entire life in Durgesh Prison." Sooner or later, Yuma was going to hear about her protégé being involved in the raid and start looking for answers, starting with the marine.

"Isn't that where he should belong?"

"Maybe, but I want to see if he might be able to help me get in contact with the rest of the Marines to go against Willis. When I was engaged with his superior he told me something rather interesting, the marines aren't cooperating with Willis." Ajay shared this bit of important intel with Samson to earn his trust he'd keep the marine safe.

"I see. We'll do our best to keep him-."

"You did this! You did this to Antorio! I'll kill you! Assassino!" Stella made a racket by kicking the marine in the gut and- "Owwww….. my man berriesss….."

"Woah! Woah! Woah! Stella, Calmati! Calmati!" Ricardo and Luigi struggled to restrain her. "Let go! Let go!-."

"I know I'm asking a lot right now, but if he's alive when I get back we might be able to give Willis a taste of his own medicine soon." Ajay clarified that they weren't restricted from avenging their comrade by then they'd only face harsher adversity.

"Understood, I'll….. try to keep her in check." Ajay nodded and went over to the marine.

"Your Captain made it through safely, I'm leaving you in the company of the Condotierri. Try to be nice! Or she might kill you." Ajay pointed to the grieving Stella.

"I won't mind!" He said with an optimistic smile.

"Funny, we'll talk in a few days. Try to stay close to them, they're there to protect you."

"How ironic! And what from might I ask?" The marine said in an annoying tone to try and irritate Ajay into taking action against him, but Ajay knew better that it was a defensive mechanism for being alone behind enemy lines.

"Yuma's troops, and I'll tell you right off the bat! She is the only one that scares me." Ajay said with a grin.

"Oh…." The marine seemed to get the message and returned to a blank face. If the feared Northern Demon feared something else, he had good reason to avoid it.

(Screech) An SUV came skidding towards the compound, the crowd that assembled at the gate quickly ran and jumped aside as the crazy driver ran through.

The car doors flung open and out came a bewildered Longinus, staring at the Arsenal with agony written all over his face. "NOOOOOOOOO!"

He collapsed into a kneel waving his two hands towards the rubble where the Arsenal stood.

"ANIMALS!... BARBARIANS!... Desecrating a place of worship! Who did this?!" Longinus stomped hard towards Ajay and the marine.

"You!-... You did this!" He drew his machine pistol from the fine white suit tailored by Mumu Chiffon and pointed it at the Marine.

Ajay kicked his hand just as he depressed the trigger and released a burst of lead at the burnt walls.

(Gulp) The marine saw that this crazed African had the intention to kill him on the spot.

"Ease down, Longinus. He was led astray by…. "The Asshole"."

"…'The Asshole' you say?" said Longinus after he calmed down and asked, Ajay nodded. "The Asshole" was a name used exclusively for Willis between Ajay and his friends.

"Mmmm. Then he must be enlightened about the good word!" Longinus's attitude went back to his usual style.

"I agree. Why don't you try converting him?"

Longinus smiled with glee when Ajay suggested "Yes! I will!"

"I'm on an urgent mission, I'll be back in one or two days. We'll talk then!" Ajay told him before boarding his jeep and driving off quickly.

Longinus turned to the marine smiling ever so brightly giving the marine a feeling of dread, for a moment he regretted not pulling the trigger when he had the chance.

* * *

The place Ajay sped to was the Royal Palace, where Samar was currently in his armory. The designated chopper was waiting on the helipad of the palace for him. Ajay went there to get equipped in the Armory. He donned the combat clothing that went with his mask, because it provided the most protection. Also remembering to bring a rebreather and oxygen tanks for the thin air at high altitudes and against the hallucinogen from the "elixir".

Samar drew the weapons that he requested for with haste and brought the appropriate ammo with him. The weapons Ajay brought with him were:

The SA-50 Gepard Lynx anti-material rifle with the load being Armor Piercing Incendiary ammo.

The SPAS-12 Semi-auto shotgun, the shells he asked for were of the Dragon's breath variety.

The Sawn-off M79 grenade launcher for close quarter explosive engagements.

He brought the maximum firepower he could afford in engaging the inhabitants of Hajura' Amako Hatama mountain.

Samar placed a gauntlet in front of him.

"What's this?" He asked as he picked it up.

"A ballistic gauntlet with built-in grappling gun and hook to help you get to places faster on the mountain slopes. Using mono-filament tri-weave cable. It's been one of my pet projects for some time."

Ajay hesitated to take it. "Has it been tested?"

"I figured now would be a good time! Who do you take me for? I'm the one who designed the crossbolt, sir!"

Ajay thought about it for a while, every single advantage might help him reduce the time taken to retrieve it.

"I'll be taking it then." Ajay took the gauntlet and wore it. And went back to filling his pouches with the ammunition required for the weapons.

"Expecting to come into trouble on the mountain top?" Samar had some suspicions about what Gary had told him from when he returned from Ajay's house.

"Just the local residence."

Samar had no idea what Ajay was talking about, how would there be people living up in sub-zero temperatures in the Himalayas?

The sound of feet pattered towards them. "Badala! I heard what happened- Wha- where are you going?!"

Saras had arrived from the Royal Fortress as soon as she heard the raid on his house and on the Arsenal as well.

"Saras, perfect time. I need you to get your father to enact Martial Law in my territory, also tell Yuma that Maya's here."

"Wha- What happened?" She had only been informed of the attack on the house and the Arsenal by the communications officers.

"I don't have long so I'll give the short summary. Maya's suffering from an illness that could kill her if I don't get a certain flower on a certain mountain!" He said as he finished packing the medical pouch and moved on.

"And you need all this?!" The way he dressed was like he was having a last stand.

"This is just in case…. "the locals" become hostile."

"I'll come along-."

"You'll do no such thing!" He said almost immediately.

"And let you go out alone to an icy mountain to search on your own when you could easily die or get lost? I came because I heard from Darshan about your excursion into the mountains. Badala, Maya is my friend as well!" She wore a face of determination and partly of pleading.

-How did Darshan know about this?-

He hadn't seen him anywhere last night or today so how did he know?

"There's a reason I didn't ask the Condotierri to follow me. And it's the same reason you can't."

"I don't care! I still want to come!"

"Can you stop acting like a spoilt brat for one second?!" Ajay shouted as he slammed the grenade satchel on the table, obviously out of built-up anger. The armory became silent as Saras was staring stunned by his outburst, then she faced him once more.

"Why… Why won't you let anyone help you when you need it the most? Is it because you don't trust any of us? Why won't you let me show the strength of my friendship? What's so important you'll hide it from even me? Your fiancée….. Ajay." She asked in tears.

Ajay was left in shock when Saras said his real name, his entire body turned rigid and words couldn't form in his mouth. Saras was showing as side to him he didn't think existed with her. Ajay had a soft spot for crying women, it was an image grafted into him from his mother and it caused him to feel highly agitated when he didn't do something about it. So against his better judgement-

"…. (Sigh)…. one condition."

"Name it!" She asked as she wiped those sudden tears away.

"Whatever you see, whatever you experience over there…. Don't ever let it leave those mountains or you'll never be treated the same as before."

"Ok." She didn't need to think it through.

"Samar, get her a set of matching equipment. Saras, go topside to Mr. Chiffon's and ask for Winter combat clothes."

"Right!"

"Sure thing."

Saras went in a hurry, evidently smiling as she went off.

"Why did you give in?" Samar asked him, knowing the trip was dangerous for Ajay to request all these weapons and loadouts from him.

"Hmmm... I wonder why myself…" Ajay packed the last of the bags and rested on the bench. He had few hours of sleep before all of this stuff happened, although he'd gone without sleep longer.

* * *

The Helicopter flew with a combination or speed and smooth flying, only achievable by Kamran the King's pilot.

Inside the passenger compartment, Saras sat facing Ajay. Both were cladded in winter equipment. Saras went with the custom Kriss Vector called the Shredder despite Ajay's profound advice, Ajay detailed the C4 explosives for her to carry. She still wasn't aware of the type of enemy they were facing.

He was still having misconceptions about letting her get off the chopper when they reached. The primary reason he wanted to go alone was because the Relic had distributed the "Elixir" around it in large quantities, one small whiff of it and the hallucinations would begin. But there was worse, when the "Elixir" was taken into a person there stood a chance he would "Awaken" into a Yeti. Having his "plus-one" hallucinating during the trip was the last thing he wanted especially during a firefight.

"When did you find out?" Ajay asked over the headset.

"A little after I told you all about my betrothal, I wondered why you were reacting so much to the name Ajay. But then, it made sense after I plotted together the pieces, your disappearance after arriving with King Min, your matching heritage as an American, your closeness to His Royal Highness. I had my doubts but overall, I still wanted to believe it was you."

"…." He had to admit, he left himself wide open back then. But it explained why she became more aggressive. Coupled with the fact that she liked him for what he was, it turned out that fate had a funny way of playing its cards when the same man was her betrothed.

Of course she would feel content knowing they were already bind by an invisible string of fate.

"My turn, what's with the fake alias?"

Ajay was having misgivings about indulging her any further about his plans, there was no reason to tell her and endanger her in the process. So he remained quiet.

"Another question then, did you know about our betrothal?" Seeing that he refused to comment she asked another.

"No. And I don't think you should hang on to it, because of a custom."

"I'm not, but I'm sure glad it brought me closer to you, Ajay."

"I'm not the person you think I am, Saras. What you might learn from me might make you regret ever coming into contact, plus I know you deserve better."

"Let me be the judge of that."

"Stubborn as ever- didn't you hear what I just said?! I don't intend to pursue any relationship with anyone, that includes you!" Ajay turned away from her and looked out of the window after shouting it.

"(Sigh)….. Ajay, when I first met you my first impression was why would someone wear that damning mask like you do? Was it to frighten his enemies and demand respect from his friends? Or was it to mask the shame he had from his own face? Either way I watched you work, I watched you fight. You might bear the guilt for an unforgivable past but you ensured that everyone close to you gained something from you, and needn't share in the burden of your shame or pain. I know that behind that fierce and terrible mask of Badala there is the kind face of Ajay Ghale. And that's the man I want to be with and share in his woes and joys. That person so happened to be my betrothed too, could you imagine the feeling! It felt like Kyra had blessed me with such fortune very early within my life." She chuckled at the last part.

"…"

"So whatever you say, whatever actions you do to keep me away are irrelevant! I still want you and I'll do everything I have to do so!"

"… Want doesn't get!"

"I know, I'm just willing to try with all my might!"

"And I'm telling you you're wasting your time and your life on something that doesn't hold any value."

"Perhaps you might not think it does…. But I do."

It was impossible to reason with her, once she was set on something she'd go at it with everything. And that's what worried him, it was going to cost her life being around him and he'd have no way of making up for it. She was adding to his burden he didn't want to give to others.

"Then in the event you do, would you feel comfortable knowing that person looks at another that's not you?" Ajay gave an evil smirk.

-That's right, if she knows I won't give my affection to her but another on first opportunity that should do it.-

"It-…..It'll probably make me rather upset." She said in contemplation of the thought of him doing so.

-(Sigh) Finally!-

"But I guess I can settle for second place!" She looked up smiling.

-What?! How does one-…..!- Even after that she still wanted to consider an option together?!

Ajay's mind was having difficulty comprehending this, not even he was comfortable with the thought. So how was she ok with it? He had unconsciously dabbled into a conversation he never wanted to have with Saraswati.

"You're a difficult woman, I wish we never met." Ajay said so because he was certain her interaction with him and her rigid choices were going to lead her to her death.

Ajay closed his eyes to think about it.

-Not if I can help it!-

If she wouldn't change her approach, then he could.

"Ha! It was predestined, Ajay! So what have you to say to my resolve?" She said smiling.

Ajay looked into her eyes and said it.

"Till death do us part."

* * *

*We're arrived in the coodinates, Ajay! Fifteen seconds, the weather doesn't look like its gonna improve tonight. I'll return in the morning!* Kamran said over the intercom.

"Thanks, Kamran! We'll see you then." Ajay lugged his pack and gear before opening the door once the helicopter was hovering about the ground.

Ajay threw his pack to the ground and prepared his rappelling rope. "You coming?" He said to Saras still looking in a daze.

"Uh- Um- Yes!" She answered in a sheepish way but quickly secured her gear and rappelled down the same rope as Ajay.

Ajay made a quick scan of the area, for the time being the air was calm but not for long. Where were they exactly?

The Valley of the Yetis.

And where exactly was they were dropped off was at the base of the very mountain the flower could be found. The air returned to its original calmness after Kamran departed, Ajay hooked up his oxygen mask and threw his hood over.

"Saras, put on your mask. The air is too thin on the top….. Saras."

"Huh? Oh!- Alright!" She struggled to put on her mask, watching her fumble with the latches was refreshing to watch instead of her always seemingly taking control all the time.

"You've been acting strange since I answered…. was it that surprising?"

"I…..I wasn't expecting such a positive return from you! I thought I was still dreaming! Pinch me!"

"Pinch yourself!"

"Say it again!"

"No!"

"Say it! Come on!" She jumped him and forced him flat on the snow. She chuckled in her usual way and pressed herself against him, rubbing her face against chest.

Ajay was left in disorientation, and a tinge of regret for ever giving that answer.

"I promise, I'll remove that doubt in your eyes soon enough!" Saras said as she looked into his eyes.

"We'll talk about this when we've gotten the flowers, can we?" Ajay wanted to remind her why they were here in the first place.

"Oh- Sure!" Saras got off him and held out a hand to him.

Ajay took the hand and got up, scanning the site which they landed in.

"So what do we do?"

"Go up this mountain, find the plant without waking the inhabitants, go to a relay station for sending communications out of Kyrat and spend the night."

"Woooo…. A romantic night in a blizzard."

"Is that all you could think about?!" Ajay sighed, all that was in her head was pink nonsense.

"Also, you said something about inhabitants…. Here in the mountains? Why would anyone want to stay here, you could barely survive more than a week here!"

"Saras, I'm gonna caution you on what your about to see. You might find it hard to comprehend even after seeing it but you have to remember my condition."

"I know, what happens in the Himalayas stays in the Himalayas! What's with the charades, what is it?"

"You'll see soon enough." Ajay took point with Saras in tow as he navigated around the peak to the top.

In truth he wished they would never encounter one of them, but this was reality and he had to face it. So he prepared the necessary equipment in this environment and the capable weapons at appropriately dealing with them.

Ajay and Saras climbed the mountain through a man-made trail that zig-zagged up into the mountain of Hajura' Amako Hatama. The snow was about knee deep so their speed was dramatically reduced, especially when they were climbing.

Ajay wondered if they'd come across the expedition party Yuma had dispatched here to look for relics concerning Shangri-La. Mohan's homestead had one such relic kept in the family for generations which he scattered throughout Kyrat and Ajay had diligently recovered. Then there was that trance he experienced every time he found one, adding to a story about Kalinag and his adventures in Shangri-La. But as Ajay read through the thangkas, the moral of the entire story became clearer. Shangri-La wasn't a place but a condition attained when seeking inner peace, something along the lines of achieving Nirvana like what the local hippies would have said. Then again, Yuma was delusional then. She spoke in the same way Kalinag and the other seekers were going about in Shangri-La. It felt like the mountain top was messing with their heads, could it have been that she obtained a sample of the "Elixir" from the expedition back then which caused the deterioration of her sanity?

To be honest, he really didn't want to tamper with the Relic at all, not even go near it. He still had difficulty overcoming that period of time he experienced. After destroying the relic back then, he woke from the detonation of the relic plant only to find himself become of "Them" and then he blacked out. The next time he opened his eyes he was back in the homestead with Sabal who explained they found him on the mountain top exposed, he was back too normal then. A dream he supposed but it felt entirely real, was it entirely the "elixirs" fault? That it was a hallucination he had from being dosed with a good amount of the pungent odor.

After venturing for an hour to the top, there was still no sign of the flower on the way up. The Physician was quite insistent it could only be found on the peak, because the seeds scattered in the strong winds and laced several mountain tops but only with sufficient sunlight would they grow. Light found only on the peaks which was out over the clouds.

The grappling gauntlet that Samar built was rather useful, it was like something from the comic books and yet the design seemed really practical, just point and shoot. A retractable cable able to support 150 kilograms and pull it up with a winch motor that was attracted to his back in a small canister the size of a soda bottle. He became Tarzan in the ice mountains. Unfortunately, Saras hadn't been exposed to a similar regime of running and climbing so she fell behind. Ajay patiently waited for her to climb the mountain with him. The grapple could also function as a retracting rope that could lift Saras from the lower levels once Ajay climbed one, all she had to do was wait for him to lower the cable to hop right on and ascend. The speed improved dramatically when only he needed to climb the steep rocks.

This continued a number of times because the mountain was getting narrower as they got higher.

Then they came to the place.

The entrance of the shrine appeared before them.

"Oh. There really was a structure here-."

As she walked forwards to seek shelter from the increasing snow, Ajay held her hand to prevent her from taking any further steps.

"Hey!"

"We're continuing, we have till evening then we'll head over to the relay station."

"Could we take a break at least?"

"Sure but not in that cave."

"Ok? Is there something you'd like to- (ROOOAAARR)." Ajay didn't need to explain because the resident of the cave came out to apprehend the unknown presence to the Relic's proximity. Ajay pulled her behind a jutting rock to hide from the newly arrived Yeti.

Saras was beyond speechless, she was frozen stiff as she saw as sight that wasn't realistically possible.

"Ajay… am I seeing correctly?" She said as they watched the Yeti stand guard by the cave entrance and sniff about for the unwanted visitors.

"Ajay!"

"You're not seeing wrong, meet the mountains local inhabitants."

Saras now understood why Ajay had told her the condition the way he told her, even if she were to break it and tell the world of its existence no one would believe her.

"We're just gonna avoid getting into contact with it and be on our way." Ajay pointed to the next cliff they were to climb up to get to the top.

Saras nodded and followed him silently, avoiding the Yeti or arousing its suspicion.

The cliff was directly over the entrance to the cave that Ajay had prevented Saras from entering. Ajay took slow and careful casts of the rope too some of the anchor points found from previous expeditions to the mountain peak. With careful climbing and swinging he reached the cliff above.

Now it was Saras's turn, the distance was too far for him to throw a rope or the cable from his grapple to her so she had to climb on her own.

Saras climbed with care and threw the grapple at the anchor with precision and slowly climbed towards the cliff.

But then a strong gust of wind blew at them and Saras swung towards the snowy wall and hit it. "AAAHHHHHH!- Opfff!" Her grip loosened and she screamed as she plopped into the snow below right in front of the Yeti. Ajay turned deadly paled but didn't hesitate to rush down.

(ROOOAAARR) The Yeti finally noticed the intruder and gave a loud roar to announce its authority before running up to Saras. Saras was frightened beyond measure, an unknown mythical creature was charging towards her and meant certain death. Her eyes danced in their sockets and her limbs shaking from where she stood as she didn't know how to escape any longer.

"Eerrrraaaghh!" Halfway down, Ajay yelled as he jumped off the ledge with his knife raised and slammed it with full force into the Yetis back. The Yeti fell on its face from the force of Ajay's body weight coming down with gravity. Ajay didn't stop there as he pummeled the Yeti in the back of the neck to hit its spinal cord and killed it.

(ROOAARRR) The Yeti gave one final death wail before collapsing in the snow.

Ajay retrieved his knife and ran over to Saras. "Saras, you ok?! Saras!" Ajay shook her from her shoulders. Saras began to slowly process what had happened. Initially she had already resided to die, the next second Ajay had descended upon the Yeti and killed it like it were only another animal.

Saras hugged Ajay seeking comfort in knowing she was ok. "I…. I was…. So scared!" She buried her face on his chest once more. Ajay wrapped his arms around her to comfort her as quickly as possible, because they weren't at the best place to be.

"Come on, we've got a peak to climb a flower to find and then we can get the hell out of here!" He said stroking her head as she leaned on his shoulder.

"Mnnn!..."

Ajay and Saras continued to climb the mountain but with more care than ever before so that the same thing wouldn't repeat itself. Saras had received an emotionally scarring experience and wanted to leave the peak as soon as possible, so Ajay worked quickly to find the flower in the snow around the cliffs.

"I'm a burden aren't I…."

"It's too late to say that now. We're in this together in surviving for the night."

Finally, they reached the top of the peak after what seemed like four hours of climbing. The sun was already about to set over there. Ajay and Saras dug around the snow on top of the peak. Thankfully there were the flowers they had been promised.

"Found three, here…." She passed it over to Ajay who collected two and placed them in one of his many pouches.

"Right, that's more than enough. Let's fly back." Ajay had Samar pack for her the extra wingsuit and parachute for flying. He helped her put on hers before taking position.

"Just follow where I go, leap of faith!" Ajay took the initiative and jumped fearlessly of the ledge and glided down the mountain. The skies weren't what Saras were afraid of so she jumped and glided naturally for her first time, taking a while to catch up to Ajay but fly next to him she did. In about two minutes they reached the above of their destination. Seeing Ajay pull his cord, Saras did the same and their parachutes opened. They descended slowly to the ground and picked up the parachutes as they went to the place Ajay had promised, the relay station. Ajay turned to look at Saraswati's mental state, she was indeed shaken by doing fine.

Reaching the courtyard to the small cabin shelter of the relay station Ajay told Saras to stay warm in the cabin as he went about setting traps for the night. He'd seen the Yetis and they had seen him, they'd likely attack him at night when he was thought to be the most vulnerable. There was also the expeditionary force sent by Yuma which he had yet to encounter, he thought they were the ones he'd encounter near the relic and not just the Yetis. Where the hell were they?

Ajay tried not to think too much, it was affecting his thoughts and concentration at staying alive, right now it wasn't just him here.

Ajay diligently lay the traps of wood and explosive trip mines around the place and stacked rocks to form walls and fortifications for the night. They had achieved their objective, all they had to do was wait for Kamran in the morning.

Upon laying the final stone of the fortifications he went into the cabin to rest. Saras lay on the bed, tired physically and mentally. "Ajay, you're back."

"Yes?"

"Um-. Sorry, of course you are…" Saras was acting really strange ever since the scare she had at the Relic shrines entrance. Her entire personality became meek and shy.

"Urrghh!" As he entered a warm place the numbness caused by the cold dissipated and revealed to him bruises from the fall he had when performing that diving takedown.

"Ajay!- Come, I'll help you treat it!" She went over to the medical box that was stacked on the table, she had all the time to observe what was inside the cabin that she was waiting in.

Ajay sat on the bed and undressed his top and checked with a mirror, his left shoulder had absorbed the fall and was bruised from behind. (Crack) "Urghh!" It turned out it was also dislocated which explained the pain he was experiencing so he quickly relocated it.

"I'm sorry, if only I was more careful…."

"You can keep blaming yourself as much as I do and only feel sorry for yourself. But it's not gonna change what happened, shit happens, it's not like you knew when the wind was coming. As long as you're here it's my responsibility to take you back." Seeing this type of Saras was a rather weird experience which made him feel irritated.

"We've done what we've come for, now we just need to wait it out till morning." Ajay reminded her.

"Uh- Mnn!" Saras nodded her head a little sure of herself.

"They'll likely come again."

"There's more?!"

"There is, I'm not sure entirely what they are. Only what they used to be, human."

Saras seemed unsettled by what he had told her.

"There's some sort of liquid secreted by an underground tree which both causes hallucination and transformation into a Yeti. That cave we saw was where it led to."

"How-…. How do you know all these things?" Saras seemed even more frightened to ask than before, the trauma she went through with the Yeti shook her greatly and did a lot to her confidence.

"I'm actually a time-travelling wizard." He said with a grin.

"Pffffttt!...HahahahHAHAHA!" Saras broke into a laughter similar to the old way she used to. His sudden humor had worked as he intended it to, by making her forget her fears. As she wiped the tears of laughter from her eyes, the original light of confidence returned to them.

"Thank you. Ajay." She leaned over to give a peck on his cheek.

Ajay got up and tested the amount he could stretch his shoulder that was injured. He went over to his packs to retrieve some rations of food he prepared for the trip, not forgetting about the flower he grinded down the roots and placed it into a canister to protect the contents.

"I sorry I didn't take your words seriously." Saras started a conversation after a long period of silence with the only sound being the increasing wind.

"That's alright, I wasn't expecting you to. That's why I improvised." Although things got hectic all turned out well in the end. Saras got to show her sincerity to Maya by coming to help find the flowers, in fact if she wasn't around he wouldn't have searched the peak with such scrutiny as her and find the remainder of the plants that were required.

"These, things-….. you said they were human?" Ajay nodded.

"From the way you described this liquid it sounded like some sort of Mutagen."

She wasn't wrong on that theory. Because it morphed a person into one of those monsters, but there was one thing he could never explain which was that hollow voice in his head. He passed it off as a hallucination from the odors but now he wasn't so sure. Was it all just in his head and the chemicals were really doing all of this or was it actually occult. Either way he didn't care, they were out of here by morning.

"Mostly hunters and trekkers come up here either for exploration or hunting the Yeti. They take up shelter in the caves and get exposed to the liquid, then it's game over for them and they join the Yeti family."

"Again, how do you know all of this? Have you been here before?"

"This is just the cream of the top, Saras. You've unknowingly forced yourself into things where ignorance is a bliss. As for how I know, perhaps I'll tell you when I feel like it. But I can guarantee you, it'll be more unbelievable than this." Ajay said while he brews the satchel soup in the kettle.

"More unbelievable than Yetis?!"

"I told you before, you might regret having contact with me. This is just the prelude to it all! I hope this'll make it clear to you the dangers ahead from following me."

Saras wore a worried expression when he mentioned such, but this time she was stuck more in her thoughts. The experiences with the valley had shaken her core of beliefs making her decisions less resolved.

"Enough talk about that, eat up and go to sleep. It'll help you clear your thoughts." Ajay handed her the cup holding the hot soup to drink.

"Ok."

Saras took hold of the cup and drank to warm her body as Ajay poured some for himself. After drinking the soup Ajay sat by the door with his .50 cal rifle in hand and closed his eyes to get some rest in case he didn't have an opportunity to rest later.

Saras watched his activities with the cup still in hand, it would be a lie if she said she didn't feel secure from him sitting by the entrance. Saras lay on the bed trying to fall asleep as well. Ajay had prevented her from feeling hungry in the cold and also given her a sense of emotional security. She turned to the side watching him under the light from the lantern. Seeing him there resting like the occasion today had been nothing to him gave her a comfortable feeling and eased her uneasiness, allowing her to fall right asleep.

That night, Ajay had a dream.

* * *

….

….

Ajay opened his eyes to find himself in a cave.

"Huh?" Not just any cave but "that cave".

 **AWAKEN**

"Urgh…." His head was feeling groggy already.

"Shit….. the gas." Ajay got up to his feet looking around for the exit.

"AJAY!" A shout echoed through the hollow of the caverns.

"Saras?" Ajay looked around

"AJAYYY!" She screamed again.

"Saras!"

 **STAND WITH US**

Ajay rushed with rifle in hand that materialized from nowhere. The calls were coming from the inner sanctum of the Relics shrine.

(ROOOOAAARR) (ROOAAARR)

Two Yetis stood in his way guarding the corridor against his intrusion.

"SCRAM!" Ajay blasted his rifle at them and they burst into orange smoke, leaving him in disbelief. He ignored the illogic and moved onwards, there were Yetis in every corner and every time he fired his gun the Yetis would explode into puffs of smoke.

"AAAAAHHHH!" A head piercing scream struck his head just as he arrived where the Relic was within sight. The sound put him to his knees as he hugged his ears to block the sound out but it was no use. The vibration was scrambling the insides of his head. Ajay bit his lip and soldiered on rushing towards the relic but Saras was nowhere in sight.

"Saras! Where are you?!"

A puff of smoke hit him from the Relic tree and forced him on his knees once more. "Urrghh…(Cough) (Cough) (Cough)!-…..Huh!"

As he looked at his hands he could see the transformation rapidly overtaking his hands and slowly his body.

 **YOUR PATH IS WITH US, NOT AGAINST US**

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH-(RRAAAOOOOAARRR)!"

 **AWAKEN AND WALK BESIDES US**

….

….

Ajay woke up violently from his nightmare.

"AJAY! Wake up!" His senses returned to find Saras calling and shaking him awake for some reason.

(BOOOMM) The sound of a detonation of the many trip mines followed by a roar of agony.

Ajay picked his rifle up and opened the door.

"Stay here!"

The explosion came from the West down the slope of the valley and on que a Yeti came over the ridge burning.

Ajay shouldered the .50 cal rifle and fired the explosive slug at the Yetis head causing it to explode, decapitating the Yeti. The carcass of the Yeti tumbled down the slope and slowly disappeared into a fine orange mist.

Ajay went to survey the courtyard compound for any tampering of the traps. True enough two Yetis appeared from the South of the compound and of the East. Ajay turned to gun the closest one to him which was the Southern one. And turned around to find the East had closed the distance in a blink of an eye. The Yeti leaped into the air, determined to flatten him with its feet. Ajay vaulted to the side and drew his kukri and hand-held grenade launcher. He launched one at the beast which blasted it off its original footing as Ajay charged towards it with the knife ready in hand. As the Yeti struggled to recover its footing Ajay stabbed his kukri through its cranium from the chin.

"Ajay, your six!" Saras called out informing him of the imminent danger in the form of another Yeti.

-Why are there so many?!-

Ajay jumped for his fallen SA-50 rifle and chambered a round before sending a potshot at the next Yeti that was a few metres from him. The shot took the Yetis arm off and it growled in pain reaching for its phantom limb.

Ajay fired two shots at the head putting it out of its misery. As if four wasn't enough, three more approached from different directions.

-What the fuck is going on?!-

Saras came to his side. "I've got your back!" She unslung the Shredder in her possession.

"Close your eyes!" Ajay pulled the pin to the flashbang and threw it above his head.

(BANG) (ROOAOAARR)

The three Yetis stopped in their tracks, two fell to the floor while one had charged forwards recklessly.

Ajay kicked Saras aside as it came falling in front of them. He pointed the semi-auto shotgun at the beast's head and unloaded while Saras peppered the other two that were converging. Ajay unloaded the SA-50 into one of the beast before switching to the shotgun. The shots from his SPAS-12 produced incendiary sparks of magnesium at the Yeti, complementary of his Dragon's breath ammo. The Yeti lit on fire but ran towards Saras painlessly. Ajay saw this from his position and rammed the Yeti with his body so its trajectory would change from Saras. His shoulder got burnt in the process as smoke rose from his left hand with most of the clothing going up in flames.

Saras used her quick thinking and threw some snow over it to extinguish the flames.

The last Yeti came leaping at them in their most off-guard moment. Ajay pushed Saras aside as the Yeti swung its long arms at them. Unfortunately, he wasn't quick enough and the arms struck him in the abdomen.

"Puurrghhh!" Ajay was flung into the air and dropped back down to the earth blacking out.

"AJAY!"

The Yeti went for Saras as his vision was beginning to fade. Saras struggled to fight it off but the weapon she carried only served to cause the Yeti some agony as it shrugged the shots aside to grab her instead. Ajay watched in horror as the Yeti reached out to her, and her magazine ran dry….

That was when Ajay's nightmare became reality.

* * *

Next Chapter coming around the corner, hold on to your hats ladies and gentlemen! (Released)


	22. Chapter 22 - Ghale's indomitable rage

Tonight is actually my Birthday, yippee! I'm fucking older than I was yesterday. Plus one to the death clock.

I wasn't sure if I'd work on it during the 31st so I decided to deliver early.

* * *

The mood within the Royal Palace was experiencing something like never before. The staff that worked to maintain the palace as well as attend to Pagan's need all were in that good mood. And the primary cause of this was King Min's most recent guest Bhadra.

It was that very morning, Bhadra had woken up earlier than the kitchen staff as well to cook for the entire staff and Pagan. The staff found themselves waking to the aroma coming from the kitchens, the chef and kitchen staff freaked out as they weren't the ones in the kitchen themselves. And as they came to the staff dining they found bowls of congee porridge awaiting them. Bhadra was standing by the pot waiting to serve them, they gratefully excepted as they weren't sure of the outcome if they didn't. Since young, it became part of the routine for her to wake up early to cook for the household. Only this time she included the servants and guards in that checklist in Pagan's household. The servants were worried at first as to what King Min would think of this but Gary insisted they were alright.

Pagan laughed his ass off when he woke up to the same aroma and visited the kitchens, only to find what she was doing.

Bhadra also kept a portion aside for Maya who was under the watchful eye of the Royal Physician as he made it his top priority to monitor her situation. She also passed a bowl to the doctor who hadn't eaten or slept for a while, which he thanked her for graciously.

"You're as much of an odd ball as my boy, dear!" Pagan told her as they watched over Maya in place of the Doctor so he could rest. Currently, they were playing a game of chess at the table, Pagan watched as she expressively thought hard about her moves whereas he merely moved his pieces accordingly.

Pagan or Pagavel as he was known in the past, was a genius at manipulation and gambling odds. He played the Hong Kong Police against other triad sects while having tea with his adoptive sister as they watched them tear each other apart. It was only until later on when Interpol stepped in and lent its global resources to the local authorities and the other triad sects band together to take down his operation did he move out in search of new grounds.

It was the reason Yuma had fallen for her "Tailou" in the first place. Even in adversity he was always under a calm and levelled expression.

Speaking of Yuma, the sound of loud trudging and banging of doors open became louder as it approached their room. "Where is she?!" She shouts at Gary in the corridor. The doors burst open and slammed against the wall from the force as Yuma stormed the room, Bhadra wore a shocked expression to the intruder while Pagan was calm as ever.

Yuma's eyes landed on the bedridden Maya and made heavy steps towards the bedside. "Child…" She held her hand with both of hers and placed it on her head. Bhadra and Pagan were silent throughout this interaction.

"Where is he?..." Yuma said with a low growl.

"WHERE IS HE?!" Yuma roared at Pagan whom barely flinched like Bhadra to her tone and authoritative power.

"He's out looking for ways to cure your girl, did you really think he'd just be sitting here with us hoping a miracle would happen?" Pagan chuckled despite the hostility of the vibe.

"Where?"

"Hajura' Amako- something. Uh- what was it?"

"Hajura' Amako Hatama mistress Lau." Bhadra filled in the gap that Pagan forgot.

"Ah- Yes! A wonderful memory my dear!"

"I'm going to look for him-."

"I'd advise against it. I'm well aware that anything can happen in the snowy peaks of the Himalayas, both to you and my boy." Pagan said it like a warning to her to back off. Yuma bore witness again to the resurgence of the former Pagan, whatever was happening between Ajay and Pagan it wasn't weakening him like Ishwari but restoring his will.

-It should have been me!-

"Besides, after this that boy will owe me a favor like he promised. And you know a favor from Ajay means he'll burn a city for you! Isn't that wonderful, things were playing out exactly as you planned them to!" He said with a smile.

"Planned to?-…." For a moment Yuma was genuinely confused about what Pagan meant. But as Pagan turned to face Maya she realized what he meant.

"You've finally gained the heart of the Northern Demon through her, I always knew you had it in you to be manipulative like your brother!" His sweet tone added to the sarcasm involved in his words.

"Maya is-… is-."

"The perfect tool to you my dear Yuma. So, might I inquire what you intend to do with them your objects that is?" Every word was like a knife condemning her for her actions. She found herself at a loss of words or expression.

Maya was her tool, was that all she really meant to her? As Yuma sat beside her she reminisced the time she spent nurturing her from a cheerful child to a beautiful young lady. Yuma gently stroked the hair on her head, it had grown considerably long the last time they met at around shoulder length. She placed her hand against Maya's cheek to which Maya unconsciously leaned towards the cold hand of Yuma. Maya could never be her tool, though she wasn't her flesh and blood.

Maya was unmistakably her child.

Yuma retrieved her cellphone and dialed her reserves.

*Yes, Mistress!*

"Send Sandesh to Hajura' Amako Hatama. Their objective is to bring back Ajay Ghale safely."

*With haste, Mistress!* The operator responded and Yuma placed the phone back into her pocket.

"Come over, Yuma. I don't think you've had the pleasure of meeting Bhadra yet!" Pagan beckoned her over to the coffee table where Bhadra sat.

"Um… It's a pleasure to meet Maya's guardian!" Bhadra said earnestly. Yuma cracked a smile, at least someone else in the room was willing to acknowledge that Maya wasn't her tool.

"Bhadra, right? I have a feeling we might get along well in time."

* * *

The blood rushed to his head had woken Ajay from the uncomfortable knockout he had previously. He slowly peeled his eyelids open to find the scenery very strange, he was in a cave no doubt about it but the furnishings were on top of the roof. It was then that he discovered he was in fact hanging upside down, looking up to his feet he saw his legs were tied together by a rope suspending from the ceiling.

-What happened….?-

Ajay tried to organize his thoughts, he back tracked his movements to what he did previously starting from the cabin.

They got into a fight with intruders of the compound, that had not been the disciples but Yetis, just Yetis and a lot of them. He fought and killed many of them with Saras-… Saras. He blacked out before he knew what happened to her, and now here he was in a cave tied up by the Yeti he failed to kill no doubt.

He looked around and saw the corpses of dead hunters and Sherpas that ventured to the valley around him. It appeared he was next on the menu. His equipment was gone, rifles, knives and grenades. How the hell did the Yeti know how to disarm him, or was this the work of man?

(ROOOAAAARR) The sound of a Yeti returning to the cave could be heard from its heavy footsteps.

Probably being formerly human it had some understanding of what made man deadly and removed his stuff.

Ajay's body was currently bind by vines from some plant as he wiggled out his hands to break free. But he could only take out one hand, the other one was stuck in an odd position. Ajay tried to use the freed hand to remove the vines but they were too tight and the thorns had lodged themselves into his tough clothing which prevented his skin from being pierced, credit to Mumu for crafting quality clothing.

He needed a tool to cut the vines or remove the rope from his legs and looked around at the corpses that lay frozen against the cave walls.

The footsteps of the Yeti were getting closer.

Ajay's eyes caught a glitter of shining metal, some tubes that were clasped between the frozen hands of a corpse. Ajay swung his body towards it and back like a pendulum to increase momentum to thrust his body forward to the tube he could use to ply the vines off.

On his third swing he managed to touch it but wasn't able to get a good grip of the tubular pipe. He swung again and managed to grab hold of it, but at the same time the Yeti came full into view and saw that Ajay was awake. It roared for the sake of roaring, making Ajay only double his efforts in yanking the pipe free.

But the corpse's hands were frozen stiff. Ajay then wiggled the tube around to loosen it up before yanking it out. The Yeti was approaching him fast and was just ten metres from him, it had the habit of beating its chest like a gorilla which was all the better for Ajay if it gave him precious seconds. He actually had no way of fighting the Yeti presently but at least he could run.

"Come on!" Ajay pulled once more and the frozen hands broke into dust as he removed the pipe and was about to stab the rope to break it, only it wasn't a pipe.

It was a double-barreled rifle. The Yeti grabbed onto his legs and was about to reach for his body with the other to tear him apart. Ajay pointed the double-barreled at the Yetis heart and prayed that the gun still worked.

(BOOM) The gun thundered from the massive shell that spun out of the heavy weight barrel, the massive report was so loud his ears nearly went deaf.

The Yetis grip loosened and dangled to its side. Where its heart had been was now a huge cavity with an even larger exit wound, the Yeti dropped to its back motionless. Ajay breathed a sigh of relief, he had not expected it to be so powerful that it could kill it in one shot. It definitely was some kind of wildcat cartridge and not a shotgun. Ajay pointed the double barrel above his feet where the ropes were and fired again, the shot echoed throughout the cave as it munched the rope in two and he fell to the ground. He begun wiggling his way towards the corpses like a worm until he approached an individual who owned a Kukri knife conveniently in his back pocket. Apparently the Yeti wasn't thorough enough in his searches, only removing the gear seen externally. He could hear roars from the Yetis communicating and looking for the source of the loud blasts.

Ajay hastily cut the vines off his body and the ropes to his feet and got up. He walked over to the former hunter which owned this elephant gun and went through his personal effects. There happened to be some giant shells in his handbag, and Ajay immediately understood why it was such a potent shot. They were a type of custom made Nitro .700 hollow-point bullet explaining the damage to the unarmored Yeti, it had some type of sabot tip to maintain its ballistic performance when fired but did the same damage as a hollow-point one without it. The hunter was most likely here to hunter Yeti, Ajay had only to thank him for being here at the right time and right place.

"I'll put these to good use!" He told the corpse as he picked up the rounds and placed them in his pocket. A first aid kit was also present in one of the corpses possession which he took and used immediately. There was a burn on his shoulder he applied burn cream to it and quickly bandaged himself before moving on and finding out where exactly he was. Once ready, he unslung the double barreled and moved cautiously through the cavern tunnels because there was no telling how many Yetis stayed in one cave.

As he moved forward he began to realize which cave he might be in, there were half-formed corpse/cocoons of the man/yetis scattered around in lotus position. It was made even more obvious with the statue of Yalung behind the meditating bodies.

 **AWAKEN**

The disembodied voice echoed through the cave as well as within his head. Ajay was in the heart of the Relic Shrine cave.

Ajay had a moment to think about his actions. Where was Saras? Was the question that rung in his head. Was she taken to the cave like his unconscious self…. or was she eaten? Ajay's mind started to become a jumbled mess at the thought. In the last moments fighting he couldn't determine whether she fought till the end or was knocked out like him. And why was he brought back here instead of being ripped to shreds? The thoughts of his dream were beginning to coincide with what was happening.

"SARAS!" Ajay dared to shout out for her. His voice echoed throughout the cave, there was no answer except for the many roars of Yetis finding him within their domain. Ajay was starting to feel the possibility that she may have died, the thought made him collapse to his knees and vomit.

His nightmare had come true. The Yetis were closing in but Ajay didn't seem to care his mind was preoccupied with what he had done.

"… I killed her…" Ajay sat with vacant eyes.

The Yetis found him and galloped towards him.

Even after he tried so hard, the charming, playful Saras was no more. He had failed her, he failed her and couldn't explain his inability to protect her like he promised. He truly didn't deserve to walk another second on the earth again.

 **JOIN US**

The disembodied voice called out once more as the Yetis were just feet from him.

And just when he felt the same despair that engulfed him at the steps of the Ghale Homestead. Another emotion rose in him, an emotion that had always been there but was bottled up whenever he was frustrated or grieving. Since the day his mother died, he blamed himself for having a hand in her death. Once again, someone had died because of him. Calling out to him to embrace the way of bloodshed.

For the first time in so long, the shackles that held down his true nature broke giving him a genuine freedom over his feelings and nature. He'd been guided here thus far by the will of others, so he would never have responsibility over his own actions. Yet, none of his guardians ever did but shoved it upon him instead.

"But then, its your fault as well!..."

Ajay's grip tightened around the pistol grip of the double barreled and the Kukris handle.

"I'll take you all on!"

He aimed the two shot at the closest Yeti and took its life with a single shot and did the same to another with the second shot before opening the breach and ejecting the cartridges.

A Yeti came too close for him to reload in time to shot it so he launched the grapple anchor from the gauntlet that was still in his possession at the icy stalactites above on high on the roof and yanked it downwards. The sharpened ice fell upon several of the Yetis causing them to wail in pain and fall to the ground. Ajay darted forwards and knifed one in the back of its neck and blasted two more with the two shot.

The last one stood shock by Ajay's brutality as a mere human and flinched. That second of hesitation cost it as Ajay's knife buried itself deep into its hard cranium from the force of his strike. The Yeti fell to its knees and dropped onto the ground. Ajay continued on his way, he picked up an oxygen mask from a corpse and walked onwards. In Ajay's emotions there was no fear, no sorrow, no regret.

Ajay walked towards the Relic, with one sole intention.

A few Yetis came one after another only to be blasted or wounded enough for Ajay to kill it with the knife.

 **WALK THE PATH OF ETERNITY**

The disembodied voice enticed him to join the awakened in living, but Ajay only saw one outcome from that.

"Walk hell for eternity..." Ajay answered the voice not caring if it answered back.

Reaching the Relic tree, he found his and Saras's gear lying in front of a black scorched Yeti who was inspecting them, it sat there guarding the tree. The Yeti had a distinct burn scar on its body, one that Ajay instantly recognized. It was the same one that took Saras's life.

The Black Yeti turned and recognized him, it became infuriated with his struggle for survival. It placed the gear on the floor and took up a position ready to lunge at him.

But instead of shooting this one, Ajay cast the double barrel aside and raised the knife. "Bring it!" As the Yeti lunged at him, Ajay too ran at it and slide under it with the knife raised. The knife cut into a decent amount of hide while it flew over him. When the Yeti landed on the ground, Ajay was already in the air slashing the knife down into its skull. The Yeti raised its hand to block and absorb the vicious strike by Ajay. Ajay's Kukri impaled its palm and twisted it to increase the damage done to it. Ajay withdrew the knife quickly before the other hand swept at him, he leaned out of the way. With the Yeti showing yet another opening, Ajay made another vicious strike across the Yetis torso causing it to roar in pain, the cut was so deep that blood gushed from it. The Yeti held on to the wound applying pressure while stumbling to maintain defense against this abnormal human.

The Yeti was struggling to get up from the severely weakened hand, it noticed the double barrel next to Ajay's feet as did Ajay himself who looked at it for a brief second and back to the Yeti which was sitting on the floor because it had trouble getting up. Ajay walked forwards without picking up the gun that could kill a Yeti in one shot.

"I don't need a gun to kill you, all I need is this knife. I want you to suffer for every moment you savoured a bite out of her! I want you to remember in you last breaths why you experienced hell and lament for eternity!" The Black-hide Yeti stood silently for a moment, as if it understood what was saying but was stunned by his aggression towards it where most would simply run. It didn't stay surprise for very long, this was its domain after all. And the man before him was just another meal.

"And after I'm done with you I'm gonna burn this fucking tree!" Ajay charged the black Yeti again with just his knife in hand. The Yeti threw a haymaker with the good hand hoping to swipe him but Ajay pivoted his body forward and swept the Kukri in a downward motion. If it wasn't the sharpness of the blade, then it was the brute force of his strike full of hatred that chopped the Yetis arm off and broke the bones within.

(ROARRR)

"Raarrrghhh!"

The Yeti roared in pain once more as Ajay grabbed the fur on its head and repeatedly stabbed its neck till there was barely a sound coming out from its mouth.

Ajay turned back to his gear and picked up the C4 charges and threw it at the trees roots.

 **STOP. DO NOT DESTROY THE RELIC**

"Stop?... When did you learn the meaning of stop?! When I did everything to avoid this place, you still sent them to chase me and Saras, did you stop?!"

He flips the cover of the detonator open.

"I may have led her to her death,… BUT YOU KILLED HER!"

 **AWAKEN. STOP HIM**

The meditation half-forms burst into clouds of orange and completed their transformation to Yetis and all the while more were being added to the numbers. The Yetis converged with great speed.

Ajay raised the detonator to the C4.

"You can send all you want but it won't change your fate. I'll take you with me even if it means tearing this whole goddamn mountain in half! And if I reincarnate I'll still do the same until there's not a single drop of your existence left on this earth!" Ajay made a blood vow to the Relic.

 **AWAKEN CEASE**

The newly Awakened Yetis ceased their approached and growled where they stood, but none dare go near three metres from him.

 **TAKE HER. LEAVE**

"Huh?" Ajay was dumbfounded for a moment, he didn't want to believe it but the crowd of Yetis did it for him.

The Yetis that had gathered parted way to a part of the wall where the roots covered, lying unconscious underneath all the branches was Saras.

Almost immediately Ajay's rage vanished as he took steps that increased in pace towards her to confirm with his own eyes it was really her.

Ajay pulled the roots and branches aside as he retrieved her. "Saras…. Saras!" Ajay hugged her tightly.

"Mmmmm….." He could hear a moan from her confirming she was alright though still asleep with an expression like she was experiencing a nightmare. He placed the oxygen mask on her face, worried she wasn't receiving enough where they were.

 **LEAVE**

"How do I know she won't turn into one of them?" What was the point if they left and became one of them.

 **LEAVE. THEN SHE SHALL NOT**

Although Ajay didn't trust the voice he felt that it had no reason to lie. Ajay carried her and made his way out of the cave. He held on to the detonator as a guarantee for their departure, raising it for the Yeti to see he would really end their eternal existence should anything happen to him.

The light from the outside of the cave could be seen from where he was almost a hundred metres to the surface.

In the inner sanctum of the Relic tree, the Yetis returned to their hibernation like nothing had happened there. The serenity had returned to sight. The collective conscience of the Relic murmured once again to itself.

 **BUT AWAKEN. HE ALREADY HAS**

* * *

Ajay ran down the mountain to the valley without stopping, the detonator he chucked aside at the entrance as he promised. In his arms was someone he thought he already lost, Ajay felt like he was in cloud nine and relief. Ajay ran up to the promised pickup sight where Kamran was expected and looked at his watch once more. They had been under the cave of the entire remainder of the night till eight o'clock in the morning, Kamran was coming any minute. Ajay checked his back pouch to confirm that the flower canister was in his possession which it was.

Ajay lay Saras down on the thick snow and threw his jacket over her to cover her from the increasing wind.

As he waited, he reflected on what had happened just recently. He had actually been exposed to the gases as was Saras, yet there were no signs of changing nor hallucination like he was expecting. There was only one emotion that clouded his judgement then, and it was rage.

The fury to inflict upon those that hurt those dear to him. It somehow subverted the effects or did he build an immunity or something, too many things didn't make any sense. The rage was also an emotion he didn't fully understand, it completely took his power of reason away from him. That moment he was ready gearing towards killing himself even when he had the important objective of bringing back the flower safely. He hoped he wouldn't have to go through that again ever.

"….. Ajay…?" Saras slowly opened her eyes to find herself in a bright place with snow packed around. Ajay came over smiling warmly. "Welcome back, Saras!"

"W-…What happened?"

As Ajay was about to open his mouth to tell her, he was reminded of the shock she experienced from encountering the Yetis, it almost crushed her beliefs till they were nothing and completely shifted her personality because of the reality bending occurrence of their existence.

Ajay made a silent resolve about what he had to do. She didn't need to remember any of this.

"You dozed right after we collected the flowers, I had to bring you all the way back to the cabin. And you were still sleeping when I brought you here to the LZ. Talk about being lazy!"

-Ignorance is a bliss.-

"Uh- The Yetis!-…" She recalled the events that took place previously.

"Yetis? What are you talking about? Did you sleep too long or something?"

"Huh? Ajay, weren't we being attacked?!" She asked with worry. Ajay played the part of ignorant one.

"Attacked, did you dream you were attacked by Yetis? Geez, Saras. How old are you?" He said with a smirk.

"Huh? Hey! I'm being serious here!" She was now frowning.

"I'm also being serious. What the hell's been cooking in your head this entire time?" He flicked her on the forehead. "Ow!"

The sound of helicopters closing in could be heard. Ajay got up and left Saras sitting in the snow.

"Time to go, we can finally say good bye to this frigid place."

Ajay left her to ponder her thoughts about her experiences and question whether they were indeed just a dream. Ajay slung the double-barrel on his back to bring back as a souvenir, it had been unexpectedly useful at taking down large targets especially with the special load that was in his pockets still. He noticed the initials that were engraved on the gun's brass workings, "Slayer" was the name inscribed onto it. So he would take to calling it the "Slayer" in future as well.

The helicopter landed and the sliding doors opened, it wasn't Kamran's chopper so Ajay was a little sceptical at first. The troops on board poured out to secure the area around them and the leader walked up to him.

"Ajay Ghale, I'm Captain Sandesh. Mistress Yuma has instructed me to bring you back to the palace safely!" The leader confirmed with him.

"Sir?" But Ajay was standing stiff as a rock looking at the leader.

"What did you say your name was again?..."

"Um- Sandesh, sir?"

Ajay heard it perfectly clear on both accounts, but the image he had of the person in his timeline and the person that was standing before him was completely different.

"Weren't you at the excavations sight by Yuma's orders?"

-I have to know.-

Sandesh scratched his ear. "I'm not sure what you're talking about sir, I've been operating within Durgesh Prison for over five months now with no change in vocation or unit."

"No change?….."

-What the hell is going on?! You mean Yuma….. never sent the expedition?-

"Yes, sir. Just a smooth sailing tour through vocations, it gets quite lonely in Durgesh I'm quite glad she sent me to pick you up!" Sandesh was chatting to him in a friendlier way than most Royal Army officers would speak to him. This was nothing like the Sandesh he knew who was known as Master Sandesh of the Disciples of Yalung cult.

"I'm sorry, I mistook you for someone else. Right, let's go now. Saras, just waiting for you now!"

"Uh- Ok. Coming-…..Huh?" As she walked up to helicopter where Ajay and the Royal Army when she noticed the burns on his shoulder on his back as he entered the helicopter from where the burning Yeti knocked against him. She had placed the snow against his shoulder to extinguish it, that part she didn't forget.

And that's when everything started to fall in place for Saras's quick and amazing intellect. Her original wry smile returned to her as she walked up to the chopper where the soldiers were waiting for her to board before departure.

She understood that Ajay was merely trying to protect her from the terrible experiences she had to go through.

"He really does care for me….."

* * *

"About time, Luca! We're all starving!" Ricardo complained to the resident chef.

"If that were the case you should have bought instead." Luca came over with the freshly brewed yak stew in a pot, he had tried to replicate the taste to match the Northern Italian beef stew. Only they were in a place where cows were sacred animals so he had to improvise with the main ingredient for Yak meat which was more gamey. He poured out the contents into a bowl for each of the occupants at the table. Including their newest addition.

"Alright! I thought I'd be eating goat meat or some weird Kyrati dish here as well!" Perkins received the bowl of stew from Luca.

"I'll be taking lunch elsewhere." Stella got up and walked out with the bowl and some Naan bread in hand. The rest of the Condotierri knew why she was doing this, partly to prevent herself from murdering marine on every occasion she saw him. The rest decided to respect her decision.

"(Sigh) How long do I have to stay here?" Perkins complained.

"You should be grateful you're not spending the last of your days in Durgesh Prison," Ricardo told him as he spooned a mouthful.

"I got caught before in Tehran. Geez! How bad could it be?"

Samson laughed a little.

"From what I hear, they don't do anything to you in Durgesh other than pump narcotics into your blood stream. Their prison has a special touch to it, where there are no walls or railings just a long way down a steep mountain. The idea is that if you didn't go insane from the loneliness or voices of others, while in the right frame of mind you'd jump down the mountain to your death. If not, you'll add to the long line of crazies. No one will remember you once you're there." Samson reached for a loaf when Emilio passed it around.

Perkins became quiet after hearing that, as he tried to absorb the grace he was given by Badala at a whim.

"So it's nothing like your countries Guantanamo Bay or anything. It's just Durgesh Prison."

"So this Yuma runs it right?"

"What? Didn't you get briefed before coming? Getting to know the consequence of being caught in the North?" Ricardo laughed at his naivety.

"So how did you guys decide to switch sides?" That part was never mentioned to them or his Captain by Solomon.

"To be fair, it was our former employer that did that first. Solomon was the Royal Army's supplier until he got greedy and ambitious. Siding with the Golden Path under a new contract afforded him access to Kyrat's natural resource pool if they ever won. We were just with him because he was paying us….. though he still was an ass." Ricardo mumbled the last part.

"Ok?... So how did you get to join him- Badala I mean?"

The Condotierri shifted around uncomfortably when being asked that question, there were fond and not so fond memories packed within that night.

"Solomon got the wise idea of using us as cannon fodder when he had enough of us. We marched up the hill two by two and met with Badala and 3th Company. It wasn't so much the quality of the troops but the person commanding them that made us almost lose all our chances. I surrendered on our behalf and out came Badala, leaking a dangerous aura as if he'd kill us on his own but left it to his soldiers instead….. Then he gave us a choice, match the deaths on to his own and he'd let us live. So I did what any man would do to save his scrawny ass, I killed some assholes in our band and walked away freely." Samson took out his smoking pipe and lit it, taking a few puffs to calm the nerves.

"Then, he offered me a contract. More generous than I've ever been paid in my entire service in Folgore or as a mercenary. He made me remember those deaths as a reminder of who I chose to be and for that I can't thank him enough."

"So it was like he was asking you to be yourself."

"I'm a mercenary, paid by the coin to do dirty work for others there's no hiding that, Sergeant. And that precisely what he wanted from all of us, and that's why he earns my utmost respect. If you've been here long enough, sergeant. You'll understand that Democracy, Republic isn't adequate for the predator infested forest and lakes here. More people die from these natural causes that actual casualties from this Civil War. And to survive in Kyrat, its people have to be physically and mentally hardy. While King Min looks like a tyrant from the international perspective, he's actually preserved and safe guarded the people from the natural dangers through dispatching the Royal Army to have strict control on the peoples' movements. It's a one for one deal, security for freedom."

"We weren't here to dabble with rebels to begin with. We were here under JSOC's orders to ship Wilis's ass back to Russia where he was supposed to be. But being an asshole he is, he refused to follow us. He even threatened Langley with some dirty secrets to let him have his way!"

The Condotierri stared at him blankly as he just disclosed intel he shouldn't have.

"Ops!"

"(Sigh) Whatever, I'll let you tell it to the boss when he gets back. To be honest, neither do we like Willis all that much. We even took to calling him "The Asshole"."

The Condotierri chuckled away as Samson told Perkins the name.

"Say, you guys have any tips on how I could hook up with your female compadre?" The Condotierri laughed out loud at his idea.

"Well for starters, you've gotten off at the terrible first impression," Ricardo said giggling. "Ohhhh!" Luca and Ricardo fist-bumped.

"Who was that guy who died to her?"

"Antorio, one of the few brothers that came from the paratroopers with us over to this cesspit of a country. I take that back, this country's nice but those vicious animals and Golden Path rebels make life here real shitty for the common folk and us." Samson said.

"Ha! Stella treats all of us like fratelli, every single one. She can be like a mother hen at times, always picking on our bad habits. I'd find it hard to continue living if she weren't around to check on us!" Ricardo said. Perkins listened on to the tales of their camaraderie.

"Wonder what's gonna happen to the town?" Luca pondered aloud.

"Is something happening to it soon?" Perkins wasn't aware of the things happening outside because he had been locked up for a day or two.

The Condotierri looked at him in disbelief as his own ignorance.

"Dude, this town revolved around the Arsenal Badala and Miss Maya built. You know what this place use to be called? Valley of death, there was nothing here and nothing could grow here so if you lived here the only options to survive were to move out or join the army and get paid. You blew up one of the most important job providers in all of Kyrat, friend."

Perkins started to understand the seriousness of his platoons' actions to the local community, making him question if they were really doing the right thing by attacking the arsenal even if they were pressured into doing so to leave this place. Perkins scratched his head feeling troubled.

Samson patted him on the shoulders. "It called shame, get used to it."

Perkins laughed, as his comment and the Condotierri laughed with him.

* * *

"We'll be reaching the palace shortly, Ajay." Captain Sandesh reported over the intercom.

"…Uh-…..Yeah…"

Ajay had actually dozed off inside the helicopter after the experience he had in the Himalayas, it was as intense as the last time he was there. Next to him, he actually found Saras leaning on him while doing the same. How long did she need to rest for? But it didn't matter, he at least got her out of her trauma by making it seem like all her experiences were just a dream. Plus, they came back with the flower for the antidote. Ajay took out the canister holding the flower and check to see if the contents were still safe, which it was.

The helicopter landed and Yuma's troops escorted Ajay and Saras to where Maya was. At around the lobby, the palace guards took over the duty of escorting them and they reached the room where Maya was lying in.

(Knock) (Knock) (Knock) Ajay announced his arrival.

"Come in."

Upon opening the door, he found himself looking at a scene he didn't think was possible. Yuma, Pagan and Bhadra were sitting at a table playing some chess.

"Oh my…" Even Saras was surprised.

"Ah, my boy returns. So, did you get the plant?" Pagan asked.

Ajay took out the canister and handed it to the doctor to examine.

"You look worse for wear, what exactly did you do in the mountains?" Yuma inquired.

"Nothing, just went looking for the plant and found it on the peak like the doc said." Yuma scanned him from top to bottom. His appearance, that being his clothes were torn and blood stained with cuts here and there looked nothing like a venture to the mountains although you could graze your skin against sharp rocks hidden in ice but Ajay had too many on him.

"You seem to have had a rough trip in the mountains, was it your first time?"

"You were the last person I expected to be worried about my well-being."

"I'm not. I simply want to remind you that if something like this happens to my child again….. Well, 'do not pass go, do not collect 200 dollars'." Yuma said with a malicious grin, she gave him a hint of what she intended to do with him should she be called in for a similar case such as this.

Yuma walked to the entrance. "It was nice chatting with you, Bhadra dear. I hope you'll visit me some time as well." Bhadra waved back to her as she left.

When she had left and the door closed on its own Ajay turned to Pagan and Bhadra for answers. "Ok? What was that just now?"

"Ha! The look on your face, I'll be the first to admit I was just as surprised to see Bhadra click so well with Yuma too!"

Life was filled with all sorts of surprises, this was a combination that he had never expected considering Yuma's animosity towards his mother whom was a Tarun Matara also.

"Your lordship, I've administered the remedy to Miss Kadayat. I hope you'll allow me to take hold of the remainder of the flower's roots. They're extremely hard to come by and the dispensary's stock for it is currently empty and in need of restock." The Royal Physician reported.

"Sure, that's fine. Also what's the status of that one mercenary that was sent to you, name was Alberto."

"He's condition is normal, he sustained shrapnel to the leg and torso. Thankfully missing his tendons and vitals. He should be back to work within the next week capable of light lifting. He's currently at my clinic receiving the best care he can possibly receive."

"Thank you, Doctor." The Royal Physician excused himself to Pagan before leaving.

"I guess it's time for me to leave. Bhadra you coming?"

"Um…." For some reason, she was reluctant to do some.

"I don't want to leave Maya alone while she's recovering, she might freak out when she wakes up in the palace. Will it be alright, Pagan?"

"I never thought you'd ask, it'll be my pleasure. I bet the staff would feel the same way as well!"

Ajay didn't expect she'd be such a hit in Pagan's house.

"Ah! I see the doubt in your eyes, you know what she did yesterday? She cooked breakfast for my entire staff of servants!" Pagan declared.

"Pfffttt!" Saras quickly covered her giggle as she found the situation to be too amusing.

Bhadra turned red with embarrassment when Pagan revealed it to others. Ajay turned to Bhadra concerning her continued stay.

"You might wanna tell your friends you won't be around for a few days in advance."

"Oh right!"

"Mnnn! I'll keep in touch." Ajay turned to Pagan. "Thank you for doing this."

"Ah! What can I say, I love this girl! She almost feels like how Lakshmana would have turned out if she were alive."

"…"

Somehow Ajay had long seen this happening. Pagan knows better than anyone what was the life of a Tarun Matara like.

"We'll be heading off now, take care Bhadra, Pagan."

"Your royal highness." Saras bowed as she backed away to the door.

"See you around some time, my boy!" Pagan waved at them as they left.

It was just Ajay and Saras now on their way back to the homestead.

"You're certainly a crafty one." She chuckled. From what he saw, Saras had returned to her usual self, much to his relief and disappointment.

"Excuse me?"

"Having Bhadra stay in the palace while we have the house all to ourselves."

"You're overthinking it."

"Am I? If I recall your words correctly before we landed in the mountains it was, "Till Death do us part"?"

Ajay sighed, he wished he didn't open his big mouth back then. Saras unrestrictively wrapped her hands around Ajay's as they made their way back to the Homestead on the hill.

To Ajay, the saga within the mountain never happened. But to Saras, it was an inexplicable event that took her reality and made it seem like she had been living in a well her entire life. She was not ready for such a world but Ajay had solved it for her by feigning ignorance, it was pulling her out of the loop without explaining it.

He did so to protect her from the dangers of knowing too much and once again Saras begun to admire his willingness to do the most difficult thing by keeping it to himself for the sake of others. But she also felt a tinge of sadness that he could never be further away from her grasps.

* * *

Author's notes:

I'll come back to the Yetis in the future so i wanted to give Ajay a reason to come into contact with the Relic tree first. Also to have Bhadra link Yuma and Pagan somehow.

(Update Edited: 07/09/2017)


	23. Chapter 23 - A Demon to kill a Demon

Author's notes:

There has been some grievances on the way Yuma and Maya interact with Ajay recently. And i'm sure there will be more to come on these characters or others in the near future. So I'm planning on bringing out a Chapter that just explains the idea behind each characters conception from my drawing board and how i wanted them to behave because of the story. It'll probably be attached to the next chapter some time soon.

* * *

Ajay woke up in his homestead unable to remember the period between going home from the palace and waking up in the bed.

Again, it was that sweet fragrance that brought back his senses. The one that permeated from Saras's soft slender naked body. Ajay got up pushing her off of him, this woman was beyond corrigible.

"Mmmm….. morning, dear. Did you have a good sleep." She rubbed her eyes as she yawned.

"Put some damn clothes on." He threw a spare clean shirt to her.

"And why can't I remember coming here?" He pressed his temple trying to recall but nothing materialized. That was when Saras chuckled lowly.

"You don't remember because you fainted from exhaustion on the wheel, gave me quite a fright at that too!"

"I see…. Sorry." Ajay scratched his head.

"Don't be, you were dead as a rock. Besides, while you were fast asleep I got to have a sneak peek at the shaft that'll be plowing me in the near future! And I have to say, I'm not disappointed!" She smacked her lips and Ajay unconsciously covered his crotch with his hands to which she laughed at his reaction.

-This minx! One of these days I'm gonna teach her a lesson!-

"I'm not against you staying in my house as a guest but, that's what the guest rooms are for."

"What guest rooms? There're only three bedrooms in this house, one for Maya, one for Bhadra, and one for you and me!"

Something didn't add up. "You've been sleeping in my house ever since I got it which was three weeks ago, where've you been lodging all this while?"

Saras smiled and pointed down at his bed. Ajay pressed his palms to his face.

He hadn't slept in the house except twice, Saras wasn't around the night of the attack. He had assumed she was staying together with Bhadra but that obviously didn't seem to be the case. What was he going to do? He didn't want to have to shout at her to leave his house, should he sleep on the couch from now on? Perhaps book a room in the inn then, but away from Hurk. He'd slept in the same room as Hurk for three weeks and knew of the man-child's snoring habits.

He couldn't believe the thoughts he was having right now, moving out of his own house because someone was getting too cozy with him. For the next few days, he wouldn't return home so he had plenty of time to think about what to do by then.

He didn't stay long in the house after freshening for the morning, he was out immediately after. Walking down the hill to the town to grab a bit at one of the many stores, coincidentally he met Hurk at the bread stall.

"Sup' Homie!"

"Hi, Hurk." Ajay greeted casually as he paid for the breakfast from the stall. "That'll be five hundred rupees!" The stall owner held out a hand to receive the cash from Ajay. "Um….. My lord?"

"Mmmm?"

"My lord, would you indulge in a selfish request of mine? Is the Arsenal truly closing as the rumors have said?" The owner of the bread shop inquired as the other customers turned their heads awaiting Ajay's answer.

"Is that what's been spreading around town?" The Owner nodded.

"It was just machinery that got toasted, that's easily replaceable not like the employees and neither did I send any letter that said I'd dismiss the Arsenal's staff." Ajay took a bite out of the bread as if the Arsenal being blown was no big a deal. But it gave the townsfolk some assurance that their fears were for naught, they would likely spread the news to the other folk in town later. After all, nothing was more powerful than the words from the horse's mouth.

Hurk tagged along with Ajay on his way to the Arsenal.

"Hey! Bad's, what's with leaving me hanging for the last few days, huh?!" It wasn't that he didn't want to attend to Hurk but he didn't have the time recently.

"I was busy handling things in the Arsenal and in the Palace. And in case you weren't aware there was a raid by the SOCOM marines. I hope you've been well rested enough." When Ajay expressed his intentions to offer Hurk a job he brightened up.

"Alright! So, what's the deal?" Hurk was eager to start working.

"I'll have you under the tutelage of the Condotierri, it'll help you learn a bit of professionalism."

"YEESSS!" Hurk fist pumped the air expressively garnering everyone's' attention around them.

They reached the compound security where the guards expressed their concerns over Hurk entering the compound due to their distrust towards foreigners, of course the Italian Condotierri were the exception. It was now common knowledge that a group of US special forces soldiers had attacked the Arsenal and earned the ire of every single individual in the Town and Arsenal. This was why Ajay placed the captured marine under the protection of the Condotierri in case there were any unfortunate "Accidents" while he was roaming town or subjected to vigilante justice.

Ajay made a stop to the Condotierris' living quarters at the cabin to introduce Hurk and to deal with the marine more importantly.

Ajay entered at the time they were just about finishing breakfast, sitting comfortably with them was the marine.

"Uh- Morning boss!" Ricardo responded as he found it awkward that they were communicating with their prisoner in their employer's presence.

"Morning. I checked with the physician yesterday, Alberto will return in a week good as new." Ajay wasn't bothered at all, his orders were to keep the marine alive and well and they executed it as he asked of them.

"That's great!" Stella sighed in relief, she was the most concerned about his wellbeing.

"Who've you got there, Boss?" Samson was more aware of the surroundings.

"This is Hurk, don't let the appearance deceive you. He reliably helped me infiltrate the Golden Path weeks ago." Ajay gave a brief overview of Hurk's abilities.

"Hey!" But Hurk wasn't pleased with it when mentioning his appearance.

"I'd like you to teach him the ropes of combat, so I'll leave him in your charge. You can order him about to do things for you but I want him capable of doing nearly as well as a Royal Guardsman within four months."

"Finally, we've got ourselves a scrub!- Ouch!" Ricardo again openly expressed his general laziness at will.

"Hey, you're that guy Stew drew info on the Arsenal from." Perkins responded as he had trouble recognizing him from some place.

All heads turned towards Hurk who was left in cold sweating. Ajay grinned. "Really… I'd like to hear about that from you."

* * *

The rest of the Condotierri and Hurk were out training him or testing him on his physical fitness and other combat proficiencies.

Meanwhile, back in the lounge of the cabin. Samson, Ricardo, Perkins and Ajay sat to discuss what to do with the marine.

"Staff Sergeant Gregor Perkins, Force Recon Marines 4th Battalion. SOCOM. Black ops. I'm grateful for you keeping me alive but I won't say anymore. If you'll understand…." He wasn't going to expose his group no matter what.

"I don't expect you to Sergeant. I just want to talk to you and see what you think about what I have to say. After that, I'm sending you back to your outfit."

Perkins raised an eyebrow, what Ajay said sounded too good to be true.

"I met your commander personally in the hills and while fighting the little bird told me and interesting story going on between you fellas and Willis."

"….."

"It sounded like Willis was going off mission and your group was trapped here. Truthfully I don't want the CIA's presence here and I most certainly don't want Willis around."

Perkins sighed as he thought about his decision to talk. "The CIA was never supposed to have involvement in Kyrat, Willis was on route to Russia from a charming hotspot in the South-East Asia region called Rook Island. The…"Asshole" decided to take a detour while he was at it." Samson and Ricardo chuckled at Willis's title.

"So JSOC dispatched us to put him back on track, but the asshole threw a temper tantrum and threatened the head spook in Langley for an op gone south decades ago. Being a little shit like all the spooks were, Lynch pull out all available support to us so that there was minimal signature of US presence in Kyrat leaving us stranded. If we left without Willis we'd risk being disavowed and treason back home, our families will surely take the heat. The only way to get out was to give in to the fat fuck and satisfy his requests before he went on his way. His first of many likely requests was for us to remove you from the picture."

"…" Ajay wasn't surprised at all, he was aware of that since his last day in Banapur.

"What's the likeliness of this Lynch dispatching a kill-team to clean up the mess here if things drag on?" From Ajay's point of view, the marines were just as much of a risk and liability to him and his career in the CIA.

"80%, 20% says he's confident we'll handle it and Willis will be on his way. Willis still has his nuts in a vice though, with the documents of their operation still existing that is."

"And you can't exactly go looking for it yourself because if you successfully did, Lynch would push the panic button and carpet bomb your asses, right?"

Perkins nodded.

"Here's what I have in mind. Indulge your captain on my intentions on knowing Willis's activities and the likely whereabouts of the documents. I find it, Lynch can't make political maneuvers against the monarchy, you get to go home without issues and Willis gets to go home in a body-bag."

In other words, with the documents in Ajay's hands. He could use it as leverage against Lynch to remove the CIA's presence from Kyrat for the entire period of Lynch's career, another ten years or so which was still good. With Ajay on the marines' side Lynch wouldn't dare charge them with treason and put their involvement aside for the better of himself. From Perkin's description of Lynch he wasn't a very tactful character to be played around with by a field agent. A little paranoid and cowardly he might add, so it made him easy to control by manipulating his fear. Ajay had one of the best manipulators in the business to manage him, Pagan.

"That sounds highly optimistic."

"It is, but I'll let your Captain decide."

"Is that all you want?"

"That's all. Willis is the only reason I'm having difficulty subjugating the Golden Path under Sabal's leadership. That guy is an absolute pushover, and he's quite insane. Allowing foreigners to mess with a civil war, that's breaking the golden rule of liberating a country with one's own strength." Ajay shook his head, probably Amita was thinking the same thing. Sabal might be a charismatic leader but he was an atrocious commander in the field and in politics. Ajay was having a bit of trouble reconciling how such an idiot had him fooled with his bright genuine smile and honest remarks. Sabal was a better manipulator of human emotion.

"We'll deposit you tomorrow near an outpost where you'll walk the rest of the way back to seem like your escaped on your own strength, how bout that?"

"Yeah. I can do with that."

"Why can't we send him now?" Ricardo asked.

"Too soon and it'll seem suspicious, he can't arrive sooner than the rest. They did come over through the mountains and back after all. It'll take at least two to three days' tops. The sergeant could make up a story that he liberated a chopper or sneaked on some supply truck across King's bridge." Ajay told Ricardo who nodded in understanding.

"So I guess that's it then."

"One more day in the cabin and we'll bring you to Pacchim Valley (Southern Kyrat)."

"Can I go to the town tonight? The beer was awesome!" Perkins was just a funny character, Ajay chuckled a bit.

"Go with Samson or Ricardo at least. The townsfolk hate your guts, so if they find out you were part of the raid they might stab you in the street." Ajay warned.

To the people who established themselves within the former Valley of Death, it was a once in a lifetime opportunity. Ajay never imposed taxes like Noore or Yuma for that matter, there were loans that were negotiable if their business was essential, such as food businesses, pottery or electrical and mechanical services. Drugs were a no-no still and he posted in the local article that established itself in the Valley that he'd snipe them if he found them planting or selling. There was no military presence in his territory as well which was quite relieving for the people as they wouldn't be subjected to roadblocks. Instead, Arjun had the newly established police force to stretch its legs, the Royal Kyrati Police built a commission in the town to operate from although still in the development process, there had yet to be a legal system in Kyrat other than the laws of the jungle or traditional laws. The new commissioner was a former Royal Guard but was a member in Arjun's faction so they were in line with one another's work. The attack on the Arsenal left the town in anxiousness because it contributed to the town's prosperity, thanks to Maya's management.

"Oh….Ok!"

"It's up to you. I'd advise you rest up and think about what you plan to do personally."

"…. Yeah! Wait till I get my hands on Fredrick, fucking traitor!"

"Who?"

"Oh- Nah! It's this sergeant of mine that shot me and left me for dead back then." Malicious thoughts spawned in Perkin's head.

"So what do you plan to do with him?"

"Kill'im." Perkins said bluntly.

"In the report I'll just write he fell over some rocks and died, nobody leaves a marine behind, and he's no marine!"

"That's entirely up to you, just make sure he doesn't weasel out on you and your captain with Willis. Cornered rats tend to do that."

"I'll take that into consideration, I'll gun him down first then explain why I did it!" Perkins said with an absolute smile of satisfaction.

"Also when we entered you said something about Hurk telling you guys about our Arsenal."

"Ah!- The redneck! He's not gonna get in trouble if I say anything, right?" Perkins asked feeling a little sorry they made use of Hurk.

"I'll have him accept punishment at a better time for having a loose tongue but I won't hurt him physically, he doesn't deserve it."

Perkins was a little assured with Ajay's remark.

"Right, I'm heading out. I'll see you in the morning tomorrow. Samson, Ricardo, coordinate with Bipin in requisitioning a chopper for tomorrow."

"Yes, boss." Said Ricardo.

"Rest well, you lot." Ajay walked out towards the Arsenal's office which was still intact.

* * *

Maya opened her eyes after what seemed like a while in purgatory, and the first thing she saw almost took the life out of her. Sitting next to her was King Min.

"Y-Your Royal Highness!-"

"Lie down, girl. You haven't recovered yet."

"Uh- Might I ask where am I?" She asked meekly.

"You're in my house, courtesy of Ajay and Bhadra and of course me." Pagan smiled.

Maya was speechless and even harder, she had many questions to ask but the person before her was the most difficult to ask from.

"Feel free to ask whatever question your heart desires!" Said Pagan smiling, it was as if he could read it from her expression.

"If- If your highness will allow me to…. Where is Bhadra, where is Ajay?"

"Bhadra's out cooking some lunch for you, as for Ajay…. Well, he's settling the damage done to his precious Arsenal."

"D-Damage?" She was out for almost four days and part of what she was aware of was when Ajay had come to her room to nurse her in the most dire times. Then there was some kind of commotion going on in the house and she was moved to here.

"Seems the CIA was involved in an attempted assassination of my boy and those forces decided to blow his Arsenal since they were in the neighborhood. My boy's worth the attention of the CIA? Makes me so proud of him!" Pagan got lost in his own thoughts after saying so.

The words Pagan spoke made Maya paler and paler than before.

"Oh- Don't worry your pretty little head, dear! In fact, I'd feel sorrier for the spec ops soldiers our spook sent for him."

"How long was I out for?"

"Four days, including this one. That neurotoxin sure did its toll on you!"

"Neurotoxin?!" Her eyes widened at the thought she had been poisoned.

"Maya?" Bhadra came in with a tray and noticed her awake, she places down the tray on the coffee table and rushes to her bedside.

"Ease up, Bhadra! She isn't going anywhere!" Pagan chuckles.

"Bhadra…. Tell me everything that happened in the last four days!" Maya wanted to hear it from her.

Bhadra told her about the simultaneous attack on the house and the Arsenal by the American soldiers. Ajay had lured the soldiers out of the house because they were after him, they fought, he won. And Pagan came over with a doctor, then the discovery of the neurotoxin in her bloodstream. Its origin was traced from the cave she and Ajay went to, the circumstances were just right for toxic mushroom to release its spores so she contracted it. Ajay went up into the Himalayan mountains with Saras to retrieve an antidote.

"He looked seriously hurt, when he returned but didn't comment on it." Bhadra wanted to express how much Ajay cared for her that he went out to do the things he did especially in the most inconvenient times when he was just attacked by assassins and the Arsenal was half-destroyed.

Maya sat there quietly absorbing what Bhadra informed her and consolidating her own thoughts.

"Mistress Yuma…" She became worried because she didn't report to her during the week. Yuma was most certainly aware of her predicament, would she go searching for Ajay seeking trouble was what Maya feared.

"She came over to visit, she's very nice despite what the people back in Banapur used to make up about her!" Bhadra declared smiling.

"I know." Maya treasured her childhood memories of growing up under Yuma's care. When she first found the village and the orphanage during the darkest of her hours, seeking solitude through giving another a chance to grow. Yuma adopted Maya and raised her into the woman she was today, it was an unrepayable debt of gratitude she owed to her for bringing her and her brother out of a harsh life and giving her the motherly affection she needed.

"Did Mistress meet with Badala?"

"Mnnn! They did, they exchanged a few words but that was it." Bhadra dutifully reported what she saw. Maya breathed a sigh of relief, she thought she was going to send out an entire kill-team to kill Ajay regardless of the consequences. Pagan chuckled lightly.

"You should rest, you've only just recovered from the poisoning." Pagan told her.

(Knock) (Knock) (Knock)

"Who is it?"

"Arjun, your highness."

"Come in."

Arjun walked into the room with a file in his hand.

"Reports on the Golden Path activities and the progress of the reformation of the Royal Guard is almost complete."

"Ok. What's Sabal up to now?"

"Um…." Arjun was wondering if he should disclose classified intel within the presence of the King's guests.

"Arjun. This is Maya Kadayat, Yuma's girl. And Bhadra, they're both friends of my boy so it should be fine."

"Yes! Um- Kadayat as in Paresh Kadayat?" Arjun seemed to recognize the name.

"That was my late father." Maya answered.

"I'm sorry for your loss, I meant no disrespect, milady. Patriarch Paresh was a shining example within the ranks of warriors."

"Oh- Paresh! So gungho back then! Always first to the fight!" Pagan recalled.

"That was the same one, your highness!" Arjun confirmed.

From what Maya gathered, her father was a highly respected man in the court until the attack by the Golden Path on the manor.

"Seems like Maya's family is quite well recognized in the court." Bhadra said.

"Oh yes! Paresh was one of the few Royalist along with Arjun who joined me in cementing my rule in the kingdom and clearing out the Nationalist movement in the past. Well to be fair, most of the credit went to Yuma. Then that cunt Mohan formed the Golden Path and sent some goons to torch his house!" Pagan say and rubbed his temples after reminding himself of Mohan.

"Your highness, there is some new intel I'd like to disclose to you. For the safety of your guests may we take this somewhere else?"

"(Sigh) Sure, Bhadra and Maya, I'll be out for a while. And Bhadra, don't stay up too late."

"Ok."

"Great!" Pagan went out with Arjun.

"We'll take this in my study."

"Yes, your highness."

Arjun walked alongside Pagan on the way to his study. When Pagan started up a conversation.

"Seems quite strange isn't it, the House of Kadayat appears again to help me out!" Pagan chuckles.

"It is a relieve to see that their bloodline is still present." Arjun commented and thought about his encounter with Maya, the living descendant of Paresh Kadayat. His eyes held a deep suspicion.

"But I don't recall Paresh even having a daughter…..?" He softly murmured.

* * *

Ajay met Longinus and Samar together in what was left of the Arsenal.

Elina gave him the report on the status of the remains. The weapons manufacturing quadrant was hit hard by shaped charges rendering the machines irreparable. The blast had also rendered much of the servicing stations out of operation and would take time to repair.

"We will rebuild, upon the ashes of the old a new one shall be reborn!" Longinus proclaimed.

"Indeed, the new Swiss machinery you brought has saved us the trouble of procuring it again." Samar agreed.

Ajay's hefty investment in the Swiss made machinery was due to the similarity in Switzerland and Kyrat's geography and climate requiring machines that could make or design weapons and ammunition that could resist some of the most adverse conditions on the planet, specifically the Himalayas which mirrored the environment of the French Alps. It would also give Kyrat the edge against the Golden Path in a more sustainable arsenal and perhaps even its country neighbors.

"Antorio and Alberto saved the Ammunition Manufacturing Machines which saves us quite a bit. Arjun still needs us to supply his troops with the ammunition they need to wage this war."

Longinus was still supplying ordnance, weapons and ammo but in such a small supply it couldn't sustain the war effort of the entire Royal Army now twice its original size.

"We'll need to work fast to bring the Arsenal back into operation. There are a few things I have in plan for the Town and Employees tomorrow which might reduce the tension they've experienced for the past four days."

"I'd be interested to know! Although, I'd like to suggest a way we can reduce the Royal Army's reliance on us." Samar pointed out.

"Oh? Really?"

"I'm currently in the process of training interns on gunsmithing. Perhaps we could allow them to set up a gunsmith within the barracks or fortresses around Kyrat. That way the weapons can be maintained there at their convenience." Samar's solution was very practical.

"I think that's a good idea. I'll leave it to you on their training, I'll send the word to Arjun on this implementation. I'm sure he'll be happy to oblige."

"Spreading the word, I like the way you think. Friend!" Longinus gave his thumbs up no matter if it had anything to do with guns he was ok.

"I was actually wondering if we could set up a technical school within the town, that way you could provide lessons and return to your job in Palace when needed." Said Ajay.

It was a thought that occurred to him for a long time. The people could get themselves trained for the job they wanted and all the Arsenal and other occupations such as the motor pool had to do was to source trained manpower from the school instead of investing money on training individual employees they could leave it to the school to handle that affair at a commission of their revenue.

"It is the best idea I've heard so far. So if we were to set up other Arsenals in the other lords' territories they could receive training here no matter what and the town would still remain fresh!"

Ajay's only major concern now was his pocket, he was spending an awful lot on things without returns so far except for the town in the form of rent revenue thanks again to Maya.

He needed to go adventuring again in the Pacchim valley to continue funding their operation and further town development. At about the right time because he was depositing the marine Perkins on the other side as promised. A little counter-intelligence against Willis, although as Perkins described was rather naïve. Ajay was counting on the fact that it was so obvious it couldn't be an actual attempt, he'd let Perkins decide whether to tell his commander and whether the Captain would follow through with the plan.

* * *

David walked with what was left of his platoon towards Willis who was chatting with Solomon in the supply cache depot for the weaponry and ammunition consolidated from Solomon's contraband caravan into Kyrat via a secret passage away from the border guards.

"You took longer than I expected."

"We were doing what your incompetent ass couldn't!" David growled at him. Solomon chuckled lightly in the sideline.

"What the fuck's your problem, you sniggering dipshit?" David sneered.

"So what's the outcome?" Willis stood in front of them awaiting his answer.

"You already knew the answer even before we came back, why the fuck are you asking then?!" David was usually a calm person but the attitude Willis was showing him had pushed him to his very limit. He was sure Willis already had sources to tell him the news, the half-strength of the marines was testament to the failure.

"Hey! Hey! Hey! Easy there-."

"Ok- The one thing you don't want to tell me is take it easy!" David warned Willis with a sneer.

"Sure whatever, I want all you know on Badala. Pros and cons of what you've seen with him."

"We risked out lives to cross the mountain attempt to assassinate him, I think we can call it a day for all of us!" David turned around with the marines accompanying him.

"Oh! And by the way, he was manufacturing arms on the other side. The factories have been taken care of." David motioned to Stew and the marine scout placed the domestically built rifle in front of Willis before following after David and the rest of the platoon.

Solomon was the most curious about the rifle placed in front of them and picked it up, examining the weapons quality.

"Aren't you gonna follow them?"

"Humph! Why should I? They're expendable assets, easily replaceable with they can die in the gutters for all I care and Lynch'll have no choice but to send another group in to replace them."

"You sure he won't send a squad to erase you instead?"

"The man's a pussy who shoved the blame on me back in '89. I had a very private satellite chat with him just recently, he's still the same dickless coward that I knew only with grey hairs."

"I see, things are all according to plan then. So how do you plan to kill Badala now that even some of America's finest failed to do so?"

"The United States has a ton of patriots and I happen to know one such patriot who might give him a run for his money, maybe even beat him in a square match. That's why I made that call and why I had you nab those kids."

Solomon had no idea what Willis was getting him to do a week ago. Using his human trafficking connections to kidnap a bunch of kids from Los Angeles and bringing them all the way here. Willis assured him they wouldn't be missed by authorities, his interaction with Lynch made sure they were disappeared from the registry, like they were spirited away or never even existed.

"So can this "Patriot" do the job?" A voice called out from behind.

"Sabal…."

"I'd say fifty-fifty." Willis declared.

"That's the best?"

"That's fifty chance for him and fifty chance for Badala my friend, pardon my French!"

"Interesting! I can't say I'm not excited! What I wouldn't give to see a knife fight between them in an arena to the death! Do you have an idea of who this person is?" Sabal turned to Solomon who shook his head.

On cue, a detail of Golden Path fighters escorted a row of bag-covered prisoners. "Surprise!" Solomon decided to keep this early delivery a forthcoming welcome to the spook.

"Move!" The Golden Path fighter beat one of the five prisoners with gunny sacks over their heads. Causing her to groan in pain but get up and move onwards. There was a whole lot of shivering and whining from the face covered prisoners who were chained to one another like a centipede.

"Please! Whatever it is I'll pay!"

"Shut up!" The female Golden Path fighter delivered a merciless rifle butt to the man's stomach.

"Damn! I underestimated the diligence of a dedicated human trafficker." Willis admitted. Solomon chuckled once more. Sabal cocked his head but his bandages could not hide the grin that was on his face.

"Why is this happening again?!" One lamented beneath the cloth bag over her head. There was evidently sobbing behind that one which aroused Sabal a little to the sweet sound of her pleas.

"This one seems to be quite pleasing to the ears and the body! Mind if I have a peek?" Sabal came over to the prisoners. Willis motioned for him to be his guest.

Sabal removed the gunny sack from over her head, revealing a young woman in her early-twenties Caucasian in race with a very youthful complexion and brown chestnut hair tied in a bun. Two lines trickled down her face ruining her make-up.

"Please! Why are yo-?"

"ShShShhhhhhh….. hush." Sabal placed his finger to her lips to cut her off and she continued to sob.

Sabal placed a hand on her cheeks. "You're very beautiful, has anyone ever told you that?" Even with his face half torched he wore his charming smile. The young woman had no choice but to shiver and whimper.

"Don't touch her!" Shouted a courageous one within the batch of five. "Quiet you!" The fighter watching over the other woman grabbed the back of her head from the bag and straightened her.

Sabal walked over and squatted in front of the woman who was on her knees and removed her bag over her head.

"Quite the brave one aren't you!" Sabal leaned closer to the blonde mid-twenties woman with sapphire eyes glittering with defiance.

"If this is about ransom you'll get what you want then piss off!" She spat.

"Ha! Feisty! I could almost just-." "Muuu!" Sabal actually forced himself on her, his tongue dug into the insides of her mouth causing her to fall into initial shock as was her crying friend. But she was about to show him nobody could just freely take her lips as she bit him on the lips causing him to retract with a bleeding lower lip. But Sabal just laughed. "You're just the way I like it too! You're not like Amita who's a total turn-off when she gets angry!"

"You bastard! When my father comes with the money you'll regret it!" She growled.

"Oh I wouldn't be so sure of that Sweet pea. In fact, nobodies gonna be looking for you back home or here. You five officially don't exist in any database as of today."

"What- that can't be-…" The brave lady lost control of her mouth and let the words fall out.

"Oh it is sweet pea! Those geeks in Central Intelligence can make anyone disappear in a matter of seconds from any US registry." Willis smirked behind his pair of Ray ban's.

Upon the mention of the CIA, all of the five prisoners seem to fall deadly pale and quiet at the same time.

"Th- Then-….. What do you want?!" The previously brave girl called out.

"Simple, dear. I've been having a problem with a warlord recently in my country. Your friend I've been hearing about from Willis seems to display a knack at removing such a problem with surprisingly lethal efficiency!" Sabal smiled with his pearly whites.

The brave girl wore a grave expression as if she understood something.

"He doesn't do that sort of thing anymore! He's a changed man!" The crying woman defended the person they were looking for.

"Oh but he will and he'll do it to save you and his friends, miss-….." Willis handed out a document on their name and details to Sabal.

"Liza Snow, what a pretty name!"


	24. Chapter 24 - Reborn as Tigers

Author's notes:

The appearance of Liza and Daisy were just a preview of what i intend to show in the coming chapters ahead. So stay tuned.

Also, the Chapter i promised that would have all the thoughts on the characters is still under development. I rushed the release of this chapter as a priority and just completed it 1am in the morning.

* * *

It was early in the morning, the third day had arrived where the employees returned to the Arsenal as they were instructed to. They stood waiting in the compound where over three hundred employees waited for someone to appear at the hastily built podium, outside the compound at the fences were hundreds more from the town eager to hear the developments that were happening with the Arsenal that would affect everyone's lives here.

Out of the office of the Arsenal came the supervisor Elina, Royal Armorer and head gunsmith Samar, The Condotierri, Administrator Bipin and Ajay. Who walked up the podium and faced the gathered crowd.

"Lordship!"

"Lord Badala!"

"Is it true the Arsenal's closing?"

"Has it come to this?"

The people called out with hint of concern and anxiousness. Ajay waved his hands for them to settle as he stood on the podium and adjusted the microphone.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, friends and co-workers. I know you've all been through as rough a time as the state of the Arsenal. It is not current news as to what occurred a few days ago, an attack by US marines under the sponsorship of the Golden Path. I would like to say that those responsible have been dealt with and those that haven't are about to get their just desserts. But all of you are gathered here for a different reason am I correct?"

Some in the crowd nodded unconsciously to his response, but all were quiet listening to his speech.

"Over the course of the month, I've watched all of you at work in this establishment. You have worked to feed your families, working to find a better life that you and they deserve. Every morning, you're all here earlier than the expected revelry and at night you return together after a long day at work. Through my visits to the various different departments I've always seen you hard at work, not because someone said you must but because you wanted to. I've never been more proud of you as a fellow co-worker doing their best for themselves and others around." Ajay smiled wryly.

Some of the workers breathed heavily and huffed with pride at his words. Most of the earlier staff had the pleasure of learning and training alongside him, making their experience rather unique to the newer staff.

"It made me learn an important lesson during my journey with you, fellow co-workers. The heart of this establishment is and will always be its people, me… and you."

The workers were incredibly moved by his speech, some went on their knees sobbing.

"So when the Arsenal was subject to a raid and its valuable machinery was destroyed the first thing we checked was if there was anyone within the premise of the firefight. Unfortunately, there have been casualties sustained in the raid attack by the American Spec-ops. Security Guard Debesh lost his life while performing rounds within the warehouse and was killed after he had compromised their actions. Condotierri Antorio died whilst disarming the explosives to the machinery and sacrificed his life to save a friend. Both men lost their lives while performing their duty courageously. For their lost, there can be no words pass for gratitude and the lost we experience from their departure." Ajay took a bow of silence which the others on the podium followed placing their hands to their chest. The Crowd followed in as a sign of respect to the two men that died.

Stella held her hands to her mouth so as to muffled her crying.

"Machine can be repaired and replaced but you, fellow co-workers are irreplaceable to this establishment. That is why the machinery to replace the old destroyed ones has already arrived and awaiting assembly. But with no workers to use them, to keep them in good running shape they'll always just be machines. So I wish that you will continue to work with us during this adversity we've faced together."

The crowd burst into a round of applause and cheers, the ones in the compound and the ones in the town. Partly because the Arsenal was not closing but rebuilding, but also because of the style of speech Ajay chose that left an impression on the employees and townsfolk.

"The work we have ahead will be tougher, the challenges we face greater. And so to commemorate our hard work we have at hand, I will be hosting the town's first festival one week from now."

There was a lot of cheers and yelling, a good vibe passed around the crowd and excitement ran through the crowd, employees and townsfolk alike.

A festival, that was Ajay's way of boosting the morale of the employees to have something to look forward to once they worked to restore operation to the Arsenal. The festival also offered various opportunities. A way to celebrate but also bring in more people into the town by promoting it.

"Elina, I'll leave this to you while I'm gone."

"Leave it to us, Badala. We won't let you down!"

Ajay stepped off the podium and left it to Elina who issued the orders. Samar and a nearly trimmed and dressed Longinus awaited him at the bottom of the podium.

"I'll be back before the festival to check on everything. Again, thanks for helping out. I know you're both busy with your day jobs."

"It's fine, come back and you'll be surprised by the results. With Miss Khati around to manage it shouldn't be difficult."

He walked with the Condotierri to the cabin where they were escorting Staff Sergeant Perkins to Pacchim Valley.

Perkins was leaning against the porch of the cabin in his gear ready to leave, he had apparently heard the speech and the crowds' reactions. He wore a sullen expression.

"Time to go Sergeant."

"Yeah. Say Badala… Is it too late to apologize for what we did?" Perkins asked scratching his head. Ajay chuckled softly.

"Never."

* * *

Saras was escorted to the room which held Maya by Gary, Pagan's butler-like assistant. She had heard the progress in Maya's recovery and wanted to visit her while she still had the chance. While passing the courtyard she caught a glimpse of King Min talking to his body-double Eric. At first she was surprised and thought her vision was failing her but Gary assured her she was fine. But still, to find a perfect double as him, King Min paid top dollar finding and crafting one to look almost like a doppelganger of himself.

(Knock) (Knock) (Knock)

"Miss Kadayat, you have a visitor." Gary announced.

"Come in, please!"

Gary opened the door for Saraswati to walk in. "Hi!" She waved to her as she came into view.

Maya smiled wryly.

"I shall take my leave then, please call me if there is anything that is required. His Royal Highness has given his consent to it." Gary informed them before taking his leave.

"How's little Maya doing in the palace being treated like a princess, watched over 24/7 by the King himself?"

"Please don't remind me! I'm having one of the most stressful times being taken care of by King Min. How can Badala even talk to him like he's his father?" Saras chuckles in her usual way as she sat by the bedside where Maya was lying.

"How have you been?"

"I'm getting better, or so the physician says. Two more days and I'll be back to attending to the mess with the Arsenal Badala likely left for me…. (Sigh) Maybe I should stay here for a while longer."

Saras laughs.

"You thought wrong, Maya. The Arsenal is already in motion to restoring operation and apparently there's going to be a festival in the week's end, isn't that exciting!"

"Huh?" Maya was left with a feeling like her actions were no longer valued.

She remained quiet for some time, giving Saras the time to analyze her expression.

"You quite an attention seeker, aren't you Maya!" Saras smiled.

"Wh-What?!"

"Admit it, girl! It's become the part and parcel of why you've always been so diligent at your work whether it was for Badala or mistress Yuma."

Maya rubbed her head.

"….. Perhaps it's because it always helped me forget the tough times before Mistress Yuma picked me. Bipin always looked up to me being a strong older sister, but I'm not. Losing mother and father had taken a toll on me as well, and not being able to express it in the presence of my crybaby brother caused me to bottle that inside. Then recently there's been this person that's been setting it off." Saras chuckles.

"Is it because Ajay causes it or because you let it?"

"….."

They both knew what Ajay was like to them. Ajay treats his friends well but he treated both of them especially well. Though he never gave in to Saras's advances he never shunned her away or lash out at her for being the way she was. Maya had the awful habit of picking on him and scrutinizing the things he did but he never raised his voice against her nor act violently. Naturally, they felt comfortable to his presence and acted the way they were because he never challenged them on it. He changed drastically since the Meh Teh Offensive that broke the Golden Path's momentum into Northern Kyrat. They both learnt he wasn't a cold and calculative person but a caring and affectionate young man. Bhadra could attest to that as she received the care of an older brother from Ajay.

Maya froze for a while and turned to Saras. "I'm sorry, did you just say Ajay?" To while Saras smiled again.

"How di-….. did he decide to tell you halfway or something?"

"It was an honest theory I had for some time before he confirmed it for me when I forced him to take me to the mountains to help look for the plant that would save your life."

"And I'm grateful for you for finding it!... Him too I guess."

"I know you are. And yet the look on his face the entire trip said he was the one who landed you in that state."

"…."

Maya grew concerned as Saras became the quiet one after speaking.

"Did something happen in the mountains?"

"… I botched it."

"Huh?"

"Letting me join him in that search was not just about saving you, to me this was the first time he had ever entrusted someone to do a critical job he was only confident in doing himself. He brought me into his world for the first time, I took his words lightly and paid for it. And I messed it up on my own, I put both him and myself in danger! And worse, in the end when I couldn't take it he took me out of the grid so I would be spared from the pain he's been enduring all this while!" Saras became expressively upset as she talked about what had happened.

Maya was speechless as she continued to listen in.

"The reason Ajay is as monstrous as he is because there are bigger monsters out there and the only way to survive was for him to fight. Though he saved me, I've never felt further away from him than I do now. This trip has made me feel entirely inadequate for him, at home it's become more like him indulging my selfishness instead." Saras reached out to Maya and placed her hands on hers as she knelt at the bedside.

"What should I do?... I don't want to separate from him but would he accept me for who I am now that he knows my truth colours?... I know you're someone truly special to him, if not he wouldn't have gone through that life endangering mission without a second thought. If one day, he does pick you over all else would you give him up for me? Would you be willing to?" Tears streaked from her face full of anguish and pain.

Maya removed her hand and wiped the tears from Saras's eyes with her finger.

"Silly Saras, when has Ajay ever judged a person from their character or flaws. I'm sure you'll have all the time to win his heart if that's what you really want." She spoke words of encouragement to Saras. Who broke into a self-pitying resigned laughter.

"Ahahahaahaha!….(Sigh)…. You're right."

"There we go!" Maya smiled at her renewal of confidence.

"Now that you mentioned it perhaps I do have a chance, it reminds me of a dream up in the mountains that night."

"A dream?" Maya cocked her head, Saras nodded.

"I dreamt that Ajay was trapped in a cave and I was missing. He tried to find me and a way out of the cave, but he only found the later. He searched and searched, called out my name in the cave and risked being found by the cave's inhabitants. But he couldn't find me and I never responded back, the conclusion he had… I died. I thought he would just leave me as he had resigned in his heart that I had died, but instead he did the most unexpected thing I could have imagine of him. He turned his back to the exit and charged in deeper into the lair of demons and went on a self-destructive rampage. It was painful just watching him tear himself apart."

"(Sigh) That guy! Even in your dreams he worries you!"

"I guess." Saras chuckled.

"But that's just Ajay I guess."

"It sure is….. perhaps if he really were to, I wouldn't mind sharing him with you."

"Don't even suggest that!" Maya frowned more as Saras laughed heartily once more.

Saras embraced her unrestraint, pecking her on the cheek. Maya was left troubled by a flip in the fickleness of her behavior.

-Such an adorable sister she truly is!-

* * *

On board the helicopter, Ajay listened to some music from his headphones plugged into his smartphone. In his hands, was the Yalung mask which he fiddled about with. He had not worn it since the Operation at the Airport now known by Army High Command as the Meh Teh Offensive. The name Ajay Ghale was almost non-existent to the public, instead his face was that of Badala, Vice lord of Kyrat and the mask became a symbol of when he took military action on behalf of the Army. Ajay placed the mask on his face and locked the clasps.

"I'm starting to get the reason why the Golden Path are scared of you now." Perkins commented on his mask. Ajay wore his malicious grin that matched the terrifying visage of the mask.

The helicopter landed just off Shanath at the roadside where an armed convoy was waiting. The Condoterri, Ajay and Perkins alighted with their equipment.

Anish and Bipin were waiting with the convoy. "Where's Darshan?"

"Wasn't he in the Royal Fortress?" Anish asked.

Ajay still wanted to know why he knew about his predicament and informed Saras before anyone else was aware besides Pagan. Unfortunately, he wasn't here.

"Forget it. Have the preparations been made?"

"Yes. All supplies accounted for, are you really sure about this Ajay?"

"I am." Ajay returned to where Perkins was and handed him a set of keys to an ATV from the convoy and a radio with an encrypted channel.

"Use the codes I gave you when your group is out of sight."

"Thanks. I'll be sure to tell my commander about you- Buhh! Hey!" Perkins got hit by a ball of mud by Ajay.

"Oh! I just realized you look a little too clean to have escaped on your own for four days. Help out will you?" Ajay encouraged the Condotierri to throw dirt at him.

"With pleasure!" Stella said with a grin as she rolled a large ball and threw it with precision and a ton of force at Perkins causing him to whine in pain.

"Why you-!" Perkins threw back some at Stella and the ten of them went fell into a mud ball fight laughing as they dirtied each other.

Ten minutes later, Perkins was now adequately dirty that he could return to Banapur.

"(Sigh)….. I'll be sure to return the favor." Perkins smirked at Stella whom gave a look of disdain.

"Just try! I'll return to it thrice-fold back!"

"I look forward to it."

"As do I!" Stella smiled at him for the first time, she was finally able to get over the death of Antorio and understand it wasn't Perkins that killed him.

"Take care you guys!" Perkins rode off on the ATV in the direction of Banapur following the GPS they gave him.

Ajay rejoined the convoy where he and the Condotierri loaded up to head off to their next location within enemy territory. On the supply trucks of the convoy were newly refurbished weapons from Longinus and ammunition to go with it. They were going to supply a particular place within the region. And the place they were headed to was Bagdahur Stronghold.

* * *

Four days ago, Amita's faction now widely regarded unofficially as the Golden Path remnant, a splinter faction from the main Golden Path was attacked by the people they once called brothers. Sabal, backed by the marines and the arms supply from Solomon weakened the remnant forces through attrition. Constantly hammering their forces and launching raids on their control points which they used to rally Amita's supporters and provide refuge to civilians being mistreated under Sabal's new Golden Path. And they were falling apart gradually, they thanked their lucky stars the Royal Army had chosen not to attack them for whatever reason they had but if they did, they wouldn't stand a chance. Amita was constantly pacing around the stone floor of the stronghold interior, its inner ambience did nothing to settle her heart.

Then a call came from the Royal Army stating their intentions to supply their fighters with weapons, ammo, food and medical supplies. They also stated the intentions of sending an envoy to broker a truce between the faction and the Royal Army. To Amita, it was a godsend. They no longer had to face the possibility of being butchered by Sabal's men due to no ammunition or strength left in them. Either way, if they accepted the conditions of the truce or not they were guaranteed the supplies they so desperately needed.

Today was the day they received those supplies. Kamala worked diligently to care for the wounded inside the strongholds inner sanctum. Amita was waiting upon the balcony inside that overlooked the entire region.

"There! To the North!"

"I see it! Five trucks!"

"Amita! It's the supply trucks!"

Amita got up from leaning against the wall's parapet and walked down to the stronghold grounds giving orders.

"Snipers, take your positions. Rifleman to the walls. Be on your guard! There's no telling if this could be a ruse by the Royal Army." Amita reminded them.

They had built a hasty barricade around the circumference of the inner compound. Barbwires surrounding a square for the trucks to park inside and sandbags to provide immediate protection from shrapnel and gunfire for the defenders of the compound.

The convoy got closer and blew its horn to let them know they were requesting access to the Stronghold.

"Open the gate!" Amita called out to the gatekeepers who engaged the motor to the fortified bastion door. The heavy reinforced oaken doors creaked slowly due to its overbearing weight.

Once the doors were fully opened, the convoy came in and parked in an orderly row next to each other. Then the gatekeeper closed the gate to prevent any outside forces from entering. All wits were about the trucks that had yet to show their occupants.

"Step out of the vehicles slowly with both hands raised!" The Field commander called out to the convoy. The riflemen and snipers readied their aim at the canvas of the supply trucks where troops were likely hidden.

The door of the lead truck opened and out stepped the last person they expected to be here.

Majority of the fighters frozen in fear as they instantly recognized the mask under the bright sun. Ajay came out of the truck with his hands raised obediently.

"Parley?" He said with a grin. But it did little to settle the fear in the fighters' hearts. They knew that if he put his mind to it he could shrew them all on his own. With him inside the walls the stronghold was no longer their sanctuary but had become their prison.

"Lower your weapons!" Amita called out as she walked up to where Ajay was. She stood in front of him examining him from head to toe and finally said. "Follow me, we'll discuss inside."

The Condotierri and Hunters stepped out of their vehicles and accompanied Ajay into the inner sanctum of the stronghold. All around, the fighters were nervous with their guns at the ready in case they decided to jump them instead.

Men and women from the quarters came rushing out when they heard the words "Demon, Envoy" put together made them curious to have a look. In the centre of the inner sanctum's courtyard was a table and chairs for them. Making them seem like the stars to an entertainment show for all the fighters that were standing around in the corridors and against the parapet wall on the second floor above.

"Have a seat. You'll excuse me for not being able to serve you any tea, we're on very short supply as it is." Amita motioned for him as he made his way to the seat she pointed out, Amita took no time to get herself seated as well. The Hunters and Condotierri was standing behind him watching.

A silence matured between the two parties at the table, until Ajay initiated the conversation.

"Were you expecting someone else?"

Amita kept a blank expression but it could not stop her heart from palpitating. She was fully aware of what Badala was capable of doing on his own, she had bore witness to it herself at Ratu Gadhi where he butchered her men.

"Not the least after you disappeared behind the mountains in the North." She answered calmly.

"…."

"We heard you were attacked by Sabal's friends not so long ago, is that what pressed you back into coming to Pacchim Valley?"

"Half-correct. While the marines were fun to play with, Army High Command has been hounding me for a week on how to deal with the de-facto group after you snitched Noore's Stronghold." Ajay smiled tapping rhythmically on the table. Amita unconsciously lowered her head by the pressure he was exerting despite not using any forceful intimidation.

"In the trucks are supplies and weapons that'll allow your group to sustain itself for at least a month. Depending on the conclusion today, you may or may not receive it."

"And what if we decide to take it anyway?" Amita dared.

"It's sitting in the courtyard, you're free to try." Ajay motioned to the courtyard. A silent threat.

The fighters who heard that gulped and started to release cold sweat. Ajay was literally dangling a juicy steak to the hungry animal. Amita frowned.

"But then you'd lose the perfect buffer against Sabal and his company. They'll occupy this Stronghold and further their assimilation of Southern Kyrat." Amita said confidently as she offered her stand.

"You're not exactly the most reliable buffer against Sabal's Golden Path. But then again, what need is there for a third party in an all-out war?" Ajay had completely shunned her idea to be a first-line defense against Sabal because it wasn't needed. Interests could change and she might rejoin the golden Path and further their goals instead after all the help Ajay might give. Amita bit her lip.

"What does the Golden Path mean to you?" Ajay changed the subject to a more familiar topic.

"Ex…cuse me?"

"When you first joined the Golden Path, what were your aspirations?"

Amita thought long and hard about it and consolidated her thoughts to convey them.

"Freedom from oppression, to the old guard and people like Sabal it was to depose the tyrant Pagan. But to me, it was more than that. To seek the strength to break free from a shackle binding tradition that enforces us, women to be forever subservient to the male gender despite the modern civilized world we live in. Is tradition what we truly need to survive in this country where death could come in any natural form?"

"Personally, I thought it was an excuse to do what they wanted in society! You might be right on why enforcing tradition made no sense in the current world but not everyone feels as strongly as you, Amita." Ajay laughed at the naivety as Amita wore a troubled expression as having to discuss a truce with him was more difficult than any other person.

"Do you realize what your aspirations mean, Amita? Or shall I spell them out for you?"

Amita was curious to know where she was wrong with the way she thought.

"This world is cruel only because its inhabitants make it so. Your clear display of radical reforms and change are your double-edge. It rallies people who believe in such a world or at least want to. But it also endangers the comforts of others who have lived that way for centuries. Its common human habit not to seek out danger and form sanctuaries to live out their days. What you should have done, was to feed their ego till you were strong enough to take control without opposition. But sadly, it was either too much of a hassle to you or you yourself was resistant to change."

Amita fell into stupor to his words, he spoke of a possibility for her to assume control over the Golden Path had she been more patient and less aggressive in nature. She had only herself to blame for her immaturity. "I-…I…."

"Nobody is going to tell you these tips to you beforehand, but now after all that's happened I doubt you and your supporters have anything even remotely Golden Path anymore."

"What?"

"The Golden Path clearly stands for whatever Sabal believes and you clearly stand for something else. Don't you think you should form your own group with your own aspirations, own beliefs? Or are you still chained to the word Golden Path, still chained to tradition?"

It was both a proposal and a challenge by Ajay. The words that Ajay suggested sent a lightning of anticipation in the hearts of the fighters under the granite roof. It spoke of a possibility they could achieve on their own, to be their own.

Amita begun to figure out that Ajay was trying to find a definition for her group as the current stance they were in was difficult for him to suddenly lend aid to. It would be like the Royal Army warred with the Golden Path yet supplied them.

It was time for Amita and her fighters to raise their own flag proudly.

"I have a few naming ideas, if you'll hear it." He offered

"I would if you please." Amita gave Ajay the distinctly beautiful smile he knew her for.

"This stronghold heralds the name Baghadur literally "Tiger's domain". Coincidentally the tiger happens to be your motif while in the Golden Path. Strong, fierce and prideful also very beautiful, but willing to stand against indifference and sought change for the better. Then your band should become the 'Mukti Tigers'!" Standing for liberation tigers in Kyrati.

Upon hearing the name, the warriors of Baghadur couldn't help but feel empowered after static passed through their bodies. Amita was no exception, in fact she was the most affected by the naming of their separatist group that had held the name remnant for over a week.

Amita closed her eyes as she thought carefully about her decision, from the moment he mentioned the name she had the wanton desire to call herself that but she controlled herself. She thought about why Ajay was suggesting these things for her and understood not long after. She had been playing into his hands all this while, who said he wasn't a skilled envoy who manipulated their motives with cleverly placed words. To her, Badala was becoming an unfathomable existence and to think she had the opportunity to shake his hand and say they'll have a truce was beyond any luck she'd had over the years.

Amita opened her eyes and got up from her seat and looked up to the fighters assembled on the parapets of the second floor and around her.

"Too long have we hidden behind another while holding visions of our own. Today begins a new chapter in our struggle, but we do so knowing that someday it'll come true. On this day, to set out intentions in stone we shall be known as the Mukti Tigers!" She shouted as she raised her hand. And in response the crowd cheered and shouted with joy! And anticipation. As she turned back to where Ajay was she had a strange feeling she had heard the words "Standing against indifference" somewhere, not too long ago. She quickly shrugged off the feeling for a better time as she went over to Ajay.

"If it's the Mukti Tigers that seek aid from us then you'll have it." Ajay held out his hand. Amita smiled again, but this time she truly meant it. It had been so long since someone had done something for her that brought her joy. Amita reached out and clasped the hand, giving it a firm handshake. The fighters roared in celebration.

"The Tigers accept your offer!"

* * *

Kamala had been watching the length of the negotiation. But it looked more like Northern Demon was controlling the entire conversation with his cunning words. Yet strangely, everyone seemed ok with the suggestions he gave out of good will rather than only to benefit himself which was what made everyone more incline to agree with what he said. It was genius in his handling of the situation, Amita knew what he was doing but couldn't agree more with what he said as well. It was more like what he said was….. pragmatic.

Badala and Amita walked back down to the compound where she began ordering the fighters there to unload the trucks of their supplies. The Royal Army soldiers assisted in unloading the supplies and weapons to the now unofficially named Mukti Tigers freedom fighting force.

Kamala walked closer until she was within talking distance, alongside Amita who was having a friendly conversation with the young lord. For some reason, when she looked at him there was this feeling of nostalgia. Like she'd seen him before, not just that but he was someone she knew fairly well but couldn't put a finger to it.

"Although you intentionally dictated this path for me and my comrades, I can't say I'm not grateful for what you've done. You have strengthened our resolve in our fight to protect those dear to us for that I cannot thank you enough."

"You're a smart woman, Amita. Sufficient to know where are you limits. In fact, you're probably one of the four smartest woman I've known in Kyrat."

"Oh? Really? Pray tell who are the others?" Amita leaned over inquiring playfully.

"You might be familiar with this one, Ishwari." Amita blinked with her eyes now widened.

"You knew, Ishwari Ghale?"

"Past tense. You could say I was like a son to her." Ajay smiled.

Now Amita was confused, to have been like a son to her when she left the country, what kind of history did Badala have with Ishwari Ghale.

Kamala pushed through the group of foreign mercenaries. "Excuse me, sorry!- Hurgh! Wait! I just want to ask him something!" The Condotierri held her back.

"It's alright, Ricardo." Ajay waved, he had not expected to see her here but was glad she was. At least he wouldn't have to fight her.

"Can I help you?"

"I'm looking for a friend of mine, he went escaped on the day coup with a girl. His name was Soren and here had a speech disability. I've been searching all over for them but couldn't find them anywhere in the valley, except across King's Bridge. He can speak through text but even then he's extremely reserved in his speech. I think he might have joined the Army there to support each other there and would likely be well known for his combat prowess. Please, if you have any info on him please let me know! I'm Kamala by the way!"

Ajay was incredibly touched, even after he left she still thought about him and worried for his safety. Perhaps he could just discard her worries-

"I think I may have heard of him. He's doing fine, in an admin job in my domain. Bhadra's alright as well. So rest be assured nothing has happened to them. Take care Kamala." Ajay continued on his way towards the truck that was now embarking to leave.

"…..Huh?" Blood drained from her head as she recalled that she never mentioned that the girl following Soren was Bhadra. Kamala stared at Badala as hard as she possibly could.

-No. It can't be-!-

"Will we expect another visit from the Vice-lord of the North?" Amita asked while she leaned against the truck which Ajay sat and started the engine.

"Perhaps when everything settles down on its own. Maybe it could even be over the bottle of whisky I owe you." He said as he drove off leading the convoy out of the stronghold.

Now it was Amita's turn to be shocked where she stood.

"Impossible-….. Soren?!"

It became clear to Amita now, that all this while, Badala had been playing with them while they waged that childish thing they called a civil war. Badala was miles ahead thinking for the betterment of Kyrat rather than simply destroying the Golden Path. It proved that he still considered them citizens of Kyrat and was willing to give them a chance to reform.

He had approved of her aspiration and supported it. Amita now counted herself one of the luckiest people in all of Kyrat.

She would strive to do what she thought was right, for herself and for the Mukti Tigers.


	25. Chapter 25 - Treachery

"The animals are hungry. Make him useful-…." A woman's voice shouted in authority as the two topless women dragged the bleeding man out of the private quarters lavished with silk hanging around the bedside and across the room. "Fuck!"

The woman dropped the knife to the floor with a clang and fell to her knees weeping. In the cold room there was no one to lend her a shoulder, it had been that way for over five years since her arrival to Kyrat as a doctor working for an aid organization. Under pretext of an olive branch by Pagan she came with family and all only to be threatened with the death of her loved ones if she didn't do the work she stood up against initially. That was taking charge of Pagan's drug and human trafficking ring.

She crawled up to her bedside table where a picture frame sat and picked it up and looked into it. In the picture, smiling away after a day at the sunny beaches of Miami was her husband, two lovely boys and her, Dr Noore Najjar.

She gently placed her hand onto the picture frame where her boys were, drops of tears fell onto the glass panel of the frame. Noore brought the picture into an embrace as if her sons were the ones right in front of her.

"Just a little longer….. and we'll be together!"

* * *

Sabal threw the jug of beverage on the planning table at the wall in a fit of anger. "Who the fuck does she think she is?!"

News had reached them from the scouts and forward observers that Amita's remnant forces had received relief and supplies from the Royal Army and now they were calling themselves the "Mukti Tigers", an armed paramilitary organization dedicated to the protection of civilians under oppression and seeking liberation from traditional boundaries.

The raids were now met with fierce counter attacks that severely damaged the forces within that area, deeming Amita's Tigers to have full reign over the region surrounding Bagdahur all the way till the Rochan Brick Factory. They have begun setting up relief camps for the refugees as well as recruitment camps to source manpower from the refuge seekers. They were now their own organization.

Initially Sabal had intended to weather her forces down with constant attacks till they had no choice but to surrender or face slow torture to the Royal Army interrogators when captured. But the turn of events went out of his expectations, Solomon had even warned him not to leave Amita hanging too long or he'd regret it, and now he did.

"It's not as bad as you think Sabal." A field commander told him.

"Not as bad- Ahahahaha-…. Then tell me how it's not as bad!" The Commander swallowed his saliva.

Amita's break away wasn't just bad for them because they now had two fronts to worry about but, she had broken all affiliation to the Golden Path meaning that after defeating her they wouldn't get the manpower pools from her ranks anymore. The Mukti Tigers stood for something else and the Golden Path was their primary enemy.

"Reports say that the Northern Demon was reported to have been at Baghadur to negotiate the truce with her."

The war council broke into an unsettled argument. Every time Badala was mentioned they recalled the havoc he wrought upon them and made it seem like he was merely playing a game with them. To make matters worse, he was just as dangerous on his own with a knife as he was at the strategizing table. The news that Soren was apparently Badala in disguise spread through the top-tier commanders including Sabal via transmission from the marines during their investigation. To think that he slipped into their ranks and posed as the most potent trump they were intending to use against himself made them feel completely inadequate. What was truly terrifying was that, while in the camp for three weeks since his recruitment he had not killed a single commander in Banapur. The war council hypothesized that the affair with Royal Guard Captain Hamal coming over to Banapur foolishly was also part of his plan in cleaning the ranks of the Kyrati Military while he was here. This theory only added to the terror that the commanders felt in their positions.

On several occasions they requested Sabal to seek a non-aggression pact with the Royal Army at their expense if it meant sparing their lives from that demon while he was here. Sabal's response was to have those commanders that represented their group imprisoned in the dungeons.

The current Golden Path had no defense against Amita or Badala, except for the undamaged ranks reserved by the old guard who swore a vow to only follow Mohan Ghale much to Sabal's annoyance. They would only defend the Golden Path when it was truly in danger of dismantling and wouldn't go on the attack without the presence of Mohan Ghale or Ajay Ghale to lead them. Mohan was found dead at his Homestead decades ago, Ajay was still missing, likely dead too as he was a civilian from the states with no prior experience in the forests of Kyrat that have killed stronger men. In other words, they were of no help.

"Are you sure this "Snow White" fellow the American agent is bringing over can truly solve our problems?" One of the field commanders questioned him.

"From the accounts I've gathered from Willis and Solomon, he's just as powerful but gullible enough at the same time for us to manipulate. Willis has had a good relation with the brat previously so we can make it seem as if his kidnapped friends were taken captive by Pagan. He'll go straight for the head of the serpent and have an inevitable clash with Badala."

The field commanders begun to lighten up. Though underhanded in the way Sabal did things as of recent, he had found a solution to their worries. All they had to concentrate on was to rid that traitor Amita from the picture and establish the Golden Path as the rulers of Pacchim Valley. "Snow White" would contribute greatly when he arrived in a week's time. Willis had made the effort to contact this Brody fellow on the disappearance of his friends upon an invitation by Pagan to his country and how they could "Help" each other out.

Now at they had to worry about was-

"Sabal! Urgent news from the front! The outposts in Shanath and Bagdahur have been attacked and captured!" A messenger came to their doorstep.

"wwWHAATT?!"

* * *

"P-Please! Don- (BANG)." Ajay executed the outpost commander after chasing him from the outpost which he abandoned including his men. The Outpost was in flames but was quickly put out by the Condotierri and the locals in the area. Ajay and gang sat at the stairs of the house that acted as the outpost's office waiting for the Royal Army to dispatch sentries to the newly captured outposts. This was already the fifth outpost taken from the Golden Path.

Ajay took these posts to give the Mukti Tigers initial breathing space they needed to fortify and establish themselves in. There was no point if they just had the Stronghold without advanced warning or at least a distance away from the frontline. Somehow a rather, he managed to segregate them from the Golden Path and turn them into a completely different group with different ideals and motives. Not to say they might not rejoin the Golden Path it the circumstances are just right but at least they wouldn't be as cooperative as before. With the definitions made clear in both groups, the people wanting to step up and participate can now discern with group they'd likely want to be in. Sabal's Golden Path represented the continuation of tradition and nurturing of culture, their main enemy is Pagan and all who stand with him. Amita's tigers was a place more forthcoming to women specifically, but they made no gender discrimination. Their goal was to seek change in a stagnant system and way of life. The exact anti-thesis of what the Golden Path now stood for making their enemy quite clear. The Mukti Tigers were not going to contend with the Royal army with the backing of Badala at their side, they won't bite the hand that feeds them.

Ajay took a bite out of his rations to fill his stomach, as he did so he received a message from Saras. Maya had awakened and was recovering quickly, by the time she did she should be able to enjoy the festival. Ajay should just sort out the effects here in Pacchim valley to make a second attempt to raid the North almost impossible without damaging or evading major infrastructure on the way to the bridge or the mountains to the Uttar Region where Pagan, Yuma and Ajay's domains lay.

No response from Perkins yet but he'll get there soon.

Amita had found herself a nice place to settle in her supporters, it was Ajay's second time in Bagdahur, Noore's stronghold. The first was when he personally liberated it, it had a woman's touch to the interior decorations like it was a villa or a castle than a military stronghold in the inner sanctum.

Speaking of Noore, he wondered what he was ever going to do with her. The image of her falling into despair was returning to his memory and was by far the most traumatic for Ajay. "Don't run from life!" The words Maya left for him at the Airport, would it work on her?

Samson noticed the quietness than engulfed Ajay. "Something wrong, boss?"

"We're going to Shanath arena."

"To that colosseum? Didn't think you were that sort who enjoyed blood and gore not done by you!" Ricardo said.

"It's not the fighting I want to see."

"Pack it up. We're leaving." Samson told them as the supply truck carrying the sentry guards had arrived.

The drove for about five minutes until they arrived at the base of Shanath Arena, the place where Noore conducted her blood games. Ajay got out and threw a robe over himself to conceal his appearance and took off his mask.

Ajay went over to pay for tickets to enter the Arena and returned to where Samson was. Only he decided to follow him into the arena as the others weren't so taken to the idea of watching others kill each other, despite their Italian heritage.

Ajay and Samson walked to their seats.

"Boss, what is this really about?" Samson asked him as Ajay's behavior was becoming queer. But Ajay remained quiet as he watched the parapet which the Arena master would come out to and give the crowd a warm welcome.

The crowd cheered as the metal doors down in the arena opened slowly as the person Ajay came to the arena to she made her appearance, flanked by her usual two women in her retinue.

"People of Kyrat! Not in a hundred years has there been a fighting force so fierce, so feared. I have heard your cries! And give you my personal guard!"

The crowd roared with anticipation to the event she had lined up for them. Ajay couldn't care less what was happening in the arena as he watched her the entire session without looking down into the arena.

Her face was as radiant as the day he first laid eyes upon her. Burning with will power, with hope.

What was he hoping to achieve here? To see her face and hope something would pop up in his mind on how to save her from her own despair? She had been holding on to a shining hope that she could save her family if she worked hard, sadly it was a false illusion of hope Pagan set for her. Paul had his way with her family years ago, probably the moment she started working here they were already used and discarded. How do you break the news that the family she sought by committing atrocities to keep alive were long dead?

Ajay raked his head but nothing could pop up. Because in all the scenarios he could think up, she died. If she didn't she'd work to kill Pagan which Ajay wasn't going to allow. No matter what kind of inexcusable evil he committed in the past he didn't want him to die, and certainly not because of her. The only way to stop her would be to end her tortured life quickly. And yet, his heart kept pleading to him to find a way to save her. Because somewhere deep down, he believed the possibility existed.

"Boss! The games over." Samson shook his shoulder.

"Huh?" Ajay looked around to find the arena empty, they were the only ones left in the seats. His mind was so preoccupied that time flew in the arena. Ajay got up from the seat.

"Let's go, Samson." He walked through the exit tunnel back to the outside. Samson followed him quietly trying to figure out what was his intentions of visiting the arena. He had observed him enough to know it was about the other vice-lord but what was it about.

"Samson….." Ajay suddenly called out to him.

"Yes, boss?"

"…. If your family was taken from you and you were forced to work in lines less desirable, but doing it knowing your family could live as you worked. Then on the day of your release, you were told they were long dead… what would you do?"

Samson stood quietly, he somehow figured out Ajay was referring to Noore and quietly thought.

"I'd kill the person responsible, then eat a bullet myself."

"….." It was as he feared. All possibilities led to one single conclusion. No matter how much he wished it not to be true it was going to happen. Ajay's mood had not improved since inside the arena.

-It had to come to this.- He lamented.

As they reached the exterior of the arena, a Royal Army soldier was waiting for them with Ricardo. Night had fallen onto Kyrat, by now there was no one in sight except them.

"Boss, it's for you. He says its urgent."

"The Golden Path-….. The Golden Path have almost overrun Varshakot, Chief De Pleur requests your assistance!" He said gasping for air as he ran up to tell them.

Ajay had second thoughts about helping Paul, after what he had done. Not just to Noore but to all the Kyrati people near him and within his domain he mistreated, bullied, tortured and slowly killed. He was the bleakest scum of the entire army. That was Paul "De Pleur" Harmon, the chief interrogator of the Royal Army.

Ajay hesitated for a second but returned to his rational thoughts, Paul was still part of the Army whether he liked it or not. And he was still in charge of the closest territory to Banapur.

"We'll go."

* * *

Varshakot stood silent in the night, the structure wasn't damaged or burning like they would have expected from a stronghold under siege. Ricardo drove the truck to a halt in front of the main gate.

The Condotierri and Hunters alighted the truck and walked towards the gate door.

"This way!" He called out as he went ahead of them.

"Hush!" Samson told the trooper.

Ajay was standing where he came out from the trucks passenger seat staring at the stronghold and sniffed the air. There was not a trace of blood, gunshot residue or explosive mix. This entire set up bled of a trap the moment they entered viewing range of the stronghold. Question was when would they attack?

"Samson, kill him if he doesn't start talking." Ajay gave a crisp order as he donned the mask.

The trooper froze as he realized Ajay had found out too soon, not that his acting was top notch to begin with.

"Yes." It wasn't just Samson but all the other group members had felt it too as they got out of the truck and scanned the stronghold.

Samson beat the soldier mercilessly with Ricardo holding him up as he pummeled the man's face.

"I was forced to! They left me…..(Cough) no choice! They wanted you to enter the stronghold that's all I know!"

"Don't tell me what I already can see, tell me something useful!" Samson demanded.

"P-Paul!-… De Pleur defected to the Golden Path!" Upon hearing that, Ajay walked over and grabbed the soldiers collar and brought his kukri to his neck.

"Repeat the last sentence." With a cold intimidating aura.

"Paul has joined Sabal! (Cough)….. For some kinda deal…. With the spook! I dunno!"

Willis negotiated with Paul to defect?

Ajay ran the knife across the soldier's throat killing him.

"Get in the stronghold!" He ordered as he jogged towards the door.

"Isn't that what they want?!"

"Don't argue with me, get in!" He shouted. The group obediently followed him briskly as they entered the compound.

"It's…. empty?" Ricardo said.

"They're outside, they wanted us to box ourselves into the stronghold! Samson, Bipin! Get searching for things we can use as a barricade against an attack! Luca, call High Command and inform them of our predicament and De Pleur's change of status immediately. We might not be the only place they're attacking tonight!"

""Roger""

"We'll get to it!"

"Anish, Luigi, Ricardo and Stella! Close the doors and get me eyes on the walls, I want a perimeter scan!"

""Yes, boss!""

"Sure thing!"

As they all dispersed to do their individual jobs, Ajay went around searching the houses and shelters within the compound for any hidden traps they may have lay as they expected them to come here. Ajay went to check one more place which was the small jetty by the Stronghold, the place didn't seem tampered. He double checked the particular place just to make sure and then returned to the square.

"Targets spotted, in the South and West! Two hundred on both sides, closing fast on vehicles!" Stella reported.

Samson and Bipin fortified the doors with carts and other debris. Anish placed anti-personnel mines in their blind areas and also by the door if they broke through.

Ajay mounted the wall and could see silhouettes closing in on their location in a bunch.

"Boss, message not sent! Something's jamming the long-range radio!" Luca responded.

"….Of course it is…" Ajay mumbled.

"Watch the gates, that's where they'll likely storm!" Samson called out.

Ajay accessed the situation. The now defected Paul was trying to lure him into the fortress while the Golden Path stormed it. That meant that the fortress was somehow still accessible to the Golden Path or they were confident they couldn't be held at bay. Something was rigged within the Stronghold.

"Get off the walls! We're fighting them in the compound!"

"What?!"

"You serious?!"

"Get down here now!" Ajay commanded. The willingly obliged to his order and dismounted the wall after Anish left a few more traps.

In the centre of the compound was a pagoda raised above ground with compliments of sandbags and ammo crates. Ajay had them assemble there.

"Is this really wise?" Ricardo asked.

"If we run, they'll chase with their vehicles and there'll be no available cover if the truck stops. If we stay they have no choice but to dismount and come over the walls. And those walls, I don't like the feeling."

Ricardo didn't question any further, he trusted his employer's instincts.

Angry shouts and battle-cries could be heard from the other side of the walls. The Condotierri and Hunters raised their weapons at the ready.

(BOOOMM) The wall on the Southern side blew open, sending slabs of bricks flying everywhere.

The Condotierri were left open mouthed, had they stood on the walls they would have been blown to smithereens.

It was just as Ajay had suspected, they laced the wall with explosive to let their guard down when fortifying. The Golden Path was likely going to enter from the breach. Although, if they wanted to kill them they should have laced the entire Stronghold with explosives then they all be blown sky high. Unless they intended to capture them alive, or at least him.

As Ajay had predicted, the Golden Path came pouring through the three-man wide gap in the wall that had been pre-installed. The Condotierri gun down the invaders as they poured through and added to the numbers of corpses littered about the floor. At some point, they threw smoke grenades to conceal the breach to allow them to emerge. They walked through the alleyways and stepped on the trip-mines laid by Anish and Emilio and the alleys exploded into plumes of orange clouds with a slight tremor to the ground. Then, the Golden Path stopped coming through the breach as they feared going in without support, the next attack took Ajay by surprise.

"Incoming!" Stella was the most attentive and heard the whisking cluster bombs about to land.

"Buildings! On the double!" Samson shouted, needless to say with or without his call they'd still run for cover.

(BOBOBOMM)

They split into two groups with Samson manning one and Ajay commanding the other, heading in the opposite directions as the pagoda got bombed out of existence by the mortar barrages. In their respective buildings used as cover, Ajay and Samson had their teams reload and assess their surroundings.

The barrage continued for about ten rounds to force Ajay into cover while they reorganized their troops outside. Then as the barrage stopped, a new threat came through the breach in the form of Royal Army soldiers.

It was quite easy to tell who they were judging by their loose attire despite wearing an Army Uniform. They were De Pleur's soldiers, a particular batch of misfits and cutthroats all grouped into one entity and made to fight and torture the Golden Path. Because they were in the frontlines more often than others, High Command had been lenient on their actions which included extortion, bribery, blackmail, kidnapping. Until the recent power shift by Arjun and the reforms he imposed as the new supreme commander of the Kyrati Military. That included an actual Military Law which all soldiers were now enforced by. Apparently De Pleur's soldiers were less than satisfied with the changes and opted to follow Paul into defection or was it that Paul used this as a means to convince them to follow him. Because if they didn't, they'd most likely face serious consequences from the recently formed Military Provost Unit for all the illegal things they'd done so far.

These troops were slightly better trained and were battle-experienced from fighting the Golden Path on every opportunity they had. But that type of pressure they exerted wasn't as difficult to the Condotierri or the Hunters. Ajay advanced on his own towards the breach and threw a stick or C4 at the arch above the breech-hole in the wall. He detonated the explosive and the wall crumbled down with the desired affect, sealing the wall with rubble instead. Now Paul's troops or the Golden Path fighters needed to climb the rubble as high is the wall to reach the top to enter the compound.

"Oh- Badallaaa! I hope you enjoyed my little surprise!" A spontaneous voice called out over the other side of the wall, most likely Paul's.

"It could have been planned better in my opinion!" Ajay responded as his group laughed with him. Paul grit his teeth on the other side.

"Time to stop playing games! I'll tell you what, surrender and I'll make the accommodations to fair treatment in your cell."

"You're a lousy negotiator, Paul. That doesn't even sound realistic. You sure you were the Chief interrogator for Pagan?" Ajay mocked him once more.

"Hmph! Suit yourself! Blow the gates, climb the walls, overrun that bastard." Paul told his men and the Golden Path fighters assigned to assisting him.

Commands were given by their field officers to converge into the fortress with full force. The invaders roared with intention to overtake and put an end to the demon's reign of terror on them.

Ajay and Samson's groups fought to keep the compounds theirs as more and more invaders came pouring in. It was clear that the numbers weren't four hundred as they had seen before but up to about a thousand.

"They really want you gone now!" Stella told Ajay while they fired out from the window of the house.

"…"

"I don't think we can hold nor find a way to break out of the cornering!" Bipin told him anxiously.

"All of you! With me!" Ajay said as he got out of the house and gunned down three men on the move. The others followed closely behind with him as he went to where Samson and the rest were hold up. Ajay ran past them which confused them.

"Samson, to the well!" He called out to him, Samson got out of the house with the others and followed Ajay to the well.

They assembled around the gazebo with the well that was sheltered and formed a protective ring around it. They laid as suppressive fire onto the invaders that consisted of a mix of Golden Path and Royal Army soldiers loyal to Paul.

Ajay removed the protective covers with the help of Bipin. Then Ajay attached a line leading down the well.

"Head down and swim, there's a tunnel that'll lead to the jetty! Swim out and take a fast craft out of here!" Ajay told them. They now understood what Ajay was getting at, there was a secret passage through the well out of the Stronghold all this while.

"What about you?" Bipin asked.

"They're here for me, so I'll stay. But you guys won't be spared! The General needs to be informed about Paul's treachery."

"I'll stay with you." Bipin insisted.

"Come on." Samson towed him away as the Condotierri climbed down the well one by one.

"Go! Don't stay here!" Ajay shouted as he took over the role of suppressive fire from the Condotierri.

"Ajay!" Bipin was stubbornly refusing.

"GO!"

Bipin tightened his grip around his rifle and grit his teeth. He wanted to stay with Ajay and protect him but Ajay's commands outweighed everything else.

"I'll be waiting for you at the bottom, get down as soon as possible!" He said as he climbed down the rope.

"Sorry, Bipin…." Ajay threw his last stick of C4 at the well and detonated it causing the gazebo to collapse onto the well and bury it. He turned his attention to the invaders and fought his way up the to the walls.

By the time Bipin realized what he had done it was already too late for him to get back up as pieces of rubble dropped down into the well as he floated. "He'll be alright, he always has. But we have a mission to fulfil! Don't disobey it!" Samson told him as he took in a gulp of air before diving underwater. Bipin had no choice in the matter now so he concentrated on the only thing he could do, and that was to escape.

With his mind now unoccupied with the safety of the Condotierri and Hunters Ajay turned his attention to what he did best…

Killing.

Soldiers were now storming the streets looking for him as he climbed the rooftops with the machinegun he took from Luigi and blazed away at the soldiers and fighters. Ajay threw all the smoke grenades he had into the compound turning the place into a fog of war. The invaders now lost visibility to each other now that the place was covered with thick smoke he released from the grenades.

"AAHH!"

"Gurrghh!"

"NoNoNoNo- Arrghh!"

Ajay killed them with his knife in the most painful of ways for the others to hear through the smoke and dread the second they'd be the next to died.

"Shit! This was supposed to be easy!"

"Shut up! You'll give us away!" They quietened down hoping Ajay couldn't find them through the smoke.

(BOOOM) (BOOOM) (BOOOM)

Ajay was no longer on the ground but on the walls, lobbing grenades into the compound and scoring hits with the bunched up men who thought it a good idea to stay together to avoid being killed silently.

By far, the kill count for Ajay was over three hundred with the earlier help from his group. More and more were replacing the losses taken by reinforcements coming through the reopened gates and over the walls.

As his LMG went dry he drew his knife and handgun, blazing away at those who closed in on him. He jumped off the wall and took down a soldier below which he used to dampen the fall and threw his grenade at the others in his squad and vaporizing them.

So far, things were dire but manageable. That was when Ajay underestimated Paul's ability to make sacrifices as he heard the howling bombs approach the compound once more. Ajay wasn't the only one who heard it.

"Sunnovabitch!"

"Paul! You bastard- (BOOOM)"

The cluster bombs rained down upon the troops that were inside the compound with Ajay. Ajay ran towards the still standing house while the shells were raining, but unfortunately he wasn't quick enough as a cluster munition exploded and blew him off his feet and collided into the walls of the workshop.

The concussive force took Ajay's consciousness away from him as he lay against the wall. The last thing he saw was the figures of the soldiers closing in with Paul among them who took the front.

"This should guarantee our entry into the Golden Path."

* * *

Perkins walked up the steps towards the house the marines were given to stay, he'd asked around and a guard showed him the way. Leading him to the house.

The guard knocked on the door.

"Yes?"

"One of your companions has returned."

The sound of running steps could be heard from outside and the door flung open. There to answer the door was Stew.

"G-Gregor?!"

"Hey Stew, is David in?" He smiled widely, Stew threw his arms around him and rubbed his head. "You're alive you sunnovabitch!"

"OwOw! Ok!"

"What the hell happened? How did you come back?"

"Is Fredrick here?" Stew's mood darkened, he guessed what Perkin's meant, ever since they returned he had always suspected Grilles but with no proof he could do nothing.

"They're both in the room discussing the next plan of action. Wouldn't he be surprised to see you!" Stew grinned as he walked with him towards the planning room.

Walking along the corridor they met one of Grille's men who had been there when Grille's abandoned him. Before the marine called out he socked him in the throat with a chop from his palm, his shout was cancelled as he leaned against the wall holding his throat. Stew passed his handgun to Perkins because he knew what he was gonna do next.

They reached the door to the planning room, Perkins opened in and raised his gun at the ready.

"That's why I'm sayin-…." In the room were David and Fredrick discussing their strategy with their available options. Fredrick and David turned to the entry. Fredrick instantly froze in disbelief as he never expected Perkins to come out of this alive.

"No- (BAAM) AARRrrrghh!" Perkins shot him in the leg.

"Perkins stop!" His captain called out.

"What's the capital offense for murder and attempted murder of a fellow soldier, huh?!" Perkins pressed the gun to Fredrick's head.

It made it clear to David what Grilles had done.

"Perkins, I say again! Stop!"

"Just do it, you fucking sympathizer!" Grilles taunted him and Perkins whipped him with the gun.

"I just might!"

"Perkins, I understand what probably happened but I want him alive! When we get back, Grilles and those in on it will be put on military trial and that'll be the end of it! Perkins, don't sully a Marine's honor!"

"You call this a marine?! This little fucker?!" It pricked a nerve in his calmness right then.

"I wasn't referring to his." David said composed. Perkins cursed under his breath as he reluctantly withdrew his pistol from Grilles's skull.

At around this time the marines came over to see the commotion and found Perkins was alive, those under his command were elate, those under Grilles turned purple.

David walked over to Grilles where he was sitting. "I've tolerated you enough, what you did was the final straw. Men, take him and those under his command and put them in the Golden Path cells. You can choose to resist, Fredrick. But then I won't fight for your case in the tribunal, so don't push me into any difficult situation or I'll do what Perkins was about to do myself." David warned him in a cold tone. Stew and the others escorted Grilles and his men to the Golden Path dungeons where they were to be put under arrest for the time being.

"(Sigh) Glad you could drop by!" David joked.

"A pleasure!" Perkins said with a grin and they fist bumped.

"So what happened, fill me in." Perkins nodded and sat with him.

He told him of his account after Fredrick murdered a civilian and justified it as protecting their guile when it was pure manslaughter, he spoke up against him and earned his ire. Then, upon escaping Fredrick turned the gun on him and wounded his leg but not killing him to let him get captured alive by the mercenaries there. He was taken captive, then he disclosed what had happened during his imprisonment which was hardly imprisonment but protective custody under Badala's orders. Perkins made sure they were alone when he explained to David but David told him to come with him to forest where they could talk alone. So they travelled a bit before reaching the lonely cliff.

Perkins continued on with how Badala had suspected the marines' predicament through his engagement with David which he confirmed himself. And offered to help them.

"Leave it to you was what he said."

"Mmmm….."

"You should have let me killed Fredrick!"

"That wasn't your responsibility! I don't need you to be the one entering the military court!"

Perkins recalled what Badala said about a cornered rat looking for alternate ways to get off a sinking ship.

"Badala warned me of what you'd do, we'll regret this! He's gonna rat us out to save his own hide."

"Keep surveillance on him and keep him away from the spook, in case he gets any bright ideas."

"Why do you insist on letting him live?!"

"If he dies then what? I'll lose command of his men and perhaps kill them as well for disobeying? Then we'll be down to seven remaining out of the twenty that arrived here!" Perkins found it hard to except.

"He's still an American. And we're still marines, we'll bring them home as we've always done."

"…" Perkins was done arguing, he knew David would never change. He was always a shining example in the way a soldier worked.

"If you had the choice of only bringing back some or none which would you chose?" Perkins tried once more.

"That's not an answer in our doctrine, we'll bring all home or none at all!" David said adamantly.

"(Sigh) You're incorrigible…" Perkins gave up.

"Thanks!" David responded, Perkins laughed dryly.

David changed the subject to the more pressing matters at hand.

"So, how can I contact Badala?"

* * *

It had been a day since their arrival to this place, a place called Kyrat. They had been taken against their will while they were going about their daily lives while still trying to cope with the traumatic experience of almost being sold into slavery by the pirates of the lawless Rook Island. They had all been taken by a group of men and stuffed into a van with a bag over their head before driving away to an airport. When they were placed on the seats they found out who was sitting next to one another. It was their old gang. Well, almost. Jason wasn't with them and neither was Keith who went to Stockholm, Sweden seeking therapy for the trauma he endured under a violent homosexual Australian called "Bambi" Buck who worked with the pirates.

The five of them were chained to the walls in a damp cell within a settlement they called the City of Pain. The sound of screaming from pain or rape could be hear almost all the time from outside of the cell, but they were left untouched under that "two-face's" orders. Strangely Oliver and Riley seemed to be the calmest in this situation, having a long chat about unique pot formulas or ways to enhance doping experience. Daisy found their maturity to be quite comforting, this wasn't the first time they'd been taken against their will but they sure grew up fine. The same could not be said for Liza or her current boyfriend/agent who was her former ex.

Liza was still groaning in pain with tears still trickling down while Steven, her ex-turned boyfriend again was more concerned about whining on about how this was the worse day of his life.

After Jason had successfully help them leave the island and return to Los Angeles, they went their separate ways to try and cope. Liza stuck with Jason for a while and then when she had enough she left him to concentrate on her movie career sponsored by her ex which she rekindled the flame with. Daisy was wondering who was really the kid there. It was exactly as that Citra woman said about them to him. Jason had fought with every muscle to bring them off the island safe and sound, he even lost his elder brother because of that for Christ-sake! And that little skank turned her back on him when it was convenient, when Liza spoke about Jason to those terrorists she had the mind to go over and slap her in the face. But even then, she was still her friend for a long time.

"Crying about it won't change anything." She told the couple.

"How do you know?! Have you ever been here?!" Steven was the first to respond as he shouted back at her.

"…"

"Shouldn't have accepted that contract! I knew there was something wrong about that trip to the Himalayas! Damnit, stupid! Stupid! Stupid!" Apparently Steven had negotiated a job in Nepal, a photoshoot with Liza up in the mountains, they weren't kidnapped like them but lured here. Daisy snorted at his lamentations, he was an irritating prick but also a pussy. Jason might have been a little bit of an ass but at least he had the courage to stand up for them.

"Staying in the prison is actually safer than venturing out into the wilderness, so we should count out luck right now. Kyrat has all sorts of wild predators and poisonous fauna that could kill you with a whiff of it." Daisy said to comfort them.

"Will we really be alright?" Liza finally stopped crying and asked.

"At least till Jason comes, we're in the safest place we could possibly be right now. From what I know, Kyrat has currently been in a civil war for over twenty over years between its current monarchy and this rebel group called the Golden Path."

"Could we count on the local army spec-ops to rescue us then?" Riley asked.

"Only if they know about us. But from knowledge, I don't think they'd be much help. Kyrat's current monarchy could be described as a dictatorship. Even if they knew about us I don't think they'd waste their time on a bunch of foreigner like us." Daisy reasoned.

"You certainly know a lot about this place, did you travel here before or something?" Said Liza.

"No. But I knew someone who was from here….. once. He was born here but was brought state side by his mom when he was young. (Sigh) She was a real beauty too!" She recalled the gentle face that his mother wore when he brought her over when they were young adults. When she was living in Brooklyn for a short while for studies.

"I wonder where he is now?" The last she heard from him was when his mother was suffering from breast cancer. Was he still in the states or did he return?

"You think he could be here?"

"I don't know, this was before Grant. I haven't been in contact with him for a while."

"Useless…. And the same goes for that Brody fellow! We're here because of him!" Steven accused him for their predicament.

"Shut up! We're all alive because of him so you've got no goddamn right! Nothing!" Riley roared angrily at him for slandering his elder brother.

"At least Jason wouldn't sit there whining about everything and throwing the blame on everyone!" Daisy joined in insulting Steven for his attitude while she laughed.

"Shut up!"

"Whatever. You can sit in the corner and sob all you want, just don't disturb us with your crying at night!" She told him before huddling towards where Oliver and Riley were, Liza did the same to seek comfort in companionship from them.

Daisy looked out the cell window and could see the blanket of stars in the night sky that were like nothing she had even seen, it was absolutely gorgeous. There was nothing like this in the states unless you were in a farm where there wasn't much light pollution too bright to see the night sky. The stars helped calm her thoughts and she fell into a deep slumber, she had not slept since their capture as she was worried for the others' safety this entire time.

She hoped that someone, anyone would save them from this nightmare continued.

They might not all make it out of this alive this time.


	26. Chapter 26 - My name is Gladiator

Upon hearing the news, Arjun ordered all communications to undergo immediate censorship. He hurried over to the Royal Palace to report to him on the situation at hand, King Min would have likely known by now from his private intelligence.

The news was unsettling to the select few who were indulged with the shocking news. The treachery of Paul and Noore was just as bad as the other news he had to convey, the capture of Badala by the Golden Path collaborating with De Pleur. Reports say that many of the former outposts under these two's influence have changed over and those near it that was managed by the Army were overrun or at risk.

Things were starting to make sense, the Golden Path and Willis in particular had been dabbling around Varshakot for over a month now without much development. De Pleur had actually been negotiating to switch sides and cooperated in setting a trap for Badala who was roaming the Valley to clean up the place and settle that issue they had with Amita's remnant group now hailed as the Mukti Tigers and joined them in their struggle against the Golden Path. Noore's intentions had not been made clear to him but he believed it had something to do with Paul.

Arjun sent men to restrain his daughter in the Royal Fortress before he left because he knew she would do something foolish. Arjun arrived at the front door to the Royal Palace and was greeted by Gary who brought him to where the King was. Even before arriving he could hear angry yelling and the sound of furniture breaking.

When Gary opened the door to the King's study a chair flew out and struck the painting on the wall with such brutal force the picture frame and the chair broke into pieces.

"Arjun, great timing! Have the troops ready, we're marching over there!... That ungrateful American cocksucker!"

Arjun stood in his way as he marched forward to leave for the armory.

"The heli-assault battalion has already been dispatched. I must brief you on the current situation at hand and keep you from going out until I have fully said what is necessary. My liege." Arjun said calmly and patiently which helped Pagan settle down his rage a bit.

"Tsk! Fine! Gary, get me a bottle of gin on the double!" Pagan went over to sit at the couch with a hand to his forehead.

"Yes your highness, right away!" Gary dashed off for the cocktail bar in the dining.

"Let's hear it then."

"Yes, your highness! At 2200 Hours, we received a long range transmission under Lord Badala's frequency stating De Pleur's defection and a trap set by him for Lord Badala. At the same time frame, there was a region wide assault on all of the establishments throughout Noore and De Pleur's territories by the Golden Path rebels and by traitor forces align to these two. The Mukti Tigers of Amita in the West were holding up fine and have in fact protected the airport from any such attack."

"I guess we have my boy to thank for that…." He said in a dry tone.

"Upon learning of these developments, four battalions of motorized forces and heli-borne light infantry units were dispatched to the scene to keep major infrastructure such as King's Bridge and the Airport under our control. Resistance was encountered around the Shanath area as well as the road towards Banapur. The rebels hold the areas Banapur, Shanath, and the regions surrounding Varshakot. From current reports, the road towards Bagdahur and Meh Teh Airport are secure and we've begun preparing troops for a rescue operation. So far no demands have been made by the other party regarding the release of his lordship."

"There won't be one. Not with the kind of blood he has on his hands. It doesn't matter, go to Banapur and raze their village, that'll get their attention."

"Y-Your Highness!" Arjun was persistent against launching a revenge attack on the civilians in Banapur.

"I said burn those fucking monkeys out!" Pagan threw his lamp at the wall in a fit of anger. Then Gary came in.

"Didn't I say get me a bottle of Gin? Why the hell are you standing about?!"

"Your Royal highness, I have with me a letter prepared by his Lordship, should an occasion like this happen he told me to hand it to you as it would explain everything you needed to know!" He raised an envelope to Pagan who snatched it out of his hand and unfolded the paper and read it.

Then the most absurd thing happened, Pagan began to laugh and it increased in volume until it turned into maddened howling. But the tension on his face loosened considerably.

Pagan turned to them with a wide grin on his face and held out the letter for them to see, there was only one word printed on the sheet of paper but it summed up everything. It wrote…

Abracadabra.

"That Boy's got an ill sense of humor!"

* * *

Ajay woke to the wet coldness of water from the bucket thrown at him by an interrogator. Ajay blinked a few and regained consciousness to his surroundings. He was suspended by a chain from the ceiling from his hands and his mask was apparently not taken off yet his armor and weaponry were which was a given. The place he was in was no surprise to him from all the wailing and screaming, the City of Pain. De Pleur's work place.

"What's your name?" Ajay asked the interrogator.

"Why?"

"I wanna find you later."

The interrogator backed away slightly afraid by his threat, but his confidence returned when the doors opened and in came Paul, still on his phone. "Yup! Ok! Ok! G'night Sweetheart!" He put away his cellphone.

"Sorry about that- daughter… You must understand."

"Do I look that old to you?" Ajay wore a :-I Expression.

"Maybe not, who knows. Beneath that mask might be a charming face, you could have at least made a few bastard children with the ladies you've entranced so far." He laughed in a dry sense.

"Why don't you take it off and find out?" Ajay challenged.

"Nice try, but I'll let you keep it on."

"…. Are you afraid of me?" Ajay's smile question exerted an invisible pressure onto Paul that he found it difficult to move, he quickly recovered so as to not look like he lost composure. But Ajay could see it in him. It didn't matter, but if Paul saw his face and told the rest who he actually was it would be terrible so he played a bit of reverse-phycology, enticing Paul to take it off and see something he'd regret.

"Where're Sabal and Willis? I expected them here for the grand unveiling!" Ajay said to him.

"You're a bit out of luck today. Sabal and Willis are cleaning up that mess you caused this morning, and what was that with Amita? Ahahaha!... Mukti Tigers….. That was the most childish thing I've seen, if breaking off and forming groups were that easy, Kyrat would be full of 'em!"

"True, but Amita's not simple. Sure she can be an angry bitch at times but she's way more intelligent than your average fryface!" Ajay insulted Sabal's lack of intellect.

"Humph! Perhaps." Paul was preparing something behind a plastic suitcase.

"Whatchu go there?" Ajay asked cheerfully and curious.

"I'm getting ready a truth serum for yours truly!" He said as he tapped the springe to release some of the fluids.

"Sweet!" Ajay responded with no sense of tension in his voice. The interrogator who dosed him with water was sweating nervously as Ajay chose to stare at him the entire time.

"S-Sir, permission to attend to the prisoners!"

"Granted, get out of here!" The interrogator was ruining his presence for him, the interrogator rushed out of the room and closed the door behind him.

"Any new guests in Pain City?"

"Just a few. Couple of folks from state side, bunch of kids- Why am I even telling you these things?"

"You were nice enough to respond, Paul! You know, things are going quite disappointingly for me here! I was promised beating until I couldn't move, the hot iron under the skin! This is not what I signed up for!" Ajay complained.

Paul have to manually close his mouth to the invitation Ajay was giving him. He expected him to resist in a futile struggle while he forced him to disclose secrets to him to use as leverage with Sabal's Golden Path and Willis.

"Well, want doesn't get." He said as he prepared to inject it into Ajay.

"Aren't you going to ask me if I've been experiencing dizziness, sweating or drowsiness first?" Paul chuckled.

"I wish all my victims were as fun as you!"

"Yeah? Well, you should try being in their shoes for a while."

"Humph!" Paul injected the truth serum into Ajay's hand and waited for the chemical to take effect.

"Does Sabal even know you captured me?"

"You worry about yourself. He'll be here when he's finished."

"That's gonna take a really long time, with the kind of people he has to work with, that and himself being a lousy Commander." Ajay chuckled.

"The serum should have taken effect by now, ok. Who are you?"

"You already know."

"Your name?"

"Badala." In Ajay's mind, since he was wearing the mask he was technically Badala.

"Bullshit! Your other name."

"Soren."

"Your birth name!" Paul tried to specify.

"You already know it!" He responded truthfully again, because Paul had actually met him when they settled in at his compound.

"Arrghh!" Paul punched him in the gut and Ajay swung like a pendulum.

"What are your plans in the future?" He asked agitated.

"Doing the same thing you're doing back at you." Paul punched him again.

"Tell me the troop movements in the Uttar Region then."

"I dunno, whatever troops do in Uttar I guess..." Because he really didn't, these things were Arjun's line of work.

"You serious?"

"Yep!- Urghh!" Paul hit him again, he was getting more and more unhappy that despite the highest dosage of truth serum he gave wasn't doing its intended job. On Ajay's point of view, he felt fine with no change in behavior, he figured it had to do with the immunity he formed from all the drugs Yuma pumped into him at Durgesh or just he excessive dosage of substances. Or he was under its influence but just gave very vague descriptions.

"Fine then….. I'll ask something to soften you up first. What is it you fear most?"

Ajay remained quiet for a while, and Paul took it as he stumbled onto something good. Men always crumbled at this point, either resisting or indulging a terrifying secret fear.

"Honey Badgers." Paul wanted to plop backwards.

"Are you fucking kidding me?!"

"No! I'd go with a knife at Tigers, Leopards, Yetis, Bears but not Honey Badgers. Especially that one Honey Badger back in Nadi village, and boy! Were those marines freaked out when they saw it!-…." Ajay started jabbering on and on.

"SHUT UP!"

"What? Isn't this what you wanted? To find out what I knew? For instance, I know you better than anyone here ever did, Mr. Cuck!" Ajay said with a grin. Paul's gaze became stricken upon hearing that.

"How does it feel, that far away back at home some dude is banging your wife! Gurrghh!" Paul tightened his knuckles and mercilessly beat Ajay onwards for five full minutes.

At the end of his beating when Paul's hands were numb from the pain of boxing him with his bare fists, Ajay proceeded to laugh in pain.

"Come on! Beat me till your knuckles bleed! I know why you do what you do, you like the way it feels don't chu'- it's what you need!" Ajay taunted him.

"Raaarghh!" Paul picked up a baton and continued to beat him.

And at the end of his beating due to his fatigue, Ajay let out blood from his mouth but continued a wet gurgling laughter which unsettled even Paul.

"Hahahaha…(Sigh) You know, Paul. There are two types of interrogators in this world. The ones who are good at dishing out but when it comes to receiving some of it they'd faint on the spot. Then, there's the type that has had a taste of the good old medicine called pain for untold decades. What was inflicted on them they learnt, they know exactly where your weak spots are. i.e. Yours would be Ashley."

Paul trembled at the thought of Ajay grasping hold of Ashley.

"Imagine yourself hanging, where I'm hanging. I place your cellphone right-…. there." Ajay pointed with his chin to the work bench with all the torturing tools. "Then as I torture you without reason, the phone rings-….. and then-…." Paul had fallen into an imagination of the nightmare he spoke of. "I pick it up and answer it-…" "Huh!" Paul gasped as he was laying on the floor with his hands bleeding and swollen. "Is this Ashley Harmon? I'll say and she asks who am I. So I'll tell her…. A friend of your father's, I was wondering if you'd like to come to Kyrat, bring you and your mommy over to see what your daddy does for a-."

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP! You fucking animal!" Paul threw his tools on the table at him, some were razors that cut Ajay as they flew by but they weren't deep so it wasn't a problem.

Ajay was quite pleased with his work, he decided to have a little fun with Paul and screw with the sorry bastard. Would he do those things to Ashley or his cheating wife? Of course not, but Paul didn't believe it, he was convinced Ajay would really do so.

"That's why I said you should have waited for Sabal and Willis to come or it wouldn't be fun! Tsk!"

Paul raised his 1911 at him and pointed between his eye.

"Ah! Did you finally gain the courage to do it? Oh!- By the way, whatever happens to me….. Actually-… Hmmmm…. Well I'm sure Pagan will at least settle it later, and you should know how he's like when things don't go his way, am I right?" As if Ajay wasn't bad enough, he was reminded of Pagan. Paul was very familiar with what Pagan was capable of. His lover Ishwari once persuaded him to sponsor a bunch of medical students to Singapore and when they never returned he had their families executed and sent some men to deal with them there.

Paul left Ajay hanging while he went into the opposite room to think and freely express his emotions not in Ajay's presence.

He was now starting to regret his decision in placing his cards with Willis. The agency he had been working for in the past was a special branch under the CIA so Willis had tabs on who he was. And communicated with him while he was in Varshakot for over a month to collaborate this partnership. Willis promised him something in return for his help, and he gave it in advance payment. To kidnap his wife and her lover, wipe out their existence and bring them to him to torture slowly till death with the comfort that no one is going to question their disappearance. They were already on their way. And after that, he would be given a private estate in the American countryside to raise Ashley. Things were already going as planned yet he couldn't shake the feeling his darling baby girl was in danger left alone with just a babysitter, he'd have to arrange for her to come over. But even then the feeling that Badala gave off was causing him anxiety, he just needed to go or he'll never been free. Problem was that Pagan was behind him and he knew what he could do.

"Fuck this!" He dialed his phone. The dial tone rang for a while. "Pick it up you bitch!"

*…Paul.* When Paul defected, he brought Noore along into the picture because it increased his entitlements and also because he could blackmail her with the family he took.

"I've got a job for you, last one and your family will be free!"

That's right, if Noore was the one who held responsibility for Badala then Pagan wouldn't direct his rage towards him but that pitiful Noore. He held his part of the deal with Willis, Noore was just there to watch over him.

*Name it.*

"Tell me, Noore….. what do you think about letting into your menagerie one Northern Demon?"

* * *

The Condotierri and hunters sat around the veranda of the Bell tower they used to send the long-range communique to the Army High Command. Now that they had completed their mission they sat around separately not talking to one another. They had their own thoughts to deal with.

Bipin wasn't taking the events that occurred very well. As he sat on the ledge of the bell tower with a bottle of Shangri-lager in his hands.

Samson took a while to climb that ridiculous maze of ledges, whatever this bell tower was, it was designed to not let anyone climb up to tamper with the electronics on top. The monotonous propaganda kept blaring out its repeated programed speech.

"You look like he died."

"And you think he hasn't?" Bipin said without looking behind where Samson was.

"You of all should know very well how capable he is."

"He's not the be all end all like everyone thinks!" Bipin had enough of the beer that was tasting stale from exposure to the cold air and threw it down.

"I know, but if he were to be captured. I doubt he'll be held for long."

"You don't believe they'll just shoot him to save the trouble?" Bipin being pragmatic as always, though he wasn't wrong with that assessment.

"Sabal is all about displays of might like Solomon, to show they're strong. He'll likely parade him through Banapur then torture him in a quiet place to get revenge for his face. Badala would likely use that opportunity to escape when he has the chance."

"I'm going to Banapur."

"Oh no you don't!"

"You have no jurisdiction over me, mercenary!" Bipin tapped Samson's hand off his shoulder.

"No I don't but in the best of Badala's interest I'll keep you from endangering yourself. We'll station near Shanath by a telephone line and wait for signs of where he is then answer it quickly. Luca happens to be a rather good communcations specialist and can tap in on phone calls in the region with the computer software he has at hand." Samson proposed to Bipin.

"(Sigh)… Alright."

"Don't worry, we'll get to him eventually. Your worries are just as great as ours. Even for me, to send us away even though we were mercenary. He's just a weird fellow!" Samson scratched his head.

"Aye. He is that."

"Let's get down there and rest up."

"Right."

Samson and Bipin left the bell tower and met with the rest where they set up camp to spend the night and save their strength for tomorrow morning.

* * *

Ajay's consciousness stirred back into awakening. Since his time in the City of Pain, Paul injected him with a dose of heavy tranquilizer used on wild animals like tigers on him. He was awoken by the sound of cheers. The place he was in had a candlelight ambience and he realized his hands had been restrained by cuffs. He took a second to look around. This place looked familiar, but the thing that gave it away was the two topless women holding the restraints to each arm of his.

-So Noore was in on this then.-

Ajay could understand why, Paul must have threatened her with her family or perhaps promised her the release of them to her should she join him in the defection. But it was clear he didn't and Noore likely didn't have long to live with him around.

"People of Kyrat….." The horn blew and the door swung open.

"Who do you cheer for? The Brave elephants?" The two women guards yank the restraints on him

"Ok! Ok! I'm going! Geez…." Ajay walked casually to match their pace.

"Or the fierce tigers?"

As Ajay stepped into the clear of the arena he could see the crowds on both sides of the arena walls on top, Noore was in front, presenting him to the crowd most likely.

"Or do you cheer for the butchers."

"Favored Son to King Min, a fellow Vice-Lord of the Valley of Death, killer of innocent men, women and children of Kyrat…." Noore kept her façade of belittling him though she didn't really mean any of these things she said.

"He abandoned his people to live in the decadence of America-….." Noore proceeds to grasp the restraints from her subordinate and pull him along with her.

"-But he returns in chains to face judgement. Your Judgement, people of Kyrat."

"The Northern Demon. BADALA!" She shouted his name for all the audience to hear, and the crowd went wild. Not sure if it was the real Badala or an impersonator. But they paid to see something interesting. Ajay looked up at the parapet and saw Paul flanked by his guards. Paul saw him and raised his glass of champagne to him.

-Thank you Paul, you've given me a setting that I was just looking for!-

Ajay released a fearless grin back which made him unsettled again that he'd use this opportunity to breakout. But Noore was confident he wouldn't do anything while she was accompanied by her personal guard who were standing around the rim of the arena, all cladded in heavy type armor and carrying bullet-hoses.

"Some people believe you can make a difference here, Badala. This is the moment of truth."

"Yeah sure, I bet they'd pay two-thousand rupees to see that! Knife at my feet, got it!" He turned his cuffs to the topless woman. Noore was left in a daze, how could he know what she was planning? She nodded to her attendant to unlock the restraints as she did. Ajay flicked his hands and rubbed his wrists slightly to get a feel then jumped into the arena without question. The crowd burst into cheers when they saw his eagerness to join.

Noore left for the parapet to commentate, her personal guards retreated out of the arena as quickly as possible as the game was about to start.

"Welcome to Shanath Arena! Let the betting begin!" The crowd cheered once more.

Ajay took a knee and picked up the knife from the sand taking his position but the wooden barricade to conceal his silhouette from the beginning waves.

"Round One!" Noore called out from her observation parapet with Paul.

The doors began to open and men and animals poured out to fight with one another. Most composed of Royal Army soldiers who wanted to make a quick buck and survive the arena, others were locals given the Royal Army kit to fight for the same reason. The animals….. were just animals.

Ajay was waiting against one of the doors for the men to exit the room, he hoped the one he chose wasn't filled with drugged animals because it would be a different result from what he imagined. But he heard footsteps approaching and the shouting from inside the room.

Ajay flung his knife and impaled the first to exit, pulled his grenade pin and kicked his body back into the room. His comrades were too shocked by the sudden attack that they stumbled and weren't quick enough to remove the grenade from their friend.

The room exploded with dust and red mist, the crowd that was above to witness him went wild. By now the other three teams were engaging one another with the animals, wild dogs somewhere in between. They fought in the compound and Ajay wasn't within their sights so they concentrated on what was in front.

He jumped off the ledge and took down a soldier with his back turned, stealing his rifle and blazed away at the surrounding soldiers. The other teams took notice of him and turned their attention solely on him, reminded that they were still within an arena with the Northern Demon in it as well.

Up upon the parapet, Noore returned to her seat next to Paul whom was cheerfully drinking the champagne he was provided. Both of them bore witness to his brutality, Paul enjoyed it while Noore was dreading it.

"How the hell did you catch him in the first place?"

"A thousand soldiers and Golden Path warriors in a favorable position and plenty of mortar fire. A bit of luck might I add! About four hundred of those men never lived to see this moment…. A demon, fighting in the arena for life." Paul chuckled like he was completely in control of the situation.

Noore remained quiet, she found it weird why Paul had brought him here and alive at that. Where he should have been quite well kept in the City of Pain for that matter. So why did Paul hand him to her to take care of and occasionally earn some bucks from using him as entertainment? Even though Paul had promised to return her family after taking custody of Badala until Sabal and Willis had returned from the frontlines, she didn't like the feeling she was having. So she planted a knife below to keep him alive as much as possible. When Paul left, she wanted him brought to her quarters where she could negotiate her family's rescue for his release. Noore was having second thoughts about her initial plan after seeing the brutality of his fighting prowess, what kind of leverage did she have on him to ensure that if she released him, he'd be obliged to follow her request.

"Round three!" The separate announcer called out the beginning of the third match already.

"Let's mix things up a bit. Have all the teams in the next round go for him." Paul suggested.

"What?!" Even for her that was absurd, that meant he had to deal with soldiers at the fourth round's level and still fight all of them at the same time.

"Something wrong with that? I guarantee he'll be alive, I'll even bet on it a hundred thousand grand."

Paul waved for one of his ten soldiers who brought a briefcase with notes in US green instead of Rupees.

"Fine." She turned back to look down at the Arena with worry on her face.

-Will he make it?-

The round ended without much difficulty, he only had to concentrate on small groups at a time so it wasn't difficult yet. There had yet to be Heavy troopers and large animals that made it more of a challenge for him.

"I'm impressed Mr. Badala. I expected you to fall much sooner. But, this is Shanath Arena, and we're only warming up."

"Yeah. Yeah." Ajay casually picked up the ammo and knives he could salvage while he still had time.

"The betting is open for round four!" Screaming from the crowd, telling Ajay to hang on due to the exorbitant amounts bet on him.

Ajay stood behind the column with his rifle at the ready awaiting the arrival of the four colored teams and the big cats this round. He watched as the teams from either side converge but they neither fired upon one another nor fling their knifes too. He was starting to find something off when they started looking around in a group.

"A slight twist to this round, people of Kyrat. You've heard him in all his gore and glory. The Northern Demon sweeping his enemies before him in the hundreds, the thousands! Now. Witness him triumph over the arena as he fights against all contestants of the arena in a one versus all scenario. Watch him slaughter his way to VICTORY!" Noore announced the plot-twist even Ajay didn't see coming. The crowd went absolutely bananas, shouting and cheering even louder than before, people crowded around the gambling handlers with notes swinging towards them.

It had gotten pretty serious now, even he wasn't sure of the outcome. Because all the soldiers had their wits about them now.

Ajay steeled himself and ran out of cover to impale the closest man near him and fired his rifle at the rest. The volume of fire at him was even greater than before and they spared no expense in ammo to keep him suppressed under cover for them to maneuver.

Ajay was going to have a hard time ahead of him.

* * *

Sabal and Willis had spent a long day sorting out the problems around the territories that were unstable, The Royal Army sent quick reaction forces almost the size of a regiment to contest for the territories towards the Airport and the routines to King's bridge. However, this proved troublesome with the Tigers to the West which were holding them off for the Royal Army QRF to reach them in time to support them. King's Bridge was once again heavily fortified with emplacements around the roads and a camp assembled at the foot of the mountain to the bridge.

Sabal's forces and the Shanath traitor forces that were on their side as well were forced into submission by these elite forces that mobilized. Willis had underestimated the response time of the Army Command, it probably had to do with the fact that the trap in Varshakot wasn't very well contained and someone escaped and sent a transmission to the Uttar Region. If not for that, the Airport and King's bridge barracks would have fallen into their grasp.

They were now in the City of Pain as Sabal had left overall management to the field commanders, Willis saw it more like he stopped pestering them with his presence. He'd never seen anyone so horrible at leading militarized forces, how in the world did Sabal rise to this kind of power? It didn't matter, he just wanted a fool like him to break the country down to call for US intervention. They did it in Iraq, they could do it here as well. While the middle east was only had oil, Kyrat was filled to the brim with Rubies, Diamonds, rare earth metals, Coltan, Iron, Aluminium, Titanium, the list went on. It was a miner's paradise. The source on these materials came from the MI6 database as there was a mining company called KEO that was under the British crown pre-WWII and was also a branch office for station H.

They walked up the steps towards De Pleur's office.

"Go ahead of me, I'll catch up!" Sabal told him as he took a different route, Willis chuckled. He knew where he was headed.

The guards who saw Sabal parted for him as he entered the prison to visit a certain group, it was becoming his favorite pass-time to taunt them. Jason's friends to be exact.

They were gathered in a corner of the cell sharing their stories of after they returned to the states.

"You know, if you maintain this type of cooperative behavior I could arrange for slightly more….. comfortable accommodations for you and your friends." Sabal leaned against the bars of the prison cell they were in.

"Drop dead!" Daisy responded and made Sabal chuckle.

"You're my favorite! It's always a treat to come by every now and then. I just happened to be in a very good mood. Sadly, things turned out quite anti-climactic when the Warlord I wanted your friend to find and kill fell into our trap and now hangs next door being carefully tortured. I'm not sure what I'm gonna do with your friend now, maybe topple over the current monarchy ruled by Pagan perhaps."

"If you wanted Jason to help then why were we involved?!" Steven screamed at him and slowly regretted it as Sabal gave him an intimidating glare that caused him to cower once more. His expression quickly flipped back to his original smiling persona in a split-second.

"I'll let you off easy this once, shall I? And for that matter about your friend Willis did approach him once in a quiet ranch in Austin, Texas wherever that is….. But unfortunately, he wasn't being very diplomatic when he spoke to him. He still thought he could be a normal person after all the blood-spilt there!" Sabal laughed heartily.

"It's not what he does anymore, he promised me he wouldn't!" Liza somehow got the courage to speak.

"Oh? This coming from the lover who abandoned him, Liza Snow?" Sabal grinned evilly as she became silent from his words that spoke truth in their meaning.

"But I have to thank you for it, my dear. Because if you were there to support him things would have been more difficult for us to persuade him to come." He bent down into a one-leg kneel against the bars.

"There's nothing quite like a broken puppet yearning for its strings to be pulled." Sabal made the motions of a puppeteer with his fingers while he laughed again more diabolically than before.

"You're a sick bastard!" Daisy scorned him.

"You have quite the mouth there. Wonder if it works as well in the bedroom too!"

"Tsk!" All she could do in her position was glare scornfully at him.

"After um-…. Jason…. has served his use and disposed of I might like to keep you as my concubine. Well, you and Liza Snow over there if your boyfriend doesn't object!" He knew the man was too afraid to shout back so he intentionally antagonized them.

"Drop dead creep!"

"Yes! It's those fierce eyes that I can't get enough of! Well, you'll have plenty of time to think were your current position is at."

Sabal didn't get to pass any more disturbing remarks as Willis came into the prison looking for Sabal.

"Was it too disgusting to watch even for you?" He thought Paul was at work with Badala that's why Willis came to see what Sabal was doing instead.

"Read." He held out a note from De Pleur. Which Sabal took and read, his expression changed from a smile to a slight frown.

"Humph! Greedy bastard. Trying to make a buck out of him. I guess that's ok. I've always wanted to see the Northern Demon fight to the dead in an arena." Sabal said as he scrunched the note into a ball and threw it.

"That just leave more room for error. Any fuck up can happen over there, especially when it's a public area. We're moving out now while it's still salvageable….. He had one job! One job!..."

Sabal and Willis left the prison on their way to Shanath arena.

Daisy went to the bars and reached out for the note and successfully grabbed it after a few tries. She unruffled the note and read it.

"What's it say?" Riley asked.

"…. Taking Badala to the Shanath arena to incarcerate, Noore will be free to use him for events. That'll earn us some extra cash to fund the cause…."

"An arena? Like the colosseum arena? Wow! How lawless is this place?" Oliver exclaimed.

"Suffice it to say we're safe here than outside these walls for the time being." Daisy repeated to them.

Daisy was carefully sorting her thoughts, recalling the conversation Sabal had indulged them with. This and the words of the jailers and interrogators that have been passing by the place.

From what she gathered, Sabal and the Golden Path resistance were having difficulties with an individual known as Badala hailing from the North regions where the ruling power was. The stories she heard about him were hard to believe but then so was Jason. The Golden Path and Kyrati citizens affectionately named him the Northern Demon. This was the person they had intended for Jason to kill for them, Daisy judged the possibility of that happening. Because if Jason won it did not simply mean they'd be returned to him but he'll be betrayed, the same could happen if Badala defeated him. But if they were both evenly matched somehow, then they could drag into a stalemate for them to think up a plan to escape this wrecked place. Perhaps go to the airport that was mentioned by one of the guards where Badala had taken control of and plead for him to allow them to leave so that Jason would stop fighting with them.

It was risky and full of uncertainty but Daisy swore she wasn't going to sit around and let things happen to them.

* * *

The crowd cheered even louder at the results of the fifth round. Bodies of soldiers in Royal Guard attire lay all over the arena and in the centre was an actual mound of corpses. Kneeling on top of it was Ajay, bleeding from his extremities with severe wounds and cuts all over his torso. Ajay gasped for air, his entire body felt like it was on fire. The steel mask felt hot in contact to his face and his vision was blurry, he tried his best to steady himself.

Who would have thought things would play out like this? For the last two rounds he was subjected to fighting all the soldiers and animals with whatever was in the arena. No custom body armor, no modified weapons, no special tools. Just his brawn and wits, but even he was just one man. And the crowd acknowledged it as Ajay passed the final round without sustaining serious injury, he was automatically the next Arena Champion by everyone's book. He had won his freedom, or so everyone thought but he was shoved her by Paul to fight for his dear life and was still going back in a prison cell at the end of the day, if he died then at least for them he wouldn't bother the Golden Path's ambition any further.

Noore sighed relief in her heart that Ajay had made it out of that almost certain death situation on two accounts, one round fiercer than the other. Paul was making a different face, holding a very ugly expression as it was when Ajay stared at him with a smirk from where he was in the parapet. Paul got up and walked to the porch.

"I'll do this one if you don't mind." Paul requested he take her place in the end of the arena commentary.

"Uh- Not at all."

"People of Kyrat! You've seen it all here in Shanath. Tell me, are you not entertained?!"

The crowd shouted wildly with excitement.

"Today, with you as our witness, Badala has torn through the ranks of the enemies before him with the determination of a monster, a demon!... But can he survive against one final round?"

The crowd were baffled by his comment, the daily rounds only went to five so why was there a sixth? Noore stood up from her chair at his ridiculous remark.

"Paul! What the hell are you trying to pull off here?!" Noore got her answer from Paul with his 1911 drawn to her forehead, his guards turned their rifles to her and her personal guards and servants.

"Just watch." He said with a grin. Then it hit her, Paul never wanted to keep Badala alive but wanted him to die in the arena where she would take the blame for his death instead of him. "PAAUULL! You slimy-."

"Be careful what your next word are, Noore! Remember who still has your family!"

Noore's expression turned white as a sheet when he used her family yet again. She wanted to cry out for the injustice she had to undergo right now but she was helpless to stop it.

Paul turned his attention back to the arena.

"For the next bonus round, our arena legend will face off against the best of Noore's menagerie, her personal guards, and my strongest warriors! In a battle where the winner takes all! People of Kyrat, never in the history of arena battle will you get to see such a performance. Today you will be present in what will be written in the history books as the greatest arena battle of all time!"

To be a part of history, once in a lifetime. These words dragged them back to their seats and looking towards the betting handlers to place high stakes bets.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and girls! Place your bets, because it's time for the final round!"

Paul went off the porch back into the observation balcony where Noore and her subordinates were made to sit with guns to their heads. Paul picked up the radio on the bench and walked to Noore.

"Make the arrangements."

* * *

The excitement caught the crowd as they cheered loudly for Ajay to win or lose. To them it was a gambling game. But to Ajay it was life and death, the previous two rounds were hard enough. He was now facing elite guards from Noore and Paul with a combination of the biggest animals Noore could fetch from the wild. He looked up at Paul's smug look and responded with a devious smile to discomfort him again.

"Are you watching closely?" Ajay mouthed to Paul to lip read him.

The doors of the confine rooms opened in the arena. Ajay threw his gathered smoke grenades into the centre where he was to mask the line of sight from each other on both Noore's and Paul's guards' sides. Ajay was running on limited strength at the moment so he had to kill them as quickly as possible, although that didn't give him any countermeasures against Paul should he faint, the guy might put a bullet through his head.

The heavy soldiers converged into the smoke, each side's flamer types let loose a wall of fire into the smokescreen to try and burn him out. The mound of bodies caught fire that was all, there were no screams or movement from within the smoke so the elite guards and the crowd found it weird. The smoke sort of cleared up and showed only the mountain of corpses from the previous battles. The elite guards moved in to poke around to see if he hid amongst the corpses.

(Ping) (BOOOM) An unfortunate guard lifted a body which was acting as a counter weigh to the safety lever of the grenade under him and it vaporized three of the guards in the arena, while stunning the rest.

"URRGhh!" Ajay stabbed the flamer heavy with his knife and blazed away with the commandeered flamethrower at the unprotected guards whom caught fire instantly and danced about frantically. Ajay rushed for the cover of the pillars up by the larger door. Bullets scrapped the stone floor where he ran on but wasn't quick enough to graze him. Automatic fire blazed away at the column to keep him suppressed as they moved up to take the kill. Some of the men got over confident and went around to hose him but were gun down instead with his quicker reactions. But Ajay was facing a problem where he couldn't move from his position due to the suppressing fire volume being too great.

Then as if anything could get worse, the doors in front of him began to open. It was time for the wild animals to come out. The doors slowly swung open, revealing the latest beast incarnate brought to the arena to die for entertainment. This time, it was the most difficult beast to ever take down within the arena. It was the alpha Rhino that rampaged through the areas in Shanath, sustained numerous injuries from harpoons and buckshot but was successfully captured and sold instead to Noore for the highest price offered. It was the rare White Rhino, Karkadann. Its name was derived from a mythical beast due to its near invulnerability to normal weapons. The rhino laid eye on Ajay because he was the nearest and kicked its leg against the dirt floor to prepare for a charge.

-Shit.-

The Rhino charged at the column and Ajay was left with no other option but to dodge. He jumped out of the way from the Rhino that slammed into the pillar and shook its head from the concussive force and turned to him again like it was only interested in him.

Ajay turned his rifle towards the guards that were in his way as he ran through them. Killing the ones that were directly in front of him as he escaped from the more serious enemy, the Rhino. The beast found him to be too much of a hassle and turned to the guards which were nearer and started to remove some of them from Ajay. Having recovered his footing, Ajay made his way towards the elite guards scattered about and began dispatching them with quick efficiency.

Then, it was just Ajay, the Rhino and the few guards surrounding it and trying to fight it off.

The Rhino noticed him from afar, recalling that it had made it miss him on several occasions. Adding to its fury as it changed its mind and went for Ajay instead. The Elite Guards who were fighting it were given a moment for a breather.

The Rhino charged at him once more in the centre of the Arena. Ajay fired his rifle at it with little to no damage to its tough skin but Ajay had no choice. He fired at one spot to weaken the fresh at its neck area. With the Rhino attempting to trample him, he had little windows of opportunity to make aimed shots and went for hip shooting instead. The guards that survived got up from their breather and actually stood watching, because their orders were to kill Ajay but then they'd have to fight the Rhino next. They all agreed to wait for Ajay to weaken the animal first before they intervened.

Somehow the crowd saw their actions and thought it was very unsportsman like so they threw harsh jeers and rubbish at the guards. On the parapet, Paul watched with delight as Ajay struggled to fight the Rhino, while Noore watched in horror. It was already brave to stand in the same place as the Rhino but to fight with it alone was almost suicidal. Ajay had no choice in the matter as he fought to stay alive. His rifle went dry which made it a huge problem for him as he resorted to all his additional weaponry. He threw throwing knives at the weakened flesh but they didn't have the stopping power. Ajay was forced to run around the obstacles to reduce the rhinos momentum when charging at him. Ajay slid on the floor and picked up a shotgun by a door to a confine room and turned to fire a few slugs at the rhinos head but again it shrugged it off, he was beginning to feel that not many things could kill this rhino.

His grenades were used up on the initial elite guards and his main armament was now empty. Ajay was now left with his knife.

Paul saw what kind of predicament Ajay fell into an laughed.

The rhino snorted at him for having only his blade now to defend himself, it decided it would finish Ajay with one single charge and kicked the floor a few times before charging with a speed no one would expect from an animal that size.

It was do or die now.

Ajay waited at the last possible moment before he dodged, the rhino zipped pass as he impaled his blade into the weak spot in its neck. "WHooooWHH!" The Rhino howled and shook its head hitting Ajay hard against the wall. At that split second that Ajay had lost his footing the rhino turned and charged at him.

(BOOM) The sound of the rhinos horn hitting the stone wall could be heard echoing around the arena.

"EEEYYYYYAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"

The most blood curling scream followed, resounding throughout the arena and silenced all the commotion above the area.

Ajay…. Had been stabbed in the right chest by the lengthy rhino horn which was in turn embedded within the stone wall. To the crowd, to Noore, and to Paul it was a fatal wound that he wouldn't recover from.

As Ajay's body fell limp against the horn, swaying and not moving at all. The rhino was more concerned about pulling its horn free instead which it had trouble doing because its horn tip was caught on the iron rod internally used to support the making of the wall.

It was the most excruciating pain Ajay had ever felt in his entire existence, his eyesight began to fade, but this time for good. He knew better than anyone his own wounds as he hung impaled by the rhinoceros.

This was the hour of his imminent death, after all he had done to bring about the end of the Golden Path, to coming of true peace. It was all about to end for him, all because of a filthy animal. He would never see Pagan again, Bhadra, Saras,… Maya.

Never again. Never again. Never again. Never again. Never again. Never again. Never again.

Ajay's vision turned blank as his eyes were still opened.

He just...

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couldn't accept it...

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 **AWAKEN**


	27. Chapter 27 - The Demons within us Both

The audience voiced both their satisfaction and dissatisfaction towards the additional round that took place. Paul laughed evilly with joy, while Noore placed her hands to her mouth to hold back screaming or vomiting from the sheer cruelly of his death.

The result of the additional round ended the way most people thought it would, to survive till round five with the two hardest rounds having all the teams against one person was unfair but it was a legendary performance like no other. The people in the crowd would remember this day as the day-

(CRACK) "WHHOOOWWW!" The rhino bellowed in excruciating pain.

The crowd was baffled.

What could possibly cause the rhino pain if none of the weapons that Badala or the elite guards threw at it worked well enough?

The answer was right below inside the arena. Standing perfectly still for the predicament he was just endured a while ago…

…. Was Badala, still standing.

Paul got up from his chair with his eyes wide open in disbelief. "Impossible..." he murmured. Noore was no different in sharing his disbelieve, her mouth hanging from her jaw. Yet for some reason, her hand trembled in fear.

The crowd was speechless to his sudden vitality, his motionless standing straight gave a disturbingly eerie presence to it. But wasn't he nailed to the wall by the rhino earlier? The answer was right before them yet again. Still stuck in his chest was the unstoppable rhino's horn, but not connected to the rhino any longer.

Where was the rhino then? Galloping away from him instead towards the direction of the large door it was let through into the arena, but sadly the door was closed so the hornless rhino banged against the door to get out. The elite guards had taken their eyes off him for a moment to look at the rhino that was trying to escape, it gave them chills to the bone seeing the most arrogant yet might creature in all of Kyrat cowering before something else.

When they turned back, Ajay was gone. The crowd was shocked by the disappearance, the elite guards were frightened by this.

"Where is he?!"

"Fuck!"

"He shouldn't be standing!"

"Gwaaargghh!" The sound of a man dying came from behind the group of elite guards, from the person at their rear most guard. When they turned with gun ready, the body of that man flew and hit two out of the five remaining elite guards as they fell to the ground with the body weighing them against the floor. With their eyes to the flying body there was another yell from the left most guard of their bunch being beheaded so quickly the eyes could not keep track of the swing. The head flew and hit the person next to him on the head but it didn't fall, instead it was skewered together with him through the mouth and out the back of their heads like a human kebab. As the body of the guard fell sideways a shadow leaped over the corpse and swung its hand across the last standing man's torso. Blood exploded from the strike and his upper torso flew in the air as well with the lower body was left still in the standing position.

""Hiiiiii-Hyeee!"" The last two who were trapped under the body of the rear man squealed as they were next to die by the inhumane demon before them. Just then the rhino trundled pass them and trampled on one of the guard's heads while running to the door on the other end of the room. As it passed the centre with the mound of smoking bodies it charged right through it as it was less concerned about the things in its way and more about getting away from the monster it was with that broke its horn…..

…. With its barehands.

A shadow appeared at the corner of its eyes. Grabbing the knife still embedded in it and pushed in, the rhino stopped in its tracks as something was going deeper into its flesh. Then as if the rhino's tough skin were a piece of tissue the knife tore its skin off with an inhuman strength across the top of its neck. The back of the rhino's neck was spraying blood as the beast collapsed to the side wide-eyed.

Beneath that fountain of blood was Ajay in his prime opening his mouth up to take in the blood, the mask concealed his face but all who saw felt he was smiling. It sending a powerful message to the crowd and to Paul who relegated back into his seat shivering.

"EERRRRAAAAAAAAHH!" Ajay bellowed into the air like a predator triumphant over its kill, the roar resonated throughout the arena even to the outside where the stalls were, the owners wondered what animal could make such a sound. Those in the arena were silenced by the animalistic nature of Badala, the arena champion.

The demon turned to the last surviving elite guard whom was watching from afar. Seeing that he was the next target his shivered, dropping his weapon and running towards the confine room closest to him. He banged the door screaming for someone to open it before he became mincemeat. The crowd watched in horror as he walked slowly towards the final opponent in the arena.

The guard banged the door even harder as the demon closed in and was almost upon him. He backed against the door shivering and wetting his pants as he did so. Without a sound, the knife entered the guard's body until it hit the metal of the door with a bump, telling everyone how deep the knife went. The guard jittered about the last ropes of his life as the demon raised him with a single arm holding the knife still skewered through the guard. The demon turned his head towards the parapet, more specifically Paul who was climbing backwards on his seat in fear and disbelief.

Then the most unimaginable sequence of events happened next.

The demon slung the corpse around and threw it at the parapet's porch which was almost twenty metres in distance and at a higher ground. To lift a man who weighed at least 80 kilograms due to equipment on him was a feat only achievable by a monster. But it didn't stop there.

The demon rushed towards the direction of the parapet and jumped, bouncing on the single columns increasing its height towards the parapet. But the crowd was certain he would never get up with his own strength, that was what the arena seats were designed for. That's where the demon proved them wrong.

He hadn't throw the body unpurposefully, the guards body bounced against the parapet's porch and in line with where the demon currently was. The demon used the body that was in midair to springboard up onto the audience. Kicking off against the falling corpse the demon did a front-flip, landing perfectly onto the seating platforms as the audience in that seating area had backed away anticipating his landing.

Then, chaos broke out.

Witnessing him go on his berserk rampage took the vitality from their hearts as they watched and thanked the heavens they weren't there with him…. Until he came to them.

The crowd went into a frantic frenzy as they shoved and pushed their way towards the exit. The demon directed its gaze towards the individuals in the observation parapet, and their hearts dropped to the ground when they found out they were next on his target list.

"… s-shot-…. SHOT HIM!" Paul shouted frantically as he backed away towards the door. The guards with him were just as frightened and thought to run with him, only the demon didn't let them as it dashed towards them. The demon moved in on them, its speed was too quick for the guards to line up their shot with him and within a matter of seconds the demon was before them.

Slicing through the first guard in front of him like he was a balloon filled with blood which popped as the kukri parted flesh and bone from one another. Witnessing the carnage once more, the guards decided to run instead of fight as they squeezed through the door to get out. That just left the demon and Noore who was sitting on the floor, fear was evident in her eyes as she lost the power to stand or flee. Her servants had long fled the room when the gunfire started so she was truly helpless against him. Walking slowly towards her, she could hear the sound of his footsteps like bells to her funeral. A hand reached out and grasped her neck, lifting her up in the air and throttled her. She could see clearly into the demon's eyes now. A hue of yellow in those irises as if there was something primordial about them. Looking at her, looking at all others like they were prey, like they were all its hateful enemy.

The mask fell from his face as the clasps had worn out from all the abuse, clattering to the floor and giving Noore a look at his appearance for the first time. If she had the luxury to she would have gasped at his age but she couldn't. The demon placed the knife to her navel with the intention to gut her while she was hanging from his hand.

"Uhhh-…Pl-…Please… Please…. Just….. Family…." Noore begged even though she knew it was no use pleading her eyes watered as she knew somehow her time had come.

Her only regret was that she never got to see her family before all of this.

* * *

The Condotierri and Hunters were loitering within the camp they set up by the bell tower, awaiting any word of Ajay through communication traffic or public calls in the rumor mill.

Samson suspected he was likely within the City of Pain as Paul was the one in charge of that ambush. The others had a few theories of where he may have been but no clear evidence. A jeep came screeching to a halt at the roadside near their camp so they went to see who it was.

"How is it? Have you found anything?" Saraswati had come.

"Nothing, Miss Roka. But mind me asking-… how are you here?" Luca reported. He recalled hearing the general order the restraint of Miss Roka over the phone when the operator passed him the phone directly.

"My audacious father had the gall to me locked up within the Royal Fortress once he heard the news about what had happened! It took me a while but I managed to slip out and took a jeep from the motorpool. It took me a while but my source in the communications department told me of your location. So what's the current status?" Saras looked at him for answers.

"We've got nothing. Samson had the idea of dispatching some of our guys to places with mass congregations. Chal Jama monastery, the Rochan Brick Factory, and Shanath Arena to listen in on the rumors. But we don't have a single trace." Saras could see that Luca hadn't slept much all night as he sat listening to the radio and looking at the screen of his laptop trying to find clues.

"I see. Pass you job to someone else and get some rest of we'll be forced to leave you behind." She said with a smile. Luca thanked her but refused, he was the most adept with the software and didn't want others to monitor without his level of scrutiny.

Saras walked into the camp and found Samson with Bipin whom neither held amiable expression to the very least.

"How have you two been?" She started by asking their well-being, no one needed to be asked the question of where was Ajay again.

"We were able to get some rest for an anticipated break-in, we're just waiting for tip offs from Luigi, Stella and Emilio who I sent as listeners to the public gathering areas."

"I see, and you Bipin?" She asked as he barely responded just now.

"Badala will be ok-."

"How would you know!" Bipin lashed out at her with his harsh tone.

"Have any of you ever been to the City of Pain?! Because I can tell you it's been there that way long before Paul took office as the Chief Interrogator! Have you ever spent a day in the cell? Because I can tell you that regardless of how lenient your sentence was everyone gets a fair treatment down there! And by fair I mean everyone's given an agonizing torture!"

"Bipin, have you-…" Saras had a guess about it but she didn't want to assume.

"It was years ago in my pre-Guard days, my lousy superior embezzled money belonging to our logistics and I wrote a formal complaint to a higher office. Humph! Who would have thought that he had relatives in high places, they intercepted the message and put me on trial under the offense of jumping the chain of command without even looking at the case I filed before that. I was sent to the City without indication of how long my sentence was to be…. they probably never intended for me to leave. I don't remember how long I was in there for one–two months, no one ever told me. Then one day, mistress Yuma came with my sister when she heard about where I'd been sent. Yuma executed my superior and his associates in the higher ranks without explanation or compensation to their families or clans, they never challenged her on it either. She sent me to the Royal Guard Academy to learn, and from there I worked like my life had meaning. I owe her and my sister everything."

Saras and Samson were rendered speechless as they had nothing to say on Bipin due to his tormenting history.

"So when you say he's gonna be ok every time it pisses me off that you take it so lightly." He walked towards the bell tower to get some time to himself, he also didn't want to look at the expressions they held now.

Samson understood it a little better and scratched his head, Saras on the other hand wasn't taking the news well any longer. It was just as Bipin pointed out, she was taking this too lightly….. just like the time in the mountains. He'd risk his neck to bring her because she used Maya as a pretext and now he was probably imprisoned in a cell at the City of Pain she was still taking it lightly.

-It's happening again!-

"We're going to the City!" She said in a frantic voice.

"Miss Roka!" Samson stopped her.

"Every minute we spend here he gets tortured!"

"And you want him to know you endangered yourself to rescue him?!"

"Please-…. Please you have to try at least!"

Samson clenched his teeth, he wanted to go just as much as her and Bipin. But could he risk a rescue if there was another trap like that set up waiting for them? Worse was they had no clue where he was.

"BOSS! We found something!" Luca came running to them.

"What?"

"Speak!" Saras demanded.

"Emilio heard from Shanath Arena that they're hosting a game with the Northern Demon as a contestant!"

To Samson, nobody else would dare herald that name that Ajay earned so there was a high probability it was him. But then, why did De Pleur bring him to a public area? While the borders of who held what had yet to be defined between the Golden Path and Royal Army this wasn't the best time to have him fight in an arena.

"Samson."

"Call in the rest, we're going back to Shanath Arena!"

* * *

While the audience were clamoring to escape the demon let loose upon the spectator's deck. The Condotierri, the Hunters and Saras had their feet glued to the ground. They had been here since the fourth round where he was made to fight unfairly with the entire round's teams and animals for two consecutive rounds. And then that unbelievable sixth round. They could not do anything inside as their weapons had been stripped off them because the audience were prohibited from carrying loaded weapons into the Arena, although some would occasionally smuggle some in to help the contestants.

Saras and the rest got to witness the unbelievable fighting prowess of Ajay as he fought two rounds against all of the contestants by himself. They had the intentions to free him after the end of the game, but then Paul announced the bonus round without Noore's consent. Ajay was forced to go toe to toe with the very best in Paul and Noore's retinue. He was struggling to stay alive at every corner. Saras watched in horror as he was forced into that situation alone, the same could be said for Bipin who could not blink at all when he was fighting with close calls at every turn.

That Rhino was called out, at first he used it to his advantage to attack the elite guards for him but for some reason it went only for him after that, and the guards just watched as he contended alone against a beast even they didn't want to fight head to head. The situation was looking dire, Samson was already at the edge of the porch in a position like he was about to leap into the arena.

Then, the blood curling scream came.

The rhino had stabbed him with its horn and he hung impaled to it.

Saras collapsed to her feet on the stone cold floor as Samson turned around but as he looked up at her face he saw trickles of tears flowing from her hollow eyes.

"Miss Roka? Miss Roka!... Saras!" Samson and Stella called out to her as they shook her but no response came. It was clear that the shock was too much for her to handle and caused catastrophic damage to her mental state. How could this happen? Yet another employer was gone-

(CRACK) The sound of bones breaking echoed through the arena and everyone's attention returned to the arena. The Rhino ran and where it had supposedly stabbed and killed Ajay, where the body should have been lying ….

Was standing there as if nothing had ever happened to him.

"Wha-…Saras! Saras! He's alive!" "….Huh?" She looked up to see he had been telling the truth and her consciousness returned. She blinked a few more times to ensure she wasn't seeing things and begun letting out tears of joy. But then noticed something wasn't right.

"Badala is-…." but Samson suddenly noticed that there was something entirely wrong with what he was seeing. The horn was still embedded in his right upper chest near the shoulder. And then-'Poof!'

His shadow disappeared, the next minute was a carnage unlike anything he had ever seen. He toyed with the elite guard but not in the usual way. They were like twigs that snapped with too much force was applied, in the arena they never died as a whole piece but severed in two instead with an unpeaceful dying expression on their faces.

Then he threw a body in mid-air and used it to catapult himself onto the spectator seats which caused his mouth to gape both by the strength used to toss the body and to make a jump like he did.

-Is he even human?!-

Back to the present where everyone was trying to escape with their lives and they were left in shock by the events that took place, Ajay was continuing his rampage in the observation booth where Paul and Noore was.

"Come on! Let's go!" Saras wiped the tears from her eyes as she was the quickest to recover despite being the most effected by his seeming death.

Samson made a resolve and turned to the rest.

"Wake up you lot! We've got a person to save!"

* * *

Rage was a familiar feeling to him, it had trigger off numerous times in his life. Dissatisfaction with his and his mother's predicament, the discrimination he went through as a child, the injustice inflicted upon his mother with cancer, his gang boss, his predicament in Kyrat. But most of all, the betrayal of the Golden Path.

It wasn't just his trip back in time that happened during his final hours then, something else happened. Something deep inside of him triggered off, like a warm sensation blooming within his body engulfing him with a turbulent power been sealed deep within him.

The day he thought he lost Saras, it triggered off again causing his body to feel no pain from the lack of oxygen in the high altitude, the cuts and bruises on his body or the previously experienced fatigue. All of these were washed away with an addictive sensation that channeled through his body giving his muscles and sinew an enveloped feeling and allowed him to cleaver the Yetis thick hand apart with the kukri.

These sensations were undoubtedly infectious, but there was a price for such power.

When the feeling of rage passed through his body his sense of reason seemed to be unable to cope with the torrents and became flooded with thoughts of berserk rampage.

Every time he killed someone or something, the high would come back making it more and more difficult for him to control his thoughts and emotions.

Now, here he stood with Noore choking on his raised left hand and his knife centimetres away from plunging into her soft skin. The look she gave sparked a painful memory he'd kept hidden deep in his psyche but appeared to restore his reason to him. The harder he tried to come to his senses the stronger the desire to rip this woman in half became for him. But who was this woman? Why was her expression so familiar? She wanted me to save…. Her family…Family.

A different warmth covered him from his back. Clasping her arms around him was Saras.

"Ajay… stop!... Please don't become lost….. please don't leave again."

The memories returned to remind him what he was fighting for and what he held dear and the rage slowly dissipated into nothing.

The knife clattered to the floor and Noore fell from his hand coughing. The yellow hue that clouded his eyes vanished. "Thank you…. Thank you, Ajay." Saras said leaning on his back.

But the pain from his injury returned, his fatigue returned and his bodily functions began to fail as the backlash began.

Ajay fell forward and collapsed on the floor to Saras's surprise. "Ajay?... Ajay!" She shook him to wake.

Noore came over once she had more a less recovered from her deprivation of air and checked his pulse.

"He's breathing but his pulse is weak. We need to get him to seek immediate medical attention! I-… I know I'm not in the position to make calls after what I did but at least let me fulfil my duty as a practitioner of medicine!" Saras nodded. The others came running into the room.

"Help me carry him. Luca, call for immediate medivac!"

* * *

….

….

Ajay found himself standing at the Ghale Homestead without any explanation. He went to the door and opened it to find the mountains in flames, there was screaming and gunfire down below.

"Urghh…." A figure hobbled towards him from the Cliffside entrance.

"Saras?..." There was something different about her, her attire was torn but what was truly strange was the expression she wore. Saras looked at Ajay with all the enmity she could gather in a single expression.

"Ajay Ghale…..Urghh…" Her stomach had sustained serious injury as she held the blood from flowing rapidly from her body.

"Saras!" Ajay went over to catch hold of her as she leaned forward.

As he held her up with both hands a piercing pain struck his chest where the heart was. "Ah-…!" Looking down at his chest he found a knife stuck inside with hands belonging to Saras holding the handle. Ajay fell into a kneel as she removed the knife from his chest, holding a look of disdain.

"For my father-….." Holding the knife with two hands she stabbed him again.

"For my family that was in ruins-…. Because of your betrayal!" Pulling out the knife he fell on his back onto the floor as she continued to stab him.

"For murdering the King!..."

-The King?... Pagan?!...-

"For turning your back on your country….."

She knelt over him and placed her knife against his neck.

"The sentence is-…"

The knife slid across his throat effectively ending his life.

"Death!"

…

…

Ajay gasped violently for air from the intense dream he was having as he upright himself on the bed he was on. He took a while to wipe the sweat from his body and gather his thoughts then assess where he was.

The place had a familiar touch to it, the word to describe its design was regal. He was in the room Pagan gave to him during his stay in the Royal Palace. While moving his body he could feel some pain from torn muscles during his life endangering fight and shadow pain from the-…

Ajay looked down at his chest where the rhino horn had pierced his body, there was a scar there and that was precisely the point.

He knew how serious the injury was and yet the scar looked like it had only been a gunshot wound recovered. He moved his hand about to get a feel of how much he could move it. Ajay got out of the bed and noticed a figure in the dark lying next to him. The night had fallen over Kyrat but the moon up high lit up the features of the landscape outside the window. Ajay walked over to the lying figure and found it to be Saras.

The thoughts of the dream he just had recurred to him, it was clear to him what it had been.

He had not met Saras officially in his previous life but that dream showed him a possibility of what Saras would have become. When he joined the Golden Path in its struggle he might have caused Arjun's influence within the War Council to plummet since he always talked about his relationship with Mohan regardless of the political pressure that was applied to him, that man treasured family and friendship above all else, except loyalty to king and country. And with Pagan's temper flaring with his mischief with the Golden Path would likely collide with Arjun's straightforwardness. Pagan had a habit of executing people who didn't let him get his way and that might have been the wrong time to advise against his actions. Most likely, Arjun was executed and the House of Roka fell into shambles with the loss of its family head. Saras was in no position to hold back the opposition back on her own added with the decline of her family it was no wonder she would give him that look. A single action of his affected the fate of every person in Kyrat, that was how much responsibility was thrown onto his shoulders whether he liked it or not.

Ajay ran a hand across her long wavy hair. The admiration and affection she tried to give him, he didn't deserve any of it. He knew he was a monster, literally. Built to stomp over obstacles in his path without recognition of whether it be friend or foe. That sensation of berserk, red rage was a testament to his purpose in this new life and the previous one. He could only destroy.

But there were people he had met that had the power to change things as they went. Maya was able to improve the lives of the people through commerce and an enterprising spirit. Arjun and Saras strived to make the Royal Army a military power that the people of Kyrat would look at with pride. Though Bhadra wasn't aware of it, she was capable of understanding others emotions and accessing their vulnerability to enrich their mental resolve. Samar was an industrialist who believed in making things to improve life despite his official post as the Royal Armorer.

"She's been watching over you ever since the day you collapsed. It's been three days since and I still don't have any explanation to that freakish recovery you had with the cavity in your chest." A woman's voice came from the entrance of the room. Walking in with a basket of bandages and ointments was Noore.

"Noore…. How did-."

"When it came to the matter of your survival all differences need to be forgotten. I'm a doctor before anything else."

"Thanks."

"Don't thank me yet, I didn't say I'd do this for free."

Ajay frowned, he knew what she was going to ask, it was apparent that Pagan failed to mention to her the outcome of her family.

"….. Ajay?" Saras rubbed her eyes as she woke from the nap she took.

"Hey."

Saras didn't answer, instead she wrapped her arms around him and snuggled herself against him.

"Sorry."

"Don't ever do that again!"

"I won't."

"Good!"

"Ahem!" Noore reminded her that she was still within their presence and if Saras was going to have an intimate moment with Ajay she'd have to wait.

"S-sorry, Noore." She went to sit on the bed.

"Now to the business at hand."

-Here we go.-

"I didn't join Paul because I had a choice, he has my family you see."

"You want me to rescue your family, correct?"

"Exactly!" Her face brightened as he quickly caught on.

"Noore, have a seat."

"Um- Ok?" She had a seat next to Saras, it seemed as if they had mingled with one another. Perhaps because Saras was assisting her in operating on him that they found out they were a good team together.

Ajay went to the door and locked it then went over to the window and secured it. Countermeasures in the event she wanted a quick end to her life. He had thought long and hard at how he was going to convey this news to her without her going into a mental breakdown and suicide. But he just couldn't hide the truth from her, no matter how much it would hurt her.

"Noore, what I'm about to tell you-."

"What's with this atmosphere?!" She demanded with her face full of nervousness and anxiety.

"Your family-."

"No-….."

"Died years ago."

"No. NoNoNoNoNoNoNOOOO!..." She broke into tears as she went over to embrace Saras seeking comfort.

"Paul tortured them to death whether Pagan ordered it to be so I don't know. The letters you've been receiving came from his daughter Ashley, he tricked her into thinking it was for a pen-pal."

Noore cried even louder though she cries was muffled against Saras's shoulder. After she had more a less cried enough for her to speak again she turned to Ajay.

"I have a job for you."

"Denied."

"I saved your life, asshole!"

"And that's what I'm going to repay you in kind with."

"I don't want salvation I want Paul DEAD!" She grabbed hold of his collar as she shouted into his face.

"You're in as much fault as he is…."

"W-What?-."

"I read about you Noore. You came to Kyrat long ago as a part of a tour by your organization, seeing the disregard of human rights in the working conditions you wrote an article against Pagan and he invited you over to Kyrat to parley and show improvements to be made. You knew the hazards of bringing your family into this lawless country where dog eats dog. And yet you brought them here-."

"Shut up!"

"Perhaps you had a fight with your husband beforehand to the trip you were taking and brought them along hoping he'd realize the dangers of the place to teach him a lesson."

"Shut up!"

"You led them to their deaths!"

"SHUT UP!-…" Noore cried out in anguish as she tugged his collar till her palms started to bleed.

Ajay placed a hand on her head.

"You're not the only one that has to live with pain and regret, if you say I don't have a clue of what you've been through you'll be right to say so. No one has ever had to go through the hardship you went through, to work until these hands of yours bled so that your family could continue breathing. And you did so for almost five years without another thought entirely, only to find out now that they'd been dead for almost as long as you've been here. Fate has been cruel to you, and it may never be able to fully compensate you for the trials you've achieved. You might never be able to be free from all of this but I'll promise you, if you choose to continue struggling with life I'll be there to keep you in the right track. If you try to kill yourself I will stop you, this life no longer belongs to you. You may change it but I'll never let you take it away, because if you do there'll be no one left to remember your family."

Noore's head slumped against his shoulder as she understood it was inevitable. Ajay would do all he could to help her stay in this uncaring world….. to preserve the memory of her husband and two children.

"But when Paul falls into our grasp you'll have first priority in reminding him who's family he took."

Ajay left these last grim words for her to answer her previous request. He had managed to keep Noore from falling any further but to truly free her from her pain, for her dead husband and sons' spirits to truly be avenged. Paul needed to pay.

* * *

The noise of the propellers droning from high speed rotation helped drown out the sound of his heart beat. He was beyond nervous to being thrown back into a kind of life he didn't want to have anything to do with any longer. He had been dragged from his quiet and Spartan life in a ranch back into another hellhole. He may have made a vow to himself and Liza he would never lift a hand against another human being but this was an exception. Liza, Oliver, Daisy and Riley had been kidnapped. Agent Willis had contacted him several times on recruiting him into clandestine ops because of his adept prowess in combat but he refused every offer, agents from DEA and other CIA officers did the same. He sent them off his property with a shotgun warning shot for harassing him and they left with contempt but he didn't care about their feelings. They were anything but considerate about his, knowing that he was still at odds with what he did they still wanted him to increase his guilt.

Then one day, Willis gave him a call telling him his friends had been taken by a tyrant whom had ties with Hoyt who went by the name of Pagan Min out of spite for the loss of his associate and his drug business. Willis provided him with the means to travel to a place called Kyrat, a place riddled with Civil War for almost two decades. Kyrat was also a drug capital and the shipments had passed through Rook Island to be distributed to the open market. But unlike Rook Island that was swarming with Pirates or Military Rejects Kyrat was safeguarded by the National army, the ambiguous Royal Army and Elite Royal Guard regiments. The only way he could get to his friends was with the help of a local rebel organization that was the direct opponent to the Royal Army, the Golden Path resistance.

Jason looked into the long case that he carried with him on the trip. A gift from the range master in Texas he often went to blow off steam with guns. Inside the pelican case was a custom built race gun built on an AR-15. Jason partook in a few shooting competitions during his time in the states, particularly three-gun matches due to its versatility in the use of weapons. The switching between handgun, shotgun and self-loading rifle helped keep things interesting for him in his new hobby. The range master was so impressed with his skills that he offered to sponsor his training to represent their city in the state competitions which he didn't object to. He didn't disappoint them as he attained second place which was impressive for a newcomer and became something of a town hero in their regard. When they asked him what his prior experience in shooting came from he remained silent.

" **Because Hermano was shooting people's heads off before he started shooting targets!"** The person sitting in front of him laughed after reading his mind.

"Shut up!"

" **Oh- Don't lie to yourself Jason, deep down you were wishing for something like this to happen again!"** A certain spikey-haired Mohawk eccentric taunted him from across.

"I-… Don't-.."

" **Don't fumble with your speech esé, it makes you too easy to read by the home boy you're gonna see soon."** He cautioned.

"And why would I ever listen to you?"

" **Need I say? You… and me… are one."**

"You're a god damn shadow of what you once were."

" **Maybe, but I'm one that belongs with you."**

"You're an eyesore."

" **Humph! Jason, hermano! I'm only here because you let me!"**

"….."

" **You know, I was getting bored with you sitting around, farming, watching the tele, shitting, sleeping. I think this is the vacation both of us sorely need to open your shit-covered eyes to the truth of this world and start accepting who you are!"** He said with a malicious grin

"That's still not for you to decide."

"Mr. Brody?" The co-pilot called from the entrance to the flight compartment.

"Uh-Yes?"

"We've reached the borders of Nepal and are about to reach the drop zone in Kyrat soon. E.T.A is forty minutes. When we approach I'll come down an assist you in the jump."

"Alright, thanks!" The co-pilot went back into the cockpit and sat next to the pilot who was keeping the cargo plane steady in the turbulent winds of the Himalayas.

"…..(Sigh)."

"What?" The pilot asked.

"That guy was talking to himself again, damn creepy."

"Just fly straight and we'll dump him at the DZ and be done with him."

The co-pilot agreed and focused on keeping the cargo plane steady from his seat.


	28. Chapter 28 - Yalung ke Vashaj

Author's notes:

For the more hardcore Farcry 4 enthusiasts whom sought a better end in FC4 and looked into the Fanfictions to solve your cravings, you might have come across another FanFic by Omegas Prime under the title The One True King. The basis of the story is the easter egg plot where if you stayed in the dinner for ten minutes like Pagan asked he'll take you straight to Lakshmana. Omegas Prime covers what would have likely happened after that story.

If you have then you might have come across some coincidences in our works at certain times of the chapters we release.

I would like to say that these are just mere coincidences and Omegas Prime and I are well aware and have kept up to date on that.

Other than that, his highly successful story The One True King is by far unparrellel. There have yet to be takes by other authors to undertake this type of plot and I would recommend you explore his works for your FC4 pleasure.

Also.

I'm doing a poll for the love interest for Jason in the later chapters. Liza, where he rekindles his relation and Steven somehow dies or the sensible and concerned Daisy. This choice will affect how the story flows considerably in the future so choose wisely.

Havok. Out.

* * *

Ajay climbed out of the bed to wash up, Saras was still sleeping next to him for whatever reason she wanted to. At least she wasn't in the habit of sleeping naked anymore. From what Noore and Samson told him on his return to the valley from the palace, Saras had suffered severe trauma again because she was there when he got stabbed by the ivory horn. She did ask to sleep next to him and he didn't refute just this once. She slept soundly in his embrace although he was starting to feel that due to the convenience of the situations that had been happening, she was getting too close for his comfort. He'd sleep in the living room from now on to make it clear to her.

"Morning, Ajay. Saras." Noore called out from the dining table that was lined with the breakfast done by Bhadra. Saras got up at around the same time as him with none of that over affectionate crap early in the morning.

"Mmmm. Morning."

"Morning."

They took their seat at the table.

When he woke up from a comatose state after three days, Ajay took Noore to the valley on her request to have and I quoted "change of scenery". While she had partly gotten over the death of her family at the hands of Paul, still had difficulty accepting Pagan's excuse for blackmailing her with her family. So she asked Ajay to bring her to his place instead so that she wouldn't see his face that would induce her into bludgeoning him with a kitchen knife or whatever she found nearby. Ajay gladly obliged bringing her around the town and the arsenal to have a look around. She stayed with them in the homestead that was already overcrowded. She shared the night with Bhadra who was alright with having her sleepover. And got to meet a fully recovered Maya whom returned with Bhadra, both were oblivious to the situation he got himself into days ago. But what was on their minds right now was the upcoming festival in three days.

Ajay ate at the table, wolfing down a bread loaf which was freshly baked by Bhadra who pre-made the dough and kept it in the fridge. Most of their foods were prepared and placed in the fridge and all they needed to do was heat it up in whichever fashion the meal was prepared. Bhadra's cooking genius made this possible for them to taste her cooking even when she wasn't around. But when she was around, nobody could enter the kitchen where she was king. The household residents weren't going to challenge her on that one.

"Going back to the Arsenal today?" Noore asked over her coffee.

"Mmm." Ajay didn't say much as he munched the bread.

"So when did this need for you to be involved in building a weapons factory for the Royal Army come about?" Noore asked, she had been shown the factory the other day and its work staff stopped to turn their heads to see the gorgeous woman who came as a visitor.

What was the most unbelievable with Noore was that her actual age was 41 and for a person who look like she could cheat her way into a Miss World contest was a real attention grabber with her looks. Ajay couldn't fathom how she looked when she was in college, though her husband had a short life span that must've been the best years of his life period. And to think she was a doctor, not a nurse.

Back to the topic at hand, Ajay begun to explain his industrial expansion in arms supply due to the switch in arms dealer allegiances.

"I think I've met him before once, a real kiss ass at that! Seems someone had the courage to turn on Pagan."

"But for all the wrong reasons. Like any opportunist he seeks to have a slice of the Kyrat pie if the Golden Path win, while it seems unlikely for now."

"How can you be so sure?"

"The real power within the Golden Path Isn't Sabal. It's in fact the old guard, as of today they're still that same ten thousand-man strong army. But they'll never mobilize unless the Golden Path was truly in danger or if a dead man comes back to lead them."

"Or a son of Ghale." Saras added chuckling.

"Don't give them a reason to get off their asses!" He said when she suggested he reveal himself to them. They'd just take it a Pagan was manipulating him from behind and start getting a moving on which wasn't good.

"So are you Ajay or Badala?" Noore asked confused.

"Badala was supposed to just merely be a cover for my real name. Being the son of the rebel leader garners a lot of attention from both sides so I go by this alias. I'll hope you'd play along as well for safety sake." Noore nodded in response.

"So why does the son of a rebel aid the king his father opposes?" Noore was interested to know this.

"I've made some stew for lunch in the fridge, there's portions for Noore too. I'm going upstairs to make a call, ok?"

"Thanks Bhadra." Ajay told her.

"Thank you." Noore noted how sweet the girl could be.

"We'll try to keep it down for you." Ajay respected her space. And with that, Bhadra darted up to her room to make a call.

"Now… where were we?"

"The rebel's son supporting Pagan."

"Ah!- Yes. That's gonna be a long story though."

"I'm all ears!" Noore announced as she took a sip from the strongly brewed coffee and took an instant liking to Bhadra's coffee.

Ajay told her about the history of Pagan and how he had come to Kyrat accompanied by Yuma and an heir to the Kyrati throne which had been left vacant by the Nationalists who occupied the Palace from the Royalists whom Mohan was in. Pagan took the throne for himself after he ended the line. It was during this time that Mohan Ghale, the Royal Guard and his wife Ishwari formed the Golden Path alliance to return Kyrat to the people and depose the illegitimate tyrant. And they failed miserably when faced with Yuma. After an argument with his wife over her desire to take command of forces he sent her to spy on Pagan. Not anticipating their attraction, they had for one another later, then a girl named Lakshmana Min was born and things started to get dicey. Mohan found out and lost his mind, he chased Ishwari and eventually killed Lakshmana. Then Ishwari gunned him down at the Ghale Homestead before fleeing with Ajay to the states.

Noore's mouth hung at Ajay's family story, she had heard rumors about the tale between Pagan and Mohan Ghale but never one of this detail.

"So without my mother with him or Lakshmana he went mad. Soon the affairs between the Monarchy and what remained of the Golden Path were of no concern to him. His mental condition deteriorated considerably over the decades till I came back on my mom's wish to be buried with my half-sister."

"Jesus…."

"This doesn't excuse him of all the terrible things he's done over the years, that includes holding your family hostage. But at least he tries." Ajay admitted.

"(Sigh)… So if I were to go after Pagan-."

"I won't let you, because it would mean the death of you." Ajay said without hesitation.

Noore pondered deeply over the hot coffee in her hands. "Now that I've heard all about their history, I don't think I've heard about yours."

"There's nothing much to know, there once was a self-entitled little brat that only cared about what he wanted to do. With the people he encountered, there were always better ways of dealing with them but he always chose the easy way out of it, like it was entirely unrelated to him. Until he realized that after these people were gone, no one else came to him, approached him. He inadvertently discarded all those he could have cared for and damned himself in an unforgiving world." Ajay said with an expressionless demeanor.

Noore contemplated on what he had just said, it sounded like living in hell on earth every waking second. Was this what Ajay was going through? She couldn't tell from all the things he had done for the people in the valley. But then, where did he get that demonic strength and will of his. If it had been any lesser man, he would have died from similar injuries. Yet he made a stunning recovery in just three days. Those yellow primordial eyes were one of a ruinous beast, had he ended up selling his soul to the devil? As if there was such a thing in the modern world, Noore didn't believe in such superstitious beliefs.

But if he was living in a damnable life, then why did he bother to save her? Why did Saras want to stick with him? Why did the people in town greet him with such cheer in their eyes despite his bloody history and the mantle of the Northern Demon? Was it that he couldn't forgive himself for past guilt that he tortured himself and made sure others didn't follow his kind of life? He was trying to prevent Noore from becoming him, Noore trembled at the thought of being cursed to walk the earth in that manner.

"Morning." Ajay called out to the newcomer.

"Mmmm….." Maya was still feeling hazy from getting up as she sat at the table with them.

"Morning, Maya dear." Noore smiled.

"Same to you." She reached out for the freshly baked bread in the basket.

"So what will you do today, Noore?" Maya asked as she spread the berry jam over the warm bread slice.

"Hmmm… I was thinking of going to the marketplace then to the town admin to see if there any jobs I might like to pursue." Noore had made it a suitable choice of looking for work, it would take her mind off her own thoughts and keep her active.

"I see, I would've liked to accompany you there." Saras sighed at the work she had for her today.

"You have a company to manage, they can't do their job at the site if you keep reporting late and go missing earlier than their fallout time." Ajay reprimanded her for her carefree ways, Saras just playfully stuck out her tongue and shook it off as a suggestion instead and wouldn't influence her plans.

Noore chuckled at her attitude towards life, she could always learn to be not so serious at times and learn to take things slow now that she didn't have anything pushing her.

* * *

Ajay took her to town after breakfast at home. She was spending the day to look after Ajay as well during her venture because it was just three days ago that he'd just been stabbed by an ivory horn. Noore was having doubts about his insane recovery and requested he give some of his blood to examine which he didn't refuse. It didn't add up to him either, he knew he was monstrous in the things he did but never in his physiology. He had a theory about where it had likely come from but there was no evidence to back that theory.

Noore ventured around the markets with Ajay on her tail, it was a therapeutic change to her everyday management of the Shanath Arena and the drug and extortion operation she ran. Around the time Ajay had come to this timeline he asked Pagan to end the human trafficking business which he happily did as a reward for taking back Yuma's stronghold Ratu Gadhi. It didn't affect his revenue as much because they were focus on other means to fund his exorbitant such as mining, drug production, the rare animal safari grants and the sale of rare gems. Ajay had some funds from his appointment allocated into restarting agricultural farming in Yuma's quarter with her permission of course. But most of the funds went into a low-profile High Command project known to the few within its circle as the S-Program.

The S-Program involved a lot of diplomatic talks with neighboring countries and sovereignties in regards to procurement of items and manpower necessary to the program. Saras was deep on the program and the 3rd Company was involved in construction of the facilities which was why she couldn't always go out with him or for Noore.

The S-Program was conceived through a requirement Arjun proposed to Pagan and the High Command back when the Meh Teh Offensive had ended. He still didn't have power over the entire military as Sugun and his opposition were applying pressure on his movements regardless of whether they had even a vague idea of what the program actually entailed. With full control, he was able to allocate resources as and when he liked. The development of the program had been going on for nearly two-months now but for it to fully develop it needed over ten years to reach its prime. Still, it would be operational by the next two months. Much of the program was under Ajay's patronage with his appointments funding while the Arsenal was paid for through his treasure hunting expeditions for precious stones and gold. Seeing the benefit of the program through some convincing from Maya, Yuma also became a patron who supported about 30% the program's cost while Ajay covered 50%, the national defense budget covered the remaining twenty as it needed to maintain the upkeep of the massive army as well as for weapons procurement and renewal from Longinus and Ajay. Not forgetting the training of the soldiers and their salaries.

What was most important about the program was its impact on the Golden Path and the Royal Army's status as the predominant power over Kyrat as it should have been. It also represented Kyrat's influence within the Himalayas and in Western Asia which went to show how significant it was.

"You seem to have a lot on your mind." Noore notice him in deep thought.

"Oh. Nothing, just thinking about the things I missed out on for the past three days or so."

"If you're busy then I can do the things I want on my own."

"No. It's not the work that needs to be done that I'm worried about, it's what Willis has planned next. That guy is always planning his next move upon another move as contingency. I was just lucky he and Sabal weren't available to see me at the City of Pain in time."

"I'd like to know how you intend to bring Paul to justice as well, Ajay." Noore placed the embroidery on display back on its hanger after a look and asked him.

"Truthfully, Paul doesn't have much use to Sabal or Willis now that he's given them the regions around Shanath and Varshakot. He could help them as an interrogator, but his initial worth has actually vanished. My guess was that Willis helped him some way, probably kidnap his wife who was having an affair while he was away and wipe her existence."

"Seriously?!" Noore was beyond surprise and a little concerned.

"Apart from him hitting me with his fists, it was actually me who was torturing him and reminded him that Pagan was still pretty active. Then he tried to push me onto you so that if I died you'd take the flak instead."

"Sunnova-….. bitch! I knew it!" Noore cursed as her beliefs that something was not right were confirmed.

"But if he doesn't have much meaning then wouldn't he be done then?" Noore came to a conclusion.

"You're right on that one. If there is one weakness of his, it's that daughter of his, Ashley Harmon. He'll likely travel back to the states to live with her in seclusion. That might have been the arrangement all along with Willis."

"Then we need to move fast!" Noore figured Paul could leave at any time, including now.

"Ease down, Noore. He won't go anywhere, I guarantee it."

"How?"

"What worries Paul the most is Ashley's safety. And the biggest contributor of his concern is Pagan. Because it doesn't matter where you hide around the world, Pagan will send people and hitmen to track and kill them. So he's gonna do the most risk embedded thing. He's gonna bring Ashley to Kyrat to stay with him. Until he can be sure Pagan is sufficiently suppressed that he's no longer a threat to his family life he'll return." Ajay had brilliantly deduced Paul's mentality from his engagements with Paul in the past and in his capture. Noore seemed to accept the thinking as well and was assured that Paul was still within their reach.

"If the opportunity presents itself, which it will. I'll nab Paul even if I have to call in an entire regiment to search the forest if he runs."

"Ok. I'm sorry I doubted you, I'm trusting you now."

"Thanks. Come on, let's head to the town centre. I'll put a good word in for you while we're at it!" Ajay said with a cheerful smile.

"Thanks, Ajay." She returned the smile.

* * *

Two individuals found themselves in a very difficult situation, you could say they asked for it to happen. Sitting strapped to chairs and gagged were Laura Harmon and her plus one. Or was her plus one, as the figure sitting opposite her was now just a mangled corpse.

Paul stretched his limbs after a rigorous exercise of torturing the adulterer to death, which he thoroughly enjoyed doing for over five hours, every time the man fainted he'd jolt him up with a car battery to continue his session. Laura was made to watch the entire process with horror.

"Right, sweetpea. It's finally your turn!" He said with a grin.

"MUUUUU!" Was all she could respond through the cloth gagging her mouth but if she were to say anything it would be…. "Please, darling! I'm sorry I lied, I was unfaithful! Just please! Please! Don't hurt- don't kill me!" Her eyes said it all to her husband.

"I know I've been busy at work all the time and always leave you and Ashley at home but hey! I've got great news for you, you're free to go! I'll raise Ashley from here on out!"

She knew in what sense he meant, that she was no longer needed but to be disposed of. Laura squealed behind the cloth gag until her throat became parch, tears flowing from her eyes. There was no cure for the regret she was having right now, all the times she could have just believed in Paul but she gave in to her bodily needs instead and she now it was payment time. Paul placed a finger to her covered mouth and told her to hush before digging through his "work" appliances.

"You've always wanted to know what I do in work all the time, well here's a quick preview for you." Paul came back with a pair of sharp pliers he previously used on her lover by cutting his tongue and third leg off and had cleaned it up to use on her."

Laura screamed behind the cloth gag, behind the walls of De Pleur's office until it echoed into the neighboring cell where Jason's friends and family were.

"Fuck!" Steven couldn't keep it in him. "I say we find the guard and split!"

"Calm your tits down, Steve." Riley told him the nicest way possible than telling him to shut up.

"You're asking the impossible!"

"Steve, shut up!" Daisy ordered him with a harsh glare. To which he at least quietens down to mumbling.

"So what's the plan, sis?" Oliver was up for the escape.

"We'll need to have intel on the outside so we need some pretext to venture out of this cell we've been in for nearly a week."

"So like- one of us could feint sickness and get moved to another cell or get medical attention." Oliver proposed.

"Then you might get noticed for faking and pay dearly."

"…" Oliver scratched his head embarrassed. Steven snorted at his naivety rather loudly.

"How bout you take up that two-face character's offer, he seems quite taken to you especially." Steven pointed out.

"Like hell!" Riley scorned Steven but Daisy raised a hand to block him.

"He's right for this once, even if he is an ass."

As reluctant as she was to even be a foot from that creep, she knew that was the only way that she could leave the cell.

"What if he opts for Liza instead?" Riley tried to be practical about their plan.

"No….No No No! I-…. I just can't!" Liza pleaded pitifully.

Daisy went over to Liza and place her hands on her shoulder.

"We can't depend on Jason to rescue us this time, he'll be attacking the monarchy forces thinking we've been captured by them instead. It's up to us to get out of here on our own, we can't do it one person at a time, it needs to be as a team."

"I-….. I'm sorry….. It's just too hard!" She declared, and as if Daisy couldn't take her spoilt brat kind of demeanor towards things she grabbed hold of her collar, pulling Liza towards her. Liza gasped at the quick action and the hostile glare her friend gave her.

"You think this is a game still?! That we can pick and choose what we want?! He's is running around outside in need of our help and you're still acting like the victim here! I was already at the limit when I met you with that Ex of yours that you've always been complaining about in the past. Who was the one that got you off the island in the first place?!"

Unlike most of the friends in their group Daisy had been in contact with Jason and Riley, visiting on several occasions. So she was more than aware of Jason's physiological condition at times.

"Tell me Liza, why was it that after five months from our return you left him with no apparent reason?"

"I-… I didn't! It was those nights-….. he talked to someone in when he was alone!"

"And leaving him would make him better?! Oh- Liza….. how low you've fal-"

"He was talking to that psycho!" Liza screamed at her to understand.

"W-What?... What do you mean tha-."

"That psycho pirate!...(Sob) At first, I thought it was merely a speaking nightmare of his, but then it started to look like he was having schizophrenia. I was scared, Daisy! Would he turn into that person that gave us nightmares and decide to torment me?! I couldn't take it so I left, alright!" She confessed before crying to herself again. Daisy, who had been interrogating her was finally silenced.

It became clear to Daisy, Jason was suffering more than PTSD and whatever it was, it was serious to the point that he could end up locked up in an asylum for his and other's safety. Daisy didn't know what she would do in Liza's position, it was too hard to make the right choice. If they did reunite, then there was another problem of how to keep Jason in touch with himself where he could fall into confusion due to the split personality as described by Liza.

How could they trust a person that was here to save them if, he couldn't even manage himself.

* * *

In the back of the Arsenal where the shooting range was, the Condotierri Stella and Ricardo were training Hurk in stationary shooting. The Condotierri had nothing to do during the period they returned to they focused on training Hurk and awaiting military contracts from Arjun or wealthy civilians. Hurk had been made to do the most physical work ever demanded in his life but he gladly followed their military training. This was the first time anyone had ever believed in him to do anything, he felt the best way to repay his intentions were to perform. Hurk had lost considerable bulk since the tutelage under the Condotierri begun, they were after all former special forces paratroopers but they were given criteria by Badala that he was supposed to be as efficient as them or the former Royal Guard at least.

Today was the first day of pistol marksmanship training where he was supposed to do some sidearm drills. He spent the entire morning learning the theory with energy and now was time for the practice.

"Right, what'll it be? Custom 1911? Desert Eagle? .44 Magnum?"

Stella and Ricardo looked at each other chuckling.

"No Hurk. This." Ricardo placed a .455 Webley revolver on the table.

"Oh-Come on!" He whined.

"Hurk, this isn't IPSC and neither is it a competition shoot. This is war, all that matters is that you hit him before he hits you and the way to do that is firing discipline and proper shooting stance. It's the shooter that makes the shot great not a match-grade pistol." Stella taught him patiently.

Ricardo picked up the revolver and gunned the targets with precise hits in the chest where the heart was before breaking the chamber and emptying the cartridges.

"…"

"Now you try." Ricardo suggested.

"Ok…." Hurk picked up the speed-loader and dropped the fresh bullets into the chamber of the revolver and took aim.

"Take your time, the targets aren't going anywhere. Focus on making your shots hit and then keep it up till the rhythm increases, then your shooting speed will increase." Ricardo advised.

He took aim at the targets over twenty metres away from them, he had been taught how to hold a handgun, how to stand to increase chance of hit and management of recoil as well as where to aim through the iron sights. Hurk took his time to aim at the first target. (BANG) His shot hit the target dead centre which made him smile at the radical improvement he was capable of.

"Don't stop there! There are still four bad guys shooting at you." Stella pointed at the remaining targets.

Hurk breathed steadily and repeated the same sequence of actions on the other targets. Fifteen minutes later he could hit a target within five seconds of acquisition.

"Very good, Hurk! You've done well for such a short time." Stella praised him. "Ehehehe!" Hurk scratched his head embarrassed a woman complimented him for the first time.

"Ah-Yeah! If only Bad's could see me now!" Hurk did a victory dance. But noticed a quietness brewing between the Condotierri.

"Sumthin happen?"

"Uh- No. Nothing you need to worry about!" Stella laughed dryly.

"I might be a fool but even that was the worst cover up." Hurk said with a :-I Expression.

Stella wanted to say something but Ricardo stopped her.

"The less you know, Hurk the better."

"Ricardo!" Stella didn't feel right about not speaking.

"And tell him what, when we were supposed to rescue him he nearly died?!"

Hurk's expression turned pale. "Where is he?..."

"He's recovering, there's nothing we can do….. not like we did anything anyway…" He mumbled the last part.

"Ricardo, that's enough!"

"Would you have said it was a definite he'd survive from that wound? He was fighting for his life because we held him back in Varshakot and when we found him what did we do? We watched him!" Ricardo shouted no longer minding if Hurk knew or not.

The Condotierri returned shell-shocked by the events that happened in the Pacchim Valley at Varshakot then Shanath Arena. It questioned their worth, none of them were spared from this feeling, not even Samson or Alberto who wasn't there but shared in the burden of guilt.

Somehow, Badala defied logic and fought his way out on his own right in front of their eyes and again…. While they watched!

"When he wakes up, I wonder what he'll say to us for what we did?" Ricardo was evidently holding the guilt of not acting sooner despite his training and his honor as Folgore.

"He'd say, you're all fools for worrying over such trivial things." Said a voice from the back exit of the Arsenal to the range.

"Boss!"

"You shouldn't be walking now!"

"I'm fine, I've got a doctor at the ready in the event I do." Ajay was referring to Noore who was with him.

"But still-."

"Please, you're not my mom. Stop telling me what to do!" Said Ajay apparently .

"Noore, I assume you've met the Condotierri but this is Stella and Ricardo."

"Hi there, we meet again." Noore came forward to shake their hand.

"Miss Najjar, a pleasure."

"Thanks for saving his life!"

"It's fine, let's just call it a doctor's integrity and please, call me Noore."

"And with them is, Hurk. He's a rather special companion to have around." Ajay threw in a good word for Hurk as he came forward to greet Noore too.

"H- Hi! I- Uh- The name's Hurk! Just Hurk!" He stuttered obviously.

"Nice to meet you too, Just Hurk." Noore gave her attractive smile for him which caused him to freeze quite comically for Saras and Noore to make fun of, Hurk blushed brightly as he turned away.

"Where's Samson and the rest?"

"In the cabin, if you're looking for Miss Maya she was called by Darshan to the office for something."

Ajay planned out his thoughts, Darshan had suddenly appeared out of nowhere again. He didn't have tabs on where the pot head went. Although it was clear that his excessive consumption of alcohol and substances was a front, a ruse to throw other's guard off to the true abilities he had yet to show.

"Stella, could you show Noore to the cabin to meet with the rest later? I want to have a little chat with Darshan."

"Um- Sure!" Stella guess where he was going and took Noore to the cabin.

Ajay turned to Ricardo and Hurk.

"How's things with Hurk?"

"Quick considering the time we've spent with him. He'll be ready by the date line or sooner." Ricardo said.

"He's quite adorable, almost like a cartoon bear I watched as a child." Ajay raised his eyebrows at Stella's declaration but figured to each their own, he could understand why at least.

Hurk was a cool guy.

Ajay left them to continue training as he visited Samar and Longinus, hard at work bringing the arsenal back into full production. The ammunition department had not lost its initial machinery thanks to Antorio's valor so there was still constant supply of ammunition to the Royal Army. But now with the more advance machinery, they could produce a significantly larger amount every day. The refurbishment centre had also been brought back into use. The weapon production department still had a way to go as the most heavily inflicted during the raid. Samar's ARP-1 assault rifle had undergone the fourth iteration and was now mod. 3. A streamlined version for ease of production without sacrificing its original benefits and used polymer nylon furniture which greatly reduced weight. The plastic molding equipment made that possible.

The machinery had been installed and the Arsenal's structure was repaired, the only concern they had was the familiarization of machinery with the employees which wasn't hard as they had experience with the previous batch. The festival was three days away and they wanted time to prepare for their booth in the town square to present to the public as well, Maya was thinking up ideas for it in her office.

Ajay reached the outside of the office where he happened to find Darshan sitting outside attending to Bishal, how he managed to get the big cat to like him was beyond him. But then, this was Darshan he was talking about, a man shrouded in mystery so deep he wasn't sure he'd live long enough to actually see him reveal his cards. It may have only been a feeling Ajay had but Darshan left too many hints he was above-normal.

"Darshan, I want a word with you."

"….." The middle-aged man looked up towards him with a blank expression from his caressing Bishal's soft fur.

"I want an explanation from you regarding how you knew I was leaving for the mountains when only King Min and the Royal Physician knew it at the time." It was still and unsolved mystery and he wanted Darshan to answer it, but instead the Royal Guard stood up and walked to the exit as if he wasn't there.

"Don't you walk away from me when I'm asking you. Answer me, damnit!" Ajay drew his handgun and pointed it at Darshan, and Darshan knew he meant it. He'd told the hunters when they first met he'd use them till they were no longer of us and if they got in the way of his plan he'd kill them.

Then a blur appeared where Darshan stood with his back to Ajay and he appeared in front of him pressing up on Ajay's hand that was on his handgun to lift it away from him. Ajay's reaction triggered him to draw his knife to place at Darshan's throat which was countered by the other hand of Darshan's which held his arm at bay from the knife which was just inches from his face. And Ajay and Darshan were placed in a deadlock of arms.

"I'm always aware of activities surrounding Maya…." Darshan gave his answer in the shortest of words yet the clearest meaning behind it. Darshan was assigned to protect Maya. But then why wasn't he there when the marines attacked his house? Bishal wasn't there either, did he take the Tiger away on some mission, as if the Tiger was old enough to use in combat. Ajay loosened his grip on the weapons he pointed at Darshan and Darshan released his hands in turn. He walked towards the door that was his original intention of getting out.

It didn't turn out as Ajay had planned to meet Darshan but at least he learnt something from his engagement.

His movements weren't at all hazy, it was full of strength and resolve from his grip. Though they were in a deadlock, Darshan had pushed him against the wall which was clear he only meant to pin Ajay down.

If there was anyone more adequate in taking Ajay down, it was Darshan.

* * *

Jason walked up the steps towards the town on the map called Banapur accompanied by Willis who briefed him of the situation of the country hidden in obscurity, the kingdom of Kyrat. He'd airdropped somewhere within a valley where Willis had been waiting with a jeep to pick him up.

As he walked through the streets he could see weapon crates carried around by porters and a Chinese man in a finely dressed business suit shouting orders to distribute the ammo crates in his cache.

"Solomon Khoo, our arms dealer. Makes sure everyone's armed to the teeth, you'll get you additional goodies from him in you exploits around here."

"I'm only here for my friends and that's it, I don't care about what goes on in Kyrat. That's these people's business not mine." He had only one objective and he wouldn't be deviated like the last time.

"Sure, but your friends are in the hardest possible place to reach that is the Royal Palace all the way in the North, at the tip of the Uttar Region. You'd have to go through the heavily fortified bridge just recently doubled in height and security. Then you'll have to skillfully avoid the patrols dispatched by the nearby fortress then somehow make your way to the foot of the mountain of yet another stronghold known as the Royal Fortress. Where the Army's high command sits, fight your way through to the top where the Palace sits, kill the Palace Guards, maybe put a bullet in Pagan's head then rescue your friends and repeat the whole process backwards."

Jason brooded on what alternatives he could take to shorten his way.

"And don't think you can just hijack a chopper and fly straight in. They took some Stingers SAMs from a supply shipment I painstakingly brought here." Willis said reading his mind.

 **-We've not even been here for a day and he's already lied to you on almost a dozen accounts!-** The voice in his head laughed.

-Shut up.-

Willis stopped at the door of a two level estate. "Right. I'm taking you to meet the commander of the resistance, Sabal. I've actually told him about you and he seemed impressed with your exploits and was hoping you'd help him for him to help you. Oh!- And don't talk about his face, he gets highly agitated when you bring it up." Willis warned him before entering.

Inside the war room, Sabal was in foul mood yet again. Badala had been caught by them successfully at a heavy price but worth it. Then De Pleur gets cold feet and places him in Noore's charge, was he even proud to call himself the former Chief Interrogator? Then they heard about the event that defied logic, Badala escaped after pummeling the arena champions and elite guards from Noore and Paul's quarter while dueling the arena's menagerie of wild animals. Badala killed every single man and animal that Noore unleashed at him on his own and then as if things weren't unrealistic enough. He slaughtered an alpha rhino with a knife and leaped onto the spectator platform to kill Noore and Paul while still having an ivory horn in him. Paul fled like any man would after seeing such gore, and Noore was nowhere to be found, likely butchered by the demon.

What the spectators now call Yalung ke Vashaj, or son of the Demon God.

It caused the ranks of the fighters to shiver in fear, there had been reports that the garrisons no longer wanted to patrol the outskirts for fear of meeting their demise at the Northern Demon's hands.

Willis came in with a foreigner hailing from his homeland, a young man in his early twenties but had a look as he had been in war before.

"Sabal, I'd like you meet Jason Brody. The hot shot who killed Hoyt and Vaas on his own." Willis motioned to Jason who saw Sabal's scorched face and understood what Willis meant earlier.

"Nice to meet you." Jason raised a handshake for Sabal who caught it and shook firmly.

"Willis has been telling me all about you, I hope you're everything he says you are because we'll really need your help in this. The odds aren't falling in our favor at the moment…. Or at least until Badala arrived."

"I heard you can help me find my friends."

"Indeed. In all likeliness they are within the Royal Palace suites being toyed around by that tyrant we've been trying to take down for over two decades. But the we've been losing ground ever since our great leader Mohan Ghale died in his homestead since. We've lost all connection to the North that has been blockaded by the Royal Army at the only safe access to the Uttar Region which is King's Bridge. Then if things couldn't get any worse, we experienced a coup and betrayal by our sub-commander Amita who formed a para-military organization known as the Mukti Tigers in the North West part of the Pacchim Valley." He pointed the locations on the map for Jason to understand the significance in geography. Some of the field commanders exchanged looks with one another on what Sabal mentioned about Amita's betrayal, where he left out the part that the coup was initiated by him first.

"So far, the only luck we've had was with the Royal Army's Chief interrogator who was a secret member in our resistance until he was exposed by Badala. Varshakot Stronghold is in our control when he declared his allegiance to us but as it stands we've been pushed into a corner by two significant forces with no outlet."

"I see….."

"So whatever help you'll lend to us is greatly appreciated."

"Sure… I guess."

"Perfect! We'll need you in the fight against Badala." Sabal smiled contently.

"I'm sorry, who? I thought we were fighting this Pagan fellow."

"Oh, we are except to get to him you'll need to pass some of his lieutenants. There's General Arjun Roka, the Army's Supreme Commander. Yuma Lau, Pagan's trusted lieutenant and the one Pagan initially sent to do his dirty work. Noore Najjar, a Vice-Lord whom was a former aid worker as I'm told but was corrupted by Pagan and made to run his drug and human trafficking operation."

"Then I should be starting there then." Jason declared raring to go and find clues. If Noore dealt with human trafficking, then she'd have a hint on where his friends might be exactly imprisoned.

"I'm afraid that's no longer possible, see Noore had a clash with the other Vice-Lord from the Valley of Death and was killed. Which brings us on to the last but not least in Pagan's retinue. Badala, the Vice-Lord of the Valley."

The other field commanders spoke in low voices, and seemed rather shaken by the mere mention of his name. Sabal crested his eyebrows and walked to the window sternly as he continued.

"What their people call the Northern Demon due to the iconic mask he wears on his face, in the likeness of a demon from their folklore/tradition, pardon my French." Willis included.

"Yes, it's as Willis says. While we are often superstitious in regards to icons, Badala has made all of his feats seem impossible yet achievable with him only. He's innately cunning and ruthless in his execution of plans and has always subjected us too psychological warfare which he seems impressively good at. One of his favorite sick mind games are tying unconscious brothers and sisters to our cause onto tree trunks that have been rigged to explode, if we approach and try to rescue them they'll explode with anyone caught in its blast radius." Sabal grit his teeth as he recalled the first time he had encountered such a trap.

"Willis might have told you about my wounds but not of how I got them, well…. That was exactly how I earned them!"

Jason was starting to visualize the situation and the oppression these people were facing.

 **-Be careful who you trust, Hermano. Your enemies may be your allies and your allies your foes! Just like that friedfucks face!-** The demon of his left a cryptic message for him while it cackled. Jason just ignored it like he always had.

"Now that you've got the gist of things, I'll take you to meet Solomon who'll equip you for the coming assault we're planning to undertake in a few days." Willis told him.

"Assault, on where?" Jason was being led around rather quickly, with no time to venture and see the place on his own.

Sabal answered the question for him this time.

"On those traitors at Baghadur…."

* * *

Author's Notes:

Yesterday was 9/11. I was in Perth at the time of the attack, I think it was tuesday. The footage of the planes crashing into the World Trade were traumatizing even for me, because it was a current even and a turning point in history where things were never the same again. I recall going to church after that, and by coincidence the entire church was filled with people too. The Priest delivered a meaningful message about how to keep ourselves aware of our surroundings before jumping into things because of our anger and pain.

This chapter was withheld yesterday from its release to honor and respect the lives lost in the attack and in rescuing those within the sites.


	29. Chapter 29 - Calmest before the Storm

Author's notes:

Long delay. The plot for the next few chapters demanded some heavy thought process. So forgive my breaking of the usual one release average every two days. In future, this consistency might not be around. But i'll try my best.

* * *

*Rabi Ray Rana here from radio free Kyrat. Hey guys! Guess what? I'm going to the Uttar Region!... Kinda sounded like I'm going to Disneyland but hey- yeah. I just got a letter saying they've invited me to the valley of death to host as a commentator/DJ in their upcoming festival! That's right, moa has been recognized for his efforts and just got his big break. Could this be a trap you ask? Could be. But then, the letter came from Badala… that's right ladies and gentlemen. The Northern Demon loves my hits he's called for me. He even sent an armed escort, reserved inn suite, and I've been given and extra ticket to bring someone with me to the other side, the green meadows, it's time to find out what kind of stuff our badass Vice-Lord does behind the Himalayas. Wh-What?! No, Chotu. Not you! I doubt they'd let dirty bandaron through the borders, what if you pass a new goddamn disease? That's because you hardly wash, if you did we wouldn't be having this conversation. So yeah- who am I bringing then? Well that's simple, if one of you can answer five songs in a row that ticket is essentially yours! And pack your bags because it's tonight! We'll be like bunkmates in a suite partying all night and if it's a lovely lady it'll be a night to remember….Hahahaha! I kid! Why? Because I care, exclamation mark…*

Ajay turned off his jeep radio with Rabi Ray jabbering non-stop. It was too late to regret his mistake, he just felt like Rabi Ray seemed to be a way to improve the peoples' views towards him and the Army. And on the day he sent that letter, Rabi Ray Rana brags about it over the radio to announce to everyone in Kyrat about his trip that was supposed to be only said after he returned. For all they knew, the 'lucky winner' of his ticket could become an informant to the Golden Path. Ajay was going to have that plus one of his scanned from top to bottom by the King's Bridge guards and a background check before he or she came through. He thought he'd bring the monkey or whatever was under the box with him to increase the probability of Rabi Ray agreeing, that's why he gave the extra concession. Who was going to take care of Chotu then? And why was Ajay worrying about a cardboard animal?

The Royal Army had actually taken down the propaganda recordings a month ago because it wasn't effective at all. And Rabi Ray and others like him went out broadcasting their radio opinions with greater freedom and openness. But at least they weren't bad mouthing Pagan or the Royal Army anymore, with the exception of Rabi Ray. From what Ajay knew in the past, Rabi Ray has had friction with Pagan regarding the execution of his uncle. Ajay hoped to friendlily persuade him otherwise with what he could see was happening in his domain under Pagan's rule and be amazed. Rabi Ray Rana still held the most influence over the listeners throughout Kyrat. The reason; they liked his music choices better and he was a more open radio DJ. It was these small details that would make Kyrat a better place in Ajay's opinion. To him, the Golden Path were nothing more than self-entitled brats throwing a tantrum at their parent, but they sure mixed with terrible company in the form of a fat creep with glasses, he was of course referring to Willis.

He had come back from inspecting the site relegated to the S-Program. Things were proceeding as planned, with all the essential in the base and the site complex almost complete. The "Mexicans" had also arrived and begun familiarization, this was the code-name used for the highly secretive individuals that were essential to the operation. Now his mind was on the festival that was starting tonight, just a bit more work and he could enjoy the evening with the others. He had two stops to go to first, one was the Arsenal followed by a conference at Town Hall called in by the collective council committee Ajay commissioned to run the town autonomously in his absence.

Weapon production had returned back to working order right on schedule, with new additions to the indigenous weapons family. Samar's apprentices were given projects on building copies of the weapons in the handgun, shotgun and automatic weapon category by him. They fulfilled their tasks in the shortest possible time. The 1911 had been built with additional serrations to aid charging the weapon in stress of combat, and used the new polymer grip of the apprentice's design. The M133 Shotgun was refitted with a ghost ring sight and modern collapsible furniture to adjust width of shoulder. The Ultimax 100 automatic rifle was built with newer furniture and a redesigned magazine well to properly adopt the AR type magazines that were in use with the Army inventory.

These specifications were documented and applied to the production phase in their types. Samar had even figured out how to manufactured grenades. There were still weapons that didn't have replacement or sufficient ammo that the Arsenal had yet to produce but at least the standard weapons were now supplied. The rest were covered by Longinus in his arms supplies.

Things had gotten even more interesting when Longinus brought in a colleague by the name of Paul Ferenc whom also was in gun running but was also revealed to be an agent of Mossad. Somehow, A certain Jewish country had gotten an interest in the raw materials available in Kyrat which they hoped Pagan would source to them. Ajay met him a few days ago where they gave a proposition to him. Because of circumstance, Ajay's status was becoming something of a Defense Minister of the country although he was merely a patron supporting Arjun's good work. He went with Arjun and Pagan's blessing to represent.

That country was in dire need of Titanium which was found untouched within one of the mines in Ajay's territories. The country sent a representative accompanied by Mr. Ferenc to negotiate with him, where they agreed to provide technical expertise and access to certain hardware blueprints and construction techniques which were essential in the future growth of the country for an indefinite supply of titanium. At the moment, titanium wasn't much use to Kyrat as there wasn't any advance materials facility to harness it, they were just assets lying about. So Ajay made the executive decision to trade it for more sought after resources the other country could provide him.

As a sign of good faith, they had sent old tooling equipment for weapons that dated back to the October War which was supplied to them by a US airlift and brought it over as a deposit for their deal. Ajay sent it over to Yuma and had a few senior employees go over to set up shop for the second Arsenal in Yuma's territory.

This was quite simple, from the people's point of view the Arsenal was a place that provided employment. But now that Ajay's arsenal was more a less full there was less opportunity to find work in the town, although this was not true. When word came out that a similar factory was built in Yuma's territory, the same reaction would take place there as it did in Ajay's Valley of Death.

Curiously, troops under Yuma still bore the name Royal Guards and Snow Guards because of the special nature of their operations that Yuma sent them on. Ajay was quite aware what they were and Arjun never questioned the retaining of the name Royal Guard so they were simply called Yuma's Royal Guard to distinguish them.

"Hopefully the second Arsenal will turn out better than the trip with the first." Samar expressed his hopes to Ajay.

"I wish that too but realistically speaking, that's Yuma's domain so they're subjected to her rules. It shouldn't be difficult, we've worked out all the bugs in the First one. Plus, we're sending the senior crew to get things working."

"Ajay, why are you giving Mistress Yuma the tooling? If you brought it here, it could have increased the potential to our output capacities."

"Two reasons, one is that Yuma holds two regiments under her patronage that report to her exclusively. They often do work which require a lot of refitting and refilling of weapons and ammo, she can't afford to have shortage in her sanctioned ops. The second is that I owe her for the things she's done for me. Maya's help is included as her help and she is responsible for bringing up the town to its current status from Valley of Death. Giving her that Arsenal doesn't even cover what she's done for me."

"Mistress Yuma is quite kind despite how she portrays herself then."

"Are you kidding, she still hates me as much as the day mom met Pagan!" Ajay laughed as if he held a cruel joke.

"But if anything matters more to her it's the opinion and interest of Maya and Pagan. For her adoptive family, she'll burn the world. Even if she shouts at Pagan like he's an idiot, she still loves him dearly. She helps me only because Pagan seems to brighten up when things turn out nicely between us. The moment Pagan leaves, it'll be a different story."

"…."

Then Ajay thought about their past.

"Say Samar, were you around during Pagan's ascension to the throne?"

"Why, yes. Though I was merely a corporal then in the old Royal Guard, I did serve alongside Paresh Kadayat and Arjun Roka." Ajay heard a familiar surname.

"Paresh Kadayat? You mean Maya and Bipin's father?" This was the first time hearing a family member of Maya involved with Pagan.

"If Paresh was still alive he would've been the Captain of the Royal Guard instead of old Hamal like he deserved but unfortunately he died in an assassination by Mohan's elite force that went all the way behind enemy lines to burn his house. It was a military tragedy but fortune favors them as both his children are safe and held in high regard in the military." Samar chuckled sadly at the cruel fate they endured for their loyalty.

Ajay recalled Bipin mentioning a fire by Golden Path rebels but this was the first time hearing that their family was quite prominent in Pagan's early retinue. The diary logs he found about Kyrat never mentioned them, only that Pagan employed mercenaries heavily and then double-crossed them, so he remained ignorant to this.

But if their family had died because of their loyalty and belief in Pagan, then they deserved all the good fortune that him and Pagan could afford to give to Maya and Bipin, their legacies.

* * *

Ajay's destination was the recently constructed town hall. For some time since the construction of the town Ajay realized he couldn't manage everything concerning the growing populous so he decided to give some autonomous reign to nominated individuals. These individuals formed was known by the townsfolk as the council members or simply councilors. There were five seats of membership given to the surrounding villages that totaled to four and one tribal settlement that isolated itself in the mountaintops away from the Kyrati populations. There was also one each for the merchants' guild, the Sherpas town association representative, the Arsenal's Employee Union representative, the workers' guild and a final seat that was up for election by the people in the town under the title Town Welfare Representative. Elder Aadinath, who was made the Nadi Village councilor by Ajay had been very helpful to him in establishing contact with the four surrounding village elders and heads to grant them this appointment. He was having trouble in getting hold of the local mountain tribe though, so he reserved that seat for them in the event the came into contact. Ajay dispatched a few letters to invite them to come over and discuss. From what he heard from Aadinath was that they had been a warrior tribe since the conception of the Kyrati Monarchy. They've had a few clashes with several Monarchs who tried to subjugate them over the years and failed miserably.

Ajay suspected this was due to the higher altitudes that they were used to and when the Kyrati folk went up they'd suffer from mountain sickness after a few days giving them the edge over the monarch's royal guards in their home ground. It was said that there were over three thousand in the mountains in his area, which was a lot.

Ajay also managed to establish a PDF in his territory, since there was no military presence in his domain. It was a mandatory exercise for males and females between the ages 18 to 25 that was provided training by Royal Army instructors. There were some benefits given to them such as allowances and their service rifle to bring home for their home protection, recommendation in finding jobs and also provided tertiary education completely covered by this program. Because the situation was such that 4 in 10 people couldn't read or write, so granting these benefits in serving in defending the territory as militia was worth it since there wasn't any real threat to the valley at all. In the event that the Golden Path ventured over the mountains like the SOCOM marines did, then Ajay would have called in the elite QRF regiments to deal with the defense and repelling of the invaders instead.

Ajay entered the town hall as he was expected to have a meeting with the town council.

"Ah- Your Lordship!" A front desk admin saw him walk in and greeted.

"I'm here for the eleven o'clock appointment with the council."

"Yes! Right this way!" The admin brought him to the conference room where the council were having a friendly chat with one another.

As they saw him they stood up and paid him compliments.

"At ease, thanks for meeting me this early I know you all have busy schedules to attend to as well so we'll keep it short shall we?"

""""Yes, Your Lordship!"""" The said in unison despite not being from military backgrounds.

Ajay noted the council members present in the room, there should be ten of them. He took a look at the seat next to him belonging to the mountain tribesman, it was empty.

"Did the hun tribe receive our message?" Ajay asked Elder Aadinath whom sat as a council member of the nadi village.

"Indeed they have, the dispatch returned and reported he had personally handed it to the tribes' shaman. Unfortunately, she says they would consider it for the time being. I humbly beg your pardon, my lord."

"It's not your fault Elder Aadinath, it just means they'll consider." Ajay passed it off casually.

"Right, let's get on to business. I know we're all looking forward to the festival that's coming tonight so we should get this sorted out soon. Is there any concerns any of the council members would like to carry across?"

"Yes, lord." The Arsenal Union representative stood up.

"Working schedule has proceeded as planned, the Union requests that his Lordship would allow the workers to take leave early today so they may be with their families and assist Lady Maya in the competition booth she has been organizing."

"Granted. When we're done, tell them they can close shop for the long weekend, they've earned it."

"Thank you, my lord!" The Union representative's face brightened up considerably and was almost in cloud nine.

"My lord if I may….." One of the village representatives stood.

"Go ahead."

"Yes. The projections you graced us…we-…. we are unable to fulfil the quota. Ah- Forgive us! Our village has a small group of occupants within the given PDF recruitment range. We do have majority above 30 and below 18. If his lordship req-"

"That's alright, councilor. You won't be required to draft those out of the age limit, but when the younger ones come of age please give them the opportunity to participate."

"Yes, lord!" He thanked him fervently before taking his seat.

"My lord, regards to tonight's event security and road traffic, Constable Vajra from the police commission informs me that there is a large traffic of visitors to the town. Word has passed around concerning tonight's event."

"Then welcome them in, this festival isn't for us exclusively." Ajay smiled.

The next agenda was concerning the upcoming plans for public utilities and postal services. The councilors discussed matters excitedly. Ajay continued to adjust the matters of the day until it an hour had passed.

"I'll end the meeting now, I wish you all an eventful tonight. May the King's light shine upon you." Ajay said to them as the councilors returned their wishes with a salute and bow.

"""May it shine on you too!""" They said with sincerity in their voices.

Ajay was glad he was able to form a benevolent figure out of Pagan.

* * *

At the top of the mountains, just as Ajay had imagined was a settlement carved entirely out of the rocks of the cliffs, akin to the unique monasteries in Tibet. This was because the Hun tribe had been here since the humble beginnings of the kingdom of Kyrat. They believed they had originally been a minority from the Xiongnu tribe chased out by the early Chinese Empire. While most of the tribes went West across the gobi desert to Europe, where the late Roman Empire experienced the Scourge of God, Attila who was a descendant of those tribesmen. A small scouting group broke away and headed in the direction of the Himalayas, and those people became the Hun tribe.

Built upon the cliffs was an entire city of houses dotted around, all connected by stone pavements. The Hun tribe have been content with their way of life for over a thousand years. Standing at the very top, above all other houses was the residence of the tribe chief. Larger than all others in size and could easily accommodate a dozen people comfortably.

Within the quarters reserved for the Hun tribe's spiritual leader, Shili completed a ritual upon the runes grafted into Darshan's body.

"That'll do." Darshan said as he donned his uniform.

"Always in a rush, your companions aren't leaving this world any time soon and neither are you enemies arriving as quickly." Shili sighed.

"Is this another divination?" He asked if it was another foresight.

"Call it intuition." The older women winked as she went over to brew a potion for him.

"I don't need it."

"Who said it was for you?" She snorted.

"Mmm." She packed it into his combat harness for him, opening the pouch she could see all the pre-made talismans he had diligently crafted.

"Feed it to the White Tiger. It'll help it grow stronger."

"Thanks." Shili was use to Darshan giving short answers as always, he didn't want to interact very much with others. She knew it wasn't because he didn't want company but he didn't want them to share in his grief.

"The boy has sent us an invitation to interact with them." Shili informed him as she waved the letter Ajay sent to their settlement.

"….."

"I don't see any disadvantage in taking up his offer, it could do the young ones around here some good to open their eyes to a bigger world then stare at cliffs all day!" She stated her intentions.

"That is entirely your business."

"Hmph!" Darshan threw on his combat harness and the additional potions he brewed.

A loud patter came from bare feet running across the cold granite floor, the animal hide veil was lifted and in came a beautiful young girl who wore a saddened expression.

"Leng Yue…"

"Is this true? That you have to leave again?!" The tribe's princess had always been the most clingy towards the friend of the tribe, Darshan. Darshan had been around since her infancy so she had been the most comfortable with him and as the year passed by, more than that. Although he held the most regard by the Tribe's leader and Patriarch he was still an outsider.

"Duty." Leng Yue wore an angered expression at his response, but not to him.

"It's those brats again, the spoilt princess and that arrogant boy, isn't it? Who are they to call you as and when they like?!" Leng Yue had been referring to both Maya and Ajay whom she had heard from Darshan about in his job description.

"You're even younger than them, what does that make you?" Shili chuckled.

"At least I act my age!" She shouted back. Her loud remarks woke the shadow leopard from its slumber by the fireplace of Shili's. The leopard had long been the tribe's sacred animal just as Bishal's lineage represented the companionship between Kalinag and the Shangri-lese ancestor of its.

Darshan laughed heartily and went over to pant her on the head. "Thank you for your concern, but it's duty to myself not them." Darshan smiled.

Leng Yue blushed brightly and felt awkward from receiving his gentle hand.

"Shili, Leng Yue, thank you. I'll be heading off now." He said before departing down the mountain path.

Leng Yue was reluctant to let him leave but Shaman Shili prevented her from following by restraining her hand.

"Why?"

"Darshan walks a path that others dare not imagine, it is a life of pain and suffering but he chooses it because of the solitude he receives in the end is what he yearns the most. It is not for a young one to waste her life blood on."

"I can't accept it!"

"It's not for you to decide, child. Earlier you mentioned about acting your age…. Well, I have the perfect job for you."

"What is it this time, Elder?" Leng Yue calmed herself down and asked though reluctant as she was.

"I'm sending five youngsters along with your father as envoys to discuss future interactions with the growing town populous of the valley. This is the first time a Kyrati Lord has ever bothered to establish connection with us without wanting to hunt us. From the letter, he offered us a seat to the autonomous party of councilors' membership. From what I've heard from the Sherpa and Darshan himself, this Badala is quite the governor and warrior at the same time. A decent mix between ruthless warrior and benevolent ruler."

Leng Yue held a different belief concerning Badala, Darshan used to come to their home almost every week but now he appeared far less. Badala was to blame for sending him out on missions to dirty his hands while that damn lord stayed behind the walls of his keep. She hated him with every mallow in her bones. But….

"I'll go."

"Good, it'll open your eyes to the truth if you see it for yourself."

-Go out and beat some sense into that weasel that calls himself a lord!-

* * *

The evening had arrived, Ajay wore his traditional garb as did the rest of the residence in his house. The Festival was a means to dispel all the worries that the townsfolk experienced in recent events.

"You two ready yet?"

"Just done. I was just getting tips from Noore here on how to maintain a youthful complexion like hers." Saras and Noore came out of the house where Ajay was standing waiting for them.

"But I really don't use much foundation." Noore insisted to the giggling Saras.

Maya and Bhadra were at the festival manning their respective stores. Bhadra had been helping out her friends in managing their food store where she was the main chef while the others were her helpers, procuring the ingredients and waitering for the potential customers. Maya had planned for a talent contest that would play a performance on stage at the centre of the festival in the town square. Everyone who heard about the prizes to be won prepared a gig to entertain the people and perhaps be nominated for at least the consolation prize. The awards came in both monetary form and prizes like a motor vehicle, there was even a weird one that said breakfast with Maya. Ajay had a gut feeling that was what many were gunning for, knowing how popular she was with men and women alike. I was akin to a meal with Royalty here.

"You going on the stage tonight, Ajay?" Saras asked as she saw the guitar case slung around his shoulders.

"I am." Ajay gave a simple answer, he had prepared slightly for it and brought an electric guitar with him.

"A Vice-lord on stage?" Noore laughed at the thought as it was beyond hilarious.

"I'm actually the side actor in this believe it or not. It'll be a performance that'll blow everyone's minds." Ajay assured her.

"I look forward to it!"

They went down the hill into town to fill their stomachs before venturing further through the lighted streets filled with people and wares. The festival had officially started and the townsfolk and travelers roamed the colorful streets browsing and partaking in the festive mood that was taking place.

The three of them opted for the eat while travelling option as there weren't many places to sit due to many others having the same idea as them in eating early.

Ajay came back with a few takeaway boxes of fried noodles with braised demon fish and local herb garnish.

"Thanks!"

"Mmmffkuu." Saras said hers with her mouth full.

"Jeez. Slow down. The food's not going anywhere." Ajay advised her. But she was more focused on slurping down the noodles. It was one of her more favorite dishes in town, the proprietress even knew Ajay was buying for her and gave her a specially made portion with additional ingredients.

"Oh. I would like to say that my application's been successful. In three days I'll be working in the new and upcoming polyclinic as the head doctor."

"That's wonderful!"

"Congratulations!"

"Thank you, both of you."

Ajay could see it from a mile, Noore was a qualified physician before she came to Kyrat. The only counterpart with matching qualifications was the Royal Physician and the other doctors that studied medicine in Nepal or India, and there were only as many doctors in Kyrat as the fingers on one's two hands. In addition, Noore was probably the most attractive Doctor to visit for appointments. He bet, he'd be receiving a lot more medical leave requests soon.

"I think Healthcare should be added to the membership of councilors soon." Ajay declared, Noore chuckle at his attempt in making accommodations for her. She had spent three whole days with him and his company, it had been the best company she'd had in years. Ajay meant what he said when declared he'd help her get through her grief. Somehow, it strangely felt like he had a clear understanding of her troubles, as if he had a predicament like hers. Did he suffer a similar tragedy before? Noore didn't dwell to long on it as it was a time to enjoy herself now.

They enjoyed the early evening venturing around the stores new and old under the lantern covered streets. Many merchants herald special one-time offers of their wares, Noore and Saras were in a clothing store trying out some garments and fabrics that were on sale. Meanwhile, Ajay took this window of opportunity to visit a stall he saw on the way into town, a shop that sold handcrafted accessories. He bought some accessories for the girls. A hairpin each for Saras and Maya, for Noore it was a pair of earrings that he thought would go with her working attire and Bhadra would get a gold necklace. They weren't showy but the craftsmanship involved in their design was exquisite so Ajay bought them.

"Thank you for your generous purchase, sir! Have a wonderful evening!" The stall owner gave a warm reception to his large purchase and handed him a paper bag with the accessories being placed in their own respective small boxes.

Ajay met them at Bhadra and the orphans stall where they were serving some sweet breads as a treat, there was a long line gathered at their table. Partly to do with Bhadra's top notch cooking and baking skills, the orphans were busy collecting purchases and handing out the foods and receipts for waiting.

"Hey Bhadra." Ajay waved from the side of the stall.

"Hi! Ah- I'll be there in a bit!" She went back to continue cooking the last batch before handing her shift over to someone else. That boy was there as well, glaring at Ajay from inside the stall.

-What was his name again? Bitag? Binag? Barage?-

When his focus returned to the cooking, the pan was on fire and he freaked out. Bhadra saved him by tossing water on the burnt food and tossed it in the bin. The boy shyly scratched his head as he received a reprimanding from Bhadra while blushing red.

It was obvious the brat liked Bhadra but from Ajay's observation he wasn't doing a good job if he wanted her affection. Only becoming a clown and in danger of being friendzoned.

"We're back, what've you got there?" Saras and Noore returned with bags holding newly bought clothing.

Ajay dug into the paper bag and retrieved their respective boxes before handing it to them.

"For us? Let's have a look shall we?"

"Is it-….. is it the wedding ring?" Saras asked anxiously.

"If it is, don't you find it strange I gave one to Noore as well?" Ajay shook his head, Saras's head was just filled with nonsense.

Saras and Noore opened their boxes lids revealing the embroidered hairpin and earrings. Their eyes sparkled at the gift he gave and turned over to him with a smile.

"Very thoughtful of you Ajay."

"Thank you, Ajay." Saras went to the extent of expressing her thanks by kissing him on the forehead so quickly he couldn't prevent it, she knew his reactions best after all.

Soon Bhadra came over after being relieved and Ajay handed her the box that contained hers, needless to say she was surprised by his gift. Saras helped put it on her as Ajay held up the box. They took Bhadra out to have her dinner and traveled through the ever growing crowd that was becoming almost difficult to walk ten metres in front of them.

But they managed to squeeze through and arrive at their destination for the rest of the night. That was the grounds which were reserved for the competition, occupying almost 4 acres at the edge of the town square and the outside perimeter. There were tables with chairs for people to sit and enjoy the performances up on the stage.

*Heeeelllo! Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls to the Valley festival. I'm your host Rabi Ray Rana and welcome to the Festival competition, Kyrat's first talent competition! Organised by Lady Maya- thank you Milady!-….* Rabi Ray appeared on the centre of the stage in a white suit still wearing his signature sunglasses and his gelled up hair announcing the beginning of the event that everyone had been waiting for.

"Looks like my boy's already here, eager to have a go?" Ajay turned around the nostalgic voice.

"Pagan, you're here early." His lead vocal for their performance was here. Pagan was dressed in a suit reminiscent of a lounge music singer. Yuma was accompanying him, she wore a light traditional gown that gave off the feeling like she was his wife. Most people had spared a short glance and asked themselves where had they seen him before but couldn't put a finger on it even though they see him every day on their currency.

"Your Royal Highness?! And you?" Saras was just as surprised as the performance Ajay was giving involved the biggest star in Kyrat.

"Pagan, you're performing?!" Bhadra made no attempt to hide hers as well.

"Of course my dear! When Yuma told me about the little competition her girl was hosting I simply couldn't resist! And you know how I am with competition am I right, my dear? I'm pretty good at it too, just as my boy to attest for me!"

"We've had a decent amount practice over the week. I'd love to indulge but I think I'll leave it for his singing to speak for itself."

"Quite right!" Pagan agreed with his statement as he warmed up his voice. Yuma walked up to Ajay as she hadn't said a word just now when Pagan spoke.

"I received your gunsmiths and tooling for the factory…. You have my thanks." She said with little emotion, but the fact that she said it to him meant something.

"Not worries, you've done a lot of me too, even without me requesting help. You'll still have my eternal gratitude." Ajay said with an honest smile that caused Yuma to have conflicting inner thoughts.

"So, how's your progress going with Pagan?" Ajay changed the subject into something that was rather personal.

"That's entirely none of your concern, boy!" She said with a glare. Ajay took it without ill will.

"I'll leave a hint for you, find something or someone that both of you can share interest in." Ajay said with a smile. Yuma's eyebrows cocked to the side when he offered his advice, something she least expected given her treatment towards him.

She responded before walking off to look for Maya. "I'll take it into consideration…."

From Ajay's point of view he seemed to do well for being able to break ice with Yuma, though he did force his way through.

He had actually not expected to find any means to link Yuma and Pagan together initially. But then, he returned with the wolf's bane plant from Hajura' Amako Hatama he found both of them in a contrasting conversation or atmosphere. The reason for this was Bhadra.

Ajay noted that Pagan and Yuma's attitudes always caused conflict when they met with one another, much like how Maya and himself in that regard. Were they following their surrogate parents in attitude? It was because she didn't like the choices Pagan made with his life so far and he didn't respect anybody who showed that kind of behavior to him. But with Bhadra, they could find no fault in her nor complaint. Bhadra was a good natured girl who didn't judge people based on their looks or hearsay. She only saw them based on her personal interaction with them. Whenever Ajay saw Bhadra with Pagan it was as if she had become his long lost child. Bhadra lost her parents when she was a child and perhaps saw Pagan as a father figure like himself. How Yuma took a liking to Bhadra, he didn't know. But it turned out better than he had hoped for. Because Yuma liked Bhadra as much as Pagan did, they had common ground to share their joys. This was the first step she could take in restoring her relation with Pagan and beyond.

During their rehersal, Pagan had been talking a rather lot about Maya as well. Did he had some sort of daughter complex that he started seeing younger girls as his children and start adopting them like a certain couple? Perhaps Pagan saw Maya as what Lakshmana would have become as she was around her age if she was alive. Pagan wasn't the only one who thought that, Ajay did too.

From the very beginning, Ajay had imagined Maya was his long dead half-sister and treated her like he would have to Lakshmana. A selfish fantasy of his for the phantom sibling that barely lived more than a year, he wanted to know what it was like to have a sibling.

Ajay and the rest sat enjoying a meal together while the performance rolled out, contestant came one after another to be judged for their talents by the three Judges sitting amongst the audience. They were Sharma Salsa, ex-pornstar and manager of Kyrati Films Society. Mumu Chiffon, top fashion designer for Kyrati High Society. Maya Kadayat, informally known as the "lady of the town" and the organizer for the event. A particular group of people cheered only for her, likely some fan club Ajay had never heard of. After Rabi Ray introduced them to the crowd he began by letting the first contestant onto the stage. The first one was a talent act involving a man who ate flames and blew them without aid of a torch. The score was 2/6/4 respectively, which was a fail. The poor man didn't take it well and ran out crying. The second performance was a little better, a little girl who could dance to the beat of the music while swinging her streamer about to match the calming music. 4/8/9 Was a decent score where they needed 15 in total to get past the elimination.

There were several good performances over the period that the three judges rated. As the night grew longer, so did the crowd who were shopping and eating come to the grounds where the competition was held. There were over fifteen thousand people as audience in the booth which was a feat not achieved since in a long time.

At some point, the remaining band members of Ajay and Pagan's group had arrived and were spotted by Ajay heading to the back of the stage.

"I think it's time for us to prepare." Ajay said as he got up from his seat. Bhadra had eaten and that was the reason he sat waiting.

"Agreed! Wish us luck!" Pagan got up as well.

"Good Luck!"

"You'll have our support, your highness!" Both Saras and Bhadra were cheering for them, Yuma had seated herself next to Maya at some point. Nobody questioned her behavior as they were clear who she was and most had a clear understanding of the relationship between Maya and Yuma.

"Mmmm. Thank you." Pagan responded before catching up with Ajay to the back stage where the rest of the band they'd been practicing with for a week were.

Yuma returned to the table that Saras and Bhadra sat at after she had a conversation with Maya.

"It's been a while, Bhadra. Has everything been alright with you, has Badala been taking care of you?" Yuma placed her hands on hers, she was rewarded with a sweet smile from Bhadra.

"I'm fine Yuma. If anything, he's been spoiling me rotten. Even though I'm a dependent of his house." Bhadra fiddled around with the gold chain necklace which Ajay had given her just recently.

"…" Yuma hated to admit it but Ajay was turning out in a way she admired in a person, if she wasn't so caught in her hatred for Ishwari that eventually switched to him she might have taken him in to become her pupil.

"Revenge is such an ugly thing…." Yuma murmured softly to herself.

* * *

The contest was decided by the most popular group which entertained the crowd the most, due to the sheer number of contestants they would only get one shot to earn the crowds' favor.

*And now, for the last contestant group for the day. In a way, to end the contestants with a bang. You've seen him on TV, you've seen him on your dollar bill-…*

Behind the curtains, Ajay, Pagan and his band had assembled. The instruments were laid out and ready, their band consisted of a drummer, a sax player, a trumpet, a keyboard pianist for extra grove, a back-up guitarist and Ajay as the lead guitarist. Pagan was the star of their small group, the lead vocalist.

"Right, just like practice."

"You nervous?"

"Heck no! If I can't do it then I shouldn't have come to embarrass myself tonight!"

"Ok."

"And you said I killed that show host's relative, you sure he won't just whip out a gun and blast at me?"

-What that what he was worried about?-

"Rabi Ray wouldn't even hurt a fly, that guy'll faint if he ever saw blood. If he does then you can just leave it to my quickdraw." Ajay tapped the holstered 1911 on his persons. Although he thought it was highly unlikely that Rabi Ray would do such a thing, he had already told him beforehand he'd meet with Pagan just back stage. The chances he knew Pagan was coming today were almost non-existent.

*….-Contestant group 31! The vice-lord and King himself-….. Badala and Pagan Min!*

The curtains rolled away revealing the band to the audience. There was much inner conversations amongst the audience as expected. Not every day a king comes out to perform just for the sake of performing. Would he do well or would they be subjected to a torturous performance and possibly afterhours torture in the prison? But then, Lord Badala was with him. Did it mean he was really good?

The audience silenced itself before him to pay close attention to his performance. Pagan walked up and accepted the mic from Rabi Ray with little difficulty, perhaps he had a different view now.

*Friends and Family. I thought I'd give you a little surprise. Tonight I'll be playing for you Ain't No Sunshine written by Bill Withers.*

Pagan turned to his band. *Hit it!*

Ajay and the drummer started off with Ajay playing legato with his guitar, surprising the audience of his competence in playing the electric guitar.

*You ever want something  
that you know you shouldn't have  
The more you know you shouldn't have it,  
The more you want it  
And then one day…. you get it,  
It's so good too…  
But it's just like my girl  
When she's around me  
I just feel soooo good, so good  
But right now I just feel cold, so cold  
Right down to my bones  
'Cause ooh... heeeeii

Ain't no sunshine when she's gone  
It's not warm when she's awaaay…..!*

The audience were left in disbelief at Pagan who could actually sing so well, and they thought the main star was Ajay. They thought wrong.

Ajay was supporting Pagan.

"H-He can actually sing?!" Saras wasn't expecting Pagan to carry the group as MVP. It was like witnessing pigs fly in the regard for stupor.

"….." Yuma knew.

Nobody knew the King could sing because he never had, but Pagan did. He had a karaoke machine he played with sometimes to entertain himself when he couldn't sleep which was quite often, he was sometimes accompanied by Gary, most of the times with Ajay and some staff in his retinue. So his actual talents were only noted within the Palace.

When Pagan said he'd like to participate just for fun, Ajay seconded his idea. It was also a way to let the people feel more at ease with their sovereign and let them know that the Civil War that was raging on was under control because if it weren't Pagan wouldn't be having fun.

*Oh-I know, know, I know, I know,  
I know, know- know- know- know,  
I know, I knooow,  
-Hey!... I ought to leave  
I ought to leave her alone  
Ain't no sunshine when she's gone.*

The audience started to move to his beat and clapped to the rhythm as well.

*Sing it!-* Pagan pointed the mic towards the crowd who seem to know the lyrics quite well despite their favor for local music choices.

""""Ain't no sunshine when she's goone, Only darkness every day…!""" The crowd sang the chorus as the band halted their playing to let their voices do the singing.

*Ain't no sunshine when she's gone  
And this house just ain't no home  
Anytime she goes awaaAaaaaaaaaaay…..*

Pagan played with the ending with an extended note. When he ended his song, the surroundings were quiet for a second or so before the crowd burst into a cheer at the amazing performance they received from the King personally.

It was a night not to be forgotten, a night where the Lords of Kyrat entertained the common people.

When the cheers ended, the judges gave their appraisal. 8/10/10. Both Mumu and Maya were astounded by his performance greatly. Sharma thought the performance was sensational but in her opinion it lacked, in her words "Explosiveness!" Whatever that meant, still that was the highest she had given anybody. Mumu rated him based mostly on attire and found his choice of clothing to match the evening, therefore giving full marks. Maya had not expected the King to do this well and was thoroughly satisfied, the same could be said for the crowd who felt the same way as her.

The highest scoring contestants were weighed out with the top ten that remained were subjected to audience votes. But it was clear who was the likely winner of the competition running for first place. To think he did it without forcefully attaining it gave Pagan great satisfaction. Whatever prize he received he'd mount it on a wall with his animal trophies.

Ajay and Pagan came off the stage via the back and left the group to their own devices while they returned to the table which held Bhadra, Saras, Noore, Yuma and Maya who was out for a break.

"There they are, so this competition was already within your grasp before it even began, eh?"

"Quite, Captain Saraswati! I'm sure you all thought this was going to end in a rather poor note didn't you?" Pagan said with a smirk.

"You've got me there, your highness!" Saras laughed a little. "And you, weren't lying when you said you weren't the main attraction weren't you?" Saras said to Ajay who answered with a wry smile.

"That was awesome, Pagan!" Bhadra said with fascination towards Pagan's hidden talent, Pagan couldn't help but scratch his head at her honesty.

"It was good, it reminded me of a better time." Said Noore with some meaning behind her words.

"It did for me too." Pagan responded. "Noore…I- No. I know you'll never forgive me for the things I did to you, my boy has made it clear to me since he came back. And I've been avoiding it for a rather long time even when you helped nurse him back when he was gravely wounded. You have my thanks for that. But as it was tonight, I hope to change that….. would you be willing to give this foolish cruel bastard an opportunity to make amends?" Pagan held out a hand as he wore a sad smile while staring into her eyes.

Noore gazed at him with fire in her eyes for a while and then sighed.

"You're a cruel man, you know that… but not as cruel as Ajay who forced me to live when my meaning of life no longer exists. I've waited for so long to come up to this moment where you stand right in front of me and I could take that life from you. But as he said, it won't bring my family back. Nor will it give me solace. I'll make you pay a hefty fee if you want to continue to have that head upon those shoulders." She held out her hand, Pagan couldn't believe what he was seeing. She was actually willing to tolerate him, Pagan couldn't help but release a bitten smile but he changed his expression to one with liveliness and caught her hand, shaking it.

"That trust you give in me. I'll be sure to give my all to earn it!"

Yuma watched the flames return to Pagan's eyes, the determination that drove him, the one that she admired about him for so long….

Had returned.

* * *

Author's Notes:

If you're wondering why Pagan can sing well, it's quite simple.

Pagan's voice actor in real life, Troy Baker can so it's clear he should too. He had a couple of solo albums himself too.


	30. Chapter 30 - Demon encounters Demon

The Golden Path forces assembled outside of Baghadur in the dead of the night. They had made a long grueling trip north over the mountain that separated Banapur from Bagdahur stronghold and come one at a time. The time this took was three days and it was the third day for their long and strenuous plan. The Mukti Tigers thought the mountain would protect them from a mass incursion but the underestimated the tenacity of Sabal's strongest warriors. A force of seven hundred was assembled outside of Baghadur, where the current garrison held less than two hundred. In a besieging engagement, they needed at least four times the number of the garrison. But this was a special occasion, with them was the terror of Rook Island, Jason Brody. The CIA spook had smuggled this one-man army into Kyrat under the radar to aid them in their fight against Pagan and the Royal Army. But he was playing with volatile fuel, he was using the pretext that Jason's friends had been taken by Pagan and held in the Royal Palace. There was no way he could know unless he reached the Palace, but by then they would turn on him without opposition and toss his corpse amongst the pile of Royal Army soldiers' corpses. Sabal and Willis made sure everyone who knew where exactly his friends were, were to keep their lips shut. Less the risk the wrath of yet another monster as dangerous as Badala.

For the time being, he'd keep Jason in reserve until he had no other option. While he found the stories mentioned by Solomon on Jason to be rather outlandish, so was Badala. They were both counterparts, but were they equals? If he came today, he'd soon find out.

"Our forces will be in position in five minutes, Sabal." The sector leader reported to him.

"Good, everything is going according to plan."

"I fail to see what attacking this Mukti group has to do with liberating Kyrat, Sabal." Jason stated.

"This is something personal, Jason. Retribution if I may, for those rebels who thought they could just betray us and form their own ideals."

-Even though you're a rebel too….- His other-self also laughed at Sabal's hypocrisy.

"I know you have your doubts but if they're left alone they will attack our flank when we concentrate on retaking King's Bridge and the Airport. It's happened before when De Pleur helped enact that scheme to bring Shanath and Varshakot under our control under the radar. That Amita, might have a sweet face but don't let appearances fool you! She must die tonight!"

The field commanders returned from the front to meet with Sabal.

"All is warriors have taken their positions and awaiting your go, Sabal."

"Good! Then your orders are to take Baghahur, take no prisoners, leave none alive!"

The field commander hesitated for a while as Sabal gave that ruthless command. "Sabal…. These men and women ar-."

"Traitors! That turned away from the ideals of the Golden Path! There is no salvation for them!" Sabal ranted on like a zealous priest, Jason was starting to get uncomfortable with him.

"I've given the order, now follow it!" He ordered without compromise.

"… Yes, Sabal." The field commander clasped his hands in a salute and moved off with haste.

Sabal and Jason watched the first attack upon the stronghold from afar in the hill covered with forest. The Golden Path fighters crept up on the stronghold and had crossed the bridge that isolated vehicles from the inner compound of the stronghold. They moved with guile, the walls were clear of guards as there was an estimated rotation happening inside. Jason peered through the binoculars that was provided to him by Solomon. After a while of monitoring….

"Something's off….."

"What?" Sabal couldn't accept what Jason said as he looked through his own pair to double confirm that everything was as it should be.

"It's-…. Too quiet."

(BOBOBOBOBOOM)

Right in front of the stronghold where most of the fighters had assembled started to erupt into flames. Vaporizing everyone within 10 metres of the detonations from the hidden C4 traps. His words were like a jinx that triggered the next sequence of events to happen.

What little of the survivors left started to scream in agony and shock from the traumatic experience.

"All units converge! Scale that wall!" The Field Commander already knew their presence was compromised and ordered everyone to make a mad dash towards scaling the walls.

Previously where there wasn't a single soul present on the wall, an entire row of armed warriors emerged from behind and fired a heavy rain of lead upon the invaders below. The warriors that had yet to cross the bridge were mercilessly gun down, and those already at the walls were left in a daze, too shellshock to move. The tigers left them alone as they'd clean them up later.

Even before the assault on the wall began, fifty warriors perished.

"Damn the gods!" Sabal cursed while showing a scary face directed towards Baghadur.

"Sabal! We're pushing all forces front there's no way to retreat from this, it's do or die!" The Field Commander reported.

"Then give them the best you've got, may Kyra be with you brother!" He saluted to the Field Commander whom was ready to lay his life to capture the stronghold. The Field Commander returned the salute and ran to join his men in the charge.

Jason watched the battle unfold beside Sabal, the warriors had somehow overcome their fear with the encouragement of that field commander fighting alongside them.

The battle raged of for a while, but the Golden Path couldn't stay long in the area. Baghadur had an alarm system that was wired to the Army High Command in the Uttar Region, they had no choice but take control quickly or leave everything behind. At tops, 20 more minutes till the Royal Army QRF would come by fast moving vehicles and helicopters from the King's bridge garrison. While Sabal and his field commanders were skeptical whether the Royal Army would really provide military assistance to their rebel group, they were cautious to include that into the equation.

But Amita was already one step ahead of them.

While their focus was upon the stronghold, they neglected to check their rear where the line of outposts belonging to the Mukti Tigers were. They had voluntarily trapped themselves in a den of tigers.

The first wave of Tigers attacked their support teams in the rear that were manning the mortars against the battlements of the stronghold and providing the infantry with cover fire, no more.

The Tigers in their rear overcame the rearguards quickly and moved on to where Sabal and the Command post was.

Five warriors converged with their bayonets attached to their rifles, intending to give Sabal and his strategists a taste of cold steel. But they didn't count on the person that was with them.

With a swift action, Jason shouldered his custom rifle and made sequential shots at all five of the warriors under two seconds, like they were targets down range. His hollow point ammunition ripped apart the warriors in an instant. One second they had the enemy commander in their grasp, the next they lay on the floor with a hole in their skulls.

"I'll watch the rear, hurry up and take that stronghold!" Jason took the initiative to do his best in delaying the flanking forces from attacking their rears.

"Godspeed, Jason Brody….. Brothers, look to this man whom hails from another country yet fights on our side. We're not alone! We will win this battle for the betterment of our cause!" Sabal gave a short motivation speech, while not crude it made them all understand there was a job at hand. They were receiving slight help from Jason Brody but it was the most important help they would need if they were to conquer the stronghold and stave out the Royal army that was arriving imminently.

"Sabal! Report from the front, garrison forces prove to be a tough adversary despite their numbers under a hundred. They're led by Commander Malla." The dispatch reported. The strategists' faces were sullen and pale. Kamala Malla was a rising star in the Golden Path and one of the reasons there was such a positive feedback in the recruitment their after. She was a legend amongst the Golden Path for her deeds and her mannerism was polite making her popular with the local inhabitants.

"Tsk! Kamala…"

When rumors passed around that Kamala had been dismissed from the Golden Path and joined the Mukti Tigers instead, a large majority within the ranks were opting to leave. Sabal was already having difficulty managing the consequences for that mistake he made in interrogating her for Soren's location. He now knew, Soren was actually Badala using a false alias. This meant that Bhadra was also with him and likely within the Valley of Death in the North. The SOCOM marines had confirmed with him on this from their reconnaissance. But he convinced himself that was alright, since Jalendu Temple was just next door to the Valley. Therefore, they only need advance across King's bridge and take Ratu Gadhi. Then launch a coordinated raid on Badala's unprotected domain to retrieve Bhadra and have her undergo the coronation ceremony a Jalendu Temple immediately. This would instantly challenge Pagan's right to rule over Kyrat, they'd win half the war already.

Now the possibility seemed higher with Jason Brody at their side, he'd just proven to them he was the only one who could contend with the Northern Demon.

"Kill her. If she continues to live, life for us will be harder than ever with the support she could garner."

* * *

The contest ended with Pagan receiving the 1st prize in the form of keys to a brand new SUV imported overseas. He had expected something smaller for a token of his performance but it didn't matter.

"I'm gonna run this off a cliff full of C4 and watch it explode!" He said, much to his pleasure and satisfaction. At the end of the day, the SUV was still his and he was entitled to do whatever he wanted with it. It was a vehicle that wasn't what he really needed when he had a small fleet of similar vehicles and some sports cars in the garage that was part of a private collection.

The time was now eleven o' clock, Bhadra and Noore had enough of fun and excitement. They the more responsible of the residence in the homestead. Noore had to report early for her job at the polyclinic and Bhadra wanted to cook breakfast for them early then join the orphans for an outing.

Ajay, Saras and Maya went to the inns pub for a late night drink. After playing scissors-paper-rock with the two which he outright lost, it was decided that Ajay was their designated carer if the two ever got drunk. His maximum was half a glass.

Pushing the swinging doors of the entrance aside, they found the pub to be filled with people from and outside the valley. The Condotierri and Hunters were there as well, having a meal and drinking merrily.

"There they are! The MCs of tonight!" Ricardo called out to which everyone cheered for their arrival with joy and applause.

"Oh my…." Saras chuckles at the red intoxicated faces of the men and women, Ajay wasn't bothered and smiled wryly as he walked towards the bar counter seats which were the only seats available.

"Hi."

"Usual, my lord?" The proprietress of the inn who was managing the pub at this time inquired.

"Half for me. I'm taking them back later." Ajay turned to Maya and Sara who were having a drinking game it seemed with Stella. The proprietress went over to fix his drink, Ajay looked to the other side of the table.

Bipin happened to be at the seat next to him, indulging heavily on the gin that seemed to be the second bottle he'd drunken himself.

"Blight drinking are we?"

He was already slump against the table on one side of his cheek resting on it as he struggled to poured out another cup. Ajay reached out to take the bottle from him, at first he thought Ajay was depriving him of his drink but saw him pour it into his shot cup and hand it to him.

"We won't get another opportunity like this, it's better to let it all pour out then keep it in." Bipin received the cup and waved it to him in thanks before gulping it down.

"Ajay….."

"Yes?"

"….. I want a transfer."

"May I have a reason?"

Bipin took effort to pour another glass on his own this time.

"You're an incontrollable freight train. We can never catch up to you because you move beyond running speeds and when you do stop its not by your intentions but rather because of an opposition that threatens to derail you. At this rate you'll surely die!"

"….."

"I know you know what I'm talking about, but you don't understand any of us! How we felt when you were captured by De Pleur….. how we sat and watch you almost die in the arena! Was there a need for any of this to begin with? To push yourself ahead of everyone else?"

"It's called leadership. I have thousands behind my back, whatever mistake I make translates to hundreds dead."

"It's foolhardy and reckless! You think that by taking the heat you're saving us from suffering but you're stripping us of our pride in our own abilities!... And when you truly fall… We can only blame ourselves for our lack of fortitude and skill."

"… Thanks for worrying for me, Bipin…." Ajay wasn't angry with him, he understood that he was likely this way due to the alcohol, Bipin was telling him his true feelings towards his behavior. Seeing that Ajay didn't get worked up by his attempt to provoke him he went back to his drink.

"You really are like your sister, drinking when you feel down." Ajay smiled as he poured the liquor into the cup for him and a cup for himself that he drank.

"…. She's not my sister…"

"Pffffttt!" Ajay spat out the liquor when he heard him declare such an unexplainable thing. While he was only murmuring, Ajay heard it perfectly word for word.

-Maya's not your sibling?!-

"..W-What do you mean…? Speak!" Ajay demanded as Bipin looked like he was about to fall asleep.

"She was….. ado…pt…. father brought her in one…day….." strength left Bipin and he fell slump to the floor but Ajay's quick reflex caught him before that happened. When he pulled him up and rested on the table, he found him already sound asleep like a log.

"…. What the hell…" Bipin had just thrown a bomb at him that was completely uncalled for, would he wake up remembering what he told Ajay and freak, or should Ajay just pretend he didn't hear what he just said?

Ajay turned his gaze towards Maya whom was having a friendly social gathering with some of the town ladies as well, along with Saras and Stella. Either way, Maya was technically part of the Kadayat family, from the many accounts from Arjun, Maya, Samar and Bipin himself, Maya had kept the family raised in the most difficult of situations. Even if it was only her and Bipin, she had every right to call herself a Kadayat, so Ajay's view towards Maya's existence as a Kadayat didn't change.

"Hey!" Ricardo called out as he came over to the table to return the empty glasses to the proprietress over the bar counter.

"What's happening? Um- Shangri-lager please!" Ricardo asked before calling for another pint of lager from over the counter.

"Nothing." Ajay turned to watch the girls again, pondering about his previous thoughts.

"So which one takes your fancy?" He pointed out bluntly. Somehow, Ricardo got the wrong idea that he was interested in one of them and began talking about them.

"….." For some reason, he didn't feel like correcting him about his assessment and wanted to see how it would play out. There was some intention behind Ricardo socializing with him when it was very rare that it usually happened at all.

"Say, Boss. What do you think my chances are with Stella?"

-So it turned out to be this.-

Truth be told, this was the first time he was aware that Ricardo had a thing for Stella. But then it was also staring right in his face. Ricardo had spent the most time patrolling or doing duties with her, at first he thought they had some sort of symbiotic relationship due to camaraderie. Now it was starting to make sense.

"What's your overall history with her actually?"

Seeing that Ajay was willing to somehow lend his input on his advancement in relationship he happily told him of their history. At the moment, the rest of the condotierri were having a singing contest with Anish and Hurk. Anish always seemed to click well with others, Hurk was their student/intern.

The story of their status as dishonorably discharged paratroopers began in seven years ago in the Lebanon War during a confrontation with the local Hezbollah fighters who mistook them for invading IDF formations. They came under intense fire from the houses and called for extraction, but by that time the other UN peacekeeping troops had left the immediate zone. Samson shouted into the radio for any form of fire support from the nearby IDF artillery battalion instead of relying on his superior. From Ricardo's account, their Commandant wasn't the most reliable person out there and was posted to their battalion just to clock time serving in Folgore before climbing up the ranks to a higher position that was afforded to him. Samson's action threatened his competence and integrity as their leader and would make those at home question his leadership qualities. So he jammed their communication in the area, hoping for the Hezbollah to finish them off. Which they didn't, and through Samson's diplomatic attitude he managed to convince the Hezbollah they were here on UN duties. When they headed back and charged the superior, someone from the High Command was watching over him instead and during the trial had convinced the judge to favor their incompetent superior. Samson was charged with insubordination, the rest decided to leave the paratroopers because they lost belief in the system that favors the elite few over the many.

Ricardo wasn't actually interested in joining Samson like the rest, but when Stella quit he decided to chase after her instead of staying on. He received quite a reprimanding from her for leaving like her it was especially different in Ricardo's case as he was a commission officer like Samson who had a career ahead of him, but she was no better.

"When you do somehow hook up with her I suggest you write a romantic novel about it."

"Yeah! I think I should!" Ricardo and Ajay shared a laugh.

"There's nothing stopping you from getting to know her better personally. Propose to take her out to a nice spot you found, bring some scotch or brandy for a drink. Give a pretext, maybe say it was thanks for all the things she'd done for you over the years. From there, see how things work out in the future, but I'm sure you'll have the confidence to work things out after that."

Ricardo looked at him amazed, Ajay gave him a very analytical assessment of his situation and a useful suggestion to add to it.

"Where did you learn to be such a player?" Ricardo patted him on the back cheerfully.

"From my senior, my high school senior. We knew each other since junior high. Though that was a long time ago…. And I'm not a player."

Ajay wondered how she was doing after their separation, she left for LA without returning any reply but then, Ajay had to more important things to deal with, such as his mother's cancer then death and last will.

"Ok! That's fine, thanks for the advice!" Ricardo dashed towards the group of ladies excitedly to put Ajay's words into action, without planning beforehand might he add. It was pretty comical to watch him being laughed at by the other girls with Stella, she seemed to accept his proposal to which he fist-pumped the air in victory. Causing the ladies and Ajay to snigger at his all too obvious behavior, Saras turned her head towards where Ajay was as she realized it was he who had some part in Ricardo coming over. She left her seat which has quickly occupied by Ricardo with his thanks, the man was smooth talking his way with the group as if he hardly needed Ajay's encouragement at all.

"Playing the matchmaker are you?" She said as she sat next to him.

"I'm hardly the person to talk to in those situations, I just lent him my honest opinion. He seemed to already possess the skills to help him talk with Stella." Saras lightly chuckled.

"If he really was able to do what he did then how does it explain him going to seek advice from you first?"

"….."

Ajay knew what she meant, even so he didn't see himself as a person with fantastic social skills and charisma, in fact he was the complete opposite.

"What about you?"

"Hm?"

"You moved out to give Ricardo a chance to sit next to her and talk did you not?"

"….. Touché, then." She smiled.

"Lady boss! Two glasses of that nice 15-year scotch, please."

"Sure, anything for milord!" The proprietress responded as she went to the shelf to retrieve her revered liquor by everyone else.

"What's the occasion?"

"Think of it as a reward for all the effort you and 3rd Company have put into at "the site"."

Ajay handed her the glass filled with the revered scotch. "Cheers." (Click)

Ajay gulped down the glass while Saras took hers slowly.

"Um-… Ajay. There's something I'd like to-….."

"Hmmm?"

"N-No…. nothing, it'll be alright." Her change of heart in telling him something important made him wonder what she had intended to tell him. Ajay decided to let it go, he was sure she'd tell him when she felt like it.

"Less worry, tonight is the one exception to the trials we'll have ahead of us later." Saras nodded agreeing to what he said and held her cup to receive the liquor which he poured. He did the same for himself.

"Aren't you already at you're given limit?" She said reminding him who was bringing them back if they were too drunk to walk home.

"Gimme a break!" Ajay and Saras laughed together and shared more as they talked about their family history. Saras spoke about the significance the Roka clan had in with the protection of the Royal Family, also some details on Ghales' origin which held the same rank as theirs.

The night went on with the patrons merry making and drinking all to the benefit of the proprietress's pockets which were filled with cash by now. Her husband, the owner of the inn took over as she turned in for the night.

The swinging doors flung open alerting every one of the newly arrived disruptive presence.

"The hell is you-!"

"Is Lord Badala here?!" The Royal Army dispatch courier asked urgently. Everyone who saw his desperate expression quieten down as it seemed important enough that he'd ask for Ajay.

"Over here." Ajay waved from the seat, mentally preparing himself for what the courier had to deliver to him.

"Urgent dispatch from High Command, my lord!" He hurried over to pass the slip of paper to Ajay. Ajay picked the telegram slip from the courier and read it.

His eyebrows frowned at the message.

"What's the matter? What's so important?" Saras asked, Ajay handed her the slip of paper.

"Baghadur is being attacked."

* * *

The Golden Path had unsuccessfully tried to enter Baghadur in the dark of the night and tried to lay siege upon it but were nowhere near capturing the walls. The Mukti Tigers had been watching their movements for the past three days and anticipated the attack to come around this time, it was a matter of how would they combat this bold strategy laid out by Sabal's commanders. Which was by practicing an even bolder plan of action to keep the Golden Path warriors out or at least wear out this particular group of troops to lose confidence in furthering their attempt to take Baghadur and ending the Mukti Tigers' occupation of the Northern part of the Pacchim Valley.

And who was the devisor of this audacious plan, her name was Amita. But she had in fact learnt this strategy from Badala.

From her experience in that surprise attack from Ratu Gadhi she understood the psychological impact it could pose for an invading force that had its sneak into the compound thwarted. Rather, it was Badala that opened her eyes to the multiple possibilities that were afforded in commanding a group such as the Mukti Tigers.

"Now they'll have a taste of what I felt then….." She monologue from the overseeing parapet.

"Kamala, concentrate efforts to keep them off the cliffs!" Amita said over the commander's radio.

*On it!* She responded quickly as she understood why what was getting at from her observation up on the walls where she fought. The Golden Path fighters tried to bunch up at the cliff near the walls to get breathing space from the automatic fire that was chopping them down in the open ground around the walls and at the bridge.

Baghadur only had a garrison of three hundred, as for where the rest of the Mukti Tigers were, they were spread out guarding the refugee camps and outposts that numbered up to eleven hundred warriors and growing. It grew because of the model which the Mukti Tigers stood for and also because Kamala was in their group. During her rise, Sabal had spent numerous amount of resources to publicize her as the hero of the Golden Path that defeated the Royal Guard Chief. Everyone knew who she was and what type of character she had which made her the hero they looked to for comfort in oppression. That symbol was taken by the Mukti Tigers or rather it defected to them and so did the peoples' overall support.

"Anulak report. How goes the flank attack?" The platoon she sent out earlier to attack the rear had not responded in a while. "Anulak?" There was no response from the small detachment sent to attack the Golden Path in the rear where the logistics were likely unguarded.

"Anulak! Anulak!"

*Your fellow traitor is dead.* She received a response from someone that wasn't her sergeant she dispatched from the small garrison within Baghadur. It was a voice she recognized better than most, a voice who annoyed her more than any other.

"Sabal."

*You had this coming, Amita.*

"I should be saying the same thing, you're a shameless bastard that attacks his own brothers and sisters!"

*You mean brothers and sisters that plot behind my back?!*

"Then what do you call yourself? Badala was right, you really are a pushover that lets the tides carry you. The only thing you own is your insatiable ambition but you lack the means so you have others to the work for you."

*I'm getting a lecture for you? Did you fall so low you had to whore yourself to Badala to get help?* Sabal laughed madly on the radio. Amita found his insult and foul language to be distasteful and not worth addressing.

"Ten Minutes till the QRF arrive, you'd better save it for running with your tail between your legs before you don't even have time to escape." Amita gave her last message to Sabal before offing the radio channel and switching back to Kamala.

"Kamala, hold out for nine more minutes. The Royal Army should arrive by then." Amita could confidently say so because the Royal Army 3rd and 5th Royal Heli-borne Dragoon Battalions had been performing routine collaborated exercises and emergency drills in the event the alarm was pressed and the stronghold was in danger of being overrun.

*Right! We'll do our best!* Then minimum response time was twenty minutes for the full force of five hundred trained soldiers came by helicopter. Baghadur just had that strategic importance that it couldn't fall into the Golden Paths hands because it watched over the Airport and the path immediately out of Banapur.

-I pray to Kyra they may not be too late…- Amita said a silent prayer.

* * *

Ajay stamped his feet impatiently within the helicopter, the accompanying troops were at a loss of what to do with him. They were five minutes away from Baghadur.

Upon receiving the message from High Command, Ajay rushed to the Arsenal to get equipped, leaving everyone who was in no condition to fight in their drunken state behind. The helicopter that was laden with troops was waiting for him at the compound of the Arsenal.

He returned and hopped on board the chopper in full gear. His custom-made attire with the grappling gauntlet and bullet-proof vest, he wore the mask as he always did. His weapons consisted of the kukri he carried with him everywhere, a handgun, an assault rifle and the newest addition to his personal arsenal. The refurbished double-barreled rifle chambered in the special Yeti killing Nitro .700. Samar had personally worked on rebuilding it into a more shooting friendly device as it originally was a beast to handle. Under the influence of Rage, he hardly felt its actual arm bruising recoil so Samar tailored it into an over-under barreled rifle instead of the original side by side barrel configuration. The stock held an internal buffer piston to mitigate the felt recoil as much as possible. The extractors and breech was polished to increase the speed of reloading that deadly sabot slug. It turned out that the slug fragmented on impact upon something soft and became akin to a micro-grenade but still had the kick and characteristics of a normal slug that was already devastating.

Samar theorized it could shoot down helicopters as well as it kills Elephants or Rhinos in one hit. It was the most powerful weapon in his hands at the moment.

"My lord, reports assess over seven hundred Golden Path warriors have besieged Baghadur currently. Is it really necessary for your lordship to be present where it could have been left to us?" The Captain of the 1st Company of the two battalions inquired.

He had good reason to ask as he and his Battalion had been training with the Mukti Tigers and the QRF drill to the Stronghold every day for two weeks.

"The fact that they dared to bring only seven hundred to attack a stronghold tells you they're confident in taking it before we arrive or have a way to repel us." Ajay's reply made the troops uneasy when he shared his concern, because it made perfect sense.

Arjun wouldn't just call for him to manage the reinforcement of the Mukti Tigers as and when he wanted. It was serious enough to warrant his action on the field.

His thoughts were centred around the safety of Kamala, she was just as important to him as the Mukti Tigers. Kamala was one of the few people whom he recognized as a reason to take responsibility for the people under the Golden Paths domain and within the Golden Path. That they were worth saving because in light of all the madness there were a few people who believed in good for the people and the organization.

Ajay recalled the times he spent patrolling with Kamala. Back then he still possessed a vengeful spirit towards the higher echelons of the Golden Path and Sabal and was considering assassinating them on a few occasions. The security was almost negligible back then, and they all stayed in one villa which he could just seal and burn down. That would have sent the Golden Path into anarchy and the old guard had no choice but to step in, but then those self-entitled twats wouldn't lead men to needlessly die when they were gone. The old guard would maintain its non-offensive stance but that was all.

-Should I have brought her to the Valley then? But then Amita would've had trouble recruiting without her charisma and being in the Valley instead of where her kin were might make her feel caged rather than protected.-

Kamala had also been a very special friend to him, one of the very few he had for a long time that didn't judge him based on his status as Badala, Ajay Ghale or Soren. She could be silly at times, due to her clumsiness but she would laugh at it and continue on with the best effort that she could give. She was honest, too honest for her own good. But it was what inspired people to be like her, the ideal of the Golden Path.

Ajay knew that the Golden Path and the people that led it had been anything but what they preached to the population. Mohan, Sabal, Amita when she was still part of them. They all held personal ambition behind their intentions. One wanted to rule through authority, one by tradition, and one through commerce.

"My lord, we've reached the outskirts of Baghadur." The captain reported as the troops opened the compartment doors allowing the cool air to rush in. They sat on the ledge ready to jump off when the helicopter landed.

From far he could make out the garrison at Baghadur weren't doing very well at this stage, although there were plenty of Golden Path warriors lying around the outside of Baghadur the Mukti Tigers had been pushed all the way to the stairs towards the inner sanctum of the complex. Smoke bellowed from the wall which had been breached at the side, allowing the warriors to enter and attack the garrison directly. For some reason Ajay's heart started to palpitate as he had a bad premonition about the Tigers' predicament and about Kamala's wellbeing.

"Pilot! Bring us over the compound, hurry!" Ajay ordered their pilot to which he dived quickly to the destination that Ajay pointed out.

-Please make it in time!-

* * *

Kamala and her guarding garrison within the walls of Baghadur fought like it was their Alamo. The Golden Path were swarming the area around the walls and river. Thankfully there were no vehicles with mounted weapons available to the Golden Path forces whom crossed the mountains that could only be ventured by foot. At most, they brought mortars that seemed to stop raining when Sergeant Anulak attacked the flank. Kamala was not sure of his current outcome, because the attacks were getting fiercer. She hoped he was alright.

"Kamala! They just keep coming! We're sustaining heavy casualties; we might not be able to keep this up!"

"Just hold on for six more minutes! The Royal Army QRF should be here by then!"

The Golden path were really pushing for one last desperate attempt to take the stronghold to hold out against the Royal Army Dragoons that were on their way at any moment. If they failed, they'd have to run for the protection of the forest and back whence they came with the Dragoons hot on their tail, so would die from being gunned down while running that was why everyone was dedicated to beating the Mukti Tigers. A turning point helped to bring them closer to victory in the form of a shaped charge planted against the wall to their left.

(BOOOM)

A hole in the wall appeared which caused the Tigers to wear looks of concern, but they didn't dally as they stood ready to face the invaders.

"Fall back to the compound!" Kamala called out to the fighters on the wall, they obediently followed her in dismounting the wall to hold out behind the sandbags in the centre of the compound. The snipers provided cover for them to reach the barricades. There they fought the Golden Path warriors that entered through the breach and tried to surround them in the compound. Some of them went towards the gate, hoping to open it from inside for the rest of their companions outside.

"Focus fire! The gate!" Kamala saw their move in advance and ordered a heavy volume of fire to cut down the fighters that tried to ruin their day further.

Kamala's group fought till there were only twenty standing, the rest were escorted to the sanctum to receive first aid, on the floor in need of aid or dying. Another breach occurred near the walls of the first to allow yet more to enter, the Golden Path quickly put pressure on Kamala's group till they chose to abandon the compound for the heavily fortified steps towards the inner sanctum where they would likely butcher all the wounded warriors and non-combatants inside.

"It's time, where are they?!" The warriors started to get frantic as reinforcements had yet to show itself.

"They'll be here!" Kamala said adamantly with assurance. They stood with Kamala through thick and thin, her words were guaranteed so they ignored their inner voice for self-preservation for their team mates. That was until he came.

As the yard seem to be empty of Golden Path warriors, the ones inside had died but the rest outside weren't coming through except for that person that entered on his own. It wasn't hard to make out his appearance to know he was a foreigner.

"Kill him!" Kamala called out to the dumbfounded garrison warriors. They quickly snapped out of their stupor and fired at him.

He skillfully leaped into cover before the bullets started to pepper the ground where he was, then the cold-blooded killing began.

(Bang) (Bang) (Bang)

Those shots were in quick succession but they weren't pot shots they were dead centre hits on three warriors near Kamala. She saw the real danger that had befallen their group, her feet shivered but turning around would mean the death of the rest of her comrades that stood by her while she ran.

"Cover!" She shouted to her men and to wake her frozen feet from where she stood. They immediately went into cover. She knew at this moment, that man was likely taking this opportunity to advance.

"Suppr-(Splat)!" One of the warriors stuck his head out to shot back from cover and got hit with a precise shot to the head.

Kamala turned around to the high points to find that the snipers had long been dealt with, again it was by that man. Just what type of monster did Sabal bring with him to their home?

Her men were starting to succumb to fear as she was, they were pinned down against the sandbags as their only means of protection and concealment against that killer's marksman-like shooting.

Kamala knew that any second he would be upon them and they'd all lose the opportunity to fight back against him, she wasn't sure of his close combat prowess but if his shooting was this inhuman then his fighting could be the same. She made a gamble and stood up risking being shot, she tried to aim her weapon at the man but found that he had his rifle already pointed at her.

At that moment, she felt the rifle was about to cut her life thread. She would die like all the others in Baghadur and the Golden Path would step over and desecrate their bodies. After all she did, working her hardest for others like her to have a place they could call home, so that the people who suffered under the oppression from De Pleur and Sabal could find asylum under their protection. The refugees hiding within the inner sanctum, her friends lying wounded seeking treatment. All helpless, but not as helpless as she was now. Time slowed to the point she could harbor these thoughts, she wondered if she was truly fated to die now.

-Bhadra… Soren…. I'm sorry, your friend is heading off first…- Kamala closed her eyes ready to embrace death at the hands of another. A tear fell from her eye, it held the regret of not seeing her dear friends one last time.

(Bang)

The sound shot off, but the bullet never came, she half-opened her eye to find that man turn on reflex with his rifle raised parallel to his body to block something.

An impact was what made that sound, the sound of a blade smashing against the metal receiver of the rifle the foreigner held. Had he not turned around he would have been chopped in two by the one holding that kukri. The blade passed through the rifle towards the man's head but he quickly dodged and back stepped holding half of his rifle in each hand. The one that broke his focus was-

"Badala!" A companion answered in surprise in place of her.

He saw the Mukti Tigers, saw Kamala in a pinch but his helicopter had yet to reach their destination so he jumped out and used his wingsuit to reach the rest of the way. He held out his kukri with the momentum of his flight to cleave that bastard in half. But he wasn't expecting this quick a reaction from him. Ajay stood between them and the foreigner whom drew a machete from his scabbard and stood at the ready to receive whatever was thrown at him.

"Soren…." Kamala murmured.

Ajay kicked off the steps as he leaped towards the assailant with fleet-footedness.

Ajay swung his kukri with all the fury in his swing. Determined to not only parry aside that blade he held but to take off the head off the one that nearly ended Kamala's life.

* * *

Author's notes:

Good news for me. I've manage to finalise the plot that i've been working for some time, hopefully the chapters ahead will be much smoother. Though unlikely, I may speak and write english as my 1st language but that doesn't make me the literature king.


	31. Chapter 31 - The Death of a Symbol

Sparks flew from the contact between the blades they handled, upon feeling the full force of the other, they realized how dangerous the other was. There was no time to even use their side-arms as they crossed blades.

Ajay jabbed his knife towards the foreigner's right chest which he parried just barely and Ajay's knife grazed his shoulder deeply. The foreigner's mouth gaped at the force of the attacks he'd just received, it appeared that he heavily underestimated him entirely and had his thoughts occupied with something else.

Ajay and the foreigner reached for their handgun at the same time, the foreigner was quicker at drawing and was almost aiming it at him but he used his gun to pivot the foreigner's aside as it blew the concrete nearby with the shot fired. Ajay turned his own gun towards that person but he countered with his machete, knocking the gun out of his hand. Ajay brought his kukri in a downward slash now that both the foreigner's hands had already made a move. The foreigner jumped back in the nick of time before he lost his machete arm, but received another deep cut losing the feeling in his right arm.

From the steps to the sanctum, the Mukti Tigers and the Royal Army Dragoons watched in awe as someone managed to contend with Badala. On the opposite side, the Golden Path fighters including Sabal had come to the front to witness in silence the melee going on between them. If anyone had the advantage it was Ajay's kukri having the most damage upon contact, but the foreigner's youth allowed him to compensate with energetic counters causing their situation to return to a stalemate.

Amita, the captain and Sabal seemed to accept this silent treaty behind Ajay and Jason's back as they were too focus on killing one another. Like the armies of old who sent out champions to duel on the armies' behalf and bring glory to their liege. Ajay fought because he nearly killed Kamala and Jason fought for his dear life to continue to find and rescue his friends. The helicopters carrying the troops of the 3rd and 5th battalion Dragoons were loitering awaiting the kill order from their commander. By now, it became a battle where the winner takes all. If Badala managed to kill Jason Brody, the Golden Path were likely to be annihilated here, if it was reverse however… It would be a critical blow to the Royal Army and Baghadur would fall into their grasps.

Jason shot at Ajay with his left hand as Ajay converged on him. The shots struck him in the torso and forehead but both barely did damage to him due to the mask protecting his face and the Kevlar vest absorbing the shot. Sparks cascaded from his mask from the shot as Ajay ran towards him and kicked the gun out of his hand and swung at him. Jason quickly rolled on the ground out of the way to reach the knife he dropped and got up just as Ajay swung down at him again. Jason parried again but he was using only one hand to block against two hands of Ajay's swing.

From afar, Sabal and the Golden Path warriors wore pale expressions as Ajay pushed Jason back and Jason was by no means not serious in his attempt to overpower the other. In the end, Jason Brody was still not enough against Badala, they faced the possibility of capture and torture. This was especially bad in Sabal's case as the leader representing the Golden Path, he'd be paraded in the streets and publicly executed for his treason against the crown.

-No! I will never yield!-

Sabal couldn't stand the thought and grabbed the rifle from a warrior beside him and hid behind his fighters as he tried to sneak a shot at Badala. He aimed his rifle at the quick movement of Badala and Jason, waiting for a clear shot. He had all the time to make it as everybody else was focus on the deathmatch in the compound.

Jason's moves were getting more aggressive as he was nearing the possibility of dying. He twirled the machete in his left hand to make quick slashes at Ajay to keep him back. Ajay decided to risk a slash and swung an uppercut with the kukri which Jason parried on reflex. Jason jabbed his machete towards Ajay who caught his arm, but through Jason's cunning and knife skill he let it drop from his held up and into the over hand which was badly damaged but still able to catch the knife. He thrusted again but fell short as Ajay had already seen his attempt and used the other hand to grab his right hand. Ajay kicked him in the gut to make him lose strength but Jason struggled to keep them locked together with all the strength he could exert through his hands.

"WHERE ARE THEY?!" He shouted, hoping that the man matching the description of Badala would answer his query. Ajay launched a kick to his abdomen again which broke their contact and Jason slid on the dirt floor coughing.

Ajay didn't answer him, his focus was purely on his movements that were beyond anything he'd faced until now.

"Where's Liza?!" Jason shouted as he got up running to ram Ajay, but Ajay jumped aside like he was dodging a charging bull and landed a heavy punch to Jason's forehead hoping to disorientate him, Jason collapsed hurt from the blood he was losing.

"I haven't the slightest clue who you are and who the hell is Liza? But if you're working with Sabal then there's no need to dally in saying useless things with you." Those in Sabal's employ had anything but noble intentions, this person was no exception.

Sabal was starting to sweat, Ajay was quickly revealing that Pagan might not have his friends. He had to act fast to silence him, but the fast movements of Ajay and Jason were preventing his mediocre shooting skills from hitting the right person in one hit. Jason leaped up to use his body to add to the thrust of his machete which Ajay parried aside with little effort as Jason had lost a significant amount of blood. He knelt panting away as Ajay circled him, he was fully aware not to underestimate him because a wounded animal was the most dangerous.

Jason recovered some strength to face him again as he struggled to stand.

"You're losing blood, stand down or whoever you're trying to save will die." Ajay advised him.

"Have to… find Liza-…." Jason swung his machete clumsily as he used as much of his power as possible.

"Enough!" Ajay kicked him back and he fell with his back facing the ground, Jason struggled to get up but was extremely battered. Everyone could see who lost this fight, Badala was still the reigning champion of CQC in Kyrat, this should have been apparent from the rumors in Shanath Arena.

"Captain, arrest those insurgents!" Ajay's words woke everyone back into reality.

"Yes, sir! All of you, drop your weapons!" The Dragoons followed their leaders orders to arrest and not kill the Golden Path insurgents.

The Golden Path became aware they were in a bad location as the Dragoons came forward demanding they drop their weapons. They turned to Sabal for instructions and that was when his silhouette was revealed to everyone that he was about to take a shot at the stationary Ajay. Kamala was the first to see this and moved into action. Everyone, Golden Path, Mukti Tiger and Royal Army all saw his cowardly intention but they were too shock to react or simply too far from him to do anything.

"SOREN!" Ajay turned around to Kamala who called him with his alias as he was surprised she knew who he truly was.

(Bang)

The report of the shot resounded into the backdrop of the mountains followed by an eerie calm. All eyes turned to face the victim of Sabal's underhanded attempt to kill Badala while he had the chance. But did he have it?

A body crumbled upon Ajay bleeding profusely from the exit wound.

Kamala had positioned herself between Ajay and the shot. He knew so because the shot struck him with less force than an unobstructed shot would have. Kamala had taken the shot for him.

"Bastard! Dragoons, open fire!" The captain roared in anger by their trickery, despite Badala's benevolence in sparing their lives. They were just ungrateful. The Dragoons fired indiscriminately upon the Golden Path that were just as shocked as they were. Knowing that they had already lost, the Golden Path warriors ran out of the stronghold and towards the protection of the forest canopy from the helicopter gunships. Taking advantage of this anarchy, Jason struggled to bring himself up as he ran along with the Golden Path. He knew, this operation was beyond salvageable and his condition could not warrant him to continue so he concentrated on staying alive.

"Kill that coward!" Amita shouted.

"""OOORRRAAAA!"""

The Mukti Tigers ran after the Golden Path as they were just as, if not more outraged by Sabal's actions, swearing to find and butcher him. They ran pass a dumbfounded Ajay still holding onto Kamala's grievously wounded body. To him, all the fighting and gunshots were muffled out as he held the bleeding body of his dear friend.

"K-….Kamala…."

Raising his hand which was soaked in blood, Ajay processed what had transpired and accepted it. He gently lowered her against the steps.

"Kamala. Kamala!"

"Urrhhh…" He heard a soft weak moan and knew she was alive. He dug into his pouch and drew his first aid kit and stuck a syringe of morphine into her. "Kamala stay with me!"

"….Soren…."

"It's me, just save your strength for later!" He ripped a sachet of Hemostatic agent to seal the wound as quick as possible. A medic from the dragoons came over to assist in quickening her medical aid.

"Call for that chopper for immediate medivac!" He told the medic who nodded and dashed off to get the helicopter to land in the courtyard of the stronghold.

"Soren…"

"I'm here! Look, it's me!" He took the mask off and threw it aside to show her it really was him. Kamala gave him a blood spurting smile, even though she was obviously in pain from doing so.

"… It really was you…"

"Yes, it was! It was! Please hold on, help is on the way. I'll have you sent to get treatment from an acquaintance of mine, the best in Kyrat!"

"It's…. So strange…."

"?"

"To hear you speak…" Ajay broke into a short laughter as she tried to break the serious atmosphere, but she coughed heavily after laughing as well.

"Kamala Malla, my dearest friend. Will you come back with me?" Ajay said with a gentle smile.

Kamala closed her eyes as she heard something she longed to hear from him, tears fell from her eyes.

"I'm so glad….. both you and Bhadra are alright…"

"We've been fine, you wouldn't believe how much she's changed even you wouldn't recognize her from the way she presents herself."

"Mmmm…" She grunted in acknowledgement.

"I'll show you the town we built, a tour through the arsenal- if you want I could bring you to Jalendu Temple! You said you always wanted to pray there at least once!-.."

"Soren-." Ajay couldn't hear her, didn't want to hear her.

"We could go to the Royal Palace, Bhadra and Pagan get along so well its unreal-."

"Soren, please-."

"NO! I refuse! You're not allowed to go!" Ajay shouted in denial, tears running from his eyes. Kamala reached her hand out weakly to wipe the tears from his eyes.

"….. Who would've thought the legendary northern demon could shed tears for an enemy." Ajay held her hand.

"You were never my enemy to begin with, you are the dearest companion I've ever had, you never once judged me for who I was nor where I came from!... I should never have let you stay in Banapur…. Stay in Baghadur!" Kamala looked like she was about to fall asleep but this time into an eternal slumber.

"Kamala, hang on!" He held her tightly, but she reached up and pulled his hands from her. Ajay was confused by her action.

"I want you to remember… this isn't your fault." Ajay's head hung. She reached out and placed her hand upon his head.

"I'm ready….. Kyra has granted me my final wish." She hoped to see him one last time before her departure and she had received her wish.

"I'm not!" He cried out.

"Listen Soren-."

"Ajay! It's Ajay!" Kamala remained quiet after hearing him declare his real name. She smiled ever so sadly and yet content.

"You'll forever be my Soren, the one I hold dearest to my heart….. the one I love." Ajay looked in surprise to what she said to him. Love him, but what was there to love about him, about all he's done?

"I don't want your love, I just want you to live happily!" Ajay refuted her immediately.

"I am, even if it's the shortest span of me doing so… I'm so glad I got to tell you my feelings, so grateful for all you've done for a clumsy ditz like me. Live in place of me, and remember that I'll always be watching over you….."

"Kamala?"

"My dearest…..my… beloved…." She no longer kept her eyes open as the body slumped against the steps.

"Kamala…" There was no response for her, only a peaceful expression she wore in her long awaited rest of eternity.

"I'm sorry…." Ajay brought her body up into an embrace.

"I'm sorry- I'm so sorry! Kamala….Kamala….."

The helicopter landed and the stretcher was brought, but it was too late. Rather, it would never have mattered whether they were in time or not.

The medic saw the exit wound from the woman's back where his lord held her in embrace, it was a miracle she could hold on for so long. She must have wanted to say all she wanted to say to the Vice-Lord.

It was for how much the person holding her meant.

* * *

Three hours of chasing, by the collaboration between the Mukti Tigers and the Royal Dragoons. Out of the four hundred remaining Golden Path warriors, three hundred and seventy were killed without taking a single prisoner, those that halted in their tracks and begged for mercy were mercilessly bayoneted or plowed by their knives.

They returned when there was no longer a single Golden Path member in sight, but they returned with unsatisfied expressions. Because the cause for their outrage, the attempted assassination of Badala and the cold-blooded murder of Kamala. Sabal of the Golden Path was nowhere to be found, likely the first to run off after committing the deed. That foreigner was not around either, if he was they would have captured and tortured him for intel on Sabal.

The Dragoon Captain and Amita returned to the stronghold compound. There they found Ajay holding on to Kamala's corpse unmoving, as if he had been there the entire time they were away.

To the rest of the Mukti tigers, what Badala was doing with Kamala in his arms was beyond them other than Kamala had used her life to save his. But to Amita, it was clear as could be. Badala was known to them by the name Soren, and he had been with Kamala during her rise in popularity.

The people of Kyrat would here of this, everyone from the assembled in Baghadur swore in their hearts. That Kamala was murdered by Sabal during a coward's attempt to strike Badala when his back was turned. Whatever they and the Royal Army had planned next, Sabal deserved every ounce of it.

Amita neared Ajay, not sure what to say. But she needn't say anything, as Ajay stood up with the body in his arms.

"High Command will send you the supplies you need, get patched up and keep a look out for any further activities. Captain, we're going home!" He said to Amita before walking with the corpse held close.

"Yes, lord!" The Captain shouted for the loitering Dragoons to gather and head on out.

Amita dare not refuse him for taking her body away to the North.

"I understand, please try not to tear yourself over this." Amita sympathized with him, Ajay didn't reply her and walked on.

Perhaps he would perform burial rites for her with full honors, it was the least she deserved after all the works she had helped them with. So as the helicopter left, all the Tigers maintained a moment of silence as a sign of respect for their fallen hero.

Within the helicopter, Ajay bundled her body in an insulated blanket and on his lap. The troops in the compartment were dead silent not to disrupt the solemn mood.

The mountains where the North was just over, came into view. Ajay recalled her desire to visit the North when the war was over.

Ajay wept once more for failing to help fulfil her wish.

* * *

The marines were tight in communicating with the frequency on the radio that belonged to the Royal Army's intelligence branch. The S2 branch as it was called in the Army had been a great help in giving them clues to where Willis's stash of dirty laundry could be hidden from the history encounters of Willis by the old Royal Army and the old staging areas and hideouts of the Golden Path.

But there was still no sign of those damnable files, if it was even a file to begin with. What exactly was so scandalous that Lynch was so afraid of the higher ups and the NSA for finding in his expedition decades ago with Willis.

Stew came in with the recent developments in the Golden Path.

"So Sabal fucked up again, seems like every plan he touches turns to shit." The marines laughed at Perkins funny but almost true insight on Sabal.

"That still doesn't change the fact that we still can't find his stash nor even a whiff!" David was most worried about the absence of this. They had the scouts shadow trail Willis to wherever he went hoping to get some idea of where he'd store his things. But the man never left the camps or Banapur when there was no operation in progress. He likely anticipated they'd tail him around even if he wasn't aware so he just didn't go to check. He had made sure they were in place even before their arrival to Kyrat.

"It won't be long before Lynch dispatches the Shadow Company to clean up." David reminded them all of the consequence if they didn't find the files fast.

"Should we defect then?" Perkins pointed out. And all heads were turned to him for an explanation to such an absurd suggestion.

"Our main concern is Command disavowing us, that's why we stick with Willis even if he's an intolerable asshole. But if Lynch's external assets come to clear us out, it wouldn't matter. We'd still be dishonored to save the organization's face. That's unless we get the files to clear our name, if we could join Badala in his efforts to capture Willis then he'd be able to torture it out of him. He might be a well-organized spook but everyone cracks. As it stands, we don't have any fall back point."

David thought about the point he was trying to pass across as did the others.

"So what you're saying is that if we're already stuck one foot into the pond, we might as well get wet. We'd be dead in the end either way if the files aren't retrieve, it's a matter of which is the most advantageous position, right?"

"Exactly!"

"You seem to have a rather positive outlook to this defection prospect, Staff Sergeant." One of the grunts pointed out the obvious in Perkins sympathetic view towards the Royal Army and Badala, the one they tried to kill and blow up his factory had actually taken care of their comrade and sent him back.

"What can I say, I was treated with dignity and respect that's all. For the rest of the time in this god forsaken country we need to decide where we want to be and commit to it."

"…." The grunt acknowledges his point.

"It boils down to your decision in the end, sir." Perkins looked to David for his reply as did the others.

"One question, what do we do with Staff Grilles and the three stooges?" Stew asked a valid point.

Perkins was now facing the most difficult part in his proposal, what to do with Fredrick, the bastard that left him for dead in the first place. David made him promise he wouldn't murder him so he would be brought back when this was over for fair trial. If Perkins was in charge, he wouldn't waste time at all, just gun them down and walk off with a clear conscience. But the same could not be said for David, it was an obvious fault in his superior that made him unsuited for this type of warfare where it involved getting their hands dirty for their countries sake.

"It ain't convenient bringing prisoners with us who might alert Willis on what we plan on doing, leaving them here isn't an option either." Stew stated.

"No. it's not." They were back too square one, having Grilles break free and join Willis was one way of screwing everything for them. Grilles was no longer on their side, but his own interests now that he stood to be court martialed at home.

In response, Perkins picked up the handgun on the table and marched out. "Gregor- STOP!" As David grasped what his intentions were.

Perkins stopped but the door without turning his head to face his superior and friend.

"Look away, let someone else who's more willing to do the deed deal with it. You saw nothing."

"I see everything! Their betrayal was my responsibility, your capture was my responsibility!"

"Was…" Perkins continued on his way towards the holding cells that held his traitorous colleague. David wanted to stand to stop him once more, but for some reason his body wasn't listening to him, some part of him wished they died. David cursed himself for having such wicked thoughts and weakness that his friend took it upon himself to answer for him.

The door thudded open and their communications operator keeping tabs with the Royal Army Intelligence came in.

"Sir! Important news from-… "the other side"." Perkins stopped in his tracks and went back towards the table to listen. David sighed in relief that Gregor didn't need to dirty his hands yet.

"Alright, let's hear it then."

* * *

Army High Command was brimming with Field Commanders from the various Battalions throughout Kyrat and representative officers for the areas too serious to send the senior officer back to the Royal Fortress.

General Arjun had called them in for a delicate operation that was to commence in three days-time, the failed attack on Baghadur was two days ago.

Arjun sat back in his office chair after the meeting with the senior commanding officers of the various sectors, including the Police Commissioner and his retinue who had a part to play.

"Any word from Lord Badala?" He asked his secretary who shook his head.

"He didn't return any of our requests ever since he returned with the 3rd and 5th Dragoons. Reports say he carried a woman's body to cremate at a shrine before returning to his homestead. The woman I believe was Kamala Malla, the hero of Banapur who took down Former Chief Sugun."

"…"

Arjun knew of this news, he knew that it was a front Badala employed to push suspicion of Sugun's death being a murder that was done by none other than Badala himself. Arjun was grateful for killing him no doubt, it helped him gain full support from the War council to be elected the supreme commander of the Royal Armed Forces.

"What was her relation to Badala?" Arjun felt like asking.

"Intel and rumors suggest that Lord Badala assumed the alias Soren during his infiltration into the Golden Path a month ago. Kamala had been his immediate superior during this time. Then, when his lordship left the Golden Path in Banapur during the coup by Sabal, Kamala fled to Baghadur seeking asylum with the Mukti tigers."

Arjun guessed she was a close companion to him, because after his return from Banapur, there were some subtle changes in his behavior. Badala seemed to be more generous to opinion and less aggressive in his demeanor, though he never forced anyone, his eyes said it all. Kamala had something to do with this change and why he opted to ally with Amita's forces and had not gone rampantly launching full-on attacks on the Golden Path like during the Meh Teh Offensive. The Golden Path literally couldn't sustain another failure like that operation and always feared him proceeding with another. But that never came, Badala focused on rebuilding the failed economy, revitalizing the logistics of the army and supplying them with domestically made equipment and refurbished their arms.

"(Sigh) And what of my daughter?"

At first, Arjun had remained ignorant to the whereabouts of his daughter for the past month but it became clear after the mountain incident when Badala scaled the mountain looking for a rare herbal remedy with his daughter. Naturally, worried about his daughter's safety since then, he checked in on her and found out that she was staying with him at his house. She, an unmarried woman that had a prior engagement to a friend's son who was still missing without a clue to where he was. She had initially told him she was living with Mistress Yuma's protégé while leaving out the part that it was Badala's house. What kind of arrangement Yuma's protégé had with Badala, he was clueless? But regarding his daughter, he could not allow this to continue on.

"She received the message days ago and said she'd comply."

"Good." Arjun sighed in relief that his daughter still knew filial piety, but then again she'd always been filial to him and his wife. Perhaps, it was he who was unused to her doing her own thing that went against his own principles. He had been forcing them upon her, his whole life. He really was a dinosaur living in the past.

"Sir, I would also like to report to you regarding the US marines."

"Yes?"

"It appears they have decided to defect." The news was satisfying to hear.

"Acknowledged, have them integrated into the upcoming op." His secretary nodded and dialed in a secure line to the Intelligence branch on their orders.

"They'll be critical in capturing our troublesome CIA agent unawares."

* * *

What was left of the Golden Path lay against the trees panting from exhaustion. After being chased by the Royal Army soldiers and Mukti Tigers they dared not slow down less they meet the same fate as the six hundred other comrades that died in yet another failed attempted to liberate Baghadur and perhaps bring a turning point in their predicament.

The remaining fighters looked at Sabal with contempt and began whispering to one another. He had risked everything on an uncalled for cheap shot at Badala, they were starting to lose all respect for him now.

Sabal could only scorn and grit his teeth as he tolerated their plotting behind his back, they were the only ones keeping him alive in their current scenario. Although, the remaining Golden Path members seemed more focus on helping Jason Brody in his condition. While in a poor state, Jason had caught up and rescued them from an advance party of Soldiers fending them off. They took turns carrying his battered body up over the mountains, determined to return the blood debt and hope that he would assist them further in their plight.

Jason leaned against the shoulder of the one carrying him presently, in a dream-like state.

-I lost didn't I. How could I lose?-

 **-So naïve.-** The person said walking beside him being carried.

-Shut up!-

 **-You keep saying that but you don't mean it, if you really didn't want me you only need think it, hermano! Beside, you losing to that warrior was no surprise.-**

His words confused him, he had never mentioned another person without giving him or her an insulting name or point out a flaw to him. And now it was calling that person, Badala a warrior as if he deserved his respect.

-Why don't you fuck him!-

 **-That would mean you fucking him, I'm still a part of you Jas… (Sigh) Let me give you a hint then. You lack resolve.-**

-I have every bit of resolve!- Jason shouted back. But his other personality shook his head grinning.

 **-Your resolve is shit. You think you can just get back into the game after squandering away two years of limbo?-**

-I've had training—

 **-Nonononono! Shooting targets isn't gonna preserve your willingness to kill. It's digging your knife into someone's gut and watching his life fade away that'll bring back your resolve, your strength that you forsook!—**

-No!—

 **-Don't lie to yourself, hermano! You're a killer, even way before Citra scratched that ink into you arm you held that qualifications to be one. You just didn't know it yet.-**

-No! I'm different now!-

 **-If you were, you wouldn't be seeing me. Your very existence, hermano. Is the definition of… Insanity.-**

As much as Jason refused to accept it, he was right. He was…. Not right in the head. Even Liza became fearful of him and left.

 **-If you really want to save your chicken-necked friends there is only one way.-** His words were as enticing as a whisper from the devil.

He knew, it was anything but desirable. Still he enquired.

-What is it?-

 **-Merge with me.-**

-Never!-

 **-No indefinitely, no! But enough to bring yourself back to the state of mind and resolve to save your friends.-**

-I can come back from this?-

He needed to know if he could return to himself at any time he wanted.

 **-… That's entirely up to you.-**

-Why are you helping me?-

There had to be some sort of price for the assistance he was lending.

 **-Need I say?... You are me, and I am you. -**

* * *

Ajay had not left his room since the private cremation ceremony with him as the only attendant. The priest handed him the silver jar that held her ashes which he held with extra care back to his house.

Ajay sat at the table with empty bottles of gin and the jar with the cremated remains of his friend. His pocket held an item which he had been intending to give to her, a box that held a gold chain necklace like Bhadra's but held a golden talisman with her name written on it. The last box that he wasn't able to give to the final recipient. Seeing it only caused him for plummet further into grief, in a way his choices were responsible for her death. He chose to leave her not once but twice and now he was painted with nothing but regret.

Maya had come to his room once to make him snap out of it because there were more important things to do. She tried some reverse psychology to get him worked up but he just accepted it as he was really the cause of her death. She beat him up for his arrogance and his sloth before storming out angrily and hurt. Bhadra chased after her hoping to enlighten her on his situation as she was most familiar with the woman named Kamala who was also her friend.

"You've barely touched any of the meals Bhadra prepared for you, talk about wasting her precious food." Saras laughed dryly as she could feel the atmosphere becoming heavier in his dark room.

She cleared aside the empty liquor bottles and sat beside him at the table.

"Who was she to you?" Saras believed that being around to listen to him would help him overcome his grief on his own. After a while of silence, he spoke his first words to them in two days since returning. When they came home from the party he was wearing a face full of sadness it was heart wrenching.

"She was a plain-looking clumsy ditz of a girl. She wasn't the best at anything, she didn't try to be… But for whatever she did, she did it with all her might and all her strength. She was the reason I believed the people in the valley were worth saving. She was the reason I learnt that not everyone was thinking only for their interests….. When I left the Golden Path. I had a thought for a moment, why didn't I bring her with me as I did with Bhadra? Because I thought she would reject me when I asked, so I didn't. When she was lucky enough to end up in Baghadur, I should have opted to bring her here but what did I do? I left supplies for the Mukti tigers and hoped for the best…."

"Ajay.."

"When Baghadur was assaulted and I came just in the nick of time before that foreign bastard took her life. What did I do? I played a dueling game when I was supposed to suppress them….. And then it happened. She took a bullet from Sabal that was meant for me."

"I'm sorry."

"Even after the way I treated her, why did she do that? I never asked to be saved! Why did she have to risk her life for a fool like me?! WHY WHY WHY!" He threw a bottle at the wall along with the box holding the undelivered item.

Saras enveloped her arms around his head to calm him down.

"…. Why did she still say she loved me?!"

Saras became shocked when she looked upon Ajay's face. Two red lines trickled down from his eyes, the colour of blood.

"Stop! Stop! Just stop it! Please stop hurting yourself!" She cried out as she clasped his face.

"I killed her. And I should have nothing to feel sorry to myself for."

"You did not! Ajay, what would she say if she saw you in this state of self-torture?"

"She's not here anymore." Saras slapped him across the face, Ajay turned to look at her expression which held angry and sorrow.

"Then what about me? What if I had died up in the mountains that day the Yetis attacked us, huh?! What then? You'd tear yourself then as you're doing now?!" She said with tears running from her face.

Ajay recovered some wit to understand that Saras was acknowledging the existence of the Yetis and of what he did in the Shrine. Saras leaned against him.

"I'm here now because of what you did for me. I'm here now because you tore away at your own heart, you let yourself get hurt, you gave a damn about me!"

"You tried to hide the truth from me to protect me, but now I'm choosing to live with the truth so I can stand by you and protect you as well."

Ajay got up hysterically.

"No! No! Please no! Please don't make me go through it again! Please don't make me experience losing another person I care for!" He said as he backed away frightened into a corner.

Saras felt a tang of pain seeing him this way as she reached out to embrace him again.

"Stop!-... Stop!-….Stop!" He shouted as she got closer every metre until she was finally next to him. Saras sat with her arms wrapped around him gently as she beckoned forward and kissed him.

"You'll never lose another person, because you'll be watching over me from now on. Am I right, Ajay?" Saras smiled warmly to him. It seemed to have a lasting effect as it calmed his hysteria and stopped his ranting of self-hate.

"I'm sorry I worried you." He said in a composed manner this time.

"Don't be, we all have our bending points. It's the most natural thing for everyone that has a beating heart."

"…" Looking back at himself, how Saras managed to deal with him after the difficulty he was posing was beyond him.

"I don't deserve you."

"No you don't which is why it'll cost you." She said with a smirk. Ajay sighed as he returned back to his normal self, but it was thanks to her no doubt about it.

"My long awaited favor." She reminded him that he still owed her.

"What will it be then?" Ajay said mentally prepared for whatever she had for him.

Saras held his chin as she moved closer.

"Let me comfort you." She didn't wait for him to reply as she overlapped her lip with his as if it was the most natural thing to do.

She was going to wash away all of his pain and suffering, and she would do it in the most affectionate way possible.

* * *

Author's notes:

To the Team Jason fans, don't worry. Jason isn't this pathetic or won't be for long.

.  
Like a famous gasmask wearing villain once said:

(Peace has cost you your strength, Victory has defeated you.)

\- Bane


	32. Chapter 31(a) - The Life of Kamala Malla

Author's Notes:

One of the first shorts of the main story. Read Chp 31 first.

* * *

Kamala was raised by loving parents, though not sharing the same blood with them, she was treated as their own. And for that, she had no qualms in hunting for their meal every day for the rest of her life. Her mother tried to get her to do painting thangkas or hand-embroidery but her large hands proved too clumsy to do such delicate needlework.

Like any parent, they were worried about their child's future. Though Kamala never put much thought in it other than to get by everyday selling the hides of the animals she hunted and preserving the gamey meat for supper.

She had been set up for an arranged marriage once, but it went poorly as she was unable to do what most women were expected to do in a traditional society that was prominent in the large towns of Banapur and Tirtha. It set her out as a poor choice in all other arrangements till she and her parents finally gave up. They were content as long as she was content, she was could not be more fortunate to have such understanding parents.

Golden Path presence within the town of Tirtha had increased considerably since the disastrous attempt to assault the North from a fortress in the Uttar region known as Ratu Gadhi. Kamala's idol, Amita went into a self-imposed exile because of it. Things were really shaking up for the Golden Path especially as that fortress was their first time entering the North safely and it was now lost to them.

The Golden Path started to step up its recruitment in the small towns including Tirtha despite its proximity to the City of Pain. They were planning for something big, she and her parents could feel it. And it would affect their livelihood for the rest of their lives.

Kamala opted to do the thing she knew her parents would fervently refuse her, she joined the Golden Path. Initially the were resistant to the idea, but seeing her determination at doing something she felt right, they gave her their blessing and prayer of safety.

Hoping on the truck that took her to train in the golden path recruitment depot camp just West of their position. Kamala had aspiration in joining the Golden Path, one was to meet with Amita, the tigress of Banapur. Like many of the women before her, Amita was one of the rare occasions that the Golden Path included women into a combat role for their cause. When she joined, she became a rising star that made many of the stagnant men fear her rise would bring about changes within the Golden Path's ways and of her ambition.

So they resisted her and applied pressure, but the more they did the more she pushed back until she became one of the twin heads of the leadership within the Golden Path. Her faction did not hold women exclusively, there were also men and seasoned field commanders that bought into her ideals for a prosperous Kyrat that shared its bounties with everyone.

Kamala trained with high hopes of being placed in an active combat vocation in order to meet her hero, but was sadly let down when she was posted as a guard garrisoned in Banapur. There weren't many opportunities when you were in one of the supposedly safest places in the Golden Path, De Pleur rarely engaged any forces near that town also. But she didn't let this stop her from doing her best in her job. While she wasn't sent to the front, her diligence in duty helped assure those that went on patrols that their families and comrades were left in capable hands.

Such a day came when Sabal had taken provisional control over the Golden Path in Amita's absence and planned a major all-out assault on King's Bridge to rid the Royal Army presence in Pacchim Valley where they resided. Sabal had the help of some foreigners whom were providing him with material that was essential in breaking through. A Chinese arms dealer whom the rumors state had defected from Pagan's side to aid them. And an American intelligence agent that was supplying military-grade hardware aside from simple firearms, like heavy mortars and armored vehicles.

Many of her colleagues attained a transfer to join the upcoming assault, she applied as well but was turned down as she had only just joined her unit. It was just not her hour yet.

Then the news came one day that the Army that was assembled was reduced to shambles under a day by a man under Pagan's employ know that day as the Northern Demon, Badala. The airport was lost to them, the army of two thousand five hundred was brought down to a pitiful two hundred that escaped. Even then, most the survivors had great difficulty recovering from the trauma.

Because the opposing force merely consisted of under two hundred soldiers and one dangerous monster that wore an iron mask that resembled the Demon God Yalung. It was the greatest disaster that the Golden Path sustained despite the assistance they received and it only served to elevate Badala's infamy with the Golden Path and prominence with the Royal Army later on.

This change made her feel fortunate not to have been allowed to join the frontline because of her lack of experience. Things became more hectic within Banapur as there was a severe lack in manpower now. On the bright side, Amita had returned to handle the matters. She was probably feeling consolation due to Sabal's equally terrible operation. Unfortunately, she yet again did not have the opportunity to meet or speak with her.

But it was all about to change on that fateful day.

* * *

One minute, everything was peaceful and the next, helicopters bearing the mark of the dreaded Royal Guards loitered about the tiled roofs of the houses deploying men on the ground. Her unit that guarded Banapur was caught unawares and hurried around to pick their weapons or regrouping with their squads. The Royal Guards took this time to pick them off one at a time, while not sustaining a single casualty of their own. It was all too frightening, but what of the people. Kamala turned to look at the people cowering behind their doors and windows hoping someone would protect them. They were unarmed and helpless, the only thing standing between them and torture and interrogation was the Golden Path fighters. She was a Golden Path fighter, so she had the obligation to go between them.

She found a group interrogating a juvenile on the location of the Golden Path and its leader Sabal. Kamala took aim and shot at one of them down which drew their attention immediately, when she tried to shoot another they went into a firing maneuver she'd seen for the first time. Kamala was instantly forced into a corner and all she could to was fire full auto to keep them at bay. But then her ammunition ran dry and the converged on her.

One struck her in the back with his rifle bringing her to her knees, then the beating began. They weren't satisfied with merely killing her so they wanted to feel the full consequence of killing their comrade and opposing them. Then one of the soldiers spotted something behind her heavy clothing that the others have failed to notice. Her status as a woman, they quickly changed their idea of torturing her to raping her as they playfully tore her top off and wrestled with one another for the first go.

Never in her life did she experience something so traumatic, even though she had yet to have her virtue sullied by them, it was only a matter of time.

Kamala didn't hope for anything to deliver her from this fate sealed in stone, but it came in a blink of an eye smashing that stone into rubble. The Royal Guardsmen that desired to toy with her died in an instant around a handsome young man with cold chilling eyes. He took off his jacket which made his movement alarming to her but then threw the jacket over her shoulders to cover her exposed skin.

"Ah-…." She barely had time to respond as he darted off in the direction of more Royal Guard squads obscured by the burning smoke from the buildings set aflame. Then the sounds of slaughter took to the streets as the screams of soldiers dying and running afraid came resounding through them for all to hear.

There was a megaphone attached to the loitering helicopter above them demanding the surrender of the Golden Path members to the Royal Guard by the speaker who happened to be Sugun Hamal. A prominent member in the Kyrati Elitists who held the position as the Chief of the Royal Guard. The helicopter suddenly exploded and the wreck fell into the fields, jumping off the rooftop was that man holding a smoking launcher which likely took down the chopper holding Sugun Hamal.

Kamala tried to correct herself in expressing her gratitude but a scream caught their attention and he was on the move again, like some automaton moving with efficiency and grace. He dropped the rocket launcher in her hands for some reason, but she carried it seeing he needed it for later.

Out of the burning building came that man once more, but this time he held Bhadra. The girl herald as the next Tarun Matara, Amita had kept her close as she felt Sabal might manipulate her from the back.

The Golden Path reinforcements arrived just as the flames had settled and to a mass of Royal Guard bodies been dispatched with lethal precision.

The villagers made it clear that this man was responsible for singlehandedly killing all of the Royal Guards, which made the commanders look at him as if he was a monster with a dashing face. Sabal, Amita and Bhadra who was saved by him showed no indication of being disturbed by this fact. Later some fighter came reporting the death of Sugun Hamal.

And that was when things were out of her expectation. The man pointed to her and everyone had the idea that it was she that took care of the arrogant toad because of the launcher that was placed in her arms by the man. Sabal led her around, introducing her to the senior members of the Golden Path and held talks about promoting her. Kamala wanted to point out that it wasn't her as much as she was ashamed to say it amongst an entire cohort of the old guard veterans that she was a hoax. But she wondered why he, Soren had passed the credit to her intentionally.

She decided to accept it and promise to herself she would uphold this grace that was given to her by a fellow comrade. She'd do everything to make sure he was taken care of, and to do that she had to make him her subordinate. And so she did, when Sabal bestowed onto her the rank of sector leader, which was the equivalent of a Captain in the Royal Army she requested for Soren to join her. Sabal had no qualms as he figured if he was under her command he wouldn't have any problems as Soren had shown clearly he didn't like Sabal.

It became clear on their first meeting since the attack when he was posted to her squad that the young man was in fact mute. Kamala found this to be a shame as he really looked handsome and had a calm cold demeanor which was popular among some ladies. Soren didn't seem bothered by this as he had his American friend Hurk and his smartphone to communicate on his behalf.

Kamala was stuck to patrol duties like before, but this time it was different, not only was the place she covered broader but she had a secondary duty which was to interact with the people.

She had become something of a superstar amongst the populous for slaying the second most disgusting person in Kyrat, first place belonged to De Pleur. Sugun Hamal was alledgedly responsible for razing a village once just on a whim. Not even Pagan was as random and as willful as him, although he was still the most ruthless in all of Kyrat. It became known throughout Kyrat that a young rookie had vanquished that nightmare once and for all. And it was invigorating to read the articles that glorified her in the front column.

Her parents had sent her a letter to tell her how worried they were that she had been in that attack and pushed herself beyond to kill that dreadful man. So to assure them she wrote back. "I had a guardian angel watching over me, I hope someday I could show him to you, wish me luck."

On one occasion she caught, Soren lazing in the fields with Bhadra. That girl seemed to form a connection with him that was quite unique. Honestly, watching them laugh together from afar made her feel a bit lonely so she crashed their conversation. But was welcomed in, this was a surprise to her and she didn't know how to explain it but it was heartwarming.

Kamala did find it strange that Soren had never pursued advancement within the ranks of the Golden Path despite his incredible prowess in combat that made him herald as the Golden Path's answer to the Northern Demon. But she never asked him, it didn't seem like he had the intention to do so either which suited her fine if he didn't have to leave. There were tons of Field Commanders besides Sabal that wanted him on their team but he kindly refused all of them and neither took part in high level meetings. Soren once wrote to her said that it was his limitation of speech that was part of the reason he chose to stay a grunt. "What was the rest?"

His answer.

-I won't find another kind Commander like you, again.-

Kamala couldn't help but turn away and blush, it was the first time someone had given her an honest compliment and proved it with their action. He was his loyalty in remaining in her unit.

Despite the limit of speech, it didn't mean he wasn't talkative. His smartphone help make things easy to say the things he wanted to say. He was also said things that were quite funny and charming at the same time. Every day was a fun and exciting day, she wished it would continue on forever.

Until the day of the coup de tat.

-I'm leaving.-

He said to her upon her treat to a meal one day. Kamala felt like her dream was falling apart, shattering like a mirror. She begged him to explain why he was doing so, was it to do with her poor leadership skills? He shook his head and wrote that it was the case and said…

-My very existence is a lie..- He told her, she didn't understand at all. If Soren wasn't his real name, did that matter? It didn't to her.

\- I've enjoyed our time together….. I have a mission to accomplish, I hope I'll be able to see you again after this civil war. And not during it. Farewell.- He left these words for her as he got up and left. As she called out to him, he kept going until he was too far away to reach. There was a mountain of emotions Kamala was experiencing at that moment, but the most prominent, the most painful was her sorrow. She'd lost the only friend she had that accepted her for whom she was but she had also missed her chance to admit that she loved him.

* * *

While dealing with her pain, the coup had come into effect and Sabal seized control while Amita was away on business at the Brick Factory. An officer approached her demanding the location of Soren and Bhadra, she didn't know what he was saying. Then he disclosed that Soren had taken her to seek refuge in an unknown location. Kamala did what her heart told her to do, and that was to run, to run as fast as she could. For half a day, she ran out of Banapur in the direction of Shanath hoping to mix with the crowd. Instead she was saved by Amita's loyalists. Being brought before Amita, she realized that her initial life dream had been accomplished. But that was then, now, she felt empty and alone.

Amita proposed to offer her asylum in return for keeping up the façade that she was the hero that vanquished Sugun Hamal. It appeared that the truth could not pass her shrewd eyes, but all she wanted in return was her to act the part of a hero.

Baghadur fell the same day, they had sustained a significant loss but now they had a place to hold out and support their other outposts that had been liberated by her party or remained loyal to Amita. The inner sanctum was strangely therapeutic and almost had a woman's touch to the interior décor which made her wonder, what sort of person Noore Najjar was?

Work was not easy in the stronghold but it was rewarding to know that they were saving lives of their comrades by holding the stronghold and attending to wounded fighters at a moment's notice. She made regular trips to the newly erected refugee camps that held civilians that were mistreated and seeking asylum with them. Showing her face had a significant effect on them that even she didn't anticipate. Kamala's existence became something akin to a saint in respects to women in the South. Most of the refugees took up arms under Amita's banner because of Kamala.

It was all to Amita's benefit as it help replenish the losses sustained in the siege of the stronghold and of the incessant attacks received from the Golden Path. But now they were facing a more pressing problem, they weren't short on manpower but they had depleted all of their medical supplies and weapons and ammo were running dry. Soon, Sabal would come and have himself an easy victory over helpless refugees and remnant forces. Amita and the field commanders were left with a very difficult decision, they sought a truce with the Royal army. An envoy was sent to the nearby Army-controlled airport to have them relay the message to the General.

Within three days, a response came that a diplomat and relief supplies was on route to their location that morning. They sighed in relief that their group would live to die another day. But they were all being too wishful in their thinking. Because the one that stepped out of the vehicle acting as a diplomat was none other than Badala, the Northern Demon of Kyrat.

It made everyone nervous beyond belief. Some had encountered Badala before and cowered in fear within the many rooms, others came out curious of his appearance. This was the first time seeing him for Kamala and yet…. She had the strangest feeling from seeing him. It felt like she knew him and yet didn't.

Everyone knew how shrewd a businesswoman Amita was and yet Badala had been dictating the flow of the entire conversation. But it wasn't to their disadvantage at all, he gave them a new meaning to pursue. Out of mere words and their action, he created the Mukti Tigers. The freedom fighters who sought peace and liberation from social restriction, seeking the welfare of everyone. He left with his blessing and provisions promised to them. As he was about to leave, Kamala realized something.

She had asked everyone that came from all corners of Pacchim valley, she'd even gone on patrols as far as King's Bridge but Soren and Bhadra were nowhere to be found. They wouldn't stay south where De Pleur and his cutthroats were or anywhere near Banapur so the only option was North. She had covered the entire Pacchim Valley but there were no other possible locations, except across King's Bridge.

She risked it knowing that if she succeeded there might be a clue to their location.

"I'm looking for a friend of mine, he went escaped on the day coup with a girl. His name was Soren and here had a speech disability. I've been searching all over for them but couldn't find them anywhere in the valley, except across King's Bridge. He can speak through text but even then he's extremely reserved in his speech. I think he might have joined the Army there to support each other there and would likely be well known for his combat prowess. Please, if you have any info on him please let me know! I'm Kamala by the way!" She said.

She knew she was asking a lot from the person that no one would dare ask of but she was willing to do it to find them, to find him.

"I think I may have heard of him. He's doing fine, in an admin job in my domain. Bhadra's alright as well. So rest be assured nothing has happened to them. Take care Kamala." Was the young lord's response. Kamala sighed in relief as she heard the most fortunate news since she came to Baghadur but then she realized something important from his answer. She had never said it was Bhadra, if Soren was in the Uttar Region he would also avoid letting people know the Tarun Matara was there for fear the King might dispatch men to capture or kill her. But he said her name so brazenly and that she was alright and safe.

-Could it be? No! It couldn't be-…-

Kamala started to make sense of the conversations she had with Soren. He was on a mission, that's why he left. His monstrous strength, his stunning intellect and that ill sense of humor. It all match one person in the entirety of Kyrat.

Soren was Badala, the Vice-Lord of Kyrat.

Over the course of the week she had difficulty accepting it, Kamala even cried for the unfairness of her situation at times by herself and out of sight. The disparity between them was so great. If they weren't enemies, she was a mere foot-soldier and he was a noble of Kyrat. She didn't even have traits that was acceptable for being a partner to anyone below an average level. She was clumsy as well, she couldn't do things without some memory or writing it down. Even though she had achieved what she longed for as a young adult she was not satisfied. The things she wanted were now something else entirely.

-Goddess Kyra, I pray that you will help me achieve my new wish. Give me a chance to convey my feelings to Soren. And perhaps, Let me be with Soren.-

That night, Kamala was unaware that her prayer was accepted, but at a twist.

The Golden Path came to attack them again, this time they brought a sizable force that Amita had been monitoring for the past three days. They secretly set traps to their advantage and hoped that the Royal Army Dragoons would come on time.

They battled for almost thirty minutes, but it was the longest thirty minutes of her life. The alarm was only rung when Amita felt that the force stood a chance of overrunning the stronghold so they had to wait twenty minutes within the thirty. It was a close battle one that push them to the very steps towards the inner sanctum. Then, a terrifying nightmare that rivaled that of Badala came in the form of a misleading appearance of a foreigner. At first they didn't take him seriously but then it became a horrifying scenario that locked them in place as he advanced the steps. Kamala in the heat of the moment tried to break the stalemate but did not anticipate his ready position.

Her fate was sealed yet again, or so she thought when the people that seemed to break her doomed fate yet again arrived.

Badala had come.

He immediately locked into combat with the foreigner and seemed to be losing out in speed and ferocity but gained the advantage through cunning and more powerful blows. His fighting reminded her of when he had rescued her from certain death and defiling by the Royal guards, and again from her own clumsiness at an outpost. He was here right now, right there and she still couldn't do anything, still couldn't open her mouth to say a word.

The foreigner was lying on the floor exhausted, Badala ordered the remainder of the golden path arrested instead of killing them. Kamala smiled, it was so like him. But her smile turned to horror as she spotted Sabal lining a straight shot towards Badala with his back turned to him.

The person that time and time again changed her limited fate, the person that gave her new things to look forward to. The one that had given her so much was about to have his live taken from him. She was the first to see this and the only one with the quickness to react, there was only one thing she could think of to prevent his death. Even if it meant she would never she him again, Kamala did it.

(Bang) The malicious shot ripped through Kamala's torso like paper, all of her strength faded in an instant as she fell stump against his torso and stained it with her blood.

She felt giddy, and there were loud muffled noises of people running about and a firefight happening once more. She was lowered onto the steps and given immediate medical attention.

She could hear him call her name out constant to keep her waning consciousness awake.

"Soren."

"It's me, just save your strength for later!"

"Soren."

"I'm here! Look, it's me!" He took off the mask revealing his face, one that Kamala recalled fondly of. She reached up to feel it to know she wasn't dreaming. Then he said the words she never dreamt she'd hear from him.

"Kamala Malla, my dearest friend. Will you come back with me?"

-Thank you, Kyra. I understand the price for my most fondest of wishes.-

She was sure he was aware of her situation so she wanted to confirm with him, but he stubbornly denied it and demanded that she hold on.

"NO! I refuse! You're not allowed to go!" When tears started to flow from his eyes, it said everything.

"….. Who would've thought the legendary northern demon could shed tears for an enemy." Ajay held her hand.

"You were never my enemy to begin with, you are the dearest companion I've ever had, you never once judged me for who I was nor where I came from!... I should never have let you stay in Banapur…. Stay in Baghadur!"

Kamala smiled faintly, she never knew that he had considered her since such a long time ago. She really didn't think anyone would want her and yet he was telling her this at this hour of her life.

-I've truly paid a heavy price, but it was worth every moment.-

"Kamala, hang on!"

"I want you to remember… this isn't your fault." -Don't blame yourself.-

"I'm ready….. Kyra has granted me my final wish."

"I'm not!"

"Listen Soren-."

"Ajay! It's Ajay!"

-Ajay?... Ajay Ghale?... Ha! What a twist of events?... But still—

"You'll forever be my Soren, the one I hold dearest to my heart….. the one I love."

"I don't want your love, I just want you to live happily!"

"I am, even if it's the shortest span of me doing so… I'm so glad I got to tell you my feelings, so grateful for all you've done for a clumsy ditz like me. Live in place of me, and remember that I'll always be watching over you….."

"Kamala?"

"My dearest…..my… beloved…."

.

.

.

.

-Soren-

.

.

.

.

 _-Return to me. Child.-_

* * *

Author's notes: -ATTENTION!-

Site wide problem with missing reviews, been this way since 24th Sept. Admin working on the problem at hand as we speak but as it stands, as of 27th Sept there is no change yet.

I would very much like to read your reviews but i can't because i can't seen anything pass 23th Sept.

(Update)

Error fixed as of 28th Sept. I can see them now! Whoop Whoop!


	33. Chapter 32 - Jalendu burns

Author's notes:

Reviews are visible again. Thanks for writing, especially that reviewer wubbwubb with the dancing Gaunt (So funny!XD). Thanks as usual to Omegas for sharing pro tips.

So far i have two votes out of ten on Daisy over Liza as Jason love interest. PM me on you opinion, no need to write on review i'm cool on it.

* * *

A cold night had come over Kyrat, yet Ajay was feeling warm and comfortable. This may have been partially the liquors fault, but it had more to do with the prior proactive engagement he had with Saras earlier. Ajay looked to his side of the bed where she lay naked under the pale moon light shining through the window onto the mattress. Her smooth skin glistened with sweat and her hair in disarray. Despite this, to him she looked more beautiful than he had always pictured her.

-So strange.-

"Does something catch your eye?" Saras noticed his gaze upon her as she smiled gently to him.

Ajay's heart was throbbing wildly even after the deed had been done, this wasn't his first rodeo but by far the most memorable.

Ajay didn't respond in words. Instead, he reached out to place his hand upon her soft cheek, Saras held his hand on her cheek. Words could not express what she had done for him, and yet he had no way of repaying her for it.

This was the first time anyone had come close to finding his deepest darkest fear, the fear of loss. He'd lost so much before that it left a scar in his memories, weighed down with regret. While he technically hadn't done these deeds yet in this reality, he remembered them and that was enough to know that it happened and he committed those atrocities.

"I'm not expecting you to dedicate yourself to me after this. Ajay." Saras chuckled. Ajay was a little surprised by her opinion.

"I know there are things that need to be done, borders you align because you don't wish for any of us to suffer harm. Just take it as you indulging in my selfishness for once." Saras moved forward and embraced him.

"Just….. Let me sleep with you like this till dawn." She snuggled against him without waiting for his answer.

"….. Ok."

* * *

Ajay was awoken by the brightness that was shining into the room and the chilling morning breeze that was blowing against his naked body that was covered in only the blanket. His consciousness slowly returned to him and the memories of last night became clear to him. In a moment of weakness, he let Saras lead him into sleeping with her. While the experience was pleasurable and unforgettable, he had broken the boundary he set by himself between relationships.

Kamala's death marked a very important understanding of choice in the deathly mountains of Kyrat. If he left them alone they would die, if he was standing with them they'd die in his arms. It was a matter of which was the option he preferred. They'd die somehow eventually, but was it better to be with them in their last moments or always to spare himself the pain.

Ajay turned to where the other occupant of his bed should have been but found that side of the bed to be empty, much to his astonishment.

-Did she wake up earlier?-

As he got out of the bed and on to his wardrobe to wear something he noticed an envelope standing on the coffee table with Saras's initials on it. After he put on some trousers and a shirt he went over to pick it up and tear the envelop open. He unfolded the letter and read the contents.

-Dear Ajay,

It appears Father has finally caught on where I was staying and whom I was staying with! (๑≧౪≦)

He sent me an explicit order to go to India to act as a liaison officer for the cohort of officers we sent over there. At first, I had second thoughts about following them especially in your deteriorated condition but I've decided to go with it.

That night, I probably understood you better than before and now know why you have always kept everyone at arm's length away from you. A past tragedy perhaps, where you watched everything you loved die in front of you. The thought alone chills me, it was exactly as Noore said to me that night you answered the Tigers distress call. She said though you strive for Kyrat's future, you've never considered yourself a part of it.

Father tells me he wishes to carry out a series of operations and attacks on the Golden Path at this time. It meant that if you were to go back into the field, the road would be bloodier than before, more dangerous than ever. The chances of you surviving will be lower than it already is with you.

Part of me wishes to be there to support you, part wishes not to be there to see you fall. But as we are now, things will always be difficult. Assisting in the programs development will be my way of making sure you are not receiving all of the heat from the Golden Path and its allies.

I've already left this morning for Maharashtra, I didn't want to wake you and I also didn't want you to oppose my decision. I promised that I would protect you in my own way, from your enemies and from yourself.

This excursion may take a while, maybe even months. I don't know, but I hope you remember that I'll always be there watching your back. You have a responsibility to the people of Kyrat as much as I do, do what you do best and hold nothing back!

…..

Your Friend and life companion

Saraswati

P.S

You're a cruel man that can be over-passionate at times, I'm still feeling those bruises. Not something you do to a woman who was having her first experience. But I look forward to our next bedroom romp! 😉

…

Ajay placed the letter into his pocket as he processed these thoughts in his head. Her absence from her usual antics made him have a strange feeling of emptiness.

-No. She went to India to speed up the programs paces to partial-operation, she's doing me a huge favor by being away. I need to stop being spoilt.-

He looked around for the item he threw on the floor that night, and picked it up. The gold plated talisman with Kamala's name engraved in it. Ajay stared upon it for a while to recall those moments.

-That's right, I went back in time to save all of them. I'll put my entire being into it!-

He gripped the necklace tightly.

-Golden Path… Sabal…. You'll pay dearly for this!-

A knock came to his door, it pivoted and Bhadra popped her head through.

"Morning, Bhadra. I'm sorry for worrying all of you." Bhadra brightened as she saw him recover.

"There's an officer from the Royal army that is waiting at our doorstep."

"Tell him I'll be right there."

* * *

Daisy was led into the balcony of the estate by an old housekeeper, she took charge of her after the guards escorted her out of that prison with a bag over her head to prevent her from recalling directions. They took her to doorstep of the house before leaving.

"Sit there and wait." The old woman said before hobbling off to somewhere, she turned on the radio before going off.

Daisy looked around the interior of the traditionally ornamented house, this house belonging to none other than scarred-face man, Sabal. Daisy took a big risk, preparing for the worst as she requested a meeting with him. On the same day she told the guards she wanted to see him, hours later a response came that she could on the following day.

There were some notable traits she'd seen with him and the two other Americans than worked with him and imprisoned and tortured them. Sabal was anxious and impatient, he made no attempt to conceal it and when he didn't get his way he'd stomp his own soldiers like some overgrown spoilt-brat. The fat American in Ray Bans seemed to have an acquaintance with Jason when they were on Rook Island and had some sort of collaboration in retrieving them from the hands of the pirates and island mercenaries. That was probably why he knew what was Jason's Achilles heel; his friends and brother. Yet now, he was using them as bait to bring Jason over to change the geographic of this already unstable region into anarchy with his monstrous abilities.

Then, there was a man named De Pleur. That sick fucker was the head interrogator and commandant of the City of Pain in which they resided. While Sabal wasn't around to provoke them once in a while, it was that associate of theirs that kept them company. He enjoyed torturing them men more and already had a go with poor Riley. He came back with lacerations all over his extremities, and coughing out water from when they had dunked him in. Steven squealed and whimpered in a corner which was all too pleasant to De Pleur's ears. He declared he'd be next, to which Steven began ranting on and accusing Liza of bringing him into this mess. Liza only hung her head as she felt that she might actually have been the cause.

At any rate, nothing would improve without a bit of effort involved. Although Riley dragged out and tortured he took in the surroundings on his trip to De Pleur's office and made a metal map of the streets. It was rather complex as the City was larger than they anticipated but Riley did them proud at making the first step to their escape. Now, Daisy would do the same and see if she could acquire any small detail to breaking out when she had the chance.

The old woman came back and lay the table with cutlery and tableware before she went back to the corridor where the kitchen was likely at. Daisy stared at the knife for a while then stowed it away into her heel under her jeans. She did this just as the old woman returned with the warm stew she brewed for the two bowls at either side of the table.

The host had yet to arrive despite her serving the food already. Daisy passed the time looking around and noticed a painting on leather hung on the wall. The centre of the painting held a demonic being dressed in pink and had swerved hair while lying like the sleeping Buddha.

"Did you like it?" A gentle voice asked her from behind. She turned around on reflex to find the host had arrived without her noticing. Was he around the entire time, witnessing her theft?

"It looks strangely modern." She said calmly not to reveal any suspicion onto herself.

"That's because that is a recent piece but a fine one nonetheless. Who do you think that demon in the centre is?" Sabal asked as he took his seat opposite her.

"That man you made Jason go after." Sabal laughed.

"Indeed! Indeed! But he's not the one I had intended to have your friend go after, though I did tell him that Pagan was responsible for your disappearance. Do you hate me?"

"If I had the power to I'd strangle you to death!"

"But you don't, right? This is just the way the world is here in Kyrat. Where the strong prey on the weak."

"Tsk!" Daisy expressed her dissatisfaction with this countries logic or at least her captors.

"So what do I owe the pleasure then Miss Daisy?"

"Your treatment towards Riley…"

"Mmmm?…oh! The younger brother, eh?"

"He keeps coming back with all these cuts and wounds from your sick partner! The cells conditions aren't sanitary and might cause him to get gangrene. I wish for us to be moved to better living areas under your men's supervision still." He got up and walked towards her.

"If not all of us at least just Riley…..p-please. Jason has already lost one brother on our last trip, if he found out Riley was in this condition he might break."

"So I've heard, Willis also told me about your engagement with that older brother of theirs. It must have been heart-wrenching for their mother, to lose a husband and a son. I wonder if she could take losing another?" Daisy's heart gripped upon imagining what Mrs. Brody would go through.

Sabal was now behind where she was seated and placed his hands upon her shoulders, as much as she found it disgusting she tolerated it for the time being.

"You want me to do something for you, but what do I get in return for my troubles?"

"…." She knew he'd be a bastard, it was already unpleasant talking with him. As she was about to propose that she would ensure they stayed in line, Sabal's hand gripped her chin and dug his tongue into her mouth causing her to recoil and fall out of her seat onto the floor.

Sabal held her down upon the ground of where she was, it became clear what he had intended to do to her from the start. "No!"

"Keep struggling, and I'll make sure De Pleur carves your friends up even further till they're cubes!" He threatened her in the lowest way possible. But where they were, Sabal was King.

Daisy felt like she was forced into the most painful moment in her life to let this prick have his way with her for welfare or resist and face punishment. She grinded her teeth and let out a tear but still held a face of defiance.

"That's exactly what I wanted to see from you, my dear."

The music from the radio was cut short with an emergency broadcast from the King's channel.

*This is an urgent message from his royal highness, may his light shine upon you all.*

Sabal frowned as the announcement spoilt the setting for him, but he soon changed his mind when he heard who was speaking instead of Pagan.

*People of Kyrat, Golden Path….. this is Badala, Vice-Lord of the valley.*

* * *

"Ready on you, my lord!" The communication specialist said as he turned on the broadcast.

Ajay sat by a radio broadcasting unit been set up for him to make the speech from where he was, on a particular island off Yuma's Ratu Gadhi and his Valley's Arsenal.

He held the corded mic to him mouth and addressed the entire radio network across Kyrat using Pagan's emergency channel.

(Click) Ajay depressed the microphone button.

"People of Kyrat, Golden Path… this is Badala, Vice-Lord of the valley of death. Three days ago, Sabal and the Golden Path attacked the Mukti Tigers at Bagdahur. Three days ago, they planned to kill every man and women they once called brother, sister. Three days ago, Sabal and the Golden Path killed Kamala Malla, the hero of the Golden Path… and my friend." He said it all in a cold and composed voice.

Thousands listened in to their radio sets to hear the emergency broadcast and be enlightened on the latest news. News that Sabal had forcibly kept from the populous at Banapur, Sabal listened with dread and hatred.

"You must be wondering why, why did I call Kamala my friend? Well nobody bothered to ask who I was when I joined the Golden Path to see what was happening, nobody bothered to investigate my background. Nobody bothered to ask who was Soren the mute warrior under the leadership of Kamala. Well I'll tell you now… Soren was me, Badala."

Ajay revealed onto the whole of Kyrat his infiltration into the Golden Path, to those who had seen him could not believe that the person they thought was their ally and so close to them was their greatest enemy. The Golden Path was especially stirred by this as their Commanders who knew this had kept it from them fearing mass panic throughout their ranks.

"So why is the enemy of the Golden Path Heralding Kamala Malla as its hero? Because in my infiltration into the Golden Path, my assessment of its entire rank of fighters….. is full of worthless garbage! You all think that being in the Golden Path means you're exempted from daily labors or absolves you on committing heinous acts of villainy in a just name for liberating Kyrat from a tyrannical ruler? Such willfulness, such naivety, just like your worthless leader, Sabal. You think that being part of a group of freedom fighters puts you above the needs of the people? You are the worst type of individuals to any given society, you are all scum!"

Ajay lashed out venomously at the Golden Path with his remarks, those listening to the radio whom hailed from the Golden Path could not help but feel ashamed of their actions when he said so.

"Golden Path, you know how I act and when I act what I do. So if I knew you were such parasites to Kyrat why didn't I just kill all of you after I took the airport? The answer is I found the true spirit of liberation amongst you… I found Kamala Malla!"

"Kamala was never the best of you, in fighting or in strategy. Clumsy when handling small items, always seeming to miss numbers during accounting. But she had something that none of you ever seem to have, she had courage to do what was right despite her many flaws, she does the jobs with a smile on her face despite it being the task that many of you scorned or were too lazy to do. i.e. If a person called your Golden Path to help her find her missing child, she'd be the first to look and if she didn't find him or her yet she'd keep in contact to make sure that person was assured and update her on her status. It was that earnesty that convinced me that the Golden Path as a whole, while filled with filth and self-important leaders had someone that could genuinely make the Golden Path something to be proud of. I was not the only one that saw this, you…. Fellow countrymen and women, witnessed it, experienced it. So you definitely know I tell no lie in that. I hoped that she would rally some of those that believed in her ideal of Kyrat to join and reform the Golden Path from inside. But I was wrong!"

"When you were dissatisfied with your situation and began that coup of yours, you chased her out! When she ran, you chased. When she sought refuge you pursued until she was trapped behind her own walls in Baghadur. Golden Path, you forsook her. And Sabal, in your attempt to cheap shot me… you killed her!"

"You killed her, you killed her… you killed her!" Ajay growled in a low tone for him to understand his rage, for everyone who was listening to understand it as well.

"You've destroy the only thing I thought had meaning to your insurgency after all these years you fought against our king. Now there's nothing to keep me at bay from destroying you, nothing that'll restrict me from finding every member of the Golden Path, from the highest to the lowest. If you survived me or the Royal Army, you'll wish you had died as I toss you into Durgesh to live the rest of your miserable life!"

"To all living in Pacchim Valley and Uttar Region, don't let me catch you being associated with Golden Path, don't let us find you wearing that golden sash and don't let us find you harboring Golden Path insurgents. Because I will be looking for you….. and I want to find you!"

Ajay was got to make his point clear for the civilians to separate from the Golden Path as he went about exterminating them.

"Last but not least a little address to Sabal, I have Bhadra with me. And she'll get to decide how to live her life the way she wants and does what she wants with it. Fate, destiny, are all made up words to justify actions in or against personal interests. Bhadra will never be the Tarun Matara, I will never let that happen! And to do that, I've taken the steps to ensure she never has to go through with that wretched ceremony! You need Jalendu Temple too coronate her, so all I need to do is make Jalendu disappear.

This is Badala, signing out."

Ajay threw the mic to the communications operator as he went over to the demolition experts that were rigging the temple to blow with all the explosives in their possession.

"P-Please! My lord, you must not destroy these sacred artifacts! It will only incur heaven's wrath!" The Priest of Jalendu advised from outside where the soldiers dragged them out from.

"Then I accept it graciously! If you really want to save those artifacts, then all you need to do is save them." Ajay told him straight. The engineers tossed the detonator to Ajay who caught it and looked to Jalendu then the Priest and his attendant monks who did nothing to stop him or more importantly, attempt to rescue the relics. He gave them a while to make a move but nothing, they treasured their lives over those valuable relics.

"You make me sick! You gallivant around in the cloaks and cassocks of holy men expecting the people to provide you with the means to support the temples and support that indulgent life style of yours. Don't ever call yourself men of cloth again!" Ajay scolded and warned the temple staff as he pressed the detonator, demolishing Jalendu to rubble.

As he watched the temple crumble to the ground, he thought about all he said on live radio. He was sure Sabal was slamming his head against the wall or tearing his hair off his head, but he had this coming for a long time. All of the Golden Path had this coming for them, and he had already made it clear to them. He already made his decision. He had company in the form of a cremation jar engraved with the initials. "1990-2014, Kamala." The silver jar strapped to his waist gave him a familiar nostalgia, although it made him felt secure in every way possible.

"I'm gonna reshape Kyrat to have an eternal peace, so please watch over me, Kamala."

Ajay had just committed the first real act of war against the true Golden Path.

* * *

Sabal slammed his chair against the wall that held the Thangka when he heard the end of the radio announcement that Badala gave. His entire face twisted in rage, his eyes bloodshot and his veins popped out. Badala had done the most audacious act against what they stood for. Badala razed Jalendu Temple to the ground.

In all his rage, Sabal never fully acknowledged that he was the cause of all of this. It was Kamala that stood in the way of his shot that would have ended the nightmare reign of the Northern Demon once and for all. That girl was as stupid as the day he elevated her to the fame within the Golden Path, and that Soren… No-…. Badala!

"Badala… you goddamn heretic!"

The day had been ruined for him with just one radio announcement. He had initially intended to enjoy playing with strong-willed Daisy to console himself over his defeat at Baghadur again. But he was now facing greater problems with the ranks of fighters that would have fallen into total anarchy. It was likely after the speech he made, that fighters were now opting to throw down their arms and discard their sashes, the population were now disassociating themselves with the likes of Sabal and the Golden Path. But worse of all, the men would have second thoughts about his leadership after the summary of his actions were disclosed by Badala. It made it seem as if Sabal was responsible for their crushing defeat, Kamala's death and the destruction of Jalendu temple.

"Nanny, call on De pleur's soldiers! Have them take her back!" He ordered the old estate caretaker as he disappeared down the hallway to an office of his.

"Come." The old woman told her as she held her hand and brought her towards the door to hand back to the soldiers. Daisy obediently followed, while she was being sent back to where she came from without any clues to the surrounding landscape, she had come for what she needed. A tool and some string from the fabric on the table cloth she plied out with her fingernails under the seat earlier. These would aid her and her friends in escaping the prison they were put in and seek help from the standing monarchy and Sabal's arch-enemy, Badala. The lord of the northern lands.

* * *

Ajay sat riding with Hurk, Alberto and hunter Anish inside one of the newest additions to the Royal Army arsenal. A former South African Infantry fighting Vehicle known as "Ratel", the afrikaan name for Honey Badger. It was a good name for a vehicle, Ajay could attest to the strength and ferocity of those little bastards.

On the eve of the Meh Teh Offensive, Bipin and Anish in particular found the strategic importance of having high mobility firepower in counter-insurgency campaigns. When Ajay forced everyone to leave, that tank destroyer variant of the Stryker held off most of the attacks while the rest escaped, it forced the then mercenaries Samson and friends into submission and it destroyed all other Stryker vehicles Willis airlifted.

They submitted their findings on the matter to High Command, only when Arjun ascended as the highest authority did they truly look into it. But there was a string of requirements that needed to be followed.

First off, armored vehicles were not usually brought into mountainous terrain like in the Himalayas. The only thing they could traverse reliably on without getting stuck was the roads, dirt road was the maximum. There were also the bridges to account for as it was generally designed for commercial vehicles and not armored vehicles.

The restraints for the tender were that it had to be under 20 tons, which made it easy to transport by cargo planes rated for around that amount. It couldn't be tracked as it would damage the roads, 8x8 wheels for superior cross-country. The protection qualities needed to resist small-arms fire all around and against IEDs with a V-shaped hull. Armament could be anywhere from .30 to 105mm cannons like the tank destroyer Anish and Bipin manned.

It was the Jackal that had a hand in this procurement, Ajay didn't know what kind of person this Jackal was. He always seemed to be the be all end all type of person, and definitely not someone to mess with. The South African Army was in the process of replacing those vehicles with more modern counterparts and were about to mothball those armored vehicles. The Royal Army bought the entire fleet of vehicles from them using the Jackal's connection, despite Longinus's craziness he sure had some powerful friends.

They had six variants at their disposal. A command vehicle for senior staff to move with the contingent well protected. An engineer recovery vehicle from repairing and salvaging damaged vehicles. An artillery observer with an extendable optical equipment for calling in the heavy artillery residing in the Uttar Region. A IFV variant with a 20mm rapid fire cannon that would make short work of enemies wherever they hid, be it trees or concrete, that gun would penetrate them and kill whatever was behind. A mortar carrier version for indirect fire, there was nothing like howling bombs. The last was a statement to all the others. A version for direct fire support, carrying a 90mm cannon. Everyone who faced it knew that once it fired a group would die from the payload of explosives that shell carried. While not as large or potent as the former tank destroyers 105mm gun it was more than enough against an entirely infantry force of the Golden Path at present.

Anish had informed him on the events that transpired during his absence, Bipin had followed Saras to India but to study Armored warfare, but more importantly Motorized Rifle formations that was defined by these armored vehicles as the most powerful mobile platform in all of Kyrat. Over the course of three months, Anish and Bipin had received a Commission from the Royal Academy each to allow them to carry out their proposal of an Interim BCT concept that the Strykers were designed for the US army to fulfil. They were now 2nd Lieutenants and were expected to command platoons. Anish was commanding the first of what was becoming the 1st Royal Hussars Battalion of the developing Armored Regiment formation in the Royal Army. Or at least a Company of that cohort. Anish chose to stay to test the current formation and its effectiveness against the insurgents of the Golden Path.

Ajay and friends were complying with a major plan to evacuate every civilian from Banapur, Tirtha and all other Golden Path owned territories to the North. Doing this would make future operations easier than having to identify friend from foe, the Golden Path were inadvertently using the civilians as human shields and to draw recruits from. Ajrun and High Command planned to remove that, although they were certain some would choose to stay regardless but at least there wouldn't be high collateral in their following operations against Golden Path.

Ajay was supposed to be the diversion during this process, he would attack Varshakot with their Armored force where he would face off with not the usual Golden Path but the Golden Path old guard. The most dangerous and experienced fighters in at their disposal. The old Guard didn't comply with Sabal or their council. But they responded to a threat to the Golden Path if it was too dangerous for the young ones to handle, they were strictly a defensive force. During his time contending with the old guard attempting to retake Varshakot, the Police Commissioner dispatched police officers to evacuate every person from the unprotected towns and villages to the supply trucks that the Royal Army provided. Meanwhile, the rest of the Royal Army were fortifying the roads on route to the safe points from those major population areas they were evacuating. There would likely be Golden Path attacks along the way but they would manage.

The old Guard would have been notified of their movements long as the vehicles entered the South over King's bridge via spies. And had set themselves to defend Varshakot. Ajay didn't need to even take it, he just needed to apply pressure so they wouldn't notice or react to Arjun's plan.

Inside the fighting compartment of the Ratel, Ajay sat with Hurk, Anish and a few of the armor grenadiers from Anish's company. Hurk was holding a custom anti-material rifle given to him by Samar. Why was this so, if Hurk had been known to be a poor shot in the past?

Upon Ajay's visit to the lodge where the Condotierri resided, they chanced upon the reason Hurk couldn't shoot beyond 20 metres. It turned out he was shortsighted, he himself didn't know it so he never addressed it. A pair of specs hung from his nose bridge, courtesy of the polyclinic Noore worked at, though he was disappointed he couldn't be assessed by Noore herself as it was out of her expertise. When he was given the spectacles, his shots were almost godly at 1000 metres. Hurk was in fact a gifted marksman, something the Condotierri really needed as the late Antorio was their sniper and Alberto was his spotter. They hoped Hurk would fill in the gap that he left, today was his baptism of fire. There was also another factor that limited him from hitting people with his shots besides his eyesight. It was his willingness to take a life, but Ajay was going to correct that today.

It was on that day that begun the most daring evacuation plan ever performed in Kyrat. Operation Shining Pagoda had commenced.

* * *

Author's Notes:

10,000 views since start in July and over 1,000 visitors in this month. This truly a milestone in FacFic writing for me, thank you all for you support!

Author's thoughts:

"I am talking scorched earth Motherfucker!... I will massacre you... I WILL FUCK YOU UP!"

\- Les Grossman to Flaming Dragon, Tropic Thunder


	34. Chapter 33 - Honey Badgers attacking!

Author's notes:

I've begun a Barrista course starting this week which may affect the roll out of new chapters. At the end of the course i hope to make good coffee! Yey!

* * *

The Royal Army had established a command centre at the Airport where they gave directions to the troops that supported the police officers. While this was a military operation, Arjun was extremely careful on how this had to be handled. First off, if soldiers were used to evacuate the villages and towns would likely stir up the Golden Path or suspicion of the people that they were being deported under pretext of mass evacuation, which was not the case. Amita's Mukti Tigers were dispatched to aid the police officers in calling the civilians out of their homes to gather at the rally points at the given areas before they were escorted across King's bridge or to the refugee camps and settlements established by Amita in the North most part of Pacchim Valley.

"We commence when Lord Badala makes the first attack upon Varshakot. Questions?" Arjun asked the group of officers, the police intendents and Amita's lieutenants. One of Amita's field commander raised her hand.

"I heard that Badala may have to contend with Golden Path's veteran old guard, is this true?"

This was the first time they all heard this and looked to Arjun for answers. Facing the old guard was not like fighting the usual Golden Path. They were comprised of 40 to 50-year-old men who once hailed from the Royal Guard and Army which followed Mohan to fight against Pagan and his mercenaries. They had twenty over years of fighting experience, and were more cautious in the firefights. The only reason they had trouble contending with Pagan when he first arrived was because of the battle implementations on Pagan and Yuma's side were way ahead of them back in the 80s.

While they were using bolt-actions and submachine guns imported by the late crown, Pagan and Yuma's mercenaries were armed with M16s and M1A battle rifles. They also used portable radios, air support from armed helicopters and were also trained in foreign militaries. The rest came down to the quality of leadership and tactics employed by their commanders. Yuma was of course the one that reigned over Mohan and his retinue in these areas. If Pagan ever took to the field, they'd have a really big problem at their hand. Mohan had solved this by sending Ishwari to him, effectively removing him from the playing field. But even then, they still couldn't progress while facing Yuma herself. Even though Arjun and Paresh fought alongside her she was on a different level of command. She wasn't the Duchess of Kyrat for nothing.

"Lord Badala was quite confident when he said he'd handle it. He does have an idea of how strong and well-discipline they are. Besides, he promised he wouldn't over exert, he'll only weather down their forces." Arjun's secretary answered on his behalf.

"Still, to think the old guard actually reacted to him meant they felt the Golden Path was in danger of destruction." The police Commissioner said, as a former Royal Guardsman he was aware of the military affairs to a certain extent.

"That's a given. Especially with the kind of speech he gave on live radio, thinking about it from the Golden Path's point of view, it chills me!" Arjun chuckles away. Arjun had sent his secretary Layak to request Badala to convince the people to leave the area. Instead he gave a haunting speech and warning to all that were in line with the Golden Path and the consequences they'd face when he found them guilty of such. He even went to the extent of slapping Sabal's ego and burnt down the holy temple of Jalendu which held sacred artifacts for endorsing that girl Bhadra as the next spiritual leader, the Tarun Matara. All this so that the young girl could chose her own destiny.

Not even King Min did such a thing when he tried to suppress traditional practices. King Min laughed heartily at the Palace when he heard what Lord Badala had done and said till he let out tears, perhaps reminiscing his time with lady Ishwari. He was thoroughly earning himself the name of demon, to think his daughter would chase after such a person was beyond him. His own wife seemed to have a different idea all together. Either way, he had given the people a reason to consider leaving the Golden Path protected provinces as there was an indication of a fight about to take place from the seriousness of the announcement. The Golden Path itself was in anarchy.

Reports had indicated that a substantial amount of Golden Path members were throwing down their arms and returning to their homes, families were relocating to places out of Golden Path territories such as Tirtha and Banapur. Sabal was helpless to stop this transition. Badala had perfectly implicated him in the murder of Kamala and yet another failure in the Golden Path's efforts to secure Pacchim Valley, his willingness to burn Jalendu was a testament of the credibility in his words. Naturally, the people supporting and within were losing faith in his leadership and cause. This was what caused the old Guard to stand up and march to reinforce all the critical locations.

"We're talking about five hundred soldiers against a thousand garrisoned fighters and two thousand more in reserve in a camp near Tirtha. And these fighters won't just run when they get a scare!" Arjun returned to reality and heard another of Amita's lieutenants express their concern for Badala and the newly formed Mechanized Battalion that accompanied him.

"Ease down, Hansa. They are more than aware of the danger involved, there's definitely a contingency planned out, am I right general?" Amita calmed her lieutenant.

"Indeed. Lord Badala may be a decoy, but he isn't the only one out there to make them forget about the people moving out of the towns. Layak, brief them on the events to take place upon Badala's first strike." Arjun told his secretary to explain.

"Yes, sir." The secretary walked over to a standing board with a map and markers to indicate Royal army, Golden Path and town and civilian locations.

"Upon Lord Badala's attack on Varshakot, we will launch an attack upon the main Golden Path recruitment camp. One of the largest concentrations of insurgent forces are currently at. This will draw reinforcements from Banapur to match the seven hundred we've sent to attack it and with an additional force of three hundred Tigers to cover the two infantry battalions at their rear as they converge and suppress the camps." Layak gestured to the Mukti Tigers whom nodded in approval.

"And what of Sabal, Willis and Solomon?" Amita inquired as they were the most important players in this entire field.

"Badala had established contact with the US spec ops to capture Willis as the highest priority over both Solomon and to a lesser extent Sabal. From Lord Badala's accounts and of High Command's evaluation, he'd do a better job than us in tearing the Golden Path apart if left alone." Amita and her retinue chuckled as they shared the same opinion of Sabal.

"His lordship dispatched Captain Kadayat and the Condotierri contractors to assist in extracting them, Agent Huntley and some renegades of theirs." The secretary added.

"Ladies… Gentlemen. Today we take part in a history that will be rewritten forever in the textbooks, the day those bestowed with power and strength in Kyrat finally did their duty. And protected their people."

* * *

They were over a mile away from Varshakot with the twelve IFVs that made up their Battalion parked behind a hill where they were at, observing the stronghold from afar. Up on top of the hill, covered in shrubbery and bushes lay Hurk and Ajay, Alberto lay next to Hurk with the spotting scope.

"They've built trenches on the outskirts of the wall, that's gonna be troublesome for us." Alberto stated what he thought but Ajay saw it differently.

"If we only had just had five hundred soldiers then fighting that fortress seems unlikely but we don't."

"…." The battalion commander and Alberto knew what he referred to.

It was the firepower that the Ratel IFVs could bring.

"Commander…." Ajay called from the Battalion Commander.

"My lord?"

"The only thing that I would think could threaten the crew might be hand-held RPGs but at a 1000 yards, the fuse should self-destruct before reaching us. We'll engage Varshakot from afar, one kilometer away from the trenches. Our weapons, mortars and tank gun should be able to effectively hit them but their weapons shouldn't hit us." The Battalion Commander understood his precaution was well deserved and it could keep them effective for longer periods. This was a double precaution as the RPG wasn't guaranteed to hit a moving target from that kind of range either, but it wouldn't stop them from trying.

"Yes, sir!"

"Commander remember, we're here to hit Golden Path hard and that's it. Make sure you and the men have breathing space to escape from this in one piece."

"Thank you for your concern, my lord! I will take it to heart."

"I'll leave overall command of the battalion to you shall I?"

"If that is what you wish, my lord."

"I wouldn't want to interfere with your management of your battalion, Commander. Me and my men will do our best to suppress them as well."

The Battalion Commander was slightly elated that he had been relied upon even in this intense hour, it gave him great pride that the Northern Demon desired his help.

"Rest assured, my lord! Me and my men will do the same." He saluted and left to mount the vehicles with the rest.

In their possession currently were twelve Ratel IFVs and many armed trucks and technical. There weren't many IFVs available as some were undergoing modernization and conditioning, but the vehicles they had at hand were enough. Three were of the 81mm mortar variety, four were armed with 20mm rapid fire cannons, two were recovery vehicles, two more were 90mm armed gun carriers. The final was the command vehicle that the battalion commander sat it to give orders to the others from in the front. Ajay suggested that the battalion skirmish them from afar till they were weathered out. If Varshakot crumbled to the ground because of the firepower they brought, it would be even better that there would no longer be a stronghold to watch the south lands. From Ajay's previous entrapment in Varshakot, they reportedly took an entire two weeks to repair it to working condition, and this was with the help of the diligent old guard.

"There, to the right of the wall. The one in the bonnie hat, that's our stronghold commandant." Alberto reported through the spotting scope.

"Roger." When he found them on his rifle scope, he loaded in his Mk.211 Raufoss incendiary into the chamber.

"Index it three point five left, elevation on ten." Alberto gave him his readings on the scope, Hurk dialed in the calibrations.

The stronghold commandant perched himself in the open on the wall which he was observing the surroundings with some binoculars. This gave Hurk a clear shot all the way to him without obstruction.

"Commander, when you hear the shot. Commence the attack."

*Yes, my lord.* The Battalion Commander responded crispy.

"It's now up to you, Hurk." Ajay said next to them as he observed the commandant from his own binocular.

Hurk breathed in and out heavily. He had never been put in a situation where everything weighted heavily on his shoulders. Ajay had given him the first shot to kill their highest ranking officer within the stronghold to give the battalion time to get into position from the concealment of the hills and forest. His hands started to shake.

"Scared?" Ajay asked casually.

"..Y-…Yeah!"

"I'm glad you are."

"Why?" Hurk asked confused but kept his eye on the target.

"That just means you still cherish life and therefore fear taking it. As you continue taking, over time you might lose that conscience entirely…. Like we have. But what you're about to do isn't simply killing a man for the sake of it. Neither is it for self-preservation, its removing him to save countless others. Every shot you fire from now on will let a thousand keep their lives."

Hurk sighed to relieve himself of the tension and aimed down into the scope.

"Imagine yourself floating in a vast ocean of water, the water so clean, its marine blue. You submerge yourself into the motionless water. The deeper you go, the colder it is." Ajay psyched him in preparation to take the commandant's life. Hurk returned to normal breathing, but now there was a glint in his eye that had never been there before. He breathed in to take the shot.

"No change in readings, fire when ready." Alberto told him.

Hurk felt a sensation as if he were an eagle looking down at a rabbit that naively grazed upon his field as he zeroed in on Commandant's head.

(BANG) Hurk had sent a payload of .50 cal incendiary and explosive towards his helpless target over a thousand metres from his position. His target's head exploded and corpse still standing headless, Ajay patted his back and dashed towards the stronghold via the cover of the fields of poppy plants. The report of Hurk's shot only came three seconds after the hit and put the rest of the old guard who weren't aware of the death of their commandant look around anxious. There they found his body eerily still standing, they guessed it was a sniper and hit the deck and reducing their ability to notice the vehicles that were arriving, just as Ajay planned. He reached where the bushes ended and the trench just a few metres from him in front but chose to hide in the bushes as the Golden Path warriors scurried around to take counter measures against the hidden sniper. Assembling a party to go out with patrolling vehicles. They did not know that the sniper wasn't the only one outside their walls. After receiving the re-corrected calibrations from Alberto, Hurk proceeded to kill some of the soldiers that were driving the convoy of troops out of the stronghold, causing their vehicles to go out of control and crash. This forced some of the passengers that survived too alight and run for the tree line where they weren't expecting the mechanized battalion to come out and ambush them. The battalion supported by the armored vehicles came crashing through the forest and ran over some while maintaining the push.

By this time, the remaining stronghold dwellers and sappers by the trenches realized what had transpired. It wasn't a lone sniper but a full on attack. The battalion split based on the three companies that formed its full strength, attacking from the North, South and West. The lake lay to the East and was inaccessible, or so everyone thought. Ajay was sneaking in from the lakeside pass the newly dug trenches.

The last time they were trapped in Varshakot, Ajay blew the well and sealed it shut with the roof collapsed on top of it. If they did rebuild the well, it would be accessible again. If not, he'd blow a hole with the bag full of C4.

Ajay moved quickly into the waters pass the trench line on the lake area that was vacant as everyone else was dedicating their focus to the mechanized battalion that was pummeling them heavily with mortar and cannon fire. If it was the usual Golden Path, they would have raised the white flag due to the firepower that could level the stronghold. But they weren't, either way it didn't matter to Ajay.

He had once gone up against a squad of old guard that renegade in the previous timeline and Sabal sent him to eliminate them for fear they would sell their troop positions.

The strength they had was above a Royal Guard soldier which was impressive for some. But Ajay knew they had one fatal flaw, they were too rigid to change. In other words, if something happened not as expected or how they trained in their old units they would revert back to basic 101 survival instincts and ignore all communication with one another like it was every man for himself. Instead of an organized unit it became a mob of fighters instead. Not communicating was something that could cause an entire army to crumble and that was what Ajay would do. It would make life easier for the battalion to deal with them from afar as they scattered about doing what each of them though was best of themselves. Perhaps Yuma had noticed this trend and employed it herself against them all those years ago.

Ajay swam quickly into the underwater tunnel under the jetty, he didn't want to spend too long in open water especially when it was infested with demon fish. He noticed a trip mine placed against the opening of the tunnel entrance. Apparently they knew about the tunnel, Ajay realized his thinking was rather wishful. These were twenty year veterans, they knew almost every landscape including Uttar with the exception to the current valley of death. There were likely more mines inside. Ajay wondered what would he do. (Click) Ajay snapped his fingers as he thought up something. They anticipated someone coming through the tunnel, so let them think someone was actually trying it. Ajay proceeded to deactivate the mine and enter the submerged tunnel.

And no less than twenty metres into the tunnel he found the next trip-mine. Instead of deactivating it he placed his C4 charge and rigged it to blow in one minute. The theory was, that the tremor from the explosion would alert them to the presence in the well and concentrate forces there for an anticipated attack. Ajay climbed upon the jetty soaked and walked towards the wall, his end didn't seem to have a single sentry watching while the other side, mayhem had broken loose as Golden Path and Royal Army exchanged gunfire in a long range skirmish. The Royal army had the advantage of being buttoned-up within the vehicles and firing from the ports on the side. The probability of getting hit was almost nothing, while the Golden Path had their heads exposed from the trenches although their silhouettes were of low-profile. Ajay fired the grapple hook from his gauntlet and scaled the empty side of the wall and took cover behind the buildings.

(BOOOM)

"What was that?!"

"Could it be there's someone in the emergency escape?"

"You! Bring fifty and watch the well!"

Ajay eavesdropped upon the likely second-in-command and subordinate.

Currently, there was a thousand garrisoned in Varshakot which was an over excessive amount for the stronghold's size. With the first strike there was likely only eight hundred left from the hundred plus they killed with the element of surprise.

But it wouldn't be enough for five hundred to besiege a stronghold with currently eight hundred over warriors. Especially when they were fighting home base. That was why Ajay had infiltrated the stronghold under their noses. He was going to demolish their ammo cache and supply store. There was barely anyone inside the buildings that Ajay darted across. They were either up upon the walls or in the incomplete trenches outside fighting.

A stretcher passed by him and entered a garage, which was used to store the wounded away from battle. Ajay realized he was running out of concealment towards the ammo cache under the bell in the centre of the compound.

"Commander, this is Badala. Don't respond to my call, send a barrage of smoke screen into the stronghold." He clicked into the radio and waited for the battalion commander to order the mortars to fire their smoke into the compound.

Minutes later he could hear the whistling of the bombs coming.

"Incoming!" The warriors thought it was high explosive raining down and ran for cover.

The shells airburst overhear the stronghold and concealed the entire area with smoke, the area of visibility was up to a metre in front.

"Smoke?"

"Are they stupid or something?" One laughed.

"Trying to smoke us out? Dream on!"

-Idiots!-

But it was all to the benefit of Ajay as he dashed out to the ammo cache and passed a few casually as if he were one of the many dispatch troopers running about relaying messages. They still stuck to the old fashion word of mouth method which confused Ajay when a radio was greatly affordable in their day and age. They were like old folks that were distrustful to new tech and only trusted things in their generation.

Ajay reached the ammo cache and stuck an armed C4 charge behind the many crates of explosives, he figured that now that he'd accomplished he biggest objective within the walls it was time to do a little more damage while the smoke was still present.

-Let's demolish Varshakot shall we.-

* * *

The crack of gunfire and explosions from afar could be heard echoing into the corridors where the prison cells were and where Daisy was being transported back to her cell with the rest of her companions.

"Move!" The guard shoved her as she took her time.

"Alright, stop being pushy!"

The guard kicked her to the floor.

"Don't get wise with us, girl! Sabal may want you alive but anything can happen in De Pleur's city." He grinned along with his partner. They were the Royal army soldiers which were under Paul's command during and after his defection. The Army classed them simply as "renegades". By military law, they were deserters and guilty of treason as well. The penalty was death or life imprisonment.

But they didn't care, their actions up till now was enough to send them to court over and over. They had occasionally extorted the villages nearby and pillaged, tortured and raped civilian just for the fun of it. Paul barely kept them on a tight leash so they went wild.

Daisy heaved herself up from the floor where they kicked her and moved on until they reached the cell where her friends were.

"Daisy?"

Daisy entered the cell when the guard shoved her in and locked the bars. Liza and Riley were the first to go over and check on her followed by Steven and Oliver.

"I'm fine there's no need to worry, this trip was well worth it."

"Did you fuck him?" Steven went straight to the point.

"Steve!" Liza called him out as he said rather insensitive things.

"Drop dead, Steven!" Daisy scorned him as did Riley.

"Never mind him, are you okay?" Riley asked out of concern as she had bruises all over her body from where Sabal and the guards had manhandled her.

"I'm fine, but it nearly did happen a while ago. If not for that radio broadcast, it might have been the case." Daisy hugged her shoulders as she remembered his revolting touch.

"What could possibly make that horny two-face forget about you over a radio broadcast?" Riley laughed a bit then said sorry as he realized it was insensitive as well.

"It was his opponent, that Badala fellow again."

"Fill us in, sister. Don't leave us hangin!" Oliver said as she begun to have her own silent thoughts on the matter.

"R-Right!" She tended to forget that Oliver was more intelligent than his habit of excessive substance consumption portrayed him to be.

She told them of the whole incident and what the radio broadcast was about. Her friends listened attentively to her as they also widened their eyes in amazement. Steve listened from his corner as well. After she had told them of her account they had a minute to process their thoughts before they debated. It was a common occurrence for them to get several opinions on an account out of the cells to increase their understanding of the geographic of the area.

"That sounds badass!" Oliver expressed his opinion on the matter in the bluntest of ways.

"This Tarun Matara sounds like some sort of religious shrine maiden." Liza said.

"It sounds like Sabal had the intention to have that girl become that next religious leader, perhaps to puppet her from behind. Maybe he'd have her declare a kind of "crusade" against the monarchy." The rest seem to agree with Riley's analysis, knowing Sabal's personality it was likely the case.

"Whatever it was that Badala crumbled his dream. To think he destroyed a temple so that the girl could live a normal life, he sounded like he was close to that girl. Maybe he isn't such a bad person as all these rebels make him out to be." Liza thought optimistically.

"We'd hope that too for our own sake but frankly it's too wishful thinking. He didn't earn a name like Northern Demon for nothing, something about him was already monstrous to begin with."

"…. He sounded hurt." Daisy recalled the way he talked on that Golden Path warrior, Kamala she thought her name was. It sounded like he genuinely lost her to Sabal and was declaring his vengeance upon him.

"Over that girl you mentioned earlier? You sure he wasn't using it as a political maneuver to march into the Golden Path's territories?" Riley kept a logical approach towards their assumptions.

"No… I'm fairly certain he really did hope she would stay alive to change this rebel group, but realistically speaking, with a leader as sadistic and repulsive as Sabal it's no wonder something like this happened."

"Also that Badala sounded like an American." Daisy dutifully informed them.

"What?"

"So he's from the states? Doesn't that increase our chances of cooperation?"

"As if we have anything to contribute, he might not even be from there at all. Maybe educated their only." Although Steven was pragmatic about it his words did have some truth in the matter.

But it wasn't the only thing Daisy realized about that voice, for some reason it sounded very familiar. And she rarely couldn't remember a friend's appearance or voice. Who in the world was he?

"Oh! Almost forgot, here." Daisy reached under her boot and retrieved the knife and string.

"Nice!"

"Nice going, Daise!"

"Oliver, you sure you can pick this lock with it?"

"Relax, sis. This is more than enough, here." Oliver proceeded to use the knife he received to unlock the chain to his leg. The link fell off his leg almost in an instant.

"Alright!-….sorry…" Riley controlled his excitement.

"Who do you think escaped those drug house raids all this while?"

"Man. For a pot head, you sure have some decent skills."

"Now all we have to do is wait for the right moment."

Whenever that was.

* * *

The marines escorted Willis who was on his way to Varshakot as he sat in the back of the truck speaking on a radio set to Jason.

"Jason, Badala's been spotted leading an attack on Varshakot stronghold."

*That's not far from where I am, I'll head their this instant.*

"Try to hurry up a notch, superior numbers don't seem to hold him back, justifiable on several occasions."

*I'm doing my best, what about you?*

"Where do ya think I'm headed now to advise those dinosaurs!" Willis put down the radio set and rested against the window of the truck to get some shut eye.

Then his satellite phone rang.

"Goddamnit!- Hello? This the cocksucker that ruined my nap?"

*It's been a while, Willis. Are you done fooling around in Kyrat? And did you already waste those jarhead I sent for you?* An angered voice called out over the phone.

"When I'm done I'll call you back, sweetheart." He turned off the phone and went back to sleep like the call was unimportant.

(Ring) (Ring) (Ring)

"Jesus Christ!"

He pressed the answer button. "What is it?"

*You're stayed for roughly two months in that god forsaken country. I've waited long enough, you've over stayed your little detour.*

"Hey! Who do you think made this this mess in the first place? You keep pressuring me I'm gonna call the direct line to the oval office and show them our dirty secret. To deal with a scandal during their office term that could threaten their retirement plan. You know what they do to spook who fuck up, right?"

*I'm coming over.*

"Good, have a nice flight!" As he was about to pull out from the phone-

*I've contracted CNS to deal with this problem for us.* Willis drop his sunglasses from the shock he received.

"You brought a fucking conglomerate into this? That's very Un-American, Lynch buddy!... Oh! I get it! You greedy little snot, you gave them jurisdiction into some theaters in exchange for some mula. I guess that character in you never changes, huh?" Willis taunted him.

"…" Lynch not refuting him proved that all he said was right.

"You know it better than I do, now fuck off! I'm trying to take a rest before you arrive and hound me over every little detail." He turned off the phone without waiting for a reply.

Willis knew what Lynch was doing clearly, it was what he had foreseen that would damage the integrity of their constitution and governing power. And that was privatizing armed forces.

The moment a countries interests became part of a company, it spelt doom for democracy. Everything would instead done at the request of a board, if it wasn't profitable it was trashed, if it overspent it was cancelled. The very foundation which built their defense had crumbled or was on the verge of crumbling. And Paul Lynch was being a part of this mutiny, he was a done traitor in Willis's books.

CNS was a well-known company that was very well on the verge of doing this. Some Kraut and fellow American who were both fucking old formed this company way back that focused on computer tech and pharmaceuticals. But more importantly, were a leader in nano-technology. When Lynch said he involved them, he was referring to CNS dispatching their PMC force under the supervision of Lynch to Kyrat. Lynch would have company in the form of private contractors, that were even more well equipped than the US special forces, likely carrying some of the Companies experimental military products as well. While they would be formidable, Lynch wasn't their master and he was only handed a short leash on them.

The Company was the one that gave the orders, Lynch effectively was just along for the ride.

(Screech) The truck grinded to a halt roughly.

"Jesus, watch that stop!" Willis cursed.

"We're here." Stew said to him from the driving compartment.

Willis got out and looked around. " Oi, marine! Captain Goh! Where the fuck is here?" As the marines alighted the trucks and surrounded him.

"Here is where the line ends for you, Willis Huntley." Maya appeared with the Italian mercenaries that closed the circle around Willis.

Upon realizing what had happened, he laughed uncontrollably.

Just as he had turned Paul Harmon over with promises of asylum, so did Badala do so with the marine captain in secret. He didn't think the marines would be smart or daring enough with his threat to Lynch. But the marines proved him wrong.

Willis took out a fresh Cuban cigar and lit it, taking a few puffs before himself fell into the Royal Army's custody.

"Touché, Bads!"


	35. Chapter 34 - A Forest Drenched in Red

Author's notes:

The poll so far in the DaisyXJason or LizaXJason is in ratio Daisy: Liza of 3:1 when the first to reach five is the decided choice. My choice is also in it, i vote Liza cause someone had to vote for the underdog.

(Update) - 12 Oct

Newly made poll can be found in my profile page. I'll check the highest by Chapter 38.

Also, you wanted a standoff between Jason and Ajay for a while now. I'm giving you a standoff right here.

* * *

The battle had already been going on for about ten minutes, at any rate the reinforcements from the nearby muster camp would arrive in full force from the SOS the stronghold dwellers sent. By that time, four hundred fighters had lost their lives and the remainder returned to the protection of the stronghold walls. Ajay had a surprise ready as the prepared to leave the stronghold compound.

The battalion had yet to sustain serious casualties, those that were hit were immediately medivac out of the area towards the King's Bridge barracks. The stronghold garrison were fully aware of this and it took a toll on their morale. Their only hope was to hold until reinforcements came to aid them in the defense against the Royal Army. What confused them was that the Royal army did not show any sign of besieging the walls and only skirmishing from afar with their heavy support of high-velocity infantry guns and mortars. There was also another element that agitated the garrison defenders, and that was the sniper that was slowly picking off their numbers. They still couldn't locate him, and when they did they had no choice but to contend with the Royal army.

Vengeance against the man who killed their commander without even facing him head on could not be done.

Ajay had placed the last of his C4 charges in a major piece of hardware that was necessary for the garrisons continued survival. The ammo cache, triage supply, armory, and motor pool had a charge hidden carefully near other explosive compounds to enhance the effect. He had done it right on time as the smoke of the mortar rounds started to dissipate.

Ajay ran through the area towards the intact well that was likely repaired. As he did, the Golden Path fighters started to recognize who he was from appearance.

"Enemy in the courtyard!"

"Shit! It's Badala!"

"Stop! Maim him if possible, we're mount him on the wall!"

All faces on the wall turned to the courtyard where he was. Ajay had been found out, he didn't waste a single second in running and gunning down a few in his way as he made his way to the well.

Gun fire laced the streets, in an attempt to hit him with potshots. He was almost to the well but unfortunately the suppression fire volume was too thick and he was stuck in between cover of some metal crates.

"Don't let him escape!"

"Third squad, follow me! We'll capture him!"

To them it was a golden opportunity that the perpetrator had presented himself to them. Capturing him would likely end the Golden Path's more prominent nightmare where thousands had failed before and one that did, had completely fucked it up.

"Badala to Commander, bomb the stronghold. I'm done inside!"

*Affirmative. Commencing barrage!*

He had only three seconds from when the howling bombs could be heard to when they would drop to dash towards the well and escape the artillery strike. Ajay positioned himself and waited.

The howling of the mortar rounds against the wind could be heard.

"Incoming!"

"Relax, it's just smoke again!"

"How would you know?! Get down!"

Ajay took this opportunity to make a mad dash for the remaining few metres there were to the well and dived into the well as the bombs dropped onto the compound killing those who thought it was smokescreen and only those under buildings and those taking cover survived.

(Splash) Ajay entered the water of the tunnel.

He got up again and pulled out the detonator.

"Good riddance." (Click)

(BOOBOBOBOBOBOOM)

From the outside, the stronghold of Varshakot was erupting into flames. All the defenders vaporized in an instant. Injured and unscathed initially all suffered the same fiery death and pressure from the explosive force that toppled Varshakot to the ground into nothingness.

The Battalion cheered for a small victory over a larger opponent, the Commander wore a worried expression as he had been aware of Ajay's incursion into the stronghold during the demolishing.

*Badala to Commander, pick off the remaining survivors.*

But his worries were for naught as the ever calm voice of the Vice-Lord replied to him.

"Yes, milord! What're you standing around for?! Button up! We've got to clear the remnants before their reinforcements come!" He ordered his forces through the radio and the Company that was with him.

Ajay immerged from the jetty onto the shore where the smoking wreck of what was once the mighty Varshakot was now leveled to the ground in rumble. Through the smoke where what was once the compound stood some Golden Path warriors that were unscathed but we too shell shocked to do anything, they stood stationary or walked about like zombies. The thought that they were the invulnerable pride of the Golden Path had been shattered. Day in and day out, younger Golden Path members that survived talked about their encounter and luck in encountering Badala. The old guard would rant about how weak they were to battle and that they were inexperienced.

If only they knew, the nightmare. Those that were left in Varshakot all thought that.

Ajay walked through the smoking rubble and gun down some that were in his sight, the Royal Army caught up and did the same. They never questioned Ajay's morality, they just did as ordered. For Ajay, he had made himself extremely clear in his broadcast. Not a single one would be left standing that wore the Golden Sash of the Golden Path movement.

The command vehicle drove up to meet with Ajay, the hatch popped open and out came the Battalion Commander and Anish who was one of his lieutenants. The walked up through the rubble to where Ajay was, standing in front of the last survivor of Varshakot's garrison force.

The man wore a madden smile as he curled up like a fetus, a look that said he would never recover from this event ever again for the rest of his mortal life.

Anish took out his sidearm to grant him euthanasia, but Ajay placed his hand upon his handgun as he walked out.

"He's already dead."

The man was giggling away with tears pouring out from his eye while still in his fetal position, Anish began to understand what he meant and holstered his pistol and walked off with him and his Commander.

"We're leaving, the force that's coming will be twice the size of the garrison today."

The Battalion Commander went off to his Command Vehicle to dispatch orders for their departure. Ajay followed Anish to his armed jeep, ready to leave the site.

"Where to?" Anish inquired as he was not informed on anything else besides the assault for security reasons.

"To meet a very important spook, Maya should have him in custody by now."

They had accomplished more than enough for today. By the time the reinforcements arrive which was any second now, they'd be left with Varshakot stronghold reduced to ground level. At this moment, the assault upon the Golden Path recruitment camp to their west was underway. The Royal Army in collaboration with the Tigers fought with the Camp's garrison as well as the nearby Banapur reserve that would come to support them.

Ajay had not been around to see it when the Old Guard forces of near Tirtha came to Varshakot. Only to find the entire fortress destroyed and all its garrison killed, except for one man. But even then it was hopeless to retrieve information on his account of what happened during the siege. The old guard fighter had lost his mind, his mentality reverted back to that of a child's. Sending a chilling message to the mix Golden Path fighters young and old, that no one was safe from Badala. They didn't have indication from the alert sent by the garrison that Badala was present but it was all too clear he had been there.

Ajay had broken the Golden Path Old Guards' pride.

* * *

The marines walked alongside the Condotierri whom watched over Fredrick's group while they devoted their entire attention to Willis. They were escorted by Maya who took the lead to a checkpoint where they would be picked up by Ajay and the 1st Hussar Battalion that participated in a hit-and-run op. Unbeknownst to them was the magnitude of Ajay's strike against the Golden Path veterans, he and the battalion decimated an entire regiment of old guard with little casualties of their own. Because the old guard had thoroughly underestimated him and the equipment they brought, they also ignored their younger generations' warnings. Maintaining an arrogant and conceit behavior as they expected was deserved to them.

"I hope you're proud of what you're all doing here." Willis said straight to David's face whom was facing the front and didn't bother to turn his head to answer.

"There is no pride nor shame in what I do."

"Really, kidnapping an intelligence agent and defecting to an enemy? What the fuck do you call that? I call it treason!"

"So ironic coming from you, a rogue agent that disobeyed simple orders to fulfil some unfinished grudge at the expense of our nation's integrity!"

"I did it for our country!"

"No…. You did it for yourself!"

"Fucking traitor! You're just like that sissy Lynch, pulling out on the first sign of trouble! If we keep pulling back from everything how the hell are we supposed to protect our own soil?!"

"This isn't the 80s, agent Huntley! We're done fighting the reds, this isn't about keeping communism at bay anymore like Korea, Vietnam or Afghanistan. This is the twenty-first century! The only threats are terrorism and domestic violence." Willis snorted as he was being dragged in cuffs by the marines.

"Really? Is that what JSOC lets you think is happening? Why the hell do you think they sent me to Russia in the first place?! Me! A failed case officer the board ditched in the south pacific for nearly two decades! Somethings happening between us and the Russians again, I just wanted to make sure we had all the options to fall back upon should NATO or Pakistan be unable to hold them and the Chinese off!" Willis justified his entire reason for coming to Kyrat in one long sentence. David was not convinced, he still felt Willis did it as a way of getting back at Lynch and perhaps restoring the CIAs faith in his abilities. If the Russians were really going to war with them, they should have been making more allies instead of destabilizing them just to plunder their resources.

"You know very well that if you had just kept straight for Russia none of this would have happened! Like it or not, Kyrat was a closed case since your organization marooned you on Rook Island to begin with. Seems that twenty years wasn't enough time for you to figure that out!"

"Oh- on the contrary, David. It's made my resolve to finish what I started and where I got fucked over by that pussy Lynch, stronger!"

"Then let me summarize your resolve then shall we? Day 7 of your arrival you supplied military grade equipment from US armories to a terrorist organization in order to usurp the monarchy. This led to the deaths of over twenty-five hundred people because of your actions that forced the local authorities' hands. The more you give to them, the more lives get wasted for nothing!" It was making it clear to Willis his actions were causing the Golden Path to believe they had the strength to go on the offensive but they were just throwing their lives away against the Royal Army and against Badala.

David thought long and hard about the choice he was currently making, to put his trust in a total stranger. Yet his friend, Perkins came back from behind enemy lines unscathed. Badala had let him go without pressing any demands, he merely sent a message that he wished to cooperate in getting them to leave Kyrat just as much as they wanted. He was actually making serious compromise for them to capture Willis when he could simply end his life now with a call to Miss Maya. What the marines needed most was the documents to use as leverage against Lynch to fall in Badala's possession so that he could blackmail Lynch or send a copy of it back to the NSA to have them deal with Lynch.

"You made us kill innocent men and women to let a psychopath lead more to their demise!" It was the one thing David could never forgive Willis for.

"Ha! Don't make me laugh. I never ordered you to do it, I simply suggested… you killed them…. For your country."

For the first time in a long time, David flipped and reached out to punch Willis as hard as he could with bloodshot eyes. But Perkins held him back with some help from Stew, Maya came over and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't indulge him, you won't have to see his face for the remainder of your stay in Kyrat. Mistress Yuma has reserved a cell just for him in Durgesh Prison. He'll fess when he feels like confessing, which I'll guarantee you won't be long."

"Hoho! Dave, let's trust the little lady just this once. If he's going to Durgesh Prison you won't have to worry for another second, that place is a 100% torture reliable….. at least from the stories I heard from Samson and the rest. Hell! I was nearly sent there if they hadn't intervened!" Perkins patted his shoulder a few times to lighten his mood.

"You are so fucked, old man!" Perkins went over to smirk at Willis who concealed his anger briefly.

David sighed to relief himself of unnecessary worry. What was he worried about? Willis was in their hands, soon to be tortured for information. It was only a matter of when would he give in and reveal the location, that was the Interrogators of Durgesh Prisons' job to handle.

David couldn't see a possibility of this turning south in any way conceivable. Everyone whom were his supposed allies were either busy protecting certain installations or dealing with the Royal Army raids upon crucial infrastructure for solidifying the Golden Path's presence in Pacchim Valley. BAdala had dispatched the former paratroopers turned mercenary and an Elite Royal Guard Captain to manage him.

"Keep your eyes peele-." Just as he was about to tell his marines to be on their guard, a knife hooked around his neck and pressed against his throat.

"Dave!" Perkins called out to which all eyes and rifles were pointed to them.

Both David and Jason.

"Drop it!" Jason called out to the marines who pointed their guns at his head, their visible laser pointers circled Jason's forehead to make it clear they meant to kill him. Jason wasn't about to test the marines' marksmanship anytime soon so he pressed the machete further against David's neck till blood trickled down.

"Jas' hell of a time to appear! Weren't you headed for Varshakot?"

"There was nothing left of that stronghold by the time I got there, then I heard you got captured cause you left the radio frequency on."

"Oh!"

Willis realized he did indeed leave it on by accident, but a fortunate one at that.

"Miss Maya take care of my men, you have Agent Huntley now- Urgh!" David knew this kid was trying to use him to trade for Willis but if that happened they'd be back at square one. If it was just his life it shouldn't be a problem, Badala would continue to accommodate his marines.

"Shut up!"

"Sarge, what do we do?" Stew was extremely nervous. Especially with the Condotierri having no attachment to David personally, they could make the call instead of them by shooting them both. But Maya raised her hand to stay their action and they watched over Fredrick and his group.

"I'm Captain Kadayat of Duchess Lau's Royal Guard Hunters, to whom am I speaking to?" Maya tried to be diplomatic about their standoff. Jason responded in kind.

"Jason Brody, no affiliation. You have my friend with you, I want him back."

"Do you even know what this bastard's done? Fucking tourist!" Perkins jabbed at him.

"I don't care, this whole civil war isn't my problem! I'm just here for my friends!"

"What the-…." Perkins and the marines looked to one another wondering if he was serious.

"Jason, don't believe anything they say! They're traitors- Arghh!" Perkins punched him extremely hard till his sunglasses popped off his face and blood ran from it.

"Alright Brody, I'm only gonna say this once. You are in violation of the Joint signatory framework. This man in our custody is a rogue agent of the CIA, your assistance to him earns you an instant treason against the United States. That's article three section three of the United States Constitution! Am I making myself clearer than crystal? So stand down." David explained.

Jason was starting to have doubts about what was really going on.

"You're putting your knife against a Marine, sonny. So I'd advise you to put it down and come quietly."

Jason looked confused now more than ever, he thought he'd seen that uniform somewhere before. It was the woodland green of the Marine Corps, what the hell was going on?

Willis said they renegade, they said he did too. But they were with that chick from the Royal Army, his friends were trapped within the grasp of their sovereign. It was clear who would help him get them out for him. He held the knife close against David once more to show his resolve.

Perkins sighed and took aim at David instead, David looked at him and smiled. He knew what he was about to do, and gave him his blessing. "Do it!"

Jason realized what his hostage was asking and knew he had no alternate solution but to break out of this dead lock. He kicked David into Perkins and Stew's arms as he fired upon the Marines holding Willis down. Two were hit and fell to the ground moaning.

Seeing the brat had broken their captors' line of sight to them, Fredrick and his group tackled the Condotierri and the whole place broke into a brawl. Willis took this opportunity to snatch the keys to his cuffs in possession of one of the marines escorting him and begun working on unlocking his restraints.

David wanted to deal with Willis while he was at it but he had other things to deal with such as Brody who swung his machete at him after he unloaded some shots from his handgun to pin down Perkins and Stew behind a tree.

David kicked up his rifle to block just as the blade reached his face, but the force of the hit pushed him to the ground on his buttocks. Much to his surprise as he was assuming someone of his physical statue not to possess that kind of strength yet he did.

"Watch Willis!" David called to the two pinned behind the tree initially while he dealt with Brody.

Perkins approached Willis and kicked him in the gut and took back the keys. Stew joined the Captain in fighting Brody. Drawing his Ka-Bar knife from his boot because he risked hitting David if he used his rifle.

"I see, you were working with Willis all along." David made the assumption Jason didn't really have any friends here, it was merely a feint. He was on Willis's payroll or at least owed the spook some serious favors.

David and Stew made coordinated attacks with their knives at Brody. Jason brought up his machete to deflect Stew's knife then David swung his knowing Jason couldn't deflect his, or so he thought as Jason used his handgun slide to deter the knife swing. He kicked Stew away and swung under the arm at David who backed away just barely and the knife sliced the fabric to his vest clean off showing how sharp the machete really was.

David's assessment of Brody changed significantly. He found it strange that this kid dressed like he was on vacation was boldly threatening over ten of them to hand Willis over. It wasn't a fool's errand, not with the kind of strength, the ferocity he had.

Jason kicked his knife away, turning him defenseless and was about to meet his maker as Jason thrusted the knife towards his heart. David wore Kevlar but unfortunately, that composite couldn't stop a knife stab despite it absorbing a bullet shot.

"Captain!" Maya fired her rifle in Brody's direction forcing him backwards away from David. David was experiencing many close calls with this Brody fellow, the Royal Guard Captain saved his skin after that close one. Brody shot the back at her and managed to knock the rifle out of her hand but the gun went dry after that. At this time Stew and Perkins converged upon Brody with their knives and engaged in place of David, Maya took out her kukri and joined them in a three on one. Even then, they didn't have the confidence in taking him down.

There was something different about this person from the rest they'd encountered so far, yet somehow all too familiar in his method and efficiency.

"Both of you take the side." Perkins made a quick glance to both Stew and Maya, they quickly nodded and moved in on the offensive.

Perkins went first attacking from the front as the rest attacked from either side. Jason parried his knife and rolled out of the way from the haymaker swings from Stew and brought up his machete in time just as Maya swung hers horizontal. Sparks cascaded off from the contact between the blades as Stew and Perkins recovered to attack him again. But no matter what they did, they couldn't push him back, only suppress him down and out of the fight taking place between the Condotierri and Fredrick's group whom made it clear they weren't intending to sit trial any longer. Perhaps they thought they could hook up with Willis and settle a deal with him. But at the moment they were preoccupied with the Condotierri whom beat them down with batons from their security days at the arsenal because Maya hadn't given them the kill order.

Jason realized that he had gotten himself into a deadlock with the three that were attacking him simultaneously and couldn't break out even if Willis had successfully escaped.

 **-It comes at times like this you should always rely on someone else.-**

-Shut up.-

 **-At this rate, you'll end up on the floor just like that time with that warrior.-** The other self of his laughed maniacally.

Jason really didn't want to feel it again, that sensation of killing, because he knew that if he started it, he would never break out of it ever again. He might be at risk of losing his life if he didn't accept him into his conscience yet would he be the same again after he did it to save himself and by extension his friends.

His arm was getting sore from parrying the swings and stabs of three professional soldiers this was the most stressful situation he'd been in since Buck, Vaas, Hoyt…. That Badala. The last was the worst time of all, it was the only time he'd lost to someone. Yet he didn't lose his life, and ran when chaos broke loose with his tail between his legs. There was that sense of shame that stalked him the entire way back on those fighters' backs, shame to his pride…

….. as a warrior.

Seeing this guard dropping due to some internal conflicting thoughts, Maya seized the opportunity to disable him with cuts to his leg.

...

...

 **-Let me in…-**

* * *

…

…

(Clang) Maya swung her blade thinking it was too late for him to block, she was sadly mistaken as her kukri was parried right in front of her just as his back was to her as well. Maya felt the blade push strongly against her to a point it lifted her off her feet and sent her flying against a tree.

"Ahh!"

"Miss Maya!" Stew called out.

(Clang) Stew swung his knife again at the same time as Perkins, he managed to parry Perkins but had no other instrument to block Stew's knife as it went straight for his chest.

An iron grip clasped onto the steel tang of the knife instead, Stew nearly lost grip of his blade as he found a hand wrapped around the blade. Bleeding but still holding firm like a metal vice. Stew barely had time to think about it as Brody launched a kick to his knee and dislocated it. (Crack)

"Yeearrgghh!" Stew fell to the ground wailing in pain.

"Stew! Damnit!" Perkins was left alone against Brody with both of his companions disabled in a mere five seconds. That monster attacked Perkins with his machete, with Perkins deflecting those heavy blows as best as he could, but the strikes were uprooting him from the ground and his arm was numb from the pain. David watched in horror as Perkins engaged with that monstrous kid, he wanted to help him as much as possible but he was the only one watching Willis. All of their hard effort till today amounted to capturing him alive. His rifle was nowhere to be found and he was left with his knife in the boot like all the others.

He pressed Willis to the ground easily, the man was a non-combatant, he doubt he could even lift a stick against someone. And yet, Willis was responsible for more deaths than his entire units tally all together. That man was Himmler incarnate, he sure looked the part and acted as such.

Perkins was already on the ground parrying his blows aside till that Brody fellow kicked his knife aside and impaled his hand to the ground.

"Arrghhh!"

"Perkins! Fuck!" He gave up on Willis and dashed forward to save his friend, he had deeply regretted leaving him behind before and made it his mission not to repeat that mistake.

But his usefulness was just as much as one of them fighting against him. As a throwing knife stuck itself into his right arm and his grip on his bayonet dropped to the ground. But even then, David refused to give up as he dropkicked Brody, unfortunately the latter grabbed his leg and flung him effortlessly into his partner Perkins. "Offfh!"

"Haa!" Maya appeared behind Brody with the kukri in hand slashing down at him once more. But instead of parrying he grabbed her arm in midair and wrapped the other hand around her neck. He lifted her up throttling her.

"Urrgghhh…" The force of Brody's grip was chocking her till she could even mutter a word. She tried desperately to break his grip over her neck but with one hand it was almost as impossible as with the other that was held up by Brody.

In her struggle, Maya noticed a very queer expression that Brody wore unlike before.

Brody was smiling.

More like grinning to be exact, it was like this was all a game to him and he'd been toying with them for the last fifteen minutes. The marines weren't able to recover in time, Stew was the worst of them having his leg dislocated at the knee and Perkins impaled to the ground from his shoulder blade.

She was reaching the end of her tolerance without air and felt like blacking out.

-So that's it… he's exactly like Ajay….-

The thought of Ajay swam in her head for the last time, she felt regret for the way she spoke to him all this while. She was too quick to judge people, a bad habit she retrieved from Yuma's scrutinizing gaze and the general distrustful people she dealt with in the past such as the people who imprisoned her brother.

-Ajay…I'm sorry…-

A shadow appeared between Brody and Maya forcing him to release his grip on reflex to the bad things that were coming.

" **You're finally here!"** Brody said in an antagonizing yet playful manner, still wearing that sadistic smile of his.

Ajay responded with fury in his eyes as he swung his kukri at him.

* * *

Jason darted aside with ease to the strike that struck the tree behind him and forced splinters to fly everywhere from it. Ajay picked up Maya's fallen kukri to add to his own and went on the offensive against that foreign brat for the second time.

He was at the pick-up point with the escort party with Willis being late by five minutes, then he heard the gun fire in the distance and ran ahead of the battalion and Hurk and Alberto. What did he see? That American brat that interfered with his intervention at Baghadur, choking Maya to death.

He was also there when Kamala died, if he hadn't been there he wouldn't have had his back exposed to Sabal and his lowlife tactics.

-Taking another person I hold dear? You're seeking.….. DEATH!-

Ajay attacked him with his blade but every time he parried it aside and countered immediately. Ajay fell into shock from the difference in the movement this brat had with his last encounter where he was good but not this good.

But the thing that ticked him off the most was that irritating smile he wore on his face, he was just now strangling Maya with the same expression of satisfaction. Satisfaction…. Was the expression of Sabal's face when he executed him in the past, the look Paul had when he was at his death door the arena.

"Ah…"

Ajay could feel a warm familiar sensation welling inside of his body.

-NoNoNo! Stop! Not again!-

The infectious feeling was overpowering his sense of reason again, taking over his body and distributing euphoria throughout his blood. Ajay fought back to gain control of his consciousness, the feeling of losing control scared him the most. There were still people, still friends in the area he could unwittingly kill in a blood rage.

" **Don't get distracted. It'll cost ya, esé!"** For some reason he spoke in an unfamiliar Hispanic accent.

Ajay used the two kukri blades to hook the machete from chopping him in half, the force of the blow actually brought him to his knees. "Kuh!"

" **Was it because I almost killed your woman, could it be? Could it be?"** He said in a teasing manner.

It was at this moment something snapped in Ajay's control, the sensation rushed through and flooded his consciousness.

"…..dead…" He murmured.

" **Mmm? You'll have to speak up if you want someone to hear ya?"**

"I said…."

Ajay pushed his blades forward and actually flung him against the stump much to the current Brody's surprise, who thought that was all Ajay could do against him. It apparently not the case, Brody got up quickly to meet whatever threat was coming for him, now that his opponent was something he couldn't afford to not be serious about.

"YoU'rE DeAD!" The demon growled with hatred leaping towards him with his left arm raised back to spring forward in a horizontal slash.

Brody jumped out of the way on time as the blade grazed the hair off his head, but it was a small price to pay for carelessness compared to the tree that took the full force of his strike and actually collapsed to the side where it had been sliced in half.

The commotion made by Brody and the demon on the attack could not be ignored by those currently in a brawl or lying on the ground. The demon continued to chase Brody, giving him no time to recover. Brody raised his machete to block the blow he was about to receive, upon contact the sparks weren't the only one that flew. The force was enough to send him off his feet once more.

Brody had no choice but to recover and keep taking hits, it wouldn't be long before he'd take injuries and would fall into this demon's grasp as its current attitude guaranteed his slow death would be painful.

Brody picked up an assault carbine that David lost and fired at the demon.

He barely got off a salvo as the demon was already upon him closing the gap between them in a blink of an eye, the bullets impacted its torso with no change in its momentum. He was starting to have conflicting thoughts that he might have bit into more than he could chew. **"Tsk! You're more difficult than I anticipated, Jas' woulda had a hard time with you. So I've got no choice but to represent!"**

"You'Re DEad!" The demon roared in an unstable manner, grazing Brody's face with the kukri and causing blood to trickle.

Willis who saw this, Jason being pushed around by Badala felt himself in true danger from the situation and snuck pass David's watch while he and the rest were watching the one-sided spar.

He got up and dashed as fast as he two legs could carry him while Jason had them distracted. But he didn't account for the demon's vigilant gaze.

While holding Brody back with his kukri he raised his arm towards Willis who ran with his back to him.

(BAAM) The grapple gun on his gauntlet fired off and flew in the air like an arrow.

(SCHUCK) "AAaarrrhhhh! Fuck!" The hook pierced through Willis's thigh, causing him to collapse and grasp his thigh in pain. The demon depressed the trigger and reeled him towards it, much to his terror.

" **Catch n' release! Motherfucker!"** Brody swung to cut the monofilament wire but a kick to his gut sent him on his belly. The demon appeared before Willis who was too stun to move. The demon pressed his foot onto Willis's leg and a flash of steel parted it from the knee onwards.

Willis screamed in agony as the demon drew blood from him. His blood splattered across the demon's face, then a change happened as the demon reached out to wipe its face and gazed deeply at the blood upon it. It brought its hand towards its face to taste the blood and gorged itself into the sweet taste of his blood.

All those who saw had a chill running through their spines. It was animalistic.

It was just like that time in Shanath Arena.

This thought went through all of the Condotierri as they had been present to see him beat the arena on his own and come out of a mortal wound like nothing they had ever seen.

(BAAM) (BAAM)

The shots impacted the demon's protective vest and it sustained no injury.

" **Oi! Who told you ta do your own thing, vampire boy!"** Brody swung his machete onto the demon with his back turned, hoping to get rid of it while he still had the opportunity.

(CHINK) The sound wasn't that of the knife plunging into its flesh, neither was it that of it clashing with a blade….. But teeth clamped upon Brody's machete.

The demon caught his blade with its teeth.

Stabbing into his arm while the opportunity presented itself. **"Arrghhhh! Oh fuck! Even after all that…..(Sigh)"** Brody seemed resigned to his fate that was passed onto him and laughed sadly as the demon raised his arm to chop his head off.

(BABABABABAAM) The sound of automatic fire ripped through the air and out from the forest came the Golden Path warriors.

"There he is, protect Brody!" One called out to the rest as they converged. The marines picked up their rifles and joined the Condotierri in fighting back.

Brody had only a brief look at the demon's yellow irises and could tell he was playing with too strong a fire and dashed off into the forest. Three came to face the demon who held Brody by the neck as he stabbed him in the arm.

"You're dead, Badal- Arrghhh!" He had no chance to respond as the demon switched its target from Brody to the erratic Golden Path and severed the threes' lower bodies from their torsos.

 **Ok!-….. Ok!-… Fuck this I'm outta here!...** Arghh! Fucking asshole!" Jason reverted back to his normal self, when he came to he ran to Willis and picked him up while the demon was distracted with the Golden Path that came to rescue him apparently.

"Come on!" "Urrghh!" He picked up the now one-legged Agent Huntley and ran towards Banapur under the cover of the Golden Path forces that appeared here for some reason.

"Shit! He's getting away!" Perkins said to David and Maya.

"We've got bigger problems!" David told him back as they fired upon the Golden Path warriors for their survival.

From afar, David spotted Grilles and his subordinates running to follow up with Brody and Willis.

"Fredrick!" He called out and the former turned around once and looked at him for a moment before running to catch up with the rest.

"Damn it!" Not only did he lose Willis but he lost control of his own men, Fredrick and those in his squad would most definitely join Willis as the only alternative to their predicament.

The push from the Golden Path was starting to get heavier as they managed to liberate Brody, the only person worthy of respect in the Golden Path since his assistance in the failed Baghadur assault reached every warriors' ears. By far he was the only person to contend with the Northern Demon.

That very person that had now turned its attention towards them and begun to feast upon them for their blood. A shadow leaped over the marines and Maya into the frontlines and started a massacre upon the Golden Path.

"It-.. It's Badala!"

"Arghh!"

"AAHHH!"

The demon brushed through the ranks like they were reeds with Kukri in hand. The grapple line and hook it used as a chain weapon as it twirled around in the air and shredded whoever was within the range of its spinning blade.

Blood splatted both the tree trunks in the forest as well as the demon who bathed in it, empowering it to kill further, faster and more.

"It's exactly like in Shanath!" Samson said as he was walking towards the marines and Maya. They had the luxury to regroup because what remained of the Golden Path force was fiercely trying to stay alive from the demon's rampage.

"What do you mean…..?"

"Miss Maya, you have to communicate with him or he won't come back!"

"I- I don't understand!"

"Neither do we but his rampage had something to do with you."

-With me? How in-….-

Saras did not hide what she saw that day in Shanath Arena from Maya, even though Ajay had told her not to disclose it. She spoke of something monstrous inside of him that he would lose control of in the event of extreme stress and pain. It was all summed up in a single word….

"Berserk….." She murmured.

She sprinted in the direction that the demon went. Perkins stood before her.

"Where are you going?"

"Get out of the way!"

"You crazy?! Did you see what he did?! Both of 'em are crazy!- Owww!" She kicked him in the leg as she ran pass him up the forest where the demon chased after Brody.

"I won't let you be consumed!"

* * *

"Come on! Come on! We have to leave, there's no telling how long our brothers can hold him off!" The Golden Path warrior informed Jason as he carried Willis with the help from Grilles whom seem to have joined them unexpectedly and helped them escape too.

"(Huff)… (Huff)…. I owe ya one Jas!" Willis said with great difficulty.

"Save it for later!"

"Ha! Diligent as ever, hey kid!... (Huff)… Fuck! He turned me into a handicap!" He looked at his stump of a leg that was left and still bleeding slightly even after the medical first aid being applied.

"Sir, on our six!" Grilles told them as he spotted a quick moving shadow zipped pass the tree line with inhuman speed.

"Shit! He's back!"

"Brothers! Hold him long enough for Jason Brody to escape! For the future of Kyrat! For Country!" The Golden Path commander howled to rally the escorts of Jason.

"Jason Brody, return to Banapur. Our brothers need you for the trials ahead, I leave them in your care!" He wished him well before turning with his men to face the demon.

Jason held a look of reluctance but he had no choice, he had to survive. Willis had to survive if he stood a chance at finding his friends and family.

"I'm sorry….."

Jason ran with Willis on his back to escape the forest with Fredrick's company in tow.

They weren't there to see it, the end result of the Golden Path forces that were under the command of the Field Commander whom survived the Baghadur assault, thanks to Jason. In their gratitude, they sacrificed their lives, hoping that this karma would be sufficient in preserving the Golden Paths future. They fought to the bitten and hopeless end only to die at the hands of the Northern demon that fell into a bloody rampage by the very man they saved.

From that day onwards, that particular forest held a prominent name in the Kyrati history and geographic documentations, because of the amount blood that stained the Birchwood trees.

That forested area became known as….

the Crimson Woods.


	36. Chapter 35 -The Golden Path Resurgent

Author's notes:

In case some of you don't know, I've put up a poll in my profile page of Havok038, you just need to click that. Yup! I managed to set it up! This poll will close by chapter 38, so I'll remind you all when we get close to the date. I'll have to trouble the people who wrote on PM and review to take some tim to click your vote again. Other than that, happy voting! I hope your choice is the same as the rest.

Things are gonna get serious now. The plot thickens. ಠ‿ಠ

* * *

The remnants of the Golden Path battalion that had come to rescue Jason Brody had successfully lured the demon away from him to allow him and his companions and that CIA agent to escape. They had the intention to leave as well but the demon gave them no quarter or opportunity, so they chose to stay and fight a hopeless fight against a foe they had no chance of killing let alone beating. If Brody, the man whom their commander placed hope in keeping the Northern Demon off the playing field between the Golden Path and the Royal Army was having trouble to the point he had been forced to retreat then what hope did they have.

(BOOOM) The sound of a cannon resounded through the forest and obliterated a group standing near a tree with shell fragments flying everywhere from the shot from the demon's double barreled known to it as the "Slayer". The ragged remains of the three warriors caught in the blast were shredded beyond recognition as they slumped to the ground.

The field commander with the remainder forces that barely made up a platoon now retreated into a rock canyon by chance and continued to run, all the while hearing the sound of colleagues far back being slaughtered.

Then their hope truly shattered when up ahead appeared a dead end in the form of a cliff wall. Trying to double back, the demon came into view.

"Shoot! Shoot!"

"Fuck! Why did it have to be- Erraaghh!"

"No!No!NO!- Urrghh!"

The sound of flesh and bone being cleaved violently added to the oppressive aura that forced the warriors into submission, to resign themselves to their fate.

"Don't falter! We might not kill him but we can surely give him a wound to remember us by!" The field commander's encouraging speech rallied the men to launch their final desperate push back against the demon.

"Grenade out!" One warrior remembered that rifles weren't the only weapon in their possession and pulled the pin to a hand grenade in his possession. The demon stopped in his tracks upon seeing this, the warrior got careless thinking the demon hesitated over the firepower of it. He threw the grenade towards the demon hoping the blast would at least wound it.

Instead of what they had foreseen, the demon kicked the grenade back to the group of warriors and the grenade went off directly above them. The air burst effect of the grenade maximized the killing potential of it and wounded and knocked out a few more.

(BOOOM) The second round in the slayers barrel roared killing two more warriors.

The demon was now five metres away from the field commander, the last five warriors stood in its way from their commander, determined to protect him to the last man. The man closest to the demon raised his kukri to block as the demon swiped its blade across. But the force of the strike divided the man into two pieces from the chest flying to the wall of the cliff.

""""HAAH!"""

Three warriors came at once, slashing down with their kukri in different directions. The demon threw its blade at one which impaled him to the cliff wall and held onto the hands of the last two.

(CRACK) (CRACK) Went the wrists of the two warriors it held by the arm. The demon manipulated the blades in their arms to stab one another. The two warriors ended up skewering each other. The demon turned its attention to the last two of the once mighty battalion which stood by Sabal until his most recent dishonorable action in killing Kamala Malla.

"Commander, do me a favor will you? I don't want to die by him like the rest, please-…. please kill me!" The last warrior by the field commander's side pleaded. The field commander nodded.

"I'll be right with you and the rest soon. Thank you for your years of loyalty!" (BAAM) The commander shot his subordinate in the head to end his life as painlessly as possible. He made it quick as he had to attend to the demon himself.

The commander loaded a fresh magazine into his Kalashnikov just as the demon made its way to him slowly.

"I don't know what you are or what kind of bargain you made with the devil for this kind of power. But I'll be damned if I don't stand between you and my brothers to spare them from our fate!" The field commander shouted in defiance as he fired in full auto at the approaching demon whom held no remaining armaments.

Some shots impacted its body and limbs but did little to slow its momentum. (click) (click)

"Why?!-…. Why won't you die?!" The field commander shouted with all his resentment for his fate as he swung his kukri upon an empty gun chamber at the demon in a last but futile attempt. "Huurghh!"

But was lifted off the ground by his throat with one of the demon's arms while the other clasped his arm holding tightly onto the kukri.

He felt a tug to his arm like it was tied to a horse and pulled apart. (Rip) The demon tore his arm clean off with the pull. The field commander cried out in agony behind his choking hoping he would quickly die from the wounds and spared from this pain. The demon moved its arm back into a punch.

(Splat) The demon's hand impaled the commander's gut and dug further into his body. By now, the commander's eyes rolled into whites and jittered about in spasm being unable to control his body any longer. The demon latched its hand onto something it had been looking for inside the commander of the Golden Path and yanked out. Blood gushed out from the corpse the demon held up as it drew out his heart, dropping the body as if it was no longer valued and it began to wolf down upon the human heart with a voracious appetite.

(Creak)

The sound of a twig snap caught the demon's attention as it turned its head to find an unfortunate soul that wandered into its sight. Yet the man walked toward him calmly despite the blood and gore around, in fact his attitude showed he had come intentionally looking for it. The demon could not ignore this kind of dangerous behavior and dropped the half eaten heart. Its fill for blood had long been sated, the rest was just for pleasure and fun.

The man's composure was serene, it was almost discomforting for the demon. It was as if the demon had fallen into his grasp rather than the other way around.

Why did the man's appearance look so familiar? The demon dug into the memories of its vessel, recalling a man which held a hazy look most of the time but that was all a façade. The man had an almost unfathomable power and prowess that even the vessel couldn't properly gauge. The man held no apparent weakness to exploit.

As the man got closer, the demon felt his oppressive presence and aura forcing it into submission. The demon stood defiantly against the overwhelming pressure. Rolling up his sleeves, he revealed the source of the demon's current agony from the aura. Runes, specifically runes of sealing. The demon felt its power being sealed away from the well of rage deep within. It understood the serious threat this man posed to its existence.

"DAr-….shAn…."

* * *

Maya traveled up the hill of the forest, she didn't know where he was. But she didn't need help, there was an entire breadcrumb trail of blood, mangled corpses and shattered wood all over. The smell of blood permeated the air growing thicker as she ventured further towards her destination. The gun fight from the escaping Golden Path seem to have died down, either they escaped successfully or they had finally been killed by the monster she was looking for. The corpses were attaching all manner of wildlife of the scavenger variety to have a free meal on the bodies lying around. Bears, wild cats, vultures even honey badgers munched on the stiff corpses.

Maya came to a granite wall canyon, still littered with bodies. There were almost three hundred bodies all together she had seen so far. This battalion strength of Golden Path warriors was on an about one mission entirely, and that was the rescue of Jason Brody. She had personally experienced the combat prowess which he possessed, suffice it to say he was more than a match for Ajay. That was the entire point of the battalions' sacrifice, to save the only person who had the ability to contend with Badala. If not for Ajay's loss of control over whatever that was, "Berserk" or something, Brody might have been pushing Ajay back.

"What have you been dealing with Ajay?..." Maya had never seen anything like Ajay's case, neither did the others, it was completely illogical. From the speed he could move to the heavy objects he could carry or slice.

Was this the work of some sort of narcotics that induces adrenaline? But then he would have significant tissue damage after doing those feats which would tear a normal human's muscles and tendons. It couldn't be witchcraft….. could it?

Maya felt a little frightened, it was like entering the lair of a beast, a Yeti's perhaps since it was the Himalayas. So she carefully moved forward step by step quietly to assess the situation with Ajay first before confronting him. She peered around the corner of the wall slowly and carefully to inspect the situation, only to be left in stupor.

Laying on the ground around even more bodies than previously was Ajay. She quickly dashed forward to assess his status, turning his body around to check his breathing and vitals.

"Unconscious…." Maya sighed in relief, it seemed like fatigue had sent in on his body and ended his rampage. His body was not left unscathed, it was tattered and riddled with tears from cuts and grazes. The vest and attire tailored by Samar and Chiffon had saved his life from the numerous hits from gunfire and there was no sign of penetrations but large bruises and blood clots where the bullet's kinetic energy passed on to him.

She lifted him over her shoulders and carried him with some effort along the way back to where the Condotierri and marines were. As she carried him, with his right hand slung over her shoulder she noticed something peculiar on the back of his hand. A symbol was painted upon him, it looked archaic and mystical. She knew Ajay wasn't the sort to buy into superstitious beliefs but where did it come from? Ajay was dead as a rock with little to no movement except his subtle breathing. Maya could not shake the feeling that that talisman had something to do with Ajay's current inactivity.

Though it was just a feeling, she felt it was entirely plausible. Because Ajay's strength alone was not like anything she had seen in this world.

She reached a certain point to where the firefight had begun and caught the attention of the rest who came running towards her upon first sight.

"Here, I'll help." Perkins took on of Ajay's arms and shouldered it on the way to the parked vehicles. At some point, Stew took over from Maya. Maya continued to have a look of concern about her despite being able to retrieve him without difficulty. The marines were just as skeptical about the whole incident, they had been there to watch as he massacred hundreds like it was child's play and there was never a period that he stopped or took cover, he was always on the go. There was no word in their vocabulary to describe such ruthless efficiency, yet brutal and unforgiving at the same time. Somehow David felt relieved, if he had this kind of ability early on that meant they could have all perished during that raid nearly a month ago and no one would miss them.

"Did you calm him?" Samson inquired curiously.

"No…. He was already unconscious where I found him." Maya answered honestly, Samson was surprised it was not the picture he imagined, still it was better that way. Being witness to this berserk tendency of Ajay's made him question his logic and belief. Nothing could conjure up power like that, it was like the work of the devil. Like Ajay had been touched by the devil. But these things were unrealistic, unscientific and implausible.

-Because there was no such thing as demons.-

* * *

Sitting in the cabin allocated to the Hun Tribe dignitaries, Leng Yue shook her leg impatiently.

"How long are they going to rudely make us wait, we came down to answer their request and that damn lord is nowhere!"

"I agree with the princess, why are we even here? Couldn't the chief just come here on his own to receive the title?" Meng Yi buttered up to his princess.

As instructed by the tribe shaman Shili, the tribe's chief and five of their youngsters who had just come of age were to venture down with Er Hu to discover the newly established town and experience the outside world from the confines of the cliff settlement and the Himalayas. Some were excited to make the trip while others like Leng Yue held indifference towards the people they were about to meet. Three days had already passed since their arrival, when they reached the town administration Er Hu had been informed that the Vice-Lord had been called out by the Royal Army to participate in a delicate operation concerning the South valleys. Er Hu received a letter addressed to him from the Vice-Lord apologizing for absence and he nodded his head after reading it.

"It can't be helped, we'll stay for a while. In the meantime, get yourself acquainted with the locals. Go and explore! That's what being young is all about." He laughed heartily and joined the councilors who invited him for tea. Today he wasn't around either, having drinks with the councilors again no doubt.

"I never thought it'll be like this, it's just as the Sherpa say. This use to be a desolate valley, would anyone believe you if that was said to you? Say, wanna join me on a trip to the pub? They've got this homebrew I've been hearing the locals talk about that beats the Shangri-lager by a mile!" Ming Jie claims, Leng Yue glares at him with immense hostility causing him to quieten down.

"That's not what we've come here for." She said.

"We're not, but are you? I heard you were initially reluctant to follow the chief, now you seem a little more impatient." Yù bào gave her conclusion she was here for an entirely different reason.

"Stop reading my mind, Yù bào." Yù bào chuckles.

"I've known you since we shared the same cradle, princess. There could only be one reason you're here, and that's to show your "Persuasive" attitude to the Lord of the valley to get back at him for your beloved Darshan." It was just as she said, Leng Yue was here to make the Vice-lord understand the Hun's and friends of the tribe were not to be bullied or demanded without proper compliments.

"Hmph!... Nonsense." She denied it flatly.

Yù bào smiled wryly as she shook her head, she knew it was merely an excuse. The real reason was because she was under the impression Darshan's fewer visits which she always looked forward to were related to the Vice-lord and to his commander Maya Kadayat. Darshan was more than a friend to Leng Yue, that was made rather apparent for the last sixteen years since Darshan had first encountered their tribe and come in contact with them. It was no secret the tribe princess held hidden affection for the friend of the tribe Darshan, despite the obvious difference in age. Hers at seventeen and Darshan was somewhere at his early forties, he was old enough to be her father or grandfather depending on the circumstance. Yet, Leng Yue was the least bothered by it. Probably to do with Darshan's early interaction in her life, Yù bào could recall the handsome face he once had, quite memorable and gentle, if anyone would remember it would likely be Leng Yue. Unfortunately, time was not kind to him nor did he care for appearance and he looked older than his actual age of forty-two. Looking fifty, with long hair greying and beard. Yù bào believed it had to do with his work, but truthfully no one knew what Darshan was doing outside the settlement. Save for Shaman Shili who was of the same age as him and had a long acquaintance with him when they were all children and Shili had yet to inherit the position of shaman from her predecessor.

(Knock) (Knock)

"Go away!" Leng Yue said in a foul mood.

"Who is it?" Yù bào called out on their behalf.

"It's Bhadra."

"Come in. please." The door opened and in came Bhadra neatly dressed with a tray of freshly brewed Kyrati tea.

"I just wanted to check on you all if you were alright with the accommodations so far."

"You and the towns' council have been very welcoming to us, I hope you'll accept my thanks on behalf of the group?" Yù bào said graciously, as she turned to Leng Yue to confirm what she said was valid. "Hmph!" She arrogantly snorted, Yù bào couldn't help but sigh in defeat. She was a difficult person to manage, herself being able to tolerate her friend was not the same as others.

During the time Ajay spent away, Bhadra had gotten herself busy. Like most of her friends, she had applied at the vocation school to be a childcare teacher, with the support of Ajay and the other residence. It was a five-year course but there was no rush, it was something she finally chose for herself. Hearing Ajay's comment on radio like every other Kyrati citizen strengthened her resolve due to the commitment Ajay had put into allowing her to pursue her own path in life. He burnt a temple down for heaven's sake! It was audacious as it was touching, Ajay really meant what he said when he promised to let her decide her own fate, he dared to challenge a thousand years of cemented tradition and religion head on just for her sake.

She knew the only way to show her gratitude to him was to follow with her dreams and work hard to achieve them. And that was what she did, her diligence caught the notice of the school's dean and respective lecturers very early. Her popularity was on equal measure amongst the students as well, and they vouched for her to be the student union representative. Upon arriving into the town, the town council requested the school to send someone to be there guide for their stay, hoping that the similarity in ages with the youngsters brought by the Hun Tribe's chief would be comfortable and able to relate. Naturally, they sent Bhadra to represent. She was not against it and followed with the request, they were initially troubled as it was the students that called for her. Knowing who her guardian was, they dare not ask from her directly.

"That's great, I also have a piece of information from some friends in the front with our lord, for your chief regarding an appointment for tomorrow at the Arsenal office."

"You mean-…."

"Yes, Miss Bao. While our lord never had the intention of making you and the chief wait, we've just received word he was returning from the military operation."

"Then why is it the next day and not immediately?" Leng Yue asked in a cold tone causing Elina to hesitate.

"Princess! Don't do this to Miss Bhadra, she's only conveying a message." Pang De stood up valiantly for their guide and attendant for their stay, most likely because he was taken to Bhadra's charm himself. "Tsk!" She clicked her tongue in dissatisfaction.

"The report I received was from a friend, saying he was in no condition to immediately attend to the town affairs. Forgive me if it sounds to blunt." Bhadra had a grim feeling, there was never a time he returned and was unable to do anything. Ajay had set his image as something almost infallible and ever ready. There was a likeliness he was badly injured, but Bhadra chose not to wear any expression that might give the dignitaries discomfort. They didn't need to know this.

"No! That's fine Miss Bhadra, say. Since we're only expected to meet with your lord tomorrow, how bout you show us around town? I'll promise to treat you after!" Pang De said with excitement.

"Um-…" Her hesitation cost her as Pang De unrestraintly wrapped his arm around her and called for the rest to accompany them as he merrily made his way down the steps of the inn. That was his intention at least until Yu Bao tapped his head hard to indicate he had done something unacceptable. He laughed embarrassed at his behavior after Yu Bao explained his wrongs.

"(Sigh) Fine, I'll be counting on you then…" Leng Yue gave up her brooding, sitting around would do nothing so she decided to follow them.

Bhadra removed Pang De's hands and walked over the Leng Yue. She smiled and reached out and held her smooth and delicate hands. "You won't be disappointed, I promise!"

* * *

Maya put down the phone after informing Bhadra and Elina of the latest developments and an update from High Command on the status of the evacuation.

"Everything alright?" Ricardo asked from the front of the jeep that held the radio Maya used at the back.

"Fine. Bhadra's holding back those Hun tribe guests who came three days ago before the operation started. HQ reported that all of the refugees have been evacuated and escorted to the temporary prefab housing near Baghadur and across King's Bridge."

Back then, Ajay wasn't in the mood to attend to them as he had been in mourning, then immediately after, he partook in an operation to evacuate the Southern most settlements. He also torched the sacred Jalendu Temple. Although Maya felt it was rather extreme, she could sympathize with him. It was a clear statement to everyone don't ever use tradition as an excuse in front of him, it also was to protect Bhadra from the mantle of Tarun Matara.

"That's great! Although I was a bit surprised to hear there were actual Huns down here." Ricardo laughed off.

"Or so they claim was their heritage, but they all hold Chinese names. Perhaps they are, who knows."

The Condotierri, Maya and the rest of the marines got onto the vehicles that were part of the convoy that was supposed to ship Willis and the now renegade Marines to the Valley and Willis to Durgesh for interrogation. Instead, they returned empty handed and Ajay was in a bad state. They were on their way back to the Royal Fortress where Captain Goh would coordinate with General Arjun on his team's current options and how he could be temporarily integrated into the formation and provided their military support and supplies. There were just six marines, Captain Goh, Staff Sergeant Perkins, a marine named Stew and three others whom they have yet to learn their names. From the original twenty that Para-dropped in the night. One was supposedly killed by Sabal in a demonstration of power, ten died on the night of the raid by Ajay and the Condotierri. David kept saying something about having a phobia of white ferrets after that day, Maya had no clue what he was on about because she was suffering from the toxins of the mushroom back then.

She walked over the Captain Goh who was looking under the weather at the passenger seat of the five-tonner truck they had in the convoy.

"Are you alright?"

"….. Yah! I am, it's just-… I'm still having doubts about fighting our own people."

"Welcome to Kyrat."

"I'm sorry, that was just rude of me. You're in a civil war fighting your own people as well. I just wished it didn't have to turn out like this."

"None of us did, especially losing Willis was harder than anything. From what Badala tells me, this might involve Lynch now." David wore an even grimmer face, he felt completely responsible for the loss of Agent Huntley and was now being more of a hindrance to the Kyrati Royal Army.

"How's Badala?" He decided to focus on another problem instead.

"Battered but not dead, he'll probably need a day to wake up."

"…Does-….Is it normal for him to do those things?" He couldn't keep it to himself.

"No." Maya replied.

"He may be a monster in his own right but never to this point." Maya knew the reason he flipped though, Brody had been there when that Tiger girl died, and during a duel Brody taunted him regarding her. From that point on, he lost it.

"I- I see…." Though David wasn't so clear on the point but if it didn't make sense he didn't need to trouble himself.

A commotion happened where the rest of the marines were gathered awaiting their departure.

"Hurk…" Maya looked around the corner to find the burly man chatting friendly with the marines. Upon seeing her, he jogged to meet.

"Hey, Capt! Where's Bad's?" Hurk seemed to be ignorant to the event that took place.

"He's resting in the back of the truck, don't wake him. He's in a bad state, I've called Dr Najjar to meet at King's Bridge to give him a check." Hurk's expression darkened, he was well aware of Ajay's prowess, yet he was in a condition where he couldn't even move.

"What the hell happened?!"

"Some bastard jumped us and took Willis and half my force back to the Golden Path headquarters." David scorned the existence of that fellow.

"Then….. what happened to Bad's?!"

"He fought with him and ran when the Golden Path came to rescue him by chance. When we get back I'm gonna find out who the hell is Jason Brody!" She didn't know why but that dangerous fellow gave her an agitated feeling, his movements were so willful and so haphazard it endangered everyone around him, be it friend or foe. On other words, he never treated the battlefield nor its occupants seriously. Earning her total disrespect for him.

The face on Hurk turned pale at the mention of that name.

"I'm sorry, could you repeat that name again? I think I might've been hearing wrongly." He laughed awkwardly.

"Did I say it wrong? His name was Jason Brody, an American here for some sort of reason related to Willis."

Hurk turned greener than ever, Maya and David took notice of it quite clearly.

"No-….. It can't be!.."

* * *

Jason waited outside the hovel that housed Willis who was undergoing emergency treatment from Banapur's only practitioner of medicine. Losing a leg was no game, especially when it was torn off of him. The blood loss would have killed him at any time had it not been for the quick first aid given by Staff Sergeant Grilles.

The surgeon finished his operation and came out of the door.

"Doc, how's my friend?"

"He's stable, currently asleep. I advise you let him rest for three days tops, give him these tablets to restore blood loss. And this might be personal but what in the world severed his leg. It looked like the bone had been fractured even though the lower part was gone."

"He was….. hit by a truck."

"I've seen road accidents before so I can tell it wasn't, but no matter. This was just a question not expecting an answer." He walked off after claiming his toolbag and portable dispensary. Opening the door, Sabal came in to see them.

"How is he?"

"He'll live."

"That's good, at least there's a silver lining to all that's taken place today. I'm glad you're alright as well!" Sabal patted him on the back.

"What happened?"

Sabal sighed. "Walk with me." He beckoned Jason to follow him to another house.

They reached a balcony facing the majestic scenery of the lush forest, there, Sabal led him to a pair of seats before he took his.

"Things are worse than ever!" Sabal told him bluntly with the truth written all over his face.

"Was that stronghold that important-.."

"It wasn't just the stronghold, Jason. In fact, it wasn't even the main reason the Royal Army mobilized. Have you found it strange as we walked the street?" Sabal posed him a strange question.

Jason thought about it for a second, there was nothing wrong with the streets they passed through on the way here. Nothing, not even the slightest error in the empty streets….. empty-…

"Where is everyone?" Seeing that Jason had finally caught on he explained.

"The Royal Army took them all with the help of those Rebel Tigers. It wasn't just Banapur, they went through every house, town and settlement within Golden Path territories. And Badala-….. Badala! Not having the intention to retake Varshakot but ended up leveling it to the ground. There is no way the Golden Path can fortify the South West territories now like it used to." A wave of emotions passed through Sabal as he spoke the bad news to Jason.

"What did they do with the people?"

"God knows, concentration camps, slave labour for the KEO mines. It could be anything behind those mountains in Uttar. Although, on the bright side you managed to bring Willis back safely. He is critical in maintaining our logistic support and coordination with Solomon for arms smuggling via Pakistan."

"Uh- Yeah! No worries!" He replied with doubt in his voice.

The flashback played out in his head a couple of times along the way back to Banapur. When that marine said Willis was a rogue now and helping him made him an enemy of stateside. But then that would mean he could never hope to return back without encountering the FBI, his friends might be in just as big a problem as him. They were ultimately alienated by their own country. Back then he thoughts weren't thinking straight enough, both sides, Willis and the marines were throwing bombs one after another to convince him to help them or piss off. He chose the later, because he was more familiar with agent Huntley from there time together in Rook Island. But then what about the Marines, he knew a friend who was in the Marine Corp. Day in and day out, he would talk about his experience in the Paris Island or overseas like it was some great adventure. He always remembered to include his love for his second family and for country. There were a couple that said the same as his friend to prove it was not just him. Then what about, Mr Grilles. Why did he split from the rest and join Willis? Things weren't making sense, the more he thought about them the more he ended up with inconclusive findings.

There was also another thought that stalked his mind.

It was officially his second encounter with Badala, only this time it was done with his other self manning the controls. So this was what he meant by merging, he barely had any control during the possession. It was only when the other Brody freely gave it back did he have control. In summary, Jason was not in control and that was bad on his accounts. While it did grant him temporary advantage in the fight compared with his previous encounter, something happened which tipped the scale back to him onto the receiving end of Badala's blade. It was something, the other Brody said which ticked him off. Like his woman or something. Jason recalled the time when Sabal saved his life back then when he shot-…..

"….the girl."

"'cuse me?"

"Uh- oh! Nothing! Just some inner thoughts, Haha!"

If Badala had the power to chase them like recently, then why didn't he do it the last time as Baghadur? Jason didn't turn around to see what he did after Sabal accidently shot that girl, he ran as fast as his legs could carry him. Ended up saving a cornered ground who were so grateful they literally threw their lives away to save his arse this time.

"…. We did this…"

"We did no such thing!" Sabal shouted angrily that Jason was even surprised.

"This is but a minor setback, with some careful planning we could move to fortify at Shanath and build back out numbers from the Northern most settlements that weren't evacuated. We just need some way to convince them- (Angry shouting)…..?"

The sound of a riot could be heard outside of Sabal's house, and it wasn't subsiding either but growing.

"What in the world?"

(Bang) (Bang) (Bang)

"Open up, Sabal! We know you're in there!"

"Come out you coward!"

Sabal was having conflicting thoughts about answering the door with such violent responses. Jason went on his behalf to check who were they. The moment he opened the latch and turned the doorknob a whole crown of people rushed in and entered the house. Jason had been pushed around the crowd with no room to move out from as the people searched the house for their target.

"There! Get him!" A man pointed to Sabal at the balcony and the reached out to grab him. Sabal fought off the reached out hands in shock, but they outnumbered his ability to handle and was grabbed into the centre of the mob.

"Hey! Stop!" Jason called out in vain.

"Stay out of this Brody!"

"Yeah! This is a matter within the Golden Path!"

"We're grateful for the help you've given, but we're at wits end with Sabal's idiocratic leadership choices."

"It's time for him to face the music!"

"Wait! What do you intend to do with him?!" Jason demanded. A few people held him back for his own good.

Sabal was brought before the town square where the field commanders and elders were standing in front of the podium as if to pass judgement upon a felon. The old guard commanders were present as well, standing with the rest of the leadership of the Golden Path movement.

Sabal passed through a gauntlet of angry townsfolk who remained and warriors of their cause. They threw mud and rocks at him, all the while venting their rage at him.

"Traitor!"

"Give us back Commander Malla you murderer!"

"You!- You're just the worst human being out there!"

"I hope you rot in jail!"

Sabal clenched his teeth as he was dragged before the line of elders and high level commanders.

"Do you know why you are here, Sabal?" The lead elder that represented stood up and asked.

"What is the meaning of this? Unhand me! You do you think you're handling here?!"

"Stubborn to the bitten end, eh? Then let us read out your crimes then, Sabal!" A Commander holding a list walked forward.

"The death of two elders, the responsibility of the lives lost during the Meh Teh Offensive, the attempted kidnap of a minor and murder of her caretakers in a coup you insinuated. The killing of fellow Golden Path members for supporting Amita during her office, the failure and audacity in the assault at Baghadur….. and the death of Commander Kamala Malla!" The Officer threw the list aside and glared at him with icicles as did the rest of the thousand that were gathered there to judge him.

"How do you plead?" The elder asked, already knowing his answer but wanted him to say it in front of everyone.

"You treacherous plebeians! All you lot! Who do you think led you through dire circumstances during this time and all this time?! I have done nothing wrong! I am your leader, I make choices and you follow! Why do you think I do what I do, huh? It's because I do it for the cause!"

"Insolence! You really have no shame at all do you, Sabal?"

The crowned shared their opinion by loudly jeering and tossing more objects at him, but he still held a stubborn expression that he was still in the right. Jason watched from afar, helpless to assist. Willis wasn't around to intervene at a time like this and Solomon was spectating from a seat alongside the Commanders, contently drinking Chai. It didn't bother him at all, because he only interest was to support Golden Path and not the leadership. The leader could change but the cause was the same. Jason had been wrong in his assumption regarding Solomon. Noticing his eyes on him, Solomon waved him to come over and enjoy the show while drinking with him which perplexed him. That Hong Konger was weirder that anything, but to be honest. For some reason, Jason didn't seem to care much for Sabal also.

From the accounts and encounters with Sabal, Jason's assessment of him was summarized in one word. Radical!

He was like a ranting zealot from biblical times, or during the crusades. An extremist, and a ruthless one at that who executed his own men on occasions. He had also done that cheap shot which killed that famous girl but Jason couldn't say anything about that incident, because it had also saved his life. Now the people were openly showing their distaste for a person like him. Perhaps this was all just Karma.

"Now that you have me what do you intend to do with me?"

"Simple. We're going to King's Bridge to hand you over to the Royal Army and in turn, Badala. I'm sure you're more than acquainted with his hatred for you."

"Treason ridden filth! This is a bloody mutiny!" Sabal spat.

"We do not need anymore blood to be split on our hands and we certainly don't want you to be the cause of it! So we will present our willingness to negotiate for a truce so that the Golden Path-…. The people will see better days than what we have right now! So for once in your miserable life, take some god damn responsibility for the actions you've made! I ask this of you to do your job properly just this once." The elder said to him with a pitying expression but Sabal gave a different response that made everyone feel that he was just beyond forgivable.

"Don't you DARE look down upon me! I am your leader! I am Sabal of Golden Path!" He shouted as the warriors dragged him away to the vehicle pool. Jason was still bogged down by whether he should help or not.

As Sabal passed through the gathered crowd and became the head of the formation that was heading off to deliver him to the Royal Army's doorstep. A figure cladded in a concealing robe stood in their way, he clapped his hands as if applauding the scene he was witnessing before him.

"Admirable. Most admirable! Not once revealing any sign of cowardice, nor begging for your life despite overwhelming odds and the despair of being thrown to the enemy."

"Who are you? Move aside! We're escorting a shameless criminal to meet justice!" One of the warriors shouted. But the hooded man ignored him and continued speaking as if he hadn't even heard his warning.

"This almost reminds me of the time when some of the elders wanted to batter a peace between us and Pagan all those years ago. All because we were in a worse than winning period and having a stalemate with Yuma Lau. Of course I had them executed, because they only cared for their own wellbeing and not for the betterment of everyone. They forgot all those that sacrificed their lives to bring us to that moment, the moment we stood at the steps of the Royal Fortress and fought against treachery." His words made everyone question who he was and why he was speaking as if he was from the old days. Their curiosity grew as they forgot what their original task was set for them to do.

The man took off the hood that hid his features and revealed it to the crowd who gasped in amazement. Particularly the old guards and elders whom recalled his appearance better than anyone. Those who hadn't met him too recognized his face on the posters and thangkas.

"For your display of courage and unrelenting will-…..I…Mohan Ghale commend you."

* * *

Author's thoughts:

(Field Commander) "Why?!-…. Why won't you die?!"

(Ajay) "Behind this mask there is more than just flesh... Beneath this mask there is an idea, Mr Creedy... and ideas are bulletproof."

(Field Commander) "Mr Creedy? Who the- Hurrghh!" (choking)


	37. Chapter 36 - In Preparation for War

Author's notes:

Lots to say, first of all. Concerning the review brought up by GrayscaleReader. I've already sent a PM to explain but I'll tell everyone else right now. This was all part of the plan and not something added on the go. If you read carefully through the chapters i had actually left hints to indicate the length of the story such as the mysterious background of Maya and Darshan. The inclusion of the Yalung Relic upon Hajura Amako Hatama and of course the most important item that defined this story, Kalachakra. The medallion responsible for sending Ajay back to that approximate time in the past.

Anyways, just as side note. In this story, Mohan died canonically like the game. I intend to keep as many canon elements as possible for my convenience and your reading pleasure. I hope you enjoy the story and give it some time to explain the bombshell plots as you have done since July when this story began. Havok out!

* * *

….

….

Ajay stood in the Ghale Homestead once more, he had the feeling he had been here before for some reason but the thought couldn't emerge in his head.

"I'll KILL YOU!"

"Kyah! (Bang)"

Ajay heard a commotion outside of the house and went out. (Plop) A body fell back against the ground motionless. Near him was a woman on the floor huffing as she had just gun him down with the handgun in her possession.

"Waaaahhhh!" (Crying) Ajay could see a child next to her who was crying, obviously traumatic for a child to be in such a violent situation. But that wasn't all that was around.

The woman reached out and cradled another one bundled in blood soaked cloth. She cried out in heartbreak as she embraced her dead child.

"Mom?" Ajay began to recognize her, he recognized the year-old baby that was under an extremely stressful circumstance. It was him.

-Then the one mom's carrying is-…-

Ajay walked forward closer to take a look. The baby girl had her eyes closed as if in an eternal sleep.

"I'm so sorry, my darling baby girl….(Sob) I've brought you into an uncaring world!..."

Ajay could see that the small arm of Lakshmana had her wrist slit probably by a knife. He turned to look at Mohan who was lying face up on the ground wearing a face of disbelief. He felt his blood boil, though she had only half his blood, she was still his mother's child, his sister.

"How could you do this?... Mom was at fault not her!" He shouted while clenching his teeth at the motionless corpse of his father.

He walked back to where Ishwari wept and reached out to pull her up.

"Come on, we've got to- huh?" He hands passed right through her as if he was a specter. He looked at his hands, they were semi-translucent. He was here only as a spectator then.

After some time, Ishwari got up and carried her dead child towards the willow tree that shaded the stream by the house and dug. When she had finished, she lowered Lakshamana gently into the hole and covered it handful by handful with the dirt. She placed a plank with words painted on it "Lakshamana, in a better place than here." She spent a while more grieving, Ajay could only watch helplessly as he could not intervene, he could not say a few words of comfort to her where from this point on she was truly alone till her death.

She got up and picked up the young Ajay whom had quieten down all on his own, although it was himself just younger, he was proud of the little man for not stressing out their mother in a difficult time for her as well. Again, he couldn't pat him on the back as well. But then he realized his silence wasn't out of respect but a byproduct of shock. She wrote a letter addressed to Pagan and placed it upon the first one she was intending to sent to him before her departure. That was until Mohan came. It would likely tell him the grave news of their child's death. She had no time to enact the proper burial rites, she hoped Pagan would do it for her which he did. The look on her face said she had enough of Kyrat and its civil unrest, she didn't want to spend another second in it.

Ishwari never looked back again after she had done all she could. Ajay started to admire her for her fortitude, but that was that. He was somehow reviewing memories that even he couldn't fully remember despite being there when it happened. Perhaps it was subconsciously forgotten to remove his trauma, little Ajay did strangely stop crying suddenly while Ishwari was burying Lakshmana. So he had forgotten everything during his short time in Kyrat, Pagan, Lakshmana, his father.

"Is that all? I should wake up soon." He said consciously, but waiting for a period there was no change. Just the empty Ghale homestead with Mohan's body lying on the ground.

"Now that I think about it, when did the Golden Path discover Mohan was dead?"

Just then, he heard movement up ahead, but not from the entrance but rather from the steps towards the Cliffside he remembered with Yoggie and Reggie camped after he shooed them out and they still clung like pigeons.

A hooded figure walked down the steps, body line indicated it was a woman from the dark garb she wore. There was a strangely eerie aura emanating from her, something deadly. She walked towards her intended target, his father's corpse and knelt beside it. There were several thoughts going through Ajay's mind at the time. What was her affiliation with Mohan, his secret lover perhaps? But then, he wouldn't get so flustered after Ishwari's betrayal of their marriage vows so that wasn't so.

The second one was what she was doing all this time, watching Mohan get killed? Or was he mistaken that she had no prior relation to Mohan.

 _"How pitiful..."_ She said in a solemn ethereal voice.

 _"How far you've fallen from greatness into nothing but filth beneath the feet of others. All because of your blind faith in others...blind faith in a deceitful woman… blind faith in yourself... You had everything and you squandered it over nothing." Then the woman laughed at his existence while at the same time fed a dead man poisonous words._

 _"But... this might not be the end of the line for the scion of Kalinag, the great Mohan Ghale need not die in the ditch. Every salvation has a price."_ She whispered a dark promise into his ear, for some reason Ajay could hear it.

She placed her silk embroidery hand upon the cold face of the corpse. A strange light appeared from it and melded into the body.

 _"The question is..."_

That weird emerald light grew till it began to blind Ajay who was spectating this weird sight. Then his vision went dark.

 _"Are you willing to pay that price?"_

...

...

...

" _What of you then….. Brother?"_

* * *

...

...

"Gah!" Ajay woke violently from the dream he had.

"What the hell was that?"

He could remember the dream as if it just happened. It was like the dream he had when he survived Shanath Arena. Would these strange dreams keep appearing every time he went berserk? From what it looked like, they were dreams of another timeline.

-No that's not right…-

The first one was a glimpse at the possibility of Saras and her predicament after the war. But the second was a dream- no… nightmare was about a past where he wasn't even present. Was it just his head churning out weird fantasies?

Ajay inspected his body condition after recalling he had just emerged from a fight with the Golden Path and that foreigner whose name he still didn't know. He could remember everything from when he ran ahead of the armored column on a sixth-sense the convoy escort was in trouble. Coming in at the time he saw him almost kill Maya and quickly struck back. But that guy was different from before, it wasn't playful strokes like the last time, or rather it was but it had resolve in those attacks to kill him. He also wore a strange expression, like a sadistic killer and spoke in a Hispanic accent a few times. Was he mentally unstable? Was that even the same guy?

He had too many questions he needed answered but he decided to shelve them for current matters. Like how did Arjun and High Commands' operation go. What were the casualties and the number of civilians being successfully brought out from the South?

"I'm glad you're awake." A gentle voice called out from the door, Ajay instinctively turned to face the person who had been nursing his injuries.

"Noore."

"This might be the second time I've attended to your serious injuries and for the second time all I see are mere bruises after a day."

"How's everyone?" He thought to ask about the others first.

"They're fine, Maya has returned to Durgesh to update Yuma on the failure of the operation to take Willis. The Condotierri went back to the Arsenal. Captain Goh and the Marines are in the Royal Fortress debriefing their accounts since their arrival."

-So I was out after a day.-

"Where am I?" Ajay looked around, it definitely wasn't his house. Neither was it the Arsenal cabin room. There was a clinic atmosphere around it, medical apparatus and he was lying in a stretcher mattress that was found in hospitals.

"You're in the Polyclinic's infirmary. Maya insisted I watch over you for any changes in your behavior should you wake. She told me about what happened….. again."

Ajay rubbed his face and sighed.

"Did I-…"

"No one on our side was hurt, thanks to you. Although…. The entire mountainside is painted in your handy work."

"Jesus…."

"I took a vial of your blood sample if you don't mind, I was curious as to what was causing these symptoms."

"No I'm fine with it. I did promise you a while back but I was too busy to do that." Noore nodded and went to the table to check the dispensary.

"Did you find anything in it?" Ajay asked.

"No. I didn't, the protein and plasma levels are consistent with no change. On the genetic scale, there's not much difference. What's making it more difficult to understand is….. How did you survive the Arena, how were you moving around with a three inch wide horn in you? How could you lift and throw a man five metres high? How?"

"I don't know….."

"Do you want to tell me something I should know?"

"Would you believe it if I told you?" Ajay laughed, the chances were low.

"Using your inhuman strength as a gauge I just might." She said insistent.

"Then I'll test you then."

"Ok?" She sat down at the chair next to the bed listening attentively to him.

"Yetis exist."

"…." Her expression showed she was not amused.

-Figures!- Ajay sighed.

"Come on, give me a real one. Something plausible!"

Ajay smiled and shook his head. It was better that she remained ignorant to it, these were things that would challenge their understanding of the world they lived in.

"Hey! Don't leave your doctor hanging! I'm gonna send you a hefty fee for consultation."

"I'm not, it's alright."

"Then at least tell me what causes it."

"This coming from a Doctor, asking a patient what's wrong with him when they should be finding out for themselves."

"It's a two-way communication, you help me to help yourself."

"Alright, fine. Let's see…."

Ajay thought about it for a while.

"Anger."

"At what?"

"Betrayal, loss, unfairness. At any one time I felt these things, a warm welling appeared inside of my heart. Everything started to turn red in eyesight, then there was that infectious feeling- no… that craving for blood. The more I took, the more I wanted. The less I had the hungrier I got. Then at some point, I can't remember anything during the period in enter that state."

"HmmMmm!" Noore began writing it down on a notebook.

"There was one more thing….."

"Oh?"

"….. Dreams…" Noore's pen stopped upon hearing that.

"Yes. Every time a different one, the first was an alternate reality in which I joined the Golden Path. The second was me receiving judgement from Saras."

"MmmHmm!" She happily jotted all she heard down.

"The third…" The memories rushed back into his head. The memories he had forgotten and yet distorted with delusion.

"I thought was a hidden memory regarding my childhood but it turned out to be a weird one akin to a nightmare."

"What happened?" The death of his father and of Lakshmana, the sorrow of his mother, and then….

"….."

"Ajay, say something."

"A devil appeared and made a deal with Mohan's corpse."

Noore was having chilling feeling imagining those images from his perspective. She put down her pen and took of her reading glasses to rub the bridge of her nose. "As your doctor, I'd advise you to rest and eat well everyday with regular exercise."

Ajay sniggered at her doctoral response.

"As your friend, come talk to me about it. Don't keep it to yourself, or it'll affect your thoughts at inconvenient times." She said with a harmless smile.

"…. Thank you."

"No worries, I assume you'll be leaving immediately then." She went over the dispensary and fiddled with the small cupboards.

"I need an update report from Samar and Longinus on the Arsenal as well as attend to the meeting with the Hunic tribe that came three days ago, I've delayed them long enough."

"Mmm…I see- Oh! Also, Maya asked me to tell you to find Hurk." Maya had told her about Hurk's affiliation with that man.

"Why? Shouldn't he be in the Arsenal with the Samson?"

"No, it's not about where he is. It's about that boy you've been fighting against on few occasions, apparently Hurk confessed to having a prior encounter with Jason Brody in Rook Island."

"So that's his name." Ajay had never found out about that foreigner although he should have. But he was missing the most important detail until now.

"From Hurk's account, they were pretty close. Something he calls a… Tat…bro? I'm not sure what that even means. Go see him and find out, in the meantime take care of those wounds, they've only just sealed up." She reminded him again.

-Come to think of it, Hurk did say something about making me his Tatbro II. He also said some names of the other two whom I can't recall what they were. That means Jason Brody was one of them.- Ajay rubbed his head. Ajay took a moment to think about his intentions regarding Jason Brody.

-What'll Hurk think if I say I wanna kill him?-

Hurk was one of the few good and honest friends out there whom he had a good relation to and wanted it to stay that way. Now that him and Jason Brody were likely to clash, was it forcing Hurk to choose between which friend to side?

"Here!" She tossed a medicine container over the him and Ajay caught it.

"Aspirin. In case you move more than the regular amount today." She winked at him as Ajay had finished putting on his attire and nodded before leaving.

Noore packed her things and went over the pick up the last item in the infirmary on the way to the laboratory on Ajay's desk.

A vial containing the second dose of blood from Ajay. Swirling it around she thought to herself why there weren't any visible indications that related itself to Ajay's strange and inhuman abilities, it was almost like for a period he became superhuman in strength, reaction time and endurance, albeit an ever blood thirsty beast with yellow primordial eyes.

She browsed through the notes she jotted down from her interview on his experience with that trance state.

"Ajay only said he felt a welling feeling when he got angry. It was in the hearts so therefore, it had something to do with the blood circulatory system."

-Angry…. Like the hulk!- Noore giggled softly upon seeing a similarity in their symptoms. And then, suddenly it hit her like lightning.

"That's it! I'll just simulate his condition of anger! Now where did they put that adrenaline?" Noore was hopeful her new theory would help shed light on the mystery concerning Ajay's power.

For both his sake and for the people around him.

* * *

Ajay walked out of the Polyclinic onto the streets of the valley, he typed a quick message to Hurk to meet him at the Arsenal later in the afternoon.

"Now for the dignitaries." He had received a message from the Council office regarding the appointment at the Arsenal's office as well. There, he was to meet Chief Er Hu and five other members from his community whom accompanied him.

The appointed time was just ten minutes away and he didn't have the time to change. Still in his black combat fatigues that were full of holes and tears. What was more important? Being on time or attire? Ajay opted for the former because he had already wasted three days of their time. The Yalung Mask hung from his harness full of scratches and dents from the firefight he had been in before. He would need Samar to graft up some replacements, to be honest this mask had been with him since he first made it at the Royal Armory. Ajay placed the mask on to test its worthiness, whether there were any discomforts from the distorted metal areas to mend it later or was it still better to make new ones. This reminded him of the goat he had long killed, the crazed killer crafted masks to honor the demon god with his murders. As if trying to sate the demon's thirst for blood, Ajay was starting to feel nostalgia between his rampaging tendencies and the mask's original patent holder.

He had not been looking on the road ahead as he walked and bumped into a group of young adults he had not seen in the town before, or perhaps he wasn't in town much to see them. "Ow!" "Owf!"

"Oh! Sorry, I wasn't looking up in front, my bad!" He reached out to give that girl a hand. The girl looked up and saw the him. She looked hard at the mask and had some internal thoughts as he lifted her off the ground.

Her other hand slipped behind her back, which Ajay thought was to rub her butt from the fall because of him. He begun to think about how he would apologize for it when his sixth-sense kicked in from an imminent danger somewhere close by. As soon as he let go of her hand as she got up, the other hand darted out with a short knife towards his eye slit of the mask.

Ajay reached out and grabbed the arm just as the blade reached a centimeter from his eye sockets.

"Princess!- What are you doing?!" The rest of her group had finally comprehended what had happened and another girl called out to her.

That "princess" didn't answer her friend, instead she kicked Ajay away to release her hand from his. She reached to her back and drew out five more blades which she threw one after another.

It was quick, but not so quick Ajay couldn't see. For a "princess", this girl had a lot of throwing knives. Ajay stood on the spot because if he moved, the blades will miss and hurt someone in the background. He released the grapple to about one and a half metres and twirled it in front of him to deflect the knives just as they came, much to the girl's astonishment. He moved forward to disable her and get her to start talking but-

"Protect the princess!" One shouted and the four of them filled the gap between him and their princess. They were all brats just a year shy of being eighteen so Ajay restrained himself and sheathed his kukri and kept the slayer holstered.

The people begun to noticed the commotion and watched in silence as their lord was brawling with some weird kids.

"There's someone attempting to attack Lord Badala! Quick! Someone get the Constable Arvat!" One of the merchants on the roadside yelled out and his assistant ran towards the police box.

Those brats drew their short swords making it clear they weren't from these parts. Ajay stopped in his tracks and asked his first question.

"Are you by chance the Hun Dignitaries?"

"So what if we are!" one of the guys replied with hostility in his tone, he readied his weapon at him as if he was already his enemy.

-Uh-oh!-

"Then I think we might have had a misunderstanding here, I'm-."

"We know who you are! Damn Lord of Kyrat! Yu Bao, Pang De! Surround him!"

"But princess! This is the lord of the val-." The girl next to her wanted to say something but was cut off by that girl.

"I know who it is! If you won't help me then I'll do it myself!"

Her friends or bodyguards reached out but failed to pull her back as she darted in front with her own short sword and performed a crisp sweep at Ajay with a beautiful form. Ajay raised his armored gauntlet and pushed the blade aside from the flat end of it. Frowning at the counter he did to her strike she spun on the spot and did a quick thrust at him that even he couldn't block in time.

-Holy shit!-

Ajay could see that this girl wasn't a slouch at all, her fighting style was meant to kill. He couldn't deflect it nor dodge it in time so he had only the option, which was to receive it.

"Tsk!"

The sword plunged through his palm all the way to the hilt. The girl appeared shocked at his resolve to let her pierce him. So, taking this window of opportunity while his stabbed palm held the sword in place, he grabbed her by the collar and flung her onto the ground. "Ahh!" She groaned as Ajay slammed her hard to disable her.

"Leng Yue!"

"Damn it!" The rest came to apprehend him. One jumped forward with his blade raised, Ajay roundhouse kicked him in the gut while he was in the air to completely disable him. He slammed into some wares from a stall, knocked out.

Using the grapple line to lasso around one another and tugged him in with the motor. Coming flying towards him he punched him in the chest as he fell to the ground groaning in pain.

"Princess please stop, all of you stop!" The other girl called out to the boys whom seem to have another thought entirely.

The last guy swung his short sword which Ajay grabbed with his only good hand and twisted his hand. The kid had some strength compared to the rest and used two hands to push down at him, the sword came grazing pass his mask sending sparks flying from the contact. Ajay kneed his side breaking his strength, after throwing a punch to his face which put him down, Ajay threw the sword away.

Now he was staring down at the last two both women, one was that precious "princess" of theirs and the other who was initially more reasonable than the rest stood blocking his way to that girl.

"Are you gonna play as well?" Ajay inquired.

They stumbled back slightly. Ajay wondered what was he ever going to do with them, they were still envoys so they couldn't be harmed. Although he had already done some hurt to the boys.

Then, as if the movement just now adding to the recent damage to the mask. The mask fell from his face and plopped to the ground.

"Shit. I guess it that was it for it then." He reached down to pick up the long serving mask, it was now time to decommission it. He looked up to attend start seeing if he could convince the Hun brats to stop fighting with him because he was starting to feel like his stitches were getting undone.

Those girls started to stare at him in a rather strange way, like in disbelief. Although it was a little too late for that.

"LENG YUE!" A mighty voice thundered through the crowd that had gathered to watch this little side show where the lord kicked around some trouble makers, that was the thought that everyone had.

The crowd divided for the large burly but not plump man, next to him was Elder Aadinath and the Union representative who was also part of the town council.

"…..f-father…" The Princess girl said softly.

"I don't need to shout at you over what you've done! Go back to your cabins, all of you!"

"Hang on a minute." Ajay held his hand out. The five youngsters looked at him with remorse.

"Go to the Polyclinic, get yourself patched. Ask for Dr Najjar and say Badala sent you." After attending to the youngsters, he turned around and walked up to the Hunic Chief.

"Badala, Vice-Lord of the valley. Please forgive me for not attending to your arrival immediately." Ajay raised his hand towards the Chief.

"Um…." The chief raised an eyebrow at his hand, as did the rest of the councilors accompanying Er Hu.

"What?... Oh!" Ajay realized the short sword was still impaled in his palm, with a tug he pulled it out and took out a bandage to wrap it like he had done it before a hundred times.

"I'll restrain from shaking your hand, you have my admiration and you have my apology for my reckless daughter's behavior. Chief Yang Er Hu of the Hun tribe in the Eastern fringes."

"It's fine, just kids playing around that's all!" Ajay laughed. "Ptff! Hahaha! Kids playing around?! Hilarious, all too hilarious!" Er Hu couldn't help but follow along, he patted Ajay hardly on the back to commend him.

"I did happen to see part of your brawl with the young ones. I'll be the first to admit I'm impress! Not only did you fight all five of them but you also avoided hurting them to seriously."

"I'm sorry about that."

"Nonsense! I'm grateful for what you've done! You've finally taught those snobbish brats a thing or two on my behalf. Those damn brats think they're invincible and nothing can break or beat them, I was hoping someone other than myself would help me break their worthless pride to pieces. See that's the reason I brought them in the first place, to have a look at the outside world, not be satisfied with climbing cliffs or chasing hares. We're a warrior tribe for god sake!" Ajay learnt that the chief Yang was rather blunt in his speeches.

"What say we talk further over a cup of tea, shall we?" Ajay suggested.

"Of course! Lead the way. Say, have we met before?" Er Hu followed Ajay and the councilors followed close behind. The Constable who was called to the scene was left alone on the street without a statement from anybody.

Leng Yue watched Ajay and her father walk in the direction that led to the Arsenal. Her expression unchanged since she saw his face.

"Yu Bao… tell me I was seeing things- perhaps I was having delusions!" Her childhood friend shook her head.

"No princess, I still remember as well as you do. You definitely didn't see wrong." Yu Bao replied.

Yu Bao was having the same thoughts as Leng Yue. Something that shouldn't be possible was right there in front of them. Because Ajay held a face like someone they both had known for almost their entire lives. A face, though changed with time, was still fresh in their memory.

"….. Why does he look exactly like Darshan?"

* * *

Ajay had a meaningful conversation with Tribal Chief Yang Er Hu of the Huns in the Eastern Mountains.

He had learnt much from Er Hu concerning the tribe. Their heritage as members of the early Hunic ancestors who scouted the Himalayas. They could speak three different languages, Chinese, their local dialect and English quite fluently, writing was in Chinese and English respectively. How they learnt to speak fluent English was beyond him, but Mandarin was picked up during their wars against the Chinese Empire and the Chinese were the ones to develop words and characters first. So, they assimilated it into their culture, this explained their Chinese names and writing characters.

In the early days, they were stumbled across by the Kyrat Kingdom and the King sent his grand Royal Guards to raze the village. But had not anticipated the cruel savagery of the Northern mountain warriors. They were specifically adept to night raids, and used light weapons with little sound or noise. Ajay imagined them as Ninjas or at least night raid specialists. But these weren't the only traits they had, being so high up upon the mountains they developed an endurance to the low air supply and to the rocky steep terrain. They were as they claimed to be, vanguard scouts from the original long dead tribe that everyone knew from the history books, getting lost in the mountains they settled in the hidden valley that would be known later as Kyrat. Initially they ventured down the valley and encountered the early Kyratis who took their presence as an invasion. What really happened would be left up to debate.

There had been several battles between them and the Royal Guard battalions over the centuries. The closest one was in the fifties when the previous monarchy tried to display his power by riding the Huns from Kyrat where his predecessors failed. The fact that they could contend with the numerically superior Royal Guard said something on its own.

"Have you been enjoying yourself so far, Chief Yang?" Asked after much time had passed over beverages with the councilors.

"Oh- I've been thoroughly enjoying myself alright! It really was a shame I didn't come down sooner."

"Ha! Er Hu, if you came down sooner all you be greeted by would be the wind blowing over the barren slopes!" Aadinath chuckled.

"Quite so! Truly impressive, a strategist, a competent fighter, and a amazing governor!"

"You flatter me, Chief Yang. But this town was built with the swear and earnesty of all its residence. I've barely been around most of the time even during the beginning, so Captain Kadayat gets most of the credit for her enterprising spirit."

"Ha! Modest as well, although this intrigues me. I was under the impression women in Kyrat weren't permitted to undertake a man's job." Er Hu said in his ever-honest opinion.

"It used to be that way, just ask Elder Aadinath." Swear trickled down Aadinath's back when Ajay brought up his shameful past.

"Relax, elder. I'm just pulling your leg. If I held on to even the smallest of grudges would you still meet me on regular occasions?"

"As your lordship says, please allow me to beg your forgiveness once more for my poor manners back then!" He bent down genuinely sorry.

"Please, have your seat, elder. I didn't mean to make an old man stand and question your dignity. Forgive me as well."

"Yes. My lord." Aadinath took his seat in the conference room they had all taken.

"My lord, the papers have arrived." Elina came in with the legal documents.

"Thanks, Elina. I'll take it from here." Ajay received the dossier that held the legal papers from the court justice residing near the Royal Palace.

"Now because it is an appointment which grants you an office within Town Council there are some rules and regulation which you need to abide by. Most importantly, no unlawful killing or taking justice into your own hands within the boundaries of the valley, no consumption or sale of narcotics in the territory as well." Er Hu nodded his head as it all seemed rather reasonable for the time being.

"You're expected to deliver a report on settlement developments and important events that transpire every fortnight to the council for update on current affairs. Meanwhile, you'll be given a salary for holding office."

"How much?" He asked out of curiosity.

"Three hundred thousand rupees a month, or would you prefer it in precious stones?"

Er Hu's mouth dropped. The amount used to maintain the settlements upkeep and purchase of necessities from the passing Sherpa who charge exorbitantly high prices was around two-fifty thousand a year. Yet he was receiving around the same every month, he made a quick glance towards the other councilors to see if they were having the same. Most of them smiled or nodded their heads to him. Ajay continued to read from the legal documents.

"You are entitled to two weeks of leave on any day of the calendar year and medical leave should the circumstance deem it necessary, you'll need a general practitioner's note though. A budget of twenty million will be allocated to the development and maintenance of the territory under your charge."

Er Hu's head spun, just as he was planning to use his newly acquired wealth to support the settlement, there was an even more insane amount been put aside for the growth of his tribe.

"The term of your office will be four years, at the end of your term you may be required by previous agreement to nominate a successor during the council seat openings. There are ten seats in total, qualification for one requires four councilors votes."

"…." Er Hu took a while to proceed the information as well as to get a bearing of himself.

"What else will be expected of me, Vice-Lord?" So far he had only heard the benefits of joining the town alliance but not the duties.

"Simple, all five towns are required to grant male and female residence within their communities between 18 to 30 the allowance to join the PDF. A militia organization that trains and equips people with weapons and training, there are basic arithmetic and writing lessons which are provided for them. Allowance and meals are also given. As you've seen from your stay, there isn't any military presence within the borders of the Valley. That's because I've discussed with Army High Command regarding the autonomy in all the villages in this area, and they called for a militia as the basic defensive strategy for the North Eastern Region."

"I see."

"But for the Hunic Settlements case I thought of something else."

"So we won't be committing to this PDF concept then?"

"Not quite, instead it will be assembling an indefinite force of a hundred Hun warriors to merge with the Royal Army as a para-military unit."

Er Hu was genuinely surprised with Ajay's request. He was asking them to loan them with military power.

"Why is this so?"

"Why so? I thought I should use the power of the unbeatable Huns to our favor. I've always held the Huns in high regard, wasn't your primary occupation war before domestic affairs?" Ajay challenge.

"Oh? Now you've insulted our dignity, of course we're warriors to the core!" Er Hu beat his chest with a single hand but he wasn't angry only a little unsure.

"If you're concerned by the arrangement, it's been done before. Presently, there's a group in Pacchim Valley that operates in a similar fashion with the Royal Army. The Mukti Tigers, led by Amita."

"A women?" Was the first thing that caught his attention.

"She used to be a power house within the Golden Path movement till here direct opponent enacted a coup while she was away on a mission. With no place to go she took one of our fortresses and formed her own fraternity. She's currently the Golden Path's number one enemy."

"I should really make a visit down south to see this Amita woman, just imagining her appearance is getting me worked up!" Er Hu said impressed with the story.

"Maybe you could lead this para-military group yourself."

"Mmmm… that does sound enticing. Then again, if I don't do it. Everyone is gonna think the Huns are all talk and no action! I accept!" Er Hu made his resolve to agree.

Ajay handed the document over for Er Hu to sign, Er Hu took a minute to read through the various clauses. Ajay assisted in the interpretation of certain articles. When Er Hu was certain, he signed the document, receiving a round of applause from the occupants bearing witness to the first true collaboration between Kyrati and Huns for over a thousand years. They had come out of a neutral status to form an alliance with the Vice-Lord of Kyrat, this was breaking history.

Having the Huns with them was a great asset. He had seen it for himself just this morning, although they were young, those kids were challenging even for him to deal with. Imagine what fully grown adult warriors were like, what Er Hu himself to lead them was capable of.

To Ajay, this was a clear win. Not only did his negotiations provide cover for their rear where the mountains were, from attacks like the Marines' night raid. But now, he had acquired the most cunning and lethal of tribal forces in all of Kyrat.

* * *

The night stalked over Kyrat, the lanterns had long been lit in Banapur to light the way for the people who travelled from their homes to pay homage to their returned hero and leader.

Upon revealing his identity and having several elders and old guard commander verify it was truly him. Mohan instantly received the mantle of leadership once more. Although, the biggest question everyone had was how? How did he survive when they had received news of his body found outside the Ghale Homestead?

Mohan smiled and explained that his death had been faked while he was taken away by some group under Pagan's command. He had been incarcerated in a pit where no one knew to rot and despair at his movement crumbling to the ground on itself. He had been kept under guard and feed, there he bided his time to find and opportunity to escape which he did. He commended them on their persistence and endurance all these twenty-six years to which they felt honored. Despite imprisonment in less than ideal places, his complexion was as unchanged as he was twenty years ago. It was like looking at a portrait of him.

Currently, he and the high level commanders were discussing the current status of the Golden Path and how well could it hold, what forces could they muster if they passed the news of his miraculous return.

Sabal stood obediently by Mohan's side. In a way, his praise had saved Sabal from certain death and he was dead set on returning the favor to his benefactor and role model. He pledged his allegiance to him and his undying loyalty, so Mohan took him under his wing. Though, this didn't stop the rest of the Golden Path members from looking at him with all the hatred in the world they could muster. Sabal held a look of disdain as he felt they were simply jealous that he made an impression on the Great Mohan Ghale.

"Finally, where is my son? Where is Ajay?" Mohan asked after he had heard all he needed to hear on the Golden Path's exploits for the past twenty-six years. At this moment, all heads were turned to Sabal. Being the commander of the expeditionary force that attempted to kill Pagan and rescue Ajay Ghale from an armored convoy.

"Taken prisoner by Pagan, we weren't able to respond quick enough to Darpan's message and the place was too heavily fortified. We did try to kill Pagan on transit but-….." Sabal unconsciously placed his hand to his burn scars that had long healed but with the mark still left.

"Understood, you've done all you can. No one blames you." Mohan encouraged him, to which his whole-self brightened up. Some of the field commanders where thinking, otherwise.

-Done all you can? What about all those fighters you caused to die for nothing?-

But they failed to show their distaste in front of their great leader.

"It cannot be helped." Mohan went back to the situation at hand, the crisis of the Golden Path's dissolution.

"Where are my generals?"

The assemble members in the war council held glum expressions. When Mohan referred his generals, he meant the "eight devas". Eight legendary field commanders whom fought against Pagan himself when he was in the field and Yuma. Some had extraordinary strategic skills others had a combat prowess that was unheard of. Most, if not all were former commanders from the Nationalist movement and colleagues from the Royal Guard loyalists to the former Devi dynasty. One Commander stood up and explained to him.

"After the news of your apparent death, the "Eight Devas" split, doing their own thing. Six of them had they made an expedition to the North alone. Two were reported to have perished when going against Yuma and the Royal Guard. The other four were incarcerated in Rajgad Gulag after their families paid Pagan a hefty sum to keep alive and way from Durgesh. We've heard no news from any of them since. The last two have been missing ever since you were reported dead at Ghale Homestead."

Mohan sighed and accepted the changes.

"We'll prioritize their rescue, for now Pagan and the Royal army are unaware of my return so we'll use that to our advantage. Then, I will announce my return. The last two will naturally come out of hiding to find me in Banapur."

"Forgive me for asking, Great Leader."

"Yes? Please share." Mohan allowed the eager Field commander to speak.

"Thank you, great leader. But I am baffled on how we will be able to get pass the mountains to reach the Uttar Region, let alone reach the stronghold-like Rajgad Gulag and storm it when we have several examples of failures against similar strongholds by certain planners." The field commander emphasized to indicate and remind everyone of Sabal's failure at Baghadur. Sabal could only bite his lips in endurance of open humiliation because he deserved it.

"Furthermore, the American spies Marines had made an incursion through the Himalayas to raid the Vice-Lords home and also failed. Their incursion caused the Royal Army to fortify the mountain regions with heavy Snow guard patrols.

"That won't be a problem, for you see there are more than one way into the North available by foot. I happen to know a few, make ready to commence a raid upon the gulag by next week."

"""Yes, Great leader!""" The commanders and elders saluted him and left promptly.

Leaving only him and a dazzling eyed Sabal who could only admire him for his planning despite adversity, it was just as he had always heard on Mohan Ghale's character.

"Sabal."

"Y-Yes?"

"I have a few questions I need you to enlighten me on."

"Anything for the great Mohan Ghale!" Sabal was now his instant fanboy.

"When that brother mentioned American spy was he by chance referring to a CIA agent by the name of Willis Huntley?"

"Yes, Great Leader! Willis had arrived months ago to supply us with high tech weapons and equipment. But after a while he brought in those Marines when I had strictly enforced him from bringing personnel into the picture as you had done years ago!"

"I see, so he came back to finish what he and Lynch started together."

"My lord?"

"Nothing. I have one last query before I'd like some time alone. Who is this Badala I keep hearing the war councilors mention over and over like some sort of scourge?" Sabal frowned but opened his mouth.

"He has been the cause of our present suffering, ever since he appeared on the battlefield four months ago! This scar was his gift to me. He's killed over two thousand on his own as well as counter attacked on two of our largest assaults to regain control of Pacchim Valley and break into the Uttar region North. The men have taken to calling him the Northern Demon aptly. Pagan had supposedly brought him from the Americas to fight us, he currently resides in the Valley of Death as the new and only current Vice-Lord of Kyrat."

Mohan analyzed his story and had some suspicions to the tale.

"Thank you, brother. That is all I needed to hear, would you please leave me some time to organize my thoughts for the next actions I intend for our movement to take?"

"Uh- Yes! But of course! Please rest well, m-my lord." He made his way to the door.

"Sabal."

"Y-Yes?"

"I'm your leader but you should call me brother like the rest. Just as I call you."

Sabal's eyebrows perked up in pure joy, he smiled wryly. "Yes, I mean- have a good rest, brother!"

"Same to you, brother." Sabal nodded and closed the door behind him.

(Sigh)

"Such a naïve brat." Mohan let his façade drop once he had heard the footsteps go off into the distance.

A figure appeared before him from the darkness of the room.

"The preparations are on the way. Then we will begin our assault upon the Royal Palace and seize it once more." He walked up toward the hooded figure.

"And when the Royal Palace is ours, and I can finally walk over Pagan's cold dead corpse. I will dedicate all of my resources to uncovering the secrets to Shangri-La for you….."

Mohan knelt before the hooded figure bowing his head. The hooded figure held out her delicate porcerlain hands for him to kiss, which he happily did.

"…. My Master."


	38. Chapter 37 - Unrelenting Behaviours

Author's Notes:

Explanation to the higher than average grammar errors in previous chapter. I had recently been given pieces of a PC dad purchased to assemble, he gave one to me and I've been using it ever since saturday. Problem was that i had to reload Office 2016 and you know how tedicous that is so i installed a 2010 as an interim solution forgetting my old laptop which i used to publish the stories uses custom settings in 2016. I might get back to correcting errors if i have the time but new chapters takes precedence.

It's also one chapter away from the deciding votes to the Jason love interest. So hurry up and place your votes, you have the power to change Jason's destiny so use it wisely.

* * *

Hurk sat across Ajay while the rest of the Condotierri and Captain David Goh stood to listen to his accounts in a place called Rook Island.

"... That's everything." Hurk finished his story with a grave expression.

"What kind of name is Snow White for a dude?" Perkins couldn't help but ask what was with that stupid name.

"For now it'll be just Brody." David stated.

"So two years ago, he fought against a pirate organisation, a mercenary company the size of a brigade all by himself." Ajay clarified.

"He did have some help from me but mostly it was assistance from the Rakyat, the island's local home boys."

When the group heard Brody's exploits, they couldn't help but turn to Ajay as the closest reference. If that were the case, it explained why Willis had brought him here, he was the Golden Paths best response to Badala.

"Bad's, can I ask, are you really gonna kill him?" Hurk asked timidly.

Ajay cleared his thoughts with a deep breath in and out.

"Samson."

"Yes?"

"Issue a request to Army High Command. Individual known as Jason Brody is highly dangerous, if encountered at any time should request backup in the form of two battalions... Terminate with extreme prejudice. Then bring his head back for confirmation." Ajay had made his stand.

"As for the rest of you, don't give any quarter or he'll take yours." Hurk became anxious when he heard what he expected Ajay would say.

"Bad's! I think Jason he-.."

"I know he's here for something else, when I met him he demanded where was his friends. From your story, a similar instance happened over back then. But I can tell you, I don't even need to visit Pagan and to know his friends aren't there." Knowing Willis and Sabal, they likely had them and said they were the ones holding his friends hostage. Then he'll wreak havoc amongst the populace until the day they finally reveal their true natural to him.

"Then-."

"That doesn't change the fact that he's a wild card- no. He's our enemy, and he'll stop at nothing until this Kingdom is burnt to the ground to find his friends." Ajay began to laugh.

"HeHahahahaha-... He really is so naive, he doesn't even realize in all likeliness his friends might be in custody of the very people he's fighting alongside. What a fool!" Ajay couldn't stop his madden laughter, it was the irony of the situation Jason had landed himself in, he was simply too trusting... just like he once was. Ajay knew the end result of Jason Brody's conquest, a bullet to the head by none other than the people he'll come to call brothers and sisters. If he had a choice to change it he'd rather let Jason fall into despair instead but he had to protect Kyrat so Jason needed to die.

"Then we should tell'im! So that he understands we aren't holding his friends, then-." Hurk still stood up for Jason.

"Then what! The Golden Path still have his friends and then he'll really have no choice but to fight us!" Ajay couldn't control his temper when Hurk sided with Jason. He poked Hurk on the chest with his index finger.

"Did you know? That Jason, your other Tatbro was responsible for Kamala's death? Did you?!" Hurk held a stricken look, though their time was short Hurk was also a friend of Kamala. Her death greatly saddened him also because she was the rare friend who would encourage and praise him for a job well done. Hurk bit his lip, he could feel Ajay's pain more clearly now.

(Slam) Ajay took out a silver jar and slammed it onto the table. As Hurk looked at the scribbling of words carved into the jar his eyes widened in shock and disbelief. It was Kamala's urn holding her cremated ashes, he had been wondering for some time what that jar was doing attached to Ajay, so it was this.

"Look at it and say you want to try and help that hopeless brat!" Ajay shouted with rage evident in his voice.

Ajay revealed to him why despite the chance they had to convince Jason to put down arms to work out a way to get him his friends Ajay chose otherwise. Even when the Marines had attacked him he still gave them a chance. David and Perkins remained quiet for them to sort out their internal affairs.

But for Jason Brody, he simply could not do the same any longer. Because of Jason's interference, the ever shameless Sabal took a shot at him and killed Kamala in the process. Hurk knew Ajay held Kamala in more than just high regard, he idolized her. If only he was never there, Ajay told himself in his heart. But Ajay turned away and said...

"You're free to go over and tell him all you want, Hurk. No one here is gonna stop you..."

Hurk could see he already couldn't forgive Jason in his heart. To him Sabal was a dog that acted upon instincts, but Jason still had power over individual choice therefore he was to blame. Ajay's eyes blazed with the fires of retribution.

"But Jason Brody dies!"

* * *

Within the special weapons armoury, Ajay skimmed his hand across the weapon crates shipped from Tel Aviv. Courtesy of Paul Ferenc, or who he liked to call the "good Paul" because the other two were hopeless. One was a sick-fuck while the other was a coward and plain greedy man. It was no surprise that the Jewish state in the middle east could be none other than Israel, but the deal with them was under the radar. He had the pleasure of chatting with Paul at the airport the other day when he received the shipment of 'complimentary gifts'. They weren't receiving enough supply of Titanium from China whom used to grant exclusive rights to its mines was now hoarding most of its supply for its emerging high-tech industries. It affected the market back home so they sought other means to gather the needed supply to their industries in technology and defense.

The complimentary gifts came in the form of Spike ATGM Missiles in the non-line of sight variant. Paul claimed that using a laser designator they had packed inside that was man-portable, it could be fired from twenty miles and strike a target precisely with minimal collateral provided the target was lazed by the instrument. In summary, Paul gave him a precision guided missile for targets he wanted to annihilate but didn't want to get to close to. Ajay could imagine the application for it. A stealth cadre of say Royal Guard Hunters would sneak behind enemy lines, identify a high value target like an enemy commander. Then they'd mark him with the designator without anyone noticing a thing, the missile would finish him off. The hunters had no need to even reveal their location and could go home safely without losing a single man. Ajay had no eagerness to use it just yet, but there would come a time he might want to use it.

Ajay read the reports on the improvements and update on the two Arsenals. One in which he resided and the other in Yuma's domain to the North-west of the Uttar region.

The tooling in Yuma's arsenal was set to produce an analogy to the expensive and sophisticated P416 rifles that were originally imported via Solomon Khoo. One of Samar's apprentices had replicated the rifle to match the Israeli tooling for M16 carbines. The result was an M4-style carbine that had the same operating system as the P416, Samar's apprentice had the honors of naming it AY-16, **A** ssault rifle under patronage of **Y** uma Lau in **16** inch barrel.

Samar respected Ajay's decision to hand Yuma the tooling they received and made amendments to suit her private armies needs. The AY-16 had advantages and disadvantages with the P416 rifle it was supplementing.

Advantages, it had the same aesthetics as the P416 being an AR-15 derivative, allowing the Royal Guard troops to feel familiar with the weapon so there was little need to retrain with the rifle. The AY-16 had a longer barrel which meant greater velocity and accuracy as standard.

Although, the weapon was still significantly inferior in quality to its former expensive counterpart in service with the Royal Guards. Still, it was enough for the situation they were in and the life expectancy was within suitable margins till the end of the war as predicted by High Command analysts. Longinus, despite his craziness had picked up the art of gunsmithing from Samar and had become a competent apprentice to his friend. He had a hand in overseeing the production of Yuma's Arsenal apart from his regular occupation of drawing weapons and ammunition from external sources from Khyber pass, Pakistan and from Thailand. Small arms, mortars, heavy machine guns, rocket launchers, grenades launchers, anti-material rifles, land mines, and other military hardware that didn't have electronics. Most of the weapons he brought in were weapons that the standing armies of countries had in stockpile or in reserve. There were always underpaid generals or police officials who sought to earn extra cash for their private use and gladly sold their stocks to him and the other arms dealer, the Jackal.

Every time Ajay heard of him, he couldn't help but shudder at the thought of how he looked and behaved. Longinus had once mentioned he was a stone cold bastard at one time, yet he saved fleeing refugees in the millions. His movement and behaviors were unpredictable and that's how he liked it from peering eyes and ears of the intelligence communities.

Ajay looked at the reports on his own Arsenal in the Valley. After rebuilding the Arsenal from the damage, the facilities were expanded. This meant there were more vacancies for jobs and potential for increases in output for weapons and ammo.

The ARP-1 rifles Arjun ordered were distributed amongst the PDF units in his domain while the Royal Army was more than satisfied with their current kit. But in more dire circumstances such as losing ground to the Golden Path, that rifle was the fall back option. Other than that weapon, the valley arsenal now produced nearly all of the small-arms in the Royal army inventory save for specialized weapons like precision rifles and large caliber weapons like cannons for the newly integrated Ratel IFVs. Pistols, shotguns, AK and AR rifles, Light machine guns and submachine-guns were now the new and improved products rolled out by the improved Arsenal.

The greatest improvement since the introduction of the Arsenals was their ability to produce rifle barrel blanks on their own which were previously imported from several overseas sources to cut out into proper barrels. Ajay threw more funds into the steel milling business and Aluminium mining facilities in Pagan's corridor to have it churn out more. In all instances, Kyrat had finally built a self-sustaining military industry. Although, the numbers still couldn't meet the demands of the enormous Royal Army, that was where Longinus's arms filled in the gaps. The old woman who sold arms at the two shops she owned in Shanath and Banapur had also moved with the rest of the refugees. Her presence had been notified by the Royal Army and had sent her to his town to see if she would like to set shop in his territory. To Ajay, she was a valuable presence because she could help distribute the weapons throughout his territory.

The idea Ajay had for the Valley was much like the states. If everyone had a firearm, no one would try anything funny, because they all respected the power of the gun and its wielder. They of course, couldn't take justice into their own hands as was enforced by the law but the guns were there if they were willing to accept the price for it. It was also one of the liberties within his territory besides zero taxes which made it one of the most appealing settlements in the region.

There were however restrictions on the weapons based on classification. Mostly, they weren't supposed to have fully automatic firing capabilities and they couldn't exceed a certain caliber unless there was a warranted use such as big game hunting.

"You didn't have to be so hard on old Hurk." Samar said over his adjustment he was making with Ajay's double barrelled monster, the slayer.

"I wasn't, I was simply stating what my stand was on this Snow White bastard. Geez... saying it makes me feel embarrassed. I wonder what's Brody's take on his gay name?" (Jason sneezes)

"If you weren't hard then why has he not returned to the workshop like usual?" Samar crossed his arms.

"I don't get you."

"What do you think Hurk does on his free time, get wasted in the pubs? Ever since you placed him under the care of those Italians he's been working himself non-stop. He wanted to prove to himself and others he was a reliable friend, so this is clearly on you."

Samar was trying to say Hurk had a heart of gold and therefore could do no wrong, so it was entirely Ajay's fault he wasn't around.

"All I said was I'm gonna kill Jason Brody, I didn't stop him from saying no, neither telling Jason of my intentions himself." Samar sighed.

"I see, then its more complicated than i imagined. Hurk is now stuck in a dilemma of choosing sides. Between old friend and new, Hurk may be older than you but he has a heart of a child, he's still learning till now."

"..."

"What would you do if Hurk chose Jason over you?"

"I don't see where this is going."

"Ha! Don't cheat yourself, Hurk is the closest thing you have to a best mate. If not you wouldn't have done so much, compromised so much to have him fight alongside you rather than be a dependent."

"..." Ajay could find no fault with his reasoning, perhaps if Hurk left he would feel particularly upset and disappointed.

Ajay recalled what Hurk said before he ran out after he declared for the last time that he wanted Jason Brody dead.

"What would Kamala think if she knew you killed a kid over her?"

Those words stung the greatest when it came from Hurk and left him standing even after the rest departed to return to their jobs. The Condotierri to guarding the arsenal and the Marines to planning an incursion into Banapur to recapture Willis as their primary concern.

-Those words are so unfair.-

* * *

Arjun was hard at work organising the Army to escort fractions of the refugees to each individual territory to manage. Over five hundred thousand civilians had been moved out from their homes to the Tigers' refugee camps and while the rest had been distributed amongst the numerous villages in the North across King's Bridge in the Uttar region. Thankfully, Amita had the Mukti Tigers assemble tents and wooden prefab houses for the civilians. Arjun had the Army deliver relief supplies to them while having four regiments fortify a line between the North and South to protect the civilians.

On all accounts, his evacuation plan was a success, he managed to significantly reduce the potential collateral as well as the pool of which the Golden Path recruited from. By now, Tirtha and the surrounding villages and settlements were deserted. Banapur had also lost a large portion of its populace that moved out while the Golden Path fighters had been diverted to protect the Recruitment camps South from the decoy troops.

Then he heard the audacious news from the 1st Hussars Armored Battalion Commander himself. Badala had levelled Varshakot. Arjun had taught himself not to be too surprised at what the young lord was capable of. He thought there would be old Guard protecting that stronghold and their were, but before Badala they made no difference. From the report, not a single survivor was left alive, casualties were minimal on their end too.

The capture of Willis had failed due to the intervention of one Jason Brody, an associate of Willis whom rescued him in the nick of time and divided the marines in two. His secretary had just sent him a request from Badala to hunt Brody at whatever cost, for Badala to hold Jason Brody in such high regard meant he was really extraordinary and dangerous. He wasn't sure how Badala intended to deal with him, but his request was a better way of saying "Please be cautious around Brody."

Arjun sighed and helped himself to the Chai prepared by his secretary, Captain Layak. It was the first time in a long while he could just sit in his office and relax. Ever since that boy Badala came along, things had been shaky but not in a bad way. With a swift motion, Badala executed all of their enemies in the thousands such that he was never needed to return unless Arjun really needed him. He was responsible for the massive changes in Kyrat's premier military force as well, assassinating Sugun to dissolve the Royal Guard, breaking the Golden Paths resolve, rejuvenating the failing economy, building Kyrat's first military industry. Badala literally held a God of War status amongst the Royal Army foot soldiers under Arjun's command.

But what truly made him so special was that he always seemed to know his way around Kyrat, who his enemies were and how to use the terrain to his advantage. Arjun found this strange as rumors indicated that Badala had come from the United States, though he was likely Kyrati. There were so many reports that indicated he found hidden passageways, uncompromising terrain, how he seem to guess exactly how many fighters were in a garrison at a time. It was as if Badala had been travelling around Kyrat for years, which wasn't possible when the King confirmed it himself. It was likely that Badala, like the king had an undisclosed network of intelligence even G2 intelligence branch didn't know about.

That was not all, reports spoke of a fighting style like no other. An almost complete disregard for cover and defence in favour for speed and quick acquisition. His latest work was what was now called the "Crimson Forest" after the blood soaked greenery from the lives he severed.

But what worried Arjun the most was his Daughter. It was fairly obvious she held some kind of affection for him. But to interact with him could have consequences.

-This type of person could only earn powerful enemies and not many friends from his unrelenting behaviour.-

Even though he thought that, Badala had never once went out without permission or a request from Arjun to justify his attacks. He still respected Arjun's command authority as the Marshal of Kyrat and High Commands presence despite his rank as a Marquis, a Vice-Lord of Kyrat.

Arjun read the most recent letter from his ever filial daughter whom was currently in Maharashtra where she was delegating for the officers the sent to learn at the various Military institutions in India. Some were sent to specialised colleges and training schools to be taught warcraft.

All this was made possible through Arjun's connections. He had been an Alumni of the staff college there years ago, which earned him the technical know-how to manage an entire military organisation. In New Delhi, while studying he also made some acquaintances whom were training to become staff officers in the Indian Armed forces and left a good impression before he returned to Kyrat. These former acquaintances whom were now high ranking officers in their joint services were the ticket to being granted audience with the Indian foreign affairs and defence ministers.

All this was for the future of Kyrat on the international playing field which it had remained obscured for some time. Kyrat needed to take a side in one of the global power houses, Arjun saw there were two options at present. The Chinese or the Indians, the most sensible choice was the Indians because of their proximity to one another as well as their similar cultures and language to correlate. Pakistan wasn't an option though it was also just next to them, because they were allies with the US. Arjun had a bad experience with the US on multiple occasions, mostly by one single individual they failed to capture, Willis Huntley. Though he didn't represent the entire interest of the states, the fact that he could bring in state of the art weapons and equipment like the Stinger missiles or the Stryker Armoured Vehicles meant someone was supportive of the idea of destabilizing his homeland.

That was enough to know that the United States of America was no friend of Kyrat or him. That being said, sending those officers to India to learn was only secondary compared to the true intentions of the dialogue between them and India.

The S-Program.

It had been nearly three months since they initialled the project, the brainchild being himself and Badala. Layak estimated the time till operational capacity was two more months. It was the biggest investment in their military budget yet the ones paying were Mistress Yuma and Lord Badala. Because when it went online this whole farce they've been fighting hard against the Golden Path who employed guerrilla warfare would be history.

The site had long been complete thanks to the amazing building capacity of the 3rd Royal Engineering Company under his daughter's command. Arjun had visited the site on several occasions, every visit left an impression and a welling of pride in his Country. Kyrat would not be a speck in everyone's eyes soon.

"Missing our daughter already, dear?" Arjun looked up to see a surprise visitor. A formally dressed auburn haired woman that had a splitting image to his daughter.

"Wife…."

"I just came by to asked whether you'll be attending the coming new years celebration."

"A phone call would have sufficed."

"Then I'd be received by Layak or some random junior officer who doesn't know I'm the spouse of his superior! No, I came with some cakes my society freshly baked for tea." Madam Roka raised a basket that held local pastries.

"I-…. I could do that." Arjun said hesistantly.

"You will entertain me." She said in a tone of authority as she always had.

"Y-Yes." Arjun obediently put down his documents and guided her to the coffee table with his cup of tea.

"Then I'll make myself scarce and get another cup of tea for madam." Layak said before departing off to do the task.

"Please do, thank you." She replied and unloaded the treats onto plates for them to have tea.

For a good fifteen minutes, Arjun enjoyed the cakes and silence from his wife who had yet to speak, but it all came to an end when she opened her mouth to state her true intention of coming to the Royal Fortress.

"I would never have expected you to be so despicable." She lashed out bluntly, Arjun nearly spilt the contents of the delicious cake in his mouth, he took a sip of his tea to clear the contents from his throat.

"W-What?"

"You heard me, sending our daughter to Maharashtra when any other officer in your retinue could have done the job. But the real reason you did so was to separate her from personal life." Madam Roka's glare burnt deep into Arjun's psyche, every word she spoke made tremors in his mind.

Because the true head of house Roka was her, Manisha Roka. His wife.

While his marriage may have been arranged he did love his wife very much, but at times she was... forceful. Tyrannical if he was ever given the opportunity to be alone to himself to say that. It was why he found comfort in Saraswati's calm and gentle demeanour compared to his wife's iron-fisted authority, but it didn't mean she didn't love her daughter. She absolutely adored her, perhaps more than even him. His and her arrangement had been the same as Saraswati's and Ghale's boy but he had known her for some time whereas this war had caused Lady Ishwari to flee with Ajay Ghale, hence they've never even seen each other.

"It because she was the most capable option in securin-."

"Save that excuse for fools, remember who you're speaking to here, **dear**." Manisha didn't need to raise her voice even once as was part of her etiquette training when she was younger but her words carried heavy weight.

"You sent her away because she had been staying with the young lord."

"Y-You knew?!"

"Course I did, she's been telling me the progress she's made every week." She chuckled thinking about the things she wrote about.

"You allowed this fooling around when she was engaged?"

"Oh come on! Are you the only one stuck in the old fashion ways? I'd rather she pursued someone to be with than not."

Arjun slumped back in his seat, absolutely betrayed by his own family members. It was internal treachery!

Manisha sighed when she saw her husband was still having single minded thoughts about what should he have done. "Arjun. This is the first time our daughter's shown any keen interest in anyone, she's almost at the end of her marriageable age and you want to ruining it because the boy she likes doesn't suit you own ideals?"

"Wife, this person-… this Badala isn't what you've heard he is."

"Oh? Then pray tell, what is he like then?" Manisha opened her ears to entertain her husbands.

"It's as the public recognises him as, a demon. If you've seen or read the reports about him you'd be shocked- no, appalled by his actions!"

"Like?" Arjun was unwilling to tell her as it breached the code of secrecy towards intel.

"You know that our king can be quite…eccentric at times, you've personally meet him, remember? But Badala, Badala is a madman, King Min might ask you to burn down a village but Badala would do it himself and paints the goddamn village red!" He knew it was exaggerating but it gave a clearer picture to Badala's savagery he was capable of just like with Ratu Gadhi, Meh Teh, Varshakot or the new "crimson forest".

"So?"

"SO?!" He couldn't believe the reply she gave.

"(Sigh) Are you really taking our daughter for an idiot or something?"

"What- No! I-."

"While you've been reading his plans and accounts from others, I'm very well aware she had been right next to him in the very field he fought on. So if anyone knew him better between the two of you it'll be her." Arjun found he couldn't fault her on that. Seeing him quieten down she snorted.

"What a surprise, I was fully informed he even assisted in elevating you to the Commander-in-chief of the Defense forces, break that invasion into the North that had my fellow high society mistresses worried sick to the outcome. Yet like the name they gave you, the stubborn rhino, have not even shown a single gesture of gratitude to that person. When did you become so prideful you forgot to even thank him once, for dirtying his hands in this civil war so you could keep yours nice and clean. I'm afraid I'll have to say how ashamed I am to have such a husband."

Arjun felt he was about to cough out blood. He never liked this, when his wife would point out his flaws in a flash and leave him defeated and mournful. Today was the most vicious scrutiny yet. Arjun slumped his head against the table, hopefully she would follow up with some words of encouragement after seeing his pitiful state like she used to.

"Call Saraswati back or I'll divorce you."

-w-WHAT?!-

Arjun nearly dropped of his seat when he heard her threat. "Mani, my dear please be reasonable!"

"I am. You will call her back if you have even the slightest shed of dignity left."

"You!-… Give me two months tops, this process in Maharashtra can't be shortened. It determines the fate of Kyrat, Badala has even given his support for the program. That's the best i can do before i send another to take over, so please! Manisha..." Arjun pleaded. Manisha stared at him on his knees for a while and sighed.

"Then promise me, cross your heart you won't interfere with her affairs again."

"You have it!"

"Good, keep to it. I still haven't heard your response to the New Year ball celebration hosted by Mistress Lau at Crystal falls."

"The War Council will be there, but I'll be there as Patriarch Arjun Roka."

"Good. I won't disturb you any longer, be back early." Satisfied with his response she left.

Arjun collapsed to his chair, he knew Manisha would confront him on this matter sooner or later but he didn't expect she would be supportive of Badala. Since it was both of them that thought he was alright, there was something he was missing in his evaluation of Badala. But what was it? Badala was definitely not his real name, no parent would name their child after vengeance they sought. He felt he was missing something but didn't know what it was.

"Sir?"

"Y-Yes?" Arjun returned back to reality to find his secretary had called out to him a number of times.

"We've been getting reports on the Golden Path making strange movements around the borders in the Eastern end of the mountain."

Arjun picked up the dossier that held the G2 insider intelligence.

"I thought it should reach your eyes, I wasn't sure if there were any irregularities in that place."

"No. You did good." Arjun commended him. But gazed deeply at the intel.

They were heading to the Eastern side of the Mountains that seperated the North from the South. Although it was unprotected there was a natural barrier that prevented movement through to the Uttar Region.

So what were they doing there? And why were they moving out when the best strategic option was to consolidate their sudden loss of manpower and supply of civilians. None of these made sense.

…..

"Come on, Arjun. Just a little further."

"Why are we even hear, Mohan brother?"

"I'm showing you a secret route in case we ever get into trouble against the Nationalists."

Arjun reminisce the early days of his career in the Royal Guard, back when they fought the Nationalist party. Mohan had shown him a passage out of Uttar to Pacchim Valley.

-Couldn't be…-

It was something that only Mohan knew of and he wouldn't indulge it with anyone save for himself, his sworn brother Arjun and Lady Ishwari. There was just no way anyone knew of it because it was naturally inaccessible.

-There was just no way.-

* * *

The Golden Path fighters in Banapur were up and about packing provisions and ammunition for their upcoming expedition as promised by Mohan.

"Here, I'll help." Jason reached out to carry the provisions onto the truck.

"Many thanks, Brody!" The Golden Path fighters were genuinely appreciative of his considerateness, unlike a certain weasel that wriggled his way beside Mohan.

Jason was glad Sabal didn't have to face the noose in the end, because without him there would be nobody that would help him in his endeavour to find his brother and friends. The appearance of this Mohan was dubious, to the locals he was some sort of symbol of their cause and a powerful one at that. Why did he choose to appear now of all times, Jason didn't know nor cared. His only concern was his friends and that was all, it wouldn't be like the last time Citra nearly seduced him with promises of power and pleasure. Jason was an advocate against that kind of violence, even if the every same type of violence was the only means of rescuing his friends. It had to be used solely for that purpose.

"Yo Jas', you've got a minute?" Willis called out from the window of the place he was resting in after he received a visit from Mohan Ghale.

"Sure, I'll be right with you."

"Great kid, don't make us wait!"

Jason finished up with helping the warriors load up the crates on the five-tonner truck.

"Thanks for the help, brother. Please, don't keep our great leader waiting." The warrior said to him.

"Ok."

Jason made his was to the shack that housed Willis who was still bed-ridden. He happened to hear a few things they had been talking about before noticing his presence.

"So times haven't been good on you either."

"The hell you talking about, I've never felt more alive. What about you? You haven't aged a day, what kind of pact did you make with the devil this time, damn bastard?"

"I've only dealt with one devil which is your employer."

Mohan shared some quality time with Willis much to Jason's surprise, did they know each other before.

"There he is, our secret weapon!" Willis declared upon seeing Jason had arrived.

"Mohan, this here's Jason Brody. Affectionately called Snow White by the Rakyat home boys and by homeland security at home. But don't let the name fool you cause he's commited genocide amongst the pirates and mercs on Rook Island. And so far, he's the only one save for Sabal that survived an encounter with Badala." Willis gave Jason an intro. Latter raised his hand for a handshake with Mohan who held it and gave a firm response.

"Pleasure to be acquainted with you Mr Brody. Willis has told me some what about you purpose here."

"Will you help me find my friends?" Jason asked excitedly.

"Perhaps we could come to an agreement. In all probability your friends are in two places. One is Durgesh Prison which in that case they are truly lost to you."

"Why?!"

"Because no one ever escapes insanity, if you're still sane enough in there you'd take your own life while you have the opportunity."

Jason felt a tightness grip around his heart, as much as he refused to believe it he couldn't hope for it.

"There is another possibility…" When Mohan said this he looked up to the man.

"Within the Uttar Region a few miles away from the Royal Palace is a stronghold. But unlike its counterparts like Ratu Gadhi or Baghadur or even the recently demolished Varshakot its a fortification that defends from the inside."

Jason cocked his head.

"What Mohan is trying to get at is that its a Gulag." Willis explained.

"Rajgad Gulag to be precise. It's purpose is to imprison misfits and political prisoners. Whereas Durgesh is to keep the really dangerous community under closed bars." Mohan could see Jason had gotten a interest in the place the instance he stated it and made a glimpse towards Willis.

We'll be raiding Rajgad Gulag in a five days to rescue some of our former colleagues, perhaps you may take the opportunity to join us in your search for your friends."

"I will- I mean, please allow me to tag along!"

Mohan chuckled. "Of course, any help from the famous Snow White will be welcomed."

"Thanks…. I guess."

"Good, will you spare me a moment more with Agent Huntley? I would like to hear from him the overview regarding our current situation and the support he is willing to give."

"Oh! Sure, I'll be off anyway." Jason got up and nodded to Willis before making his way out of the door.

When they were sure he left, Mohan turned to Willis with a disdainful smile.

"Are all the brats so naive? A few kind words and they wag their tails in order. I'm beginning to miss the company of my true fellow compatriots. By the way, that brat's friends, was it you?" Willis nodded.

"You sneaky little cretin, but I guess its his own fault for being to trusting also." Mohan laughed.

"Hey, its called playing your cards out right!"

"Indeed it is."

"I wasn't joking when I said he could fight Badala one on one."

"I didn't think so, but with the eight it won't matter any longer."

"How much of a guarantee is there that they'd still be in the shape to fight?" Willis was being realistic with his options.

"Twenty-six years behind bars can change a man to do anything he so wishes provided he has the power to do so and the will. I intend to give them both."

".…" Willis was clear on this point, Mohan was like the Kyrat savior returned from the grave.

"Paul's coming."

"Is he now….." Mohan grinned, it was just like old times.

"Coming back to sweep the dirt under the rug I suppose. No matter, he'll eventually come to join the party. He has no other option if he wants to find its location, by the way did you find what you were looking for?" Willis shook his head smiling.

"Don't need to. Having the coordinates and the black box in my possession is enough to keep him in check. I have some of the marines watching my stash."

"Mmmm." Mohan just agreed with him. But then he started to laugh insanely.

"I wonder what Pagan would think when he finds out like every of those traitors in Royal Guard."

Willis became incline to laugh with him, and together they made their laughter heard from outside.

Jason who left the building heard it and thought his assessment that they were comrades before was correct. It was five days till the raid, but what should he do till then? Perhaps he shou-

"Jason."

Jason looked up to the person that was calling his name. When he did, a middle aged Caucasian man had greeted him, but why did he look so familiar? It was in his head but he just couldn't picture that person with this one.

So Jason made a gamble.

".…. Hurk?"


	39. Chapter 38 - Accomplices

Author's Notes:

The time has come! The moment you've all been waiting for. The winner of the poll for Jason's love interest is... (Drum roll)

Daisy! (Applauds)

Winning ratio of 6:2, former is Daisy while latter is Liza. I have to admit, the way i portrayed Liza was kind of whiny i confess. But it was merely my analysis of her character when after the events of FC3 she was to deal with the PTSD ladden Jason who was still fighting killing urges. I wondered to myself, how long would she last in patience with Jason if he took a while. Liza in Reborn a King was my answer to that. But regardless, she's lost that's too bad and partially my fault i guess. At least it wasn't a game like choose your poison featuring Hillary and Trump. (Sigh) I may not be American but I pity the americans for their poor choices to select from this current election.

This story's plot will undergo a phase in the year from 2014 to 2015. Even fictional characters need to celebrate it, you know!

* * *

Meeting an acquaintance from the old days was a genuine surprise he would not have expected anytime. Immediately upon confirming his identity as Hurk, he was dragged to a quieter part of the mountaintops of Banapur where Hurk insisted on telling him something. Hurk was rather reliable when it came to the happenings on Rook Island so Jason assumed it was the same for this place.

"Can't you just tell me in the village?"

"Afraid I can't, they ain't my friends any longer after what we've done to them."

"Wha- we?" Who did Hurk work with.

"Me and the Royal Army." Jason stopped in his tracks reluctant to venture any further once he heard he was working on the opposite side.

"Please, just follow me a little longer and I'll explain everything, including where your friends are."

"What, really?!"

"Shhhh! Jas' I already said I'm not supposed to be here." Hurk whispered. But Jason wondered what Hurk was doing right inside Banapur just now.

"I've been workin' out so, they couldn't recognize me from months ago." Hurk explained on the way to the house up top the cliff.

"I can see." Hurk was no longer the burly red neck he used to recall. He'd shed at least sixty pounds and earned some muscular proportions, he was nearer dressed in a uniform under the cloak he wore. The only feature Jason truly recognized him for was that adolescent look on his face and tone of his voice. Other than those he was completely unrecognizable, what's more was that he had this determined look about his face this time, something akin to a hunter.

What the hell kind of transformation did Hurk undergo since the monkey jihadist days?

Not long, they reached their intended destination and stopped.

"Now will you tell me?"

"I need to tell you a few things before I tell you where they are."

Jason crossed his arms. "Alright, I'm listening."

"Badala wants you dead…."

"Uh-huh." This wasn't new to him, he ran twice for his life because of him.

"Let me finish."

"You remember those jarheads back in the forest, they were here to escort Willis out because he was going off track in the mission Langley provided him. In other words he went rogue, Captain Goh took the soft approach and demanded he take the initiative to leave himself. But they Willis pulled out a black card, he threatened his boss with a scandal that would tear his career. So his boss grounded the marines until they could finish whatever he was trying to do here."

"Isn't it to help Golden Path win this rebellion?"

"The last thing the CIA wants is their footprints all over Kyrat like what Willis has been doing. He's here for the same reason Solomon's siding Sabal, Kyrat's vast mining reserves. Destabilizing the country helps companies come and mine the resources in exchange for direly needed aid for impoverished civilians."

"These affairs, I couldn't care less. I'm just here for my friends."

Hurk looked a bit surprised and shocked with the change in Jason's behaviour from the gung-ho righteous lad he knew. He begun to understand why Ajay had chosen to kill Jason instead of convert him.

"(Sigh) So that's why Bad's hates you…"

"Bad's? As in Badala?!" Jason took cautious steps back when he heard Hurk had associated him with the Golden Paths number one nightmare.

"You're too careless, Jason."

"Careless?" Hurk nodded with a solemn expression.

"Yup, careless. Without you realizing you've hurt several people in your quest for your friends. One of them was Badala….. the other was me. You caused the death of one of my friends, but to him you took something more."

Jason suddenly recalled the fighters that threw their lives away to save him, yet all he wanted to do was find his friends and get out. But who was this person Hurk was talking about that he took?

"Her name was Kamala. I admit, I have very few friends, Jas. But that's because I only need a few over many, what's worse is they're now trying to kill each other."

"I'm sorry about that…. Wait- You mean Kamala the Hero? But that was-." He remembered it was Sabal that took the shot that he couldn't say anything about because it saved his life.

"That's not what Bad's sees, to him Sabal had always been that way so he was worse than a dog. But it was your interference that caused her to die. She wasn't just a friend see, she was the very icon he hoped the Golden Path would be, he really wanted to allow them to coexist with the current Kyrat. But now….. now he doesn't want a single trace of the Golden Path left. He can't get over his the Golden Path as a whole incurring his wrath. He holds every Golden Path member responsible for her death, including you or rather especially you."

Jason reflected on it, he now understood why Badala hadn't chase him when they ran from Baghadur. It was to be with the one he love's last remaining seconds. Jason was around when he heard the radio transmission Ajay sent before he razed that temple so he could feel a tremor of pain and angst in his voice. It was like when Keith had told him falsely that Riley had died to get off the island as quick as possible. He no longer held tolerance to his peers and went on a killing spree of Hoyt's men till he infiltrated the main camp and found Riley there. Jason had unwittingly extended the length of the war, feeling the weight of his actions he could only respond with….

"I see…."

"No, Jas'. You still don't see! Bad's commands heavy respect in the Army. If he asks for something they'd gladly do it. Now he asked the Royal Army spec-ops to hunt you in the thousands, they really will! Even if it means they have to waste their lives to just maim you they would."

Hurk was clear on the fanatical behavior Badala's presence could invoke on the Royal Army soldiers. If a hundred soldiers were fighting a thousand fighters alongside Badala, they would readily take on two thousand.

"It doesn't change what I'm here for, Hurk. My friends need to be saved." Hearing Jason say that, he suddenly felt annoyed and angry why Jason still couldn't understand. He wasn't invincible as he was in Rook Island, Hurk could tell the mercs and pirates weren't anything near the current Royal Army.

-So this was why Bad's didn't want to entertain him, they're both just as stubborn!- Hurk sighed internally. Both parties were unwilling to give in for themselves and the people important to them. Whatever he said next to convince Jason to defect or turn on the Golden Path was wasted.

".…. You want to know where your friends have been all this while?"

"Yes! If you have any clue please say it!" Jason had waited long for Hurk to finally tell him the one piece of intel he wanted to hear.

"You should ask Willis and Sabal."

"What? You mean you don't know?!" Why was Hurk wasting his time?

"Your friends were never in the Royal Palace to begin with, they were never taken hostage by Pagan."

Jason's pupils widen in shock.

"Where- Where are they?!" Jason walked up to Hurk and shook him.

"Ask Willis and Sabal." He repeated. And that was when Jason understood what he implied.

"No- They would never-."

"You've not been here long enough to know what they've been doing. Mass executions of soldiers just doing their duty, they've killed fellow fighters just for failing their missions. But what they truly care for is their own interests and not Golden Path nor the states. Its just an excuse, if you saw the condition of the North months ago you'd understand who were the real crooks!"

"How do you know all this?" Jason needed to know.

"I've lived there for a month and the rest concerning your friends likely whereabouts… Badala told me."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?!" What did he mean by Badala told him?

"It means I trust him enough to know he wouldn't lie, could you entrust your life to someone else hoping they'd help you with your goals and not their own first?"

Jason took in what Hurk said, it meant that what reason did Sabal and Willis have to fulfill his request over their own.

"He's done more for me than he knows. I owe he alot-….. no, too much!"

"Then why are you doing this, Hurk?"

"Simple, we're tatbros! We look out for one another! He's just as important as you are, Jas'. Tatbros for life!" Hurk said with a smile.

Jason still had trouble imagining Sabal and Willis intentionally lied to bring him here, much less to shamelessly say someone else took them while hiding them else where.

"Why is Badala helping me?"

"He's not, I am."

"It can't just be because we're tatbros, Hurk."

"What if it could? I'm trying my best to look out for both of you, but Bad's seems to think of nothing but ending your live, even when he knows your friends are held captive. You took something precious to him and you didn't even intend for it to happen and that's what has Bad's furious. Because you don't seem to accept the responsibility of your actions, like that battalion of fighters that died to get you and Willis out. But I'm not letting him destroy himself over something Kamala wouldn't have wanted."

Kamala this, Kamala that. That was all that Hurk seemed to say in regards to the reason Badala despised him. Also irresponsibility? Jason reflected once more, perhaps he was. He had been too single minded about rescuing Liza and the rest that he ignored the affairs to protect himself from seduction like what happened with Dennis and Citra. Then maybe that's the reason Willis had invited him in the first place, to destabilize Kyrat. Things were starting to get scary as it begun to make sense in his head. He had a feeling he was being used but didn't want to believe it. Trust? He barely knew Willis, much less Sabal. Agent Huntley only helped him once which was to ferry him across to the Southern Islands where Hoyt resided. The rest was a transaction between them, muscle for intel.

Did Hurk intentionally come here to sow seeds of discord upon him?

"I need to leave, if you want your friends to be safe don't let them know you suspect them." Hurk turned to depart.

"Why leave when you've only just arrived, Hurk?" A voice came from the rear where men started to pour out from the forest.

Hurk raised his rifle and adopted a defensive posture, he was seriously outmanned, outgunned. His maverick choice led him here. Sighing, Hurk lowered his weapon. He'd gotten himself into a serious mess without thinking hard enough about it.

"Good choice, we've got a multitude of tortures planned for you, traitor. But then again, you were never really one of us to begin with!" Sabal smiled sinisterly.

* * *

Ajay had been called to the Royal Palace along with Noore surprisingly, Bipin had tagged along as he was by appointment Ajay's attendant. The Palace Guards led them to the dining where maps and charts were laid out on the table where Pagan and Gary stood. Eric the Melbournite double of Pagan stood in the back keeping a close eye on the workings in case he was asked to stand in for Pagan at any time, so he would know what to say.

It also represented the seriousness of the situation Pagan had called them in. Arjun came around the corridor and joined them.

"Your Highness." Ajay bowed because they were in the presence of Arjun, the only one who didn't know about Ajay's actual identity.

"Punctual, I like it!" Pagan commended him.

"Is there a reason I'm needed?" Noore asked as she knew little of politics.

"We need your medical advise on this, Noore dear." Pagan responded.

"I…. see?" She still didn't know, but only time would tell what Pagan meant.

Pagan placed the map out for them to see, it was the field that was once the place they grew poppy to ship out as opium among other substances.

"I'm calling all the lords in to manage this problem and I'm not gonna lie we're running into a financial state of ruin soon. There's been plummet in the drug trade recently and it's making financing the Army and domestic affairs difficult."

-So it was this.-

Ajay was clear what it meant, the market for opium was dropping. That drug was one of the main exports that funded Kyrat, the Royal Army, and Pagan's extravagant lifestyle.

"Where's Yuma?" Pagan had mentioned all of the lords but was missing the most important subordinate in his retinue.

"She's dealing with the Golden Path, they've been exhibiting some peculiar activity these past few days." Arjun answered for Pagan.

"She's like a hawk, she can literally sniff trouble before it brews. But that isn't the focus of today, right now the star of this show is Noore."

"Me?!" Noore was completely unprepared, she was simply enjoying freshly brewed coffee by Bhadra with Ajay in the veranda of their homestead when the Palace Guards came to escort them. It was one of those few times she had a break from her job as a General Practitioner in the Polyclinic.

"What are the other additional streams of revenue do we have at the moment?" Noore expressed her cooperation by asking for further details.

"Safari Hunting, the Ruby mines, human trafficking stopped quite some time ago." Pagan stated honestly.

"Exports on Titanium, Aluminium and Coltan. Most of these are exchanged for hardware rather than funds." Ajay took his turn in speaking.

"What can I do?" Noore asked.

"Simple, we're looking for an alternative crop to produce. Something in the pharmaceuticals that's on high demand on the open market but reasonably able to grow. I've made the adequate calculations, that's why you're here too." Pagan looked to Ajay.

"You want me to involve the valley in agriculture?"

"Almost there but not quite, seems you've built yourself a neat vocation school there. I want you to experiment on the various plants Noore has you grow, have some of the students involved as a part of a learning experience."

"So in summary, I'm in charge of this project and Badala reports to me?" Noore raised an eyebrow while smirking.

"Yup!"

"You've got to be kidding me." Ajay said witnessing the farce happening before his very eyes. Noore patted his back in a friendly boss kind of way, she was already acting like one.

"So where do I fit into your grand scheme, your highness?" Arjun asked.

"You'll provide the muscle, I know you're currently on tight manpower now, Arjun. But if this goes as well as I plan there might be some benefits to this, for example the mortality rates of the casualties you sustain will drop because of the new hospital being built."

"New hospital?" Noore couldn't control her thoughts.

"Yep, the one Badala's gonna build." Pagan smiled to Ajay indicating he expected him to cover for that as well. Ajay nodded to acknowledge Pagan, it was a bit to stack on his plate but all for the benefit of Kyrat in the long term. Ajay didn't mind as if was refreshing to see Pagan finally get working which he had never done his entire encounter with him.

Having the first Hospital they would most likely call "Kyrat General Hospital under the sponsorship of his Royal Highness Pagan Min" written on a Plaque outside the lobby, Ajay imagined.

"It can be done, but I'll need authority over a certain unit." Ajay said as he turned to Arjun.

".…."

"Major Roka's unit, the 3rd Company Royal Engineers."

Arjun had sort of guest that was the group he would call upon. It became a renown unit within the Royal army for being the most requested and famous for holding at Meh Teh airport. But all these accomplishments were dwarfed by their amazing building capacity and their loyalty to Saraswati. They finished most of the major work done at the S-Programs site, building the major complexes in under three months, digging the granite tunnels in the mountains.

They were fueled by determination and pride in their skill. They were also quite familiar with Ajay having fought alongside him on a number of occasions and built his town for him through Maya.

"You can have them, but I want to discuss with you after this, agreed?" Arjun said.

"Sure." Ajay agreed.

"Right, now that we've got the workers and infrastructure worked out, any ideas on the crops to cultivate, Noore?" Noore had sent this time to ponder about a suitable plant to cultivate for high demand medicine.

"We should focus on the plants that make basic medicine first, small batches that make opium to process into Morphine as a substance that's always on demand and easier to harvest since you've had outputs that have already produced the crop. Another avenue we can consider isn't just medicine for saving lives or reducing pain but medicine that improves the quality of life, I'm referring to Tonics."

Pagan nodded his head impressed by Noore's impressive analysis.

"Ginseng is a tonic that has appeal in both the West and East markets. Kyrat does have the advantage of high altitude climates that are good for nurturing exotic plants with medicinal properties, perhaps Badala can collect samples for me to test and examine to synthesize into an affordable and easy to produce pill." So it was a gathering mission for him now, using his knowledge he would be able to identify the numerous flora and fauna that grew on the cliff sides and bring back physical samples.

"I'd be happy to help."

"Your Highness, what of the buyers." Pagan raised his hand to Arjun confidently.

"Leave marketing and export to me, I've got to do at least something, right?"

"Yes, your highness!"

"Well, that just about sums up things, I'll let you get sorted out with one another. I've got a client to entertain on a shooting trip then its dinner with Yuma and Bhadra. You won't mind would you, Badala boy?"

"Thanks for taking care of her as usual."

"Hmph! Don't be so modest." Pagan smiled wryly as he left the room with Eric and Gary.

Ajay was left in the dining with Arjun and Noore who looked at one another.

""I'd like to speak-.."" "Oh!" "Uh!-"Arjun and Noore said in unison. Ajay let out a snicker.

"Forgive me, milady. You may go first." Arjun walked out of the room to leave them alone. Noore turned to Ajay.

"It's regarding your blood sample." Ajay brightened up as she seemed to have some sort of breakthrough from her expression.

"So what do you have, Noore?" Noore's expression held a modest amount of concern. Ajay figured it wasn't good news.

"I conducted an experiment regarding the info you shared with me the last time, you said it was initialed with anger, so I tried to replicate it. I added Adrenaline to a petri dish with your blood and….." She stopped mid sentence.

"What do you think happened?" She asked instead.

"What happened?"

"It exploded." The news was shocking for Ajay as it was explaining that his blood had reactive properties to certain chemicals. He'd only studied to highschool but it was sufficient in understanding basic Chemistry. Noore proceeded to show him a picture of the work table where the petri disk was placed or at least was. A blackened part of the table with scorch marks with a radius of a 30cm ruler length appeared on the work table. His was literally a blood bag of explosives.

"You won't explode." Noore affirmed his worry. Ajay sighed in relief.

"But it doesn't change what is fact. I checked the residue from the reaction, but it completely evaporated before I had the chance to test it."

"Was it by chance a yellowish-orange colored smoke?" It was the last clue to confirming the origin of his power.

"It was, do you have some clue to how you came to acquire this ability?"

-So it was that.-

"What's clear is that the yield of energy from whatever hidden protein or enzyme that I was unable to find is enormous. It explains the sudden increase in your abilities of endurance, strength, speed and reaction when your blood feeds this to your body. What's unclear is whether this is produced by your body now or is their a limited amount of it being absorbed from outside places." Noore gave her valid theory.

Ajay didn't expect it to read out scientifically but was glad she had some understanding of what the changes were and where it came from.

And where it came from could only point to one place….

The Relic Shrine of Yalung.

".…"

"Do you want to talk about it?" She offered.

Noore waited for Ajay to give his explanation or account.

"You said if I ever had anything to say to you I shouldn't keep it bottled, no?"

Noore could see he wanted to say but was waiting for assurance from her. "Indeed I did."

"Although you failed the test I gave you last time."

"But back then you said-….You don't mean-…"

"Are you ready to hear the most fictitious story ever?"

* * *

The next line of events were the most foreseeable for Hurk. He was taken to the City of Pain where he was delivered into the arms of De Pleur for torture and interrogation. As for Jason who watched as they took him away, he didn't make much noise after protesting on Hurk's treatment as a prisoner. Sabal was especially unrelenting towards the subject, he had heard from the whispers of the Golden Path fighters that Hurk had been in cahoots with Badala in disguise as Golden Path fighters. They had kidnapped the Golden Path's most Religious symbol, the Tarun Matara.

Sabal wanted to know where she was to recover her, so he had De Pleur act upon it.

Jason himself was in a state of confusion to the conflicting views from both sides, he wished he could just pick a side and be content with it. But both had their reasons for fighting one another and both had committed a decent amount of atrocities against each other that made them wrong at the same time. So it wasn't so much about the state of morality he would pick them for.

He knew Hurk wouldn't lie to him, what he was surprised with was that Hurk had ventured all the way behind enemy lines just to inform him this piece of information. From his past encounter with him, Hurk was never this brave. Was it really to warn him of the calamity that awaited him?

An uncomfortable feeling was welling up inside of him that wouldn't go away no matter how he took action to administer it Assuming Hurk was right, then he was the biggest fool of all and whatever he did he had it coming for him. He refused to accept that. Why were things so complicated? He never liked dealing with these things.

 **-So prideful for a fool.-** The other personality laughed at him.

"I thought you'd never come back after that time." Jason was referring to the time he fought with Badala. The other Brody hadn't appeared since then.

 **-Deep inside you already know the answer to where they truly are, Hermano. The question is, are you willing to accept it?-** The other self spoke words that made his stomach turn.

"There's just no way, Willis would go through such a complex method of bringing them here just to bring me here."

 **-Why not?-**

Jason didn't like the way he phrased it, like he was missing the most important point of all.

 **-Don't deny that for the past two years, government agents have been talent scouting you to join their mickey mouse clubs. But the answer you gave them was the same as angry "farmer John". Knowing this, what difference would it make for Willis to invite you here if you found nothing of value coming over. So he did what most white folk do when they can't get their way.-**

Jason grit his teeth, was he really being fooled all this while? But if they weren't in Pagan's hands where were they now?

 **-That's the golden question. But as things stand right now, you'll never find the answers.-**

-.….-

 **-Feint ignorance, for now they don't know that you are aware of something. Let'em feel safe and secure, start snooping around yourself. With patience, youre bound to find something useful.-** He advised, for once Jason found his other self was strangely helpful and insightful. If he said this to him he would reply that they were both sides of the same coin.

 **-Word of Advice, watch out for Kyrati Jesus.-** He was referring to the thought dead but returned Mohan Ghale.

"Why?"

 **-He's smarter than the average folk here, twice as cunning might I add. Like a superior version of Sabal. There are a lot of things he's hiding from the rest of them. But most of all, there's this stench to him that almost reminds me of someone back in Rook Island. It was one of a kind so I could remember.-**

Other Brody always gave disconcerting news that made him reluctant to hear but hear regardless for early warning. Although why was he able to remember things that he himself couldn't, wasn't he part of him?

".…..Who?"

 **-It reminds me of…-**

Who was he referring to in Rook Island Jason wondered.

 **-.… Citra.-**

* * *

Ajay took his time to describe the account of which he had encountered that place and its local residence. Whether Noore would believe what he said was entirely up to her, but at least he would have told her. Somehow it felt like a weight had been lifted off Ajay's shoulders as he told her.

"That's everything."

Noore could only wear a face full of disbelief and shock to what Ajay described. It was as Ajay had expected of Noore, the entire concept of the Yeti existing was pure insanity, at least to rationality.

Keeping silent to herself to process this new info granted by Ajay who remained silent.

"The blood is your evidence, whether you want to believe it is up to you. Personally I would have preferred to keep it from you just like I did with Saras."

"No, it's alright. It's just that it broke through my wall of reality. Also, why did you allow Saras to follow you up the mountain if you evidently knew about their existence?" Her friend's safety was her primary concern and query.

"I don't know all that well myself. Perhaps it had to do with the image of her crying reminding me of mom. Or perhaps I wanted someone to confirm that they really were there and I wasn't crazy and just imagining it."

"You're such a momma's boy!" Noore chuckled.

"I might be, she was the only remaining family I had left at the time." Realizing that she had gone too far…..

"I'm sorry… that was insensitive of me."

"As Mumu says, that's ancient history, let's talk about the future."

"True." She chuckles.

"Say Noore, I won't turn into a Yeti will I?"

"Ptttffff! Hahahahaha!" She broke into an uncontrollable hysterical laughter at Ajay mentioning he would become a furry animal.

"It is funny, but I was being serious here."

"Haha… Hah (Sigh)….. Right, but even that is a question I don't know the answer to. Either way, I'd avoid losing control for the time being until I can isolate the condition you're having and study the cause. For the that I'll need more samples of your blood."

"I guess."

"It's better that we address this issue than leave it Ajay. For all we know, what could be awaiting you might be something uncontrollable or even more painful."

"Understood."

"For the time being, let's keep talking like this. It'll help reduce your mental burden and thereby reduce chances of you getting agitated and angry."

".…"

"Mmmm…. Let's start by talking about your group."

"Ok?"

"I've heard from Samson about what happened with Hurk." Ajay sighed, the word was travelling fast.

"See what I mean, there are things that stress you out that need to be shared and addressed."

"There's nothing to address on Jason Brody. He dies, simple as that."

"Really? From Hurk's point of view, one friend wants to kill another of his friends. You expect him to just sit by and watch?"

".….."

"Are you simply hunting Jason Brody because of the danger he poses to everyone and the plans we have for Kyrat? Or is this some vendetta against the person you held dear that you lost."

Ajay remained silent, not answering Noore's question. Instead his expression was sullen which worried Noore. Ajay played with his hands while having deep thoughts.

"There comes a time in your life, you wish you did things you could have, had you just thought of it at the time." Ajay laughed to himself in self-ridicule.

".…." Noore understood the feeling best.

"But instead of you paying for the consequence, it was someone else. Someone who shouldn't have to had paid for it with their life to begin with…. If only. If only. If only. If only!….. If only you hadn't done stupid things."

"Then you start thinking to yourself it would have been better that you never met them, so they wouldn't have to pay for your mistake, so that you'd be spared your sorrow….."

Noore could feel the depth that Ajay was going, it was beginning to feel strangely familiar. A pang of pain gripped around her chest for some reason unknown to her.

".…. You were right…."

"...?" Noore didn't understand what was this disconcerting feeling she was having.

"About me understanding your grief, I mean. To have something so close that gave me strength, gave me hope. Disappear before me. It was cruel fate they never deserved and never should have happened, if only I had put more care into the things I held dear." Shocked by what Ajay was saying to her, Noore raised her hands to muffle her mouth from crying.

"There's..… no word… to describe this agony." Tears poured from his eyes.

".….. Come here." Noore opened her arms to Ajay who embraced her. Ajay took comfort from the maternal instinct of Noore. They stayed in that embrace for a while, satisfied with each others temporary need for physical contact. Then Noore said…..

"You know….. somehow I feel relieved."

Ajay released from her embrace to look at her.

"Like a torrent of emotions have been washed away suddenly and made my shoulders feel lighter than ever."

A smile crept from her mouth as she let out a snicker to her internal thoughts.

"Because you and I are officially accomplices."

"Pfttt!….AhahahHAHAHAHAHA!" "HAHAHAHAHA!" Ajay's laugh echoed through the dining just as it did with Noore who laughed to outmatch him. They laughed until tears trickled from their faces.

Both now knew one another's greatest pains, most well kept burdens and shared them with one another. The ultimate friendship had formed between them. Because they were after all…..

Male accomplice…..

And female accomplice.

* * *

There was hardly any change for the five living in the cell they had entered nearly a month ago which was a week before Jason supposedly arrived. Although they were allowed to go out to the yard at times to stretch while the guards brought other prisoners to clean their cells for them. During that time they were emptied of their pockets before they left.

Other than this, they're routine hardly changed. All the while, they absorbed as much of the outside as they possibly could to sketch out a mental map of the surrounding area. There were a few changes during their stay. For starters, Steven had become less cynical and more cooperative much to their surprise, especially Daisy and Riley's. Oliver was cool as always.

In his words, "I think I've gotten sick of complaining, whatcha doing?" He said to them last week. An so their intelligence in escaping increased, for the pass four weeks Steven had lent the most insightful criticism of their plans they could possibly imagine.

"I think we've spent enough time here in this rotten cell. Next week is New Years Day, I heard from the other prisoners De Pleur's hosting a party for the jailers and renegade soldiers here." The rest nodded to Riley's proposal.

"Think I heard that too, disco lights, blaring dance music, fountain of booze, a mountain of cocaine. The ultimate expression of indulgence. All those guards'll be too banged up, to hung over to chase after us when they find out we're missing by morning." Daisy added her account on the rumors and her insight.

"Don't you think this feels all too convenient?" Steven said, but this time the group wasn't mad at him.

"I think we need a backup plan." He proposed.

"Like?" Liza asked.

"Mmmm. It wouldn't do if we just left and navigated through the mountains with just our assumptions. We need provisions, we need guns to protect ourselves, but most importantly we need a map and compass or we're not going anywhere." What Steven got at was understandable. He was simply thinking beyond what they would do upon escaping the place.

"How bout this…" Oliver spoke.

"We breakout, sneak into the armory and take some guns, grab a guard as a hostage and guide to the airport. What about that?" The others thought about it.

"Its plausible but dangerous, Oli. We aren't like Jason here. Someone might get hurt along the way for sure, we've never ventured out on Kyrat on our own before. And what's to say that guard won't lead is to a trap instead."

Oliver laughed in self-pity but Liza patted him on the shoulders. "It's alright, Oliver. You get credit for trying." She encouraged him.

"(Sigh)…. I could reallllly use a joint right now?" He admitted which made the rest laugh.

"When we get out, we'll all spend an entire day getting wasted in a five-star hotel in Vegas, I know a guy that'll give us royalty grade suites in Caesar's Palace. Of course, it'll be my treat." Steven said."

"Awwww. That's so sweet of you." Daisy said.

"What can I say, I'm tired of this fucking shit. I want out as well, no use crying now."

"I can't fault you on that, Steve." Daisy had more a less come to reconcile with Steven's early pessimistic attitude, but she felt it was understandable given their situation and unlike them this was Steven's first kidnapping.

"Though the question still stands, how the hell are we gonna navigate through the roads and forests? I heard from the guards outside the Royal Army evacuated almost everyone in the South where we are. The relatively nearby villages are now ghost towns. Apart from acting as overnight shelter there wouldn't be anyone to tell us directions."

"That's true. Shit, this keeps going around in circles! We're too cautious, we avoid that plan. Too ambitious we risk everything." Daisy felt ashamed of her own weakness despite her usual courage and previous escape from the pirates in Rook Island the last time, although it went south when she cut herself on some venomous vines.

-If only, they had a guid- (Bang)

The sound of the metal door of the entrance slamming open. The guards dragged a heavily beaten man by the arms as his feet dragged along the floor. He was severely tortured with cuts and bruises all over his body, courtesy of their over-friendly neighborhood prison warden, De Pleur. The person was currently unconscious from the inhumane torture he received.

"Fuck! He weights a ton!" One complain.

"Let's just get on with it then we can hit the brothel after this! Oi! You lot, back away from the door!" The other jailer warned them as he arrived with the key to unlock their cell.

The jailer helped the other one throw the person onto the floor in front of them before locking the door and leaving.

"Who the heck is this?" Riley couldn't help but ask.

"Shhh! I'm trying to eavesdrop here!" Steven scolded him.

"Ops. Sorry." Riley said softer.

Steven listened in on the guards that had thrown this burly fellow into their cell with them to get a clue on who this lad was. The guards that threw him were their regular food deliverers and had a habit of passing rumors directly outside the cell assuming the prisoners couldn't hear their conversation.

"You sure it was wise throwing him together with those brats?"

"Relax, what's the worst he could do?"

"I mean, he knew that Snow white guy in Banapur didn't he? What if he-."

"What's he gonna do, eh? He's already here, the place where no one gets out once in!" The other affirmed his colleague.

"Soon, he'll be nothing but a shell of his former self. With every trip to De pleur's office, he'll lose more of his will to live. I almost feel sorry for that poor bastard. Nothing can get pass Paul."

"Except Badala that is!" He laughed but was muffled with hands from his colleague.

"Shhh! You want us to both get in trouble?! De Pleur forbid everyone from mentioning that day."

"Course he did! That demon broke him instead of the other way around as it should have been. Then he actually threw him to that poor woman Noore, wherever that hot piece of meat is now."

"And lost him, now he's been relegated back to tortures instead of being an associate. And we have to deal with his bullshit."

The guards complained endlessly by the time they were out of sight. By then Steve had learnt alot from his careful listening and shared it with the rest.

"He knows Jason?!" Liza couldn't help but utter.

"That's what they said." Steven confirmed.

"Seriously who is this guy?" Daisy was all too curious.

"Urrrgh…..Mmmm." That person began to stir and groan at his injuries. The group watched silently as he got up and found out he was not alone in the cell he was tossed into.

"Tsk!… Arghh!…. Shit. Bad's is gonna kill me!"

* * *

Author's Notes:

Just in case there is misconception. Citra is dead and I have no intention of bringing her back. That being said I always found a mystical aspect to Citra aside from the drugs that made her an enigma on her own, specifically what she did to Jason through the tatau she inked upon him. There was clearly something different when she inked it, like she added witchcraft.


	40. Chapter 39 - New Year Resolutions

Author's notes:

I'm planning to have Hurk be badass soon, whether that'll affect the reading experience i dunno yet till i've proof read. I even have a cool codename to call him by prepared.

Its been some time since i wrote some action and fight scenes. Dun worry laddies and ladies, It'll come soon enough. My writting style requires a few chapters of rest and a few for constant fighting or planning for an attack.

* * *

"What do you think, Ajay? Does this dress make me look fat?" Noore asked the most cliche wardrobe question to ever exist. She wore a crimson gown not different from the one she wore during her Arena days. Ajay was wearing a suit that Chiffon sent to his house and insisted he wear it tonight.

"Like you're ready to devour all the guys in the party." He said without much thought as he pictured a semblance between the drooling men in the arena audience with the gentlemen of the high society.

"What's with that response? Making me sound like a man-eater!" She pouted.

"Aren't you? To begin with, you already possessed looks that could kill. Anything you wear just forced multiplies." Ajay praised her in a more technical way.

"Some how I still don't like the way you phrased it. Not that you ever had interest in me to begin with." Noore chuckled in self-pity. Making Ajay really seem like the bad guy here.

Ajay turned his head to find Bhadra had also finish dressing, but she stood where she was glaring at him. Apparently she had heard their earlier conversation, and was inclined to side with Noore.

-Hey, what's with that face?-

"Say something nice." She forced him.

Ajay sighed and looked to Noore.

"You look gorgeous tonight, I bet all the nobles will be sneaking glances at you. Or be too timid to approach such a goddess of the evening."

"Why thank you, Ajay. You are simply most kind." Noore smiled contently as she raised her hand towards him for him to kiss it like she were a Marquess which by Pagan's account still was.

-You've got to be-… Arrrhhh…. Whatever!-

Ajay beckoned forward to hold and kiss the back of her slender hand. Noore giggled joyfully at his admit defeat, and it was all thanks to the power of Bhadra.

"I told him to compliment you, but not to take it too far, Noore." Bhadra let her know who she was behaving in front of.

"Urgh… Sorry." Noore bend her head remorseful.

Yes. Without them knowing, Bhadra had assumed the mantle as the head of the household. Why? Because she cooked up the delicious cooking that none of the local food vendors or restaurants could outmatch. Being so used to her cooking their meals made them dependent on her, she had domesticated them. Noore and Maya were just as obligated to letting her have her way.

To think that Amita got to eat like a king everyday from the moment Bhadra was made to cook as a chore. Ajay was now reluctant to let her go and join the Tigers or live with Pagan for that matter. It was the subtle tastes that made it rather memorable every time they ate at dinner or lunch.

"Now what about me?"

"Striking as ever, Bhadra. I hope those rich kids have their buckles tight." Ajay chuckled gave a more natural compliment this time. Noore nodded in agreement.

What made Bhadra attractive was her striking eyes that seemed to be as immerse as an ocean, it added to the indigo dress she wore with silver inlay worked into the fabric.

Bhadra smiled with satisfaction.

"No doubt about it." She replied coolly.

Ajay followed them to the SUV parked outside of their house to be escorted to the event at a very special place of Yuma's. There their escorts, the Palace Guards waited to escort them to the place. Ajay was just glad they could leave, he'd waited for them to get ready for almost a hour, but being girls that was a given he had to wait patiently. If only the palace guards could share the same sentiment when they arrived early to pick them up and waited for them just as long.

They obediently boarded the row of SUVs that escorted them to the New Year Ball at Crystal Falls. Before Ajay left, he made sure that Elina had announced to the Arsenal to close shop and enjoy the New Year with their families. Longinus had prepared a concoction of fireworks with Samar which they would release at exactly twelve. Knowing them, they'd take the mixture too far and make the night into day in the valley where they were launching from. Samar gave his assurance that it was visible from Crystal Falls so they could enjoy it as well.

"It really must be a special place, Crystal Falls. Has an almost romantic element to its name." Bhadra started a conversation on the place they were heading.

"I've only been there once, when I came with-….." Noore stopped midway as she recalled a painful past.

"Mmm?"

"Um-…. It's nothing." Bhadra didn't know what she wanted to say. Noore didn't complete the sentence, yet Ajay knew what she was referring to. She was referring to her family.

Her hands grip tightened on the hem of her evening gown as she thought about it. Ajay reached out and placed his hand upon hers.

"You're not alone on this now, Noore. Show me that its possible to forgive someone whose committed wrong against you." He whispered into her eyes careful not to let Bhadra know.

"How sure are you I won't just up and murder Pagan on the steps?" She whispered back to Ajay, careful not to let Bhadra hear as she looked out the window curiously at the beautiful sunset.

"If you did, you would have maintained that façade until the very last moment. Besides, I've come to trust you won't sully the memory of your family. You've endured for years, what's a single night in comparison. If you want to quench in some way, let him know how you feel. So he can feel guilty enough to make immediate reparations." Noore chuckled at Ajay's suggestion.

"I'm not kidding, when I said Pagan was sorry for all the shit he's done I really meant it. If you kick him in the butt during the ball he might just let it slide as well." Noore raised an eyebrow.

"Interesting….." Noore started to have ideas of venting her anger on Pagan. Ajay just shrugged his shoulders, if she really did smack him or something he'd feel a little relieved as well. Because after he went to work with Noore on procuring the various herbs and fauna he heard from Gary that Pagan threw his paperwork to Eric to sign since Eric could forge a similar signature. What a way to let him down after he staged the entire farce he was actually getting off his arse for once. Pagan was all about face and showiness in front of his subjects.

-….. Like a goddamn Peacock.-

"If you're gonna kick him, make sure you hit him really hard." Ajay double confirmed with Noore after thinking that.

"What's with you? What do you mean hit him hard?" Noore was shocked that Ajay had actually supported her on teaching Pagan a bit of manners but she figured it was well deserved some how a rather.

"In any case, I didn't think Yuma would even hand me an invitation."

Ajay still had difficulty believing the letter holding three invitations to the exclusive Crystal Falls for of course Bhadra, Noore was still a Vice-Lord so it was about giving her the face as one. But for his case, it was clear she didn't like him one bit over the course of his journey and campaign against Golden Path. He wondered what was the reason for her inviting him as well. Was it because Maya pleaded with her? It was least likely the case since she knew Ajay wasn't interested in these sort of events so why force two people to do things they were reluctant to comply with.

Or was it a trap to humiliate him in front of the high society echelons. As much as he thought about the possibility it didn't seem very like Yuma's style of doing things which was usually quick and efficient. Speaking of Maya he hadn't seen her for over a week, whatever she was doing in regards to Yuma's own missions against Golden Path he wasn't made aware. There was almost no reports from Army G2 who kept reporting her Special Deep Strike Group and Grenadier Regiments were out on maneuver exercises. It was a nicer way of saying that they couldn't tell Ajay as they've been given strict order not to.

In all likeliness, Maya was bound to be at the ball with Yuma as the host of the event in the first place. In truth, Ajay never knew what Yuma had been doing all this while. She hadn't been indulging in ancient relics like before, the status of Captain Sandesh made it clear to him she hadn't dug into the mountains and lost her sanity yet.

From Maya's descriptions, Yuma rarely spent time out of Durgesh as well. Was she a reclusive? From the behavior she showed so far it was hardly that.

"You're been thinking about something for a while now, wanna share?"

"No. It's just unnecessary thoughts I've been having for tonight that's all." Ajay replied with a smile of assurance that nothing was off.

"Ok."

"Instead, where do you picture yourself in this party? Surrounded by higher echelon nobles eager to get to know milady better perhaps." Ajay changed the subject. Noore sighed exhaustively confirming to Ajay that was exactly what happened.

"Seriously? You have my sympathy."

"Or. You could go as my escort then I'd have nothing to worry about." Noore smiled.

"Sure, I guess. I might be in a similar situation, and worse still, I don't know anyone there." Ajay scratched his head honestly.

"Why can't both of you have a little faith in yourself? Both of you are Vice-lords or have you both forgotten." Bhadra gave a :- expression.

"Even if you say that, it's not that they frighten me or anything but being around this sort of folks is troublesome. Hmmm… Why don't we just enter without making our presence known?"

"That's sounds like a plan!" Noore agreed, she was also facing the dilemma of nobles crowding around her merely for her looks and power of appointment which made her feel uncomfortable.

Bhadra sighed at these hopeless fools.

* * *

When he first entered their cell, they were filled with uncertainty concerning this burly fellow named Hurk. During Jason's exploits, they had spent most of their time isolated under Doctor Earnhardt's house upon the hill. Liza rarely found out stories from Jason after their return because of his and her trauma experienced upon the Island. His appearance stuck out like a sore thumb, partly because he was one of the few Caucasian people in Kyrat at the moment on this side of the region.

He was just as surprised to find fellow Americans imprisoned here, he had his suspicions about their identity and confirmed it with them. True enough he guessed everyone from their description except for Steven much to his displeasure and couldn't reconcile with Hurk calling him Keith.

Seeing that he guessed everyone meant he had knowledge on them from Jason. Hurk also proved he was on Rook Island at the time because of the similar tattoo on his arm to the one Jason had as he was accepted amongst the Rakyat thanks to Jason's helping hand.

Daisy brought him aside to sponge up as much of the landscape and geography Hurk knew on Kyrat. There she and the group learnt that there was more to burly baby faced man than meets the eyes. But among all other things, Hurk was an associate to Badala, the legendary Northern Demon that cause the Golden Path fighters and renegade soldiers alike to shiver their feet.

Like Jason, Badala was declared his "Tatbro" though the lord never had any tattoos to match. It was just Hurk's trademark name for his closest friends. He told them about the reason he ventured into the South was to tell Jason they weren't in the North. He never expected to be brought right where they were to be locked up and tortured.

"Can you help us?" Daisy implored.

"I'll do my best for the sake of both of them." Hurk replied.

Daisy indulged him on the plan to escape on new years eve in three nights time. Hurk carefully listened and assessed the inventory they had at hand. He added preparations to escorting all of them safely to Royal Army safe territory where he could reach Badala.

On the day of New Years Eve he went through a course of precautions in their escape with them, what to watch out for and what were the steps to take.

"There's definitely gonna be a sober guard left to watching all of the prisoners tonight, you'll need to find out which one. He's also the most likely to have access to the armory, if we can get in there I can get equipped to protect all of you on the journey."

"You?" Riley had some doubts due to Hurk's appearance that looked like he couldn't even hurt a fly.

"Have you killed anyone before, kid brother?" Hurk asked in a serious tone which surprised Riley.

"N-No. Of course not!"

"You shouldn't have to bear the weight of guilt, let me dirty my hands on your behalf since I'm already used to it."

"Y- Have you killed before, Hurk?" Riley asked wide eyed as he found it hard to believe.

"I've killed in self-defence, killed for money and for friendship even. Every time it's a whole new problem all together, more nightmare fuel added to sleepy nights." Riley stopped asking as Hurk presented it to be a consequence he wasn't ready to take.

"Hurk, I've been meaning to ask but what if Badala doesn't accept us into Royal Army controlled zones, what if he doesn't want to help us as you said when he didn't want to help Jason." Steven as pragmatic as ever wanted to confirm the worst case scenario.

"He will, I'll make him understand as many times as possible!" Hurk assured them he would do his best to convince Badala. It made them reevaluate their impression on Hurk and his reliability as a companion.

".… I'm sorry, Hurk." Said Liza apologetically.

"What for?"

"For Jason, because of him, because of us you landed yourself in this prison town as well."

"I'm here because I wanted to help, what's wrong with that?"

"Uh- Nothing?"

"Exactly. You don't need to worry your little socks off. Let me take care of all of you so that Jason no longer has to fight my friends."

"….. Alright."

Hurk spent the afternoon talking stories about what he did with Jason in Rook Island with those that listened while the rest took to resting for the long journey ahead.

As Liza listened to the trials that Jason had to overcome for their sake she couldn't help but hold her hands tightly as she listened to the story of how he went from hopeless grad student to monster in a matter of months. And all that time they were in a single focus to return back to society.

"I wasn't there when most of this stuff happened, I left once my business was done with the Rakyat. Whatever happened to Jas after he traveled to the South Island where Hoyt was is what I heard from my bud Jack who gave me a lift to India. It was a nice little yacht too, had the name of that snakehead lady from that show, clash of the titans. What was it-….? That was the second nameship he owned, although he never told me what happened to the first." Hurk's conclusion on the episode in Rook Island went in a personal direction.

"(Sigh)…. When we find Jason, we're gonna have a long talk." Daisy said exhaustively, she held a hand to her head to hold back the headache she was having. It was clear to Hurk that they were all having regrets regarding their treatment and interaction with Jason whilst remaining ignorant to what he'd been doing.

"No use blundering over it, he's not here and we're not out. When you're safe and sound you can tell him all you need to tell him but for now, rest. I can't guarantee it'll be a straight path back."

"Ok." Liza who was the only other listener lay down on the straw bed that was provided to them. Daisy also went to hers and lay down facing Hurk who was sitting against the bars.

"Hurk."

"Yes?"

"Thank you." Daisy said with a sincere beautiful smile that made Hurk's heart palpitate.

"N-No worries, as I said before I'm doing it for Badala."

"Badala must be really something that you'd go out of your way, out of a safe place all the way here to warn Jason and risk your life to bring us out."

"He is… my friend, just like Jack, Jas… Kamala. I don't pick favorites amongst them, Miss Lee….. But, that being said. If there was I was forced to pick one to save out of all of them it'll be him."

"Can I ask why?" Why was Badala, a demon in human skin so important to a man like Hurk? A person who had a kind and playful personality want to associate himself and still call himself a friend to a butcher of men and women even if they were insurrgents. Daisy had to know, she found the situation between Hurk and Badala to be an exact replica of their own situation with Jason. Only they chose the route that best served their convenience where as Hurk did his absolute best even when the stakes were high enough to cost his life. Daisy began to admire Hurk for his willingness to do what was right.

"I'm not gonna lie, I know I'm a failure."

"Um?" Daisy wasn't sure what he meant, coming this far how could he be a failure?

"In my forty years of living, there has never been a moment I truly relished than now. I've been running away from my problems almost all my live, I did try a few times to correct it. But all were met with failure, so I stopped trying and moved on thinking that was the solution to my problems, but I never grew up."

"When I settled in one place I never stayed more than a month because when I got too comfortable I'd miss the place more than i should have left. There were a few people I've known that could I could genuinely call friends but only because they were like me or they were so distant from society because of their freakish abilities that they were willing to listen to be blabber on."

"But then I came here, on a suggestion from a friend of mine. And then I met him, Badala. Fresh from a crushing victory against Golden Path in the odds of twenty hundred versus barely two hundred." Daisy had heard the rumor but didn't think it was possible.

"I know when people have ill thoughts about me, I can feel it every time I have my back turned they'd talk about me in less than optimistic remarks. But Bad's eyes and expression never once showed it, not even Jason was that tolerant of me then. It wasn't just his treatment towards me, he actually depended on me during one of his infiltration missions into Golden Path once. It was only until I entered the North did I realize the significance of it. Then I fucked up once when the Marines, then our enemies got intel out of me when I was on a drunken spur and destroyed his Arsenal-… no, everyones Arsenal. It was a commitment that took the sweat and tears from everyone that lived there and I blew it because I opened my big fat mouth. Did he punish me, yes he did. But did he lose trust I me? No. Instead he proceeded to have the Condotierri, a band of Italian mercs that joined him at the airport offensive after Solomon betrayed them, they trained and taught me how to fight. Everyone in the town held me in high regard because I was Bad's friend, it wasn't something anyone could easily call themselves given his prowess. Soon I broke my own golden rule about short term stays, I'd overstayed my welcome. But the more I thought about it the more my mind was settled in making the most important decision of my life.

I chose to stay.

But if I stayed I had to earn my keep, so when Ricardo and Stella pushed me hard I pushed myself harder in their training regime. I went to Samar's workshop to learn how to build my own craft and kit. The Condotierri were missing a sniper, so I would fill in that gap with my all. I wasn't going to let down the people that believed in me but most importantly, I wasn't going to let myself down.

And then I received the news, Jas had come but this time he was on the other side. It was the most agitating feeling I've ever had. I hoped that in the same instance that Bad's accommodated the Marines and Captain Goh, he could accommodate Jas. But I was wrong. Dead wrong. When I brought it up he began to shout back, something he rarely did as a person we knew who was always composed when dealing with military matters. It surprised all of us, not just me. But the reason he was like that was made apparent later. Jas caused the death of Kamala."

"The hero girl in that stronghold place right?"

"Yes. To me, she was one of those dear friends I have as well but to Bad's….. Although he never admits it. Bad's loved her." Daisy was surprised to hear this bit but thinking about it in that perspective it became clearer.

"How could you tell?" She asked out of curiosity, because she was once an enemy to him and was his greatest contender due to the influence she held with the people.

"Him burning down Jalendu Temple wasn't a commitment he had against tradition. It was his declaration of war against Sabal and Golden Path for letting her die. See, about a few months ago when we were in Banapur, the Golden Path hometown we encountered a young girl. To them she was their spiritual leader the Tarun Matara. I don't know the specifics to their culture but it was said that if their wasn't a King fit to rule then the Tarun Matara was automatically the next ruler of Kyrat. Sabal wanted her bad, reasons were quite obvious but he couldn't because standing in his way was his then rival Amita. "

"During our time in the Golden Path, Bad's and I met and got close to her, partly because Bad's saved her from a fire back we took her out to seek asylum in the North when a coup broke out and Sabal's goons tried to nab her from Amita's caretakers."

"I see…."

"As for Kamala, in that short three weeks the bond that Bad's formed with Kamala was something even an idiot like me could see. Perhaps he doesn't even realize it himself, but to the rest of us it was quite clear. He held affection for her."

Daisy thought about the events she heard on the radio with Hurk's account. She could recall the rage and agony in his voice that couldn't be faked, from there she could tell that Hurk's words were genuine.

"Why are you so convinced Badala will risk all of this for the friends of the person who was responsible for the death of someone he…. Knew?" Daisy just couldn't see the possibility, even she was inclined to side with the way Badala viewed Jason so why did Hurk see otherwise.

"I know he will, he just needs time to get over his anger. Because while he hates Jas and the Golden Path he hates himself more for not bringing Kamala away sooner."

"That…" She was inclined to agree with Hurk's logic now even if the odds were low. She had no choice but to put her trust in him for everyone's sake.

"I think at this rate I'll talk till the appointed time, better get some shut eye Miss Lee."

"Um, right!" Hurk closed is eyes and fell asleep rather fast, albeit snoring. Daisy was left to ponder on what she learnt. What Hurk said regarding the possibility of providing them asylum in the North till everything blew off. It made sense.

-But to despise himself more than the real perpetrators meant that beneath that cruel exterior there was still something human underneath.-

Daisy began to think.

In a similar situation, what would she have done?

* * *

The convoy went through a series of snaking paths up the hill and at the top was the gates to Crystal Falls mansion. The private abode and function area to Yuma Lau, why she ever built such a place was contrast to her personality. Or perhaps Ajay was had not fully understood her even if he'd been tortured by her for weeks in Durgesh in the previous timeline.

In the back drop of the exquisite mansion was a cascading waterfall that had the most mesmerizing view under the remaining sunlight of the evening. Hence, aptly named Crystal Falls.

"Where the hell did she find this place?" Ajay said under his breath.

They weren't the only ones to arrive by transport, there were well-dressed individuals walking up the steps towards the gate where some of the Palace Guards were waiting to receive their written invitations.

"Let's go already, Badala!" Bhadra said excitedly as she went ahead of them up the steps to the grand gate where the guards checked their identities of the guests. She was quite nimble on her feet despite wearing heels that Noore lent her.

"Give us a second, we're earlier than the appointed time so there's no need to rush." Noore reminded her but she fell to deafen ears as all Bhadra wanted to do was meet with Yuma. Ajay hadn't been around to know what Bhadra did during her free time but it was mentioned by Noore that on the weekends Yuma had come all the way down the mountains from Durgesh just to have tea with Yuma at the Homestead. Ajay wasn't aware because weekends was a working day for him as well, he only took breaks when he felt like it and not routinely.

With the kind of unparallel skill in the kitchen that Bhadra possessed, it was no wonder Yuma made it a must to come every week. Ajay had no word for what type of relation to categorize them in, it was something akin to a goddaughter and godmother perhaps.

Ajay and Noore took awhile to catch up to Bhadra who waited in the line of guest to enter the mansion through the gate.

Ajay had to admit, there was a lot of guest coming to the new year ball Yuma hosted. They definitely weren't just well off citizens either, just from the clothing alone their wealth could be portrayed. All of them spared no expense in getting an invitation from Yuma it seems, but to them it was a worthy investment. Because gathered here tonight were one of the most powerful individuals of the Kyrati Kingdom that included King Min. This meant connections, getting hooked up with the right crowd. Wealthy traders offering their wares and higher up nobles buying them off of them. Or it could be even as simple as owing a favor for a deed done.

Bhadra insisted they cut the queue for likeliness of the front desk recognizing their persons, Ajay answered her insistence with silence this once with Noore inclining to agree with him. They both wanted to spend the least amount of time within Crystal Falls. Bhadra took to not talking to them for the entire time they were waiting.

"Well I'll be, never thought I'd see the day Mistress Yuma would allow commoners in through the front doors." An extremely rude comment was spoken for all lining to intentionally hear.

"Who is that bastard?" A merchant spoke quietly to his companion.

"Shhhh… It's Old Hamal's second son, Jeevan Hamal." A decorated soldier told them.

"What? I thought he only had one."

"Didn't you hear? That was to his legal wife, this one was apparent born out of wedlock from his mistress."

"Then what's there to worry, he's only a second heir."

"(Sigh) You must have not been there when they announced, the elder one Sugun died in combat over in Banapur where the Golden Path terrorists' reside."

"Quiet or the Hamals' will hear you and send you to their dungeon."

"You have to really push your boundaries do you, Jeevan." The last remaining heir wasn't alone, accompanying him was a gorgeous escort in a vibrant regal purple evening gown. Although, in comparison to the young heirs age which was around eighteen the woman's age was evidently in her late twenties and older than Ajay but the way she conducted herself was similar to a lady. She apparently in a high position within their dysfunctional family than the heir for the moment.

Ajay listened to the gossips from the nearby nobles and wealthy merchants. It seemed that this fella was Sugun's half-brother and since the parasite was killed by yours truly, this second son stood an almost clear chance at inheriting whatever former General Hamal left for the next head of their family.

Hamal's kid walked ahead of his family member and passed all those who were lining, making it so he was cutting the queue. All of the people that lined glared at him with dissatisfaction but it only served to make him chuckle more evilly.

"What are you lot staring at, who asked you to be born plebes!" Jeevan laughed madly. Now Ajay was starting to think he was too full of himself just for being first in line for succession and taking it too far.

-Whatever, he'll only serve to pull down an already collapsing house. It has nothing to do with me any longer.-

"I take back what I said about cutting queue, if it makes me no better than this piece of trash I'd rather follow the line." Bhadra said to his ear.

".…"

Jeevan walked triumphantly up the steps and was on his way to the front desk to have the guards move aside from him when his eyes landed on the young girl with captivating eyes, though not looking in his direction the glint was shining at him. His soul felt like it was being dragged into a pleasant state of calmness. She also had striking features, a beautiful face and slender form fitting into an indigo dress.

All thoughts went to the girl…

-I must have her.-

And acquiring her.

"Hey there! Yes, you! Have you ever had the pleasure of serving a Viscount?" As he said these absurd words to Bhadra in the presence of Ajay, Noore and his female acquaintance. Bhadra frowned at his rude words and turned away to look in her friends' direction.

Being denied something for the first time since his ascension from second son to heir was something he couldn't accept. His female acquaintance sighed with her hand to her forehead and walked forward to apologize and bring this fool away. But then-

"Repeat what you just said again…. **I dare you.** " A chilling voice fell down upon them.

* * *

It wasn't just Jeevan, it was everyone within the proximity of them that could hear the voice immediately felt a frigid cold hand wrap around their heart and froze them in place. The next words Jeevan wanted to say to rebuke the audacious fellow who dared to call him out refused to come out due to natural fear of receiving full retribution for answering back.

He looked to the source of where he last heard the voice come from. The in front of the stunningly beauty of a young adult girl stood a man with dashing features that made Jeevan feel inferior in looks. Where the man wore high quality garments that weren't showy whereas Jeevan's was all about appearance, glossy polished black. It added to the feeling that he was outclassed by the man.

But Jeevan refused to believe that in spite of all this that man could possibly be of the same pedigree as him, a man of noble birth though half only but still one. So he would use that to his advantage and suppress this cretin to make sure he knew his place.

Jeevan's initially distorted expression reformed into a calm look with a disdainful smile at said man.

"Putting up airs in front of your escort, quite admirable. But foolish, I wonder if you have the guts to tell me your name so I may pay a visit to your outfit and perhaps have my men take a look at it." He threatened him with assault.

The man snorted and turned to the guards by the gate and handed them his groups invitations. Seeing the man ignore him caused all of his calmness to fade from his face.

"Look at me when I'm talking, filth!" He roared at him infuriated.

The man didn't bother to turn around to speak.

"(Sigh) And here I thought Sugun was an exception. I guess this trait runs in the family, one of these days it's bound to land you into a pickle just like it did to your dead fool of a brother."

"I AM NOT THAT PIECE OF FILTH! I AM JEEVAN!" Jeevan burst into anger from being compared with his cruel elder brother that mistreated him and his mother in the past.

"Then you're a fool."

"You!-…."

The guard ignored the dispute and read the names upon the invitation one by one.

"Miss Bhadra Rishal, our Mistress has informed us of your imminent arrival, she awaits you in the balcony." The guards attitude changed as he acknowledged how important Bhadra was on the list that fell under the VIP category.

"Mnn!" Bhadra nodded.

"Wha-!" Jeevan couldn't believe what he heard.

"The two of you, escort her to the quickest route to Mistresses quarters!"

""Yes, Sir!"" The two guards on standby saluted and led the way for Bhadra. She made a glance to Ajay which said it all.

-Destroy this brat!-

Ajay chuckled at her display to him, even Bhadra had her limits and this was one such limit that shouldn't have been crossed.

The youth's mouth gaped to the shock of the young girls status to be granted immediate audience with Duchess Lau, even his father couldn't arrange a meeting like that. She was truly of no ordinary background and now he had gotten on her bad graces where she could report his misconduct to Duchess Lau directly. Jeevan gulped and prayed it wouldn't happen as even his father couldn't get him out of this situation.

There, Ajay and Noore were snickering away at the look on his face, even his acquaintance was stunned for a while due to Bhadra's hidden status. It also meant they had to submit an explanation to her for his actions, an apology was in order.

"Quit your obnoxious laughing!"

"You can't tell someone not to laugh at something that so hilarious it'll break their funny bone kid!" Ajay was hardly angry now as it was a waste of energy to get angry at a kids vicious rants.

"Next up is-….. M-Milady Najjar! Forgive my humble self for not noticing you sooner!" The crowd begun to whisper as another big shot was in the line with the rest.

This time Jeevan's face dropped when he heard the surname that was unmistakably that of Marquess Noore Najjar the Vice-Lord of Shanath.

"Please let me through quickly out of this fools sight."

"Uh- Y-Yes, Milady! Quickly attend to Lady Najjar!" The attendant guard dispatched double the previous amount to escort her into the mansion.

"Ha! The look on your face is priceless every time someone with bigger status passes by! If I had a higher rank than dear Noore then would you start melting into the ground with shame?" Ajay said chuckling, the crowd couldn't help but snicker at his words and laughed together in silence.

Jeevan couldn't help but boil in rage but couldn't do anything, this bastard had shamed him right in front of the doorstep of Duchess Lau's mansion in front of a crowd. If he didn't get back at this lowly serf some way his anger wouldn't be cooled.

Ajay could see the pattern of his next move before this brat even thought it and turned to the guard.

"I'd advise you to keep him out of the ball in case he embarrasses himself again, then he'll truly be in a world of hurt not by me but Yuma herself."

"Ah- Yes! I think we've seen enough action for one night Mister um…. hang on a second, let me open the envelop and there we g-…" The guard turned paled upon seeing the name that was written on Ajay's invitation letter and was scared to look up.

"Is everything alright, soldier?"

"That's the look of you being denied entry for tonight, I guess even a falsified invitation can't get you far, what were you hoping. That if you mixed with powerful individuals you'd get a free pass? Hahahaha!" Jeevan's laugh was malicious, the crowd suddenly sympathized with Ajay for his dubious background although he had been brave enough to challenge that horrible person.

(PACK) The sound of a slap against very soft flesh was heard by those at the line.

Jeevan fell to the floor with a red face. Shocked by the actions of the attendant guard had dared to lay a hand on him an heir to a Viscount's nobility.

"The words you've said go beyond your boundary, son of Hamal." The guards' glares burned at him with sworn.

"The hell do you think you are?! I am your future Commander!"

" We are the Royal Guard of Yuma Lau and our Commander is Duchess Lau, our charge was never to Sugun Hamal or General Hamal for that matter. But today your misconduct has gone too far! You've insulted the guest of our Mistress, you scowl Marquess Najjar who is of higher nobility that you or your Father. But worst of all, you consistently denied the grace that Marquis Badala had given you and chose to continue to berate him. Our Mistress will hear of this!"

When that name left the guard's mouth, Jeevan turned pale and looked around. Trying to find where the Vice-Lord of the Valley was to beg forgiveness. He was looking in the wrong directions as the person in question was right in front of him.

"Men, take this incompetent fool away from the gate. And tear his invitation!" The men went into position to remove him from the premise when Ajay held out a hand.

"Wait." He said and in an instant the guards stopped at his command.

"Yes, Milord?"

It was then that Jeevan realized who the guards were refering to when they said Badala's name. The man who he directed all his rage against was the very individual that had been the talk of legends and fear amongst the House of Hamal being his opposition once.

"I don't think it's appropriate to do that without authorization from Yuma."

The guard realized he was too taken to impulse and had nearly forgotten his duty. The invitations were handwritten by their Mistress and to tear a written order from her was equivalent to treason. The guard wiped the sweat of his brow.

"I thank your lord for reminding me."

"Also this dispute between me and the kid shouldn't concern you or your Mistress. It's best not to bother her over such trivial matters, you can let him through it wouldn't matter to me."

"I- I understand, Lord! I will do as you say."

"Good man, if you don't mind I'll walk in myself if it isn't to difficult for you."

"But of course! Please Milord, I apologize for delaying you this long!"

Ajay walked through the gates and stopped halfway and turned back.

"Hey, kid!"

"Y-Yes!….M-Milord!" He said with a shaky voice. The escort of his stood helpless to lend him aid when he most needed it, then again she neglected to pull him away when he was making such a scene so in Ajay's books she was almost as bad as he was. She was wearing the same shocked face of disbelieve as the kid was, although she had yet to recover.

"You haven't answered my first reply to you. Repeat what you just said to Bhadra."

Thunder flashed through Jeevan's mind, he could hear the dead ringer bells chime as we speak. He tried to mouth words of apology but the words failed to form. Instead his escort went on her knees to kowtow on his behalf.

"Please forgive this foolish brats transgressions against your lordship! He's but a young adolescent brat who doesn't understand the ways of aristocracy!" She said with emotion and without fear of shame before the crowd for causing a scene. It made Ajay reevaluate her all together, perhaps she was just too stunned to move from the events that transpired one after another. If he was going to let it go it was because of this woman's earnestly.

"Hardly the excuse to not speak or conduct one's self like a proper human being, wouldn't you agree?"

"Uh!-….." The woman was too shocked to say anything as Ajay was stating words that weren't wrong in their analysis.

"But it's as you say, I shouldn't get to blundered by a brat. Please stop kneeling."

"Th-Then-…!" She thought Ajay would forgive him. Ajay walked away towards the mansion where he was waited upon by Noore and Bhadra but turned behind once more to say a last word to the kid..

"Does it make you feel proud? To make a woman kneel on behalf of your mistakes, kid?" He directed those words to Jeevan as he left.

Jeevan lowered his head in shame and humiliation, gritting his teeth in frustration. As Ajay had proposed, the guard let them through, albeit glaring at him whilst he scanned their invitations. The escort received the invitations back and held Jeevan's hand as they walked up to the mansion where they would try at every possibility to avoid Marquis Badala, or what House Hamal affectionately call the Northern Demon.

The crowd got to witness something interesting while barely even entering Crystal Falls compounds. On the following day, they would spread the news of Badala's age and appearance. But most of all they wanted to portray him as the hero of the common people whom he conducted himself as and stood up against the class.

* * *

The loud music blared loudly throughout what was the City of Pain. Men were indulging in the kegs of booze, the mountain of cocaine and the female prisoners who were unfortunate to attend to their libido for the longest night of their lives.

"Hey! Hey, Guard! Hey! Hey! Hey, Guard! Guard!-" Called out one "annoying Riley".

"What! What! What is it?! Damn brat!" The sober Guard happened to make his routine stop at their cell to check their conditions.

"Must be a real pity, I mean everyone's drunk as hell and your the only one sober. Pity!" Riley antagonized the guard.

"Don't make me come in there! You'd piss your pants on what I might do to you."

"Do I hear a chicken? BuckBwakBwakka!"

"Mmmm… I guess I could bruise you and the ladies up a bit and De Pleur wouldn't even know the difference." The Guard knew they couldn't fight back as it was stated by the file reports on them.

The Guard locked himself within the cell with the group and Riley who was now backed into a corner.

"I'm gonna enjoy this, very much. And after I'm done perhaps I'll enjoy your lady friends undisturbed or rather you'll be watching. Hehe!" He let out a perverted smirk at the girls who were back against the corner.

"Hey! Hey guard!-."

"Geez, you are annoying!" The guard swung his baton had struck Riley in the gut, flattening him against the floor. He proceeded to pick Riley by the neck, throttling him against the walls of the cell, confident there would be no retaliation from the other members of the cell as they were all foreign civilians who'd never even touched a gun or knife.

"Knife." Riley finished his sentence.

"Knife? Gurrgghh!" Blood oozed from his mouth from the trauma of a table knife impaled in his throat.

"That's right, knife." Hurk stabbed the knife which Daisy had snuck away from Sabal's villa. The guard fell slumped against the cold hard floor.

The group were left wide eyed at the corpse that lay there motionless due to their plan. Despite not directly responsible for the guards death they had organised it for their escape. Hurk was the only one that wasn't in a state of stupor as he took a kneel and searched the pockets of the guard for the anything to use besides his weapons that were detailed to him.

Hurk smiled as his fingers came into contact with something important in the dead man's pockets.

"Looks like we're in luck, he had the armory key."

* * *

Author's thoughts:

(The Annoying Riley) "Hey! Hey, Guard! Hey! Hey! Hey, Guard! Guard!-"

(Guard) "Shut up!"

(The Annoying Riley) "Hey, Guard! Why you so sour? Nahahaaha!"

(Guard) "Fuck off!"

(The Annoying Riley) "Hey! Hey, Guard!"

(Guard) "Like hell if I fall for that trick twice! (Bang)

(The Annoying Riley)(Dies)

Moral of the story:

Don't be annoying.


	41. Chapter 40 - Account of the Exiled Noble

Author's Notes:

I figured since Ajay was at the ball with all the nobles he might want to gain allies first for the coming conflicts. This chapter wouldn't cover Hurk just yet but one of Ajay's most important coming Allies. Mohan's Devas aren't something I'll make easy for him to handle alone or with the help of the people he has at hand.

So Trump got elected. Good for 'Murica, no good for Australia especially. The Aussie dollar will rise and our trade falls because of this and the stock markets reaction to this. Wonder how Hillary's gonna handle this, will she show her face after this?

 **Update from 07/2017:**

What a fucking mistake that turned out to be.

* * *

That night in the City of Pain was all about debauchery, over-indulgence in alcohol and substances. Although it was only consumed by one party which was the renegade soldiers of the City. Shadows lurked in the dark corners quickly and out of the spotlights that shone around like crazy not surveying the compound but adding to the party mood of the drunk and intoxicated soldiers. Taking the lead amongst the shadows was Hurk who took point. Hurk had instructed them to maintain a low silhouette throughout their time in the City with him until they were safely outside.

They had spent a good fifteen minutes mazing through the streets and corridors patiently and silently. And it paid off, they had reached the destination they had intended. The Armory, where the weapons were the only things that were needed for the journey that were inside. Hurk slid the key into the keyhole and twisted to unlock with a minimum amount of sound.

He opened the door and looked inside for a while but the place was dark and empty, he then waved the rest to enter.

"Pheew! That may've just been crawling but I worked up sweat just from that." Huffed Oliver ever honestly.

"Then take a rest, we'll start searching for the necessary items." Daisy told him and turned to the stacked crates. But Hurk was already one step ahead and placed a crate containing rations in front of her.

"Pack some, we'll be out in the wild for at tops three days." He said before opening the gate to the weapons cache.

"Ah- I'll help you out, Hurk!" Riley offered as he saw that Liza was helping Daisy sort through the rations into bags for each of them, Steve was searching through the armskort office for topographic maps and a compass in the desk drawers.

Hurk pulled the sack from the drawer and placed it on the table. "Take the rifle magazines in the crate and stash'em as many as you can. Make sure you get only the ones that look like these." He held up the metal 5.56x45mm STANAG magazines for Riley to use as reference.

"Will you teach us to shoot, Hurk?"

"Maybe later, for now lets prioritize escape over everything else. And we'd better hurry."

"Ok!" Riley went to work.

"As in double it! I don't know for how long till Sabal pays a visit." Upon the mention of Sabal all the faces turned to Hurk in fear and shock.

"That-... That's not possible, why would he come?! W-What makes you think he'll come?" Liza was the most frightened of Sabal and didn't wnat to accept it.

"..." Daisy had already foreseen this happening but wasn't to sure until Hurk shared her opinion too and announced it to them.

"Don't mean to make you uncomfortable but its New Year, even the Golden Path celebrate as well. My guess is that Sabal will find his own way to entertain himself, from the stories you've been telling me. There's a chance he'll come around nighttime to pay you both a visit."

Liza started to speed up her pace to quicken their time here and didn't slow until Daisy put her hands on hers and tried her best to assure her friend.

"Hey, girl! It's gonna be alright, we're just halfway till the end, just persevere a bit more and we'll be home-free! I promise you that nothing will happen to you in the mean time."

"...Ok."

"Found it!" Steven declared excitedly behind the desk as he found something of importance.

"The compass?"

"Even better!" He held up a GPS which he turned on to show them it worked.

"Make sure you find a compass and map just in case, Steve."

"Already on it!" He went back to searching diligently.

Hurk piled up some refurbished M16 rifles on the table for them to use, he found the armory to have a wide assortment of firearms without consistency in just one type of rifle so finding four of the same weapons was difficult. Apparently the renegades and Golden Path were on desperate measures to scrounge up any weapon they could find or loot from the Royal Army patrols and convoys. Most of it was from Solomon who had it brought via Pakistan.

"You guys know how to use the good old M16?" Hurk asked them, but he received replies in the form of shaking heads.

"I know a bit! Grant used to take us to the Army open houses when we were just kids. He did show us how to operate it once if I could remember all the drills-..."

"No need, if you know how to shoot and reload that's enough." Hurk handed the rifle to Riley.

"I'm not expecting you to fight but in the event we're forced into a desperate situation, you could at least provide them with some form of protection. Counting on you, Kid Brother!" He patted Riley on the shoulder. Daisy was a little anxious that Hurk had placed a gun in Riley's hands but relaxed when he said it was just for contingency sake.

Hurk went through the racks of weapons that were available to them until his eyes landed on a rifle lying on the work bench. He turned on the lamp on the table to have a look at the rifle that was obscured by the darkness but careful enough the light wasn't seen from outside.

Sitting on the stand was an M110 sniper rifle. Hurk of course recognized it from pictures but never seen it for real and now it was sitting in front of him begging to be taken away. He reached out and picked up the precision rifle and inspected the condition of the rifle. Strange as it was to see such a weapon in a place like this, but then the Golden Path had Willis and Solomon on their side. Sourcing equipment that shouldn't even be here and according to Captain Goh was taken from US armories and depots. How the logistics would miss these quantities of weapons was a mystery all together. The M110 sniper system as it was call happen to have a thermal optic attached to the end of the rail and aligned to the scope that was also mounted. Rather useful now that it was nighttime. A suppressor can was screwed on the the end of the threaded barrel for silent action. There were a lot of questions on Hurk's head like who was the end user of this gun, it seemed specially calibrated for someone and who was the Armorer who adjusted it. But now it no longer mattered.

Because it was now his.

"I couldn't ask for a better weapon right now." He said smiling as he picked up a magazine of subsonic rounds and loaded it. While the suppressor couldn't mask the report entirely and only the shot. The loud blasting music that played throughout the City would mix with whatever audible sound came from the end of his muzzle. So he'd remain perfectly stealth throughout the period they were here.

*Madarchod! This party was suppose to be over an hour ago!* An intendant announced over the PA.

*Nobody's got this shit cleaned up, move it!*

*If this shit isn't cleaned up by morning you have to answer to De Pleur personally!*

"Looks like we've overstayed our welcome." Hurk exclaimed as he came out of the Armory equipped with body armor and a combat harness, slung behind his shoulders was his new rifle. All of his former gear had been confiscated by Sabal and the Golden Path fighters but the new additions more than made up for it.

"You look ready." Riley told him from Hurk's appearance.

"Some of the stuff in the Armories given me more options to chose from. There'll be a change of plans. I'll be separating from your group and covering your departure first."

"W-What'll you be doing then?" Daisy asked.

"I'll take the high ground, keep you briefed on the road ahead and clear it for you. Once you're all out, I'll create a diversion." Hurk tossed a radio he had finished adjusting to use a private two-way channel between the set he had on him and the one that Daisy received.

"Alright, is everyone ready?" Daisy double-checked with everyone after she zipped the bags.

"Got the map and compass!" Steven finished his objective.

""Ready!"" Said Riley and Liza.

"(Yawn) 'sit time to go?" Oliver stretched from his power nap.

They slung their newly acquired items for their journey.

"Right, Let's get out of this hellhole!"

* * *

Ajay treasured that moment of quiet before reaching the entrance to the mansion lobby where the guards standing by each of the doors opened it for him.

"Greetings, sir. Would you require a herald?" The butler asked, what he probably meant was if Ajay wanted him to announce his arrival.

"No need. Thank you for asking." The butler nodded and went back to his post.

"Care for champagne, sir?" Immediately, Ajay received service upon entry for waiters holding condiments and refreshments.

"No, thank you." Ajay responded, the last thing he needed right now was to get tipsy in an unfamiliar place.

He looked around for Bhadra or perhaps Noore. But they were nowhere to be found, so he settled for loitering around through the crowded lobby and many corridors looking for familiar faces.

He so happened to chance upon the exit to the back garden which was dominated by a central fountain in the courtyard. Yuma's place was unlike anything he'd ever seen in Kyrat, it was something more akin to a palace than a manor. It was no wonder that Yuma's mansion was such a prestigious place to host an annual party. Having a European theme to its design as well, and all this while Yuma spent her time in the Fortress like Durgesh instead of a comfy and luxurious estate such as this.

Ajay found himself drawn to the fountains mesmerizing artistry, its intricate engraved stone that said all about its craftsmanship and time taken to build.

"You have my condolences, old friend." Ajay heard a familiar voice behind the row of bushes.

"I'll eventually overcome my grief one of these days, for now. I'll have to concentrate on developing the other young fellow, the weigh of House Hamal will fall onto him to manage in my absence. Can I count on you to nurture the young lad, Arjun?"

"Of course, I'll make sure he turns out to be a gentlemen that will make his old man proud as rain." Ajay found it to be the General speaking to an elderly gentlemen whom he seemed to have an acquaintance with for a long time.

Ajay wanted to walk away to leave them to talk with one another but then.

"Ah! Fancy seeing you here, Milord!" Arjun called out, making his departure less convenient. Ajay turned around and waved as he greeted him.

"Calling me Lord when it suits you, general? It should just stay as Badala like it always has." Ajay responded back to Arjun.

"Uh- I Yes! Of course!"

"I don't believe we've had the pleasure, Raghu Hamal at your service milord."

"Badala will do, General."

"Former General, milord. And I would like to apologize on behalf of my house for the transgression my poor faulted son had put you through early during your campaigns. I had spoilt him rotten early in his life because he was the last living legacy between me and my beloved first wife." He said with earnesty, Ajay could tell from a glance he was genuinely sorry. From his voice to his gesturing to the motion of his body, all showed him that old man Raghu was a humble man, in contrast to his departed son.

"You have my sympathies, sir." Ajay bowed.

"It is quite alright, I didn't mean to foul the mood for us here. Besides, I'm hoping the next one doesn't make the same mistakes in the near future. I only hope I'll be around long enough to know he is truly alright."

"You have another son, general?" Ajay asked for the sake of asking but already knew who the fella was. It was the brat he met at the gate entrance.

"A young man with a steady set of shoulders to carry our family burden. He's currently at military age, I was hoping Arjun could take him under his tutelage to train to be a proper soldier."

Ajay took a moment to exchange a glance with Arjun who smiled awkwardly. Being Arjun's intern meant succeeding him and therefore it was clear that it was nepotism at play here currently.

"So what was Marshal Roka's response?"

"Well I've yet to receive one, how about it Arjun. Could you help an old friend out?" The old man chuckled. If it was before, Arjun would gladly accept and shove the kid in some desk job. But with Ajay around to witness this scandal taking place, he felt slightly shameful in Ajay's presence.

"I'm a little curious, if I may General." Ajay asked Raghu.

"Yes, Lord Badala?"

"Do you intend to have your son take an active military role where he'd be sent out into the field to fight with the Golden Path upon graduating or will it be a position safely behind the confines of the Royal Fortress?"

"Uh- If possible, behind the lines. I've already offered up one son for Kyrat, this one is the only one i have left. If you would understand Milord."

"I see. Although forgive me for eavesdropping on you earlier but i heard the Marshal promise to make your son an exemplimary example among officers within the Royal Army, no?"

"That is correct, milord."

"From personal experience, I don't think your son would achieve much in the reserve, much less within a desk job. It doesn't suit him."

"May I ask your lordship why?"

"Isn't he a scion of House Hamal. Doesn't he possess the blood of a warrior family in his veins?"

"Of course he does! Forgive my bluntness!" Raghu suddenly got worked up.

"Then I think he's unsuited for the desk. His very nature is on the battlefield, as his father before him and his late brother. As for his survival, it comes down to his competence in his craft. His intellect and of course his prowess in combat. He'll be leading men, I'm sure of it so he would need to be at least three times as strong and intelligent than the men he leads. Again, this would boil down to his aptitude in learning and a willingness to understand the nature of war."

"Yes! Yes! What his lordship says is exactly correct!"

"So I have a proposition."

"Oh? Please enlighten this old one's thoughts, milord."

Arjun was surprised at Ajay's interaction with the father of the man he killed. He was shuddering internally at Ajay's ability to hide emotions.

"Let me take him under my wing."

(Glass breaking)

Arjun dropped his glass of champagne to Ajay's proposal. He had no clue what Ajay was getting on about.

"You, milord? Forgive me for asking." Ajay nodded.

"With me, they'll be no shortage of combat missions. Something to build on his understanding of warfare as well as help him earn recognition early in his age for participating in some of the engagements against Golden Path would do him some good."

"I-...uh-..." As reluctant as Raghu seemed, the Vice-Lord was offering his son a once in a lifetime opportunity compared to Arjun.

"I don't mean to brag but as of now, I still haven't sustained significant combat loss. Your son would be as safe as he was in the Royal Fortress but playing an active role in the field. While i won't say he's one hundred percent safe, no combat vocation can. But at very least I'll know when to pull him back if the heat is too much."

"C-Can I leave him in his Lordships hands then?"

"Of course, if you would give me the honors!" Ajay said with an assuring smile.

"You have my gratitude, milord! If there is anything you require of us, House Hamal will do their best to fulfill it!" Raghu patted his proud chest.

"I might keep a rain-check on that, General."

"Raghu, please milord!" Raghu corrected Ajay.

"Only if you call me Badala then."

"Then I shall, Badala. Once again thank you for undertaking this duty of teaching this young sproutling. I'll go find the little rascal to let you have a preview of what you have to work with then, he should be somewhere nearby." Raghu waddled off with his walking stick to look for the poor boy.

"What are you trying to do, Badala?!" Arjun asked impatiently once Raghu was out of sight.

"Ever heard the phrase, Keep your friends close, Keep your enemies closer." Ajay said looking in the direction of where Raghu left.

-This boy!-

Arjun felt Ajay was too cunning and devious for his stomach to handle.

"With this, the Hamal family is no longer my enemy but my good friend that'll support my actions as they would their heir apparent."

"... But at the same time, holding their heir hostage?" Arjun tried to complete the sentence to what he interpreted Ajay's actions implied but-

"Geez, Arjun. Not everything has to be so cynical! I meant everything I said to old man Hamal. I'm currently short on friends in high places in Kyrat, the Hamal's are a good place to start."

-Too scary!- Arjun could see that with a few simple polite words he turned his biggest opposition into his ally, how scary was that?

"That Raghu, he's a lot smarter than he makes everyone believe." Ajay's comment gave Arjun quite a surprise. Meeting him for the first time, he could already tell whereas it took years of working together to realize this.

"How could you tell-?"

"He was the former Chief of the Royal Guard, how could he not be scheming. Especially with an idiot like Sugun succeeding him. He made sure to erase all his enemies from the playing table before Sugun settled into that post."

"..."

"Perhaps it's the situation his dumbass first son, Sugun put the present family in that made him adopt a submissive vulnerable old man persona."

"Sometimes you say the scariest things."

"In any case, he played along. Beggars can't be chosers, and if the biggest rival is willing to reconcile at the families weakest time period, its a godsend."

Arjun now realized that their was an internal delegation going on between the two of them without him realizing. He realized when Raghu tried to plead with Arjun to take his son under his wing he was being a little too earnest in his friendship with others.

"So-.."

"We were making peace with one another, only because our interests coincide."

"Interests?"

"I want connections to the High Society, the more financial supporters for the S-Program and civil matters the better. He wants to ensure the families continued existence against rising houses and firmness in high military position. Who better to entrust their greatest pride in tutelage than the fabled Northern Demon of Kyrat."

"Do you want my job instead?" Ajay was a political genius. But then again, why was he so surprised? He'd done the same with the Mukti Tigers months ago, then he even managed to bring the mountain savages, the Hun tribe into submission. Ajay's mouth was more deadly than his blade swings.

"Why? You're doing perfectly well, Arjun! In just two months from receiving full control over the de-facto Royal Guard army you actually merged them fully into the Royal Army. Guess the Marshal of Kyrat title isn't for show, isn't it!" Ajay laughed.

"You had this all planned out from the start didn't you?"

"Ha! Hardly." Ajay replied honestly. "I'm not that good, it just seemed you gave me the right opportunity to speak to him that's all."

-And you worked with just that?!-

Arjun never thought of that when he called Ajay over, he was merely giving compliments to Ajay's title as Marquis. And just like that, Ajay used the options available to him.

Arjun was now starting to feel that Manisha was right about Badala, he knew very little in comparison to his Daughter. Not everything with Badala was blood and gore, the arsenal and the newly built and bustling town following it was the best example of that. It was no wonder, the King placed such high regard and favor upon Badala, but the most disgruntling thing about Badala was the absence of his history. Only the King seemed to have information on that.

Manisha's words begun to take root in him, "Don't interfere with our daughter's personal life." She warned him, as reluctant as he was to open his mouth to tell him to stay away from Saraswati.

"What do you think of our daughter, Badala?"

"Hmmm? That's pretty random, but whatever. You should be proud of her, she's come this far on her own. The first woman Major in the history of Kyrat, that's something you can brag about to your colleagues."

"I meant as a woman." Ajay squinted his eyes at Arjun.

"Why? Are you trying to matchmake me Arjun?" Ajay chuckled.

"No I-... Just want your opinion on Saraswati... That's all." He said unsure if the later would be obliged to tell him.

"(Sigh)... I do enjoy having her around. But... she doesn't seem to get it still."

"?"

"When this civil war is over, Arjun..."

"Badala will cease to exist." Ajay said with a darkened expression.

-W-What?!- "Uh-..." Was the only sound that came out of Arjun's mouth.

"Oh look, he's back!" Ajay turned to face the returned Raghu and following closely behind was Jeevan and his escort with their heads lowered. Obviously because of Ajay's presence they didn't know how to approach this situation.

-Badala will cease to exist?!-

Arjun stared intently at Ajay still unable to decipher the meaning to those words. Was he suffering for an incurable ailment that he had to retreat from the limelight? It couldn't be that he didn't want to continue on as the Vice-Lord?... It definitely couldn't be that he was tired of living and would end his life after Kyrat was finally free of civil war?

But as he looked at those voidless eyes he had the strangest feeling that the last possibility, there was some truth to it. It couldn't be that after all he'd done for King and Country, the fame and glory he was entitled to he wanted to throw it all away. Arjun again fell into the dilemma that he couldn't truly fathom the extent of Ajay's intentions.

* * *

The world isn't fair.

I've known that for a very long time, from the day I left the crib. For my name is Jeevan Hamal. Though i hold the surname of house Hamal, I'm not treated like one.

"Move aside, substitute! You don't own the foot paths!"

"Ohhff!" He kicks me to the floor.

"Nobody asked for you to be born, you existing is evidence that bitch is planning to usurp my rightful place as Head of the Family!"

"Stay down, filth!" A friend of his pressed his foot on my back as i tried to get up.

"Hey, Sugun. Why don't we take him on a trip and throw him to the wolves? Then we'll say he fell on his own accord." Another of his colleagues suggested a cruel ploy against my life.

"Why bother, he'll never amount to anything even in a hundred years. Hahaha!" Sugun finally leaves me laughing with his friends. Kaanan would appear and try to wipe those blood stains off of my face but I shove her aside.

-I don't want your pity!-

Sugun would always find reasons to antagonize me, and I have no way of rebuking. Because as he said, I'm a substitute. Though eighteen years difference lay between us, I had to lower my head in his presence. Not just me, but Mother and her parents as well. Her marriage to our Father was out of necessity, to save her parents from financial ruin. Although my father doesn't treat us poorly, he absolutely dotes his first son, Sugun. The child to his deceased first wife who died at childbirth, I thought she got what she deserved for bringing a bastard into this world but Mother barred me from ever speaking ill of her. Mother had a prior relation with the late first wife who was a good friend to her in the past.

Perhaps if she were around today, Sugun wouldn't be this much of a jerk but then I wouldn't have been conceived as Father wouldn't have taken Mother to be his Second Wife then.

I was born into this purgatory without choice. I thanked my stars that Sugun had military training to attend to in preparation to replace Father as the Chief of the Royal Guard Elite. Though he returned during the breaks it was less than before until very soon he barely returned home. But when he did-

"It's been awhile, substitute! I'll make sure you get a whole weeks work of "lessons"!" He said with a malicious grin. If it was just me I would be fine, but he also abused Mother. At the end of the day, she'd just smile and say she'd been clumsy and gotten those bruises. I hate him! I hate him! Why can't a stray bullet kill him?

Because i was a child of a mistress, I was shunned by society. When I was a kid, no one would play with me nor even talk to me. So i grew into books, there were plenty of books in the villa. Some were bought by Father, others were given to me by Grandma and Grandpa. In this lonely place I called home, there were people I at least could share my woes with besides Mother and my Grandparents. My half-sister, Kanaan would always teach me on etiquette and how i should behave. Despite only sharing half-blood with me, she treated me as if I was her full blood brother, why couldn't Sugun be the same? Why did he have to make life hell for me intentionally?

There was also another person that didn't judge me based on my position. That young miss from House Roka, Saraswati. How she meet us was by mere coincidence. Father was discussing a marriage proposal between Sugun and her with her father who was a fellow General in the Military. At that time, Sister Saraswati came venturing around in the backyard and found us. We became friends, rather it was her and my sister that became friends. I was just the little brother looking for companionship. Even so she wasn't judgemental of me as a half-noble. I felt that if she became Sugun's wife, perhaps we could accept her as an in-law.

Upon their departure, Sugun smashed the ornaments on the table in frustration and created a scene in the house. A little while later, I heard from the servants that Saraswati's father, General Roka rejected the marriage proposal. The reason being, she was already engaged to the son of Mohan Ghale. Ghale, though I wasn't born during that time it was a name everyone knew.

The arch-traitor, the former Royal Guard Captain that turned his back upon King Min along with his alliance of disgruntled Officers forming the Golden Path movement. Why the general held on to the previous agreement, nobody knew. In any case, Saraswati told us she didn't think highly of Sugun either and thought to use this as an excuse to avoid marriage meetings. What she wanted to pursue was a military career, it was something unheard of in Kyrat at the time. But she did it anyway and succeeded.

Of course, seeing Sugun show his face of disbelieve and angst was a refreshing sight, even if he took it out on me. At least he was hurt on the inside.

The years went by and I reached sixteen, my sister was in her twenties though she looked older but still pretty. Life was the same old same old. Until that day. The day Sugun brought home a colleague of his, he invited guests before so it was nothing new. Only... this person was a scumbag that had his eyes on my sister upon getting a glimpse of her as she headed to the showers. Sugun let the bastard have his way with Kanaan in exchange for a favor while he blocked off all the moving traffic to the baths. I was at the study when I heard her scream, no one else was in the house at the time. Nor our parents. When i went in the direction of the baths i encountered Sugun who stood in my way. At the time, my only thoughts were to attend to my sister immediately. He got annoying so I punched him in the face causing his to fall on his back stunned. I wasn't large or strong in physique but Sugun wasn't either. Despite being a military man, he was round in shape and plump, so he rounded about struggling to get up.

When I entered the baths, I found an unfamiliar person over my sister who's wet clothing was torn aside, tears flowing from her eyes.

Something cracked within me, the next moment after i blinked, I found a shaving razor in my hand full of blood and that man that assaulted Kanaan shivering in the corner with blood pouring from him. Kanaan yelled at me to stop as she held me back from possibly killing him.

Later, Father returned and I was brought before the ancestral hall where Sugun accused me of attacking him and going on a rampage through the place before assaulting a guest of his. I had enough of these sort of cowards and liars, it was already clear they didn't want to find out the truth as the family members demanded punishment, hoping to suck up the Sugun who had a troubled expression. So I replied-

"You already see me as guilty, what are you waiting for? Let's get it over with, the less I see your faces the better. I've done nothing wrong. But remember this, you better not let me out, because if you do... god will give me retribution!" That's what I believed.

And so Father under pressure ordered me to be thrown into the pit, a place where people who wronged our family were captured and thrown to die.

For a whole day, I laughed because for the first time in my life I stood up to Sugun and it was a feeling that I cherished. So liberating, to break from the shackles made by cowards like him. My sentence was worth every bit of it, there was no time limit set to my release. Mother and Kanaan pleaded everyday before the family elders and Father for leniency, in vain. In the stone pit, the only company i had were the birds occasionally resting on the bars above. Food and water were lowered everyday by Kanaan. At first, the beginning few weeks she did nothing but apologize to me from outside the pit. But I didn't want to hear it, this was my choice and mine alone.

When Kanaan had slowly accepted the situation i was in, she begun to make it her mission to inform me on the developments outside. At first, I wasn't the least bit interested. But having nothing to do, I listened, she lowered new books she bought from the bazaar for me to read which I was always hungering for more to learn.

At some point, I requested survival and military books and manuals. I was under the impression I could break free and live my life free in the wilderness where no one would bother me.

Two years passed by in a flash, despite being confined to a ten square metre box area I made it routine to exercise every morning. Fifty push-ups, fifty sit-ups and twelve pull-ups on the bars overhead.

I heard that Mother was bedridden from misery, she still couldn't accept my imprisonment. I felt sorry for putting her in such a stressful situation despite my place i should have kept. Kanaan kept convincing me I wasn't wrong for what i did and told me if i wanted I she could sneak out to get the key. But then, she would have to take my place in the pit for releasing me and Mother would be forced out on the streets now that our grandparents had left the world. In that state she was in, I couldn't leave even if i wanted to.

It was like I was curse from the very beginning to live out my days in the pit till i died.

-That's just the way the world is, unfair.-

The days went by as i felt my grip on reality slipping, if i couldn't get out on my own accord without giving the ones I loved some way to live then I was trapped by my vulnerability. I hated them all for throwing me in here, but most of all... I hated myself for being so weak.

That's how I thought, that was my ideal. I knew that in the end, people never had choice but no choice but to comply. It was how things were and would always be.

At least that was how I thought before I heard about him.

The King's own grim reaper, Badala. No one knew where he came from, the guess was that he was of common birth. Badala fought in the most unbelievable scenarios to ever form up in his fight against Golden Path. The Battle at Ratu Gadhi, the Airport offensive. Each one more audacious that the other, and at some point he was made Vice-Lord by the King. The tale was so incredible, so inconceivable. I found myself yearning to hear more about him, so I made Kanaan update me the moment she heard about this fellow. I could hear Sugun trashing the study from within the pit shouting Badala's name, he obviously didn't like him. Kanaan said it was because his one sided affection for Saraswati was lost to Badala. Apparently she made it big over the years and was commanding her own unit and had a place in the War Council. She also happened to be involved in the very assault for the airport.

-How lucky of her!-

It was clear Badala was something akin to a Hero in my life. Not just because he was strong, but he didn't make excuses. He didn't limit himself to how he should act or behave in front of less than reasonable people. When the opportunity was there he grasped it. That's what I admired him for, the strength to dare. He was my role model. So I begun questioning my current situation, should I stay or should I go? That was the question. Going meant taking a leap of faith and trusting myself in being able to succeed in life outside alone and to take care of Mother and Kanaan by myself.

I called Kanaan one morning and asked her if she wanted to leave this place. Her response was less than satisfactory, Mothers condition had seriously deteriorated and now depended on expensive medicine to keep her condition stable for a while. Again, i was pushed back into a situation where I couldn't decide my own fate. Why did god have to be so cruel?

Out frustration, I banged the bars and assaulted the stone walls with my barehands till it bleed. Shouting at the top of my voice that I'd kill all who voted to put me here, that I'd kill Sugun given the chance. The elders came a few times to threaten to beat me if I continued to make a racket but I ignored them. Then, something I the house took place that was strange. I could hear the family in anarchy from the pit. Kanaan came to me with a brightened look.

"Sugun was killed in action." She said in a low voice to avoid being heard, as the family, Father was still in grieving. Then after the mourning period the elders sent men to retrieve me from the pit and stand at the ancestral hall. It was clear what they wanted, to keep me in check even when i was the next heir apparent.

"Have you learnt your lesson?" One asked on behalf of everyone.

"There was no way I could have learnt, I was locked in a pit with the intention of staying for life."

I looked around at the family members gathered there, Father was absent, still grieving. Kanaan stood at the back but Mother was no where in sight.

"Where is my Mother? She's still part of this family, and yet you started without her?"

"How dare you talk back! If you weren't the next heir apparent I'll-."

"You'll what! You can't do anything, or are you gonna send your goon to do it instead for doing a better job than you?"

"Tsk! This rascal!"

"Back to topic, go get her. We're not starting any meeting until everyone's here."

"That won't be necessary. Boy."

"The hell did you just say?"

"Daya died in her sleep days ago."

The words came like lightning to my ears. Daya, my mother's name, Mother had died... died? Died?!

I remember collapsing to the ground with a welling feeling and the urge to vomit or cry, I don't know. I turned to look at Kanaan who looked away with a painful expression, only confirmed her departure. My head felt dizzy and I wanted to puke, but nothing came out.

I heard talking, occasional snickers in the crowd and that's when it snapped, my belief in others.

"Do you remember what I said two years ago in this very room?"

"What in the world are you pulling here?"

"Seems no one remembered, no matter. I'll refresh your memory." I walked forward and grabbed two elders by the beard and pulled them along. The family watched helplessly as i presented an action that frightened them. We walked towards the pit that i called home for two years and threw them in.

"Take them out and you'll join them." I gave my warning as sternly as possible for them to understand. I threw five more in a separate pit before leaving that place. When Father had returned from the wake and found my handiwork, he didn't question it but instead commended my use of authority. But I didn't care what he had to say.

"Were you there when Mother died?" I asked but he avoided the question with promises of appointment and power in the Military. As if I needed that, it became clear what he saw me for. I was Sugun's substitute.

That was my purpose.

Again, my life was decided not by me but but the will of others.

-Fine! Whatever! Have it your way then!-

If they wanted a heir, they'll get one. Nothing matters anymore!

Kanaan followed me everywhere I went trying to educate me on etiquette and how to behave as the "Heir of Hamal" but it was obvious there was nothing left of it. Especially after what Sugun had done, the greatest embarrassment in Military history. The family believed he fell for a trap Badala laid for him after he repeatedly got in his way. I was inheriting what was left of the Hamal clan. I guess I have him to thank for getting out of the pit, my only regret was not getting out sooner. I indulged in the alcohol that was available, going down to the gambling den to bet and come home penniless. Spend the slowly diminishing money on women and drugs when it was conveinent for me. And I have to say, I could really get use to this heir thing, no wonder Sugun felt like there was nothing that could touch him. With no real way for our family of recovering from the disgrace acquired at Sugun's death, at least this wretched line will end with me.

But as I came to understand much later, fate had a funny way of reversing all of your odds. Mine was on New Years day when the old man told us to meet him at this place called Crystal Falls. For two reasons, one was to have a hook me up with a high ranking military official and attain a high rank position like Sugun. I laughed at the prospect of going into the Army. The other reason was to find a suitor to marry out Kanaan, at age twenty-two her time was short for marriage.

I particularly didn't like that idea but Kanaan insisted on going so she wouldn't be a burden.

-Idiot!-

When we neared the area, i thought to myself. Here was the place where my fate gets decide, or then again my fate was never for me to decide. I had just been pulled out from the pub to attend this farce of a party when I could have been drunk on new years day. Maybe fetch some broads from the winehouse next door.

Boy! If I knew what would happen later I would have been sober for a week in preparation for the ball.

Then perhaps I wouldn't have said those stupid things.

* * *

"Your lordship, this is Jeevan my son."

I froze in place just as my sister did, just when we thought we had it clear we bump into the worst possible person and the worst possible time.

"Have you meet by any chance?" Father inquired.

"We just had a chance encounter this evening, quite the lively chap might i add." Badala chuckled without looking upset.

"Then it was fate then, aren't i right son?" father laughed like he was on cloud nine.

I frowned at the word he used, fate. There was no such word in my vocabulary. Badala seemed to have caught my expression as he quietly observed.

"Could I have a moment with the kid? A little man to man talk, nothing too evasive."

"Of course, I'm sure Jeevan will be more than delighted to." Father seemed to decide everything for me, then again that was the entire purpose of attending the party. Badala motioned for me to follow him to the water fountain that was currently empty as everyone had gone indoors to prepare for King Min's arrival.

"Allow me to follow." Kanaan insisted.

"Kanaan."

"I have no qualms with that, it'll be just the three of us then." Badala did not deny her which was strange.

"Be nice to his lordship, children!" Father begun to chat happily with an old guy that looked rather familiar. Maybe he visited our villa before, I can't remember.

As we reached out destination without speaking a single word between one another, he finally turned around from taking the lead.

"First, allow me to apologize on behalf for my brother's actions again." Kanaan had taken the initiative in make amends on his behalf.

"Sis-."

"I know that doesn't excuse him for insulting your dignity nor that of Lady Najjar and your younger escort. But... the circumstances at home are complicated for him. I implore your lordship to forgive him this once. If-... If your lordship so wishes, I could perhaps-..." Kanaan begun to remove some fabric from her shoulders to mean what she failed to say. But we both got what it meant. As much as i was reluctant to agree with her doing this for my mistake, what could I do? The more i intervened the deeper this would go.

But instead of the result she hoped to achieve with Badala like all the other scumbags-

"(Sigh) When did you go about deciding that i was the villain here?"

"Uh-..."

"Didn't I say it was a trivial matter?"

"Um- Mn!" I and Kanaan nodded.

"That's not the reason I called you aside, kid."

"It isn't? I mean, is it not the case, your lordship?"

"Badala will do."

"Um... Badala."

"Did you at least hear from your father regarding our arrangement?"

"N-No. He only guided us here saying something about a- Oh!" About me having a mentor!

"So Jeevan will be under his lordships, tutelage?!" Kanaan finally got it as well.

"MmmHmm!"

I could feel the strength from my body vanish and struggled to stand straight.

"Um- Milor-... Badala. May I ask a question?"

"Sure."

"Why would you be willing to be a mentor to me? Especially after I had should such an unsightful side of me to you?" That was a question that Kanaan also wanted answered if possible.

"Well personally, I don't know a single thing about you except for the fact that you don't cling to pride as tightly as most nobles. I guess its complicated matters in the family perhaps." Just from this first encounter he could already tell that about me.

"The real reason I volunteered to train you was because I'm facing a dilemma of the lack of friends in high places."

-Friends?-

I could feel my heart beat rapidly, but shouldn't he have plenty of them given his status? But… some part of me had always wanted friends.

"Friends?" Kanaan asks.

"Yep. It's not easy to find some amongst the nobles when your the "commoner that rose through the ranks" even if I'm not actually a commoner but I let the rumors spread for the sake of polls."

".…"

-So then he only wanted me for my families connections, again I'm being used.-

I know I should have left it at that but my urges got the better of me when I said-

"I decline. Between being used as a tool by you and my own choice I'd rather chose the latter."

"Jeevan!-." Kanaan was shocked by my words and why shouldn't she be, I was sinking my own ship to power and glory. But at least it was my own choice.

But instead of getting angry, Badala snickered. It caused us to be very confused.

"I see, so it looks like like-minded friends are closer than I thought they'd be."

"Like-….minded…. friends?"

"Are you familiar with my policies, Jeevan, Miss Kanaan?" To which we nodded, it was common knowledge he was trying to break the traditional system and boundaries.

"Then I think we'll be great friends!" He said with a warming smile.

-W-What?!-

Even after I rejected him in the most unprofessional way possible he-

"Maybe I can sympathize with you in a way for following your life the way others dictate it for you. But if you want to follow your own path, be ready to face consequences for going against the flow of the river."

It was exactly as I wanted to do.

"I've known a few people who are like that. But they don't seem to have the patience for it."

"P-Patience?"

"Why yes. Patience. The trick to getting strong enough to be independent is to obediently follow them till you've built sufficient strength to turn against them." His words came to me like thunder. He suggested I bide my time so as to build strength to usurp Father.

Because I was weak I needed to depend on others, so I reluctantly received help from others. But I should have hidden that reluctance was what he mentioned.

"But that's entirely your choice."

"you really think so?"

"I didn't get this far because someone showed me the way, but I did graciously accept advice when I needed it. Perhaps that'll be my role with you. I'll mentor you on how to take control of your own fate."

-….…To take control of my own fate.-

How long I had yearned to here those words.

"So how about it? Wanna come along for the ride?" Badala held out a hand to ask if we had an agreement.

My hand instinctively reached out and clasped it, sealing the deal immediately. But for the first time in my life, I could control the course of my own fate.

"Please take care of me from now on, teacher!"


	42. Chapter 41 - Demon Duke of Lakshman

Author's Notes:

So much Trump flak on the net and media, although he was never my main concern, only that the US government would act in a proper fashion. I'm still laughing at the fact that Melania Knauss is gonna be First Lady. Lol. "Model" First Lady and not role model First Lady.

I should be releasing a short story every ten chapters like the last time but don't have the right opportunity yet to write one.

* * *

"Quickly, don't let up even one bit." Daisy directed them through the tight corridor that Hurk had told them to use after confirming no one was there.

*Take a left and stop by the oil drums.* Hurk gave them instructions from the watch tower he took using the radio, replacing the overwatch sniper with himself. It was an easy task as the overwatch guard was out cold, muffling him as he stabbed a knife into his cranium to end his life for good.

"Understood." Daisy said quietly through the headset piece of the radio and followed his instructions. When they arrived behind the drums, in front of them were three bodies lying on the ground with an inch wide hole in their heads.

*Proceed to the arc slowly, I'm expecting a patrol to return there.* Daisy directed them to move where it was safe. The sneaked forward towards the arc.

(Door opens)

Just then two soldiers came out of the house directly in front of them.

"Urghhh… This sucks!"

"Tell me about it! Fuck the warden! Fuck Paul!… Hmm?" Cold sweat formed on their backs, they'd been spotted.

"What's up? Huh? He- (Crack) Urrghhh!" The second guard barely had time to respond as a bullet passed through the back of his head and out the front. His corpse fell to the floor with a slump. His companion was long dead even before he noticed Daisy and the rest.

*I've got you, clear the bodies then proceed forwards.*

"Ok. Let's clear the bodies." Daisy informed them of the task before moving. She didn't question Hurk as he was doing his best to keep them alive and undetected. One by one they chucked the bodies into a dark alley dumpster.

"Urrrpp!" Liza vomited as it was too much for her, Steven tapped her on the back so that she would let it all out. "Thanks, uhhh…." She replied still feeling nauseous.

"Come on, we'll have all the time in the world to puke, right now we can't miss this chance." Riley urged them.

"Gimme a break, Riley! I wanna get out as well but this….. its just- I can't take all this killing."

".….. Then stay." Daisy told her in a cold tone.

"W-What?!"

"If you can't even stand a single drop of blood, carrying dead bodies then stay in that cell. Besides, you aren't even the one shooting them, what's your deal Liza?"

"I-… You wouldn't understand."

"I don't. Let's get going, our window's tight here." Daisy reminded them as she took point once more.

For a good ten minutes, Hurk had led them all the way to the outskirts of the city.

"I can see the wall from here!" Oliver whispered jubilantly. Standing at the gate were five guards loading and unloading supplies from a supply truck.

"Hurk, what now?" Daisy asked over the microphone.

*Standby, setting the diversion. Stay hidden until then. And wait for my call to go ahead.*

"Alright, just be safe, Hurk. We won't want to leave without you."

*.… That's cute. Save it for someone special, I'm sure they'll appreciate it. Hurk out.*

Daisy wore a smile that confused the rest.

"What now, boss?" Riley asked eagerly.

"For now, we wait."

* * *

The mansion was crowded with guests but had good reason to, because arriving imminently was his Royal Highness Pagan Min. Ajay had departed from Raghu, his children and Arjun to attend to the arrival of Pagan as he was informed by a Palace Guard to be present.

The trumpets blew and the door opened for the finely dressed middle-aged man in a familiar custom maroon suit. At his side were, his personal attendant Gary and the Duchess herself who came to receive him at the carport.

"All stand for his Royal Highness Pagan Min, all hail the king!" Announced the herald by the door. The guests stood at attention, and a row of Palace Honor Guards stood the entire length of the red carpet that the King threaded on.

""""All hail the King!"""" Responded the dutiful subjects that were the guests. Pagan waved at the crowd as he made his way up the steps to the stairs arc where he could be seen by everyone.

"Thank you, friends and loyal subjects. Today marks the 28th Anniversary of my reign, though not the month I took the throne, no but the twenty-eighth year nonetheless. If we celebrated it on the exact day, we'd all be having another public holiday, another day to relax those feet wouldn't we?"

The crowd laughed with him.

"This year was rather special for me on a personal level, because the person who was like a son to me had returned for the states. And he's been making quite a name for himself these past few months and I'm sure you've all heard of him by now. Removing Golden Paths presence from the North, breaking that major offensive they had planned up and most recently the successful military operation to evacuate my precious subjects from Golden Path controlled territories in Pacchim Valley."

"Oh Badala, will you make yourself known?" Pagan called out.

"Here, your highness!" Ajay answered dutifully as he stepped out into the open where the line of carpet was.

"That's Lord Badala?"

"He's even younger than our son!" An older man exclaimed.

"To be so capable at his age."

"By the gods, that's the Northern Demon?!"

"We better organize a meet, maybe we can propose a marriage between you and him , what do you think darling?" A woman told her daughter who turned away shyly.

As shocked at they were of Ajay's age when they compared him with the feats he'd accomplished, it was just unbelievable. Standing before them was the Northern Demon, the nightmare of the Golden Path, who'd fought and emerged victorious in impossible odds, staved off fighters by the hundreds on his own. Built the industrial town in the midst of the once barren Valley of Death and made it a bustling hub of people of different ethnic groups residing in Kyrat.

"There he is, how've you been my boy?" Pagan asked ever flamboyantly.

"Fairly quiet, your highness. And quite bored of Golden Path's inaction might I add." The crowd laughed at his light humor as did Pagan.

"You only have yourself to blame for that, Badala boy. You've riffled up the Golden Path so much they won't even leave Banapur." Pagan chuckled but then his expression became a little more serious.

"It's been hard on you hasn't it, my boy. I know you've lost some of those precious to you during this damn Civil war. These are scars we carry for all eternity."

Ajay lowered his head to keep his face from showing his sorrow that crept out for a moment.

"Your grace and concern is wasted upon me your highness. This burden is mine to bear alone, that is all."

"Mmmm. Keep it close but don't let it drag you down… If it becomes a problem perhaps I'll personally take action in finding you a wife. So go find one before your right to decide becomes mine!" Again Pagan won in the humor contest as the crowd joined in at sharing laughs. Pagan walked down the steps slowly to where Ajay stood.

"I mean it, in time to come, she…. or he…." (Crowd burst out laughing)

".…. Will be there to guide you in times of need, when you stray from your ideals, when you question yourself, when-….. when you simply need someone there to keep you company. They'll be there for you." Pagan slowed down halfway, Ajay could see why, recurring memories of Ishwari.

"Don't end up like me." He whispered to himself as he placed his hands on Ajay's shoulders in front of him. Ajay hadn't caught what he had just murmured just but he let it go.

"You're gonna need one, tomorrow you take the big job! And you don't have any say in the matter. Duke Badala! How do you like the sound of that?"

The crowd begun to chat amongst themselves, right after they recovered from the shock. They asked one another if they heard correctly. Did King Min just make Badala a Duke? The crowd wasn't the only one to share in the disbelief, the recipient himself was beyond astonished.

He looked up to where Yuma was, she leaned on the parapet with a smirk on her face indicating she had some idea of this before Pagan announced it. Therefore, she was enjoying that priceless look upon his face. Seeing the crowd still in hesitation, Yuma began to clap to inform them of the next order of formalities to adopt. Seeing that the host was applauding herself, it was foolish not to follow so they slowly followed in clapping.

The applause began to pick up in pace till there were cheering in the background too.

"I-…"

"I already said, you have no say in this. Look! You think they don't agree? This wasn't like last time when I threw you the post as Vice-lord you know. This time, I can clearly say you've earned it!" Pagan said as the position was an award for his service thus far.

Pagan motioned to Gary who came over with a ceremonial sword which had been present since the British colonial rule centuries ago. "Kneel, my boy." Ajay knelt on one leg before Pagan, for what seemed like an official knighting process. The guests remained silent during the process out of respect. Pagan raised his sword and placed it upon Ajay's shoulder.

"I Pagan Min, Royal Highness of the sacred Kingdom of Kyrat. Hereby knight thee as my left hand. In times of need you will heed my call, protect me, advise me in times of need and always hold trust in my word. In doing so I pass onto you, the title of Duke."

"I….Marquis Badala, Vice-Lord of Kyrat and of his Royal Highness Pagan Min graciously accept." Ajay responded with utmost respect and formality. He heard Pagan chuckle silently as he response but it was clearly not noticed by the rest of the crowd surrounding them.

"Then rise, a Duke of Kyrat." Ajay stood as the sword left his head and back into its sheath, the crowd gave a round of applause once more.

"By the way, I don't think you should call yourself Duke to the Valley of Death. So I want you to change it right now, choose a name for that charming little hamlet of yours. Consider this my first order."

Pagan instructed him as his first order to Ajay as a duke. Ajay placed his index finger to his lips as he thought about it. Was there a way to appreciate Pagan for all he had done supporting him? He searched deep in his mind for a name that could show his love for Pagan as a friend and as a father figure. Only one name came to mind.

A name that connected Pagan to his mother and to him.

"Lakshman…" Pagan was taken aback when he heard Ajay murmur that name. His entire being swayed from side to side and his emotions were out of balance.

"From today onwards, what was once the Valley of Death where I reside, where thousands now call home and thousands more will come to call it theirs will no longer be but shall be known today….. as Lakshman!" Ajay announced to the audience. The audience liked the sound of the name, it was very traditional. But to Pagan and Yuma who knew who Ajay was referring to were in a state of confusion.

"Lakshmana was what binds you and mom together and what connects me to you. This town and all is my tribute to that bond, Pagan." Said Ajay to Pagan who was losing control of his emotions and tears poured from his eyes.

Pagan managed to say a few words through his tears that messed his ability to speak.

"Damn-…idiot boy!-…. Come're…"

He opened his arms for Ajay which he required an embrace from. Ajay walked forward to give him one. The crowd was stunned initially by the closeness of which Pagan showed to Ajay but were smart enough to know that there was a deeper meaning to the name Lakshman than its definition.

"All hail! Duke of Lakshman!" Shouted Gary on Pagan's behalf.

"""All hail the Duke! All hail the King!"""

* * *

(BOOM) (BOOM) (BOOM)

In about twenty minutes from when Hurk went dark on the radio and series of explosions rattled out. The tank for gasoline and main and auxilary power generator for the whole Cities lighting system went out.

"What happened?!"

"We're under attack! At your stations!"

"Fuck! It's New Years day, why are is the Royal army out here?!"

The renegades fell into anarchy as the streets went dark and the source of their lighting and communication were bombed with the enemy at their doorstep this every second.

Hurk's hard work had paid off, he'd planted the C4 explosives he'd picked from the Armory on several of the Cities critical Infrastructure. The carpool, power generator and armory were now in flames. Residue fuel and ammo created micro bursts of explosions. The renegade soldiers weren't the only ones in anarchy, the chained slaves and prisoners were all frantic about the City in flames, their screams added to the discord Hurk sewed amongst the Renegades.

He waited at a choke point to where he would escape through and where the soldiers would likely assemble to receive orders from their high command. As Daisy and her friends were escaping through the pathway a while ago, Hurk had passed them claymore and anti-personnel mines to place in hidden corners where he deemed appropriate. So now he had mined up most of the route to enable him to focus on one group coming through the street at a time.

(BOOM)

There were already unfortunate souls who had been too eager to find the source of their trouble and been the first to be on the receiving end of Hurk's traps. Ricardo had taught him the way to mark out likely entry points and exits to place traps. Ajay had taught him a set of rule he had to follow he called the Survivability layers in the form of an abreviation known as SAAB like the automotive company. Basically it stood for Stealth, Avoid, Armor, Back-up.

Stealth meant he should not indulge his foes to his presence as the first means of defense against the enemy. If that failed then the next phase to protect him was Avoid being hit by his enemies weapons fire. Next along the line was Armor, as in the protection of kelvar he looted from the blazing armory to protect him from sustaining damage. The last on the list was to always have a Back-up plan. The most important thing next to staying alive was to remain combat worthy to prolong one's life and that was what Back-up meant.

Hurk intended to apply all of this, starting with the first line of defense, which was his stealth. The Enemy hadn't been made aware of his presence so he could take comfort in that.

A squad of soldiers trundled down the corridor to muster with the rest and had entered Hurk's kill-box. Hurk lined up his shoot with his newly acquired rifle and took successive shots at the seven-man team.

(Peak)(Peak)(Peak) The muffled reports of his silenced M110 delivered three shots and killed all seven in the narrow corridor where they were packed like sardines.

(BOOM)

"Fuck! Mortar fire!"

"You idiot! It was underneath a roof, this place has been booby-trapped! No one move an inch! We wait fo-(Crack)." The commander of the second team to arrive died before he could finish his sentence.

"Hieee!" The group instantly fell into discord and ran in different directions.

"I don wanna die! Don wanna!" One ran towards a diverting street and- (BOOM) Stepped on one of the mines.

"Sniper! There's a sniper here!" One seemed to still have his wits about him to announce it to who ever was listening while he hid behind cover. Though Hurk couldn't see him from where he stood behind the end of a wall, he could see the heat bloom at the edge of the wall through the thermal optic. (Peak) The shot penetrated the wall and pierced the man's skull, his body plopped onto the ground motionless.

"Time to exfill." Hurk told himself.

Judging from the time he took, they should have already made it over the wall with the attention he made for the guards to investigate the blazing furnace that was building up because no one was attending to the increasing flame.

Hurk had only one regret, which was the hundreds of prisoners and slaves they had captured were still locked in their cells. Facing despair of the burning flames approaching them.

He ran through the street towards the gate entrance.

"Help us!"

"Please!"

"We beg you!"

As he ran by, the prisoners caught notice of him from the back window of their cell. They weren't sure if he was a soldier like the rest of them or a saboteur that caused this fire. Their pleading expressions weighted heavily on Hurk's conscience. He didn't have time to aid them, he had a mission to protect Jason's friends who were in desperate need of him. Where would these prisoners go if they were set free? The soldiers would find and kill them for leaving there was no doubt about it.

Hurk didn't have time to lose, he had to leave them for the sake of his friends. It was a painful decision to make. Hurk turned and ran towards the exit, seeing him walk away, the faces of the prisoners dropped and they began to lament their short life span. Hurk could still hear their pleads, he ran and ran… as his footsteps became heavier, he stopped midway.

-Why am I running again?-

The prisoners huddled into a corner where they made a final prayer to Kyra-.

"Hey! Get away from the wall!" Hurk called out from the window, they obediently backed off.

(BOOM) The wall collapsed from the shaped charge Hurk arranged to blow strictly the wall and minimize collateral.

"Come on! Let's go! It's ok, I've got y'all!"

* * *

At the end of the very public knighting ceremony of Ajay as the new Duke of Lakshman. Ajay spoke with Pagan for awhile to speak about the Pagan's past experiences, when Pagan left him to speak with Arjun and his war retinue Ajay found himself in dilemma. There were crowds of Nobles and wealthy tradesmen that surrounded him seeking to give him their congratulations and more importantly seek to establish connection with him. While Pagan said he was giving him this rank as a reward. Ajay knew it was more than that, Pagan was hoping for this very result so that Ajay could further his campaign against Golden path and improve Kyrat. There was also a hidden meaning to granting him the title of Marquis months ago for the deed of breaking the major offensive of the Golden Path.

As Ajay wanted to earn his way to becoming king rather than Pagan herald him as his heir when he arrived. There would be a lot of displeasure amongst nobles and common folk alike for the simple reason of granting Kingship to a foreigner which Ajay was back then at the time through the eyes of the citizens of Kyrat. The arch-traitors son was handed the throne by Pagan for no apparent reason, didn't sit well with majority of the populous be it Royal Armed Forces, Golden Path, nobles or commoners.

He was after all, Pagavel Min, not some push over King. He carefully planned Ajay's ascension up the ranks with carefully timed sequences, Ajay had done him proud at providing him the excuse to recognize his military and civil deeds. The difference could be seen with a well recognized noble being given the appointment of King compared with an outsider who had lived out of Kyrat for decades.

"Excuse me- Coming through-… Badala!" Bhadra squeezed through the crowd and Ajay caught her as she tripped forward.

"Hey, Bhadra. Been looking all over for you and Noore, where have you two been?"

"Um-….." Bhadra was unsure with the crowd gathered around him.

"Excuse me, all of you. I would like to have a moment with my escort companion, if you would." The crowd immediately made way and gave their compliments, handing him business cards, and addresses to come and propose to their daughters. Although they were quite surprised that this young girl although sixteen was his escort. A few of them were envious of her while some were quite familiar with who she was. Either way, all of them left him alone with Bhadra.

"Pheew! Thanks, Bhadra. You came in the nick of time, they nearly hounded me till I wanted to used repeated words."

"(Sigh) It's fine. Still… You're a Duke now."

"That's right!"

"Then I pay my regards to you, milord." She curtsied as a part of her act.

"No need for formalities. For to you, it'll always be Badala… or would you prefer my real-."

"Badala's fine." Bhadra smiled at him.

"Thank you, Bhadra. Now, what did you do with Yuma just now?"

"Only the usual. This time she's told me something new."

"Oh?"

"You wouldn't believe in a million years of it happening, but it has. She's got the surprise ready for tonight for everyone."

"And she gave you a sneak peak I would assume." Bhadra nodded.

Yuma had something to show all of us? She wasn't the showy type of person that was for certain, whatever she had to present must be very important.

"All I'll say is that, and don't eat or drink anything while she announces it or you'll make a scene." She smiled at him before walking off, Bhadra turned around to say some last words before she left.

"You should pay Maya a visit…" She chuckles halfway thinking about something. "At the second floor balcony facing the waterfall. I'll let you see it for yourself."

For some reason, Bhadra was enjoying hiding secrets and surprises from him. It did little more than irritate him for not being told what it was, the sooner he went to find out what it was the quicker the feeling would dispel. Bhadra joyfully strolled off leaving him to find his way, where she met up with Noore in the distance.

Noore looked in his direction and exchanged a look with one another. Signing why he hadn't found her sooner. He shrugged his shoulders as he had no excuse, Noore sighed and went off with Bhadra. Ajay assumed she had been hounded by nobles just now on her own the entire time.

-Sorry, Noore. I'll try to make up for it another time.-

Ajay began to follow the directions which Bhadra gave him to her insistence he go there. What did Maya have to do with this?

As he made his way towards his destination via the flight of stairs to the second floor balcony as Bhadra instructed but didn't find her.

"Now now ladies! I don't mean to be rude but I'm waiting for someone here."

There was apparently some folks here. A man surrounded by a flock of women hounding him to entertain them, with his back to him Ajay didn't see his face not that he wanted to. The man had a strangely gentle husky voice which was quite nice to hear even for him as Ajay waited at the end of the balcony on the opposite end. There was no appointed time for him to meet and no telling when she would arrive, so he leaned against the stone railings watching the water stream down into its basin where steam and mist formed. It gave a pleasant therapeutic feeling.

"Come on, sir! Tell us about your adventure in the Meh Teh Offensive."

"Ah…. well…"

""Ppppleaseee."" A few pleaded him. The man calmed them down and began telling his story there. Without Ajay knowing, he had somehow become interested in listening in on the conversation.

"Alright, please calm down. I'll tell." The ladies' expressions immediately brightened as he told the story.

The man told his account of the story where he'd assailed the cliff walls with his team and captured the Airport in the dead of the night and undetected for the rear troops under then Captain Saraswati's command. Moving in with that self-important jerk as he described a certain character that followed him in ensuring the defense of the airport until dawn for the Royal Guard attack helicopter squadron to come in and finish off the exposed Golden Path fighters that had found throughout the night and were expecting to take the airport back and win.

Ajay was surprised with the level of detail to the story the man spoke as if he were actually there. Could he have been? Quite possibly one of Saras's men, but he referred to her as an additional force so he was with another unit. Ajay was quite sure there wasn't another unit besides Yuma's Hunters that were with him. Anish suddenly came to mind, he was the type that bragged and bent his head before money and glory. But the man's proportions or voice didn't match that of Anish.

"The King was there?!"

""Ehhhh!""

"He just came for the fun of it, one thing led to another and he gave that jerk the position of Vice-Lord on a whim. He wasn't even grateful at all I tell you!" The man started getting worked up. Ajay was having a funny feeling about the tale this man sprung from his ass, yet it was completely accurate down to the bone with the exception of him in the story. While the tale of the Meh Teh offensive was told in several variants by the peoples' interpretation of the story. The Royal Army or then propaganda department never revealed the full account of the story besides the less than two hundred versus twenty-five hundred fighters part for publicity reasons.

Ajay became inclined to find out who was this bloke and paced towards the group.

"It must have been nice, to see Lord Badala."

"Compared to the being greeted by the King? I doubt so. Right, Sir Kadayat?"

Upon hearing the surname, Ajay stopped and processed his available memory.

-Bipin? Wasn't he in Maharashtra?-

The last time he met Bipin was in the tavern with the rest, Bipin wasn't even sober then and let him in on some secrets he was better off not knowing. The next day, he and Saras left for India. Saras went to delegate for the Royal Army and the Indian Army. Bipin went to study at the staff colleges like the rest of the officers that came along.

"Oi! Bipin, when did you return? And does Maya know about you coming bac-." As Ajay caught sight of the fellow as he turned around to the response Ajay gave in regards to mistaking him for his brother, catching sight of his face Ajay stopped abruptly mid-sentence. His thoughts immediately jumbled with the person he was looking at, then he over came it with logic. Then suddenly he have the wanton desire to laugh, he tried his best to suppress it but couldn't.

And burst out laughing.

In everyone else mind, they wondered who was this rude fellow until one of them pointed out he was the recently appointed Duke of Lakshman, then they froze in shock that he was presenting a very peculiar behavior in front of them.

The man walked toward Ajay in a grim manner, crunching his knuckles. The ladies were shocked by this display. The Duke might be a little rude but it didn't warrant him punching Ajay. Ajay was oblivious to all this until the very last second he felt contact from a fist to his face.

Ajay fell to the floor, yet seemed unhurt as he continued laughing after finding something too funny to stop. It was just as Bhadra had said.

"Oh my god! He's attacking the Duke! Someone get help!" One said as the ladies ran off to find someone to answer their plea.

"Have you done laughing? You goddamn jerk!" The man continued to pummel Ajay but Ajay laughed even louder, albeit in pain but nothing was more hilarious that this scenario he was in….. this scenario she was in.

Because the one dressed up as the ladies man was none other than Maya.

* * *

After finding Maya as Bhadra had told him, he instinctively knew what she wanted him to do and what he would have done as well. Look for Mumu Chiffon, luckily he was where he expected him to be amongst the nobles looking to source him for his one of a kind designer clothings in the dining hall.

Ajay went over and whispered his challenge to Mumu who immediately got up and excused himself from the gathered crowd or customers. Because there was no challenge House Chiffon could overcome. Mumu call in the Royal hair and make-up artists for a favor to help him in his project and asked for the garments in the Royal Palace to be delivered by Kamran.

"We're working on a tight schedule here people, Chop! Chop!" Said Mumu to his colleagues who worked with him on achieving new looks every week for Pagan. Ajay's challenge was simple yet the most difficult to achieve with the people available in Kyrat that could do the job well.

And that was getting Maya to not just look great but "Wow!" The crowd with her look, she had the natural beauty, all that was left was to bring it out further with style and ornaments.

Mumu had always wanted to present an evening piece to the crowd under circumstances such as this New Years celebration at Crystal Falls but hadn't the right model to bring out the piece until Maya came along. Unfortunately, the latter was difficult to find in one place not because of the nature of her job but because she was doing her best to avoid Mumu. As Ajay learnt from the hair and make-up artists associates, Mumu had hounded her since he found her working in the Arsenal when delivering Ajay another holster bag custom made. When he called her number she never answered when the party was imminent and so Mumu's hopes were nearly dashed until Ajay came knocking at the door to his guest room quarters with the request.

"Why am I even doing this?" She complained as she stood on the elevated pile for measurements.

"Arms up!" Mumu tapped her arms to maintain its 90 degree angle while he measured.

"Because you can, Maya."

"Then I choose not to." Ajay chuckled at Maya's response, yet she obediently obliged to follow him this far, perhaps she was just shy to be in a dress. Maya had come far from a strictly military background under Yuma's training regime, she wasn't like the lady nobles of Kyrat despite her status.

"You wouldn't know if you didn't try, you get to do something that most women could only dream of. Having a beautiful face which makes others jealous and yearning to be you or be with you. Body proportions that many can't maintain or have, a slender figure with ample assets." Mumu chuckled at his straightforward and open opinion, Maya wasn't so pleased.

"That last one was sexual harrassment!"

"Up girl!" Mumu warned her again in an agitated tone which she obediently upright her posture once more.

Ajay had taken advantage of her inability to hit him while he made those comments about her.

"Are you really gonna let Bhadra and Noore laugh at you the whole night?"

"What?"

"I only knew about you because Bhadra told me to find you there, and in case you're wondering… she sniggered."

"She did, did she?"

"Think of it this way, if you went through with it. I can bet you can rub it in Noore and Bhadra's face for being feminine. I bet they'll be wearing priceless faces for you to enjoy for the rest of the night." Ajay's offer to her was rather attractive, getting back at the rest of the residence for mocking her previous male attire that she was comfortable with. She unwittingly attracted a female crowd who thought she was a charming young man with a handsome face. Afraid of humiliating herself she adopted that fake man's voice which she didn't do that well on. And earned a barrel of laughs from Ajay.

Ajay had given her an idea about the pros of going through with this minor discomfort to earn a reward in the form of their gaping mouths.

"I'll be in your care, Mr Chiffon." She finally responded, though feeling internally reluctant to follow through.

"Excellent! I swear on the honor of House Chiffon, this night will be unforgettable! I guarantee it, am I right ladies and gentlemen?" The Royal hair and make-up artists nodded in agreement.

"So how is the renown Mumu Chiffon going to make her a dress that will blow the crowds mind's in one hours time?" Ajay asked curious.

"I'm glad you asked, Ajay! The answer is tapering. I already had the dress done a week ago, but since I didn't have the exact measurements because our dear wasn't anywhere to be found I made an average adjustable length and proportion."

"Counting on you, Mr Chiffon."

"I know, when have I ever failed to deliver? Go and have a seat in the bedroom next door and I'll call you out when its done. Oh! That reminds me, I brought your new armored outfit too. I was wondering when I should hand it to you, consider it my gift to your newly ascended rank of Duke." Mumu said to him before devoting his ever attention to making measurements and calculations for the evening attire for Maya. The dress piece and further fabrics were not at hand due to Mumu being unable to reach Maya beforehand. He called for a favor to the attendants in still in the Royal Palace to send the pieces via helicopter driven by Kamran. As they spoke, he was already along the way from when Mumu called ten minutes ago.

Ajay left Mumu to do what he did best, in the mean time he would occupy himself with the set of body armor Mumu had made for him to replace his worn and tattered one that was almost completely destroyed in the "Crimson Woods" fight with over a battalion strength of Golden Path fighters and one very competent but dead Commander.

Ajay took the body armor to Samar to have it repaired and the latter did what he could but the armor already had parts that were compromised. Although the armor ceramic plates could be replaced, the carrier and under armor segments were torn beyond repair. It had to do with the abrasion of his inhuman movements that time, when wearing the armor there were limits to the amount he could raise and reach backward. His rampage went over those limits.

As it so happened, besides making a spare of the original he made a refined version of the first one. Ajay entered the bedroom and found a trunk standing by the mattress with a note attached to it.

Written on it:

Dear Ajay,

There is no such word as perfection in the eyes of man, only a dream to be so. Therefore my finest creation which you wore cannot be said to be perfect in every way even through my prideful eyes. Even if I devoted my every essence to making the one piece that I'm sure protected your life on countless occasions. It would remain inherently flawed.

This piece is my expression to reach further to that quest for perfection.

I've looked deeply into the feedback you and dear Samar have sent me on your use of the first iteration of the "Vengeance Armor". (I know its a stupid name but it translates well with your alias!)

The improvements can be said to be quite within expectations. Lighter weight, less bulkiness to the feel, more dexterity, improved protection aspects and refined features that were present in the old set. A step above the old one in survivability.

The details of the new specs I've listed in a separate attach piece of paper, take the time to read it before fiddling around with it.

Its strange really, while it seems to be the end of the Golden Paths influence I can't shake the feeling that this is just the beginning. Forgive me, I know I have no experience to dabble into Military affairs but knowing from life experience things don't always go as plan.

Take me for example, I always keep an emergency trunk full of my necessary tools and fabric, I also bribe the guards annually in case His Royal Highness suddenly isn't satisfied with my work and orders my death. Quite unbelievable ain't it! But believe it or not, there was ever a time when I nearly had a close shave to that scenario. So from then on my working style incorporates this sort of mentality which isn't bad attribute to begin with.

I hope you just stay safe in all of your missions, without you I can no longer imagine how my Combat Couture vision would ever continue.

Stay safe, Ajay. And remember, be fierce!

Sincerely your friend and colleague,

Mumu Chiffon

…...

It seemed that Mumu expected he wouldn't be around to hand it to Ajay, even though he was next door dress fitting for Maya, while the hair and make-up artists were doing up Maya's hair and complexion. They really intended to make her the star of the event.

Ajay flipped open the clasps to the trunk that revealed his new body armor set Mumu dubbed the Vengeance Armor v2.0 standing upright.

Ajay could see that Mumu wasn't kidding about the aesthetic changes to the armor. Immediately he could see several differences besides the sleeker appearance to the bulk first iteration.

The armor had slits to allow for further movement of the body in all around angles, what lay between the slits were a combination of Goretex and Nomex fabric for anti-moisture and fire retardant protection. With an additional layer of a stab-proof fabric. Most of the weapons that Samar built as a stand alone such as the grapple gauntlet were now integrated, one in each hand with the winch motor housed behind in a shell housing. The entire armor had hardpoints for placing weapons and ammo on his thighs, waist and forearms.

The armor plates themselves were the main difference with the previous single ceramic plate he had in the past. They came in segments around the torso and limbs that were bind together with kelvar straps and buckles. This had an application for ease of repair and refitting faster by replacing the damaged part with a new plate than taking the whole torso section to remove the plates and repair.

But the most impressive thing about the protection afforded to him by the new plates was its laminate configuration. Previously, his ceramic plates were all rated for NIJ Level Type 3 which could stop 7.62x51mm high power rifle rounds in certain conditions. For a rebel army like the Golden Path who were mainly armed with 7.62x39mm for AK and 5.56x45mm NATO for AR-15 weapons it wasn't a problem stopping the bullet and most of the energy from impact.

But Ajay noticed something about the inner layer of the armor slabs, they were all ceramic discs overlapping into a scale armor formation. It not only did better in allowing for further range of movement that he always wanted but now it offered a supposed increase per plate. Ajay had heard of this armor before from certain military personnel that returned from overseas in the states.

The armor plate were all comprised of Dragon Skin armor.

Ajay had supposedly heard the reputation of the body armor although he wasn't sure if this was pieces of the original armor that Samar sourced or that Mumu and Samar borrowed the concept in designing the armor, the latter made more sense both economically and logistically.

The armor was in a matte black color scheme like the first one but had a red trim at the collar and sleeves which seemed similar to the Royal Guards uniform scheme in some way. Perhaps to associate his affiliation with the Royal Army for friend or foe identification instances.

Sitting above the shoulder pauldrons was a gleaming mask. Samar had remade the Yalung Mask once more, although this time the mask wasn't iron anymore but fashioned out of titanium. How Samar did it with the lack of infrastructure to smelt titanium was beyond him, unless this job was outsourced which could explain this new mask.

Either way, Ajay was more than content with the new equipment he had been given. They were all cutting edged to his job and way more that a step above the old set of armor he wore. It would improve his combat potential further than before, he was sure of it.

But like Mumu said, he hoped there wouldn't be a scenario that he least expected.

* * *

Huffing after a long trek through the forest in the night with minimal lighting, the group was getting weary of their travel.

"Let's take a break, we're no use if even one of us falls behind. We also need to wait for Hurk." Daisy instructed them.

"Aye aye, ma'am!" Oliver instantly lay against the tree to rest his tired body.

Riley turned back to look at the general direction where the City of Pain was. All he could see was a bright orange glow from that place along with tons of smoke bellowing from the city.

"He really gave them hell all by himself…" Riley was now coming to terms with the kind and playful Hurk being capable of such brutal efficiency on his own.

"Badala trained him, so he would definitely be as freakish in that sense." Daisy responded to his monologue.

Daisy thought to herself. If Hurk could turn out that way because of Badala, then what about an entire army trained by him. An army of demons.

"Rest up, drink up! We have a long way to go. Steven, map please."

"Sure, here." Steven handed her the map and voluntarily shone a small torchlight upon the map for her to see. She took out the compass and cross checked their location. We're here, we need to at least get to here to be safe. She traced the place they currently were, which was somewhere five kilometres from the City in the Northern direction, up ahead there was a river system that led all the way to Shanath. All they needed to do was to follow the river North and they'd reach the Shanath area. There, they could have two choices to pick from. To the West was the Mukti Tigers, willing to shelter all refugees in need of assistance according to Hurk. North was the fortifications to King's Bridge, the only safe route to the Uttar region where the seat of power resided and was manned by the Royal Army. They needed Hurk to help them get across or else they were considered as illegal visitors due to their foreign nature.

"In your opinion, where should we go, Steven?" Daisy relied on Steve to provide a realistic option to go for. Steve thought for a while then pointed to the North where the Royal Army was.

"Safer?" She asked.

"Happier." He responded with a smile.

Daisy chuckled slightly as she had made her decision thanks to Steve.

"Alright, we'll go North. I hope Hurk can help us pass or it'll be for nothing."

"Always dream big, girl. Liza and I didn't just enter the film industry because just her good looks. We took our chances sometimes. Right, babe?"

"Urgh! I think I foot has sores."

Steven sighed as Daisy chuckled again. "Coming!" Steven went over the see what he could do for Liza.

"Dais! Someones coming!" Riley called out quietly and cautiously.

"Is it Hurk?"

"Dunno, there's more than one guy out there. Fifteen spotted at least." Daisy's hairs on her back stood up, this was in all possibility either a Golden Path patrol or a search team by the Renegade soldiers of De Pleur.

"Call the rest to hide and stay low. We'll hope they'll pass, and bring me a rifle." Daisy dispatched her orders. Riley nodded and dashed off after handing her one of the M16 rifles from his dufflebag with a few magazines.

Daisy lay low behind the tree and loaded the rifle and cocked the charging handle, raising the rifle in a firing posture seemed like she knew what she was doing. That's because unlike her fellow Californians, Daisy was the only one that knew who to operate a rifle on her own, particularly an AR-15 variant which the rifle she was using presently was similar to in operation.

Not only was her father from a Naval background but her late boyfriend was from the National Guard. Even if she didn't bother with their affairs she happened to chance upon a time behind the trigger for recreation.

Daisy controlled her breathing as the shadows grew closer without any indication of slowing or identifying themselves. By now, her friends had all taken cover behind the trees. Riley was also holding one of the rifles at the ready but to protect the rest who were unarmed.

As the silhouettes got closer their hearts pounded quicker. Daisy took a deep breath in and lined up the target with the largest looking shadow, which seemed likely to be the hardiest of the patrol group that she assumed it was. But she would only fire when she was spotted, if not she would let them pass by.

Daisy was the most nervous despite being the most aggressive in response to the arrival of an unknown party at their most weakened time. Her trigger hand was shaking even through she tried her best to suppress these instinctive responses to fear.

The large shadow got nearer, stopping for a while and facing her direction and begin walking towards her. Her heart dropped, had she been found? She didn't want to do anything until the very last possible second for a chance he could miss them.

But the shadow continued to close in and increased speed as the other silhouettes followed his pace. Daisy placed her finger on the trigger, she and her friends had gone this far before a firefight would break out. Then their hopes of escaping were now hopes for survival against whatever patrols might call in for reinforcements.

Daisy said a prayer mentally to prepare her for taking a life away. While still a soldier that robbed and pillaged, he still was a flesh and blood human being albeit a horrible person.

Daisy's trigger had now reached halfway of its full depression to fire a round, and she almost continued on if not for-

"Daisy? What are you guys still- woah! Watch where you're pointing that!" Replied the silhouette that much to her relief was none other than Hurk.

"Hurk-… you made it!" She said obviously glad.

"Course I fucking made it! I'm Hurk, Tatbro of Jas and Bad's! Geez can't you stop pointing that at me? It's making me uncomfortable."

Daisy quickly raised her rifle after releasing the trigger.

"Hot damn, Hurk! You are one badass sunovabitch!" Riley patted his shoulder several times ecstatically.

"Woah! You kiss your mother with that mouth, kid brother?" To Hurk, Riley was still a younger brother of Jason and felt he shouldn't be exposed to this sort of violence, drugs or explicit languages. He was still a kid in his books.

"You're not my dad, Hurk!" Riley laughed it off.

"We thought you were a patrol, were those people with you."

"Not were, but are." Hurk said as the refugees came busting through the bushes to catch up with Hurk.

"Had a few, folks I just couldn't leave behind, see."

Daisy sighed, though not in frustration but relief. Hurk still had a good conscience. Daisy had her regrets that they were leaving while other prisoners were still locked up and suffering even worse than they were. Although, Hurk wasn't able to save everyone. He still did his best.

When they got out of here, they would make sure to improve their relationship with Hurk. Not just out of gratitude for saving them but because he was a good person.

"Come on, we've got a forest to GTFO from!"

"Right, we're right behind you, Hurk!"

* * *

Author's Thoughts:

(Charles zi Britannia): "Alllll Haiiilll Brrittannniaaa!"

(Britannian Subjects): """All Hail Britannia! All Hail Britannia! All Hail Britannia!"""


	43. Chapter 41(b) - Break seal to Snow White

Author's Notes:

I try not to make every short story in POV style. They'll all be following the main story but giving you a bit more detail at the same time.

* * *

….….

 **Take me into your hearrrttt! Accept me as your savior!….. Nail me to the fucking cross!… and let me be REBORN!**

He heard voices in a cold dark void echo in which he resided in.

 _-You are powerful, strong!-_

A path illuminated before him. Seeing no way out of this void reality he got up and walked forward. As he did so, the path extended further into the darkness.

 _-Walk the path of the warrior.-_

A familiar voice rung in his head guiding him forward. He walked careful steps forwards as not to be caught off guard by any sudden appearances.

 _\- With the Rakyat, you are powerful like those who came before you.-_

-I see….. this is all a dream.-

Further up, some steps appeared a platform which he walked up slowly carefully scanning the surroundings but not thorough enough as he turned his head back to the front he encountered-

"Citra?"

It was exactly who he said it was, but as the figure of the person got closer he could see something impaled in her stomach, blood flowed like a river out of her yet she wore a gentle smile seeming unhurt but that critical wound. The sight caused him to recoil back quickly as the walking corpse of Citra raised her hand to reach out to him.

" _Let me love you as I should have.… Be with me again….. Let me give you-….."_ She placed her bleeding hand on his left tattooed hand.

" _... The final Tatau….."_

He wanted to pull away from the hand but the grip became like a steel vice making removal impossible for him no matter how he struggled.

Her hand begun to heat up and started to sear his skin on his forearm. (SSSSSSSSSS) "AAAArrrrhhh!" He screamed in pain, but the hand stayed where it wanted to be. Then suddenly her hand burst into smoke and her entire body disappeared. But his forearm was glowing from the burn like molten metal, the molten metal formed the shape filling in the gap within his Tatau that was left unfinished by Citra.

 **Hahahahaha! (Sigh) You can't run from fate, Hermano.**

He looked up from his kneeling position which he adopted after fighting the agony of the branding. Standing before him was another person who had been influential in what he had become, but the name wouldn't come out from his mouth. No words could form from it in fact, he was rendered mute in this reality that was not his.

 **I've always lived within you, alway have always will…. but…**

The familiar person reached backward and trusted a glowing cyan dagger into his chest, he was helpless to prevent it from happening. His body was no longer responsive to him.

 **That's not good enough! There's one final barrier that keeps you from accepting me…. one last one….. here.**

"Ah-….Ah-…..Arrghh…." He was dealing with the blade impaled within him rather than pay attention to the monologue of this fellow. He fell back motionless, feeling his grip on the world fade slowly.

….…

….…

 **You are me…..**

…...

…...

"…...And I am you."

….….

….…

….…

* * *

Jason woke in a cold sweat, if it had been just that then it would have been great. But it wasn't.

"Brody! Put down the knife!" He found himself in a dilemma, he was seated against the tunnel walls were he last took a nap. But before he was Mohan who had a blade to his throat, his blade.

"Uh-…. Sorry! Just an old reflex." Very quickly removing the knife from Mohan and sheathing it back in its scabbard on his kelvar vest. That was the best excuse he could come up with at the moment, he hoped that it was good enough for the rest of the Golden Path fighters that he accompanied on this expedition.

"Lower your weapons, brothers. It's just an honest misunderstanding, the fault is on my end for startling him at the wrong time." The fighters who were on edge lowered their rifles after the situation cooled off.

"Apologies, Jason Brody. I merely wanted to show you something up ahead that was all."

"Um-… Sure, lead the way." Jason got up and followed Mohan closely behind.

"Walk with me, it'll be quite a while so please chat with me." Jason nodded and walked next to him at the same pace as Mohan. The Golden Path fighters watched them walk off before returning to the fires that kept them warm in the chilly mountain cave.

The supposed secret two-way passage to and from the Uttar Region and Pacchim Valley.

"Willis has indulged me on your history in this Rook Island where he had been exiled by the CIA."

"Its a history I'm not proud of."

"Indeed, yet doing it to save your ignorant friends is noble in itself."

"I don't think I returned from that Island entirely, or perhaps I came back with more than that." Jason placed his hand on his chest, as if this other self were physically part of him.

"Then let's not deny, it has evidently forged you into something better."

"Killing doesn't make me better than others."

"And neither does idle. Something Kyrat has seen too much of these pass two decades. Of course killing indiscriminately makes you no better than animals, but. Sometimes, there is always a need for a person to get their hands dirty in whatever world of clean justice and morality. Because there will always be those sick curs that no longer behave like human beings. They need to be taken out of the picture so that the rest of the pure and innocent need not know or feel the fear, pain and despair of the things that lurk outside."

".….."

"I believe, that is your purpose in this world, Jason Brody."

"I'm just a person that wants nothing to do with the hell I was in."

"And yet, here you are, in hell. All for the sake of your friends. I'm not certain whether we'll find them in Rajgad Gulag, but I'm certain that when we retrieve who we're all hoping is there. That Badala will be the first to arrive."

Jason recalled the image of the demon that tore through the ranks of fighters to get to him after he had set him off somehow. There was no logical explanation to that event, neither was there one for his split personality.

In any case, the feeling he gave off scared him that his first instinct was to run. It showed just how brave that Battalion really was in the face of imminent danger and for him, a foreigner.

If he backed out from this, he couldn't do their spirits justice after the sacrifice they made for him. Jason steeled himself for the fight.

"You look ready."

"I'm working on it, this party'll stand a better chance if I buy time for you."

"Doing what might I ask?"

"Fighting Badala." Jason answered with resolve. Mohan raised his eyebrow and scanned Jason's expression and read it.

"I've heard rather disturbing rumors about Badala myself. Particularly in one incident Willis had coordinated with a defector and actually captured Badala once."

"He did?" Mohan nodded.

"The story went that this American officer in the Royal Army, De Pleur whom switched allegiances and is currently with us still had sent him to the Shanath Arena. There, he threw him into the arena to battle non-stop without protective provisions or weapons of his own. Badala fought throughout the arena's five-round sessions and emerged victorious."

"And?"

"This is where the unnatural part begins. Disatisfied with the result, De Pleur sends in his elite guard and that of the arena master's into the arena to kill him off. He'd already fought non-stop for five whole rounds and was definitely exhausted by now. They were dispatched to close in for the kill. De Pleur even released a Rhino into the pit much later. With all these opponents around what do you think happened to the Northern Demon Badala?"

"Well he made it out didn't he?"

Mohan shook his head. "He died." Jason's eyes widened in shock.

"The spectating crowd was there that day to bear witness to it. The captured Rhino Alpha proved too much even for him and killed him with its horn."

"So what's he doing here?….. Don't tell me-…"

"It would have been the most logical explanation, a double acting in his place or the double was the one that was captured and died… Unfortunately, it was neither. The words the spectators used, what De Pleur used that day was Resurrection."

Resurrection? Though Jason could somehow picture it. He'd "died" on the island several times and yet somehow comeback from all of it unharmed and without explanation. Was Badala like him?

"Then what happened after… his-… you know?"

"He massacred everything that breathed in the arena, including that Rhino."

Jason's heart pumped rapidly, it was safe to say he was feeling scared now after hearing this and how he had been this fortunate to be alive after their encounter.

"He even chased, De Pleur that day though he managed to escape which was fortunate for him. I believe the Sanskrit name they coined for him that day was Yalung ke Vashaj."

Jason wasn't fluent in Sanskrit so he wasn't sure what it meant.

"It means "Son of the Demon God, Yalung" or in your european equivalent-."

"Son of the devil." Jason complete the sentence for Mohan.

"Do not be to discouraged, Jason Brody. I will assure you one thing, you have nothing to worry about."

"How can you even say that?" Jason stopped walking and left him behind, Mohan stopped and turned to face him.

"I once had eight generals that fought alongside and on my behalf. They were know by many as the Eight Devas for their incredible feats they could achieve on their own. I'm putting my chips in betting that at least six of the members are incarcerated within Ragjad Gulag stronghold are still alive."

"What makes you so sure, Pagan'll keep them alive?"

"He will, because they were all members of nobility from their respective Houses. Their families support are what keeps them alive and fed. But in total agony they are in right now."

"Like how good are they?" Jason was curious about their strength, he had no way to gauge their ability to stand up against Badala by themselves or together. Even he was on the losing end of their engagements. Jason knew he didn't just lose touch with fighting whereas Badala was fresh in it. Badala may not be as quick and nimble as him, but he compensated with experience. Jason quickly wore out in their fights where Badala looked as thought he did concentrate but had a reserve of energy to fight or chase him still. Because he fought smart.

Why did Mohan have so much faith in these eight devas? Was he still underestimating Badala's strength, but then why did he bother to tell him that ridiculous story?

"Are you aware of what Deva means, Jason Brody?"

"A deity or something right?"

"It means divine. And what was divine about them was their abilities. When we were fighting a losing battle against the superior quality of troops and weapons at Pagan and Yuma's disposal. The one's that equaled the odds were the eight of them. To give you an example of their ability, one had held the Royal army at bay in a choke point. He fought over two companies for two days alone while we desperately tried to reinforce him. When we arrived, he stood in the centre of a mound of bodies all belonging to the Royal Army. Another example was one that I am particularly proud of, he had negotiated with the populous at Tirtha to help build the stronghold Varshakot where we tried to weather off a major Royal Army offensive. It allowed us the time to organise and counter attack, freeing Pacchim valley from Pagan's influence. Until as of late."

So some were good at fighting, some at strategy. Jason still didn't see the possibility of them winning but gave Mohan the benefit of doubt. The older man knew them better than him.

"You said six, what happened to the other two?"

"Sabal says they vanished when the six went to seek vengeance alone. They come out when they know of my return naturally. Which comes to the second agenda of our excursion here."

-So he has a plan does he?-

"While the assault on the stronghold progresses, a small detachment and myself will head to a relay station and hijack to main frequency. Then, I will let the whole of Kyrat know I am back to finish what we have all started."

The second coming of Mohan Ghale, Jason now understood what he was doing.

"We've arrived."

Mohan had led him to the end of the cave, where a bright light daunted them. Coming through the harsh light, they exited the cave they had been traveling through for two days. Lo and behold, before them stood a lush green and river stream, far ahead at the mountaintops was a waterfall and a palace right next to it. Although it was significantly farther away from them than it looked. At least ten kilometres.

"I'm glad this beauty hasn't changed all these years, the one thing that Pagan hadn't sullied with his treacherous hands yet."

"It is quite lovely…"

"I'm glad you enjoy it. We've come all the way here, I thought to show you this view before we arrive at our destination on the otherside of this mountain back through the cave."

".….. Thanks, Mr Ghale… I guess. You really helped me a lot."

"Don't mention it, think of me as a friend. I would very much like it."

"Sure, we'd better get back. They looked kinda worried leaving me with you just now."

"Alright, you can go ahead I just want to savor the moment here for a while longer first."

"Ok. Don't stay too long, or they'll suspect my ass!" Mohan chuckled.

"Don't worry, I'll save you in the nick of time if necessary. But if possible, I'd like to ask a favor of you, Jason Brody."

"Um- Yeah! What'll it be?"

"When you are fighting I want you to give your all for yours and our sake. Can you do that?"

"I've got no problem with that, I'll do my best. Promise Mr Ghale!"

"A promise it is then."

"I'll be off now."

"Alright."

Jason hurried off back to where the Golden Path fighters were resting in the cavern.

"Yes, please give us your all, Jason Brody. Bring out your full potential even if it means the complete dissolution of yourself to release that demon upon our common enemy. I'm expecting great things from it, let's hope even it doesn't let me down in defeating that troublesome youth Badala. It took me awhile to redo the hex formation but I managed it."

Mohan monologues to himself.

"Don't let me down."

Jason runs back without any caution to what his other self had advised of him. Without him knowing there had been a change that had taken place with Jason. Something shouldn't have missed but still did.

Upon his left forearm where his tatau remained grafted to his skin…

The unnoticeable gap had been completed.

* * *

Author's Notes:

Jason is losing the internal war.


	44. Chapter 42 - Conviction to becoming king

Author's Notes:

Apologies for the later than usual post. This week there's been a change in my usual routine. My house is hosting a Japanese homestay student for a fortnight and I've had the pleasure of showing him around the place and everything wonderful about South Australia. The fellas a real treat to have at home and it has taken some of my focus from writing fanfics.

He returns next week which shouldn't be long. I'll try my best to stay consistent in writing in the mean time regardless the distraction.

* * *

Stella paced impatiently upon the the wooden planks that formed their home for over four months. It was making both Ricardo and part of the rest still around anxious.

"You really need to stop that, you're not helping in the mood." Ricardo told her.

"Who are you to decide? At this very moment he could be locked within a cell, what if he was imprisoned within the City of Pain?!" Stella responded uneasy.

"Calm down."

"The last thing I need you to tell me is that!"

"Luca is monitoring the comms traffic, Samson is making an inquiry with the Royal Army if they saw a two-hundred pound man walk through the checkpoint. How hard will that be?"

"If he doesn't come back… if we don't find him….. I'll hold you accountable!" Stella left them with a crying expression.

"The hell are you still doing there? Go after her fool!" Alberto told him.

"Forget it." Ricardo responded with crossed arms. Alberto sighed at their vice-leaders attitude.

"Will Hurk really be alright, Ric?"

"He had training from both us and Badala, assuming it didn't go down the drain he'd be up on his toes to avoid getting caught." Ricardo was sure Hurk was capable of taking care of himself alright.

"He isn't a complete fool as he makes everyone believe, he's survived worse and without any actual military background in the past. Did you know he was in that African hellhole once, the one Longinus came from?" Alberto had heard of that place. It was a meat grinder of hired guns and innocents all for the sake of blood diamonds, that place was an expression of the worst parts of humanity in the planet to exist. The rumor was that an unknown individual known internationally as the Jackal had been instrumental in destabilizing the factions at war rendering that place completely barren of inhabitance. It could be said he was like a harbinger of death yet not void of morality to save innocence.

"Then why do you look so concern yourself, Ric?"

"I-…I'm not." Ricardo denied it. A silence matured between them until Ricardo spoke up once more.

"Stay on standby, tell the others the same." He said as he marched to the door.

"Where are you going?"

"To Baghadur, If he really is in Pacchim Valley he'll need all the help he can get to exfill out of wherever he is. I'm gonna negotiate with the Mukti Tiger leadership Amita to get some help."

"Is that wise? Shouldn't you wait for the boss at least?!"

"No time, I'll take Emilio and Luigi with me, stay here and tell Samson when he gets back."

"I hope you know what you're doing."

"I hope so too."

"Ric, catch!" Alberto threw a set of keys to Ricardo.

"Combination code 12-55-32, it better to be prepared than not. That should afford you the maximum firepower you guys need."

"H- How did you get the keys to the armory?"

"I work with Samar when I can, not like you who flirts with Stella on his free time." Alberto chuckled.

"Al… Grazie!" Ricardo turned and left, calling out the other two who would follow him on his rescue mission.

"And you said you weren't going." Alberto laughs to himself.

Ricardo accompanied by Luigi and Emilio entered the Arsenal. The begun drawing equipment they needed, body armor, special extended range ammo, grenades. They brought their own highly modified P416 and SIG 553 rifles with them, but they were here for something else.

"Fifty-five….. thirty-two (click) got it." A responsive click from the unlocking of the reinforced lock opened. Putting it aside, Ricardo opened the cabinet revealing the contents to him and the rest.

"... That'll work." Emilio wasn't wrong when he said that.

Concerning the long device they'd been given access to.

* * *

Arriving at their destination, the Golden Path fighters alighted their trucks to assist in putting out the flames and rounding up the remaining prisoners. Sabal walked up the steps towards the direction of De Pleur's office.

He reached the centre square where five renegade soldiers were lined up and on their knees pleading before Paul. De Pleur noticed Sabal's arrival.

"It looks like your time's up. I tried to be the reasonable on here, good luck guys!" De Pleur told them.

"Where are Brody's friends?" Was the only thing on his mind, the only reason he made his excursion all the way to this place. He had been on the way here for the purpose of a visit until he saw the smoke rising from the City and feared the worst of a Royal Army raid.

"Time to speak up, bub." De Pleur kicked one.

"I was asking you." Sabal stated to Paul who became slightly nervous.

"What do you think happened?! They split! I've already sent some to find them, that's all I can do on my end. What do you expect me to do with the inventory I have-…. had." Whatever provisions and equipment the Renegades had were now in flames thanks to the fire.

"Do you even realize the seriousness of this, Paul? If Brody even gets a whiff of his friends outside its game over! I hold you personally responsible for this complacency!" Sabal expressively poked him.

"Get off my case, Sabal! You know very well what happened! You insisted that fatty was harmless, you wanted him to mix with those SoCal brats to supply them with false hope yet look what he did! I lost a shit load of men because you handed me poor info on the prisoner. Should I also hold you accountable for the damages?" Paul countered. The surrounding renegades closed in around Sabal and his retinue and glared at him hard and fearless with their intimidating aura.

"You really are shameless aren't you, Paul."

"Hmph! Look who's talking, I bet you came all this way to fuck one or both of those SoCal bitches!" Paul said with a smirk, his soldiers laughed.

"This arguing leads us nowhere, what do you currently have at hand?" Paul snorted, Sabal neither confirmed nor denied what he said about his intentions of coming here.

"Two technicals remaining from their routine patrol, I've already sent them to look for them at the monastery."

"They wouldn't have gone there, Hurk infiltrated Golden Path months ago. He knows the routes we both take, that isn't the first place he'd go."

"He infiltrated?!- And you chose to keep this from me?!" Paul was gritting his teeth to the most obvious mistake Sabal made. What was annoying was that Paul was paying for Sabal's error. "You owe me twice fold for the damage, no excuses Sabal." Paul said in a low and intimidating voice that rivaled the combine might of his renegades.

".… Fine. But this needs to be sorted out first before it becomes beyond salvageable. Losing Jason Brody is too big a loss to deal with." Sabal said, determined not to show weakness towards Paul.

"Where the fuck could they have gone then?"

"A few places come to mind, Baghadur, King's Bridge or Shanath arena. At Baghadur they can seek refuge with Amita, King's Bridge with the Royal army and Shanath provides plenty of hiding places amongst the dense populous there."

"If I were an escapee where would I flee? No. There's one more place."

Sabal cocked his head.

"The airport, see it from their point of view. I've been stranded in this hell and I wanna go home. The Airport is where I'd go. But I can't navigate in this dark so I'd find refuge to sleep out first. Few places before the Tigers territory come to mind, one is the Brick Factory, its smack in the centre between us and Amita." Sabal tightened his hand in a silent vow he'd decapitate Hurk for jeopardizing his operation even after he had given him the grace to live.

"Then Rochan Brick Factory it is then."

* * *

There was still some time till Mumu and the make-up and hair artists were finished with their pride and joy exhibit to the beginning of the New Year. Ajay stowed the armor easily worth a hundred thousand back into its trunk and left the room. He hadn't eaten anything since he came so decided to go down to the dining hall to sit with the rest of his roommates.

On a bright note, the spread was fit for a king literally. Amongst the buffet variety were Pagan's favorite Crab Rangoon platter as well which Ajay personally had enough of. Too rich for his taste, most of Pagan's foods cooked by Celebrity Chef Patrick were mostly tonic food. Ginseng, deer's whip, lingzhi mushroom, wolf berries, black fungus, the list went on and these were only the Chinese herbs by far. There were other kinds of traditional medicine Pagan used from what Kyrat's safari had to offer.

For Ajay, if it was cooked well it was enjoyable and he was glad his taste buds were simple to allow him to fully enjoy his meals.

"So how was the sight?" Bhadra asked at the table.

"Priceless." They laughed together.

-You'd better watch out for what's coming, Bhadra.- Ajay quietly thought.

Ajay continued to have his meal with the other two residence in his house, when they had finished they were on to after meal drinks. Arjun and Raghu came to his table and chatted up with him and Noore. Coming along with them were Arjun's wife and Raghu's two children. Jeevan had a sparkle in his eyes as he looked to Ajay. Although, he did his best to avoid Bhadra's glare as much as possible, even after he went over to apologized to her. It seemed that once you were on her blacklist, you were doomed to stay on it forever.

"Congratulations on your coronation to Duke, Badala." Raghu nodded to him as he gave his compliment.

"Thank you, I hope this doesn't change our relationship too much, Raghu."

"Only if you decide otherwise, friend!" Raghu laughed merrily. Arjun had been distracted with his thoughts more than lately. Perhaps it had to do with what Ajay told him before, he was still having trouble with interpreting his meaning.

For Ajay, it was quite simple.

When the Civil war was finally done, the persona of Badala would disappear and the face of Ajay Ghale would take its place where it had been missing for over four months.

Just Ajay.

Whether he'd actually take up the throne from Pagan when he was done was another thing. But he did wish that the people of Kyrat would someday have autonomy over their countries state of affairs. That being said, Republic wasn't ideal for Kyrat in its initial state of recovery from the two-decade long war as it would plague the government with indecision in desperate times that only required a single decisive move. He was pretty sure Amita would be involved in politics when the war ended, he was pretty sure her party would be a sort of socialist movement. Not sure whether it would accommodating the disparity in individual wealth between the people in Kyrat knowing her aggressive attitude. Either way she was someone that stood up for her people, even if she had her own interests.

Thinking about it in that sense he was forced to take the crown again. Although, he wondered some times did he really want to become King of Kyrat?

He recalled when he first made his declaration to himself that day he left Lakshmana's shrine with all the hate in the world for Sabal and Golden Path, everything that his old man stood for he wanted to erase it. The only way he would have that power was with Pagan and to take that power he offered. With the rising ranks from associate to Marquis and Marquis to Duke, Pagan had paved the way for his eventual appointment as king. Beginning the Reign of House Ghale in Kyrat.

When that happened, he planned to adopt a liberal democracy not dissimilar to that of the United Kingdom or Thailand.

"Saraswati was right about one thing, you do seem to ponder a lot." Ajay turned to the woman that sat herself next to Ajay at the table. She'd been sitting next to Arjun all this while and there were some similarities in her aged appearance that looked much like Saras. That or Saras had resemblance to her.

"Madam Roka I presume." Ajay took initiative to speak.

"Indeed, your grace." Manisha acknowledge using formality.

"Badala will do, your husband does the same either way." Manisha chuckled.

"Unfamiliar to your title are you?"

"This was something his royal highness bestowed onto me not something I was born with. I hope you'll treat me without much formality in future, madam." Ajay replied courteously.

"Modest even. Perhaps this was what our daughter saw in you that was so special." Ajay had a million thoughts about Saras's reason for sticking to him like glue, there were some that Arjun and certainly her mother were unaware of.

"I'd like to apologize on my unreasonable husband's behavior as of late."

"Unreasonable?" When he said that Manisha wore a look of surprise.

"Might I inquire, has he always acted the same with you, Badala?"

"MmmHmm! No change as of yet."

"Really. Then I shall have a long talk with him once we return for the night then." She replied glaring at Arjun from afar. Feeling that icy glare on his back, Arjun unconsciously hunched his head whilst speaking to old Raghu.

-For whatever I did. Sorry, Arjun.-

"Speaking of Saras how is she? I didn't have the opportunity to ask Arjun as of late." Ajay hoped that by changing the subject he could divert Arjun's wife's attention back from her henpecked husband.

True enough, her head swung back with delight in her expression.

"She's been hard at work in Maharashtra doing her part to assist in some project my dear husband wouldn't indulge me in." She sighed.

"The S-program. A little surprise we have in store for everyone that will change the demographics of the wars Kyrat might fight in future. Also makes foreign interests think twice about intervening or invading." Manisha chuckled.

"See. That wasn't so hard, I simply wanted a simply summary not the whole story. And all this time my husband kept his lips shut tighter than sewing his mouth together."

"I'm sure Arjun had is reasons for keeping it from you, ma'am. He didn't have the words to explain it without compromising your families safety or from your inquiring further." Manisha smiled at Ajay thoughtfully.

"Your concern for Arjun is unnecesssary, believe me when I say so. He's made you work for him and earn less than you deserve as compensation." Ajay wasn't sure how to respond to that one. He really didn't care if Arjun used him as much as Manisha claimed, he was doing well in the Royal army and that was all that mattered to him.

"Perhaps that means I can ask more of him then." Manisha nodded laughing.

"Indeed you could! Although, I didn't think you'd take the initiative to ask about our daughter. Are you perhaps interested in our daughter, your grace?" She let out a familiar smile that Saras used when teasing someone.

"I can't say that Saras isn't anyone special in my life. Maybe the word to use is… I've begun to depend on her a lot more than others." Manisha smiled.

"That's a pretty roundabout way of dodging my question." She spoke ever so bluntly as it was a habit of hers that won her many enemies and misunderstanding. But Ajay instead laughed it off.

"It is isn't it! Even she made that obvious to me, but somehow a rather… forgive me if this is to blunt but….."

Manisha waited for Ajay to explain.

"The last thing I want is for her to be near me." Manisha knew there was a reason for him to reject her daughter so she took no offense.

"May I ask why?"

"Whether I'm a duke now, or formerly a Vice-Lord or simply just his royal highness's associate I know the hazards of my occupation, Saras knows this best of all. But Golden Path is just the cream on top for the enemies of Kyrat, but its through them which they play their hand. When Golden Path is gone, they'll likely take personal action. "

Manisha was clear to some extent that there were powerful external third parties involved in the Civil War even if her husband kept it from her.

"Usually as a parent I would thank you for protecting her from the dangers of her and your occupation. But as a mother I can't help but want to take measures to ensure she has a loving spouse and one that she loves herself."

"I think she deserves that too, although I know I'm clearly not that person she needs. And I hope that I'm not. I certainly don't wnat her chasing something that will lead her to her death, that is the one thing that concerns me the most." Manisha was quiet to Ajay's rejection of Saras's affection and a little disappointed. She got up and excused herself, but turned around wearing a sad smile.

"It must be hard….. walking a lonely path."

"Who said it was lonely? The path is just a short and limited but enjoyable one for me that's all. It was a pleasure knowing you Madam Roka." Ajay bowed his head with a smile. Manisha walked away with concern in her expression and was careful Ajay didn't see it when she went off leaving him. She went to pull her husband Arjun away with her, dragging him in the midst of conversation with Noore.

Noore came over to Ajay.

"What was that all about?" Noticing something had happened between him and the matriarch of House Roka.

"Nothing to stress yourself over."

Ajay continued his chat with Noore instead. She talked to him concerning the state of his blood samples she experimented on for the last few weeks. Besides that discovery of the volatility of his blood there was nothing else. Aside from that was the various herbs she wished for him to acquire to process for a feasible revenue source in the place of the marijuana and opium fields that was by far the biggest export until recently. The South American drug cartels were collaborating to push Pagan out of the business. For years he had played them against one another without them noticing, until they got wind of him doing so. The paid the South American governments to look the other way and occasionally whistle blow Pagan's shipments out in the Pacific via the french Polynesian islands. DEA went to clamp hard on Pagan's shipment caches and made him suffer which made everyone else that was paid from his pocket feel the pain.

Pagan came up with the bright idea and vision that instead of selling illegal and contraband drugs he would simply change markets to that of legal drugs and medicine. They were of course high priced but harder to find buyers than substances like Marijuana and cocaine that were always on high demand wherever they were sold. His markets for these high value traditional and synthetic medicines that Noore was helping him in were for the wealthy found in Europe and China.

As he spoke with Noore the time for the evening dance came. Ajay with Noore and Bhadra went to the ballroom like everyone else, there they awaited the arrival of Pagan and Yuma.

"May I have this dance, milady?" Ajay reached out his hand to Noore.

"Hmph! In your dreams, you're too young for my taste anyway." Noore completely shot him down, much to his disappointment and to Bhadra's entertainment. This was Noore's way of getting back at him for leaving her when they entered not like it was really his fault.

-Tsk! You're so eager at getting square with me, yet you can't even humiliate Pagan yourself.-

While he didn't notice there was actually a large group of young ladies whom were waiting for this very god given opportunity to snatch up Ajay for the dance and perhaps progress a relationship with him if they played their cards right.

Unfortunately, they never got to have the chance as Pagan and Yuma entered with the sound of the chimes from the attendant's hand chime to indicate their presence.

All of the crowd looked up at the stairs where Pagan and Yuma had come down from. But when they were no longer coming down the crowds' attention was plastered onto someone else that came down after them.

The ballroom became quiet as the sound of gentle tapping of shoes was all that could be heard.

Walking carefully down the steps was the person of in question that had taken all of their eyes from their own partners. The reason was needless to say, it could be described in only one word.

Beauty.

Wearing a sapphire dress adorned with precious diamonds studs were a perfect match to her fair skin and hair tied in a neat bun. Her face was clear and smooth, the brush strokes of the rouge and powders were not too heavy nor light and made for an au natural look. As embarrassed as she was to have the whole crowd staring at her without saying a word she dealt with it with a sufficient amount of firmness and confidence.

"Hey, Noore-….. Is that who I think it is?"

"Um-….Uh!-…."

As Ajay had planned, Bhadra and Noore's mouths dropped and remained motionless. If only he could see their faces, unfortunately he was in just as much astonishment as the latter.

From tomboyish looks to calm beauty with an air of elegance. The attraction was strong for both genders, male and female guests that were their. They felt their souls being taken by her dazzling eyes as she looked in their direction.

"W-Who is that?"

"I dunno….. Wait! You don't think it's Mistress Lau's protege?!"

""Ehhh!""

"This bombshell couldn't possibly!-….. I mean she was pretty cute but-… how!"

Some had regained consciousness of their surrounding and question each other to who this mysterious beauty was.

But Ajay knew, yet even he had trouble believing it was the same person. Mumu had really out done himself. He turned an uncut stone into a diamond masterpiece.

But now the question rolled in everybodies heads.

Who would be the dance partner to this Cinderella of Kyrat?

* * *

Taking point in the small group of thirty over people, twenty plus represented the former kidnapped citizens was Hurk with rifle at the ready.

So far they had nearly reached the former Rochan Brick Factory being used as an outpost by Golden Path and then Mukti Tigers, however it was now abandoned and left in neglect according to Army intelligence Hurk had acquired before leaving the North.

"How much time do we have at hand to reach this factory?"

"Give or take twenty minutes. Assuming Sabal was back in the City of Pain the time taken to muster a search or hunter killer team would take five, and fifteen to begun search in this area."

"Then we don't have time to lose."

"Indeed we don't, the Golden Path patrols know this place like the back of their hand. The most likely outpost that'll respond would be at Chal Jama Monastery just East of here, five miles off."

"That close?!" Daisy felt the urgency they had to get to the cover of the factory as soon as possible.

Their original plan to head to King's Bridge fortifications had been suspended in favor for the trip to the Mukti Tigers' domain, dominated by Baghadur stronghold. The reason was because of the refugees that were with them. Their ages ranged from as old as sixty all the way to ten years old which was affecting their overall speed tremendously.

Liza helped out the only old folk couple with them, they still didn't believe that the City would bother to hold old people prisoner, quite shameless they were. The old couple appreciated her offer to help them as she held their hand as they went through the uneven ground. Oliver had better luck with the five children who were likely caught to sell on the black market to high paying individuals that desired young children as sick as it sounded. He had a fun and easy personality after all, it helped take the edge of the childrens' minds.

Hurk had taught Riley and Steven how to operate the M16 rifles in their possession. How to load, unload, charge, clear stoppage, push jam bolt forward with assist. But most importantly how to aim through the sight and where the target needed to be to land a hit. It was difficult to see through it due to the night but on the bright side the same dilemma would befall the patrol teams who would likely spray and prey.

As they continued with the quickest possible speed, a structure lay ahead of them.

It was the disused Rochan Company Brick Factory, identifiable by the smoke tower superstructures for their factories kilns.

"Steve, kid-brother do a slow but thorough perimeter sweep and report the characteristic of the surroundings."

"Yeah!" Riley responded eager.

"No prob, which part do I take?" Steve was no exception.

"You check the Left, I saw a road entrance that side so please be careful of patrols on the main road." Steven nodded and left with his rifle in hand.

"Then this means I'm taking right then."

"Be careful Riley, if anything were to happen to you-." Daisy expressed her concern.

"I'll be fine, mom. Stop being such a worry wart!" Riley chuckled as he jogged off before Daisy had time to retort.

"Tsk! That kid! I wasted my time worrying for him."

"Like it or not, he's the most important person to Jas'." Hurk spoke.

"I know, Hurk. It doesn't change my concern for him, Riley might be twenty-three but he still depends and looks up to his brothers-…. brother." Daisy corrected herself and involuntarily stepped on her own painful memory.

"Badalas once told me something about losing someone important, what they say about getting over their death is the best option for us is a lie."

".….. Why?"

"He said, "Getting over it doesn't free you, it seals your heart from the truth. Don't ever do that or you'll find yourself disregarding other things that you hold dear. You'll become a colder person shut from what's still present. You have the right to grieve them your entire lifetime, you deserve it." As least that's what h-. Uh! Miss Lee?!" Upon finishing his quote, Hurk turned back to find Daisy in tears, her hands covered her face to hide the embarrassing face which was her misery pouring out.

"I'm-…I'm fine, Hurk….. just leave me alone for awhile…. please?"

".…Ok." Hurk left her to sort out her feelings. The former prisoners settled themselves on the flat roof of the Brick Factory which was accessible via a flight of stairs. The rest were resting there too. Hurk was physically tired from all the running around in the night and wanted to close his eyes for even a few minutes. Steve and Riley were on look out for him and would report back if needed. Unfortunately, their radio couldn't reach the Mukti Tigers from where they were and they didn't have the correct frequencies or codes to exchange communication. Even if Hurk had them for the Royal Army the outpost was too far away, with the nearest outpost being Meh Teh Airport.

Hurk rested against the kiln and closed his eyes after locking his rifle between his arms in case someone snitched off with it. He nearly entered a dream like state where he thought about the collection of his past. His life in Dallas, the ups and downs of his family and growing up life. His journey through the hotspots of the world seeking himself, Bowa-Seko, Amanaki Village, The Town of the Valley. His latest residence was the closest thing to home he ever had, the people that inhabited it were the closest he would ever have to a family.

Badala had done for him what none had ever done, which was believe in him.

He hoped that his trip to Pacchim Valley was not in vain, Jason's friends was the key to protecting his 'family'.

"Why aren't you ditching the old goats?!" Hurk was rudely interrupted by a shout that had a local accent. He opened his eyes to assess his surroundings. Badala's training had truly made him into a soldier with machine-like efficiency, it sometimes scared him.

"That's not for you to decide." Riley stood up for the old couple that stood behind him where the adult crowd of escapees surrounded him.

"Stay out of this brat! This is the business of adults." One pushed him aside.

"Then let's talk like adults then." Hurk stood up and walked towards the group.

"You-… We're grateful for you saving us, but as it stands we might not stand a chance if we are delayed further by hindr-."

"I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that. Because if I last remembered you were the hindrance I decided to take along with me as I was evacuating my own friends." Hurk really didn't want to use that but he also didn't have the strength to retaliate back in a heated argument.

The group shrunk back at his remark, due to its potency in truth.

"You're not gonna tell me to ditch the kids too are you?" He pointed to the children gathered around Oliver while staring at them with inquisition in his eyes.

"Certainly not! They have more reason to get out of this than us!" They tried to confirm with Hurk. Daisy sat back and watched as Hurk seem to manage better than her intervening.

"Look folks, whether we all can or can't make it to Tiger territory makes no difference. Paul and the Golden Path are still gonna chase us. Furthermore, the tigers aren't running on unlimited resources and Amita's a practical woman. She may just decide not to shelter us all. But-….. if we come as a group, she might consider it based on old chivalry. She ain't a heartless woman to deny children or elderly. So your chances of being given entry might increase with them around." Hurk said with a lighthearted smile.

The expressions of the accompanying escapees changed to something like they had just it a revelation. And went over to apologize to the old couple profusely for harboring thoughts of abandoning them. Being old, there was a certain quality of graciousness that this old couple held and were willing to forgive them for it.

Daisy went over to pat Hurk on that back.

"That was a strange surprise, Hurk. Without antagonizing the other party you actually came to a negotiation. Remind me to keep you close by in case I have a fight with my Parents." She joked.

"Why would I be there with your parents?" Hurk asked troubled. Daisy chuckled as he took her words too seriously.

"Although it was quite a surprise. I didn't think you were the negotiator type of person."

"Neither did I, I guess I learn from the best." Hurk said scratching his head awkwardly.

"Young man, thank you for helping us back there and we would also like to express our gratitude for saving us from the City of Pain. For weeks, we'd thought the worst would happen to us."

"No. It was just the right thing to do at the time, no need to thank me." Hurk waved his hands in front of him.

"It's alright, please let us know if you require anything in future. My old-self, Miren will make sure our charming daughter will help us to help you." The old man winked and earned a poke from the old woman.

"Dear! Again with that. What ever happened to her own wishes?"

"Aryaa, my love. What about her future alone? When the war ends where would she find the one to love her?"

Hurk cast a look to Daisy for advise on how to handle the situation. But the latter walked away leaving him alone.

Hurk sighed at Daisy's betrayal in his time of need, not even Badala was this mean to him.

"Nice to meet you both, the names Hurk!" Hurk decided to start with an introduction of himself as they were unaware of his name and he of theirs.

"Nice to meet you Hurk young man."

"Um-… I'm actually forty-two."

"Really?! But you look-."

"Yeah I get that alot." He still had features that were comparable to a man-child, though it never bothered him. The old couple chuckled at his acceptance to his physical appearance.

"You will still be seen as young in our eyes, Hurk. And this gratitude for rescuing us we will some day repay."

"Take your time, I'm not going anywhere."

"Right, as I was saying…. This is my beloved wife, Aryaa and I'm Miren. If we were to include our daughter whom happens to be in the Mukti Tigers the last we heard from her. Our family would have composed of three, welcoming the addition of a fourth!" Miren was cheeky for an old man, trying to offer up his daughter again.

"Your daughter's in the Tigers? That's great! It shouldn't be hard for you to find a place after this, I think she'd be worried sick from not hearing from you two." Hurk expressed his concern.

"We know, we've been feeling the same way since they incarcerated us a few weeks ago because our daughter was going against the Golden Path. Sabal had personally sent me to round us up, in the hopes to dissuade our daughter from continuing her campaign against Golden Path."

Hurk shook his head. Sabal was ever about doing shameless things, he was doing the exact thing that De Pleur and the Royal Army once did. He was now the coward in Hurk's impression of him.

"That must be terrible for her to worry about you all this time."

"Well, no more. You are going to get us out are you not, Hurk?"

"Of course I will. Although, from the sound of things regarding your daughter, she seems to have a pretty high profile for Sabal to take you two hostage for that. Just who is she within the Tigers?"

The old couple smiled with pride.

"We don't want to brag but the things she has done has truly made us proud as parents. Her name is Kamala."

When the name left Miren's mouth, a lightning bolt struck Hurk's mind. His mouth hung from his jaw, his extremities were all filled with cold sweat. He knew he didn't mishear that name even if he wished he did.

"Um… Miren, I didn't ask for your surname. Is it by any chance Malla?"

"Well this is a surprise, I didn't think anyone would remember her surname. It is in fact Malla. I would be Miren Malla and my wife would be Ar-….. Hurk, are you alright?!" Hurk collapsed to one knee which worried not just the old couple but Jason's friends as well.

Hurk had lost all the strength in his legs, his stomach feeling sick and had the intense desire to puke. All because of the irony of the situation he had been led into. This old couple he saved weren't any old folks captured for torture. They had purpose to their kidnap. It was clear they weren't given any update to the events that passed for the last few weeks.

That their daughter, Kamala Malla had been slain. And the reason of their imprisonment….

They were Kamala's parents!

* * *

Author's Thoughts:

(Interviewer) "So Mr Havok I've noticed some similarities between your fictionalised version of Hurk and an anime character from HOTD, Kouta Hirano-."

(Havok) "NONSENSE!"

(Interviewer)"Uuuuh-."

(Havok) "Then let me explain how they are different. Hurk is plump, Kouta is fat.-."

(Interviewer)"..."

(Havok) "Hurk required degree spectacles only later, Kouta was born with them. Hurk carries an M110 sniper rifle, Kouta carries an AR-10 made to look like and SR-25."

(Interviewer)"But aren't they almost the sa-."

(Havok) "Its not the same! NOT SAME you hear me?!" (Continues to bicker unreasonably)

(Interviewer) - They're the same fucking thing with minor aesthetic differences.-

(Havok stubbornly refuses to acknowledge he took inspiration from other anime, movies, novels and themes)


	45. Chapter 43 - King, Queen and two Bishops

Author's Notes:

Returning to studies next year, can't wait. Time to shake the campus!

Seems there has been a few milestones so far in fanfic writting for me too. I've hit the 300,000 word count, i can safely say i'm the longest read for all farcry fanfics on this site, yipee! My views are at 20,800 since July with a constant vistor count of 1000 at least every month. this might not seem like alot but it is for the an actual success for me since the poor writting from my previous works.

To the newest follows and favorites, i hope you've enjoyed the story so far. And for my dearest readers from the beginning, thank you for your continued support and healthy criticism.

* * *

As dazzling as Maya presently was to the crowd, the dance was about to begin. Naturally, Pagan's partner was Yuma. Or rather, it had to be her cause she was pinching him from the side to take the lead. Then, eager young men instinctively turned to her as their first choice. It caused problems with those that already had partners and how disappointed they were of their male counterparts.

Maya started to pace down from the place she had stood from by the staircase.

"She's walking this way!"

"Ah!- Is my hair done up right?"

"By the gods, she's looking in our direction!"

They whispered softly to their group.

Ajay hadn't taken his eyes off her ever since she appeared. Mumu and his associates' work had thrown his expectation through the roof into a realm which he was unfamiliar with. He made a quick glance to Noore and Bhadra, remembering he initially wanted to see their faces, their expressions were still of disbelief. They hadn't fully recovered yet, Ajay was lucky enough to catch a glimpse and chuckled to himself.

"Making a lady come to you, don't you have the nerve to go back on your words." He turned his head to find the 'centre of attention' had just walked right up to him without him knowing. There was much sighing of disappointment and murmurs amongst the crowd as to the woman's choice of Ajay.

"I said I'd give you an opportunity to something new." Ajay said smiling.

"Then don't back out." Maya reached out her hand for him to take. What she probably meant was that if you were going to put her up to this you'd better be fully involved, that meant being her dance partner.

"Then would milady honor me with this dance?" He reached out his hand to hold hers up. Maya nodded smiling and placed her hand wrapped in silk on his.

Walking together to the centre of the ballroom where the dance was to take place. A small orchestra began playing their instruments at the corner, Ajay recognized some of them as the band he practiced with for Pagan's gig in his territorial festival. They bowed their heads when they noticed his gaze towards them and he returned it back to them with a nod.

The dance partners all exchanged a bow and curtsy depending on their gender and held one another's hands. Though Ajay had only learnt how to dance once when his ex took him to a club he was forced to learn the hard way but learn It he eventually did. He was glad he worked on it before coming here so as not to embarrass himself.

"This is surprising, where did you learn to dance?"

"I wasn't just a street thug my entire life, you now."

"I'm sorry, that was insensitive of me at an occasion like this." She said downcast.

"Don't worry, although I have to say you really are full of surprises, aren't you? You really look-…. just….."

"W-What?…" She stared into his irises as they turned about.

"I don't think there's a word to describe how beautiful you look tonight." Ajay had just let his thoughts slip unwittingly. When Maya heard this, her face burned red with embarrassment.

".…Idiot."

"Never imagined the day, the pretty tomboyish looking Maya would wear a dress yet make everyone look so shabby in their own. Perhaps you were born to don a dress for life."

"Dream on. My place is with Mistress Lau and on the battlefield on her behalf."

"I know."

"You're not looking bad yourself either." She complimented him on his style of attire which was elegant yet not showy.

"The credit goes to Chiffon for loaning me this, if not I would have been running around looking for places that made a custom black suit that obviously didn't exist in a place like this." Maya chuckled at the thought of him anxiously scurrying around searching.

"Does the thought entertain you?"

"Not as much as seeing Noore and Bhadra's gaping mouths." Ajay almost couldn't control his laugh that maintained itself as a snicker.

"So you did see them then…." Maya nodded.

He was rarely this close to Maya, now that he had the chance to look at her he was becoming conscious of her gentle eyes and soft lips.

-Note to self: Inherently weak to charming women.-

Maya felt his eyes on her causing her to blush with self-consciousness. Their relationship had been the same since they met months ago with barely any change. Friends who had a deep understanding of one another, they were too comfortable with each other.

The mood of the song was now that of a slow dance, Ajay and May reduced their paces to match the beat. The lighting had also changed to a colored one with the dominant colour being red. The light dimmed around the ballroom save for the dance floor.

From far he could see Pagan dancing rather intimately with Yuma, how much progress did he make with her behind his back he didn't know. He only knew that certain factors contributed to breaking the ice between them as well as recreate their bond. But was certainly unaware of one beyond siblings while Maya thought otherwise to a relationship of equal status. Seemed Maya was right.

"So much has happened over the months since that day you brought my brother back."

".…" Ajay could feel it too. He had spent nearly if not longer than he did in the original timeline in Kyrat. A total of five months, he only realized the significance when the new year was dawning tonight. The transition from 2014 to 2015 new year.

"I could still remember the hate I had for you, I know it was unjust given your own circumstances. Yet I just stood by and let them happen."

"Between a stranger and a maternal figure that nurtured you for decades who would you have trusted?"

".…" Maya understood his direction and pursued the subject no further.

"It must be a pain to deal with me all the time." She said, but Ajay gave a simple answer of…

"No."

"Don't deny it so quickly." She smiled sadly. "… It was to hide my embarrassment."

"Huh?"

"You weren't around to know, but I've never had friends. Not since Mistress Yuma took me in. It was always 'greetings lady Maya' or 'better stay away from her she's Yuma's kid'. Being the Duchesses protégé I had expectations rested on me, I had no time to be myself yet no one to accompany me or advise me. Working for the sake of my brother's future was an excuse I conveniently used for as long as I can remember….. You are probably the first person that didn't treat me like a child of the duchess."

Ajay thought into it without answering back. The music stopped and a round of applause came from the audience and dancers. Ajay and Maya joined in the applause. The sound of a microphone turned on and all heads turned to the spotlight shining on Pagan.

"..Is-… Is this on? Yup, it is? K!… Hello again everyone, I don't mean to interrupt you on any deep mood you were indulging in with the sensational band we have in our company today, thank you Simon!" Pagan complimented the head band leader.

"I have a rather important announcement to give to all of you tonight, I don't really want to say it again on live tele either so I hope you'd pass the word along." Yuma stood beside him as he was about to make his declaration. Ajay had a funny feeling about all of this, Maya's reaction was a gladden smile.

"Here it goes….." He mentally prepared himself.

"I've never seen him this nervous since the festival."

"Just watch." Maya affirmed him.

"You've all been familiar with my dear adoptive sister's methods, Yuma has always been at the forefront of Kyrat's needs. Whether through her own volition or for my sake. For years, I was left hanging, heartbroken even because the woman I loved left. You can imagine how it would be to lose a child and live in solitude for twenty long years. But I wasn't alone, Yuma has been with me through thick and thin since our younger days. All this time she'd kept the Golden Path at bay while all I did was wallop within the palace….. And occasionally come out for hunting- but I know I'm not a very good king. Don't worry! I've already planned my replacement soon and I personally guarantee he won't disappoint…."

Pagan's words left the crowd in disbelief. He spoke of intentions to abdicate sometime later and had a successor planned. Some turned to Yuma others to the rising star Badala, his two most loyal subordinates. Both with the most powerful influence besides Pagan himself.

".….." Ajay knew that it was neither. Ajay Ghale, Badala, Soren were all just masks to him. He was all and none at the same time. It didn't change the fact that his next acting mask would be that of the King of Kyrat.

Because, Badala was a figment of peoples' imagination, albeit a bogeyman to scare the overly superstitious Golden Path as he originally intended. Soren was an alias behind enemy lines. And Ajay Ghale… was a fool that died in another world. What he truly was, was the culmination of their hopes and dreams. The hopes to restore Kyrat to its rightful order where Pagan and Mohan had escalated it into an unsettling torrent. Dreams that the people who he couldn't save before wouldn't have their fate ending in the direction he could see. But most of all, the destruction of his real father's world, Mohan's Golden Path.

"In recent days, I've had the chance to discuss our relation which had been estranged for nearly twenty-five years. I've reflected, apologized, looked to be a better human being, a better family member. There are two important people in my life right now, one is Yuma, the other is my adoptive son Badala. Both could accept me for who I was and what I became. I've never felt more content or alive before with them by my side, this sincerity is something I'll never fully repay them even in the next life."

Ajay was pleased that Pagan could admit to his mistakes and look to improving himself and his conduct, it was the path to redemption and peace which he sought.

"I've already taken steps to show my gratitude, Badala has already been on my records to help in all he does for his companions and Kyrat but my dear sister has yet to receive it. That will all change today!" He declared to the crowd as he walked towards Yuma. And knelt.

From below, Ajay saw this action and felt it was frighteningly nostalgic.

-O-.….Oh my god… He's not doing what I think he is-…-

"My dear Yuma, will you allow me to fulfil a wish that should have taken place years ago?" He raised a silver ring dominated by an emerald gem. There were a few within the crowd, some of the aged nobles and craftsmen who knew the purpose of the ring Pagan held and what it signified. An ancient tradition passed down since the conception of the Kyrati Kingdom and still practiced till the last days of the Devi dynasty. They thought that the ring was lost with the end of the Devi Dynasty reign. It was thought to have ended in Min's reign but today the ring was present to show it was not true.

The ring belonged onto the finger of the one who would become the Queen of Kyrat.

Ajay almost flipped on his back, but Maya anticipated his reaction and prepared to catch him beforehand.

Yuma looked down at Pagan with a gentle look that Ajay thought wasn't possible with her. She held out her hand and let the ring slot into her ring finger.

"Nei zammo zemo gau….so gwaa…." (What took you so long….. old fool…)

* * *

Upon recovery, it became apparent to Hurk that the old Malla couple were now his highest priority. He'd failed to protect a friend, now those that kept her memory dear to them were depending on him.

-Bads needs to know, but how can I get to the Royal Army to make a long-range comms when I have Jason's friends and these civvies to watch over?-

Hurk knew Golden Path would been imminent, at the speed they were going they'd most likely be upon them in a matter of minutes.

"Miss Lee."

"Um- Yes, Hurk?"

"You have to topographic map of where Baghadur is don't you?"

"Y-Yeah!"

"Take everyone with you including the old couple, and request to send a message via the Tigers to the Royal Army for Badala." Hurk said while checking his magazines.

"What do I send?"

"Just the name 'Malla'. You don't have the clearance codes to make a secure comms directly to him, but…. he'll know what it's talking about."

"Then what about you?!" Daisy had a bad feeling about the way he spoke.

Hurk unslung the anti-personnel mines from his backpack and placed them in front of him to prime.

"Sabal is coming, at this rate they'll catch up to us in no time. This brick factory is a bottleneck to the Tigers territory, I'll hold them off if possible here."

"You can't be serious, Hurk?!" Riley objected but Hurk ignored and continued.

"Assuming the formation of the Golden Path hasn't changed since i last left, it'll be around five hundred on patrol vehicles. You really can't be here for that!"

"Hurk..."

"The important thing is that you guys are safe, they want to keep Jas from knowing you were in their possession all along. Only you can break this fabrication, Miss Lee, Kid Brother!" Hurk's assessment made sense as much as they were reluctant to leave him behind.

"Come on! Let's leave then!" Liza said urgently.

"Shut up, Liza!" Daisy just had enough of her whining.

"Boss, we need to leave. If we stay we're only dragging Hurk down, we can only trust him that he'd hold long enough for the Rebel Tigers to help him." Steven was cool headed to rationalize it for them than shout like Liza.

Daisy calmed down and understood that she wasn't wrong in asking them to leave immediately.

"Right, I'm sorry I shouted. It's-... never mind, you're right, let's go!"

"Good, hand me the remaining rifles and magazines." Hurk told them.

"But you already have a rifle and didn't you say the bullets were incompatible?" Riley stated.

"I did but there's a little more I can do with them than just me shooting them." Riley didn't argue and passed the duffel of M16 rifles and ammo to Hurk.

Jason's friends helped the escapees to their feet and moved quickly in the direction of Baghadur stronghold.

"Hurk, godspeed." Daisy said before she left with the rest.

"Godspeed, huh? Hmph! It'll take more than a battalion of half-assed Golden Path to stop The Hurk! Head to the Shanath Training Ground outpost. That's where the Tigers' quick reaction unit is stationed." Daisy nodded and led the way for the rest towards that direction.

Hurk turned to the direction of the headlights in the distance. As he had foreseen, the Golden Path were imminent. He hurried along to do whatever preparation he could with the resources available to him.

Ricardo's ambush training kicked in and he was out and about placing tripmines behind the bushes near the roads and behind the low walls where there were intruders into his killzone would likely come over. In addition, he placed the C4 right at the base of the Kilns tall chimney, in hopes that it would collapse in the direction of the attackers. Hurk positioned himself behind sandbags that were pre-laid from even before he and the rest had come to the brick factory.

From the intel he sourced from G2, the Golden Path had been pushed back to their native areas after Amita launched an attack on the Rochan Brick factory and levelled it so that it would not be used as a staging point for attacks on their territory or the Royal Army's. Royal Army QRF responded to an alarm within ten minutes, he wasn't sure about their Tiger counterparts though.

He hoped that help would arrive in time to save him.

* * *

The contingent that was dispatched by Sabal immediately rushed by armed technicals and truck loads of soldiers to the Rochan Brick Factory where they were expecting the escapees to be resting. De Pleur was with them along with a small platoon of soldiers.

Paul wished he had the full strength of his elite squad with him right now, they wouldn't have let him down in this fight. Unfortunately, he sent them to their unfortunate demise in the arena. Feeding them to the demon instead of killing it, Paul still had nightmares about Badala coming to his doorstep to drag him out or worse. He made sure his compound where Ashley remained oblivious to the surroundings was guarded at all times, the Marine sergeant Fredrick Grille was there too.

Perhaps if he successfully captured his associate once more Badala might think twice about attacking him. He wasn't sure about the relation between the prisoner Hurk and the Northern Demon but he had a hunch he was a valuable comrade, he bet on it.

Paul was in the lead vehicle at the time. Sabal was not even with them. It was no secret to him or his men that Sabal had fallen out of favor with the Golden Path as a whole. The council of elders and cadre of senior field commanders were no longer willing to spare him officers in their formation. So he had to make do with "havildars" which were the equivalent of Royal Army Non-commission officers, mainly sergeants. If not for Mohan's mysterious arrival he would have been delivered to Pagan's doorstep all wrapped up and perhaps in several boxes. Willis wasn't saying much about Mohan, although he too was under the impression his old associate had genuinely died long ago. Agent Huntley was more focused on coordinating with the China man on the shipment source of arms. Their latest source was said to be the Pakistan Ordnance Factory, courtesy of the joint officials in Pakistan and the US on site. An entire state factory was supplying them with arms and munitions. Mostly consisting of license production Heckler und Koch small-arms weapons. WIllis was really extorting his former colleague Lynch with the same name as him. According to some reliable sources, Lynch was an even bigger asshole than Willis and was responsible for landing him in his shitty job for over twenty years without moving up the ranks.

It was clear that Lynch had ended Huntley's career for the sake of his own but had not expected Willis would take a detour to scavenge dirty files on their history that Lynch thought he burnt.

The last he heard from Willis, Lynch was coming over with contract PMCs that he had close ties with. CNS was a major conglomerate in pharmaceuticals and nano technology but he had never heard of it having private military contractors. Perhaps it was a subsidiary business they were recently expanding into. Either way, they were most certainly bringing high tech weapons with them, some that often went against Geneva but then, their ops was completely deniable.

(Screech) The tyres of his SUV tore against the road as the rest of the convoy got out of their vehicles.

Assembling in front of him were his renegades, vicious and unmerciful in their character. There were more like cutthroats than soldiers but had the training of one. Initially part of a death squad arrangement in the Royal Army for whatever major offense they committed on duty, they were sentenced to die on the battlefield. Paul naturally took them under his wing due to their excellent sadistic natural which was ideal for his lined of work.

He walked towards the battalion havildar who organized her men.

"So how should we play this chief?" He asked the woman in a flamboyant manner.

"The Commander tells me that you are here merely as a spectator. Under normal circumstances, I would have preferred to work alone, but we're dealing with someone who's familiar with the in's and out's of our organizations formations and tactics." Her response was a surprise to Paul, he was under the impression Golden Path was still cautious of him. But he sort of guessed the reason for their change in attitude as of late.

"The feelings mutual, although not having fryface is kinda refreshing don't you agree?" The Battalion Havildar chuckled.

"Indeed. I'm still having trouble accepting how that fool came into power all those years ago. Either way, his days of influence are over. He's still a liability that cannot leave, whatever Mohan thought about when he appeared to save his life….."

It wasn't that De Pleur had gotten chummy with Golden Path over the months he had been with them. A couple of factors contributed, Sabal's decline was a major factor to play in it. But there was also another reason, when De Pleur was first recruited by Willis no Golden Path soldier set foot in the City of Pain. The City of Pain had always remained ambiguous to the peering eyes of the public. Sabal and Willis had made sure it stayed that way. So Paul had appeared merely as the Chief Interrogator of the Royal Army, his reputation was only affected by the conduct of the renegades under his command.

Facing the options of cooperating with De Pleur as to Sabal, the Battalion Havildar gladly chose the latter. There had been talks of killing Sabal but no one had done so for fear they'd disrespect Mohan's resolve which they didn't fully understand. There was plenty they didn't know about the Great Leader that went missing for twenty-five years. Although they willingly followed him knowing what his leadership implied for the continued survival of the Golden Path. Ney, he would bring them victory! They were so sure of it. Mohan's footstep on Kyrat had been so great in the past they stood at the steps of the Royal Palace once before. But that was a long time ago, the Golden Path fighters yearned to see those days return once more.

The Old Guard, who's will and pride was torn apart by Badala immediately re-pledged their allegiance to him and followed his word to the letter. The younger members who had only heard stories of the living legend pushed and shoved to catch just a glimpse of him. Right now, Mohan had snuck into the North with Brody to help him rescue part of his eight Devas Command force. The legendary group which was an expression of Golden Paths former might, were mysteriously captured when they made an expedition to storm the Royal Fortress. No news had been passed on how they lost and became prisoners in the Rajgah Gulag.

"Let my guys take the lead, they're dying to gut that fatty who made a fool of them." Paul expressed his mens' disgruntled behavior to the escape of Brody's friends due to stupid baby-faced man.

"I appreciate your eagerness, we'll do as you suggest. My men will provide support." The Havildar pointed to the mortars teams that were unloading the 81mm mortars and relative ammunition from the trucks.

Paul nodded and motioned to his Renegade Captains to come over. Five of them assembled.

"Contrary to fryfaces demands we'll be taking point in this one." His Captains all expressed satisfaction when they heard him.

"Yes… Finally, we get to gut that piggy!"

"My brother was in that fire, I'll make sure we capture him alive…."

"Or it wouldn't be fun right?"

They laughed together.

"Right boys, I'll leave it to you then."

"You can count on us, boss!"

"He's just one guy and five girlies, what could they possibly do?" One joked.

Paul remained silent, their performance would show once they attempted to capture him successfully or not.

"You'll have mortar support and a few Golden Path homies with you." Paul told them to which they acknowledged and went to their respective groups.

They had the superior numbers, the overwhelming firepower and better trained men.

What could possibly go wrong?

* * *

The combine forces of Paul's Renegades and Golden Path fighters converged up over the ridge into the grounds of the Rochan Brick Factory, through the maze first.

At present, they numbered around two-fifty. A company of Renegades and a several groups of fighters accompanying them. The renegades adopted the Royal Army search formations they were trained in, far apart from one another so as not to trigger a trap and kill the number closest to them, yet not too far they would get picked off one after another.

"Golden Path, illumination rounds on the brick factory. Now." The Captain spoke up on the radio.

*We hear you, they're on the way. Watch your eyes, boys. It's gonna get bright.*

The whistling sound of the mortar rounds could be heard as the illumination rounds were sent to their location to light the brick factory kiln to find them. The Renegades were not at all nervous when the rounds came whereas the Golden Path were too used to being barraged in the past.

They scanned the surrounding but had yet to find anyone.

"Where could they be?"

"You don't think they actually went to the Airport non-stop do you?"

"Not possible, the fatty liberated some of our fresh meat including those old folks. There's no way they could have gone there that quick."

"So they're hiding then."

"Just keep your eyes peele- (BOOM)"

The ground to their left uprooted and several fighters were blown into red mist by a hidden tripmine.

"Fuck! He lay landmines!"

"Shit Shit Shit!"

The Golden Path were the only ones nervous to the hidden trap.

"Don't break up! You'll fall into the trap!" The Renegade captain shouted to the Golden Path fighters, who were acting more like a nuisance than help. But his words fell to deaf ears as they ran back.

"Tsk! Havildar! Mortar barrage 20 metres North from previously established location." The Captain radioed in.

The bombs came falling onto the ruins of the brick factory.

Hurk cuddled up beneath the brick roof of the derelict factory as the bombs fell, the earth around him shook violently and he felt his head ringing from the sound and tremors.

Then the whistling sound stopped and the fighters and soldiers proceeded forward with caution. While they couldn't see him through the dark with only their flashlights, the same could not be said for Hurk. Equipped with his own nightvision goggles and the thermal optic provided by his M110 rifle, the dark was as clear to him as day.

When they reached his predesignated markers, he tugged onto the cords where he placed his pull actuated traps. Immediately, automatic rifle fire sprayed onto the aggressors from where they were. As they hit the deck immediately after it happened, a dozen men had fallen already.

They fired back at the windows whence the shooting came from, their shoots peppered the bricks and windows sending shrapnel of brick, glass and lead flying everywhere.

"Ceasefire! Ceasefire!" The captain ordered and they advanced once more. They reached the place where the firers had gotten lucky at killing a few of theirs but fell into disbelief as what they thought would be shivering brats was instead just rifles being tied to planks of wood in a certain angle with strings attached to their triggers.

(BOBOBOOM)

The investigators were annihilated by the hidden grenades under the wooden constructions set by Hurk. Eight more died including their Captain. This time the soldiers were in disarray due to losing their forward commander.

Hurk cradled his rifle from within the chimney where he was hiding and opened on the fighters and soldiers down below.

"Let's get out of here!"

"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!"

"I told you this was a trap!"

The remaining hundred ran back behind the ridge for cover, Hurk picked them off one by one as they turned their exposed back to him. He gunned them down mercilessly. Every pull of the trigger severed a person's life.

During this time, his thoughts started to reminisce what Ajay had told him weeks ago. -Imagine yourself floating in a vast ocean of water…. the deeper you go the colder it is-

Hurk now understood the meaning behind the phrase, it was to quote his expression of losing morality the further he bloodied his hands. Now as Hurk slaughtered the Golden Path and Soldiers he could feel that emotion, that was not an emotion….

But nothing.

* * *

The winds helped clear Ajay's head from the overload of information that suddenly flooded it. Seated next to him in the balcony overlooking the waterfall and the garden where the rest of the crowd where was Maya. Wearing a face of delight and partly of smirk.

Because Ajay still could not process what had occurred back there in the ballroom.

"Just accept it." She said laughing.

"Impossible…. there's just no way."

"Then what did your promise to see they'd get back together mean?" She pouted.

"As in brother and sister. That was their original status quo!"

".….."

"Just what in the world happened between them while we were away?" Maya chuckled as Ajay showed as side of him rarely seen, on which was unused to surprises.

"It's been happening for a while…. well not that long actually." Ajay turned back to Maya, she knew the events that were occurring behind him on their affairs.

"It was all because of you."

-WHAT?!-

"M-Me?…."

-The hell did I do?!- Maya nodded.

"Remember when you went up into the mountains to look for that antidote? She doesn't want to admit it but that was the point of time she forgave you."

"I didn't see it that way, you caught the neurotoxin because I took you to that place in the first place." Maya shook her head.

"It wasn't what you did before, it's what you did immediately after upon learning that." She placed her hands upon his and looked into his eyes.

"Saras told me what happened." When she said that, Ajay froze. He knew that she'd tell her but the question was how much?

"I see…" Was all he could reply.

"She didn't tell me the entire account of your journey, only that it was so treacherous that her heart nearly fell on nearly every occasion. Not often you see someone like her show an expression of concern like she did back then."

-So she didn't tell.- Ajay sighed in relief, the topic on Yetis was a complicated on. There were no scientific documentations on Yetis, if they were any attempts it would have failed because of the presence of the elixir dotted throughout the mountain tops. Ironically, it was the source of his demonic strength. Or rather, it was the same one that came from the original timeline of his when he destroyed the relic. He was pretty sure he had not been suffering from the effects of the gas because it was already within his system lying dormant. The question of his head was how did it come over with him to this timeline?

It couldn't be that it wasn't his memories that were brought over but also his body. It didn't seem so, as there was the absence of the scars on his body he earned previously. His soul? The concept of a soul was complicated or lacked explanation. Either way, it had overwritten itself into him as he came over.

He was not a man of science nor a theorist so he couldn't research that meticulously into the topic and hope for answers. Noore was slowly uncovering the secrets to it on his behalf, she was convinced that if it were scientifically evaluated then this ability was written all the way down to his DNA and was hence difficult to detect with equipment at hand. She needed industrial grade apparatus to conduct further tests, unfortunately he did not have the resources to entertain Noore's experiment as much as he wanted her to look into it.

Maya patted him down from his back which made Ajay curious as to what she was doing.

"Where did you get those scars Saras saw on you when you left? Isn't that proof you did something no one asked of you yet you risked everything to personally endanger yourself to get it? When the house had just been attacked, when the employees at the arsenal were eager to hear from you about the loss of the Arsenal… Your priority still was me." Ajay wanted to say it was because he was the only one capable of getting it while avoiding the Relic but then it was exposing something too difficult to comprehend to her. You had to see it to believe it.

"…."

"And after all this time, I didn't say the one thing I should have said to you for saving my life….. thank you, Ajay."

"…. No worries." He said but his thoughts were elsewhere.

"No! Thank you, Ajay. For everything!" She begun to lean quite close to him until she became conscious of their distance and backed away quickly.

"Just now you said I was the cause of this change, I still don't see how rescuing you from something I caused cause a turning point."

"Well, it was your actions that were the catalyst. The sequences that followed after culminated and broke the long standing ice between them. Bhadra came between them."

"Bhadra?"

"Yes, Bhadra. She really is a magical existence, how she actually brought them together. Now Mistress talks nothing save for her, his royal Highness was the same."

"So, because they shared a common interest-…."

"Yes!" Maya was glad he finally understood. Ajay just found it too far fetch. But then, his coronation to Duke made a little sense with what was occurring. When Yuma became Queen consort, there was a gap in the area of Duchy to fill in the ranks of the Kyrati Kingdom. Pagan put him up for it.

Although, it was clear she would still have power over her assets and the Royal Guard, the six regiments of elite guards just under the title of queen.

"Does that technically make you princess then?" Seeing that Maya was her adoptive daughter, she should also have a change in title.

Maya's eyes widen as she suddenly realized this. Ajay cleared his throat.

"I request a pardon for my transgressions, Princess Maya." He joked.

"That's not funny!"

"Oh? Why is that? It should be good news for you, now no one will dare to ask for your hand after what happened last night, just like you wanted!" Ajay laughed.

"… But-…. That means my choice will no longer be mine…" She said as soft as a whisper. She knew what being a princess entailed from her studies in modern etiquette. Princesses were national assets used to batter peace or alliances between nations through arranged marriages.

"You think Yuma would let you have that kind of life?" Ajay questioned her.

"…N-No!.."

"Precisely, you are more precious to her than anything, I'm willing to wager even Pagan!"

"And what about you…?"

"Mmmm?" Maya looked deep into his eyes to judge his reaction.

"What would you feel if I were to be wedded off to someone else?" Ajay frowned as he heard a rather dubious question being posed by her, one that Saras had always used lightly because of her attitude but when used by Maya it was a whole different affair.

"If it's someone you like, then I've no qualms. You might not know this but you are the closest thing I had to a true friend." Maya suddenly back away from him after hearing that. Somehow deep inside she felt a little hurt, but she didn't know why. Even when his answer was out of consideration.

(BOOM)

A bright explosion brightened the whole of Kyrat in red. The promised fireworks had arrived. Ajay looked at his watch.

"Oh! It's 12 already, happy new year!"

"Uh- Happy new year…"

They watched the fireworks from the balcony at the seats without saying a word to one another to fully appreciate the fireworks.

There was a combination of colors and shapes that occurred in the patterns and formula Longinus and Samar used. Ajay was pretty sure, either way those in the Valley- no. Those in Lakshman would get to enjoy it the best from right at their doors.

"It's finally coming to a close.." Maya turned to Ajay when he said this shady comment.

"The ending that I always sought, perhaps it was better if Ajay Ghale never returned to Kyrat." No one would take up arms hoping a legacy would follow in his father's treacherous footsteps.

"How can you say such a thing?!"

"Why are you getting so wo-?" When he turned to Maya he did not expect that loud and rude tomboy to shed a tear.

"If Ajay never existed, then the Golden Path would have already been ravaging the North, this would not have happened!" She waved her hands to the fireworks and the garden party.

"If Ajay never existed, there would be no Lakshman! The centre of commerce and life. The Army would never have met compromise. Golden Path would never think twice about attacking the Army. Amita would never have formed a breakaway group. Without Ajay….. life in Kyrat is meaningless!"

Seeing her cry stuck a dagger into his heart, he bent over and pulled her in for an embrace. Maya accepted it without problem and hugged him tightly.

"I'm sorry….. I've been saying rather selfish things lately."

"Don't ever sell yourself short, Ajay… You might think you're only capable of destructive tendencies. But all of this was possible because of you. Don't let the only person I'd consider to be my dearest friend become nothing." Hearing that his status as her friend was still the same, Ajay sighed in relief internally.

But he knew in his heart that from the moment that crown touched his head, it was the end of Ajay Ghale as well. They'd only be a king whose sole duty was the welfare and continued prosperity of Kyrat. Only then, could he fulfil the debt he owed Kyrat and its inhabitants and that of his father's transgression in escalating the civil war.

-I'm sorry, Maya.-

"Stop right there!"

Down below he heard a commotion, breaking the embrace he looked down the balcony to find a figure being chased by a pair of Palace Guards.

When they caught her she struggled.

"Hurgh! Let me go! This is important, I need to find Badala!"

"What business could a foreigner like you have with his grace?!" The palace guard snorted as he dragged her away with the help of his partner. The commotion caused a scene where all the guests who were sitting around watching the fireworks looked to this scene take place.

"Stop!" Ajay had come down from the balcony via the stairs to where the two were suppressing one of his subordinates. One of the Condotierri, Stella.

The guards immediately stopped what they were doing and released her.

"This must be serious if you busted your way into an invitation-only party from the front entrance." He knew it was, she wouldn't have done something so audacious when her groups orders were to remain in their cabins or the town at least.

She gasped for air indicating she had hurried here in the quickest possible timing.

"Take a few breaths first then say it."

"No! It's too urgent, you need to help him!"

"Him?" Ajay already didn't like the way she posed that answer.

"It's Hurk! He's in trouble!" A tremor rattled in Ajay's mind, he didn't think he would actually go all the way there, not unless he was that gungho or a fool.

-That idiot!-

* * *

Author's notes:

It's time to head to Mohan's end, he should be at rajgad gulag by now with a confused Jason. And what better time to do so when the Northern demon goes to Pacchim valley for Hurk instead.


	46. Chapter 44 - The Ruinous Darshan

Author's Notes:

Rushing tonight, tomorrow's a big day for me. Secret. Forgive me if there's mistakes in this one, I'll come by and correct it later on.

* * *

Arriving at Chiffon's guest room, the gear he had been looking for sat menacingly upright on the stand of the trunk.

In truth, for the equipment in question to be built entirely on a concept, he would have preferred to send it for trials and test runs at the Arsenal Proving grounds. But he had no such time available to him at the moment.

As he undressed and put on the latest iteration of Mumu's "Vengeance Armor" line, the mark two of the series, Captain Layak briefed him on the happenings in Pacchim Valley via the intel from G2 in his encrypted tablet.

"There was reports of a fire that broke out in the City of Pain where De Pleur works and has been-."

"I know." Ajay knew him better than Layak or G2 did for that matter. Layak cleared his throat and continued, Ajay was done with the lower part of the armor. It was considerably easier to don and take off than before, yet supposedly offering a better spectrum of protection and agility benefits that were unafforded to him in the first armor type.

"At first, our spies thought it was a freak accident. Maybe some drunk sod tripped on kerosen or something but from encrypted radio chatter it seemed that there were some escapees from the prisons. It appeared they sabotaged a large majority of infrastructure in the City, power, communications, ammo caches and transportations. It was a deliberate attempt, although the person responsible is left unmentioned."

There was only one person that came to Ajay's mind, and that was Hurk.

So why did he hit the City of Pain, it was quite obvious. Jason's friends were locked up in there.

"Anything else?" Ajay had finished the upper portion of the armor that was worn just as quick as the lower part.

"The Tigers are of low priority just as the Golden Path and Renegades were. They were celebrating New Years day just like us, it was like an unseen truce between us all. Yet there have been reports of a joint task force moving in the direction of Baghadur."

Going for Baghadur stronghold? This seemed quite like what the North Vietnamese and Vietcong did to the Americans during the Vietnam War. On Vietnamese new years day they launched a major counter offensive which liberated a considerable territory from the US forces. Could it be a repeat of that scenario?

"What are the numbers?"

"Under a thousand, no further information is available. Our contact inside had to depart early."

-Heading in the direction of Baghadur, but not sufficient to take it from the Tigers. What if they weren't capturing Baghadur but instead….. recapturing escaped prisoners.-

A mental image of Hurk escaping the prison formed in his head, not many escaped the City and few were even capable of doing so. But Hurk wasn't anybody, he had gotten out of stickier situations even without his newly minted marksman skills or field craft taught by the italian paratrooper-trained condotierri. So the possibility existed.

Ajay reached out for the last hanging item resting on the open trunk stand. This time fashioned from a block of titanium, it was both durable and lighter than ever before. The mask fell on his face like it was reattaching itself to a severed limb. The mask was beginning to form a symbiotic relation to him, he could already feel it happening. He was becoming more detached from the world, killing was now no different from breathing. And that was what disgusted him the most about his emotions and morale compass, what was worse was now he had to contend with the addition of an uncontrollable blood rage symptom that he had no control over whatsoever.

Layak gulped for a second, the mask was the most intimidating thing he'd seen as of late, Samar didn't stop improving the aesthetics of the mask but streamlined it with both purpose of deflection and inducing dread on his enemies.

"Let's go, I need some guns." His usual kit, the slayer elephant gun, autocross and SIG 553 rifle weren't with him so he had to make do with whatever was available here.

"I know where the Palace Guard armory is, follow me." Layak escorted him to the armory, as Ajay walked out of the room downstairs, people cast looks at the sudden appearance of the Northern Demon cladded in full armor. His appearance created a scene as all turned to look at him and moved out of the way where he walked.

"Is that-….Badala?!"

"So that's how he looks like!"

"Damn! I'd shit my pants if I was Golden Path!"

"Is that even the same guy we saw earlier?!"

"Where is Duke Badala going at a time like this?"

His presence caused them to stir into discomfort that something was terribly wrong outside for his attention to be required. Ajay ignored their audible whispers as he walked quickly with Layak to the Mansions Armory. When he entered, the local armorer went to retrieve ammo for him after handing him some of the default weapons available.

"See if you can get Kamran to send me off." Layak nodded and left hurriedly.

Ajay disassembled the 1911 "Shadow" sidearm, M79 grenade launcher and P416 "Bushman" rifle signatures that were handed to him for inspection. While he was clearing the weapons, the tapping of high heels came towards him.

"What's happening over there?" Noore asked anxious.

"Hurk did the unthinkable, he tried to free Brody's friends." Noore could already foresee the risk and danger of doing such a mission solo.

"And you're gonna help them?"

"Just him." Noore sighed.

"Ajay… it wasn't his fault." Ajay's hands stopped fiddling with the rifle on the table.

"….. I know. But my priority is him, not them. Hurk doesn't realize what he's doing doesn't entrail the best result." When Ajay displayed rational thought when saying this, Noore wasn't sure what Ajay meant, if they could rescue Brody's friend wouldn't it be better that Jason no longer was obligated to help Golden Path? Ajay was trusted Noore enough to tell her, she was after all his accomplice.

"Hurk thinks that Jason is fighting us for his friends…"

"Yes?" Noore confirmed it.

"But what he doesn't know is that Jason isn't fighting us because of them."

Noore was surprised by Ajay's analysis on Brody.

"He's fighting us because he wants to."

"W-… What makes you say that?"

"I've only met him twice, each time there was a different behaviour, but his eyes said the same thing. It said…. "I've never want this feeling to end."" Ajay's words casted a grim figure on Noore's assumptions about Brody. There were several other clues, when Captain Goh told him to fuck off he attacked them still. He attacked the Tigers with the Golden Path despite his main objective being the Royal Army and Pagan.

"He's using his friends as an excuse, to self-righteously justify his killings. Deep down he's a bigger monster that takes pleasure in bathing in gore. Taking his friends will only result in Jason really turning on us under the pretext of rescuing his friends. Hurk and them might plea with him but he'll only said… "You've all been brainwashed.". Perhaps even when his friends appear before him, he'd dispose of them for his convenience."

Noore had heard about Jason Brody's exploits from Samson and found it weird that a UCLA grad student would suddenly pick up a gun and know how to shoot and take lives so efficiently. It could only mean he enjoyed what he was doing. There was only one other person that was like that, even then that person was an anomaly.

Ajay discovered the truth about the fragility of Jason's mind. Whether he was conscious on this gradual change in his behaviour or not did little to change the fact. The fact that Jason was losing an internal fight with the Demon of Rook Island he brought home with him.

"What did you come here for actually?" Ajay found no reason for Noore to approach him for what he was doing.

"Maya told me about what happened and likely where to find you. I needed to warn you, Ajay."

"Warn me?" The serious of Noore's expression highlighted that it was no small matter.

"Your condition. Keep check on your emotions, don't ever let it run wild or you'll find yourself lost with no way to get back. From the accounts you shared with me the emotions of blood thirst were only getting stronger every time. Ever since that day at the arena, you couldn't keep tabs on your own actions. Whose to say the next time, you'll have the opportunity to pull out. Be sure to bring back Hurk and that's all. If….. If something does happen-."

"It won't. Thanks for reminding me, Noore. I'll be sure to keep it under control." Noore couldn't help but still be worried for his wellbeing. He was the only person to support her in her new chapter of her life. But-

"….. Alright, I'll take your word for it."

Noore smiled as Ajay accepted her profound advise and helped stockpile the ammo into his pouches for him. Around this time, Layak came back with a poor expression on his face.

"Your grace, I'm afraid I have bad news."

"Go on…"

"Kamran is currently in Pacchim Valley. He was ferrying a group of the Condotierri contractors led by Co-executive Ricardo Allegretto to Baghadur. Communications say they were fully armed."

-So they had the same idea as me.-

Stella was unaware of Ricardo's maverick actions because she had gone in search of Ajay to implore him to find Hurk. Ricardo would have gone without Samson's consent and with the three stooges no doubt, Layak said they were fully armed. It meant someone with the key to the armory allowed them to stock up, was Alberto in on this?

Ajay found it ironic that the Condotierri cared so much for Hurk, perhaps it was part of their camaraderie.

"Looks like I'll just have to head to the motorpools." Ajay picked up the last of his kit and moved with Layak to lead him. With no helicopter to send him there, the only thing he could to was get a fast set of wheels to get across King's Bridge. Layak would have to call it in that he was coming through and didn't want obstruction from the guards.

"Be safe." Noore said as he left.

"I will."

Arriving in the motorpool, there were a variety of cars and other modes of transport all belonging to the guest. The valet took their keys from them and parked away from the front of the mansion. The range was incredible, some went from Rolls-Royces Phantoms to Lamborghini Murcielagos. Some of them were likely from Pagan's collection being stored here because of space. It went to show how wealthy the rich and powerful were in Kyrat and the disparity in personal wealth was. Kyrati nobles, rich businessmen and high ranking civil and military officials with high paying salaries. It wasn't that Ajay was against them having riches, wealth was one way of avoiding trouble that would befall their families. Take Ajay himself for an example, life in Brooklyn was never easy for a single mother and her child. Ishwari worked night and day to pay for their apartment rent, social security was never afforded to them until Ajay's citizenship was recognised as an American. When his mother was at a terminally ill stage of her cancer. Ajay resorted to working overnight shifts at the machine shop and when a friend suggested, he got involved in car theft as well. The cars he stole were in a similar class to the ones currently before him. Ajay wondered if he should "borrow" one of them, knowing how quick they were.

Layak was busy discussing with the valet service on requisitioning something quick in their inventory.

Ajay's eyes wandered to the motorcycles parked neatly. Some were recognizable as European and American brands, some were from Japan and India.

Ajay noticed a rather iconic piece standing up right. In fact, a particularly rare piece he'd only seen on magazines.

A Ducati 1199 Superleggera

He recalled the days of stealing cars and bikes from carparks. Perhaps he had come across it once before but that wasn't the target then. What caught his eyes was the custom paintjob in the familiar Royals color of black and red, like it was property of-

"Do you like it?" Ajay turned around to the familiar voice.

"Never pictured you for the type to ride." Pagan laughed.

"That was what I rode here in, my boy."

"Really?" Pagan was full of surprises himself.

"Really."

"I got it off an auction in Shanghai a few months before you came back. The dealer says only a few hundred of these that exist now, this one's in the single digit production range. Quite impressive, eh? Although, I wasn't really into it back then, I just wanted to buy it out of spite because some fucking Shanghai rich brat challenged me for that beauty over there." He pointed to the Rolls-Royce Phantom in mint condition. To think that a rich kid would trifle with Pagan, he would have had his minions gag him and throw him in the sea while he was sleeping. Fortunately, he gave in to Pagan's higher bid.

"You a bike person, Ajay?"

"Anything with wheels is good for me. Although, I can appreciate a good ride now and then. Looking at It just reminds me of a time ages ago."

A pair of key came flying his way, Ajay caught it on reflex.

"Take it…"

"Are you serious?"

Ajay was amazed that Pagan handed him something that valuable.

"You're on a tight schedule, right? Go on, get to it!"

Ajay was speechless, but then gripped the keys as he walked towards the Ducati and sat on it. He placed the keys into the slot and turned.

The engine came to live, it hummed deeply and without disturbance in its pistons. Ajay turned the throttle and the engine roared with a satisfying continuous growl.

Turning back to where Pagan was, he said…

"Thank you for changing my life." Before speeding off out into the dark roads.

Pagan watched as he sped off through the mansion gates into the black woods, leaving a trail of red lights.

"No….. Thank you, Ajay. For changing mine."

* * *

Rajgad Gulag stood menacingly even in the night, it was home to five hundred inmates. All of which were one of the most vicious men in Kyrat. Some were criminals of the worst offenses, others were revolutionists like the eight devas, there were a rare few who were political enemies but they rarely lasted more than a month thanks to the harsh conditions and the unfriendly company. The gulag seemed small from the outside, that was because the prison cells were in fact within the mountain that the stronghold was leaning on. What was seen from the outside was merely the only entrance to the whole mountain cavern system that was the true Rajgad Gulag.

The men being imprisoned weren't the only dangerous ones. The prison wardens were of the highest rank within the Royal Guard forces to keep them in check. The fortress Guards, not just well equipped and armed but possessed the necessary skills to enforce numbers that three times their size under twenty-four-hour guard.

"Quickly and quietly. We have only a small window of opportunity, we still need to get back from here with prisoners likely too weak to walk on their own." The havildar accompanying Jason told his men. As they silently treaded near the cliff edge of the least guarded part of the wall.

It was as the Havildar said, they were on a tight window. Another two minutes till the patrolling guard returned to check this section of the wall. They were here to rescue just six men, the rest imprisoned were unfortunate. Perhaps his friends were here, perhaps they were not. Somehow he felt he cared less and less about them for some reason. Jason was still having doubts about them surviving this long, the official story was that they did in fact coordinate with the former Northern frontier Golden Path before it was decimated by the lack of leadership. No word on how they lost or ended up in the prison was ever revealed, not even the Royal Army publisized it. Jason wasn't sure if they were just trying to erase their existence from history or something.

One of the fighters brought out the grappling hook and rope which was covered in cloth to muffle the sound of the metallic end clipping on to the wall.

"I'll go first." Jason took the initiative, the havildar patted him on the back.

"Good lad. We'll speak further through the headset."

Jason acknowledged and began to climb as quickly as he could to give him extra time on that window, but slowly enough that his equipment wouldn't rattle. Upon reaching the top, he scanned the area for any activity on the wall then went to assist the rest in climbing.

Once the four of them had climbed up, they searched for a place to hide and access their surroundings. Jason took out a springe.

"Uh… now is not the time to get high, Brody." The havildar said confused.

"It's not heroin. It's a concoction for heighten senses, something I learn back in the Rook Island." Jason didn't wait for them to rebuke him as he stabbed the needle into his vein. It didn't take long for the effect to kick in as he could pick up every sound, every shadow around the corner where they hid.

"Fifteen visible guards. Four on the walls, Two on overwatch on the buildings and nine dotted about the roads and houses."

"How the-…" The havildar was having difficulty believing Jason's analysis but with the confidence on Brody's face, he couldn't help but trust him. Brody had saved his friends and comrades many times over in the last few weeks since he arrived. The field commander of the fifth wing sacrificed his entire battalion for Brody, believing he was the one to save Golden Path.

"Plan of action?" Jason asked the havildar as if he was still the one calling the shots. But then, Mohan had entrusted the mission to him to take charge while he went with majority of the task force to the nearby relay station to broadcast to Kyrat and cause a nation-wide revolution that should have been realized two decades ago. The thought invigorated him and his fighters. To fight alongside the Great Mohan that took Golden Path to the heights in their revolution to cleanse Kyrat of tyrant and corruption.

"We need to do our best to take this stronghold silently, the more time we have evacuating the six devas imprisoned here the better. Having Badala chase us is the worst possible outcome." Jason was not sure why the mention of Badala, especially the part about running from him made him burn with anger, but he kept that from showing. It was like the Golden Path had no faith he could contest with The Northern Demon any longer like they hoped when he first came over and Willis told them all about him.

But another part of him was shivering, he recalled the image of a raging demon that swept men in the tens in the forest he tried to rescue Willis from. Upon recovering, Willis went into an undisclosed location for fear that Badala would go looking for the rest of him after only getting his leg. That man was rarely phased by anything, Badala was the only exception to date. The Vice-lord was presently holding in Hurk's words "A god of war status" not just in the Royal Army, but in the Golden Path as well. He can still bleed, that means he can be killed. Jason told himself that, everyone had their limits and so did he.

Thoughts floated to Hurk who had been incarcerated. Sabal had sent him to De Pleur to interrogate, despite his protests. Sabal gave his word he would be treated humanely so he left it at that.

"…-Mr. Brody.. Mr Brody!" Jason returned to reality.

"Uh- Yeah?"

"You sure you're alright with this? You don't look well."

"Mmm! I'm fine, let's get this over with shall we so the rest can enter." Currently their assault force comprised of two hundred handpicked fighters, majority were veteran old guard from the reserve ranks but fierce fighters nonetheless. The rest were waiting for the gates to open while the small detachment and Jason neutralize the guards without drawing attention from the Royal Army.

No Alarms.

Jason moved in the head of the row as they crept their way to the overwatching buldings to eliminate the sniper nest and take over it. He had to admit, these Fortress Guards were nothing like the usual Royal Army or the privateers for that matter. One would think that beign assigned to a guard post would behave slack before long, but the fortress guards were always up on their toes. Making their rounds precisely on time, but made their routes predictable to avoid. Still, it was serious trouble if they were ever caught. His administration helped him predict the guards movements which he tried to avoid and have the rest follow him closely. Creeping up the stairs to the sniper's nest, Jason lunged towards the first sniper overwatch and impaled him with his machete and flung the dead sniper's kukri at the other who's back was turned to him.

The fighters quickly moved the bodies out of sight for him as the havildar set up his binoculars and sniper rifle in the position.

"The two of you disable the alarms, Jason-….."

"And I'll take out the guards." Jason finished his sentence upon his own interpretation and went down below hunting.

"Hey Jason, wait-!"

Jason snuck up behind the street roamers and quickly dispatched them one after another without the others being alerted to his or their presence. He plunged his knife into the back of a Heavy type trooper when he turned away. For some reason, everytime the knife dug into flesh his heart hammered with excitement. It suddenly became addi- (Siren blares)

The alarm went off when he least expected, Jason surveyed his surrounding but found that he wasn't the one that tripped it. It had to be the other two that weren't stealthy enough because the Havildar was providing them with overwatch details and yet they failed. Jason felt a tinge of frustration at the Golden Path fighters poor combat efficiency, but then they were no better than the self-important Rakyat. They only knew how to talk big, but their abilities were atrocious in Jason's account. He hoped that the old guard outside were a different breed of fighter to these two-week wonders, the name used to describe their initiates.

Jason ran in the direction of the firefight to assist the fighters that had fucked up this precise operation. There was no use getting angry over it, it wasn't his fault either.

Luckily the fortress guards had their backs to Jason when they pinned down the two fighters and the havildar. In comparison, the Royal Army soldiers were highly disciplined. Thinking that their backs would stay to him Jason moved forward, until one turned to access the situation and reported Jason's whereabouts then he too received heavy fire.

-Shit!-

Jason highly underestimated these Royal Guard soldiers, he was already short on time till reinforcements came.

 **-Time is running out, hermano. What's say you hand everything over to me, 'kay?-**

His other self started to speak after not hearing from it for so long. Just what in hell was it doing?

-Fuck off!-

Jason made a run for the heavier cover, seeing he was trying to get a more advantageous position a guard threw a grenade his way. The grenade landed near his feet, Jason leaped over the sandbag cover that detonated. When he came to, he was staring down the barrel of a guardsman. His hesitation had cost him.

(Bang) The guard fell to the group from a rain of shells that instantly killed him and the others near him.

Jason looked to the walls to find the old guard fighters had already climbed and supported them, they cleared the defenders on the walls and proceeded to kill the remaining fortress guards that were now fighting for their lives until the chopper reinforcements came.

Meanwhile, Jason, the havildar and some of the old guard were free to head to the underground prison. They reached the tunnel entrance and planted explosives on the hinges for quick access then advanced cautiously into the unfamiliar tunnel system. Approaching a central area with an office desk, the havildar had a look at the area map pinned on the dashboard behind it. It clearly marked the cells, over a hundred of them from the worst to the terrible. Unfortunately, they were unable to find a roster of the people they were looking for and which cell they belonged to.

"Shit." Jason had no luck with his friends either. It only meant one place, the Royal Palace. Jason refused to accept that Hurk was actually telling the truth, because if he did…. He was a fool. He'd been led around like a headless chicken.

"Let's try this way!" The havildar led the group.

They spent three minutes going down a maze of access tunnels, then Jason remembered-

"Who are we looking for exactly?" He broke silence.

"Mohan believes there are all six within the deepest cell but I highly doubt it."

"Why?"

"Out of the eight, four weren't full-on combatants. The conditions of this gulag for over two decades isn't something ordinary men can live through, friend."

"…" Jason found his question to be silly but that wasn't the purpose of asking.

"I meant, how do they look like? I know I came here looking for someone else but if I don't know how they look, in case I actually pass them-." The havildar saw his point. Jason wouldn't have seen their paintings or their descriptions.

"You're looking for men and women with a tattoo on their forearm, two cross kukris as the coat of arms. A motto written in Sanskrit is found along the arc that looks like this." The Havildar took out some paint and drew the characters on his hand.

"What's it say?" Jason asked curiously.

"In blood, our epic prevails." Some deep meaning that Jason was unaware of that only its members were in the know of.

"Any names if you might add?"

"Jaswant Rajput, Vasu Sen, Bhishma Arya and Sanjeev Singh. These are all the names of the field commanders we're looking for."

"And the rest?"

"Are likely dead." The Havildar was definitively sure they couldn't last like the rest that were physically able.

"But you don't know for sure-."

"We're running on a short time frame here! Thanks to these two dimwits, we have only ten minutes tops till the choppers come!" The Havildar was losing patience and it was justified. Mohan had entrusted him with this task despite not being a full-fledged officer in the organisation. He was behind enemy lines and where Pagan resided. The Royal Fortress was only ten miles away.

"I'm sorry. It's just a lot is on my mind now, sorry laddies!" The two waved it was alright.

"So Jaswant, Vasu, Bhishma and Sanjeev right?" The Havildar nodded.

"Let's split up, and meet here in five. If we find one, they'll definitely know where the rest are."

"True, ok. Let's do it your way."

And so, they split into four and searched the tunnels and cells. He passed a few open cells that were filled with haggard looking folks who all lacked spirit, it cased a poor feeling with him. They weren't even surprised to see him, like they almost gave up on living outside those granite walls. What the hell was going on here?

The deeper he went the less people he saw within the large cells until there were none at all in the place he was. Suddenly he heard voices up ahead and hid on reflex.

"I've got nothing. Why isn't central responding?!" One of the prison guards complained.

"Will you just chill? It could be interference, we're underneath a mountain remember?"

"Shit! Why can't we just check it out?"

"And leave old Bhaskar alone? In your dreams, what would you think would happen if that old bastard ever got out. You've obviously not heard of what the eight devas could do." Jason caught note of an interesting conversation and info from his eavesdropping.

"Hell, that's what we have Badala for!"

"Maybe. But if the eight ever got together, I doubt even Badala could stop Golden Path.- Huh? Hey!"

Jason dashed out of cover and knifed one of the guards. "Sunnova-(Bang)"

Using the guard's sidearm to gun down his partner, they dropped to the floor. Jason walked up towards the door that they were guarding.

"Come closer, young one." A voice called to him from the otherside of the iron door.

"How did-."

"Your footsteps carried heavy but agile steps. The vitality of youth." His words started to creep him our, Jason had a tinge that Mohan might not have been wrong after all.

"You one of the eight devas?"

"Indeed I am, young one. You don't sound from around here."

"I'm a friend of Mohan."

"Hmph! Don't get conceit, brat! You were barely even born when we fought with him!"

"Actually, Mohan's not dead." The other side didn't reply to him when he said that.

"I'm being serious here! Mohan sent us to retrieve you guys! Here, let me get this door open!"

Jason didn't wait for a reply as he unpacked his C4 charges and placed them against the door.

"I'm blowing the door, get back!" Jason hugged the wall as he detonated the explosive to breach the cell.

(BOOM) The door was dented inward and fell forwards, Jason came out of cover and walked into a surprisingly pitchblack room.

"Hey, you there? Like I said, we're here to get you guys out."

"Really?"

"Yeah!"

"That's not what I meant, is-…..is our brother truly alive?"

"Why don't you go see him yourself later?" The prisoner became silent again, but Jason knew it wasn't because he didn't believe him.

"Young one."

"Yes?"

"I will have to trouble you."

"No worries, what do you need?"

The figure came out of the darkness into the dim light where Jason was, revealing an aged old man with white covering his cornea of this eyes. Jason was taken aback for a moment, before him was a blind old man. Was this one of the eight devas that the guards were so shifty about?

"I might not be able to see, but don't think I'm so thick I can't sense your disrespect!" the old man scolded him.

"Uh- Sorry! So….. you need me to carry you?"

"Mmmm! Also, where are the others?"

"The rest of the fighters are locating them, I promised to meet them at a junction to find the rest. Come on! Oh- Right!"

Jason assisted the old man through the narrow entrance and carried him piggyback to make up for short time.

"They call me Bhaskar, keeper of secrets."

"Keeper of secrets, huh? You like some magic man or something?" The old man Bhaskar laughed.

"Yes, you could say I'm something akin to that!"

* * *

As Jason reached the main junction where they were supposed to meet, he found that the fighters weren't alone. Three other middle-aged men were standing in rags, likely their devas they were searching for, judging from the estatic faces the Havildar's men were wearing. Although, they have been subjected to poor conditions for almost twenty five years, their physcique was of good proportion, they never forgot to keep in shape. There was an air of mystery and nobility amongst them, even from ten metres away Jason could feel it.

Upon seeing Jason and the old man on his back the three turned their way and placed their hands together and bowed.

"""Exalted one…""" They said together. Apparently, the blind old man had the most senior position within the Devas much to Jason's surprise.

"Rise my fellow companions, today marks the turning point in our struggles. You've heard it from the young ones, have you not." They all nodded.

"Vasu, Sanjeev, Bhishma. Its good to see you all in these current circumstances."

"Likewise, exalted one."

"Is this all that everyone?" The havildar asked.

"What's left of us, then yes." The burly one said.

"Good! Then let us get out of here…. Before he comes." The Devas expressed their concern when the elder Bhaskar mentioned this and were more eager to leave.

Jason somehow felt unsettled when they were also anxious to get out for fear of someone. He let the following slip from his mouth.

"Don't tell me, you guys are afraid of the Northern Demon too." But the answer they gave made him geniuningly concerned.

"Who the hell is that?"

"Northern Demon?"

"What has become of Golden Path, tell us Havildar!" The Havildar stumbled.

"Uh-…. Decline! After the eight of you vanished we were pushed back into Pacchim valley and back further to Headquarters at Banapur."

"Banapur?"

"Headquarters? That little outpost town?" The deva was shocked beyond belief.

"Wait, so you guys never received any news of the outside, right?"

"Correct."

"Then who are you guys worried about?" The devas looked at one another unsure.

"Let's keep the chatter to another time, we're short on time you said. We must get to the surface as quickly as possible and reunite with our brothers and sisters!" Said the tall and bulkier one of the devas.

"Agreed, let us go!" Jason and the Havildar's men quietly obeyed and led the way out to the surface.

Jason continued to carry the "Exalted one" Bhaskar out of the tunnel, from where they were they could make out the lights from the entrance.

Jason checked his watch and found that the appointed time for them to get out had arrived. The Old Guards that had taken the gulag would defend the newly captured stronghold while they made their escape on a convoy of commandeered technical towards the secret passage back to Pacchim Valley. The rest would follow suit after Mohan had released his revolutionary speech that would buy them enough time to escape while the Royal army was in disarray.

But as this was happening, the Royal Army reinforcements would assault the stronghold in battalion strength. Badala might be there as well since it was an attack on home ground this deep and close to his territory.

As they reached the surface, they were greeted with silence. Which was odd, as the reinforcement troops should have already been here to take back the stronghold.

"Something's not right."

"Hey, where're the others?" One of the Havildar's men pointed out the absence of the hundred old guard.

An eerie feeling washed over them as Jason passed the old man to the Havildar to carry as he maintained a vigilant posture. The Devas picked up weapons from the ground to arm and defend themselves.

As they walked forwards towards the main square compound, they understood what became of the Old Guard company defending the walls.

Their bodies littered the grounds, all with a decent amount of blood flowing from them. Bullet cases were scattered all over indicating a fierce firefight.

The Devas immediately stiffened, not because of the sight of the bodies but of the single individual standing amongst them with not a scratch on him. That man wore the Royal Guard colors but wasn't part of the outfit that protected Rajgad Gulag.

"Is that your Northern Demon?" One of them asked but Jason shook his head as did the fighters.

Jason looked at him but it was clear that it wasn't.

"No. I've got no idea who that is."

But the Old man had a different idea, the Havildar could feel him tremble from behind his back.

"It's him!"

The three Devas turned to Bhaskar in shock and disbelief.

"Impossible, how could he be here?!"

"That doesn't even look like him!" The Devas were having difficulty identifying that person Bhaskar informed them of.

"No one else gives off that aura! It's him! The Ruinous One!" Bhaskar shouted.

As he announced their presence, the man below that the Devas feared turned towards them from his back.

"This is not good!"

Even Jason was starting to feel some sort of oppressive feeling as the man gazed into his eyes.

"Who the hell is this?" Jason said unconsciously not expecting a reply, but a reply he got.

The oldest of the three active fighters of the Eight Devas who stood next to Jason spoke in a grim tone.

"That man….. was responsible for our imprisonment!..."

The younger Golden Path fighters who were unaware before trembled in fear at Vasu's chilling words. He was responsible for imprisoning the Six of the Eight Devas?

"….. That man-…. is Darshan!"


	47. Chapter 45 - Bye-Bye Jason, Hello Brody

Author's Notes:

I've got nothing to add. Maybe I do, I've been asked to do a website for Dad on his chauffeuring business. Might affect chapter roll out? I take this more as leisure than a commitment, an knowing myself I do love to take leisure-full breaks a lot.

* * *

The Eight Pillar Devas were the once a fabled force to be reckoned with, a group that led the Golden Path to victory despite the numerous weapon and strategic advantages Pagan, Yuma and the Loyalists' had.

Upon Mohan's death, they grieved for months. Two had left to live in solitude of the mountains with the Sherpa. But six…

… Could not accept the outcome. The fight continued for eight years down into a stalemate where the Loyalists were kept isolated away from an entirely controlled Southern sector.

At first, it looked dire with the head of the Golden Path dying in the roadside like a dog instead of combat. But Pagavel too left the field for reasons unknown.

It was their chance they'd been waiting for, they thought. All they had to overcome was Yuma and those crooks from Hong Kong. Back then Utkarsh was still there's, the first headquarters of the Golden Path. Back when it was known as the Northern Division of Golden Path and the Southern Division was in Pacchim Valley at Tirtha.

Marching towards the Royal Fortress with a grand army to avenge the loss of their Great Leader, they'd cornered Yuma and her soldiers at what would become the Valley of Death while they stormed the Royal Fortress to reach the Royal Palace and exact terrible vengeance onto the man that took their leader's live through underhanded means.

Yuma and the Royal Guard, stuck in the Valley torched it to break through the lush green forrest that was in their way to rescuing her brother. The Royal army at the time moved in on the unprotected Eastern side of the Uttar region to close off the Golden Path Northern army from their southern counterparts.

But it did not matter, once Pagan was dead this war was won. And Kyrat would forever celebrate their victory. They managed to kill that traitor Kadayat and torch his house early on. So they were on high vibes…..

Until he came.

When an entire Company does not report during a critical operation, something is terribly wrong. They discovered that too late and ignored it to complete their besiegement of the Royal Fortress and had their backs exposed to that person.

One by one, reports mentioned of rear guard field commanders being killed reached the Sixes' ears. Three went to investigate and found this anomaly in their presence undaunted. They underestimated him and were caught and tied. When they came to, they had been placed within the walls of Rajgad Gulag to live out their days. The other two had also been caught in the same fashion, overpowered by a mysterious youth that bore striking resemblance to Ishwari.

The most unbelieveable thing happened when they encountered him and proposed close quarter combat due to the unfair odds of the three of them. To their surprise, he knew not just their sword arts and martial talents that were passed down exclusively to selective warrior families that protected the king since the Kingdom's conception. But had a weird fusion style that was both unpredictable and unreadable, reminiscent of the savage Hun's that the old Dynasty once assaulted. He possessed a talent that had the days of swords not been taken over by guns he would have been unstoppable.

He beat them fair and square, if not completely after they tried to gang him in the end when they felt their slipping odds. On that day, that man broke their pride and belief that the Eight Devas were unstoppable.

That man, was "Ruinous" Darshan of the Royal Guard hunters. The mysterious lonewolf in Yuma's ranks. Naturally, the credit went to her. But the story of that day was buried with them and so the Six Devas mysteriously disappeared in the Uttar region to those in the South.

"Remember what I said sixteen years ago? The moment you left that cell, your existence would be wiped off this earth." Darshan walked calmly towards them. They subconsciously backed away, knowing how dangerous he was. He'd been capable of capturing all of them, what was to say he couldn't kill them with less effort. He might appear in his early forties but he was definitely wiser and more experienced than them now.

The three only fighters among the Devas were hesitant to engage in a fight with this monster no matter the circumstance. Especially in their deteriorated conditions, they also lacked information regarding the changes in Kyrat as was made obvious by the change in Headquarters to that quiet region of Banapur. The Golden Path's decline was quite clear, yet an unforessen blessing had occurred.

Their thought dead leader had been alive all this while imprisoned as the young fighters described to them. His death faked while he was thrown into a cell to rot as his Golden path slowly died without his guidance. At first, they didn't believe it to be true. But if they were cut off from the North by a newly erected King's bridge checkpoint then how did they come in a Company size force.

Mohan had once spoke of a hidden passageway that only he his wife and the traitor Arjun knew of. That was the evidence to state it was really their brother that had come to rescue them they thought died. Nothing could express how joyful they were upon hearing this, now there was only one giant obstacle in their way.

Jason stepped forward.

"We don't have time to waste. Havildar, get them out now. I'll hold him."

The Devas, were inhearently shocked to hear him declare such a statement to them. Jason gripped tightly on his machete as he made his choice.

Kicking of the dirt floor, Jason launched himself from the stairs down to where the lone Royal Guardsman stood unphased. The Golden Path warriors were shocked by his sudden reckless action.

"Young one! Stop! He's no ordinary fighter!" But the Devas words fell to deaf ears.

Darshan barely moved from his postion and instead of drawing his kukri to parry he used the back of his hand to swat Jason's machete to the side so it became harmless.

-Wha-..

He barely saw his movements and thought for a second he actually missed his target. A quick sweep from his hand tapped the back of Jason's neck and he fell to the ground unmoving.

Darshan turned to the Devas and said….

"You next."

The Devas knew what this entrailed.

"Sanjeev, Bhishma, Crane guard."

"Right!"

"Ok!"

The most senior of them commanded and they instantly entered an unusual fighting formation for the three of them. Two in front in a position to dash around Darshan and the Middle one in a crouch position ready to pounce.

"Exalted one, it appears this is where we must part."

"Don't be ridiculous! Our brother didn't come all the way here to send us to our deaths!" The blind old man declined.

"It wasn't our decision to make from the beginning, Darshan is here. And Mohan needs you the most, you are the only one with access and location coordinates to the archives and vaults."

Bhaskar couldn't disagree.

"You go or none of us go! Young ones! We entrust the keeper with you, now go!" The Deva commanded.

"Uh-… Alright!" The Havildar made his decision and obeyed their judgement to their situation. The fighters climbed onto a vehicle in the garage and drove off. When they reached the blown out gate, Darshan appeared in front of them, much to their horror. But a speeding bullet struck Darshan sending sparks from where he parried the ferocious blow without losing focus. But the Deva had achieved what he intended which was to give them room to take away Bhaskar.

The senior Deva Vasu smiled wryly at them as they left the scene and turned to face Darshan once more while the other two clashed with him. His eyes fell onto the young foreigner.

"Why hadn't the fighters picked him up too, wasn't he their comrade?" It reminded Vasu of the time they were at the mercy of the Mercenaries who instead of following Pagan's orders to execute them had joined them instead. Where were they now? All dead, Yuma had made it her mission to eliminate all of them. He was at the last moments of the very last one, begging him to deliver money to his family which he intended to once the war was over. Who would have thought he would be trapped here for twenty years. Twenty years… what became of that mercenaries family?

This one had accompanied them on such a perilous journey only to be discarded, on who's authority. When he came back he would find out who was the spineless coward and crush him. He'd already failed one, this won't be the next in the list.

"Brother! Help us!" Vasu returned to reality after staring at the unconscious Brody.

Again, Darshan was overpowering them like before, only this time he was quicker and more dangerous. He really did mature after all that.

Vasu had no time to tend to the young foreigner at the moment with his brothers' lives on the line and rejoined the crane locking formation.

When he did, they circled around Darshan and launched attack after attack from different angles. They challenged his range of movements to the limits, yet it didn't seem like the last time. He had obviously had twenty years to look back and reflect on their movements.

"You didn't improve all this time." His venomous comment sent fire to their hearts.

"Ha!" Vasu swung the kukri he recovered from a fallen warrior to Darshan's back but he made the slightest correction in his step and dodged the kukri by a hair's breadth.

-He's gotten stronger.- was all Vasu could think of.

Darshan launched a roundhouse kick to the face and incapacitated Bhishma.

"Bhis- (Crack) Arrgh!" He took advantage of their split-second falters and struck the second one on the neck with the pommel of his short sword.

Darshan turned to the final Deva and paced towards him. Vasu walked back.

"It's over, Darshan. Mohan has returned and Pagan… Seems to be worthless now! Hahaha! How Ironic, it appears it was all for this moment that Kyrat will be free from that Tyrant!" Darshan answered him with silence and a face void of emotion.

"You've changed Darshan, I'll give you that! You're probably impossible to stop right now even by the six of us. But you couldn't possibly measure your strength against the will of the people that sought a revolution!" Vasu tried to distract Darshan with the pictured outcome of a Golden Path Victory to give his brothers time to recover.

Darshan stopped in his footsteps, Vasu thought he had gotten through to him for once. Perhaps age did something to break that unrelenting behaviour of his back then.

"That would be true, if the will of the people were actually against us now. A lot can happen in sixteen years as it can in five months." For the first time in twenty years of meeting him, Darshan smiled back but in a rather sinister way without actually appearing sinister.

"W-What do you mean?!... What did you do!?" Vasu began to get worried.

"I did nothing. But watched as Golden Path tripped on its own footing. Then there's the young one that's made Golden Path the villain of Kyrat now."

"Don't listen to him, brother!" The Devas recovered from the assault and told Vasu to ignore his gibbed tongue.

Vasu shook his thoughts and returned to his assault footing. They changed to a three colomn row formation.

"Serpent!" He said before dashing with the rest close behind him towards Darshan. Their enemy on the other hand stood right where he was.

A combination of three repeated strikes to the sword from each of them hoping to push him to the ground when he parried. Then after wearing him down they all struck at the same time from the three different directions they were in around Darshan.

"""HA!"""

Only to stab thin air. Vasu felt a heavy fist land on his face and pummelled him to the ground.

"Brother! Damn it!" Sanjeev rolled over to the nearby corpses and retrieved an assault rifle and blazed away at Darshan who jumped behind cover quickly.

"Bhishma! Help our brother up and escape, I'll hold him off!"

"Don't be ridiculous!"

"Don't argue! You're not in the condition to fight him as you are!" Sanjeev picked up a light machine gun to keep their dreadful enemy at bay.

"Brother…"

"Our brother needs you both. Fight hard… and I'll see you in paradise."

(Whistle) Their hairs raised as they recognized the sound of that Whistle. It was the call of the Hunters. What creature could possibly match a demon in its ferocity.

A wet leopard growl roared and a black shadow pounced over the wall. Sanjeev turned his gun but all too late, as the the shadow leopard bit into his shoulder and forced him to the ground.

"AAarhhhhhh!" Sanjeev screams from the big cat flaying his skin

Vasu instinctively moved forward to rescue his brother, only to be pulled back by Bhishma.

"Unhand me!"

"Don't insult his honor, Vasu!" But Bhishma argued back. Darshan closed in on them.

"I've wasted enough time with you three, you've had the privilege of living till this moment despite your constant treachery to the Kingdom."

"Brothers!-…..GOOOOOOO!" Sanjeev screamed as he locked the leopard into a vice grip determined to trap it to him.

Vasu's heart cried out to save his brother, but his conscience told him to run and live to fight another day and avenge his brother….. Like when they tried to avenge Mohan. Vasu snorted as his own self-serving hypocrisy.

"I'm done running."

"Vasu?-…"

"Today, Darshan dies or I will." Vasu steeled himself as he steadied his shaking hand that held the kukri.

"No… Brother-." Bhishma suddenly gathered what he was about to do. Sanjeev watched as he was almost about to faint from blood loss. The Leopard had withdrawn as she could see her prey was already doomed to die.

"Asato ma sad gamaya.….." The hairs on Bhishma rose as he recognized that verse and the significance of Vasu reciting it.

"Vasu- Stop!"

"… Tamaso ma jyotir gamaya.…." His brother wept tears as he recited his own death poem. Vasu adopted the stance to his families most prized Martial stance, "maut ke bhajan". Resigning himself to die, to let go of all the emotions that clouded his thoughts and movement. To devote every part of his body and mind to every blow that would be delivered. He charged towards Darshan with newly gained speeds, raising his kukri he swung with the force to crack bones, filled with all his hatred for Pagan, for Yuma and for Darshan.

(CLANG)

His hit was caught by Darshan's short sword but the latter was now force onto one knee. Registering the change in his opponent Darshan devoted full attention to the most veteran of the Devas.

"Mrtyor ma amrtam GAMAYA!" Vasu began to one-sidedly oppress Darshan.

"VASUUU!"

Vasu was about to let it run through Darshan's head once more how he earned the name "Deva".

* * *

Automatic fire, mortar barrages and RPG rockets blew apart the rumble searching for the one lone sniper that wrecked havoc amongst their formations.

Paul became more impatient by the minute, how could one fat bastard with a precision rifle cause him and the Golden Path battalion so much catastrophe.

Hurk remained where he was, to reveal himself was suicide at this point, but he had achieved what he initially planned. He'd kept the Golden Path preoccupied with him giving Daisy and the escapees precious time to reach the Tigers for help and protection. Or so the thought at first, he noticed that the forces attacking him were thinning.

It meant that they left a small group to suppress him as they made their way towards Jason's friends. Hurk could only stay hidden in the small crevice in the chimney for help himself as they bombarded the Brick factory with everything they had.

"Dais', Kid Bro….. please be safe."

(Huff) (Huff) (Huff)

"Come on! You wanna get to safety? Then hurry up!" Riley encouraged the lot to move as fast as they could. Currently they were unarmed as Hurk had confiscated all of it to slow the Golden Path down but it didn't mean they stopped chasing them yet.

Daisy helped the old Malla couple by piggybacking one as Lisa carried the other. Steve led the way and proved to be a competent navigator.

"I think that's it!" He pointed towards the lit-up encampment. It was the Shanath Training Ground outpost, they had finally reached the point to safety.

Daisy and Steve took point to do the talking with the Tigers who were on guard.

A searchlight mounted upon a truck turned their way.

*HALT! Stay where you are, you are on Tiger territory. Speak your business.* A megaphone called out.

They were seen earlier than expected. The group obediently stayed still in case the Tigers were the jumpy sort.

"We're seeking refuge in Baghadur, there are twenty-five of us including elderly and children! We currently don't have any weapons with us." Daisy announced to the speaker. After a while the megaphone replied…

*Stay where you are with your hands raised. We'll send someone to check all of you, in the meantime call all of your group members to stand where we can see you..*

"Ok! Just give us a while."

*Be quick.*

Daisy turned to the group. "Well, you heard him."

They all came into the light and five men walked towards them with their weapons at the ready to pat all of them down, men, women, young and old were not exempted. After the physical check, one of the men who was the outpost havildar smiled.

"Welcome to TigerLand. I'm your gracious host Arvat, we'll take you to a safe place from now on so rest assured."

The indigeouness escapees sighed a breath of relief as they were finally in good hands and followed the warriors to the inside of the outpost to rest. Daisy immediately appeared before the Havildar.

"I've got urgent news, the Golden Path sent a search ground to recapture us! They're on their way as we speak, you have to call for help!"

"Woah! Woah! Woah! Easy there! What's this about Golden Path attacking. Hello! It's new year's day!" The Havildar chuckled unconvinced.

Daisy had forgotten this key point that the factions were officially on rest during the holidays in a truce.

"Look! In about five or less, that road is about to be swarming with Golden Path on their way here!" The Tigers started to think they could be serious now and awaited their leaders orders.

"Call Sector HQ and tell them we need reinforcements here. The Golden Path are trying to be funny."

"Aye!"

"and you lot? What the hell are foreigners doing all the way out here at this point of ti- (Splat)" Like a balloon filled with red paint, the Havildar's head blew apart from a large calibre shot from the technical mounted Heavy machine gun. Gore smeared on their faces and they only responded after a delay.

"Enemy fire! Twelve and ten o clock!" One of the more observant Tigers shouted and went for the alarm.

Daisy pushed the old couple to the floor as Steven and Riley did the same for the rest of their gang.

Rifle fire sprayed and peppered the outpost where the Tigers were killing them instantly. Unfortunately, some of the escapees outside were hit and perished along with them in the heated firepower.

The Golden Path and Mukti Tigers fought in a ferocious firefight as the group kept their heads down.

Steven tugged at Daisy to crawl with the rest of them which they did like their lives depended upon it. The two sides were preoccupied to settle them and so they quietly slipped out and entered the forest once more. Daisy had spent all the time assisting the old Malla couple, Miren and Aryaa. It was difficult to get old people to run several kilometres where as it was already hard for all of them at their age.

They rested against the trees, huffing and puffing.

"That's it! I've had it with this place!" Liza screamed before sobbing. Daisy had no energy to scold her or tell her to shut up, but her sentiment was almost alike with hers.

No one could refute Liza's complaint, it was even worse than before, but most of all Jason wasn't there to save them.

"Hey, you lot… one thing at a time. We managed to get out of that prison, so what are all of you so glum about?" To their surprise, it was Steven who encouraged them being the cynical one originally.

"Man, being told by you is just the worst."

"Totally."

"Me three!"

"Way da pour the salt on the wound, Steve."

The group laughed to their hearts content. Miren and Aryaa smiled as they seem to overcome their tiredness by themselves.

"So what now boss?" Steve asked Daisy who recovered her energy briefly. She thought about it for a while before asking the Malla couple.

"Mr. Malla."

"Yes?"

"Would you happen to know any safe areas for refuge around here?" The last place they could go now with the Golden Path searching for them was Baghadur now that they'd likely captured that outpost. And headed in that direction, they'd only bump into more Tigers and lead them to their unfortunate deaths. It would reflex poorly on them.

"What about here?" Daisy pointed to a large site in the map.

"Shanath…. Arena?" Steven confirmed with Daisy.

"It a public place so there's plenty of hiding spots around there."

"And how will Hurk find us?"

"We'll travel to King's Bridge in the morning instead." The Airport was now no longer an option with Golden Path lurking this far within Tiger territory. The Tigers would most likely fight back the hardest but they would have difficulty identifying people who aren't their own or Royal army and fire upon them in this low light condition.

"Not in the condition we're in and especially not with them." Riley pointed out that the Mall couple were already fatigued, it wasn't something to do at their age.

Daisy was reluctant to let them go as Hurk had placed a lot of importance on them, they owed it to Hurk for even breaking them out from the City of Pain.

"Riley, go the roadside and see if we can get a lift from passerby vehicles."

"Aye, ma'am!" Riley immediately dashed towards the road by the river they were close to.

"We're sorry to have slowed you down young ones. Perhaps myself and Aryaa should stay behind-."

"Not a chance! Hurk left you I our care, we're not letting you go alone!" Riley declared on their behalf.

Miren sighed at their stubbornness but smile wryly at their good-natured character.

"Besides, Badala would want to see both of you as well."

When Daisy mentioned this, the old couple turned pale.

"W-Why would that dreadful person want to meet us?!"

"Uh-…" Daisy realized she had a slip of tongue, they weren't aware of their daughter's death yet nor the relation she had to the Northern Demon which Daisy deduced herself. "I mean, since we're going to the North we'd likely see him was what I meant!" Daisy laughed dryly.

"Boss! There's a truck coming our way!" Riley announced as Daisy made her way to the roadside where Riley stood and waved alongside him to the pair of bright lights.

(Screech) The tires burnt from the sudden stop as the driver noticed them at the very last minute.

Standing in the middle of the road, the truck had no choice but to stop.

"W-Wha-…. Why'd chu stop?"

"You want me to commit murder? Dream on you wanker! We might be in a lawless country but that don' mean we all have to be savages!" The driver complained back to the side passenger of his.

"Hey there! Where're you boys headed?" Daisy said as calmly as possible to avoid suspicion they were being chased.

The two discussed something between each other before the shorter one who was the driver spoke.

"Helllooo dear! Well I was-."

"We." The tall one corrected.

"-We were just heading to Shanath to stock up on the old herbs and spices that all, right? Yeah!" they nodded to one another then to Daisy and the rest to get them into the nodding game and agreeing with them.

"Cool! You mind if we tag along, we're got some old folks with us and it'll be great if you could shorten their trip." Riley pitched in to convince this truck that seemed to be inhabited by these two cockney gents from likely England.

(Sniff) (Sniff)

"Is that Fire OG I smell?" Oliver was drawn in by the smoke to quickly identifies the marijuana blend from the smoke that came out of their passenger compartment.

"Huh. Quite the little workshop chemist, aren't you?" The tall one was impressed with Olivers sense of smell and ability to descern the mix.

"Alright! You lot seem like pretty cool yanks, get in!" The short one granted them permission much to the tall one's displeasure for not consulting him first and earned a nudge from him.

"What?" He asked back.

"You want these hitchhikers to know the 'precious' cargo we've got loaded behind?" The tall one whispered to companion rather inconspicuously.

"Relax, I bolted them tight just before we went off and threw a blanket over them. They'd need a graduate degree in thievery to break that lock. Don't blow your whistles so soon, if they do we'll just drug'em and sell'em to the arena." The short driver assured his partner.

Daisy and the rest weren't there to hear that conversation as they were busy delivering the good news to the group.

"Thank God!" Liza sighs in relief.

"This is truly wonderful, please remember to thank them before we go now, my dear." Aryaa reminded Daisy.

"I will, come. Let's get you seated comfortably first."

Riley and Steven helped bring them up on the back-compartment space after climbing themselves. The old Malla couple were first followed by Daisy and Liza. Oliver had gotten a seat between the two English fellows.

"Climb aboard mate!" The Tall one offers a hand.

"Yeah, thanks bro." Oliver receives the hand to get up the ladder to the passengerseat next to the driver. The tall one squeezed to the middle seat in the front. Immediately when Oliver sat down, they drove off.

"Sup' fellas! The names Oliver, you can call me Oli!" Oliver greets them with a handshake each which they returned promptly.

"Reggie. I've got a good feeling about you." The driver introduces his name.

"Hey, Reg!"

"That there's Donald."

"It's Yogi!" The tall one angrily corrects him whilst shaking his head dissappointed.

* * *

Sparks flew from the contact between short sword and kukri. Bhishma couldn't believe his eyes when he saw it. To think Vasu actually caught up to Darshan, he now understood why on occasions he would murmur to himself about body movements. It was in preparation for today.

Vasu had been training to fight back, although he had to do it inconspicuously as he was still under the surveillance of the Fortress Guards when he was let out of the cells.

Bhishma watched eagerly from the steps, he was unwilling to leave his brother behind like the other that died long ago. He went over to attend to the bleeding Sanjeev, although cautious of the Black Leopard which growled at him for approaching near it. But the creature didn't stop him from going over to his greviously wounded brother. How strange, was it not a hunter's companion to Darshan or had it not been fully tamed? It sat comfortably on the pavement licking its paw as if nothing had happened at all.

"Urghhh…."

"Keep it together, brother. Just a little more and we'll be out." Bhishma tried to carry Sanjeev to the nearby motorpool and await their brother's victory over the Ruinous One.

(Clang) (Clang)

Vasu and Darshan found from limb to limb. Darshan now took vasu slightly more seriously than before but his expression remained calm and emotionless. With every sudden strike he would deliver, Darshan countered perfectly. As if he knew what was the next sequence of the stance, and so was not alarmed at all and anticipated his attack beforehand.

At first, he thought he was able to suppress Darshan judging from the strike he delivered a while back.

He had thoroughly underestimated his opponent. Because when he did so, Darshan began to use more fluid movements in favour of hard strikes like they did. He was able to parry away the heavy swings that Sanjeev, Bhishma and himself sent his way.

Vasu relied heavily upon the basis of all his close combat stances, taught to him at a young age by his mentor. It was herald as an invincible martial art that could only be rivalled by a user of the same art, something that had was of absolute secrecy among the warrior clans of Kyrat. It was the cornerstone which formed the Mantle of the Royal Guard. Those with access to it were from clans and families which had served the Kingdom since its birth, the numbers that had it could only be counted with one's fingers.

Yet here was Darshan, using the same familiar moves to counter him with some weird fusion of martial arts that was unfamiliar to him.

Vasu locked blades with Darshan once more.

"How is it that a complete nobody knows Bejod Saans, the most protected martial art under the warrior conclave of the King?!" Vasu yelled. He was so sure that Darshan was definitely not from any of those warrior families to be given the art.

"Khati." Was all Darshan responded. But the name was a shocker to Vasu who knew of it. He broke their lock and stepped back while Darshan closed in. Vasu laughed in self-ridicule.

"Why am I not surprised. That old geezer! Handing out National secrets like they're presents to strangers!"

-Why? Why did you to this, teacher?!- Vasu could not accept the outcome. Why did the kind-hearted mentor of his raise his hand against them when all they did was for the future of Kyrat.

"All Bibek cares about is the happiness of the people." Darshan answered his query to Khati.

"Happiness?! Look around you! You're telling me I was locked in this hell so that Pagan could destroy Golden Path? Is that the happiness he sought? Because if so… I'm gonna kill him!"

Darshan laughed at his fury, again it was a strange sight to see an emotionless person start laughing, much less talk a lot more than before.

"What!" Vasu shouted, already losing control of his anger.

"Golden Path is not the people." It was the simplest answer yet….

"Uh-…."

Somehow Vasu could not refute him.

"You don't even realized that you were on his good graces all this while." Darshan snorted.

"W-….What do you mean?!"

Darshan pointed his sword towards Vasu's head.

"There was only so much an old man with weary bones could do to save the poor hapless youths that galavanted around proclaiming they were doing righteous work when all they did was kill fellow Kyratis." Darshan was referring to them, the Eight Devas as a whole.

"So he made me swear that if he were to teach me Bejod Saans, the Royal Martial Art. That I was to let you keep your life." He revealed to him the reason he spared them that day, but that wasn't all.

"Why do you think you were all safe within these walls instead of dying that day? Old Khati told me about your history, you're an orphan in his house. So no one was gonna pay to keep you alive." It had been a hard fact that when they were captured, instead of executing them and the families they were to swear loyalty to Pagan and pay him an annual ransom fee to keep them alive, but for Vasu. He had no family…. Except-

Vasu's eyes widened as he realized the weight of what Darshan indulged him.

He had been kept alive all this while…. Because of his mentor, his father….. his family.

"Everyday, for the last sixteen years. Old Khati handed a fraction of his wealth so that the King would spare your miserable dog life. Do you know? How poorly he lives off in Sano Pahada, him, his wife and all the orphans he's still willing to let in?! Everytime there's a good harvest or pension he was promised by the King it went straight to you…. And all you have to say is you want to kill him?!" It was at this time Darshan released a scary expression that could not describe in full the hatred he had build up for Vasu's ignorance.

Vasu collapsed on his knees in shock and disbelief. Darshan walked up to him emitting an oppressive aura stronger than before, which took the breath out of him. As much as Darshan wanted to curse his existence for eternity, he kept his next sentence short.

"I think that sixteen years is enough for you." He said as he raised his short sword to behead him.

Vasu was too ashamed to get up and fight back. All this time he had planted in his head that his adoptive father betrayed him. And to think he was about to repay his father's kindness with a knife to the heart.

-You're right, Darshan…. Sixteen years has been a luxury.-

Vasu closed his eyes to accept his fate. Ignoring the screams from his two brothers to get up.

He could hear the blade cutting the wind as it came closer to his nape. One swift swipe to end his miserable life, the live of a Deva that took lives of his own people, a life that would have raised a hand against his own father.

-Thank you for all you've done for me…. Father.-

* * *

…

…

Jason opened his eyes slowly to find himself in a dark place. No. That's not right…

If it were dark, then why could he see his body clearly? It was a dark void. Jason realized he was in a dream-like state.

Before him, mist and smoke cogulated together to form a body. The features became more resoluted, revealing the appearance of a very familiar face.

"You….."

" **I told you to watch out for those pretty little liars, didn't I Hermano. But noooo….. you didn't listen when all I did was keep you from making it."**

"Making what?"

" **The last mistake you'll ever make."**

Somehow, this phrase had a haunting message behind it. He walked closer to that person but bumped into something in from of him.

"Opfff!"

He placed his hands in front to feel. It felt like an invisible wall was separating them.

"Hey! What the hell is this?"

" **This Home, ese. Two years and fifty-one days, since the day Citra scratched that next level ink on you. Now it's yours."**

"What?"

" **You heard me, It's yours now. Oh! You thought I was just fucking around with you? no, Jason! What I'm saying is that you'll now take my place in purgatory."** He said with a malicious grin.

"What the hell are you saying?! What is this?!" Jason banged frantically against the invisible box wall.

" **Yunno… I thought I was gonna spent the rest of days, whispering to you like I was your fucking conscience- but who would have thought, someone else could fill in the fucking blanks that Citra left unfinished because you pussied out! It all Karma, bitch!"**

"What do you mean?! W-What are you saying?!"

" **I'm saying bye-bye Jason! I'll be taking driver's seat from now on.** **Adiós amigo!"**

"Hey! Wait! WAI-…." His cries became muffled asthe one he had always thought to be his other personality was in fact not a personality of his…

…but someone elses.

Jason realized it was too late, he had officially lost. His body was no longer his, yet he was trapped within the recesses of his inner psyche. But faced the greatest despair of all, which was there was no one that would answer his calls for the rest of Jason Brody's natural life.

…..

…..

* * *

(Clang)

Vasu assumed that was the sound of the bell of enlightment for his passing over to the next life.

He had resided himself to die, not in the glory of battle but in acceptance for his crime against his teacher. He welcomed death that was delivered to him by the hands of Darshan. Awaiting the grim reapers sword to sever his head from its shoulders and end his life once and for all. Yet there was not a single feeling from the blade upon his neck.

Nothing at all.

Vasu found this to be strange as he was sure there would be a minimal amount of pain even before dying. But when he opened his eyes, he found he was still in the inner compound of Rajgad Gulag.

But that wasn't all.

The sound from before. The metal striking metal was not a miss on Darshan's account, but a deflection of his sword by machete.

Standing tall against The ruinous Darshan was the foreigner from before. Out from corner his mouth leaked an malicious grin and eyes that spoke of insanity.

" **Peekaboo Motherfucker!"**


	48. Chapter 46 - Against Indifference

Author's Notes:

There are surprising coincidences found in the backstory of FC4 which are related closely with Hindu Mythology and after reading through some tales and epics, it's endless! Research on it does enlighten many grey areas in the meanings behind some names found in Kyrat.

i.e. One of the prayer grounds is called Yakshini's Pleasure.

Yakshini doesn't refer to a person but a class of being that co-existed with humanity in the Hindu world. Devas, Asuras, Rakshasas, Yakshas, Vanaras and Humans. The feminine equivalent of Yaksha. Their sole purpose is as caretakers of valuable artifacts be it left by the Devas or similar beings. More akin to the Arhats in Buddhism or Saints in Christianity.

You might be wondering why I brought this up. Well, incorporating Mythology into this story was inevitable when a plot revolves around a time leaping artifact. (I'm not releasing any spoilers to the plot or anything, a heads up because from previous experience with some of the reviewers.)

* * *

The moment his blade was deflected Darshan jumped back and went into full guard. Because the entire time he barely felt the presence of that foreigner, but there was also a familiar stench to him that Darshan instantly recognised.

Brody cocked his head and twirled his machete playfully whilst still wearing his mad smile. **"Hurgh! Been a while since I've played."** Brody stretched his body.

" **How bout you play with me, bud?"** Brody didn't wait for Darshan to answer as he dived straight for him with his machete and his movements were not at all slow. Slashing at him like he held nothing back Darshan no longer dodged slightly but incorporated parrying to his defence as the opponent before him was clearly different from before.

(Clang) (Clang) (Clang)

His slashes were deceivingly soft but they were all the more calculative as they swung

Vasu watched in disbelieve as the foreigner's style of fighting completely morphed. His previously reckless swings were traded-in for similarly bold strikes but with experience and risk involves. It said that this person was a gambler of high stakes, even if the stakes were his life he'd gladly wager it. This was a completely different personality from the quiet, young but prideful fellow from before. There was a glint in his eyes that was present, something that predators had when looking at a prey. If only he knew how frightful that beast in front of him truly was, Vasu got to his feet to join in and add pressure on Darshan.

Sparks cascaded from the contact of the blades to show the amount of force was applied in each swing. Darshan's gaze never left Brody, while he monitored the knife that was twirling in Brody's he was observing for something else on Brody. Then his gaze landed on the tattoo running the entire left forearm of his. His eyes deepened upon the intricate lines that were hidden behind the design of that showy tattoo.

" **Hey! Eyes up here, buddy!"** Brody was not so dense that he could not understand what Darshan was doing. He kicked off the dirt floor and performed a full body spin slash. Darshan stepped back to avoid the closing blade that he chose not to block. **"Tsk!"**

Brody expresses his displeasure at the miss but was soon smiling again, when player-two joined in the fight against the boss character.

Vasu spared no quarter as he attempted to lock Darshan from one end and allow Brody to deliver a blow to his unguarded areas. Darshan was no fool to his attempts and retreated to an narrow space with poorer manuever room.

Darshan was now at the steps where they had been when they first encountered him again, while the two of them were at the bottom.

Taking the moment of rest, Darshan reached into his bag and retrieved what appeared to be a wooden short sword no different to the one he was currently holding save for the material used to build it. On it were strange runic symbols, Vasu recognized some characters as Sanskrit but majority seemed to comprise of more ancient characters that were no longer catalogued in modern dictionaries.

"That's it? That's your brilliant plan, a wooden stick?" Vasu mocked Darshan for the desperate move he adopted.

This action almost took Vasu and Brody by surprise but then Brody started to grip his chest as he felt a burning sensation in his chest. To him, the affect of the wooden sword particularly on him was the greatest, Brody recognised that oppressive sensation to be originating from that sword.

Brody brushed the nauseating feeling he was having with a mad smile.

"This isn't for you." Darshan kept his sentence neat and simple as he turned to Brody and pointed it at him.

" **For me? Well I guess no one's too old for Christmas!"** Brody said laughing it off, but it didn't erase his caution of the sword. For whatever it was, it risked compromising the hex formation that Citra crafted onto Jason Brody to be the host's "second chance" in life.

"Enough said! You have two to worry about, you're finished, Darshan!" Vasu took the initiative and leeped forward with kukri in hand, Darshan deflected the swing and pushed Vasu aside for the next opponent that came towards him brandishing the machete.

(Clang) The machete was blocked by the same shortsword. As that happened, Darshan's wooden sword swept under Brody's hands at his torso. He stepped back quickly as he felt the presence of an object with an ability to kill pass him.

Brody stood back as the wooden sword contacted his ribs and brushed along it. Safe! Or so he thought.

"Is that the best you've got? I dunno what runni- Urgh!..." Brody taunted him halfway before collapsing to his knees.

To Vasu, it was a shock to see a blunt wooden sword have that affect from slashing. But to Brody, the wooden blade merely grazed some skin off his side, unfortunately that was only the physical aspect of it. It wasn't so much the physical damage that was inflicted, that was trivial. But when the wooden sword passed him, he could feel it a massive tear through the intricate formations that binded the soul to Brody's body, threatening to undo what Brody had waited patiently for almost two years, quietly deceiving the fool into taking actions in their interest.

The sight was confusing to Vasu. Just what in the world was that wooden blade?

"The moment you possessed that body, you already lost." Darshan's words had a chilling affect on Brody, who now understood the seriousness of the situation. Darshan was aware that this body wasn't his. Whatever it was, that man he made an enemy out of…..

" **(Pant) Hahahaha… Are you some sort of exorcist?"**

"It doesn't matter what I am, it makes no difference, be you the one in control or not. Both of you are both dead men." Darshan expressed he cared little for the original body's owner.

It was at this moment that the sound of rotorblades chopping the air could be heard coming towards them. Vasu and Brody knew what it meant.

The Army had arrived.

They had spent a considerable amount of time fighting and loitering around in the stronghold that it gave the Royal army who's guard was completely off to muster and dispatch to the most pressing of areas. It was New Year and this was behind the lines where all the known entry points to the North were heavily guarded. How they got in and in such numbers to storm Rajgad Gulag was beyond them. Darshan had been alerted to the attack way before the Royal Army and so was naturally there before them.

" **That can't be good."**

Darshan wasn't incline to give them breathing space and continued his assault upon them. Brody paid extra attention to the wooden sword.

"You really are a monster!" Vasu shouted at him as he fought back, forgetting about his sudden wish to die a while ago. Darshan laughed at the hypocrisy of his actions, so drawn by moments that easily shifted his heart. That was the inherent flaw of Vasu's, but then again. It was that flaw that Darshan had manipulated sixteen years ago, to cause the Devas to get caught and incarcerated.

But Brody was a different story, there was no reading that fellow. His actions were as crazy as they had intelligence behind them. Even if he didn't possess the same royal martial art as Darshan or the Devas he was still a fighter of almost similar par.

Vasu gave a glance to Brody who instantly understood his meaning and dashed to attack simultaneously from the front and back of Darshan.

(Clang) A unified sound of blades rung as Darshan blocked both and spun to do a roundhouse kick to Brody's face. While it was too quick to see, Brody's reaction was different from before and while he wasn't quick enough to dodge it if he saw the kick, he moved away naturally before the kick took place.

 **-Ha!-** He laughed too soon as he realized it was a feint to make him drop his guard else where as a fist did an uppercut to his jaw sending him flying backwards.

"Young one!"

Brody landed on his back coughing.

" **(Cough) You old fuck!"** Brody cursed as he recovered but didn't anticipate that Darshan would attack him when he was down. The wooden sword came swinging his way and now with truly no time or area to dodge it. Brody realized his short existence was about to end after having only gaining control for such a short time span.

But instead of regretting, Brody smiled from his checks end to end. There was nothing more satisfying than basking in the glory of a fight that challenged ones limits. To go against a superior opponent and perhaps triumph over him. It was the trait bore by all the true Rakyat.

The desire to slay god.

(Clang)

But today wasn't the day he died.

Vasu stood in the way between him and that oppressive Darshan, much to Brody's surprise. He merely thought he was using him to get a whack at Darshan, but he was wrong in that analysis. Either way, he was grateful to him for saving his arse from one problem but that still left the impending crisis of the what appeared to be the Royal Guards of Yuma's forces arriving by Helicopter and armed convoy.

The helicopters loomed overhead as the troops disembarked from their vehicles and rappelled the ropes. Surrounding them and forming a perimeter.

*This is Lieutenant Ramdan Sandhar. Major Sen, give yourself up and come quietly. This is your final warning.* Announced over the PA on one of the heliocopters.

Brody, who was in pain was the first to take initiative. He was no fool to the situation and chose the more peaceful of the approaches that involved preserving their lives. **"Hahahaha-..(Cough)(Cough).. The irony** …" His physical injuries were not as bad as his spirit that was greviously injured by the wooden sword. Vasu who had no idea of Brody's condition thought that he was succumbing to a previous injury instead.

-I'm to be caught again?! Is there no god watching over me?-

Vasu looked upon the knife that was in hand and harboured thoughts of commiting suicide or perhaps continue and hopeless struggle. Maybe then, he could relieve his old man of some grief he'd caused him all these years.

The troops sprinted towards their location to apprehend them, but just as they were doing so-

(BANG) One of the convoy technicals exploded, a trail of smoke that led back from the burning wretch to the top of the cliff.

Muzzle flashes blinked in the forest on top.

"Help?" Vasu recognized their movements, it was Golden Path manuevers. The Old Guard warriors dove down the mountain firing as they went. A fierce skirmish entered between them and the Royal Guard soldiers. Elite versus Elite, naturally an aggressive competition for power over the other began to see who was the strongest in Kyrat. The Old Guard fighters neared Vasu and Brody.

"Good to see you again, brother! Lord Bhaskar has informed us of your predicament." An officer came to brief him while the others were fiercely fighting.

"And Mohan?" Vasu's first question was of course regarding the wellbeing of his brother.

"He's come all this way just for the four of you. Naturally, it is our duty to follow him. Lord Bhaskar and your brothers are safely heading back to the valley."

"I see, then where is he now?"

"He has a plan to slow them down as we escape."

"I want in." Vasu volunteered himself immediately.

"I'm afraid that's not possible, brother Mohan did anticipate you'd say that. His orders for you were to withdraw, that's if you still heed his commands was what he told me to tell you."

Vasu longed to look at his brother's face but if it was a matter of command, he chose to accept his orders. He was still a follower of the Golden Path. Vasu turned to the seemingly injured Brody and crouched beside him.

"Friend. Will you come with us? I do not know what your prior relation with our cause was but I can assure you that if you come with me, I will make sure the unruly ones will get what they deserve. If they will not listen to the words of a Deva, then they are truly lost."

Brody raised an eyebrow to Vasu who was suddenly being very nice to him for some personal selfish reason he didn't know of.

" **Humph! Sure, anywhere's better than here."**

There was no reason to decline, Brody thought. If life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Brody wasn't a complex guy and didn't see fault in that.

The sound of men dying could be heard from the front, men falling at the feet of Darshan to be exact. Darshan charged forward through the gunfire in their direction

"Commander! Suppress that man!"

"Suppress!" The Field Commander acknowledged relatively quickly as he saw the threat of the person that was running towards them with little regard for safety.

Instantly, as they heard their Commander's orders the men focused their fire on him to keep him pinned behind the stone walls.

Vasu took this opportunity to help up Brody as they departed with the Old Guard on their rear, disappearing into the forests. The Royal guard unit was too small to manage a pursuit instead went to recapture and return Rajgad Gulag to its original working order. To ensure that the rest of its prisoners were where they should have been and the exits were in full lockdown.

Darshan stood where he was.

"Specialist Major! What are you doing here?!" Lieutenant Sandhar from the helicopter noticed Darshan's presence.

"You're late, it's cost us the remaining Devas."

"Uh-…" The lieutenant was speechless, it was as Darshan said. His lateness cost them the Devas, but worst of all they had reunited with the Golden Path. The officer started to sweat as he owed Darshan an explanation for his complacency.

"…. The fault lies entirely with me, sir. I was under the impression that the new year truce would be still be in effect and with heavy guards at King's Bridge and the mountains it was unlikely there would be an assault this size. Had my soldiers not just returned from celebrating in the nearby village we would not have even arrived yet." Rather than deny it, he chose to admit to the mistake. There was no greasing this out, seriousness of the situation.

Darshan didn't answer immediately to reprimand him as he walked away towards the exit with the black leopard by his side.

"Mistress Lau will hear of this." While his reply had the absence of any threat, it was still frightening that Mistress Lau would be hearing of his failure. Darshan himself was not to blame for their escape. He'd come alone while the QRF were still mustering and killed a sizable amount of Golden Path Fighters and all bearing the mark of the old Guard, the former emblem of the old Royal Guard.

"Better late than never, Lieutenant. You did good coming." Darshan said before he went off and didn't turn back again. Hearing that the Royal guard Hunter specialist didn't sound so harsh in the end he had hopes he would not be facing heavy penalties. The Lieutenant saluted him crisply as he departed.

"Yes, Specialist Major Khati!"

* * *

Baghadur was in the mode of celebration, bright colourful lanterns were suspended from wires overhead the walkways and passages. The fighters and refugees alike partied to their hearts content and toasted to pints of ice cool Shangri-lager courtesy of the Royal Army and sponsored by Kyrati Lager.

It was a brief moment of joy out of the sorrowful moments which the Tigers had endured long and hard for their struggle to exist as the third power in Kyrat. But they had pulled through somehow, and considerable thanks for contributing to the Mukti Tigers conception was none other than the fabled Demon of Kyrat.

True to his promise, they received constant supplies of medical aid, rations, small-arms and ammunition. They conducted cross training with the Royal Army to boaster their combat proficiency up a notch above the regular partisan trained Golden Path. In their struggle, they learnt to depend wholely on the 5th and 6th Dragoons who were their lifeline to the Royal Army in the event the Golden Path launched another major offensive. Sadly, as much as they would have enjoyed sharing their celebratory wishes with the two battalions, they were on standby in the S-Program site. Ready to deploy by helicopters at a moments notice. Perhaps they were also celebrating over there, the Tigers emmersed themselves in positive thoughts as this was the only time they got to pour out their woes and stress.

"Cheers!"

"""CHEEERRRSS!"""

Raising their glasses to congratulate their section leaders recent promotion to field commander. The Tigers were on rather short supply of capable field officers so this was one of the rare occasions to celebrate.

Amita had completed her accessments on the new Command structure they adopted for the Tigers, sorting out the various field commanders and sub-commanders into the various roles they fill in. Only she was capable of doing such, at least that's what everyone believed. She was the Tigress of Baghadur, very little could get in her way of success and progress save their benefactor the Northern Demon.

"Amita, come join us for another!"

"No thanks, I'd like to turn in early tonight." She politely refused.

"Come onnnn! Just a sip, bos- Ouch!" The Commandant of the stronghold tapped the drunken fighters head.

"Oi! Can't give her a break? She's been busy all day filling in reports, let her get some shut eye early for once."

"Alright, then you'll take her place then!"

"Count me in!" The Commandant's attitude flipped 180.

Amita shook her head as she smiled, boys always will be boys. She made her way to the quiet of the lodging rooms, being the leader of the Tigers she had some privileges like a private room to herself.

It was truly one of the first times in a while she had gotten a good long sleeping period.

Amita wondered if she wasn't around how would the Tigers manage in her stead. A knock on the door as she settled down her belongings on the table.

"Amita, the waters ready. Go have yourself a hot bath, you've earned it, sister!" One of the members in charge of the logistics informed her.

"Thank you, sister." She responded curtly and went for that hot bath that was promised.

The showers were empty thanks to the party at the compound. Hot water was a luxury that was rarely afforded to them but since it was a special occasion, she thought to book a shower with the logistics.

The sensation of warm water banished all of her tension in her body and cleansed her mind of doubt and unsastifactory thoughts.

(Sigh)

Suddenly, after such a long time, Amita wondered what had become of Bhadra. It had been nearly three months since she'd seen the little rascal, not having her around to watch over her or cook made Amita feel as if a gap had appeared in her life. But she knew she would get the chance to meet her again when this war would come to a close after nearly two and a half decades of endless fighting. Badala wasn't so cold as to deny her that at very least.

She returned to her room freshened and ready to turn in. Curiously, she found a basket had been snuck in while she was out, it had to be that logistic attendant's doing. There were all sorts of items inside the three baskets that had a ribbon on them each. She reached out to grab one of the many cards within the baskets.

A smile leaked from her lips. They were letters of gratitude.

The Tigers had been responsible for evacuating nearly five hundred thousand civilians out of the Southern areas. Most of them were resettled in the many towns, Badala's town was no exception. While a fraction that were insistent on staying in Pacchim Valley due to the many prayer sites they wouldn't be able to access in future stayed in the camps where rather comfortable pre-fab shelters were being built for them between the protection of King's Bridge and Baghadur. An unofficial town was forming there and particularly popular social place had made an appearance there known as the Crazy Cock bar. Twas a popular location for recruiting and employment for the displaced refugees.

There were all manners of gifts in the basket hampers. From liquor bottles all the way to thangkas of Amita herself. Kyratis were rather generous when it meant from the heart, despite their tight situation. Her eyes loomed over the variety until it landed on a rather perculiar item that didn't fit in. A plushy, it appeared handmade and done quite well in quality. But as her thought, it was out of place. The plushy wasn't her but Badala.

Cladded in cotton black armor and wearing a plastic mask of Yalung. The doll seemed strangely cute and attractive that it irritated her for not picking it up sooner. She reached out and grasped the plushy in hand and went over to her mattress to lie down.

"I'm only here to stand against indifference!" She mimicked Badala's voice while manipulating the plushies hands to exaggerate the movements.

"You'll won't stop me, fryface! I'm Badala, Vice-Lord of the valley! Fear me! Respect me Golden Path!"

She giggled as she found her own imitation to be hilarious.

A silence matured within her room, she gazed deeply into the doll's button eyes behind the plastic mask.

In that silence she reflected upon her fated encounters with Badala. Her first wasn't so joyful as it was the Battle of Ratu Gadhi, what Golden Path called the worst military disaster until Sabal surprisingly beat her record in the Meh Teh Offensive. Although she found it strange that during that massacre, the shooter that killed her driver, the person that assisted her out of the toppled vehicle and the the field commander that told her to withdraw were all killed next to her. It was clear that whoever it was, they had definitely decerned her from the group yet were given orders not to kill her. Was it Badala himself then?

"Was that all part of your brilliant plan?" She asked the plushie.

"Why don't we discuss it over that bottle of whisky I owe you." She imitated Badala.

"Oh? Asking an enemy out on a date? How sly of you, Badala." She flirted.

"I could never consider the gorgeous and intelligent Amita to be one of my enemies. You're one of the smartest women I know in Kyrat!" She replied as Badala plushie.

Amita smiled as she thought that up as what the plushie would tell her as if that was what the real one would say. And then, she found it to be rather strange from what she was used to. It was only moment later before she realized the reason.

That was right, out of everyone that she'd met had always talked behind her back about how she was just a woman, how she was a conceit woman thinking of fantasies all day long instead of fulfilling her womanly duties. Back then, it was still a men's world. There was never a time a man had praised her for her hardwork, her ideals she believed in. Always "An upstart" or that ungrateful whore. Nobody acknowledged her for the strength she knew she had in her that were on greater or equal status as her within Golden Path or at Home besides herself.

But there was one exception, his expression wasn't in just words of praise. He actually believed in her ideals and that she was the right person for the job. Bestowing his blessing and logistical support they desperately needed which both saved them from dissolving the group and helped develop the Tigers into a competent powerhouse.

Amita wrapped her arms around the plushie snuggling against it, officially making it her new must have item when going to bed. Her face was just next to plushie Badala's.

As she stared into the button eyes the image of Badala behind the mask, the one that she knew as Soren appeared in front of her. That handsome face with brooding eyes, yet gentle and kind personality.

Before she knew it, her lips were fell gently upon the tiny mouth of the plushie.

(Bang) (Bang) (Bang) A loud hammering on her door broke her concentration and snapped her out of her trance.

"Amita! You there! It's urgent!"

"Uh-… hang on! I'm coming over!" She sleepily got out of the bed after only just about to fall asleep comfortable. She opened the door to demand explanation from the rude individual who woke her and had better have a good reason to.

"What is it…? (Yawn)"

"Amita, it's bad! De Pleur has attacked our QRF outpost and captured it. He's moving further inwards to our location." The Field Commander reported to her. Already, the party had been halted and the fighters were running about to gear up for an anticipated defense against a New Year offensive.

Amita was astounded for a brief moment upon hearing this, but her surprise changed to a frown.

-Sabal, you and the Golden Path have now reached a new type of low.-

* * *

"You'd better be here, Hurk! Because when we find you your death! You hear me?!" Having the same radio set as the Golden path, Hurk could hear them rant on the open channel. But he remained where he was, firm about not giving away his position.

Unfortunately, he had to relocate when the salvos of mortar rounds stopped because the kiln was about to topple over. The Mortar teams were cooling off the overused barrels of their weapons from the sustained barrages.

Hurk was out of kit and out of options, all he had left were two magazines of 7.62x51mm subsonic for the M110 sniper rifle that he took from the Cities armory before torching it.

Despite this, he was more concerned with the well-being of Daisy and the rest. Because the forces that were suppressing him were only a small fraction that held him back as the rest including De Pleur went to the Tigers' territory. He could hear the gunfire of a firefight taking place in the general direction of the Shanath training Ground outpost. Did they make it there and to safety? Or did they flee from the site at least? Hurk was full of unsurity, at very least he was clear that the Tigers had more pressing matters to attend to than him now.

-One option left. To break out of this trap I need to fight my way out.-

Hurk knew he was disregarding the "SAAB" rule that Ajay set for him regarding his survivability. But Jason's friends needed his help, if the Tigers were not able to lend a hand then not many would. But most of all, Kamala's parents desperately needed saving.

When Hurk heard the news that Kamala passed away, he was devastated. He went to Badala's homestead on the hill to seek some counselling but found that he was not suffering the true weight of her death as hard as Badala.

Three days, he remained in his room with all the spirits in the cellar gone. The other residence were in a pickle as to what they should do. Entering Badala's room, he dare not so he left him to seek his own piece of mind. The Condotierri, Ricardo and Stella were kind enough to lend an ear to his troubles so he had attained a clear conscience after that. How Badala overcame his grief, he did not know. Did he even overcome it?

His fury for Jason knew no bounds, so much so he wouldn't forgive him at all. He would rather kill Jason than ally with him. Hurk was the only one who could see with a clearer picture, in time he hoped that Ajay would accept this in the best of interests.

"Clear calm ocean…." Hurk murmured as he psyched himself for the killing he was about to undertake.

Hurk placed himself against the wall of one of the ruin buildings as the fighters searched for him with flashlights. "Come out, Hurk!"

One closest to him around the corner of the wall, he reached out and grabbed him by the mouth to muffle his cries and twisted his head.

(Crack)

The man fell motionless to the ground. Hurk proceeded to remove his affects from him, an AK rifle with three magazines. They weren't much to begin with but they were something.

The exit was eighty metres away from him through the ruin maze, he had the option of taking it loud or stealthy. So he chose the later until that too was compromised.

He crept through the rubble on his belly to reduce his silhouette and sound as much as possible, thankfully the Golden Path fighters weren't as well-trained as the soldiers from earlier. He neared the exit that was just beyond a length of trees in front of him. Never did he expect-

(Creek)

Twigs under his feet snapped from the running force he exerted into his feet. He sighed at himself internally for his carelessness.

"There!"

"Open fire!"

"Mortar teams, barrage due North fifty metres from our location!"

The sound of howling shells were on their way towards his location. Hurk was in a genuining tight spot as he'd just left cover of the ruins and was out in the open. He had only one choice.

Run!

Hurk ran as fast as his two legs could carry him, ignoring the gunfire that was aimed for him. Some lucky shots grazed him in the arm and a solid hit to the ballistic plate in his kelvar vest had almost made him lost his footing. But these were of little concern compared to the rain of death that was imminent in its arrival.

(POP)

The mortar rounds popped overhead releasing their deadly load of submunition bomblets.

(BOBOBOBOBOOM)

Hurk had managed to escape ground zero but was not enough to escape the fringes of the blast radius that flung him into a tree with shrapnel embedded in his torso. He coughed out a goblet of blood as he righted himself against the tree.

His teeth clenched as hard not to scream due to the pain of having his leg twisted in the wrong direction. Either way, he knew that this was the end of his trip.

"Search the area! He was definitely in there!"

Hurk didn't have long to make last minute preparations, he immediately tended to his more immediate problems like stopping the blood flow from his chest with the clotting agents while throwing a quick dressing on it. He then proceeded to count the last remain bullets in his magazines, he'd lost the AK rifle somewhere and only had what was with him which were the M110 sniper rifle and a sidearm.

"One full load of twenty, another with four….. (Huff)… two clips of .45. Ha! I'm all set, bullets for days." Hurk loaded the full magazine into the rifle and slapped the bolt release to load a fresh round in the chamber.

And it was just in time as one fighter found him and shouted his location to the rest. Hurk rewarded his effort with a slug through his head.

"This is our final chance! Make sure not to kill him! He's way more valuable alive!"

It was easier said than done. Like a cornered animal, Hurk would fight to the last drop of blood. Whenever a fighter appeared over the ridge or through the bushes they would only achieve instant death.

(Peak) (Peak) (PeakPeak) (Peak)

The suppressed shots rung in rapid succession as Hurk fired at anything that moved in front of him. A mound of bodies collapsed in front of him.

(Click)

Hurk quickly flung the empty magazine from his gun out and loaded the last one with four rounds left. Yet the number of Golden Path fighters remaining exceed that amount at roughly thirty-eight but he had managed to shut down fourteen of their fellow warriors.

He made sure his last four counted by waiting for the right moment. This time it was more difficult as they fired randomly in his direction through the bushes, some shots grazed him and the area closeby.

Three men came into his line of sight through the thermal optic. He waited for them to naturally align themselves which they conveniently did.

(Peak) Squeezing the trigger when the fated shot that severed three lives at once.

They fell in a row. Hurk silently fist-pumped the air in his mind.

-Triple kill!-

He recited the in-game commentary of that one online multiplayer game he played with some dudes way back in his global roadtrip, it was in Singapore if he remembered correctly. Hallo- Holly -or Helo something was the games name. He wasn't a computer genius or anything.

He was down to three shots. Unfortunately, there wasn't going to be anymore shots like the previous one. But he managed to take the lives of three more before-

(Click) This time, his rifle was truly empty. His sidearm 1911 automatically popped out and took its place, already loaded and ready to protect him as a last resort measure.

The fighters fired at him fiercely to encourage him to waste shots suppressing them to make his capture easier now that his rifle was out. But Hurk planned to not make it easy for them, in fact he planned for them to return home empty handed. He smiled madly as he pressed the handgun to his chin.

The fighters released cold sweat after realizing what was his next plan of action. "Don't!-."

Hurk closed his eyes and let the rush of treasured memories flow through him. His entire life's journey drove past him in a blink of an eye. But the best moments were in Kyrat, with his friends and his best Tatbro ever.

-Sorry Bad's. I'll make it up to you in the next life.-

His finger depressed on the trigger to actuate the hammer.

(POP)

"Huh?"

A familiar sound of a projectile above them popping to release submunition bomblets surprised everyone in the vicinity. Their thoughts were "Hey! We're still in here! Who gave the order?!"

(BOBOBOBOBOOM)

But the explosion wasn't where they were. It was instead where the mortar teams were deployed.

Someone had fired a counter-battery barrage back at the mortar teams. The sound of a helicopter suddenly burst overhead with a chain gun mounted searchlight shining where they were.

How could they not have heard the sound of the helicopter coming? The answer was true "nape of the earth" flying, something that only one chopper pilot was truly capable of in Kyrat.

*Right! Do your thing, boys!* Kamran announced to the Condotierri in his passenger compartment. They clipped their harnesses and rappelled down the ropes with their guns blazing.

The Fighters' first instinct to the power shift was to run, but their location could only take them so far due to the lack of cover in their area. Ricardo, Luigi and Emilio mowed them down with their backs turned.

With the end of the fighters, their attentions were dedicated to Hurk.

"Did I ever tell you how fucking lucky you are, fratello?" Ricardo grinned as he squatted next to Hurk to inspect his wounds.

"You mean like I've got a demon watching over me." The Condotierri shook their heads while sniggering.

"That demon is gonna roast you for leaving without consent and getting in this shitty situation if we don't get you back quick!"

"And you made the mother hen worry too!" Luigi adds Stella's concern.

"Yeah that too! Expect a scolding when we get back." Ricardo agreed.

"Yeah! You'd better rehearse your lines Hurk!" Luigi joked.

"I was referring to us." The colour on Luigi's face changed, it was clear her scolding wasn't just scolding to them. He went a distance already rehearsing.

"How'd you find me?"

"Your handiwork could be seen from miles away."

Kamran landed not far from where they were.

"Is it just you guys?" Hurk looked around them.

"Yep! Or what? Were you expecting someone else?"

"No!-That's not what I meant-."

"It's fine, brother. We got you."

"No. What I meant was how did you get rid of the mortar teams. I mean I don't see your chopper loaded with rockets or anything."

It turned out it was Pagan's personal helicopter. How did they get Kamran to fly them here without Pagan's consent was a mystery. If he found out, he'd kill them and feed them to the pigs.

"Oh! I think you're referring to this thing." Emilio lumbered what appeared to be a rocket launcher out of the helicopter, although it didn't look like the usual RPG-7 launcher carried around by rocket troops.

"I was surprised at first too. I mean I thought it was laser-guided or something at first but when the rocket suddenly flies above you... I thought it was a dud but then it came crashing down like a meteor releasing cluster bombs. Top-attack style. Who would have thought Longinus was crazy enough to built this nutty thing!" Emilio tapped Longinus's launcher.

Hurk looked at Ricardo who shrugged his shoulders. In the end of the day, it did its job perfectly well and inspired fear amongst the fighters.

"So weird... Why can't it just shoot straight?" Emilio murmured as he went off to load the launcher back on the helicopter.

Ricardo attended to the poorly done field dressing, Hurl could afford to relax now that he was safe but he couldn't. Grabbing hold of his arms he explained.

"Ricardo listen."

"Save your strength for later." But Hurks grip tightened.

"No you need to hear this. I need your help."

"What's this about then?" He waited patiently.

"It concerns Badala and Jason Brody not having to fight, and Jason no longer being our enemy. But the solution to this is currently on the run."

When Hurk replied the answer to their worries, Ricardo felt naturally inclined to listen.

"Let's hear it then."

* * *

Author's Notes:

During the introduction of Jason and other Brody, i seperated Brody's sentences from jason's through the use of Bold lettering. This was to give an impression that person wasn't mentally sound or was somehow different from a normal speech. But since Brody is the one running the show right now, I'll be removing this.


	49. Chapter 47 - Testing the Tigers resolve

Author's Reflection:

I feel this chapter might be a bit lacking in content, I'll try to follow up with more content in the next with quicker speed. I didn't want to bring in content i reserved for the next either. Some will rage, so will be alright. I can't please everyone. Christmas is coming, and so is the heat wave in Australia. We'll all be retreating into the comfort of our air-conditioned or fan-cooled verandas and patios.

* * *

They say that looking at your phone while driving was dangerous.

Going at a hundred and thirty kilometres on a bike at night while looking at text messages from Army HQ probably wasn't a good idea. Yet, it wasn't something Ajay stressed himself over, in fact he never felt more alive with the rush from the higher than normal speeds the transportation in Kyrat was limited to. He stuck to the concrete roads as much as possible although they were longer they didn't hinder his journey. The Uttar region roads had undergone a major makeover, now wider and either in concrete or bitumen tar. The same could not be said for much of the Southern roads in Pacchim Valley that were still host to conflicts. But when you possessed a hundred and seventy housepower on a lightweight frame, you might as well be flying.

Being involved in street races before, he was able to appreciate the joys of going liberate on the accelerator throttle. This fun was shortlived, he had a mission for coming here this time.

His mission was Hurk's safety. Brody's friends, he didn't care, they weren't his problem. Even if he were willing to take them in, they would only be a liability he didn't have to deal with. He could already imagine it, the moment they were not feeling threatened a conceit kind of behaviour would emerge. Critizising everything he and the Royal army did, why they couldn't go home yet or why he was so stingy on lending them aid. He had no reason to help them, period.

There friend, that psychopath Jason Brody. Whether he was truly aware of his own urges to kill or not, wasn't going to go unpunished.

Layak sent him an overview report on the situation.

De Pleur was leading an attack in the direction of Baghadur, they'd already captured several outposts along the way. The Tigers simply weren't ready, it was a festive mood they adopted due to the silent truce that all factions had yet the Golden Path were unscrupulous enough to attack them. They were just asking to be loathed by everyone, it was quite laughable. To think that Ajay Ghale's absence from Golden Path could lead to such calamity on its own. If Amita were still in Golden Path, then perhaps this would have settled on its own but she wasn't any longer. She was the representative for her own agendas, thanks to Ajay.

Ajay had managed to divide the Golden Path, while Amita's faction was technically a fifth of the whole group it was still a considerable size force that left because of poor management and leadership on Sabal's end. Ajay found that Sabal was a better crowd stirrer than he was a strategist let alone a fighter. He was also very slippery, Ajay noticed. He managed to get himself out of death traps on numerous occasions and was becoming a rather annoying thorn in his side.

-Note to self: Place bounty for Sabal. Dead twice the amount alive.- That way he was dead anyway and couldn't wiggle himself out of capture.

(Ring) His phone blinked in front of him, he pressed the answer and waited for the response on his wireless headset built into his mask.

"Badala speaking."

*Kamran here, I just wanted to inform you about the change in situation.*

"Go on."

*Hurk is with me, and don't worry. He's in a bad shape but nothing live endangering at the moment.*

(Screech) The brakes were applied on the bike and the tires bleed against the road.

"Say again?"

*Hurks with me on the way back to the north, I've already called up the Royal Physician Mahabir so he'll be in good hands.*

"And Ricardo?" Did he just waste a trip?!

*They-…. Hurk discussed with them something and they went in the direction of the Tiger's homeground.*

-Shit!-

Ajay knew exactly what they were doing. They were going to rescue Jason's friends. From a strategic persepective, it looked as if they were removing Jason from the playing field. His apparent drive was saving his friends, but that's not what Ajay saw in him.

They were complicating something that was not hard to see from his perspective. Ajay had been bathed deeply in blood to know when a person enjoyed killing and to what extent. With Jason's schizophrenic tendencies there was no telling how he would justify himself.

*..Uph-… hang on. Hurk wants to say something.*

*Urgh-…. Hey Bad's.* He heard Hurk's weak voice on the other side of the microphone.

"Lie back down and rest, you big idiot." Ajay said in monotone but couldn't hide his disappointment in him. Hurk laughed but soon regretted as he started to cough painfully.

*I know you're upset, I did something foolish and made all of you worry.* Saying that to him, Ajay found it hard to punish him for this.

*I asked Ricardo if it were possible to save Jason's friends since they were the only group capable of contending with whatever the Golden path could throw at them. He considered it a hefty favour I owed him, but something I'll pay all the more if it means saving you too.*

Ajay was finding it difficult to fault Hurk for his choice, from how he explained it he had given much thought into this trip to save Jason's friends. But he was still oblivious to the danger of rescuing them. Should he tell him?

"Hurk…. Regarding Jason-."

*I know what you're gonna say, I know you take me for a fool sometimes and that's reasonable. I can do stupid things and make dumb decisions. In fact, I didn't want to believe it till I got locked up in the City of Pain with his friends. There's something different about him, something very….. wrong. Sound's strange dun'it?* Hurk chuckled in self-pity.

*He's not the same as he once was all those years ago. When I pleaded with him it was as if-….. as if he already knew.*

Ajay didn't believe what he was hearing, Hurk actually understood to a limited extent Jason's deteriorated mental soundness. After all, crazies didn't know when they were crazy.

"So then, why? What use is there rescuing his friends?"

*Because it's the right thing to do.* Hurk's answer was simple yet the most effective on Ajay.

"You owe them nothing."

*No. You still don get it. I didn't do it for them…. I did it for you.*

-Me?!-

*(Sigh)…. I know you can't forgive Jason for what he did, but most of all you can't forgive yourself. So I wanted to bring his friends to you so that you would stop making excuses for him and for you. You owe it to yourself. And… I'm sure she wouldn't want you tearing yourself over her.*

"…" He didn't need a refresher in memory lane to remember that. The pained voice that told him not to let her death bog him down for both their sakes rung clearer than ever. Why did Hurk always say the simplest of things with the most truth?

*And then, who would have thought another reason to save them came up. Somehow, I'm starting to buy into the whole karma thing, because among the people that I rescued from the City, were Kamala's parents.*

The last sentence struck Ajay deep in his psyche.

Kamala's… Parents.

"… Where?" Was all Ajay asked. Hurk couldn't believe his luck as he had somehow gotten through to Ajay.

*Where Ricardo was headed, to Baghadur.*

A long silence crept between their conversation until-

"….. Hurk, pass the mic to Kamran."

*Uh- oh! Ok!...* Hurk shuffled with the microphone to hand it back to the pilot.

*Hello?* Kamran answered.

"Stay on route. Call HQ, send in the Dragoons and the Hussars. And tell them to raid Banapur, make sure Golden Path knows the seriousness of their offense. Spare only the civilians living there, and kill any that take up arms." Kamran trembled at the ruthlessness of Ajay's demands. Almost like an eye for an eye but thricefold. It was clear that even if Ajay hadn't ask this of the Army HQ, some of the council members would have already vied for it to happen. The attack on

*W-What about you?*

"What about me?" Ajay ended the call and turned the throttle to accelerate away, but now he no longer headed in the direction of the Brick Factory.

Within the chopper, Kamran held the phone in surprise.

"He hung up on me!" Hurk chuckled to himself, careful not to let Kamran hear it. He knew that Ajay had already left and which direction he likely went. Knowing that Badala had entered the field, Hurk was assured that the day was already theres.

Tearing the country road with his bike, he was headed for Baghadur. Not just for his own sake.

But for both Kamala's parents and for Brody's friends.

Kamran brooded over the task Ajay gave him, but then concentrated on flying away. It didn't mean he couldn't made conversation while piloting though.

"Oh! Did you hear? His royal highness apparently made Badala duke.

* * *

When Amita arrived at the site where her fellow comrades held off the Golden Path. The battlefield was already torn with shell craters and bodies from both ends pilling. This wasn't the New Year that everyone had imagined, it's image burned deeply into the hearts of the Tigers who were only moments ago enjoying the time of their lives merrymaking.

This assault was led by none other than Paul Harmon, the former Royal Army Chief Interrogator. In a strange twist of fate, joined the very people he victimised not too long ago.

"Call in the second group near the river back to fortify!"

The situation was getting desperate. Being caught unprepared, cost them all of the outposts that buffered the Golden Path from Baghadur stronghold. Now they were fighting just a few hundred metres from the stronghold at the ridge before the stronghold came into view from the East.

It seemed that with the success of De Pleur's breakthrough due to his experience soldiers hardwork had convinced the Golden Path's war council to take the initiative to go through with a complete takeover of the North-East parts. Something they wouldn't have dared to do before with Sabal's failure, but this time was different. The Royal Army and Mukti Tigers were oblivious to what was coming, they may have won the battles but they were fated to lose the war.

On the other side of the ridge stood De Pleur and some of the reserve old Guard Commanders. Impressed with De Pleur's feat at taking away Amita's defensive front, the war council bestowed their best field commanders and battalions to command. He was proving to be more competent than the disgrace. The Tigers were finding it hard to match the quality of the professional soldiers that were the Renegades and Old Guard Elite. Although they had some cross training with the Royal Army, the gap was still present. And they were losing their initiative due to culminating factors, especially to do with morale. The surprise attack had taken a huge toll on the Tigers that it had shaken them up considerably.

"Amita, there!" A sergeant pointed out to the slopes in the North where the airport lay.

Amita had pressed the alarm to summon the Dragoons to come to their aid again, but was told that a similar instance was happening behind the mountains in the Uttar region. Golden Path was attacking a stronghold on the other side and one that was rather deep behind the lines. How they managed to get through the mountain pass with such a large force was the question they looked for without answers. But it didn't mean the Royal army didn't send help to them.

A small convoy of three technical trucks with heavy armaments of Dshk HMGs had arrived to assist them. Amita understood they could have only come from one place, that was the airport.

As it was, the airport was too valuable to the Royal army to spare the existing garrison to help the nearby Tigers. That was why the Dragoons were detailed to watch the Tigers backs, but their base was in the Uttar region and they needed twenty minutes' time to arrive. So Amita understood that for Army HQ to dispatch troops from the Airport meant they were doing their very best.

"Corporal Ban, reporting. General Staff sent us a message to dispatch a platoon to aid you, I sorry if this isn't enough."

"It's alright, Corporal. Anyone will be welcomed right now."

"Forgive me, I know this must be nerve wrecking considering the Golden Path's shamelessness in breaking the truce. But considering the odds here, your group is gonna take considerable casualties in this ridge." The Corporal spoke bluntly.

"It's fine, we were prepared for this. Unfortunately, there is a large civilian presence evacuating towards the North and we can't fall back from here or we risk their safety."

Not everyone settled in at the newly forming town between the airport and king's bridge. Some settlements and camps were set up near Baghadur by the river because they were under the impression the stronghold could provide them with safety. The Tigers were now fulfilling this role.

"I see, then my troops will be under your command. Use us as you see fit." The Corporal entrusted his platoon under Amita's control showed not only the respect they had for her ideals and temperament but for her courage in adversity.

"Don't worry, Corporal. I won't waste you or your mens' lives over nothing."

"I know you won't. The situation looks very poor, but perhaps I can shed some light in this grim time."

"What is it?" The Field commanders were also curious.

"We heard a rumor that some of the Condotierri contractors came here, but that's not all. Apparrently, Badala is also here."

"Badala?!"

"Heavens!"

As shocked as they were to this rumor and the hope that sprung from it. It was still a rumor. But if he were really here, his arrival would spark a turning point in this hopeless battle. Because the fear the Golden Path had of him wasn't just limited to the partisan fighters but every joint in the organisation, including the Old Guard regiments.

"Where is he now?"

"A mate from mine in communications said he intercepted a transmission between him and Headquarters that he was searching for a friend of his that escaped from De Pleur's City of Pain."

Amita looked at the map and traced the likely point that he would stop to search. If his friend were escaping from the City of Pain. It led to Baghadur via the Rochan Brick Factory. Amita had a feeling that De Pleur's attack on them wasn't initially to assault them by surprise. Just who was this prisoner of theirs that was so important they would be willing to attack them and shame themselves for breaking a truce.

But there was no mistake. Badala would come here, the breadcrumb trail that Paul left would lead him to them. Again, Amita frowned when thinking about that prisoner or prisoners selfishness to have brought this disaster upon them while not appearing before them and admitting to it. She felt slightly reluctant to welcome them if they sought asylum, to cause everyone such grief for their own safety. Him/Her or they had singlehandedly ruined that festive mood they were having this new year, now they were preparing to cremate a majority of their forces that would fall tonight. The dawn seemed almost a few minutes away. If they could hold out till morning at sunrise, perhaps it would discourage the Golden Path from continuing on now that their presence was 100% visible and out in the open for the Royal Army to attack.

"Amita! Something's happening in front!" A sergeant informed her of the sudden change in the battlefield. The Golden Path's end had quietened and out popped a white flag manned by one of the Renegade soldiers. Seeing a traitor from their ranks, the Royal Army soldiers glared at them with disdain and loathe.

"Fancy seeing you here, Amita!" Out of cover came, De Pleur. Standing foolhardy in the open as if to taunt them to shoot him.

One such fighter was nearly about to do so when Amita placed her hand on his sights and pushed his rifle down.

"The feeling is mutual, though it holds nothing but loathe for you!" Paul chuckled at her words.

"Lot's happened since Bad's pulled out three-quarters of the population here. Can you believe it? The Golden Path were nearly about to hand Sabal's ass over to Pagan! HAhahaha!"

The words that came from Paul's mouth confused not just the Tigers but the Royal Army soldiers and Amita herself. They all thought the same thing.

-Then whose leading Golden Path now?!-

"I think I've revealed enough now, though you wouldn't believe me if I told you who! Don't worry, in a few minutes it'll become a reality."

"What the hell are you blabbering on about, Paul?" Amita called out coldly.

"When Golden Path returns to its apex."

"The Golden Path is doomed!" Retorted Amita, but all Paul and the Golden Path did was laugh. The scene was nervewrecking and uneasy. They should have been pummelled into the ground by now, yet they were still on the high horses that they would win this war.

"What the hell do you want, Paul? If you called for ceasefire just to tell us this bullshit then I'll take your head right here!"

"Will you just chill out? Jeez… haha… No. I didn't call this ceasefire for that, I want to make a deal with you."

"You have nothing worth negotiating, end of discussion." She returned.

"Oh-ho! Hot and spicy as always. You do have something I want. Jason Brody's friends and that kid brother of his, Really- Rolly- what was his name again? Oh yeah. Riley."

-So it was these people!-

Amita pieced together the building blocks in her deduction. Paul was out looking for Jason Brody's friends. Most likely taken against their will to threaten Jason.

"Never heard of them."

"Oh come now, sweet pea! We know you have them all nicely tucked away in Baghadur, you obviously know the importance of Jason Brody to us. Come now, we're all civilised people. You've got something I want and I've got something you want."

"And what would that be?" Amita asked half convinced.

Paul didn't answer, instead he snapped his fingers and his men disappeared into the background and returned with an assembly of people. Although, they weren't just ordinary people.

"Please, spare us!"

"Forgive us!"

"Just don't hurt us anymore!"

The hairs on the fighters on Amita's side stood up. Made to line up in front of De Peur and his renegades were the people who had gone missing from the villagers several weeks and even months back. They were the former inmates that escaped with the thanks of Hurk but were unfortunately captured. There were old and young within their midst as well.

"Sunnovabitch!"

"PAUL!" Amita raised her voice in anger. But all he did was laugh maniacally at their suffering.

"One of the greatest flaws in the so called Mukti Tigers, I'll show it to you right now, Amita. And its that the Tigers can't protect everyone. I told you I wasn't shitting you. Now, shall we get down to business?"

"We don't have you Jason Brody's friends-." (BANG)

"Hiieee!"

To their surprise and utter disbelief, Paul executed one of the seventeen hostages in their grasp. He then responded with-

"I think I heard wrongly, you mind repeating that?"

"You bastard! I'll kill you-." One of the fighters in their ranks witnessed the act and went out of control, the others quickly stopped him from crossing the line. It was during this time that the Golden Path members held unsightly expressions, to be associated with this monster was the most humiliating thing. But they were under orders, and he was dirtying his hands to get what they truly wanted. He was better in every way compared to their disappointment Sabal and that included his ruthlessness and immorality.

Even if they did have Brody's friends, they would have gone through this deal in one swift motion. But they didn't.

"Paul stop! We don't have them, we-." (BANG) A soldier executed another hostage in the row.

"Damnit!" The Field commander next to Amita cursed.

"Quit wasting everybody's time, we caught them at the training ground outpost. They were definitely there with that fat guy Hurk!" It could be seen from the lines on his face that De Pleur was losing his patience.

Amita bit her lip till she could taste iron. There had never been a moment as intense as this. Also, where had she heard that name before? It was the least of her worries at the moment with the hostages being executed one after another in front of them and they were all helpless to watch.

The hostages pleaded and begged Amita to save them.

"No?... Let's try a soft one this time, shall we?" Paul motioned one of his soldiers to snatch up a child amongst them this time.

"NOOO! Please, not my boy!"

"MaaaMaaa!"

The screams tore at the psyche of the Tigers and Royal Army soldiers who stood their with blood shot eyes and bulging veins upon their weapons.

"Just give the word! The snipers will drop'em!" Her field commander whispered to her ear. Ready to pounce upon Paul and the renegades at Amita's go. But she knew that the moment they moved, the hostages were dead.

The seven-year old boy was placed in front to kneel in front of them. Tears and mucus running from his face as the renegade soldier placed his kukri against his neck to slit when the command was given. Pleeing to Amita and her fighters to save him, his eyes said it all.

"I'll give you till the count of ten then. And It'll be back the good old fashion tug of war. Ten!"

"Nine."

But they really didn't know where they were.

"Paul, we don't have them!"

"Eight!"

"They never came to our stronghold. But we'll give up the outposts to you in exchange instead! How bout that?!" Amita was already pushing her limits within bargaining power but the next response from Paul took the life out of her.

"…Five!" He shortened the countdown.

"YOU CAN HAVE THE STRONGHOLD!" Amita shouted to the top of her lungs.

As if time had stopped, the entire battlefield quietened to nothing when Amita shouted out the most unbelievable words to ever come out of her mouth.

"Did I just hear correctly?"

"Yah. I heard it too."

"When has she ever been like that?"

The was much confusion amongst both sides, Tigers and Golden Path. They were all familiar with Amita's ethics she always made cold calculative decisions… yet… now she just said she was willing to give up the greatest strategic advantage the newly formed Tigers had over the live of a boy that barely reach the sink in the bathroom without help. When the hell did she become so magnanimous?!

When? That was the question not just on everyones' mind but hers as well.

In the heat of the moment she blunted out something even she couldn't believe she just said. Why did she say it? In that brief moment her mind scurried through her memories to find out the reason for this. And then it appeared within her thoughts once again.

The day when Kamala died.

Returning from chasing Sabal and his strikeforce was Kamala in the arms of Badala. Though she hadn't been there to see it, she could see the visible lines of tear marks upon his face. The ache she felt upon seeing him that way, the one she looked up to. And more recently, she discovered something else about her not too long ago in her quarters. Another besides herself believed in her core values and agenda. What was it?

To break from the shackles of tradition. Freedom from oppression!

Her own realization of her beliefs and his faith in her strengthened her desire to uphold them even if it meant losing significant headway to stay with it. It was still what defined their organisation and the core of the people they protected.

De Pleur looked at her for a moment in amazement and slight ridicule when he regained composure and burst out laughing.

"I had the highest regard for you, Amita. But just now you blabbered out something that was so ironic in regards to you. You just sold yourself out as one of the biggest hypocrites in Kyrat!" Paul grinned diabolically.

"So what if she is!" A voice shouted from the Tigers.

"You expect another response when you hold that child hostage?" Followed by others.

"You're a shameless bastard, Paul!"

"I bet your children would be ashamed to call you father!"

The last comment made Paul twitch with fury. The Tigers burst into an outcry at De Pleur, regardless if he were an enemy or not. That was the lowest thing to do.

But Paul had a simple way to quieten them down.

"FOUR!" All of the voices ceased and faces turned pale. Especially that of Amita's. She had offered everything they had yet Paul chose to torture them with the one innocent soul they weren't able to save with all their might and strength. One that was of a child.

-Stop..- The words couldn't form in her mouth as she pleaded to De Pleur through her expression.

"All units, ready for an assault now!" The field commander whispered onto his radio as the Tigers prepared themselves to take the fight to them.

"Three!"

-Stop!-

"Two."

"GOLDEN PATH! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Amita screamed at the top of her lungs. It was one thing for the Tigers to do everything in their power to stop this tragedy from happening, but for the Golden Path to stay in inaction when oppression was happening within their ranks. She looked deeply at the fighters on the other side to see if they would at least show keenness to intervene. But too her disbelief, nobody spoke up, they didn't even look at her or the Tigers. Just what did Sabal do to the Golden Path?

But Amita was unaware that Sabal no longer ran the show, but the one running it had given his explicit order to the war council and in turn to the men down below. "Victory at any cost." It was the most simple of phrases yet it had all they needed to abide by. Things were different than it once was, the father of left-wing traditionalism had returned. Paul had brought them further than any of the commanders ever had within the Tigers territory and with so few resources. This was the price they had to pay to attain victory.

The blood of a child on their hands.

"One… I guess that's the best you could do." Paul walked next to his soldier holding the kid at gun point. The water trickled from his eyes and nostrils as he knew what was coming. Paul patted the kid's head much to their surprise, was this all a ruse to get them worked up?

"It's gonna be alright son, Amita will take care of everything." He said to the kid with a convincing smile, the soldier who had him in possession had even stepped away. The boy stood their confused. So their thoughts were correct, De Pleur was just playing them. But it was only Amita that saw that something was truly off.

Paul then turned to Amita and said the most despicable thing to her.

"Lie, like I lied." He said with a straight face as he drew his 1911 and faced it at the boy standing alone. Then everyone's minds rattled with an unforeseen pressure acting on their minds.

De Pleur didn't want their answers at all, he only wanted one thing and they'd given it to him freely.

Despair.

Who were they kidding, they realized it too late. This was De Pleur, Paul Harmon, former Chief Interrogator of Pagan. The butcher of thousands of innocent men, women and children behind the wall of the City of Pain.

The mother of the child, still on her knees fainted on the spot from the stress she underwent. The other prisoners watched in despair as well, all they could do was watch knowing they and the other children were next.

"Well? I'm waiting!" Paul said with losing patience while waving his pistol in that general direction. The boy was too frightened to move out of the way and shivered in the spot he stood on.

"… ok…" Amita struggled word for word.

"SAY IT!" He shouted. (Click) His hammer on the pistol cocked back. Amita trembled as she gazed towards the boy wearing an equally terrified expression.

"… it's alright,… kid…everything's….gonna…..gonna…be-…..…." Tears dropped from her face, every word that came out of her mouth comdemned the boy to an early death.

"Finish it!" Paul called out. The Tigers stared murderous glares at De Pleur. Hands gripped around the pommels of their kukris ready to pounce upon Paul and deliver a thousand stabs of retribution upon him.

Amita looked up to the kid with a look of despair and apology, in the end she could do nothing. Paul was a madman from the very beginning, he feared nothing except the one person that wasn't here. He was already confident he would take the stronghold on his own without bargaining and to drag Jason's friends out by the hairs. He never intended to negotiate, he simply wanted to damage their morale and cause them to rage at his acts so they would lose their clear focus.

So instead of lying to the kid…

"What is your name, child?" She asked with strength in her voice that seemed to give the kid some ease.

"K-…Kou."

"Kou, I'm very sorry. The Tigers have failed you. Your mother will be taken care of but for you... All I can promise you….. is that Paul Harmon will never rest easy so long as the last member of the Tigers exist, we will avenge you."

While it may have only been Amita who said this, the Tigers had already inscribed that oath upon their hearts. Paul's face fell into an ugly look when the Tigers refused to submit.

"You Fucking Whor- (Ping) Huh?"

A metal ping was heard from an object striking the floor next to him.

(BOOM)

And as De Pleur was about to put a cap into the kid's forehead and explosion of thick smoke burst right in front of them. Breaking line of sight De Pleur had with his soldiers, the kid and the hostages. But with them to him and one another as well.

"What the hell!"

(Vrrrrrmmm) The sound of a motorbike not like any heard in Kyrat came closer and closer to where Paul was from the rear of their lines. So close that Paul almost thought someone had the bright idea to ram him with a bike. He jumped out of the way as a precaution, but the bike was never intending to ram him.

It passed him instead, leaving behind a flash of twin red lights.

From Amita and the Tigers angle, someone had burst out of the smoke and stopped in front of them. But it so happened that dawn had just arrived and a harsh glare shone their direction, obstructing their view temporarily.

At the same time, the smoke began to clear as Paul got up from the ground and found a smoke grenade was discharged next to him since their was an empty canister next to him.

He turned back to the opposite direction where the Tigers were and too his horror. The man he had constant nightmares about was before him. With the child wrapped around his arm from the kid's waist in one arm. The other rested on the throttle of his out of place motorcycle. A gleaming mask sent electric down the spines of Golden Path and renegade alike.

The reaction on the other end was the reverse of his in their eyes. Delight, salvation, gratitude. The same could be seen in Amita's eyes and that of the kid Kou's, yet she was the fastest yet again to notice something had changed. Because Ajay was completely oblivious to their demenours.

He was focused only one way, and that was where Paul was.

While a mask concealed his face, an expression behind it couldn't be hidden. An expression bleeding with the most potent hatred. And it said a thousand words, with just one meaning.

 **You're all dead.**

* * *

Author's notes:

If you found this behaviour of De Pleur to be strange then I can't think of any way to redeem. From what I gather, Paul was always a bully and a coward. Add his sickfuck tendencies witness at the City of Pain and you have yourself the worst scum on the planet. If Ashley ever knew…..

My idea was to give Amita a soften edge here for the future.


	50. Chapter 48 - Now you know how they felt

Author's Notes:

A hot Christmas for me here in Adelaide, incoming forty degrees. How i wish upon a star for a white christmas right about now. I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and a happy new year!

* * *

To be pulled out in the middle of the Crystal Falls New Year celebration gave Arjun a jet lag feeling. Though he had been through many sleepless nights ever since his rise to the Chief of Armed Forces position and when he was managing the defences as Chief of Army, this one was a long night without a wink. Dawn was almost upon them.

The Palace guards drove him back to the Royal Fortress where the general staff demanded his presence. It was not a good sign especially on the new year, something was happening while they were at home or out celebrating.

To his disbelief, his fears were confirmed. The Golden Path, who should have been so weak they should have been on the verge of collapsing on its own had raided them. But if it were any ordinary attack behind the lines it would have been squashed and not even reach his ears. This was something else entirely, this was the Golden Path attacking Rajgad Gulag and making off with some very dangerous individuals. Men that threatened the security of the crown sixteen years ago, men who were on par with the cunning and shred then-Duchess Yuma Lau and now Queen Yuma Min.

"How the hell did they break through?!" One of the colonels expressed his disbelief to the rest who were just about to motion the same thing. Arjun recalled the report that Layak sent him, the one in regards to the Golden Path activity near a certain entrance he thought no one would know about.

An assistant read out the report on the events that took place at Rajgad Gulag stronghold. The appearance of one Jason Brody and the intervention of Specialist Major Darshan Khati. The man that imprisoned them, but he was just one man against them all where the QRF should have been there.

Arjun had no power over the Specialist Major's position, it was like an extension of Yuma's will. His allegiance was with Queen Min and solely her even if he wore the uniform of the Army. The report on how he did captured them was buried by Yuma herself that day. He had some reason to believe he was related to old man Khati, the last of the grand legacy of Great Generals of Kyrat during the reign of Devi.

Arjun had only just entered the Royal guard when Bibek Khati retired but it didn't mean he was forgotten. Bibek Khati had done many amazing feats such as clearing up the failure of the crown for attacking the Hunic tribes just to show his might. He also pacified the Nationalists movement that was arising during that violatile era.

In short, it was no wonder the specialist major was even capable of subduing the Devas. Although he felt that Darshan wasn't truly Bibek's flesh and blood, but was adopted for the sake of his entry into Yuma's Royal guard as strict as the recruitment regulation was back then. It didn't change the fact that he was connected to the old legend.

-This is my fault!-

"I've made a terrible error….." He murmured to himself, all those lives at Rajgad Gulag…. Lost because of his carelessness. The consequence weighed heavily upon Arjun, who was he to not assume they found a secret entrance by chance. He underestimated the Golden Paths intentions, he went under the impression they would hide and refortify their positions and ranks of men and women. He forgot there were still more than fifty thousand souls that called themselves Golden Path fighters, regardless of their vocations.

"Where is his grace?" Arjun now refered to Ajay by his new appointment as Duke. It was of no surprise that the war council were astounded by King Min's decision to move him up so quickly and informally, but then he also made Mistress Lau his new Queen.

"He went in the direction of Baghadur, he also requested 5th and 6th Dragoons plus 1st Hussars to attack Banapur." Layak dutifully reported.

"He's crazy!"

"An eye for an eye, eh?"

"No surprise there, Golden Path attacked us and Amita. He probably didn't want to leave them thinking they got away with this act of terrorism."

The council members agreeded that Badala, though vicious in his actions always had a subtle meaning behind his movements. Either way, they wouldn't interfere with his request which they were sure the battalion commanders of 1st, 5th and 6th would respond to immediately.

(Knock) (Knock) (Knock) Someone was knocking hardly on their conference room door.

"Come in!" Arjun called out in a foul mood.

An officer from communications department hurried in with an urgency about him.

"Yes, Lieutenant?"

"Urgent report concerning weather forecast!"

The war council felt they had more important things to worry than a weather change. But Arjun sensed something wrong.

"Satellite imagery suggests an imminent snowstorm on the way building up in the South."

Arjun's eyebrows twitched. It was the Winter period but he knew the seriousness of a snowstorm in Kyrat. It rarely happened but when it did, the blizzard would stalk upon Kyrat's territories for over two months. It was a serious enough affair because it effectively grounded all their air activities, including supply drops.

"Shit!" The War council understood this as well.

"Call for Storage Centre 8 to dispatch food supplies to the frontlines and tell them the storms coming!"

"Then what about the villages?"

"If the front falls then we'll be left exposed! Someone will definitely go hungry here!"

The war council went into fierce debate on their plan of action. Food and ammunition supplies would be limited now that they couldn't import supplies from overseas.

"And what about the S-site?"

"We have no choice, it'll have to ground it's activities until further notice. Make sure they secure their equipment in the harden shelters!" Arjun directed on the S-program sites outcome concerning the coming two-month long blizzard.

But it didn't erase one unease in Arjun's heart. Two-months of separation from the Southern parts of Pacchim Valley, anything could happen with the Golden Path with that kind of luxury in time without hindrance from the Royal Army.

"We'll have to reshuffle the formations, especially the Dragoons. Send word to the hangars that the helicopters are prohibited from flights three days from now."

"What about the supply routes?"

"We'll have to improvise, what can Longinus do about his arms shipment?"

"He spoke of using the border route via Nepal one time, but we haven't opened dialogue between us and them for nearly eight years. Not since that civil war of theres." Layak informed them.

"What about Bhutan?" One of the councillors suggested.

Arjun sighed, it had been a long time since Kyrat had engaged in any diplomatic ties with any of their Himalayan neighbours at all. King Min's seclusion and Mistress Lau's concerns with the drug business had long made Kyrat a failing state in the eyes of the international community.

But now there was a glimmer of hope. To a large extent, both him and Badala had successfully entered a military alliance and trade agreement respectively with two known powers. One was the resilient Jewish state of Israel albeit unofficially and the other was the fifth superpower, India. When this civil war ended and Kyrat submitted their application into the UN, there was hope that these two powers would support the world's recognition of Kyrat as a member state. This gave them access to some of the world's most advance technology and medicine to improve the life in his country. Most importantly, a future.

Human rights violation was still a concern, King Min and much of the Royal Army had been involved in rather shady activities that could raise a concern as to how they would get past that huddle. But King Min assured him that it would not be a problem and to trust his decisions, Arjun's thoughts recalled him mentioning a successor to his throne. Who was it? Mistress Lau was now the queen and it was pretty clear she wouldn't change from a consort to regnant. The prime candidate was Badala, or was it someone else. King Min had always talked casually with him in regards to his love life and Arjun knew there was only one, Ishwari.

A messy affair between his sister-in-law and the king, though she was kind to him he had his convictions about their relationship and informed Mohan. Who would have thought it would downspiral to that result? His brother tried to murder his wife and killed a child of hers, he himself died at the doorstep of their homestead. The King's condition deteriorated to debatchery and self-wallop, yet never blamed him for his action.

Arjun forever held the guilt of causing their predicament that day and the events that were to follow. If that was so then there was only one person that King Min would regard as his own.

It couldn't be Ajay Ghale, could it? But Ajay was nowhere to be found, the official report was that he went missing on the day the escort was attacked. When he asked the King, he became foul mood so he avoided asking again. But it didn't mean Arjun wasn't concerned, Ajay was the son of his sworn brother. That meant the boy was his nephew by oath and Saraswati's fiancé-to be although the latter made no indication to keep to that tradition of arrange marriage. His wife had also expressed her dissatisfaction for that agreement.

"I'll make the arrangements, in the meantime prepare for the coming storm."

They only had three days to prepare for two months long winter snow. Seeing what Arjun planned, Layak retrieved the maps for him to review. The war council began preparations to bring the Army activities to operational levels despite the extreme changes in weather, they couldn't afford it.

"Winter is coming."

* * *

Squeezing his tiny eyelids shut, the moment he though he would leave this world his mother was and pass on to the next alone. A warmth wrapped around his body as he felt his body levitated above ground. Was paradise truly up in the sky? He peeled his eyes open to see.

No, the dirt was just below him. He looked to the side, he was being held by someone.

Kou swung from the waist off the rider's arm facing the floor. He didn't know who was the one that snatched him out of that scary foreigner, he couldn't lift his head up to see because of the angle. Instead what he saw was fear in the eyes of the Golden Path, Renegades and that of the foreigner's. He had heard from his mother mention long ago that whenever there were monsters he was afraid of…..

There were even bigger monsters that they were afraid of.

How could a piece of metal on someone's face inspire so much fear he wondered. The Tigers were more familiar with this face, they thanked the day he became their strongest ally and not their worse nightmare. It looked different from when the last time they saw him. In fact, his entire kit and aesthetics of this gear had changed considerable. More streamline than before and if they guessed correctly, made him more dangerous.

Ajay placed the boy Kou onto the ground. Immediately, several of the Tigers brought him into the safety of their ranks. He swung the bike rest with his foot and dismounted the Ducati and caught all of them by surprise when he first reaction was to laugh. But not in a good way, it had a faint sound of disdain and loathe in it. A laugh of reside, that caused people on Paul's end to tremble with fear.

Fear not just of the demon's arrival, but fear of being caught doing unjust when all they ever preached about was the safety of their people. They shuddered as he began to take steps towards them still laughing. Every tap of the foot sent ripples in their psyche.

"Well well! What do we have here? The Northern Demon here by his lonesome, trying to foolishly run up against a force over a thousand? You really are letting your reputation get to you, Bad's!" De Pleur tried to seem unfazed by his terrifying aura to keep his forces in check. The Golden Path field commander commended his actions quietly. He knew how violatile they were right now due to Badala's presence so he passed out some words to show that he didn't fear him despite the screaming inside of him to flee.

Badala stopped in his tracks and looked up to where Paul was and said in a cool manner.

"Perhaps…"

De Pleur suddenly regained his confidence as did the warriors when Badala showed some disinterest in fighting.

"But…"

-But?-

"You should be worrying which of you out of the thousand won't leave this ridge without being torn apart." The words were spoken with a chilling tone that triggered their instincts to run or fight.

"Rarghhhh!" (Babababaam)

One fighter lost control and fired his weapon in full auto in the direction where Badala was, initiating the skirmish again. The rest started to fire their weapons Ajay's way and at the Tigers who were decently sheltered behind their provisional cover.

Amita looked over cover through the heavy rain of lead to be shocked by the scene.

Standing amidst the exchange of bullets, Badala stood perfectly still without moving a muscle. Yet not a single bullet hit or grazed him. Why?

Because Ajay had successfully written into their subconsciousness, "If I strike at the demon, he'll come for me!" And so their aim was never true when shooting at him.

Only one thought popped up in Amita's mind.

-Monstrous!-

He manipulated their fears and turned it against them, that was Ajay's talent. Ajay made his first action since the firefight reerupted, a hand each reached for the kukri and the signature weapon Bushman rifle that were initially holstered.

"Fuck! Fall back! Fall back!"

Seeing that Ajay was about to make a move, the field commander on the Golden Paths side ordered a full retreat. Because they had to leave cover to withdraw, some of the fighters were cut down by an increase volume of fire from the Tigers and Royal Army soldiers who brought their heavy machine gun mounted vehicles forward to add to the firepower.

Ajay had finished planning his line of attack and his final goal at the very end. Paul.

He was gonna gift wrap him for Noore. As for the rest of the fighters, he initially wanted to merely force them to retreat. But then, he witnessed their idle when Paul held the child at gunpoint and that was it for him. It caused the demon to call out to him, a build up in rage. But he suppressed the emotions as much as he could, the Tigers were here, and he couldn't afford to risk collateral.

Dashing with newly found speed due to the lightness of his new equipment and the confidence it would protect him from grazing shots, he charged headstrong through the heavy fire towards the first line of enemies. When they saw him approach their way, their faces fell.

"Shit! Shit! Shit!"

"Nonononono- Guurghh!" Ajay reached his first victim and stabbed him through the jaw upwards, he pulled the pill on the grenade and kicked him in the direction of the largest concentration of enemies.

(BOOM)

The grenade detonated and vaporised those within 3 metre radius of it, it turned out to be an incendiary type bomb. But it had fulfilled its purpose, and that was to give him breathing room to continue onwards.

Seeing the window Ajay provided them…

"All units! Charge!"

"""Wooaaahhhh!"""

The Tigers charged out of cover towards the breach in the Golden Paths lines. Seeing this aggressive type of offensive, they had no choice but to adopt a strong defense.

At this point, the roles had switched between them but with the Tigers no longer adopting cover they were taking sufficient casualties to compromise their own lines. They were in odds of 2 against 3. Amita saw it but grit her teeth and soldiered on, she now bet their turning point on Badala to take the head of the general to end this battle.

(Pop)

"Huh?"

(BOBOBOBOBOOM)

A rain of explosive submunition tore up the lines in front of them. The Golden Path were in shock, when did they emplace mortars? The sound of the discharge wasn't even heard, but what they didn't know was that it wasn't a mortar round. But a modified guided missile.

Bursting out of the Southern side of the forest were the Condotierri led by Ricardo Allegretto.

"Fianco destro!"

"Roger!"

Ricardo led them to attack them from the right-hand side of the enemy relieving the pressure off Ajay and the Tigers. The Tigers were surprised in a good way, now two of the most dangerous assets within the Royal Army arsenal were here with them.

Ajay continued up the slope gunning down targets that were in his way all for the main prize which was Paul. The stare Ajay gave him constricted his movements so that he wouldn't escape too soon. He was now only thirty metres from the stricken Paul but then the Golden Path field commander got in his way, swinging a bayonet his way. He had not been protecting Paul, rather he thought that if he could defeat the Northern Demon he could reverse their fortunes.

"Badala!"

(Clang) (Clang) (Crack)

At first, when his blade successfully parried two of his blows, he became overconfident and swung for another. Not anticipating the elbow to his wrist that shattered the bones. He barely got off a scream before Ajay plunged the knife into him and kicked him away to withdraw the blade.

""Commander!""

Witnessing their precious commander fall, the Golden Path fighters faltered and retreated into the bushes only to be chased by the Royal army convoy now mounted on their vehicles. The Tigers were left to contend with the last irritating group which was the renegades.

"Don't bloody move!"

"Take one more step and your precious weaklings get it!"

"Believe us- we will!"

Started to resort to threatening them with the hostages. The Tigers stayed their ground but kept their rifles aimed, awaiting Amita's command. The Tigers had found a new respect for their leader and waited for her instructions eagerly.

Seeing their hesitation, the renegades assumed they weren't brave enough to handle them and thought about how they would get out of this situation.

But they thoroughly misread Amita this time.

"Take the shots." Amita ordered over the radio. The crack of shots could be heard from a distance from the barrels of the groups' marksmen and women at the very top of the ridge.

The renegades that surrounded the remaining hostages fell like dominoes, motionless to the ground.

They moved in to secure the hostages and bring them to safety as the remainder battled with the anxious to retreat renegades who looked to their leader whom was nowhere to be found.

Ricardo went over to Ajay as the first thing he was expected to do.

"Boss…."

"I won't ask why you're here. Find Paul and bring him back here, I have plenty I want to ask him."

Ricardo noted that it wasn't the right time to apologize for their absence and obeyed Ajay's order to track down De Pleur who had run off in the midst of the fighting. Slippery as ever, why was that the strongest trait in all of Ajay's enemies he wondered?

Ajay walked from his position down to where Amita was relaying orders to her command group to get a status update and finally see those damn friends of Brody's.

"(Cough) (Cough)… look at you…. Gallavanting about whilst you pick us off one at a time…. (Cough)." The field commander seemed to have some life left in him. Ajay stopped in his tracks and listened to the man's final rants out of respect, the commander could see that and continued on, laughing now with difficulty.

"You might have won this battle, Badala… But…. You are destined to lose this war…hahahaha-(Cough)…. Our leader stands with us once more, leading us to triumph… you don't know the feeling… what it's like to be living in the era of legends! You have no idea what's coming for all of you sinners... I look forward to seeing you in hell!"

"Fool…." Ajay responded too the dying commanders surprise.

"If that glorious leader of yours meant for you to work with scum like Paul and die as you are now, then he doesn't want what's best for everyone, but only himself."

"…..No…No!- (Cough)(Cough)… it can't be!-….. you lie!" The commander started to self-contradict in his conflicting thoughts.

"Think what you want, that's your right. But then again I'm talking to someone who let a dog like Sabal take charge." Ajay mocked his intelligence and narrow-mindedness.

"That's not true!... You lie! You lie! You Lie!"

"If you thought so then just reside yourself and die in peace." Ajay no longer bothered with the dying man. The dying Commander perished with his eyes open, still disbelieving that he and his comrades had been fooled once again by shows of awe and bravado.

"So now you know how it felt…."

* * *

Out of the group of five hundred, only two hundred were left. Despite that, all who had made the expedition into the North for the purpose of rescuing Bhaskar the keeper and the remaining Devas believed that the sacrifice of their brothers was worth it. They made the long march up the hidden path out of the Uttar region to celebrate the success of their operation and the reappearance of their great leader with their folks in Banapur.

Somewhere along the journey, Jason Brody succumbed to his wounds and fell unconscious. But when they looked at him there were a few bruises and cuts but nothing major. Vasu concluded that it may be an internal injury, if that was so they couldn't treat him with the facilities they had in their possession presently. It would have to be in this Banapur HQ the younger fighters kept telling him was the new HQ for some time now.

Whilst Vasu carried Jason on his back the entire trip, responsible for his benefactor's safety, the fighters filled him in on the history gap he and the others missed out on in the last sixteen years.

Utkarsh HQ was obliterated of the map but the village was spared. The ranks were divided to new blood and old guard, if it were just that which they deciminated then it would have been alright. Unfortunately, they had conflicting ideals. The new blood wanted only to unite Pacchim Valley under their control and isolate themselves from the outside and of Pagan's North to live out their days. The Old guard weren't content with the outcomes of the Golden Path and went into seclusion.

The leading figure was also divided, for a time.

One half led by Sabal, initially an inspirant of Mohan's ideals. His lost of moral ground had caused his influence to drop to a considerable amount since his rise after their absence. Even so, he had led the Golden Path this far and wasn't afraid to do the most difficult things during his run. The other was led by a woman named Amita. How curious that a woman would rise so prominently within the ranks that she became the second leading figure within six years of her enlistment. The Golden Path then were forced to look into solving their manpower issues by loosening their gender restrains on membership.

Amita became the figure head that represented a shift in the Golden Paths thinking from older traditional ways towards modern techniques and practices, earning the spite of much of the elderly community and of the old guard.

A few months ago, Sabal enacted a coup to bring the Golden Path under a single voice. Amita and her followers fled to the North parts and successfully captured Baghadur stronghold. But instead of being attacked by the Royal Army they were instead supplied with armaments, food and medical supplies.

This remnant force reorganised into the Mukti Tigers, an organization that sought liberal freedom and gender equality. Vasu wasn't against this but for traitors to turn their back was another issue all together. Still he sympathized with them, it was due to the poor leadership handling on Sabal's end that left them without and identity and betrayed themselves.

The Golden Path fighters painted a poor image of Sabal and he could see why. The failures of this leader had been continuous in the last five months, partly his fault. But also due to the entry of the Golden Paths newest and most formidible foe.

Badala, the Northern Demon.

The word demon was never used lightly among traditional crowds, it was a bad omen for the speaker and for the person that donned that name. A young warrior brought from the States by Pagan to combat their insurrection on his behalf and he was doing a might good job at it.

The young lord had a knack for psychological warfare and imparted it deeply into the Golden Paths ranks. So great, that he shattered even the older generations of old guard veterans' will.

The Battle of Ratu Gadhi, he retook a stronghold Amita painstakingly fought for with five men. Amita led an expeditionary force into a massacre that day which sent her into exile for a brief time to reflect on the deaths that day. Thankfully that time was short as it wasn't the biggest fuck up to occur yet.

Meh Teh Offensive, to break a major offensive but Sabal into the North he captured the Royal airport and lured the expeditionary forces being backed with heavy firepower with the help of an arms dealer and a CIA case officer there. With the odds at a hundred against twenty-five hundred it didn't seem like much. Badala proved to them that firepower and numbers didn't contribute to will and quality. The remaining forces were cut down by a vanguard of Royal Guardsmen that arrived by helicopter and fast vehicles. Only a few hundred survived, but they returned to their homes instead of continuing the fight, the battle had made them weary and haunted by the visage of that one man. It was the battle that won him the name Northern Demon and the title of Vice-Lord.

The Battle of Baghadur, Sabal attempted to scale the stronghold with the element of surprise on their side and their newest addition to their forces, the young Jason Brody. Jason had a rather curious history with the CIA agent Willis Huntley, the same spy that collaborated with Mohan decades ago. Badala appeared and fought with Jason, Jason lost in the fight. Unable to accept defeat, Sabal tried to assassinate Badala and unintentionally killed a rising star Kamala Malla, responsible for defending Banapur from an attack by the Royal Guard and slaying the Chief of Royal Guards Sugun Hamal, old Raghu's son.

Operation Shining Pagoda, after Badala burnt down Jalendu temple in revenge for the death of Kamala whom he held in the highest regards, the Royal army and Mukti tigers engaged in a major operation to evacuate majority of the inhabitance from the Southern areas. The Royal Army and the tigers kept the main camp occupied while Badala attacked the old guard fortified stronghold of Varshakot, and leveled it to the ground. No survivors were left except one that lost his sanity, sending a grim message to the old guard that it didn't matter how much better they were that the younger fighters. They were equal in his eyes.

Had Mohan not intervened right after that, Sabal would have been handed to the Royal Army and the Golden Path would have chosen a subservient role towards Pagan. Never rising to prominence ever again.

Vasu sighed internally. The Golden Path had fallen far from what it once was and would have fallen all the way had it not been for Mohan's sudden return.

How he returned didn't matter, if it was a fake he would know just by looking at him soon.

"How soon will we return to your headquarters?" Vasu inquire, he had rarely been in the southern regions in his days.

"An hour walk through the tunnel and a days trip back to Banapur, sir." Responded the field commander with him.

"it's good to have you back, sir."

"Likewise, it's good to be back. I wonder what other familiar faces I'll get to see from now on!" He cracked laughter with the officer. The Commander was about to laugh more but found it to be a sensitive subject as many had passed away without the Golden Paths dream being realized.

"I'm sorry, that was insensitive of me." But the commander waved his hands.

"No. You have been behind bars for just as long, you have our apologies for not rescuing you sooner."

"That makes us even then."

"….um, sir?"

"What is it, speak."

"How did all of the Devas disappear in the North. Word went around that you were captured by Yuma and imprisoned in Rajgad Gulag to spend the remainder of your days."

"A contribution of factors. Two if I may be exact."

"?..."

"One was underestimating a hidden adversary that might rival this Northern Demon…."

The field commander was visibly shaken that there was someone just as frightening as Badala behind the mountains apart from Pagan and Yuma. Vasu paused for a long time as if reminiscing that time the Devas were in an indecision as whether to continue with the assault. Four were taken captive, one died in front of them… and the last….. the last…..-

"What was the other one?" Vasu turned to the field commander was an expression of anger and-

"….. We were being betrayed by one of our own."

* * *

The walk back towards Baghadur's massive gate was gruesome. Empty brass cases littered the site, shell craters bombed out the greenery and bodies….. Bodies lay all over, all belonging to the Tigers. They'd effectively lost one-third of their forces to defend the evacuation of the people in the area numbering around a hundred thousand.

Some of the civilians that returned began wailing at their lost companions, family members who joined the Tigers and friends. Even if Ajay wanted to feel sympathy he couldn't, he was already numb to this sort of emotions.

The Royal Army platoon didn't stay long, they returned to the Airport garrison as ordered. But it didn't mean they returned without ill feelings, the sight of the ravaged ridge made them weary.

Amita could be spotted in the distance, relaying orders to the men. Distributing manpower and supplies to the areas most needed.

Seeing Ajay come their way, the field commanders and men dispersed to give him some time with their leader. Despite the numerous setbacks there was a warm smile on her face he hadn't seen in a while, something she only revealed when she was very happy or content.

"I'll have medical and raw materials sent to Baghadur right way."

"Well, hello again." Ajay was initially stunned by her charming greeting.

"Weren't you supposed to be pragmatic?" Causing Amita to giggle shortly.

-That's weird…-

Wasn't he speaking her language? Short, simple and with all the details?

"It's been a while hasn't it, Soren."

Ajay sighed when that name was used. It appeared she wanted to have a friendly conversation at a time like this.

"I've been busy as always. Less fighting now, and more building."

"I should think so, will your men really be able to capture Paul?"

"They're pretty eager, in fact they came here on their own voalition. Trying to rescue Hurk."

It was at this time Amita frowned slightly, she now recalled who that person was. The fat American that came in with Ajay that day of their recruitment. Had a fool like behaviour and from the looks of things still had it.

"This catastrophe, I'll take full responsibility and make sure you and your men-." Amita placed a finger to his lip.

"No. It's not your fault, I won't ask anything off you. You have nothing but my thanks!" She looked to the side, where a small child by the name of Kou was being hugged and pampered by his grateful mother.

"But-.."

"Hush." She insisted he wasn't to take responsibility.

Ajay sighed internally, what the hell happened to Amita, and why was she starting to get so chummy with him? He took of his mask as there wasn't any meaning to keeping it on. Seeing that it truly was the face she recognised as the mute warrior Soren she smiled again.

"Let's discuss the outcome of the Tigers inside, I even brought a bottle of whisky from the party I was in!" He began walking towards the inner conclaves of Baghadur.

"Pffftt! Hahahahahaha!"

Hearing this, Amita's eyes widened then she tried her best to hold back but couldn't. She burst into laughter upon hearing his remark exactly like she imagined it. Ajay was too puzzled by her perculiar to question her.

"haha…. (sigh).. it's nothing, believe me! Come, I look forward to having a drop that'll rival my prized liquor!"

She walked with him side by side, smiling contently as ever. Ajay was starting to find it creepy, did her head over heat from the stress or something.

Their conversation were eavesdropped by the fighters and refugees that were close by. Some excited for Amita, others couldn't believe her change in behaviour either. Although, all of them internally shook their heads.

How could Ajay be so blind?

*(Music being played)* A radio had been turned on for their enjoyment or to help them think of other thoughts besides the death and destruction about them.

The music transitioned to the monotonous one that went on before an announcement was made.

"Hey, a message is being played!" Called out the closest to the broadcasting radio and proceeded to tune the volume up for everyone else to listen. Ajay and Amita were some of these people.

*….. To the my fellow brothers and sisters listening to this broadcast. This is Mohan Ghale, your friend and loyal soldier to the true Kyrat.*

Ajay stopped in his tracks and turned his head towards the radio with widened saucers for eyes.

-The hell!...-

* * *

Dead bodies of communication officers lay around the radio broadcasting station near the bell tower in Utkarsh. Mohan's guards held one of the last survivors at gunpoint to manage the wide broadcast and ensure an uninterrupted feed. The officer, fearful for his live unwillingly obliged to obey them.

*It has been too long my friends, many of you thought me dead. But I assure you I am one and the same, and my deeds to come will prove my identity for me.* Mohan continued to speak through the microphone without hindrance.

*Twenty-six years of decadence, cruelty and corruption. Twenty-six years I was locked away and made to despair on the continuation of Kyrat without its finest protecting it. But no more! Well tonight I have officially changed that. Last night the attack on Rajgad Gulag was my doing, to free my friends and generals long thought dead to all of us, the eight Devas. It was also a reminder to all of you of the tyranny that hides itself in plain sight. It exist, though you do not see it with your own eyes and it is still happening right now.*

*Tonight, I thought to mark this new year as the end of the reign of Pagan and the beginning of the reign of the people! Many of you are willing to see a revolution come into fruitation but fear the consequences in failure. It is not wrong nor is it considered cowardice, this is the love and consideration you show for your loved ones should you fail. And this was made so by the constant harassing that the unjust Royal army and their master Pagan Min have done to you. I too almost fell into despair when I returned to this broken land I once and still call home. But I tell you now, I do see hope! When I pass the eyes of the people and my fellow brothers and sisters of the Golden Path I see the belief. The strong will that believes there is hope yet for our salvation from oppression.*

*And I believe it is in you too, my fellow Kyrati brothers and sisters. I believe we are the ones that were destined to rule over our fate in the Motherland! If you're out there, Ved, Swara and you're wondering whether it's me… you need only search your hearts to find that answer.*

*As for my fellow kyratis. If you're content with the way things are then I suggest you let it stay as it is and be on with your daily routine. But if you believe like me, it is the time for revolution. If you are eager to be a part of this roar for liberation we sought for twenty odd years! Then I urge you to stand with us, and walk the Golden Path!* His panting from short of breath after shouting into the mic could be heard.

*This is Mohan Ghale of the Golden Path and if you're listening to this… you are the people.*

*Long live sacred Kyrat.*

Mohan placed down the microphone and turned it off.

(Bang) The guard finished off the last remaining officer of the station since he was no longer required.

Mohan sat motionless on the chair to bask in the moment of victory. Though it was mere talk, he was sure it had rousted the people into action and those that weren't were aware of battles to come. He could already imagine the anarchy he sowed amongst the populace that the Royal Army painstakingly evacuated out of the South. He bred sympathy for rebellion amongst the refugees down their and helped simplify the Golden Paths march towards the Royal Palace. He had made his presence known to much of the former Golden Path warriors that retired or went into seclusion like his two Deva brother and sister Ved Sawal and Swara Lamsal.

The Royal Army and the traitors in the Mukti Tigers were about to experience what it was to have the people they protected stab them in the backs silently.

"Now you know how I felt…" Mohan played with the wheel charm hanging from his bracelet.

It was only a matter of time.

* * *

Author's thoughts:

I wanna be the very best FC4 fanfic

Like no one ever was

To catch up to FC3 fanfics is my real test

To trail pass them is my cause

I'll travel across the web

Searching far and wide

Each Fanfic write to understand

The story that's inside

-Pokemon lyrics parody

(Havok shares his inner nefarious plot, musical style)


	51. Chapter 49 - Rise of Demons and Devas

Alarms were going off within Ajay's head as he stumbled once more on something that was so far fetch it wasn't plausible at all. Another shift in the timeline he was unfamiliar with.

-No, that can't be! Mom definitely killed him!-

So who was that speaking on the radio? Ajay wasn't sure himself, he'd never heard his father speak to him before or he was too young to remember. Only one person could confirm it.

He had to return back to the Royal Palace.

After organising his thoughts, he returned his focus back to Amita but found that they hadn't recovered from the words spoken on the radio. Ajay had to do something fast to restore their morale.

"Is this going to stop you from achieving your goal, Mukti Tigers?"

Upon hearing him, they seemed to have broken from the spell of disbelief and went back to fulfilling their roles in restoring the stronghold, outpost and routes back to working order.

"Amita….. Amita!"

"Uh- yes?" She too was recovering from the daze.

"Until we determine who that was speaking it would be best if you maintain a cool head and thoughts. Everyone here is depending on you to keep things running."

"Mmmm.. Alright! So will you stay at least?" Amita gave him a look begging him to stay to give her emotional support.

"Let's talk further inside."

Amita nodded and followed Ajay into the inner sanctum of the stronghold.

Ajay made her give him a list of the raw material that were necessary to rebuild what they lost.

A few tons of pine wood, an equal amount of sheet metal in various lengths and widths, power generators, fuel and fresh water. The list was endless but Ajay helped her draft out what was needed to bring Baghadur back to operational level. At a time like this, he couldn't leave the Tigers unprotected. Her field commanders and executive officers all gathered around to assist in explaining what they needed the materials for.

Mostly it was for housing, but there were other concerns. Besides repairing the roads and blown out structures they requested to build a water plumbing system for washing, showering and going to the john's. To improve the sanitary conditions of the place especially when the new unofficial town was getting more and more crowded. Ajay had no qualms with that, if it improved the chances of the Tigers interaction with the refugees and thereby allow them to trust them it was a cost he was willing to pay. There was even a proposal for a medical clinic, something the Tigers were in dire need of. Ajay offered something better, he arranged for a helicopter to be on standby in Baghadur, ready to deliver the life-threatening injured person directly to Noore's polyclinic. It was an especially dire time as he was to assume that the Royal Army's reputation had hit rock bottom because of this event and of the retaliation he ordered hours ago. Still, he couldn't let this set them back. The Royal Army was still the premier army of the country, protecting the people was its first priority even if it meant the people didn't appreciate it.

"Earlier, I sent the two heli-borne battalions and one mechanised battalion to play attrition with the Golden Path in Banapur."

He could hear physical gulps from the fighters around him. All of them were thinking the exact same thing. Badala was one person they were lucky not to have crossed.

"When they return I've have them set a forward base on the ridge to give you a baffle."

The Tigers right now were virtually defenceless, save for the stronghold itself but that was the last line of defense. Three battalions would assemble and make a temporary fort outside of Baghadur to assist and protect the Tigers.

"It's the least I could do, Hurk is my subordinate and he likely led them here in the first place."

"We appreciate all you've done for us." Amita sighed internally when Ajay refused to listen to her and insist it was his responsibility to shoulder.

"Sir Badala, permission to speak bluntly?" One commander asked.

"Yes?"

"What are your thoughts on the radio broadcast, do you truly think its Mohan Ghale?" The entire assembly turned Ajay's way, expecting a response from the person who had the closest records to what really happened to Mohan.

"That's quite enough from you lot-." Amita tried to defuse it from becoming a confrontation, what really happened could be what the Royal Palace was trying to keep from the public for sensitive matters.

"Mohan died at the doorstep of his own house, murdered by none other than his wife, Ishwari."

Eyes popped out of their sockets.

"WHAT?!"

"The hell?!"

"Why would she do that?"

Amita was just as shocked as the rest, why did Ajay reveal this to them and why was this kept by the Palace at all?

"It was purely self-defense, he tried to kill her but that wasn't the worst of what he did that day."

Ajay's expression darkened considerably and the group took notice and stopped asking.

"Regardless of this info I've indulged with you, keep this to yourself. I want you all to treat this threat as if he really did come back from the grave or faked it. Even if he were actually a con or fake, everyone else believes so and that includes the Golden Path."

Ajay looked to each of them and they nodded to him in understanding. Amita was deep in thought piecing the things she knew. Ajay had once told her that he was raised by Ishwari, back then she would have known what became of her husband. So Ishwari was the really killer of Mohan that day. It made sense, but what didn't was the motive for him to attack his own wife. Amita knew Ajay intentionally kept it from them, it was something so deep that it was impossible to get out of once trapped. Amita chose to ignore it for the time being and do as he said treat it like he was really back.

It was at this time that a huge commotion took place outside to stronghold sanctum and was getting closer. Shouts, jeering and threats were thrown in a particular direction by the fighters and people alike. Ajay could see flying fruit from where he was.

"Looks like they succeeded." He said, and they all understood what he was referring to.

Held in an arm lock in both sides as he was being pushed forward by Emilio and Luigi.

"Who threw that!? Fucking savages! Let go!" Paul yelled out angrily threw the bag over his head at the fighters and civilians as they threw pebbles and dirt at him.

"I never thought this day would come." One of the officers said in disbelief.

Ajay remembered to don his mask as Paul had a pretty good memory of faces. In fact, he was one of the only enemies that would recognize who he was, he did have lunch at his Compound after all with Pagan. Amita noticed this subtle action and was as shrewd as ever in deducting the reason.

"Ricardo, take off the bag before he suffocates."

Ricardo notioned to the other two who took out cuffs and chained it to his feet and hands. At this time, a considerable crowd had gathered and waited around the balconies and stairs to see what would become of the countries sickest fuck.

How was the demon lord gonna torture him for information concerning this current predicament Kyrat was in.

Paul regained his bearings and found himself surrounded by civilians and Tigers, right in front of him were seated Ajay and Amita. It was a very judgement style of arrangement they were in around Paul who was currently on his knees gulping softly.

"I'm glad."

"H-Huh?"

"Ricardo and his team did their best not to rough you up. You're just the way I imagined I'd deliver you like a Christmas present to Noore."

"Noore?…. Noore?!...ahahahahhaha…" Paul began to laugh hysterically the way Ajay recalled. Ajay grinned sadistically and got up walking towards Paul.

"Yeah! Funny ain't it? She though her family was safe and sound all this while…. It's perfect, Paul! The ultimate despair you could give to a person is false hope, you probably were looking forward to seeing that look on her face crumble when you personally tell her that you chopped her man and kids into cubes and you did it all those years ago! Hahahaha!..." Paul's expression instantly ashened as Ajay cackled diabolically.

The crowd wasn't sure what he was talking about but seeing Paul's face drop was a refreshing sight.

"You!-… You didn't-." Immediately he realized that there was a chance that Noore also knew.

"Oh. She knows alright, but what she doesn't know yet is the other culpit."

"Other…. Culpit?" Ajay squatted in front of Paul.

"Who else wrote those tear-jerking mommy letters than the sweet innocent Ashley!" Ajay smiled to Paul's horror. Ajay knew everything about Noore and her families' predicament.

"Uh-…..ah-….." No words formed from Paul's mouth which just opened and closed. Just then-

*L.I.V.E… live today! P.A.R.T.Y….party run and play!...* A familiar ringtone rung from Paul's phone, to the crowd it was merely a phone call. But both Paul and Ajay knew exactly who it was.

"Well speak of the little angel…." Ajay reached into his back pocket.

"Hey!- HEY!- what chu' doing!? Stop! Stop!"

Ajay quickly snatched the cellphone out of his pocket and walked back to the seat. The crowd was quietly watching Ajay take the lead. Ajay hadn't even layed a hand on Paul yet the latter was already hysterical and shivering.

He raised the cellphone.

"I wonder who could it be?" He teased but Paul knew he understood who was calling.

"Bad's come on!….. please…." Paul adopted a head bending stance to show he was serious.

Ajay motioned to Ricardo and he understood what to do. A cloth gag went over Paul and into his mouth.

"Hey what're you- muuuuunghhh!"

Ajay pressed the button to receive the call.

"Yello? Harmon office speaking?" Ajay asked in a friendly tone, he could hear giggling on the other side.

*You're funny! Ops! Um…. Is my daddy over there?* Ajay felt slightly bad for taking advantage of such a sweet girl but Paul asked for it.

"Oh! Is this darling Ashley Mr. Harmon always talks about?! Why hello there, I'm Trevor his new apprentice!" Ajay quickwittedly coined an alias.

Paul screamed as loud as he could behind the cloth gag to get Ashley's attention and remind her not to speak to stranges.

*What was that?* Ajay had to hand it to Paul, his daughter was incredibly inquisitive. Just like the note that revealed his wifes infidelity, nothing escaped this kid's sharp observation.

"Oh, that was your dad. The boss made him stay back overnight for a celebration we were having. We invited him over for the office gathering next door and he had a bit too many to drink that's all. Your dad's alright, sweetheart!"

Paul wailed behind the cloth gag in defeat and despair. The crowd of tigers and civilians were astounded by Paul's reaction. They'd never seen a man full of agony from Ajay talking to his daughter. But Paul knew what was to come, when Ajay was still in captivity he mindfucked Paul by using his Daughter as a tool to torture him. Ajay knew too, which was why he used this to get him to talk.

*Oh…. Ok. Well I guess I'll call again later.*

"Um- Ashley?"

*… Yes?* That was a close one, she nearly hung up on him.

"Your dad might not have had the time to say this so I'll spoil the surprise for him. You've been couped up in that mansion for quite some time and I know you've been waiting patiently for your daddy to take you outside to roam around. How about we surprise him instead?"

Emilio and Luigi struggled to hold Paul in place as he shook about and actually cried.

"Yep! Looks like your dad 's been having a hard time from the looks of it. What do you say? Wanna give him a good cheering up?!"

*Mmm! Ok!* Ashley sounded eager.

"Great! I'll have a chauffeur pick you up and bring you straight to the office. Oh- um…. I don't really know were Mr Harmon lives, I'm new here see." Ajay sounded like a new office boy. The charades that Ajay played were scary knowing his purpose of the call was to track down Ashley.

*That's ok, Trev! I'll turn on the GPS for you and you can track my phone. I'm not sure where I am cause I'm new here too, hehe!*

"Thanks Ashley. You're a sweet girl as Mr Harmon said you were." The young girl giggled once more after being complimented.

"Better rest up, sweetheart! It'll be a long day tomorrow!"

*Ok! Goodnight, Trev. Can I call you Trev?*

"Of course you can, goodnight princess." He could hear her chuckling away, she seemed to adore the role of princess very much.

Ajay disconnected the call, tucked the phone in his pocket and Luigi loosened the gag off Paul. But by this time, Paul was no longer screaming. He'd expended all his energy crying out for Ajay to stop torturing him with prospects of Ajay getting back at him through his daughter. His face was a stained mess, the crowd was shocked by the scene before them. After all he'd done, Paul was nothing more than a pathetic creature before them. And the one that grounded him into putty in his hands was none other than the Northern Demon, Badala.

"Right now, you get to decide if Ashley gets dragged from the house and stuffed into a gunnysack or….. she gets ferried nice and comfortably to an office building whilst remain oblivious to daddy Harmon's day job."

"…. What do you want to know?!... If that was really Mohan?!" He said in defeat.

"You obviously wouldn't know, what did Willis think?"

"H-he didn't believe it either, the guy just magically popped out of thin air like fucking Christ!"

-Magically?-

Ajay's thoughts suddenly swum towards the occult, what about himself? His existence, his knowledge were all reality defying. Was his father also in the same category? The more he thought the more it hurt to think in a neverending circle.

"Where're Brody's friends and Kamala's parents?" The whole crowd was shocked by Ajay's question. Kamala's parents were with them?

Paul looked up in surprise, he had been under the impression they were in Baghadur all this while. Ajay frowned as he interpreted that from his expression, Brody's friends weren't here. Paul laughed in self-pity, he'd been fooled by a bunch of brats into chasing a wrong lead and got himself caught in the end.

"Why did the Golden Path attack the North?"

"To retrieve some legends named Eight Devas!"

The name caused the crowd to gasp in shock and fear, they started to discuss fervently.

"Eight… Devas!?"

"Impossible! They were alive all this time?"

Ajay had personally never heard of these Eight Devas before, yet everyone had. And they sounded extremely dangerous. He didn't want to ask Amita because it would seem suspicious, he would have to wait until he returned to the Royal Palace. There were questions he wanted answered from Paul like when Lynch was coming, what were the troop positions and many more. But it would have to wait for another time or at least after Yuma's interrogators had done some softening up on him.

"….. Ok, Paul. You've earned your daughter's continued ignorance."

Ajay turned to the Condotierri to tell them they were heading off.

"I think you should head over to Army HQ to hear what Arjun has to say about all of this. As soon as your men can manage themselves. I'll inform King's bridge garrison of your arrival, bring a small group if you're uncomfortable travelling alone. Who knows, on that trip you might see Bhadra again." Ajay told her before he departed.

"Bads! Can you take these cuffs off me now?"

Ajay laughed at his naivety.

"Who ever said I'd be letting you go, there's one more person who's been dying to meet you back home. Ricardo, tape him and send him to the Army G2."

Ajay walked ahead to get a headstart as his bike that Pagan loaned him was parked all the way over the ridge.

"What?! Bads wait! WAIT! BADALAA-muuughh!"

* * *

While Ricardo and the other two escorted their new captive via helicopter from the returning 5th Dragoons. Ajay took the scenic ride back to the Royal Palace to get some answers, it gave him time to clear his head and think about the possibilities regarding the reappearance of Mohan who was assumed dead by the country.

There was an undeniable sensation that triggered him to match his vision of the Ghale Homestead with current events. He couldn't shake the feeling because to him there was no such thing as the unreal in Kyrat. His revival, and way before that the Yetis were signs that the world wasn't always what it seemed. Did his father really get "resurrected" or was it simply a con done to roust the Golden Path out of despair?

He arrived at his destination without the answer in his heart, making him all the more eager to ask Pagan or perhaps Yuma about it.

Seeing him from a distance, none of the Palace Guards made no attempt to stop him from entering.

Ajay finally arrived at Pagan's lavished study to find the entire War council there with Arjun and-.

"Ah! My boy! Perfect timing, let's-." Ajay closely stared at Pagan and said…

"Where's Pagan?" The war council and Pagan were shocked by what Ajay's question when he asked the very person where was he.

"This is one of those games of yours isn't-."

"Stop wasting my fucking time, Eric! Where is he?" Ajay spoke frowning.

Eric's eyes widened as did that of the war council who thought they were discussing with the King. Except for Arjun who knew who it really was.

Eric sighed and surrendered.

"He's in the dining balcony with Yuma."

Ajay nodded and went that direction, leaving the war council in shock.

"Mate, how the hell'd you figure that out?" Eric asked before he left.

"You're too perfect to be Pagan. Your mannerisms look like a routine, Pagan never stays the same every time, just like his mood." Hearing his errors from Ajay, Eric could help but shudder the fact he looked so closely at his mannerisms and behaviour.

Ajay proceeded on his way.

"Shall we continue?" Eric mimicked Pagan once more, and they had trouble whether to obey a double's orders. Thankfully, Arjun was there to mediate Pagan's will through Eric the Melbournite. Arjun caught a last glimpse of Ajay walking off, he saw a troubled expression on the youth's face which he thought he was seeing things considering how unfathomable Ajay usually was.

-So even he has troubles sometimes.- Arjun couldn't help but smile wryly for his previously narrow thoughts.

Ajay reached the door to the dining balcony and knocked.

The door crepted open with Yuma standing by it. Her face was equally troubled.

"Come in." She urged him.

Ajay entered and spotted Pagan gulping down a glass of his favourite Domaine wine without a meal to go with it. Pagan became aware of Ajay's presence and waved him over.

"I was expecting you to come sooner or later. But to be honest, I'm just as surprised as you are…. Ha!" He sighed emotionally and gulped down on the glass once more.

Ajay sat next to him at the couch. Yuma was content with standing by Pagan's side as she rested her hands upon his shoulders.

"Paul said Agent Huntley was in the same trail of thought."

"Humph! So the CIA isn't too far from it as well."

"Pagan."

"You want to know whether your damn father was kept In a dungeon like he said, isn't it?" Ajay raised an eyebrow.

-So that's why Pagan was all sullen.-

Pagan was concerned about Ajay falling unde r the assumption his father was imprisoned all this time and would feel betrayed.

"I don't give a fuck if you kept him in a box or what not! What I want to know is if you saw his corpse in the Ghale Homestead."

Pagan was astounded by Ajay's behaviour and was left speechless for a while, then he laughed at himself. He'd thought wrongly about Ajay's thoughts concerning his father.

"….. Yes. Yes I did, to be honest I looked into his deadeyes for a while before attending to our little girl, and thought. This was Karma."

"Don't be ridiculous, Karma decided my sister to have her wrist slit by him?!" Pagan chuckled at Ajay getting worked up on his behalf, but treasured ever thought of kindness he spared him.

"And you?" Ajay changed his subject of inquisition to Yuma.

"Seeing Mohan's corpse was the last thing I wanted to do back then!" She told him straight.

"….."

"You seem to give this considerable thought. Ajay."

"When you heard that broadcast, did it sound like him?"

Ajay looked at their faces, it said it all to him. The disbelief that Mohan was alive, it wasn't possible. It really was him.

"Does this bring you any closer to finding out whether he's a fake or the one that Ishwari killed was a mere double of his?" Pagan's conclusion was rather believable. With someone as important as Mohan he could very well be a double intended to serve as a decoy but then the original got killed by his mother and he thought to take the initiative. But if that were the case then why now, he could have appeared immediately after his death to keep the Golden Path from toppling from grace.

"Mohan isn't the one that worries me, it's the ones that stand behind him that haven't shown themselves yet." Pagan was once again astounded by Ajay's intellect and forward thinking he chuckled in his own foolish thoughts, he was being left in the dust by Ishwari's brilliant child.

"(Sigh) This is as outlandish as there're Yetis in the Himalayas!" Ajay rubbed his head. At this declaration, both Pagan and Yuma laughed heartily. It was as he said, outlandish.

Ajay joined in the laughter, it was the last time they got to enjoy such a laugh.

"There's also one other thing I meant to ask."

"What is it, Ajay? You've lifted our mood quite a bit so I'll be mighty generous in informing you."

"I'll apologize beforehand for breaking the mood. What are the Eight devas that were locked in Rajgad Gulag?" Pagan's eyebrows frowned and followed with a sigh.

"They're your father's posse! Humph! Bastards every one of them! In fact, they were the one's doing all the work, Mohan just sat back and looked pretty. But their strength and cunning….. is not to be trifled with."

Hearing this from Pagan of all people that they were dangerous meant something rather serious, he had to gather as much on these Eight Devas to avoid them or counter their moves.

"Who were they?"

"Who were they? A bunch of traitors that's what, when yours truly took the Kyrati throne these Royal Guard officers rebelled and ran away with Mohan into the mountains. I sent the mercenaries to chase them and guess what…. They fucking joined them! And that was how the Golden Path came about, nothing golden about it…" Pagan begun mumbling to himself discontently, so Ajay turned to ask Yuma instead. But Yuma started to fill him in before he even asked, writing down their names upon a piece of paper on the coffee table.

"Major Vasu Sen, Captain Sanjeev Singh, Sergeant Major Bhishma Arya, 1st Lieutenant Jaswant Rajput (KIA), Major Paresh Kadayat (KIA), Major Vijaya Acharya (Disavowed), Dr Ved Sawal (MIA), Swara Lamsal (MIA)."

In that short list, there were already many things he wanted to ask her, luckily Yuma read his mind.

"Paresh Kadayat, right?" Ajay nodded, why was Maya and Bipin's father amongst the Devas? Wasn't he a patriot amongst the loyalists alongside Arjun and Raghu?

"Paresh was my double-agent in the Golden Paths ranks, he told Yuma and I where all the goodies were hidden amongst the Golden Path caches." So that explains that.

"Ok? So what about the last two, are they civs?"

"Oh, Ajay. The Devas aren't just the Golden Paths military might but every single affair. Education, hierarchal structure, logistic and human resources, psychological analysis and medical aspects were among the other things they could do. If they won, you'd be sure they'd be the ministers of the country." Yuma told him.

It was as Yuma said, they were more than just a military force but the very artery of the Golden Path.

"The ones that were imprisoned were three of the first mentioned Devas and Bhaskar, their archive and scribe."

"No longer it seems." Pagan chuckled not at all troubled by the tension of their freedom.

"What about the two MIA and KIA…. And that one that says "Disavowed"?"

"When Mohan died the two of them became mountain hermits somewhere, I dunno. I've never been able to track them like the rest. Jaswant Rajput was slain by Darshan Khati…."

Ajay caught mention of Darshan's name.

-I knew it!-

"… In fact, the four were incarcerated by him alone." Yuma completed her sentence as if she was recalling something.

"WHAT?!" He knew Darshan was unfathomable, but to the point that he captured four and killed one. Were the Devas that weak or was Darshan that strong?

"Darshan was meant to watch over you, are you that surprised?" She said with a smirk.

"I knew he was there for something but couldn't gauge his strength, also did you just say his surname was Khati, as in Bibek Khati?" Yuma cocked her head in surprise with Ajay's intel, just how well informed was he she wondered.

"Oh? I didn't think you knew about the legendary General Khati."

"General? That old guy?!" All he saw was an old caretaker of the orphanage.

"Looks can be deceiving sometimes, Ajay." Yuma covered her mouth to giggle at the expressions of surprise Ajay was showing at every unfolding of information to her, much to her content.

-Holy shit!-

Just how much history was dug into by these fellas?

Ajay looked down at the list and he noticed he missed one more. From the looks of it, it was that one person named Major Vijaya Acharya.

"What's with this one, disavowed?"

"It means exactly what it means, Vijaya Acharya is disavowed from service on both quarters." The one that answered for him was Gary, much to Ajay's surprise. Pagan exchanged a look with Gary and him to Pagan.

"Gary."

"Your highness." They acknowledged each other.

"Ok?"

"You need not worry about that one, Ajay. He's as harmless as a fly to us right now. He's actually on our side now!"

A turncoat, is that what Pagan was saying?

"Could I meet with him? I'd like to learn more about these people, their strengths, their weaknesses."

Pagan and Yuma chuckled slightly which made Ajay a bit agitated that they were leaving him in the gray.

"You don't need to look far." Pagan told him and motioned to Gary.

"You've looking right at him." Said Gary.

* * *

Ajay returned to the study after having a short chat with Pagan and Yuma…. And former Deva Vijaya now called Gary. Because Pagan didn't like his Kyrati name very much and made him adopt the alias of Gary. He never knew Gary was that important before, but he knew that one had to be a saint in order to keep up with Pagan's personality and outrageous demands. How the hell did a Deva end up becoming Pagan's personal butler/assistant? Ajay wasn't even gonna question it anymore. He left because, the more they told him, the more his headache kept acting up. There was an entire saga behind them each he didn't have the stomach to hear all of them. But he knew he'd have to ask sooner or later or he'd regret it, so he told Gary he'd come back to ask him and the latter smiled.

But overall from their end, in regards to his father. It was something not possible, they even knew where Mohan was buried in Utkarsh. The eerie feeling crept back into him, did his father come back through occult means? He lacked evidence to prove that the occult really existed in Kyrat. The Yetis could very well be just an unknown mutation and not a magical beast like everybody thought, it could still be killed after all.

That sort of thing made him wonder about the substance in his blood, would he mutate into that abomination over time? Such thoughts scared him as it did back then when he destroyed the relic.

Arjun welcomed him into the conversation, he was sorely needed in their problems. Eric had disappeared off somewhere, perhaps to practice on his "Paganism". The news was taking a toll for the worst it seemed.

A two-month long annual blizzard was about to fall upon them.

Arjun was suspending the air activity three days from now, so they were making the best of it making immediate supply drops. The S-program was also suspended, Ajay clenched his teeth at the direness.

"Two months….. the Golden Path will be more than ready for any offensive." Lamented one of the commanders.

"But so will we." Ajay responded.

"Your grace, do you have a plan?" The officers looked to him with eager expressions.

"We can't stop the Golden Path from attacking, it's especially difficult now because of Mohan's speech. There's definitely going to be rebel sympathy amongst the population and refugees that would likey aid them in supplies and intelligence." Ajay was painting a very grim picture for them.

"It's completely transitioned into true Asymmetric warfare. But it's made things easier for us, it's become so textbook we only need to follow the proper counter actions." His words gave them assurance.

"Like what?"

"I can't believe the words coming out of your mouth, you're a Commander of the Royal Army!" Arjun scolded that remark given.

"Don't be too hard on them, Arjun. This is a different type of warfare we've engaged in, we know the theory but haven't practiced it before."

"Humph!" Still upset with his officers for showing such unbecoming behaviour in front of him.

"The problem still stands, how do we prepare for a major attack with the grace of two months we've been given."

The officers were deep in pondering, although Ajay helped straighten out their line of action, they still didn't have a proposal to counter the Golden Path offensive.

"Ah!" Arjun made a sudden epiphany and rushed out of the study, leaving Ajay with the War Council.

"Did he forget to turn off the stove or something?" The officers cracked out laughting at Ajay's joke.

"Alright lads, settle down. The Marshal's definitely stumbled upon something, in the meantime we need to solve the logistical issues that the troops and Tigers will face."

"Your grace, will be continue to supply the Tigers? I don't mean to be offensive or anything, its just that given the strains in transportation capabilities supporting them will leave areas unchecked."

"….."

He did have a point.

It was like supporting a second army, like the Old Royal Guard formation alongside the Army. Though they didn't pay the Tigers and Amita wages.

"Right now, the Royal Army will be expected to have zero credibility with the civilians in the coming days. But it doesn't mean we shy away from our duty. Having the Tigers on our side to act on our behalf is the best of both worlds, they keep the Northern parts of Pacchim valley free from the Golden Path and they take a pool of citizens that could have joined the Golden Path into their ranks."

"I see, you've thought that far, your grace."

"Relax, commander. While we may be preparing for an offensive on the Golden Paths end. They'll simply be building up their forces and gathering intelligence. Winter and snow will mire them as much as it slows us down."

"…"

"I couldn't ask for a more perfect climate now. We'll bring the snow guards down."

The war council realized that the storm was becoming less and less of a set back and more of a god given grace of two months to ready themselves for the future more powerful Golden Path. Mohan's leadership was already cemented into the Golden Path, there was nothing they could have done about that.

"I've got it!" Arjun came back huffing and puffing as he held up a rolled-up schematic.

"No…."

"You can't mean-."

"Didn't you and his Royal highness shelve that proposal?"

"Someone please indulge me." Ajay reminded them he was the only one who wasn't aware of what that thing was.

Arjun hurried over to the table and laid out the plans onto the table.

"You might not know this, Badala. But my daughter was a graduate in Sandhurst, 1st degree honours."

"Seriously?" Ajay knew what it was. Sandhurst Military College, Britian's premier officer training school. It wasn't limited to British officers exclusively, some of UKs allies top students went there. So apparently, that's where Saraswati got her edge over the rest of the officers here. Her accent was also a bit more refine than the rest, might have had to do with the etiquette training she received.

-Wow….. Sandhurst Grad. What else was she, a glamour model?-

He was starting to see why Saras was known widely within the Army as its main role model officer. And that was even before he'd stepped foot in Kyrat. It also reminded him how irritated he was when someone kept something from him only to release the bomb at the very last minute. Mohan, the Devas and Gary were some examples of that.

Arjun nodded with a slight smile caught at the end of his mouth. He was thoroughly proud of her that was certain.

Ajay began to study the schematics Arjun laided out and figured it out before Arjun finished his sentence.

"A fortress?"

"Not like Baghadur, Varshakot, Rajgad Gulag or Ratu Gadhi for that matter. But a super fortress, one single citadel that overwatches the entirety of Pacchim Valley and guards the Uttar region from attacks foreign or domestic. When operational, the Royal Fortress will be pale in comparison."

The fortress had an intricate layout. Comprising of five pointed ends that resembled a star fort from the civil war days in the US. But each was the size of an existing stronghold. The idea behind it was, if one side was attacked, the other sides could take it back with general ease making the fortress unassailable. It was also self-sustaining which made it a catching point.

"When did she find the time to draft this?" Arjun began to scratch his chin embarrassed.

"I-….um….. placed her in the brig for about a month one time."

"Oh? What could Saras possibly do to get thrown into a cell for?"

"She….. she assaulted Sugun."

Ajay chuckled.

"It's rarely that simple isn't it, Arjun?"

"No….(Sigh) She did it because that little bastard sexually harassed a minor."

"Wow!... That pig really went for anything that has two breasts and a pretty face."

""Pfft!"" Some of the officers couldn't control their giggling.

"So why wasn't it placed into action?"

"Partly political, the little brat was trying to block me daughter. Not that I cared about the project at the time anyway. The reasons for it wasn't approved mostly had to do with the cost to build it. The Army wasn't in the budget to pay for its construction or upkeep. The Royal Guards certainly weren't lending any funding. We also lacked a desperate enough reason to justify that sort of spending to his royal highness."

It was just as Arjun said, it was costly to build and costly to maintain. But there was another aspect to it. Its intended strategic location and construction made it such that he who controlled the fortress would reign over Pacchim Valley and to a small extent all of Kyrat. Just went to show how impressive it's design and function was.

"I'll bring this forward to His Royal Highness later. I'll have each regiment lend their sappers to help in construction. Is that alright?" Ajay took the initiative.

"""Yes, your grace!"""

So now they had a plan to repel and apply pressure on the Golden Path in the coming months. Ajay's eyes scanned through the schematics until his eyes caught sight of the project name of this wonder of military genius.

Written in the top left hand next to the project titled "Bastion" was the name Saras had handwritten beside it. What she wanted the super fortress to be named.

Its name was…. Lanka.

* * *

They'd successfully reached Pacchim Valley from their unhindered escape from Rajgad Gulag. The Field commander made camp near Chal Jama Monastery for the night to await Mohan's return from his rather successful broadcast. It was the first win in a long time for the Golden Path and to see the Royal Army in anarchy was an assuring sight.

Vasu and the others took the time to pray within the monastery for good luck and omen for the battles to come and the safety of his men. They had attracted quite a crowd who came after hearing the rumors that the Devas had returned. Vasu focused on his prayers without much care to the external noises. He relocated to the small room Raju provided him to be isolated from the rest, seeing the young man become a man in his prime made Vasu feel out of place.

"Years go by, yet this place remains unchanged…." Vasu turned his head to the familiar voice and got up to his two feet.

"I don't believe it!"

"Hello again, brother." Mohan went over to embrace him, Vasu did nothing to stop him.

"You-…. haven't aged a day." Something went off in Vasu's conscience that was telling him that something was truly wrong.

"No. No I haven't, a curse perhaps… or maybe a blessing. It depends on how the user sees it. Mine would be the latter."

"What happened that day?"

"Ishwari had a bastard child with Pagan! Confused and betrayed I confronted her, I got physical and she gunned me down." Mohan told him the truth of that day in a sharp and cold tone.

"Then how-." Mohan chuckled.

"Yes. How is the exact question that should be asked."

Vasu waited for him to speak, Mohan seemed to reminisce something back in the day. Vasu was all the more shocked by the news. Ishwari had an affair with Pagan?! Yet she even killed her husband, what the hell is going on? He couldn't understand, Ishwari deeply loved Mohan and they went through ordeal after ordeal. Was it perhaps because he sent her to the Palace to spy on Pagan that time. He could recall her face, so shocked by Mohan's order she didn't even refute him. He remembered Paresh and him fighting on her behalf because it was too harsh but his word was absolute. He even sent his boy Ajay with her to act as her cover of a single mother. Was that it? She was shrewd enough to wave off any advance from Pagan that was for certain. Vasu didn't understand the complexities of a woman's heart well enough to know the answer. Swara even told him so before.

"Let's just say that I have a benefactor that saved me from certain death and I'm eager to repay that debt as soon as possible. I can't repay it as I am now, but with the power of the country it would be a different story."

"And who is this…. Benefactor of yours, Mohan?" Vasu became suspicious with a rather shady character that was involved.

Mohan laughed and patted him on the back.

"I really do hope I get to introduce you to her when I get the chance."

"Her?"

"But now is not the time, we have to take the opportunity now to build up our strength to assault the Royal Fortress again. It is the winter season and a storm will approach cutting the Royal army from us, that is the window we need to fully reconsolidate our strength."

"Brother….."

Vasu smiled wryly, it was as he remembered him. Mohan hadn't changed one bit.

They left the monastery and headed back towards banapur in high vibes…

Until they saw the smoke.

"Wait here! We'll recce first, Mohan brother?"

"Alright. We'll do as you say."

"Please watch over that boy for me, I owe him a debt."

Vasu pointed to the still unconscious Jason that lay against the rocks.

"I'll treat him as if he were you, how about that?"

"I'm already starting to get jealous!" Vasu joked.

He took point after leaving Mohan and Jason behind. With him were, Bhishma and Sanjeev who refused to stay even in his condition and some other warriors.

They walked up the road that the more familiar fighter guided them through and stood before the horror in front of the main entrance.

Vasu returned to where Mohan was.

"Is it safe?" Mohan asked.

"You have to see this." Was all Vasu said before returning back to where the others expeditionary group were unaware of what Vasu was going on about but followed him accompanied by their leader, Mohan.

When they arrived home, their arms dropped to the side and the rifles fell out of them. It was not just the burning town of Banapur that struck them dumbfounded.

But the tree by the entrance…..

Was filled with hanging bodies.

Bloodied and bearing the crest of the crossguard kukris to show they were Golden Path.

The civilians who were still alive were wailing besides the bodies they dare not cut down.

"What the hell is this?!"

Mohan walked up to the tree of hanging corpses and noticed a sign board placed near it.

"We, the Golden Path died in agony for the shamelessness of breaking the New Year Truce. We long for our brothers and sisters to follow us in kind." Mohan read the sign calmly.

A cold shiver went down the expeditionary forces backs, yet they barely moved from the spot as they stared at the tree with desolation and despair.

Vasu marched up to the civilian praying to the corpses nearby and grappled him by the collar.

"WHO DID THIS?! ANSWER ME!" He shouted with fury.

But person looked at him with fear in his eyes, eager to get away.

Mohan came over and placed his hand on the man's shoulder.

"It's alright, brother. You're in safe hands now." The man broke into weeping tears and leaned on Mohan. Obviously traumatized by the scene that unfolded here.

"It was the damnable Royal Army, brother Mohan." Said a composed Sabal, coming down the steps.

"And where the fuck were you when this happened?! Coward!" One of the fighters called out furious.

Sabal's eyebrows twitched but he maintained his cool.

"Brother Mohan tasked me to ensure the safety and wellbeing of his lady benefactor. That was my primary concern, if you're uncontent then bring it up with him then!"

"You!-…."

"Enough, Sabal. There's no use fighting over nothing. Help them cut down the bodies and give them the burial they deserve."

"Yes, brother!"

"Understood!" Though reluctant to do so with Sabal the rest of the fighters obliged with Mohan's orders.

But at this time, the villagers gathered around Mohan pleading.

"You must not remove the bodies or the demon will return to exact terrible vengeance upon more of our sons and daughters!" They begged on their knees.

"I swear to you, this Northern Demon will pay for all that he's done! On my life!" Mohan took up a knife and slit his palm to let the blood trickle to the floor.

"You have my oath as well!" Voiced out Vasu who took out his kukri and slit his palm to let the blood flow to the earth.

"And mine!"

"And mine!"

"Ours too!"

One by one, the fighters showed great camaraderie in swearing the oath to bring Badala to justice just as their leader had done.

"Now, we will give your sons and daughters full honours and lay them to rest." Mohan left them crying in gratitude. Vasu followed him by his side.

"You want to meet my benefactor, no?"

"Can… she possibly change the outcome of this?" Vasu felt that this benefactor of his was powerful, if she could save Mohan from certain death she definitely had some power or backing that was terrifying. Mohan showed a modicum of respect for her which Vasu rarely saw for anyone, which meant she was really incredible.

"That oath you made, is it genuine?"

"How could you even say that?! I Vasu don't just make claims and don't follow through with them! This demon Badala… He must be stopped! He needs to die!" Vasu clenched his hand till the blood began to ooze out from his yet to seal wound.

"Good." Was all he said as Mohan brought him to a small brick house that was designated to himself, it was out of the town behind the woods so it was likely missed by the Royal Army. They entered and immediately Vasu felt they weren't alone in the house.

A figure cloaked in a soft velvet gab sat in lotus position motionless. Vasu almost mistook it for a goddess statue because that person was dead still.

"Are you positive you want her assistance?" Mohan asked again.

"What does she have to offer?" Vasu asked curious to how this benefactor of Mohan's could assist them.

" _Power."_ The voice came as a shock to Vasu who stood with his wits about him. The voice was so ethereal it had an almost non-human touch to it. As if a celestial had descended to the earth to give them guidance in their destinies. The figure stood up with equal grace and walked towards Vasu.

" _The strength of a thousand men, the guile to outwit a fox, the fortitude to endure the most punishing of afflictions…."_

"….. What price does this sort of power come with?" Vasu asked with convictions.

" _What any price for unparrellel strength comes with… sacrifice and loyalty."_

"To you?" The cloaked figure held up a hand to her covered face as she covered her chuckling. That sounded so sweet to the ear, it made him feel inadequate before this woman. He turned to Mohan for answers, but the latter just smiled.

-What exactly did you dabble in, brother?-

"And what if I say I refuse?"

The woman said nothing, instead she raised her hand out before him. That hand was so pale and unblemished it was as if it were a beautiful porcelain hand, wrapped in satin embroided garments.

All of a sudden, his felt his body freeze stiff and couldn't move from where he was.

His body knelt before the woman without giving it that command.

It was then that an emerald light shone from that woman's delicate hand as she placed it upon Vasu's forehead.

Then, the pain began. He screamed to the top of his lungs, a pain like no other stretched itself throughout his body. His hand began to felt a hot iron brand upon where his Deva tattoo was inked onto the back of his hand.

" _You came this far only to back out. Why not let fate carry you to your final destination? As did those that achieved Nirvana had done, oh so long ago…"_

"Who-….Who are you?!" He managed to say before wrestling the pain once more.

" _I am now your benefactor for the trials ahead. My name…. you need not concern yourself. But if I were to call upon you, Vasu Sen and you were to heed my call…."_

" _You will call me…. Master."_

* * *

Author's Notes:

If you're wondering what was that song in De Pleur's phone for Ashley's number, it was

Teen Party by William South & Georgia South & Ric Featherstone.


	52. Chapter 50 - The Reasonable Golden Path?

Author's Notes:

I don't know if i can do another story before the new year. Especially when next chapter has the short attached to it as Chp 51(c). Happy new year to all boys and girls!

* * *

The walls were that of a natural cave been mined out to give more room for the audience as they bellowed their desires for a winning streak up on above.

*Oh! My chandis are in a twist!* The overhead commentator voiced out some humor remarks, part of his personality.

But it did little to entertain them when they'd been forced to be contestants instead of spectators. A three-link chain binded Riley, Oliver and Steve to one another by their ankles. They had a spacing of one metre away from each other but it wasn't enough to manuever on their own reflexes.

The first round had just barely finished and they were host to disbelief. A gladiatorial arena where men poured in and meat came out the other end, animals were another concern all together and as they passed the cages in the back of the arena they saw the entire menagerie of animals. Leopards, Boars, Wolves and even Tigers.

Riley thanked Ridley Scott for giving him a preview onto one of the most dangerous moments of his life. It seemed that they were the main attraction of today, the crowds bet on how long they'd survive rather than if they'll survive or not.

*Items will no longer be accepted as bets, cash only!... Sorry, grandma!*

"Damn it! How many more rounds are there!?" Steve had the right to complain this time. He'd been participating in the shooting just now to suppressed the soldiers behind cover while the wild animals approached from behind and mauled them to death. Oliver took a Molotov and threw it at the pigs which squealed as they ran around to douse the flames but ended up roasted instead. The aroma of crackling pork rose to the audiences' booths.

Some how they managed to survive with wit and carefulness. How did it lead up to this? One minute they were lounging at a nice homestead on top of the mountainside with those two british cunts the next they wake up in cages! Daisy and Liza were nowhere to be found and neither were the Kamala couple.

*It's time for another round of killing!... bhala bhala!*

The gates opened and new type of soldiers more heavily armed and armoured came through. The animals were larger and more ferocious. They knew they had to rely more that hiding from now on.

Their faces collectively fell further into despair.

-How did it turn out like this?!-

* * *

The helicopter was crammed despite Kamran's insistence that the eight of them could fit inside the troop compartment. The Marines were happily chatting away with the Marines Perkins and Stew who were dispatched to them by their immediate superior.

Ajay kept to himself, dwelling upon the conversation he had with the Homestead residence who were all aware of the status Ajay had with Mohan Ghale.

"How're you holding up, Ajay?" Noore asked with great concern in her voice.

"I'm fine, just thoughts about whether it really is him or just a ruse so daring idiot performed to play the Golden Path."

"Are you really going to kill your father? I mean, he is still your father at the end of the day, Ajay." Maya asked him.

"My father died twenty-five years ago at the porch of Ghale Homestead, whatever that-….thing is. That's not him, it might possess his will, wishes, his appearance but that's all he carries. He's nothing more than a vessel for my dad's zealous will." He replied in a cold tone. Ajay revealed his inned thoughts to them, he'd thought long and hard about it in the event he had to face him down, would he pull the trigger? Yes.

But what Ajay didn't want to reveal to them was that he held no sentiment for this progenitor other than his mother. He didn't want to say he hated him for causing his mother's heartbreak and eventual death, though she died from cancer he knew it wasn't merely a disease that ate away at her for twenty years. He hated him for causing his childhood sufferings, although that was purely childish to think that but he lived in a harsh reality nearly his entire life. And what did Mohan do all this for? It took an idiot not to see he casted them aside for his own ambitions. The crown of Kyrat and the beginnings of the Ghale Dynasty.

"Is that what you've decided for yourself or for Kyrat?"

"He waited twenty-five years to do a Houdini act. Isn't it obvious, his drive to take Kyrat for himself? If the only way of stopping him means ending his life then the answer is clear." Maya looked a little shocked as did Noore, They couldn't hide their disbelief that his resolve wasn't conflicted by family, but then neither was Mohan's. They were really alike, both unwilling to relent to the other.

"If you ever appear before your father…." Maya placed her hands upon his.

"I hope you never have to come to the ultimatum to end him. A son should never have to kill his father. If it ever comes to that, all of us hope you'd come to think likewise and spare him. Not for Kyrat's sake, not for the family but for yours."

Ajay glanced over to Noore who gave him a nod. She understood how difficult it was for him to accept it. But he had to let his hatred go so it wouldn't turn him into a monster in the skin of man which he was physically and metaphorically becoming.

Ajay opened his hand to find the pendant wheel in it.

"You're asking for the impossible…" He quietly murmured to himself on the helicopter.

"Boss?"

"It's nothing Ricardo. What are the guesses as to where they are?"

"Your guest is as good as mine, boss. Thirty square miles in a day or two, they could be anywhere in the Southern valleys."

"If I were trapped in a foreign country against my will by crazed rebels where would I go?" Perkins raised the question.

"You mean where would I hide, Golden Path is chasing me after I and my friends escaped. De Pleur chased them all the way to the Tigers territory and thought they were in Baghadur seeking asylum." Stew pointed out.

"Not the Airport, I would have just sunk my ship there. If it were Shanath you could find plenty of hiding spots amongst the bazaars there. Maybe King's Bridge, there's no safer place than the government forces forward base."

"Luca, anything in rumor mill?" Ajay asked him to check the net for any blogs about foreigners or weird coincidence in Pacchim Valley.

"Nothing weird or out of the ordinary. They're probably hiding in a cave or some place that people don't go to very often."

"…." If they were chosing the hideout option, Ajay had to act fast. Being unfamiliar with Kyrat's natural climates, they wouldn't know about the seriousness of the storm about to take place. They'd only freeze to death. He hoped the Malla couple would tell them about it.

"Please let there be a firefight!" Emilio crossed his fingers.

"Jeez, how eager are you to use Samar's new toy?" Ricardo shook his head.

"Actually, I'm kinda looking forward to having a go too." Perkins confessed.

They were openly referring to the three barrelled minigun sitting on a modified stand in Kamran's chopper. Much to the latter's disapproval, but they were running a quick insertion and retrieval mission so it justified the use of the minigun. Although there was nothing mini about it.

Weighting in at a whooping ninety kilos and not including the mount yet, the gun was dual-fed and fired an enormous 12.7x108mm heavy machine gun calibre round from the DShK heavy machine gun at a rate of 2000 rpm. This thing was a rotary beast, a short burst fire could potentially liquidate any target under a second no matter how armored of protected behind cover. How Samar designed this monstrosity from the ground up on his own, he had a lot of free time before Ajay came to Kyrat. Samar had a dream to revolutionize Kyrat's defense industry and went about publishing patented designs in Chennai, India. Perkins said he was like a Kyrati-John Browning, whoever that was. With Ajay's support and funding for projects he was already touching his life long wish in a matter of mere months.

"Who will stay in the chopper-."

"Me!" "Calling dibs!" Perkins and Emilio had already preprepared for this and announced their intentions to stay in the chopper after declaring so.

"Shit."

"Tsk!"

The others weren't so please.

"Who else besides Perkins and Emilio who will be accompanying me on the ground want a go at the minigun?" Ajay asked to which all raised their hands.

Ajay placed his hand to his head.

"What?!"

"Oh- come on!"

Emilio and Perkins expressed their displeasure.

"You have a problem with that?" But the one thing they were against was crossing Ajay's temper so they retreated.

"The closest thing in the US Military inventory to this thing is GAU-19 but that's Army, I'm Marine. I'm already not destined to touch it! But then your gun wizard pops this bad boy out, so how can I not try it!" Perkins pleaded his case, unwilling to let the gun slide.

"We're here to rescue US citizens, not pay turkey shoot with helicopter guns. They'll be other opportunities to spin it."

-Why am I even babying these idiots?-

Ajay sighed in resign.

* * *

Daisy woke up with a nasty headache, the pulsing wouldn't stop where a bump to the back of her head could be felt.

(Cling) The sound of clattering chains could be heard.

"Huh?" She looked to her hands.

Iron chains cuffed around her wrists as it did with her two feet.

"W-….What the hell…?"

As she looked around she found metal bars around or rather just around her. Daisy was locked in a 3 cubic metre cage. Why was she here? Where is here?

"Mmmm…." She quickly realized she wasn't alone in the cage, lying next to her was Liza. Just Liza.

Soon as she awoke, Liza went through the same line of events as Daisy did when she woke, albeit more frantic.

"What the hell is this!?"

"I don't know. What was the last thing you remember?"

"Uh-… Those Brits, the tall and short one let us stay in that house on the hill. They celebrated with Oli and Steve with joints and we sent our time outside at the patio because of the smoke indoors."

Daisy could now piece together her previous memories thanks to Liza's quicker memory recovery.

"We tried to look for the toilets and you heard wailing in the truck and went to check the back. And then- uh!"

Daisy and Liza came to the same recollection. Daisy investigated the truck they sat in there were large crates which they didn't bother touching when they hitched a ride but the noise made them curious, having nothing better to do they had a peek. It happened to have a cloak thrown over it and when they checked there was a lock around it, but the lock had not been closed. Perhaps out of the fellas carelessness. They opened one of the boxes to have a look and to their horror…

They found young girls and boys tembling inside.

How did they miss that even when they were sitting on board the truck for nearly an hour? Then the next minute they blacked out and woke up here.

The door in front of them unlocked as the person responsible for their kidnap was about to appear.

"I told you! Bet for five, look at them city blokes."

"You said they would hold out quite well cause they escaped the City of Pain."

"Reggie, Donald?"

Liza called out but Daisy had already deduced their predicament and placed her hand to Liza's mouth to stop her from talking as she glared icily at the two con men.

"It's Yogi! Jesus, fucking yanks man!"

"Why are you doing this?" Daisy asked coldly and they backed off slightly and merely for a pair that knocked them unconscious.

"We were nice enough to even let you lodge free of charge, but that one golden rule we told you and you broke it." Yogi said to them in a Jack Sparrowish way.

But Daisy and Liza looked at him in a puzzled way. What rule? Was what they both thought.

Yogi turned to a rather quite Reggie who was swearing behind his neck.

"You did tell'em not to look didn't you?"

"Um….. that depends how you phrase it." Yogi slapped his hand to his own face in frustration, shaking his head.

"Well whatever! They found out so its fuck them or fuck us."

"Right, mate." They came to a conclusion impressively quick.

"Where's Riley and the boys!" Daisy banged the cage bars aggressively causing them to veer back afraid.

"Oh! The compadres? Such a tragedy, because you birds had a peek at business you weren't supposed to we had to drug'em."

"But we didn't kill'em, no!"

"No."

They shook their heads.

"Although…" Yogi chuckled.

"They got to play Gladiator (Kyrat edition), yeah?"

"Yeah!" Reggie chuckled with him as if it were a joke as he lit himself a fag. But to the girls it was anything but a bag of laughter.

-Gladiator? Does he mean-….- Daisy looked up in shock and disbelief.

"And the Malla couple?... Did you do the same to the elderly?!" She shouted in anger.

"Jeez… calm your tits down, love. We ain't done nothing to 'em. Right, Reg?"

"Yeah! They're both nice and comfy taking a nap down there." Reggie motioned to the corner behind the crates where Daisy hadn't noticed.

"Relax love, the four've you are worth more than dough. You birds are worth say… ten thousand quid each, maybe more. No?" Yogi asked Reggie who shrugged his shoulders.

"Can you imagine? Day one and we already got a customer." Reggie chuckled away.

Liza's expression held one that wanted to cry out in pain. Daisy bit her lip. It was difficult to accept, after escaping De Pleur's prison they actually made it this far only to get caught again. All because they got too comfortable with some foriegners and thought because they were also not from this country they'd have some empathy but they were even worse than the Golden Path. Like Paul, they lived in this hell hole off the lives of earnest folks.

"He should be her- (Knock) (Knock) Ah! Right on time, gonna love the punctual blokes, eh?" Yogi went to answer the door while Reggie self-prepped his poker face for battering.

"Hello hello! We got them ready as soon as you asked, can I interest you in a cohiba?" Yogi popped out a cuba cigar for the eager customer of theres who picked the cigar out of Yogi's hand and placed it in his mouth.

Yogi proceeded to offer a light.

"Now on phone, we did say they were worth one hundred thousand quid, but-."

"One hundred and fifty, period for all four. Do you accept or not?"

"Sold! To the man with half the good looks- ops!" Reggie declared but backed out when he overstepped his friendliness and actually insulted their generous customer.

Two men appeared from the door and threw a bag of money with the cash he promised, they loaded the sedated old Malla couple onto the jeep that stood outside.

Daisy turned over to look at the buyer and to her horror appeared the last person she wanted to meet again. When Liza looked up she too whimpered in despair.

"Why?….." She murmured.

The buyer bent down and placed one hand on the cage to balance himself while the other retrieved the cigar from his mouth and blew some smoke out. His eyes said it was a laughable situation they got themselves into, but it was too my fortune nonetheless.

"Hello again, Daisy." Smiled the devious Sabal.

* * *

Burning wrecks which were once an armed convoy of weapons heading to resupply Banapur with freshly made arms from Pakistan courtesy of Willis lit the entire stretch of the road that the convoy occupied. Bodies of the fighters were burnt to a crisp half gotten out of their vehicles which they desperately tried to escape the hailstorm of high-explosive incendiary rounds from the smoking gatling gun that Emilio and Perkins took turns firing. Ajay gave up on those two and came to the ground to finish off the straggles and to attain some prisoners to find collect intel.

It was an especially critical supply for the Golden Path due to the coming storm. Having chance upon it by accident Ajay decided to do a little hurt to the Golden Path movement while they were at it looking for Brody's friends and to a larger extent Kamala's parents.

One such straggled stumbled onto the ground to get away from the last person he might see before his painful death.

(Bang)

Ajay shot his leg and dropped him to the floor crying out in pain. Elsewhere the Marines and mercenaries were killing off the men and tossing grenades into the undamaged supplies. The rifles and ammo they recovered and gathered aside.

Ajay appeared before the last survivor like a death god waiting to hear his last words. "P-Please-…. Mercy!... I have a family." He begged.

Ajay sighed. "And yet you joined Golden Path, where you would inevitable take away someone elses husband, wife, son, daughter. There's only so far I'd tolerate hypocrisy, warrior." Ajay unslung his autocross.

"Y-You want to know about the Great Mohan-Gyahhh!" Ajay propelled a bolt to stake his hand to the ground.

"I don't give two shits about Mohan Ghale. Fake or not, he'll take responsibility for declaring himself to me." Ajay said with a fearsome glare which restricted the man's heartbeat.

"Start telling me something that's worth a peaceful death, then you can start working your way slowly to being spared." Ajay fed him the carrot to life in his interrogation. What victim wouldn't reach out to it? The fighter gulped heavily and made his resolve to tell.

"G-Golden Path shipments…. An American agent helps us bring arms from Pakistan!"

Another bolt struck a limb of his as he yelled out in agony.

"That's common knowledge even to the Tigers now. My little gadget has seven bolts left and I intend to empty the clip."

"Hieee! Alright! OK!- What- What do you want to know?!" The man squealed.

"Don't ask me. Tell me something interesting." Ajay waved his autocross about.

"S-Sabal-…."

"Hmmm? What about him?"

"He's here!- I mean, he's nearby!"

"And what do I care about that little shrink? He's doing a better job tearing you guys apart. Or are you trying to use me to kill him?" Ajay's glared burned deep into the man's psyche as he lost control of his bladder and created a pungent puddle around him.

"H-He-H- He's here to collect-….collect the foreigners!"

"What foreigners?"

"Jason Brody's…" He didn't need to finish the sentence, as Ajay already knew. His hand reached out and clasped the man's cheeks. The man was both in pain and terrified to struggle.

"Give me a location, general direction and the numbers with him. And consider that an extension of your pig life spared."

"Shanath- Shanath Bazaar! That bastard embezzled our funds in gambling! So he received word that the foreigners that fell into the description of the ones that escaped De Pleur's City were up for buy."

The man thought he had spared himself from certain death but it was quickly ended by Ajay's cacophony at his words.

"You expect me to believe this bullshit? Human trafficking is punishable by death since it started." The man realized his mistake and quickly stampered to remedy this slight misout of information.

"It's De Pleur's activities!"

"And where is he now?" Ajay joked with him.

"This went on ever since Sabal accepted him into the Golden Path and when you were betrayed by him! H-How do you think Golden Path can still supply itself with Solomon's expensive arms?! Guuroohh!"

Ajay placed the autocross muzzle into the man's mouth.

"So let me get this straight, you sold our own people, the people that Golden Path swore to protect, the people that looked up to you as protectors of the common people. And you did all this to gather new weapons to fight Pagan?" The man could only whimper after tripping yet another landmine.

"Are you willing to confess these crimes of Golden Path to a court if granted?"

The man's mouth dropped but he quickly closed it and shook his head incessantly to save his cowardly life.

From what Ajay gathered, the man was telling the truth. Sabal had come to buy Brody's friends who somehow stubbled into the human trafficking ring that Paul initiated outside of the Royal Army's bandwidth and weren't aware of it until Ajay just heard.

Ricardo came over with the other mercenaries.

"Take him to a quiet place and record his confession." Ricardo nodded as the other mercenaries carried the smelly man now caked with urine odour to the heli.

"Jeez, he smells."

"Figures, he just pissed himself."

"Urghh!"

"Ricardo." Ajay called him just as he was about to follow them back.

"When he's confessed, kill him. Then bring the recording to Arjun." Ajay had stumbled upon a golden opportunity to make a scandal out of the Golden Path. For a long time, the Tigers had reported missing people from the refugees that appeared seeking asylum from them. Ajay was sure they couldn't have been the Royal Army, the capital punishment for kidnapping was severe and was heavily enforced by the provost. That just left the Golden Path, were they press ganging people into their ranks? That was his theory until now, he now knew what was really going on.

Paul had always been kidnapping people, his renegades were better at kidnapping than anything else. It was part of the human trafficking operation that once took place that Ajay ended immediately. If he were to say that he actually forced Paul into a tight spot to until he had no other option than to defect then he was guilty as charged.

From Yuma, he learnt about Solomon Khoo's former trades in human trafficking in Macau. Paul's deal was obviously as side deal he had with the Hong Konger, MULA for freshmeat. Occasionally, he did his part for the Golden Path by having a fraction portioned to procure arms for the Golden path from outside sources. Globalisation, somewhere in the globe was making profit out of selling his citizens. When this war was over, he'd come over and track them down and extradite them to Durgesh to live out their days. He didn't care if they had diplomatic immunity or if they shook hands with the President of the United States. They took what they shouldn't have and would pay the price eventually.

"Where'll you be headed?"

"To boil a weasel."

* * *

Brody opened his eyes after a wonderful sensation flowed through his body, the agonizing pain that had been there before was now a spa resort feeling. Gazing at his surroundings he found the cause of this spiritual injuries recovery.

Mohan had finished painting symbols upon the place which Darshan slit that wooden sword.

"Lie down or you'll wreck the formation I painstakingly drew for an hour."

"I was fine without your help, ese."

"Says the spirit that almost lost its essence right after stealing the host for himself." Mohan chuckled to himself. Brody felt slightly annoyed by this man's indifference to his provocations. He knew who he was and what he was capable of. After all…..

Mohan was the one that completed Citra's unfinished tatau. The episode in the islands was complex, while he had successfully broken off from Citra's control. The latter did not like the fact that he was living freely and out of her expectations. Her love was not love but an obsession. In fact, she had an insane obsession with him. So crazed that she inked that white boy into a the perfect vessel for his soul which she collected and performed the ritual after Jason passed out after killing him. Jason woke up not even realising something new was implanted into him and went about his killing of Hoyt and his mercenaries. The more he killed the sharper the body's edge became for him to inhabit. But of course, Citra would never let him take control of a perfect warrior's body as the first thing that came to his mind was to stab that sister of his whether he loved her or not, when it came to his freedom there was no price too great.

Citra intended to bind his soul to Jason's offspring, and that was how he would be reborn. A helpless infant for her to love and nurture into her ideal family. If he was known for being crazy in the past then Citra was a lunatic.

How he knew of Citra's power and magic, he had the same education as her by the tribe witch doctors. He knew the basis of some arts and rituals but was more keen to hone the warrior inside of him. Citra on the other hand gained complete mastery of the voodoo, and she expanded further into more ancient arts and eventually made the Rakyat base within the centre of the old temples. Where she continued to hone her power, but of course there were limits to her influence on the material world. The requisite for her powers to seduce others was for them to believe in her powers, like a witless Jason Brody or the simple Rakyat islanders. Hoyt and his privateers were obviously not in her scope of power as they didn't believe in her magic hence she was helpless in the southern islands.

"So what can I do you for?" Brody found that his movements had been restricted by Mohan through the process he was undergoing.

"Somebody obviously spent a lot of time creating this formation, a reasonably powerful witch I might add. But, with a rather crude hex formation, overly complex and full of loop holes. It tells a great deal about her."

"You should exchange notes with her over coffee sometime."

"I would like that." Mohan smiled wryly.

"Then go to hell, she shouldn't be far."

"That's a pity, I really thought there was another witch I could drain power and essence from. Witches are a rare commodity nowadays you see." Brody did his best to hide his surprise regarding Mohan, he was far crueler than he imagined. He was starting to see Hoyt's image overlap with his.

"Uh-Huh. So why stitch me up?"

"Because you're a valuable tool." Mohan gave that same pleasant smile, but was anything but pleasant after he stated his intentions with Brody.

"You mean I have valuable tools." Mohan chuckled at the young man's stubbornness to accept being pinned down by others.

"From the moment you switched places with Jason Brody you were already within my grasps. Know who pulls your strings, vessel."

It was as he feared, Mohan had redone his formation in his own design. If Mohan wanted him to run he would run, if he wanted him to kill he would kill and stop when he wanted him to stop.

"But what's not to like, you are after all fulfilling your lifelong dream. A secluded paradise where you could let fly your inner fighting potential to the fullest. Armies to run and send to their deaths, women to have your way with, treasures waiting to be found. Kyrat has all of these to offer. Is it any different from your former home?"

"…." He was just missing out the one thing Brody craved over everything else, which was his freedom. He was still this man's pinnochio to his gepetto.

"The Northern Demon holds a strong grudge against you and will likely hunt you with all his has after the coming months."

"And you want me to do something about it, right?"

"Smart boy, I'll make it worth your while. He's the biggest thorn in our side."

"Something even the Great Mohan Ghale can't deal with?" Brody mocked but failed to see any reaction from him.

"It's not that I can't do it personally or any of the devas like Vasu could. But for too long Badala has held the fears of the ranks within the Golden Path, this includes my old associates. Willis is no exception, he even has nightmares about it. So with only the Generals not afraid but the troops who shiver frightened, this army is rather redundant."

So that was what Mohan saw value in Brody for. He was Demon bait, meant to lure Badala into a suitable location for the Devas to overwhelm him. Once that was out of the way, the Golden Path had very little to fear.

"Do this, and I'll cut those strings."

-Are you serious?-

Brody wasn't so naïve to believe such a deal, he didn't climb his way to Hoyt's number two for shit. What use would he have to Mohan after that? He'd probably just sent his Devas to dispose of him after that. That being said..

"Deal."

"Quick to respond, I like that." A smile escaped Mohan's mouth.

-Deal with it for now, and then we'll see who outwits who.-

* * *

The truck drove along the quite afternoon road without hindrance from traffic, sitting in the back was Sabal, his men and their four previously escaped captives.

"Your little stun caused quite a havoc amongst my men. And poor Paul, because of you he got himself captured. Now who's gonna watch over his darling Ashley at his manor?" Sabal said with a tone of mockery.

"Still having others do the work for you I see." Daisy sent it right back at him. It would have been just a return had it not been for the men snickering away after she said that about Sabal.

"Quiet! Or I'll send the lot of you to attend to the arena!" He quickly sorted them in line.

"As I was saying, in the end of the day it's the end result that matters." Seeing Daisy and to a larger extent Liza's faces fall was a refreshing sight for him. He released a slight chuckle, it had been the first in a long time since he had actually had decent fortune.

It definitely meant he had good karm- (BOOM)

"What was that?!"

*The lead car has been hit! All units dismount!* Called out the commander of the convoy.

All of the fighter alighted their vehicles, they were presently upon a bridge and throught that the struts could provide ample cover and there would be only two points of attack from front and back. It was then that they regretted their decision greatly.

The sound of a rapid chopping board ripped through the air, the result were bodies being shredded by high velocity rounds.

"Chopper! Three o clock!"

There first instinct was to seek cover from the armament that had the power to down them in seconds. Their first mistake.

Smoke canisters fell at their feet from the front.

"Attack from the front! Keep your eyes peeled!"

(Boom) A roar of a cannon resounded and took the lives of some warriors in the lead section, they turned into paste.

After the loud shot, everything went quiet at the front. Fighters gathered around where Sabal had alighted as there was only one reason this convoy could possibly be attacked for.

The sound of a break action and the ejection of the spent shells was nerve wrecking. There was talk of a weapon like that amongst the Golden Path. Only one person wielded such a godless weapon as his weapon of choice.

The smoke cleared and revealed the monster before them that took no precautions in seeking cover.

"B-…Badala…" One whispered.

"Why-…. Why is he here?!" They murmured amongst themselves while raising their weapons at him from the cover of the vehicles turned to act as provisional cover and as a barricade.

Sabal grit his teeth, everyrtime he enjoyed a near victory it was always thwarted by that man.

"You want to stand in my way again? BADALA!"

Ajay shouldered "Slayer".

"It thought I should remind all of you that Mohan's appearance makes not difference to what Golden Path becomes should it persist."

"Like we have a choice, between a rotten government and a liberator who do you think we'd choose?!" One of the fighters announced to Sabal's surprise and Ajay's astounishment.

"You surely are right that the head of state is unjust maybe even cruel. I've done as much as I could to fix that and I'm seeing improvement. But it only gets fixed from the inside, if you wanted protest it should have been in peaceful ways and demonstrations, not taking up arms and opposing the crown. Because it only forces their hand in raising it against the ones that raise theirs against them. I told this to Amita and I'm telling this to you now. Never threaten the other party's comforts and way of living until you bear that strength."

The fighters were temporarily astounded, somehow the fighter that declared this had not been rebuked with bullets but a fair debate with the Northern Demon. Somehow losing their will to fight, even momentarily. They'd never believed he was so diplomatic, had the same been done with Amita and the Tigers they once called brothers and sisters?

"I'm here for only one thing, Kamala's parents and Brody's friends. If you could accommodate things for me, I'll do the same for you. We don't have to spill blood this day." These folks were a rare group, they asked questions which was rather odd amongst the Golden path which killed and asked their leaders for instructions.

"Are you all so naïve as to believe a mass murderer of thousands of our kin?!" Sabal tried to salvage the situation.

"That's rich coming from you." The commander of the convoy snorted.

Sabal snatched up a rifle and tried to initiate a firefight between Badala and his men. But the Commander pointed his handgun at his head.

"Don't push me over the edge, cretin! Mohan might favour you but if you get in our way that will be the end of it."

"Tsk!"

"You seem to be a fairly reasonable fellow, what might I call you?"

"Loken Kaji, Commander of the 13th Scouting group. I survived your work in the Meh Teh Offensive, scouting the forward elements of the group and was pused to the rear when no longer needed, that's how I and a few others survived. Ever since then… I just never expected to meet you again in such circumstances."

"Then Loken, to what can I offer you and your men is rather straightforward. To be honest you are the first batch of fighters that actually have rational thought. I can offer all of you refuge in the Uttar region, housing, employment, salaries. Everything will be provided for, no one will discriminate against you for once being Golden Path. If that isn't enough, we can negotiate with you further elsewhere out of the open. You can still hold on to the prisoners if you want until we come to a resounding conclusion."

The fighters couldn't believe how accommodating the demon was being to them, it was almost too good to be true. If Ajay wasn't wrong, these were the survivors of the massacre of the Airprot offensive that relegated to the reserve or rear-echelons as they became battle-weary with the killings that unfolded that day. They were still loyal to the cause and were slightly better than the groups that just abandoned Golden Path and returned to their homes and tended to their fields.

Seeing treachery unfold before him, Sabal couldn't bear it any further and ranted and roared their disloyalty.

"Shut up, you coward! You call us disloyal but what about you?!"

The other fighters joined in belittling Sabal and threatening to kill him.

"What do you want to do with Sabal?" The Commander asked.

"Do whatever you wish with him, my suggestion is to let him run back to Banapur emptyhanded and see if Mohan still favors him." Ajay grinned to Sabal's displeasure.

-Badala! You bastard! You manipulate my men against me?! How dare you!-

The chopper loomed overhead with that frightening weapon that obliterated the front and rear sections of their convoy which told of its power.

"Kamran, hover away for a bit. You're making my clients uncomfortable, and take those two idiots of the gun."

*Roger. I'll be loitering about if you need me.*

The helicopter bearing the royal markings backed off slightly into the distance. Seeing him give instructions to the helicopter made them have a bit of respect for him.

But there was a moment of breaking sight between them and Sabal who took the opportunity to dash into the back of the truck and pulled out one of the hostages. Hold her at knife point.

"Urgh-.. lemme go! You creep!" The woman shouted.

"Drop the knife, you bastard!" Now all guns were trailed onto Sabal in a twist of irony.

Ajay couldn't see the person through the crowd and walked right through. The fighters did nothing to stop him and parted way for him.

Then his expectation blew away from him.

When he looked at the hostage in his grasp a stream of memories poured into his head. There was some age to her but the features were unmistakable hers. Ajay's heart started to palpitate and an expression of unease was caught by Sabal who smirked after gaining control of the situation again.

Why was she here? Of all people, why was she amongst Jason's friends?

His mouth uncontrollably mouthed out her name, the name of the person whose kindness and love he once took for granted so many years ago.

"…Daisy?"

* * *

Author's Notes:

To be honest, i don't like Reggie and Yogi at all. Why Ajay hesistated in shooting them after returning to the Ghale Homestead was beyond me.

But we can soon fix that.


	53. Chapter 51 - Unforgettable Past, Present

Author's Notes:

I did it! Right before new year in Australia time! YESSS! Two chapters as claimed. I'll see you on the flipside of 2017. Chp 51(c) is a short attached to this chapter. a routine i'm following now every something-first of the chapter.

* * *

Brooklyn, eleven years ago. 2003. –

Life was already difficult for a fifteen-year-old Ajay living in the projects in East Harlem to cope with. On top of providing for the household through odd jobs with some of his neighbours there were those stupid neighbourhood shits that got in his way. Discrimination was something he was used to but didn't tolerate, when someone did that to him he'd beat them to a sorry pulp. He couldn't help it, it was somehow wired into his system to be prideful even in his situation.

But as he got older, some of those shits joined local gangs and it got troublesome. Reporting to their seniors to seek revenge for them on their behalf. Ajay relied heavily on his fists and kicks that he understood from some street fighting techniques. Yet Ajay managed to overcome all obstacles that the gangs gave him. And became the number one pariah not to mess with unless you wanted your ass kicked. In school, he had a reputation as a delinquent, not that he cared. The teachers feared him if he ever got physical after hearing rumors about him from the suburbs. But it was his right as an American to be given an education. Yet his mother was facing so much difficulty applying for hers, she was still a resident relying on Visa which Ajay never understood how she could keep it for so long.

The members of the gangs that had tasted his brutal fists contemplated on stabbing or shooting him in the street or perhaps torturing his hot mum to get back. The one thing that kept them at bay was the presence of Mama Tinashe, their neighbour mom and a former pimp in her day. Notorious and yet loved by the hoods. She raised some of the orphans and street kids as her own and they became adults. Some became proper contributors to society, others like the street gang leaders continued their decedant ways. But they all had absolute respect for her, and if they ever so much as laid a hand on her dearest friend Ishwari she'd send an associate to cut their eyes out for not seeing that.

So the gangs were forced to rely on their own brute force if they wanted to teach Ajay a lesson. As if he'd ever let them get the chance. One of Mama tinashe's lovers taught him some moves in boxing and Ajay actually learnt all of it in a single lesson. The guy was coloured impress with his talent and offered him a career in boxing when he grew up of course, he kept a raincheck on that offer but Ajay was fated to never answer it. His mother was not at all pleased with him undertaking physical means to make a living, she was even more upset with his delinquent behaviour in the neighbourhood. Mama Tinashe would bring Ishwari over for a cup of tea, she knew that Ajay was a good but misunderstood child. But helping a fatherless child was out of her expertise, she figured he would have to find his own way in life.

Roaming the streets like a dog to mark its territory, Ajay stumbled upon some low-level thugs that actually intruded into his area and went to teach them with his barehands. That was then he found the reason for their mistake. They appeared to be harassing some girl that looked like she was from a privileged background, so the question was what was she doing here in the projects?

"The hell are you doing in these parts, scumbags!"

They were small fry compare to the boxing and karate apprentices in their groups. Easily disposed of when their numbers dwindled below two in those able to fight. Adding to that was Ajay's status as Mama Tinashe's friend. So they left after swearing to kick the shit out of him if he had the guts to come to their place. Ajay passed off their remarks as hotair and waltzed off leaving the blondie to herself in bewilderment. Although he did have a passing glance at her pretty face and striking eyes, but in comparison to his mom they were pale.

The next morning, to his disbelief she came again and was harassed by a different group this time. Her looks were just attracting too much attention to the black and white thugs. Ajay merely apprehended them because they were intruding in his spot, period. He passed a hostile glance at her to discourage her from coming again, as if that would ever happened.

Then day three, she appeared yet again. What the heck was she playing at? Could it be… she was actually a masochist, fantasizing about being raped by gangsters or hobos? And she always came at the same time, 8.35pm. It's not that Ajay was looking at the clock and recorded it, that definitely wasn't the case. He always sat on the edge of the roof to the store on the third floor which had perfect vantage of the whole place. What could a teenage girl possibly want in the projects late at night? Not that Ajay was interested to know or anything.

"Oh fuck!"

This time it wasn't smallfry. It was one of Mama Tinashe's adopted brats, even he had limits. That was if they didn't fight him he wouldn't fight them. The same principle regarding Mama Tinashe applied to him. That girl asked for trouble. And now she got it, but that wasn't Ajay's problem.

"Urghh! Help! Help!"

"Stop screaming or I'll remove a finger!" He flicked out a switch blade from his pocket and she quietened down.

(Sigh) Why was he so bothered by this scene?

He climbed down the gutter pipes and jumped once he reached the first floor to the ground.

"Oh shit! It's him!"

Ajay walked up towards them cracking his knuckles.

"You shits have a lot of nerve coming here and having fun in my playground!"

"Piss off, Gill!"

"It's Ghale with a silent H, or did you retards skip school cause you were too dumb to read?" He mocked them provocatively.

"You're asking for it dipshit!"

"Stop wasting your breath and bring it! My muscles are aching for some exercise!"

The fight was longer than expected even though he dodged around taking out the small fry's first then focused on Mama Tinashe's failure of an adoptive child.

"Watch out!" She saw a hidden attack with the switchblade in his possession and warned him beforehand.

(Crack) Ajay swung him around and snapped his wrist.

"Gyaahhh!"

The group picked themselves up pretty quickly, those that were too slow were kicked in the butt by Ajay to hasten up.

"You'll pay for this, Ajay! When Mama hear's about this, you're dead!" He said whilst running off to seek medical attention.

"Then tell her how you got it, have some balls for once and admit it to her. I dare you!"

"Urgh- Fuck!" The person shouted in misery.

With that out of the way, there was just that crazy bitch to deal with.

"The same goes of you, if you ever use this route again like the last few times. Don't be sorry I did something you'll regret." He said with a powerful glare before leaving her in a daze.

The next day she failed to show, which he was thankful that she understood basic English and stopped causing a fuss in his turf.

Mama Tinashe approached him on the bruises and broken wrist of her boy which he responded with they deserved it. And got a slap from his mom as she stormed out of the living room in tears. But Mama Tinashe was shrewder than people made her out to be and knew whatever he did had a good reason, besides she was glad someone taught her hopeless brat the harsh reality. So she never pursued the case any further, but gave a chuckle of humor as she had already had someone observing for her beforehand. To make up for asking him in front of his mother, she exerted her influence throughout the suburb to cease outside movement. That way, they wouldn't trespass in his turf.

Life went back to normal, he still fought occasionally, did oddjobs for Mama Tinashe and learnt a trade at the machine shop, went to school and skipped lessons that he felt were too boring or redundant.

He could already see the path he was destined to follow, he had the aura that attracted trouble so he had no other choice but to fight it head on. That belief crumbled when one day she came to his class looking for him.

* * *

Daisy Lee, the sophomore student in his school much to his surprise that they attended the same school. Then again, he never paid attention to his surrounds or the happenings in school.

She didn't say anything, she'd just sit next to him when it was recess and sometimes when lessons were happening. Daisy Lee had the complete opposite in her reputation with Ajay. She had good grades and came from a rich family in Maine. The reason she studied in a public school was out of her Father's principles to have humility. Ajay thought it was more like stupidity, if you had resources use it. Being in the wrong neighbourhood was neither good for your child nor for others, because it would be interpreted as you were looking down on them and people here had their pride they couldn't let go.

It apparently seemed that some jealous girl sent a text to that son of Mama Tinashe's to have her gangbanged and tossed in the roadside with her pictures taken. Talk about a jealous woman's wrath, that was something even Ajay was afraid of. He'd seen Mama Tinashe get mad before and made it his mission not to cross it himself.

The teachers were troubled by her proximity to him, least to say they all were. She would be the first student in the school to try to get into the UCLA, an ivy league category. And she was wasting time with the worst person to be wasting it with.

Several teachers meekly approached him to demand that he stayed away from her for her own benefit. But Ajay as just as puzzled as they were why his senior was following him around, she was weird from the very beginning. Why did she even go to his suburb at night?

"Can you just stop it?" Ajay finally had it with her following.

"Stop what?"

"That!"

"I'm not doing anything, I'm just going the same direction you're going."

(Bang) Ajay cornered her by the lockers.

"Don't play coy with me. Or I'll guarantee something precious gets taken." He said harshly to her before leaving.

"Why did you help me?" Her question made him stop in his tracks.

"I didn't, the hell's a girl like you doing in the streets that late? Don't tell me you were midnight prowling." Ajay smirked. Daisy blushed and got angrily flustered by him that she left in a hurry.

It was a bucket of laughs to see her reaction, a lot of fun he had in a long time.

They say when a woman is angry, she just stops talking to you. Daisy no longer followed him and when they passed each other by coincidence she made it so she wasn't looking in his direction. He obvious knew whose pair of eyes was trailing him from his back as he made his way home.

"You really are the worst, Ajay Ghale."

"That's me." Ajay smiled. Daisy looked at him like something was wrong with his head, how could he just accept it? And started to look at him with pity.

"What's with that look, hey!" She left giggling to herself.

One thing after another, their interactions increased till they were on regular conversational terms.

"Why are you even here?" He asked one day.

"You see how those girls treat me, Ajay. It's either with hate or awe but never as a friend. Dad said the private schools were filled with snobbish pricks like that but with class." She ended with a british accent to make it sound funny. Ajay laughed a bit.

He'd soften considerably with her over the months. And even found out the reason for her traversing the streets at night. Some girl in her class failed to turn up in class a couple of times, Ajay guessed she probably found fucking for cash was a lot easier than reading a book and worrying about how to pay for college.

It wasn't uncommon in this neighbourhood, take Mama Tinashe's past job history for instance. She may have kept the hookers in line in the streets but there was one thing that never so much as touched their suburb, drugs. She was a firm believer that drugs damaged lives and she killed anyone that sniffed cocaine in her turf. The penalties were harsh, harsher than federal law. Something that was imparted into Ajay later in his life. The word his mom used to describe her was Asuran, a demi-deity that was often associated with cruelty and justice. Mama liked that impression a lot.

Daisy offered to teach him in the areas he was weak in. He just told her not to waste her time but she replied.

"You'll never change your fate if you don't try, go on. Give it a go, then you can say you tried! You'll even have me cheering you on! Hehe!" Daisy's smile was something worth treasuring. The first time, Ajay ever valued anything that wasn't his mom.

With her help, he managed to excel in the subjects he was weak in. She came around to his apartment complex often to visit. Ishwari and Mama Tinashe were both pleased to have her and for Ajay to perhaps have someone in his life. Life moved on till the day she graduated and earned her Highschool diploma with straight A's, she was studious but not geeky which made her a sensation at school. She was also a natural swimmer, though not the best but competent enough to go professional if she had the right coach and time to dedicate to it as a career. But that would have to wait for her college days to past. She was headed to the first college of her choice in LA, and that meant she was leaving New York.

Ajay knew this time would come sooner or later, it's just the reality of the situation. But that night before her departure she arranged for something special.

Sending a phone message to him late at night to meet her at the public pool.

"Let's break in." She said with excitement.

"Are you serious?"

"Teach me how to lockpick."

Ajay broke the lock with general ease and handed the paperclip pieces to her to try. With careful instruction, she accomplished it in under ten minutes.

"Now all you need is practice and you'll be the perfect cat burglar. Try breaking an entry into the college dean's office for a start." He joked. But Daisy led him by the hand towards the pool.

"And we came here for what?" Ajay asked before she sneaked up behind him and shoved him into the pool.

(Splash)

"Puahh! Damn you, woman. C'mere you!" Ajay reached out and pulled her by the shirt and waist into the pool with him.

"Nono-stop! Ok! Give up Give- (Splash)." She laughed before being thrown in by him.

"That was my only dry clothes!"

"Oh come on, don't pretend like you actually came here preparing for a swim." Ajay snaked his arms around her waist and brought her closer.

"So you played ignorant I see, that will incur penalties."

"For what?"

"For this."

Daisy reached out and kissed him deeply, Ajay reciprocated it.

He wished she never had to go but this was the reality. Daisy knew the same thing, she couldn't let her options slide from her because of a relationship she didn't know was solid.

But that night, she poured out her feelings for him at the pool. To make a moment to remember with him and look back at. That cold night became too warm for them that they stripped off their wet clothing. They broke into one of the lockers and retrieved some dry clothing for both of them before heading out.

The next morning, she flew off. Her parents had arranged for accommodation over in Los Angeles. She did promise to visit once every winter holiday but he didn't expect anything.

Live went back to the quite one he was familiar to and yet felt a bit alone for some reason. Daisy was the cause of this disruption. But he had hopes to change his future bit by bit. He attended classes from then on, spent hours in the library and in the machine shop to pay for the rent to take some slack off his mother. Ishwari was surprised to see this type of change in her son, she also knew the cause and was ever grateful.

Then he graduated from High School and scored significantly better than his peers, which baffled the teachers and classmates of his. But it was his own effort that brought him this far, but he wouldn't lie to say he didn't have help.

College was still far out of his zone, he could barely pay for the rent in the new home he and his mother were living in. How it was paid for was something he couldn't fully understand? And had quite a debate with his Mother who assured him it was social security, but Ajay was no fool. He was more concern that she'd been whoring herself out to some bastards. Mama Tinashe assured him it wasn't the case, though she too wouldn't reveal who got it for her. Was that person so scary?

Ajay considered that one ticket he had into professional boxing by Mama's one-time lover it was a potential road to success, his mother had once been against it for reasons against violence. She'd seen her fair share in Motherland Kyrat that made her weary to the bone.

Things were brightening up thanks to a little help.

Until it happened.

* * *

He returned home to find his mom on the floor unconscious. A few hours after after an ambulance came and brought them to a hospital. Mama Tinashe came rushing over after hearing what had happened.

The doctor came out to give his diagnosis. Ishwari had attained a terminal stage in mammary cancer. How did they miss it on her last check up? Or did she refrain from telling him? Mama had already known months ago which upset him greatly for not being informed.

All they could do was sessions of chermotherapy and cocktails of medicine. A ward in the hospital so they could constantly keep check on her condition. All of this cost money, it was outside of the insurance coverage. He needed fast money to cover the deadline.

A machine shop employee, a fellow co-worker of his offered him a chance for quick cash. In the carjacking business. It was simple, a mediator organised a deal for a super car on high demand and marked the vehicle on their GPS and they stole the vehicle and brought it to the docks to ship off to some sheik in the middle east.

His first few runs went without a hitch. He became an adept car thief that other organisations in crime syndicate were interested in his expertise. So he ended up stealing cars, Rolls-Royce Phantoms, Lamborghinis, Bentleys, Porsches and sometimes bikes too. There were some heists that had hiccups, but with him around it was all sorted out. Making him a highlys sought after professional although that was never what he wanted to do with his life. All he cared for was the money that was provided for the exorbitantly expensive treatments that were taking place with his mother. He had her transferred to a private hospital with a private ward for her maximum comfort.

Things were going smoothly for a the time being. His mother did occasionally ask where did he get the money to pay for those things. He simply told her his other job was generous in payment.

Daisy came back as she said she would. Expecting to celebrate a Happy Christmas but found Ajay's mother in hospital and the circumstance that landed her there. Daisy wasn't like Ishwari, she was more inquisitive.

"Where did you get the money, Ajay?"

"In the super car industry, I work in."

He didn't know how she found out but she did. Was it with her families wealthy connections?

Daisy gave him a good repping when she learnt he was into illegal car trafficking. What did she expect him to do? His mother was in jeopardy of the hospital refusing her treatment. That she could accept, she offered to ask her parents for money to pay for it. But Ajay refused her, if that were to happen he would just be living off her kindness and wouldn't be able to break out of this situation on his own. That stubbornness in his blood kicked in even when he didn't want it to happen. For a few years she could accept that and told him to stop what he was doing in the illicit business for her sake. Which he found hard to do but did it. Coincidentally, Ishwari's symptoms stabilized. Years went on by, with the cancer in stasis without movement. Daisy came back on holidays to be with them, three years went by and Daisy graduated and head back to Brooklyn to see what were her prospects in New York city.

Life was simple but content, she stayed with him for the period of her jobhunting. And their relation deepened into something else. Every day was a treasure to them.

Somehow their adversity was overcome.

Or so he thought.

One day, Ishwari's symptoms kicked in again. She was sent for immediate rescitation as she fainted midway with no breathing or pulse. They managed to bring her back and that's when the doctor disclosed the ugly truth. His mother had been under constant pain for the last three years without him knowing, her painkillers were losing their effectiveness over time. All this time, she'd been suffering in constant purgatory while he was thinking about other things like how his life would turn out with Daisy.

The doctor recommended one last operation, an ambitious one that had been in experimental phase. Two patients had successfully undergone the procedure and lived to tell the tale. But would his mother be so luck. The Doctor's conditions were that she had to have a strong mental will to live.

He told his mother who listened quietly and just nodded her head.

"Do it." He gave the Doctor permission. Meanwhile he had a hefty sum to clear. He wasn't gonna make Daisy or her parent for that matter pay for her medical bills. This was his mother, his responsibility.

He broke his promise with Daisy to quickly spruce up some cash for the immediate surgery. But what awaited him was something he could never accept his entire life.

The procedure failed and Ishwari, his mother passed away. Daisy was filled with sympathy that she couldn't bring herself to scold him for breaking the promise.

When the doctor appeared to inform him of her demise he reached out for a surgical knife to stab the Doctor and accused him for murdering his mother. Daisy blocked him with everything she could.

"Knives take people away, they don't bring them back!" She told him as he dropped the knife and dropped to his knees weeping.

Mama Tinashe, while still in mourning passed him an envelope addressed to him from his mother. Inside read:

"Ajay my son, I have so much left to say to you. But I'm out of time. So please, take me back to Lakshmana. The journey will tell you more than I ever could. I love you and I will always be with you."

Ajay's head became dizzy. So all this while he had been under the assumption that his mother would definitely have the will to live, she'd been soldiering through pain for almost three years what other proof did he need?

But this letter said otherwise, the handwriting was unmistakeable.

Ajay fell to a single conclusion to his mother's predicament.

"I killed her…."

For the next two years, Ajay drank excessively and took drugs to ward off the pain and guilt of causing the death of his mother. One that had suffered greatly to bring him up.

The change in his behaviour caused a strain in his relationship with Daisy who was unwilling to break off their relation for a long time. Until she felt that Ajay was only using his mother's death as an excuse to do what he wanted to rid himself of pain. She heartwreckedly told him she was leaving for LA again, her career circumstances in New York were closing on her and their was a job back in Southern Californa.

Ajay declared her of being unfaithful and being a two-timing skank that she had enough and tearfully left him but not before leaving the last words.

"Those times with you, I'll never forget. But you're something else now, where did the old Ajay go, when did he get snuffed out by this sorry excuse of a man?"

"Get out." He told her coldly, something he dearly regretted for as long as he could remember. For Daisy that ship had sailed-…. No, it capsized on it's captain's orders and she wasn't allowed to do anything to stop it.

So Daisy moved on with life hoping he would find a better end for himself like she did with Grant Brody, the eldest of three Brody brothers. Grant was an understanding person, who listened to her problems. Someone she knew in college but was in a relation then, but now she wasn't. He was a loving brother to Jason and Riley Brody just like a big brother you'd always imagine, he tried to pass an image of a father figure for the two brothers when their dad passed away. Daisy had a soft spot for fatherly men and she quickly felt a connection with Grant. With Grant, things would work out eventually. They once travelled with a group of friends to Thailand to celebrate Liza's entry into the film industry and Riley's piloting license.

But fate had other plans for her. The fiasco in Rook Islands happened, at Doctor Earnhardt's house Jason told her of Grant's passing. She wept but stowed her feelings aside to help the rest, she'd sort them out when she returned she thought. But after a very extreme close call with the natives and returning to the states. She found herself doing the exact same thing as Ajay all those years ago. Looking for ways to stow away the guilt and pain.

"Was this how you felt all that time?"

She was afraid to approach him again, knowing it was because her current boyfriend was dead wasn't something that the Ajay she imagined would easily accept assuming he was the same the last time she saw him. But she never knew, she dragged too long thinking whether she should or not. Spending time with the rest of the guys to check up on how they were coping with their PTSD.

Now here she was in the grasps of this pervert and staring down the mask of the legendary Demon of Kyrat. When the Demon spoke her name in a very familiar voice that even she couldn't believe or expect.

-How could it be?! How could you be here?!-

* * *

Kyrat, Present Day. 2nd jan 2015 –

"Now what will you do, Badala?" Sabal grinned. Ajay's face changed to a very dark expression.

"How many fingers?" Sabal was taken surprise by his response.

"What?"

"How many do you still want intact? The ring finger is a no-no. I'm definitely taking it off so that no one will be forced to marry a pig like you." Ajay posted a malicious comment to him.

"Guu! You arrogant fool! Know your standing!" Sabal roared.

"Took the words right out of my mouth again, fryface."

Sabal pressed the knife against Daisy's neck till blood flowed.

"I dare you to say it again."

"Oh I will, and do you know why, Sabal?!" A nervewrecking felting shot up into Sabal for the last time he could sense it. Ajay didn't wait for him to reply as he dashed forwards at lightning speed and grasped Sabal's hand plied the knife from Daisy's neck.

Much to Sabal's shock and disbelief that he actually disregarded his hostage.

"Because there's nothing you quite value more than your own life!" (Bang)

It was not the sound of a gun shot nor an explosive. But a fist that pummelled Sabal's cheek to the right sending him towards the support beam of the bridge.

(Crack) The sound of his neck breaking from the force of the hit echoed and everyone of the bridge heard it clear as day. The Golden Path warriors shivered, Badala actually killed Sabal with one punch to the face that in turn snapped his neck from the force acting upon it. His body ragdolled against the support pillar and crumbled to the floor motionless. Sabal died open eyed in disbelief that his puny life was ended in such an insignificant way and no one would remember him for time to come. Somehow, great relief over came Ajay. It was something he held for a very long time. He had avenged both Kamala and Ajay Ghale.

Ajay turned back towards Daisy with a quietness that stalked the bridge after the one hit kill.

"There is something I wanted to say to you for a very long time. Something that I regretted doing at the very last moment we met. It was inexcusable, what I did that day and what I said. Some part of me left that day and never returned. I'm sorry Daisy, for all the grief I caused you." A second wave of relief fell upon him and he felt a lightening sensation.

Over where Daisy was, tears dropped from her eyes. She now knew who it was all this time. Ajay walked over to lend a shoulder to embrace and Daisy wrapped her arms around him and hugged tightly.

This action greatly confused everyone on the bridge, both the fighters and Liza who was freed from her bindings and looking from the trucks rear compartment.

"Ajay, you great big jerk…." She mumbled behind his clothing.

"Shhh…. Its Badala here, don't say it out loud." He needed to enforce this.

"Ahem."

"Give the lady some time!" Ajay growled protectively for her sake. The Commander Kaji had no choice but to wait.

"I know you've been through a rough time and all but I've work to do here."

"Ah!- Riley and the others they're in trouble!"

"What? Weren't you all purchased together?"

"Uh- Those Brits- they said they were doing some sort of gladiator thing. Please! You have to save them!"

Brits? There was only one pair that fell in that category here.

"Say no more! Kamran, I need pickup. ASAP."

*Where to?*

"To Shanath Arena."

* * *

The floor was littered with bodies.

*They're off to a good start, but how much longer can they last?*

Things were looking far grimmer than they imagined, there was almost no hope of the getting out. The bets grew more exciting as Riley, Oliver and Steve fought their way to survival through not just the first round but the second too. But it had come at a price.

"Oli, keep it together!"

"I'm fine bro- (Coughing) I could use a joint right now, he!" Oliver smiled weakly from the gunshot wound he sustained from the last round. Some armored guy with a machine gun approached them, and none of the commandeered weapons did anything to him. Oliver used their last resort in the form of a Molotov and cooked him in his suit but got shot by a passing round in the shoulder. He was deadly pale considering his healthy tanned skin.

The horn blew signalling the start of another round, the crowd went wild with excitement. Wondering if it would be their last, the stakes were never this high since that one time. It was still the word around the arena and wouldn't fully diminish. The game commentaror had risen up in the ranks from a mere announcer to the arena master while was formerly held by the charismatic Vice-lord Noore Najjar. But since she abandoned that post and Shanath became an unofficial neutral zone the job was left open and he claimed it. It was difficult to maintain the flow of animals and men ready to die in the arena but he barely managed with the winnings and bets being placed by the audience. They were a little annoyed the rounds lasted too long because they were too cautious in their fighting style but it increased the anticipation and the earnings.

The doors swung opened and to Riley's disbelieve came more heavily armed soldiers and the animals was no longer small wild things but big cats and bears.

Riley and Steve couldn't worry about the outcome, they had to focus on staying alive. But Oliver's critical condition was placing a toll on their mental strength.

At some point, Riley heard the sound of a helicopter overhead. Was the Arena that extravagant? It was more disaster either way. And then the worst happened.

(Click)

(Click)

Both their guns ran dry and their faces fell.

"I'm gonna get more!"

"No- Riley don't!"

Automatic gunfire ripped through the air in his direction.

Riley felt the hit in his stomach but no real pain. Steve slumped onto his body with blood pouring out from his back. Steven had taken the shot for him.

"Steve?..."

"Right back at you…" Steven closed his eyes and fell limp on the floor, Riley wasn't sure if he was alive or dead. He slumped to the floor in shock and traumatised.

The arena fighters closed in take the heads off Riley and the others as they were the main attraction in the arena. The knife wielding fighter ran dodgey speeds yet he was complete unprepared for what was about to happen to him.

(Boom) His body exploded and his limbs flew in every direction. The rest of the contestants and animals stared in awe at the new bloodly gore.

A rappelling line came down the cave skylight and a single shadow slid down it.

(Boom) A second roar of the monstrous double barrel severed the life strings of some animals clustered together over a corpse they'd been munching. And joined the meat pile.

Halfway towards the ground the shadow leaped off and plunged his blade into a fighter down below and threw his blade at another. This happened in under two seconds.

"By the gods!"

"No! Why is he here?!"

"This isn't what I signed up for! Lemme out!"

It was clear who had just entered the ring. But the audience thought this was part of the script.

*Um-… What a lovely surprise we had in store for-.(Bang)* Thinking that he could make a buck or two with Badala's appearance the commentator scripted a story in but then felt something pass through his head and out the back. All his strength left his body as he plummeted down towards the arena to become Tiger chow. Badala had killed the commentator which signalled to everyone that this wasn't a show. He was here for real.

"The count of ten, everyone should be out. At the end of it, anyone remaining becomes my prey."

At that split second, everyone dashed out of the audience seats and towards the exits. Some were aware of the rumors of that match Ajay wrecked the arena other had heard but didn't believe. Either way they cleared the area as fast as they could. The fighters down below had no choice, the doors had been shut and there was no way out. Some banged the doors helplessly. Others shouted a battlecry and charged Ajay.

But he made short work of them, he didn't draw his rifle again or any firearm for that matter and went charging with just his knife. His grappling hook loosened and became his signature chain weapon. Using it to reel in one guy as the rest opened fired upon him as he used that man as his meat shield he pulled his grenade and tossed him back at them.

The body exploded and killed all in its proximity. Using the moment of disorder, he rushed forward and impaled his knife into the closest warrior and pounced onto the next and so on with speeds that spoke of experience and plenty of bloodshed. The rest dropped to their knees begging for forgiveness.

Riley was awestruck by the viscious movements in slaying the fighters it was as if he was reaping wheat stalks with that kukri in hand.

(Roar) But the animals weren't like the people. They only relied on instinct and not words. A humongous brown bear came crashing along their way. The men frantically ran out of its way but Ajay's feet were planted in the ground.

Holding the knife in a stance he waited for the Bear to approach him. Not moving a single muscle, the bear thought he was a fool and went over to trample him to death.

Riley looked at the crazy scene and noticed something on Badala. A wide crescent smile was planted under his mask. He unconsciously shivered at the sight, but he was right to do so as the bear pounced his way.

(Slash) The sound of metal cleaving through flesh and bone sounded wet and gory as the kukri passed through the bear and decapitated its head. The body fell with a rumble shaking the surroundings and spasmed a few times as it was trying to comprehend what had taken place just now.

The fighters were even more afraid. Now they know the stories weren't fiction as their backs pressed the arena walls praying the Demon won't feast on them.

But to their relief, he went in the direction of those foreigners instead.

Riley's eyes widened and he scrambled onto his two feet and walked backwards in fear.

"Riley Brody?" Ajay asked.

"…Uh- yeah?..." He could see a resemblance in him to his elder brother Jason. Ajay turned to the other two lying on the ground.

"Oliver Carswell."

"Here." Oliver reached out to acknowledge his presence.

Ajay looked at Steve and he looked back. Riley was surprised that Steve was alive and went over to attend to him.

"Keith Ramsay?"

"It's STEVEN!" He shouted angrily.

"That's weird. Then you're not on my list that Daisy sent me."

"Daisy sent you?!" Riley was too amazed, what was happening outsided

"Huh!" Steve knew that she intentionally sent the list with Keith's name in place of his just to piss him off. He chuckled with much difficulty. "That's a good one, dais. It might've cost me my life but whatever." He fell to the ground from the significant blood loss he sustained.

"Steve!"

Ajay went over to check the man's pulse.

"He's just out that's all, it'll be worse if it isn't treated. Help me carry your other friend."

"Um- right!" Ajay lifted Steve over his shoulder as Riley picked up Oliver.

The helicopter lowered a harness for the injured with Ajay placed Steve in as his was the most grevious injury. And used the grapple in his armor to bring Riley and Oliver up individually. Once they were secure, Kamran took off. They were alone in the chopper as the rest had alighted to stay with the defecting Golden Path contingent and the rest of Jason's friends and Kamala's parents who had no idea what was going on.

"King's Bridge garrison, eta ten minutes."

"Thanks, Kamran."

Ajay turned over to Riley who sat in attention when looked at by the legendary Demon.

"Rest up, you've just gone through some rough trip. We'll link with the rest of your friends and then hitch a ride across King's Bridge to the North."

"Where are you taking us?"

"Somewhere you'll be safe from the coming Blizzard."

"There was a snowstorm coming?!"

"There was, now rest up. You'll need it to settle in. In the mean time your friends will be sent to the hospital."

"Couldn't we all just take the chopper to the hospital?"

"We could, but then you'll have to personally tell Pagan why you withheld his personal ride from him."

(Gulp) "…N-Nevermind."

Ajay chuckled softly. Somehow, ever since he chanced upon Daisy, he found it harder to blame them for the things they'd done. He had to admit, that having her nearby was causing his edge to dull quickly and he needed to set his boundaries with her. After all, she seemed to have someone special with her amongst the group although he wasn't sure who.

Who ever it was, he was thankful to him for taking care of her all this while.

* * *

The helicopter closed in on the garrison at King's bridge. Landing on the helipad provided to it. Daisy waited eagerly at the edge of the pad for the doors to open.

When it did, Riley and Ajay came out of the helicopter. While the helicopter lift off towards the direction of Noore's hospital over the mountains.

Daisy ran over to embrace Riley. Checking his body for cuts or scratches like he was her child.

"I'm fine, Daisy!"

"Ok. I was just checking. Where- where are the rest?"

"They're in need of immediate medical attention, Kamran brought them to the only hospital. So they should be alright."

"(Sigh) Thank god….. Thank you."

"Your welcome, but I did this for Hurk. And before you ask he's alright. They'll probably see him in the next ward or something."

A convoy of Army armored vehicles came through and parked at the roadside.

"Looks like your ride is here."

"You're not coming with us?" Daisy asked in concern as she had only just met him and wanted to share so much.

"The job, Duke of Lakshman is around the clock with no rest. I have a Golden Path to remind who still runs the state."

Ajay smiled to Daisy with familiarity that even Riley wasn't blind to.

"When the time is right, I'll tell you the long story. Until then, rest up. Eat up, drink up and restore that fatigue in you or it'll forever damage your vitality. There'll be a snowstorm coming so if you were hoping for snow, you got it."

Ajay motioned the convoy guards to come over and escort them to Lakshman.

"Have Maya make the accommodations for them." He told the guards before turning towards the Defecting Golden Path members and their leader Loken Kaji.

"The snow storm hits tomorrow so you'll have by morning to get your families and belongings to King's Bridge. If you can't bring them by that time then head to Baghadur instead. I'll arrange for the same thing for you there. Assuming all of you are in the 13th Scouting group as you say you are make sure you have your papers with you to identify yourself or the Tigers and Royal Army will shoot you on sight. Until we meet again, I wish you the best of luck in convincing them to come. I've rescheduled a whole lot for you all as we work together in future."

The 13th Scouting group left quickly to retrieve their family members in the villages or at the towns of Tirtha and hurried their way toward the two locations Ajay had set. He wanted to have the army assist but they had their hands tied at the moment securing the logistics would run even during the storm. When the blizzard came, only wolves, hunters and snow guards would roam the heavy snow grounds.

Loken bid him farewell and left to rerieve his family as well leaving just him at the garrison with of course the Royal Guards in garrison.

"It left him thinking about all that happened today and about Mohan's speech."

He thought to himself for a bit and then approached the communication centre at the garrison headquarters.

"Your Grace!"

"Arrange for a Nationwide broadcast here."

"Y-Your Grace?"

"It's time to remind the Kyrat who leads them."

* * *

Daisy and Riley were wide-eyed against Ajay's advice to rest for their activities later. They looked curiously around the windows of the armoured vehicle they were in at the massive change in scenery to what they had seen. The vehicle gave a powerful low hum from the engine that told them it was considerably bulky in its armor protection. They felt like VIPs being escorted to a palace. The Malla couple were in another similar armoured vehicle as them following close behind.

"So you know him?" Liza started the conversation.

Daisy looked a little surprise he knew but nodded. Ajay had told her to keep his identity a secret as it would make their lives difficult if they did. And make them prime targets by Pagan to censor by 'any means necessary'.

"Friends?"

Daisy didn't answer.

"Lover?"

A glint in Daisy's eyes gave it away.

"Before or after Grant?"

"Liza!" Before Jason, Liza was in fact infatuated with Grant for reason unknown but Daisy knew.

"I just want to know how much Grant actually meant to you or did he mean anything at all?!"

"Grant meant everything to me!"

"Then what was with that look just now?"

"Why are you being so dense?! What has Grant got to do with this?"

"You definitely knew him and you were definitely more than just friends."

"He was my first love, ok?!" Daisy shouted at Liza who was shocked but expected this kind of reaction. Riley had kept quiet the entire time, it was redundant to intrude in the conversation.

A quietness stalked between them before Daisy opened up but didn't face them.

"It was before Grant, before UCLA. I met him in Brooklyn where I studied Highschool. He was a well-known troublemaker in East Harlem. He wasn't honest with his feelings but that didn't stop him from doing many things."

"So what happened?" Riley got out to asking.

"He went into illegal car theft to pay for his mother's unreasonably expensive hospital fees. It put a strain on our relationship, but we somehow hung on till she died, he blamed himself for her death. Leaving him was the hardest decision I had to make for him understand that he had to move on like I had to. Back then he was different, way different from what he is now. I don't know how to explain it but…. I'm proud of what he's become." Tears fell from her face as she recalled the painful memories of her departure and her rescue at the bridge that matched that time long ago.

Liza and Riley didn't know how to respond to this, their relation was a complicated one. So they stopped probing.

*(Music playing)* The radio turned on.

"A national announcement, would you be interested in listening to it?" Asked the driver.

"Yes please, could you turn it up for us? Thank You." Liza responded and the radio volume turned up.

*A national message to the people of Kyrat from his Grace Badala, Duke of Lakshman.*

"He really is a Duke?" Riley was shocked.

"Shhh!" Daisy told him to quieten down.

*People of Kyrat, this is Badala. Many of you are aware of the stream of events that have taken place over the last three days of this new year. I have only this to say to Golden Path.

Mohan Ghale's return changes nothing.

But many of you cannot help but believe the words he's said over broadcast. There are of course things he's failed to tell everyone. And now as we speak an annual storm rolls in from the West, blanketing Kyrat in a thick wall of snow. Isolating us from the outside world and from most of out family members far away for an entire season.

It's a perfect time to see what Golden Path is capable of when the snow subsides. Whether Mohan Ghale truly makes Golden Path what it truly should be or not. Personally, I thought it was for the masses and not the individual, but alas to each his own. Who am I to judge? Who am I to tell if that is the real Mohan or just a hollow will that crept back from the grave.

Know this, will of Mohan!

When you bear that name, you bear his crime against the crown. His treason against the Monarchy, his rebellion he initiated…

….. and the murder of one-year-old Princess Min.*

A tremor ran through their spines upon hearing this. The driver almost lost control when he heard of such.

*Yes, you had a princess, Kyrat. She would have been a beautiful young woman loved and cherished by all, how I know this is because I know her mother. I could tell you more about her mother but then that wouldn't make his upstart behaviour fun to deal with. Know what drove your king to the brink of madness and silence for twenty long years and why Mohan had been silent all this while, Kyrat.

My grudge is with you, Mohan Ghale. And you'd best be ready for it when the snow stops, because I will cut through your Devas till I find you! No god will save you from me! And I swear I will pour your blood before Lakshmana's shrine.

As for Jason Brody, friend of the Golden Path. Your friends will not be involved in this fight between us. I know your friends mean nothing to you as you are now. But get yourself prepared or you won't live to see them.*

"What's he saying?!" Liza was most frantic. But they all didn't really understand either. What was Ajay saying, what happened to Jason? Daisy made sure it was the first question she asked when he came over. Thoughts lingered to what Liza said regarding his schizophrenic behaviour as she described. Had it worsened to this extent?

*A man that will do almost anything for his ambition! Who associates himself with people like the Asshole Willis Huntley, Solomon Khoo and the recently brought to justice Paul Harmon. Men that had been selling sons and daughter out to the highest bidder into slavery across the globe, all so that the Golden Path can have guns to use and Paul could line his pockets. You want the proof? You have it now!

"-Captured the children and sold them to out country so that Solomon could bring in the guns,… Paul could get extra cash, Sabal could gamble!"*

The voice of the captured Commander of the arms convoy's confession rung out. And after that one another one played, followed with many more.

Ajay was thoroughly painting Golden Path in villainy regardless of the return of their great leader. Ajay closed the recordings, the rest have apparently been a collection gathered by the hard-working Interrogators in Provost and Army G2 for this day.

*He sacrificed his family, his friends and his comrades to further that goal until he was stopped by none other than Ishwari Ghale, the one known then as the Tatun Matara.

Would you entrust your children in his hands now that you know only some of his atrocious actions? Or will you be so fooled by a charming smile and enchanting words? I leave that up to you, people of Kyrat.

From today till tomorrow before the storm sets in. King's Bridge will be open to all who wish to cross it and join the Golden Path in its struggle for whatever it stands for now. You will not be stopped nor will you be arrested. All you need to do is sign your name on the book at the garrison, your reason of departure and we will provide you with the food and clothing necessary for you to survive the Winter.

And I hope….. that we don't meet again in the battlefield.

This is Badala, Duke to his Royal Highness Pagan Min.

Long live the King! And long live the people!*

He placed the microphone back in its stand. The guard that manned the post stood wide eyes as the Duke had made his national speech from his booth. As incredible as it was, Ajay felt satisfied with what he'd done.

Ajay had just delivered a potent counter-attack to the Golden Path

…. And to Mohan's ego.

* * *

The convoy had long departed from the sight, all that was left behind were the wrecks of the burnt-up vehicles. The bodies had also been taken with them for burial. All except one.

A lone wide eyed corpse lay upon the road looking up in the starry night with a haunting expression from its displaced head.

Footsteps approached the corpse on the bridge and stared down at the body.

"Just as she said you would be found, dead." Vasu sighed.

He was unimaginably shocked by the mistress's powers of clairvoyance. Dispatching him to collect an unsatisfied corpse of Sabal for her. Nothing would please her more she said to him. He was already struggling to ignore the powerful aura that threatened to seduce his soul, he wanted to spend as little time near her or he feared he'd fall for her by an incredible influences.

Golden path had an incredibly powerful backer, not like the CIA agent and his organisation or the notorious arms dealer, nor the political influence of Brother Mohan. But the spiritual powers that could bend reality to her will with no sign of fatigue to her. In this modern day and age, it was inconceivable, in the past it was considered under the basis of witchcraft. A rare practition that was already a myth when he first joined the Royal Guards. But even then, the recordings of such instances had always paid a price for power. The mistress readily bestowed this new power that flowed through him like a dam like it was a trivial act. Her powers were definitely beyond that of witchcraft, she probably wasn't even human. He was beginning to think that Mohan had actually died before and something else had taken its place in his body or likeness. But he was as helpless as anything against such a powerful that exists and had already binded Karma with this entity….

"What sort of price did you pay, brother? Was it just you or will it be the whole of Kyrat that pays?"

* * *

Author's thoughts:

Ajay killed Sabal, with…..ONE PUNCHHHHHHHHH! (The Hero – Jam Project plays)


	54. Chapter 51(c) - Breaking Shame, Longinus

Author's Notes:

Lots of bible reading this chapter. Damn that Longinus!

* * *

The morning came in the form of harsh light glancing into his Spartan living area for almost five months.

But to Longinus, there was no morning sweeter. Another day of doing what he loved doing.

After cleansing himself for the morning he went down to the cafeteria to fill his stomach. There was nothing like a solid meal to breakfast.

"Early again I see, Longinus." The even charming Miss Khati greets him.

"Good morning, as beautiful as ever Miss Khati! God truly looks upon you with favour." Longinus announces loudly to throughtout the cafeteria in the Arsenal, Elina chuckles softly.

"So what will you do today, Longinus?"

"I will tend to new sights, the sheep cannot find their way if they cannot see well!" Out of the mumbo jumbo that was Longinus's usual speaking way, Elina managed to decypter his intentions to inspect the shipment of scopes brought in from Europe using Badala's funds.

Longinus had been rather busy in Switzerland before, not only negotiating with the machinery companies to have the critical weapon producing machines and machines to produce them in turn. He also was made to setup an account in the Swiss bank for ease of further large purchases in future, it was the funds that were used to bring out the machines, pay for the armored vehicles and additional equipment from Tel Aviv.

Samar made an analysis on the effectiveness on the average warfighter and came to several conclusive studies with the asymmetric warfare commission. Broken down into several stages, combat effectiveness, troop survivability and life expectancy.

Those scopes fell into the combat effectiveness category as did rifle upgrades. It wasn't limited to sniping scopes but reflex sights, holographic sights, advance rifle optics, rangfinder built-in binoculars with IR tagging ability and the most expensive of all. Thermal sights.

Being allowed to see your enemy in night as if it were day, locating targets behind bushes and cover from heat signature.

Finishing his meal, he bid Elina a good day as he went towards unpacking the newly arrived boxes. Somehow, they had made it in time before the storm set in and grounded all air activities. Outside was a blizzard, but it was of no concern to him and the other employees once in the warmness of the interior work space.

"Morning Longinus!"

"Another day living the dream, eh?"

"Morning, sir!"

Everyone knew who he was and how critical he was to army supplies and of the operation of the arsenal. He was one of the four leading members that drove the domestic manufacture of weapons and ammunition. The other three were Ajay also known as Badala, Samar the Royal Armorer and Mistress Lau's protégé Maya.

Longinus settled into his work space, his assistance handed him the appropriate documents and manifests of the shipments. And entire warehouse space with heavy security bolts and blast doors made up Longinus's charge. The special weapons inventory, as the name explained contained all the out of ordinary weapons, sometimes crew-served like the Spike missiles that sat in the corner unused for now. It was Longinus's treasure trove and little utopia, it always set off the child in him to see so many guns in one place.

It greatly upset him when one was taken out without his permission. Like a child had been taken from his sanctuary against its will. One such instant was when Alberto handed the other Italian men the codes to his most prized possession that was actually his out of the whole collection of weapons. The launcher he christened LK-1018, after the bible verse Luke 10:18.

"And he said to them, I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven." Longinus murmured the verse as he placed his hand upon the lost sheep that hand been returned to him.

-Rejoice for what was lost is now found!- He told himself to cheer himself up. A white pearly smile planted across his face. The assistance of his smiled and left him to himself shaking his head.

Longinus opened the crates and begin accounting for the equipment. Next to the crates were more crates but of a different source. Those contained freshly manufactured body armor, ballistic helmets and other protective accessories that were part of the troop survivability initiative in the procurement triangle lodged by his friend Samar.

The boxes he currently checked were marked Safran Sagem. Inside were thermal scopes called SWORD all neatly packed into their respective boxes. Some destined to be sent to enhance the capabilities of the newly developing Armored Regiment that young Bipin and Anish were assigned to, others went to the Hunter cadres for tracking their enemies, most landed up with Yuma Min's snow guard units patrolling much of the territories that they were so adept to in the blizzard snow as it was in Durgesh. The last ended up in possession of Ajay for use by his PMC group condotierri. The relation he had with the mercenaries was a queer one. Longinus had a long-standing distrust of mercenaries for a long time. Back in his home country, he learnt very early in his warlord career from Tambossa that mercenaries were there for money and only money. Morality was a rare commodity in a mercenary and ill suited for the live threatening work they did without any national backing of their actions, it was purely corporate.

His counterpart, Solomon Khoo used to own them before he expended them. They fell into Ajay's grasps and in a string of events they joined hands at the airport where they earned one another's respect. Mainly that of former 1st Captain Samson De Costa and his unit's fellow paratroopers that were discharged with him for insubordination and assault of a superior officer.

Ajay treated them with respect and they did in kind, they were an odd bunch. Perhaps it was wrong to categorize them as mercenaries but a private force of Ajay's. Now they were initiating some sort of mix unit that gathered men and now women into the assorted unit they were building for the coming battles with the Golden Path and its returned messiah-like presence of Mohan Ghale.

He too had approached Ajay about his thoughts on his father. But the young man merely smiled and commended him on a good job so far. It was a sensitive topic and one that even he a religious man could not answer but give the same vague reply.

"God works in mysterious ways." How he hated to use God to suit his own lack of understanding of certain elements. It wasn't fair to him or to God, those crazed ranters should all shove it!

Longinus sighed. He had come a long way from whence he started in Kyrat with the humble mission to retrieve the Blood Diamonds from his country. Which Ajay and King Min had given him bit for bit in their possession and when they found them. It was quite surprising to him to see Pagan hand him diamonds that he would have preferred to keep. It reminded him of-

"Luke 19:1-10…"

When Jesus stayed at the house of Zacchaeus, the tax collector. The man that declared all his riches back to whom they belonged and was accepted into the house of god. Pagan reminded him of that tax collector, Zacchaeus. So it gave him comfort to work with the man known for his past cruelty.

But questions still lingered regarding his purpose and that of Ajay Ghale's. On the day he met him, Ajay Ghale came to him for help. He spoke with great finest in oration. But there was one part that Longinus had trouble accepting even till today.

That God had actually communicated to him through Ajay Ghale. He knew his history and purpose in Kyrat that only god would know, his history was as the former warlord was not known by anyone save for the Jackal. Did that make Ajay an apostle of God? Ajay's actions showed that he was far from the category of an apostle. He even heralds the name demon amongst the more auspicious folk, that was hard to attain unless you had done terrible or wicked things that exceed that of the human limits.

In every epic of Ajay's military career was a bloodbath, the victims of it were exclusively the golden path and several of the American Marines he subjugated with clever words and promises. Yes, Ajay Ghale thoroughly earned his right to be called the son of the demon god. And this was what troubled Longinus for a long time. There had been moments which he was gracious and generous, kind even to children. But he obviously enjoyed killing that was clear in his eyes, Longinus had been involved in less than moral slaughters in his country before and knew the color in a man's eyes that were painted in gore. Ajay had such eyes, and his was died in thick blood ruby-red. How many did he kill even before arriving to Kyrat, Longinus wasn't sure. Thousands? Tens of thousands? There was barely any hesitation in his eyes at any given time.

"Hey, friend." Longinus looked up to find his new best friend sitting next to him by the office chair.

"Samar, my friend! What can I do for you?"

"Your assistant said you looked a little troubled today. That's rare even for you!" Samar explained chuckling.

"Shouldn't you be working on that project with your younglings?"

"Nah! They can handle themselves without me supervising. If not they'll never grow."

"…."

"So, I've come to hear you out. Let's have it then."

Longinus thought about what he wanted to say first.

"(Sigh)… Life."

"Life? Aren't you living the dream job like me?"

"I am! I should be content in that, but…."

"But?"

"Would you hear a confession, friend?"

"Hang on for a minute." Samar disappeared out he corridor and came back a few minutes later with a bottle of brandy from his office.

"Ten-year-old brandy, now we're ready!" Longinus couldn't help but smile wryly as Samar handed him a shot that had a generous amount in it.

"But first, here's to a long-standing friendship!"

"Here! here!"

(Cling) They drank several glasses till Longinus was ready to start.

Longinus poured out much of his history he was willing to share and his fateful encounter with Ajay the apostle of God. Out of Longinus's expectations, Samar seemed unfazed by it all and only nodded once he explained finish a small saga of his.

Samar took another drink from the glass of brandy with no sign of him getting tipsy.

"You probably started thinking about this because that kid's father popped out of nowhere, right? Then you wondered if which path would he take, the gruesome monster that murders his father while still calling himself a good person or would he do the rational thing nad spare his father."

"Ahahaha! You read me like a book, friend!" Longinus laughed awkwardly.

"Let me tell you about a certain event that happened just about the time the Arsenal went up in flames."

"That! How could I forget it, I hope those Marines have repented! Humph!"

"Right, back to topic."

"An attack on home soil, a major operation in smoke, the casualties sustained and sabateurs on the loose, armed and dangerous. The people shaken by the attack in need of assuring words. Yet where was Ajay at this critical period?"

Longinus also wondered that, though he never asked.

"Miss Maya had sustained a life-threatening illness, a rare toxin that required an even rarer herb to detoxify it. And it so happened that the Royal Dispensary had run dry."

"Oh no! So what happened?"

"The Physician told him of its whereabouts, a mountain on the top of the Himalayas. On the peak of one lay that flower that bloomed only there. Time was short, he had only two days to retrieve the plant and return for it to take effect. He got into a fight with Major Roka on going alone and went up with her. Apparently, Ajay seemed to know the peak but there was something else about that mountain."

"What was it?"

"Who goes up into the snowy mountains with .50 cal rifles with explosive rounds, grenade launchers and a shotgun with incendiary shot!" Samar said exasperatively and took another drink.

"Indeed." Longinus found it strange.

"He did mention something about running into some inhabitants."

"He did?"

"Yeah, inhabitants that requires that kind of firepower to take on. Those must be some fanatical bastards, then again they live in sub zero temperatures."

Longinus was aware of Ajay's prowess in combat, but for him to insist on going alone and being heavily equipped. The must be some fearsome monsters out there that he wanted no one to know about.

"So did he find the plant?"

"He did. Her Royal Highness sent a Snow guard unit to pick him up, seeing that Miss Maya's her protégé there's no way she wouldn't be concerned."

"That's good."

"But there was something perculiar."

"What was?"

"Two things. One was that he came back with serious cuts and stratches and I know he ain't a clumsy climber. The second weird instance was Major Roka's return behaviour."

Major Roka? He thought.

"Usually, she'd stick herself around that boy. You know what inflatuated she is with him. And yet that day I saw her stand a distance from him and it wasn't just that time but many other instances. Of course, there was some thing that happened up on that mountain, it had to be so unbelieveable she was forced to keep mum about it!"

Samar got excited in his conclusion of Saras's behaviour.

"So what was the whole point of telling you this might you ask. What was the whole point of the expedition to the mountains?"

"To retrieve that plant?"

"Precisely, and that's what he did. But obviously, something made it almost impossible for them to take it back. Something got in their way, and what did he do? He forced his way out and returned without mumbling a single complaint. Probably that day, Major Roka distanced herself because she was feeling inadequate for him. It's the one thing that can't be measured by us and the one thing that mades his enemies and allies respect and fear him at the same time."

-What? What was it?-

"His willpower. Not his inhuman strength nor quick and precise strategies but his indomitable willpower. Humph! Perhaps that was what Lady Ishwari named him for, an indomitable (Ajay) willpower." Samar smiled wryly as he recalled the memories of the kind and wise mother of Ajay and Lakshmana bless her soul.

"But if it were just willpower it wouldn't mean anything. His willpower is defined by his determination to bring Kyrat out of Civil war and into peace and freedom. But he knows for certain that there is a price to all of that. But so far from my observation, the only ones paying for it his royal highness and him."

They were paying a hefty price and burden, yet no one was aware of it not even Samar or Yuma. They were doing something like he was, atoning for past sins but they were giving everything. What was he doing? Sitting around enjoying his time while he worried about others morality and not his own. Longinus felt might ashamed of himself that his face fell.

-I am a sinner, a sin because I look down upon my fellow man without checking myself first.-

Samar gave him a pat on the back.

"You've also been on quite a steep ride yourself. Going around hunting for lost diamonds piece by piece, that ain't easy. That might take several lifetimes, so colour me impress. You really deserve respect, Longinus."

"I…. I guess I do."

"There we go!" He handed Longinus another glass.

"One day, when you finally forgive yourself for past transgressions. Whether you found all the diamonds or not. Come back to Kyrat so I may call you by your real name."

Samar drank his glass and placed it next to the bottle before heading out.

"You can have the bottle, think of it as my Christmas present to you."

"….Prosper….."

"Mmmm?"

He murmured to him and repeated once more.

"The name my parents gave to that ruffian, Prosper… So that he would always be prosperous… and share with other….. his prosperity…." Longinus broke down weeping in a cradle of his hands. Longinus wept a lifetime of guilt away before his only true friend.

Samar left his friend to pour out his sorrows. But he was glad.

The day that his friend Prosper would share a drink with him wasn't too far away.

* * *

Author's thoughts:

Don't deny that the coincidence exists between Longinus and Prosper Kouassi. The only question is, how far was FC2 from FC4?


	55. Chapter 52 - Mizaru and the Unit

Author's Notes:

First chapter in 2017. Hope i don't bore you with technical details this chapter. Hurk is mainly gettin venerated in this one.

* * *

The harsh winds blew in from the West as forecasted. Ajay could hardly believe his eyes to see Kyrat wrapped in snow. Then again, he'd not been in Kyrat for that long to know about the cold Winter storm that set in annually. Somethings it happened and some times it didn't, but when it did the storm was always violent. It was no different to the velley of Yetis, a winter wonderland.

There were lots to sort out during the Winter and they couldn't afford to slack even one bit. Project Bastion was a go ahead, an idea for a citadel that controlled the entire country from one point. It wasn't the best time to start building in the harsh snow and wind, but that wasn't stopping Ajay from trying. With Yuma handling the defences through the Snow Guards and Royal Guard hunters he could focus entirely on building the super fortress.

3rd Company was thankfully with him to construct and plan the building process with him. The Pioneer Corps had also lent a hand to him but the working hours were shorter because they risked frostbite if they stayed out too long. Ajay prepared many incentives for them to compensate, monetary rewards were up for grabs daily to keep the men motivated.

From what the Engineering officers told him, the fortress couldn't be completed even after the storm. It was simply too much work but that didn't mean they couldn't bring it to a partial operational level. It wouldn't reach its full design potential yet but it was still a stronghold in every respect. Estimates showed that by the end of the season what would be complete was three sides of the Bastion facing Pacchim Valley. Which was enough for a defense by that time, the rest would have to be and ongoing effort but the work efficiency wouldn't be mired by the snow anymore.

Workers were drafted from the refugees to help build the walls and less important structures. If they were willing to endure the cold, they would go home bagging money and food which was desperately needed in this time. There were many from the town Hubris between the Tigers and the Royal Army that came seeking employment in this dire time. The Fortress was of the highest priority now, so much that three regiments were on rotation within the construction site.

There were times when the wind died down, they'd utilize every second of the airs calmness to further the construction. Ajay spent a week supervising the site and was ordered by Pagan to return to rest for a week and return. The cold wasn't so harsh to him as it was with the rest, Hajura Amako Hatama made him build an immunity to the cold. He spent the longest hours out in the cold supervising and it inspired the men to work as long as they could knowing Ajay was taking this project very serious.

Logistics was always a concern. Though the materials had been pre-gathered before the snow set it, there was always need to resupply the site, the frontier outposts and to a large extent the Tigers which was a whole army outside of the Royal Army's supply zone. Supplies by airdrop or helicopter were no longer available, it had to be either sled carried or on vehicles with special ice tracks. The road across King's Bridge became treacherous thanks to the steep cliffs, icy roads and the constant threat of an avalanche.

He'd use this week of rest to organise the new standalone unit amongst the assortment of forces in the Royal Army and Tiger ranks. Check on how everything was going in Lakshman and the Arsenal later. But for the first time in a while, Ajay had the comfort of his own home.

"Accomplice 1, meet our newest member Accomplice 3." Ajay introduced Daisy to Noore.

"Pleasure, I look forward to hearing all the embarrassing things about Accomplice 2." Noore giggled.

"Likewise."

"Just try, both of you." He warned them.

He had the time to accommodate Daisy and he had to let her in on somethings so she wouldn't go snooping around at things the Army was sensitive about. So the best way was to indulge her so that she would indulge him on Jason Brody. There was also the part on having her keep mum on his identity as Ajay Ghale. It was enough to get her killed by Pagan's hidden assassins to prevent a leak that could potentially change the publics and the militaries opinion about him now especially with Mohan on the loose.

Ajay took a drink out of his coffee brew and to explain his story from when he arrived in Kyrat due to that letter his mother left for him. He talked about Pagan, Ishwari, Mohan, Yuma, Willis the Golden Path, the Royal Army and Guards, the SOCOM marines, Bhadra the Tarun Matara apparent, the mercenaries and Jason Brody. At least the stuff he knew about him from observation and what the others told him about Jason.

Daisy's eyes stayed wide throughout the story, the only part he left out was his symptoms and the Valley of Yetis. Only Noore and Saras knew about it and it already shook up their beliefs tremendously. Ajay and Noore helped themselves to the French toast Bhadra made before heading off to the school, even in such weather the vocation school remained open. He made sure she was adequately clothed before leaving and brought her to the school himself, at this time there was no telling it the hungry wolves would lurk into inhabited areas due to hunger. There was a certain rabies inducing black alpha wolf he had yet to find, wanted for considerable livestock damage before the snow came. It probably anticipated this weather and went to stock up which was good if it meant it wouldn't come out of its den for the entire season. In any case, with the snow setting in it was the only active creature as all others were in hibernative sleep.

Daisy's complexion was filled with trouble and her attention was fixated on Ajay though the latter was having a light chat about how the toast had improved with Noore who agreed. By the time he finished the toast Daisy remained unchanged the entire time.

"Jeez, even snails progress faster than you. Help yourself to the toast or I guarantee I'll finish it….. so good…"

"…."

What was all this about? Ishwari had such a history? Ajay was in fact the son of a revolutionary leader now returned through an unknown means? Pagan Min was Ishwari's lover? Pagan wanted to recede the throne to Ajay? The picture of that rough boy in the streets of Brooklyn was slowly diminishing.

"I'm still Ajay, Daisy. That part will still stay as does the memories." Seeing Daisy's trouble he clarified to her.

"Uh- yes. I'm sorry. I mean, for everything. You were right."

"Mmm? About what?"

"About moving on." Ajay cocked his head.

"When we returned from Rook Islands safely with Jason's help I thought I could handle Grant's passing… but I was wrong. I followed the exact same path you went when your mother passed, I reprimanded you for something I knew nothing of. I did consider visiting you a couple of times but-…. I guess I was just as big of a coward as I called you.-Ouch!" Ajay flicked her forehead.

"When have you ever been wrong? You left me to make me understand I had to move on, I might not have understood then but I did later. I can't tell you how grateful I am for you making the most painful decision. If you didn't leave me, I wouldn't have left for Kyrat and known all this. The affair my mom, Mohan and Pagan left might not be pretty but it was better than living in idle back in the states. At least here, I know someone else depends on me to make things right."

Daisy's eyes sparkled and she started to laugh.

-So that's where that boy went, he grew into a man.-

"So now you know my side of the coin, I'd like to hear yours." Poured more coffee for her as she drank up the cup of the delicious brew.

Daisy smiled warmly and received it.

Her story began in Bangkok, a typical wild party to celebrate major success amongst their friends. They went to this club and met this DJ named Doug who suggested they go to this island to go even wilder. However they were captured the moment they landed by pirates. Doug had in fact been a spotter for the pirates and lured tourists to be held for ransom there.

It was then that they met this one pirate, Vaas Montenegro.

He killed Vincent and tortured them body and soul. Especially Jason and Liza whom he had a special affection for them both. Both Daisy and Jason escaped by their separate means. Daisy on her own and Jason with Grant, although the latter was not so lucky. Jason was found by the island inhabitants that turned him into some sort of weapon against the pirates and a cruel entrepreneur Hoyt Volker who was the boss behind him and every part of the islanders' misery.

Daisy was not concerned with what Jason was doing, her only focus was to find a way off the island. Jason brought each friend back one after another, but she could see there was some visible change in his attitude as well as his exterior. The only things she knew about the island was through Doctor Earnhardt who used her as his emotional crutch of the daughter who died years ago.

She learnt from Liza that Riley had perished, apparently Keith had witnessed his death when Jason inquired. But of course, the former was lying, he merely wanted not to spend another second on the island. He had a particularly hard time with an Australian merc by the seemingly harmless name of Bambi "Buck", but the merc had sodomised him. As time went by Jason became more distant and when it was time to go he opted to stay on the island calling it his place in the world. Liza was obviously upset by this, Daisy could see something terribly wrong with Jason, his mind was deteriorating to the brink of madness. But how could he be at fault, he thought he lost two both brothers. So he thought, what was one more. He sought revenge against both the pirate Vaas and Hoyt. Daisy broke Liza from Jason as she knew this wouldn't turn out good. They proceeded with rebuilding the tub under the cove. Just when they had completed and were ready to make sail towards Thailand the natives stormed Earnhardt's house and took them. Bringing them to their diplidated temple and tied to stakes.

There they met the orchestrator of all of these events. Citra, the witch of the Rakyat. She planned to drug Jason and induce him to kill his friends, thereby severing his last connection to the modern world. She told this to Daisy as she made it seem to be the leader of the group, all of their troubles, Vaas's pirates, Hoyt and his privateers were all vanquished by Jason. The feat was almost inconceivable yet Jason had done it and was heading here to question their disappearance from Earnhardt's house.

Jason came before them intoxicated by some unknown substance, he'd been fed whispered promises of power and absolute freedom. All he had to do was slit the throat of his friends. And the first one was to be the strongest bond to the outside world, Liza. But contrary to Citra's plans he back away, somehow fighting desires with his conviction and cut them free. An angry followed confronted Jason and attempted to stab him but the witch took the blow for him much to their surprise. She begged Jason to stay but Jason wholefully gave up everything for them. The natives did nothing to block them as they left the temple and later the island.

And that was the end of their epic, or so they thought.

Whilst recovering from their trauma and were about their daily life, black vans bagged them and brought them to a private airstrip where they were flown to Kyrat. They appeared before a fat American who Daisy learnt from Ajay was Case officer Willis Huntley from Langley. He helped arm the Golden Path in the 80s. There was a dandily dressed Chinaman, Solomon Khoo. An arms dealer with connections to triads, Pagan once and their old friend Hoyt. His experience in human trafficking brought them to Kyrat without the authorities being notified, and Willis made sure even if their family and friends asked the police station, no such person existed.

"Alright, I've heard your story. Now let me tell you about you and your friends current predicament and options."

"Alright, I'm ready." Though her expression said otherwise, he took her word for it.

"Even if you took a plane back to the states, all that will be awaiting you is a team ready to dispose of you."

"Th-..that can't be!"

"There's an even bigger asshole than Willis he's got involved in this affair, Director Paul Lynch or the East Asia Theater. As long as he's in office, you can't return home."

Daisy bit her lip, there was such a high profile spook making their lives hell for a career.

"But Willis and Lynch aren't friends, they were partners once until Lynch pushed the blame on Willis for something gone south in Kyrat twenty odd years ago. Willis as proof to that scandal, and that's what Lynch wants. The marines and I are also looking to acquire it, if it falls into our hands. Lynch will need to quietly beckon his head for his entire office term to us. The marines can go home without military charges being pressed and so will you."

Immediately Daisy's eyes and being brightened with the hopes of their return possible.

"Easier said than done." Noore said.

"Quite right. For one, Lynch isn't around yet with that PMC group he's bringing along. The storm's made in impossible for him to come right now, but he'll be back. And Willis doesn't trust anyone to do important jobs, not even the group of marines that joined him. So that stash is no where to be found. (Sigh) We nearly had him if not for Jason's meddling."

"But Jason didn't know we weren't in the king's possession but there's." Daisy defended Jason.

"That's what I'd like to think as well because then he'd have no reason to stick with Golden Path. In fact, he'd loath them for lying and might retaliate. But so far that remains to be seen."

Daisy was also finding it weird. It was clear from the radio broadcast that Ajay made that they were safe and sound and without harm or involvement coming to them, so why wasn't he here?

"Liza…. Liza said something about him gradually talking to himself in his sleep. She said he was talking to that pirate Vaas and that it was taking a firm hold of Jason." Ajay turned to Noore for expert opinion.

"I'm a doctor not a psychiatrist. Although mental health isn't my major it sounds to me like Jason has developed a schizophrenic tendency coupled with a multiple-personality disorder. It might have taken root out of the need to handle all of the stress he'd been handling after his return. Like another person to talk to him about his troubles."

Daisy frowned as it was clear to her that Liza wasn't performing as she expected of her with her boyfriend. Just what was going through that skank's head, she had no clue.

"And in his restraint of desire, his personality formed into the shape of someone associated with that trait."

"Vaas." Ajay had already guessed it. The psycho pirate with an unstable personality and a blood thirst for action and murder. Jason had at one point of time spoken in a Hispanic accent which proved that the personality was who they thought it was.

"Can it be treated?" Ajay had already asked ahead of Daisy much to her surprise of his willingness to help.

"What's to treat, Ajay. This isn't a condition that medicine or method can solve, it was a solution to a poorly handled PTSD." The more Daisy heard it the more she felt the cause of this was Liza's fault.

"What will you do regarding Jason, Ajay?" Daisy asked in a calm voice. Ajay thought about it for a while.

"If possible, I don't want to kill him. But I don't want my people to suffer because of him either. Not a lot of wiggle room when he's the second most dangerous person among the Golden Path. The Tigers hate his ass and Amita isn't the forgive and forget type."

"….."

What was Daisy saying, Ajay had a responsibility to an entire country and she was asking him to spare a potential killer of masses.

"You want to help, Jason? That's ironic coming from your sentiment a few months back." Noore pointed out.

"True, there's nothing more insatiable than revenge, but I don't get Kamala back from killing Jason."

Noore was starting to feel sorry for saying this. "I'm sorry, that was uncalled for."

"That's fine, I've gotten over it. The main perpetrator Sabal is dead, though I feel a bit sorry he died so quickly with just a sock to the face. It's almost too pathetic I can't even be sad, if I were to say why I'd help Jason it would be for Grant."

"Grant?" Daisy was baffled, why would he do this for a person he barely knew, let alone a dead person?

"From the way you describe him, he sounded like a swell guy to hang out with I would've like to get to know him. He also did me a favour for taking good care of you all those years, perhaps ease some of the hurt I dealt to you. I can't thank him enough for giving you another person to love." Daisy's expression became complicated, she didn't no whether to cry or laugh or be angry with Ajay.

"… That's so unfair."

"Alright, stop flirting." Noore announced loudly.

""We're not flirting."" Ajay and Daisy said flatly without emotion.

"Then what do you call that just now?"

"It's as Ajay said in the beginning, we're accomplices.

* * *

There had been considerable shifts that took place in the town in Lakshman. Thankfully the council had been given warning of the imminent storm and posted the warnings throughout the town. All the window and openings were reinforced and the stores that sold dry foods sold like hotcakes due to the demand. But no would go hungry in Ajay's town.

He had been given access to a military granary storage near them to distribute to the populace of about seven hundred thousand in his domain. As the storages were divided based on the sector that was protected and since Ajay had no standing army in his domain yet, he rationed it to the PDF and townsfolk as well as the several villages.

The most active during the storm was the arsenal, still billowing smoke from the chimneys. Ammo and guns were on high demand and it couldn't afford to halt its activities, the same went for the one in Queen Min's territory. Transportation was modified to truddle through the snow with studded wheels and snow plows affixed to their front ends. With two months of preparations for the Golden path assaults they had to think of ways to give the average fighter or soldier an edge over the Golden Path fighters and their commanders the Devas. Their tactics and strategy would be entirely different from before now that they had the former Royal Guard officer-trained Devas to lead and teach them. Speaking of Golden Path, before the storm set in there were individuals that crossed the bridge seeking to join Golden path as Ajay had permitted. An effort to keep the populace from harbouring rebellious intentions by allowing them to proceed with joining the cause.

The King's Bridge garrison counted over fifteen thousand men and women joined. As he promised before they left and after the wrote their names, the garrison guards threw at them their winter provisions and clothing. Albeit harshly as they glared at them the entire way out the gates. It was to be expected, they were declaring their treason to the crown, something the army guards loathed with a passion. On the flipside, they would be welcomed with open arms into the Golden Path ranks, Mohan would make sure of that for political reasons. But the existing members would hold distrust towards these potential spies, which Ajay was sure at least five were Army intelligence informants.

The Asymmetric Warfare Commission, a branch established by one of the Commanders in the War Council to study and observe this kind of warfare and give their conclusive study on how to combat the Golden path in their own territory. Had taken up camp near the arsenal proving grounds, hoping to give their input to weapon designs and modifications. Samar worked closely with them in this study.

Their latest study was about typical combat ranges and the appropriate weapons to these distances. A firefight between Royal Army and Golden Path patrols was about four hundred metres, that was both the spotting and engagement distance. Because they were at an angle due to the slopes of the mountain it was actually six hundred metres away from each other.

It came down to who had the more effective weapon at this range. Intel from G2 that juiced it out of Paul suggested a change in their logistical supply. Golden Path were being supplied by the Pakistan Ordnance Factory which produced German Battle Rifles as their main troop compliment. The difference was obvious, unlike assault rifles like the AK or M16s they fired full-powered rifle rounds as opposed to the intermediate cartridges of the assault rifles. Hitting things at distances beyond 600 metres and penetrated the forest cover without issue.

The disadvantage to such a weapon was the weight penalty from the rifle itself and the ammunition amount carryable. But if you hit your target then what was the point of carrying so much ammo. This finding however concluded that to accommodate this change in basic troop implementation would mean their patrols and supply runs would be shorter ranged and therefore the Golden Path would have difficulty supplying isolated areas.

It still left the problem of the Golden Path potentially outgunning the Tigers and Army soldiers equipped with AY-16s and AK rifles that were manufactured or refurbished at the Arsenals that now numbered three. The Third one was under construction at the heart of the fortress being built.

One of the most strongly supported ideas with the commission was the adoption of a universal cartridge amongst the troops for the roles of submachine-gun, assault rifle, light machine gun and designated marksman's rifle which was the basis configuration of the soldiers in the regiments.

Their choice for this was an ambiguous cartridge known in SAAMI as Grendel 6.5x39mm. A round that filled the gap between the 5.56x45mm of the M16 and the 7.62x51mm of the full-size rifles and battle rifles. The longer the barrel from which it was fired the better the ballistics, while the shortest barrel length already gave superior ballistics to both 5.56x45mm from AR-15 derivatives and 7.62x39mm from the AK rifles. Ambitious as it was to improve the effectiveness of the average troopers range and combat effectiveness per shot. There was a lot of room for disaster in that project now christened "Tempered Steel".

The Army Commanders were already against the idea of switching out their inventory for new bullets and cartridges especially at a time like this. Ajay also inclined to agree with them, it was too big a project to undertake in so little time. It was then that Samar suggested the change only be applied to Ajay's developing group the size of single regiment. Since it was a standalone from the Army, it wasn't under their jurisdiction or responsibility. Only Ajay was allowed to supply and equip that unit and he alone was the only one capable of doing so. If the experiments succeeded as they predicted, it would convince the Army commanders to slowly adopt the idea and implemend them to the Army as a standard.

Ajay was still having doubts about the experiment, but Gary convinced him it was a good avenue to take especially now when they had no idea how the Golden path would organise itself.

If everything turned out alright the logistical benefit was apparent. They only needed to produce one type of round for all those roles mentioned earlier. E.g. A machine gunner in the section could swap his ammo with a soldier wielding an assault rifle and similarly with other roles doing the same. The rounds weren't a problem to produce as the sizing could be calibrated with the swiss build ammo manufacturing machines but the rifles that the bullets were fired from was the main problem in its conception.

The main option was to replace the existing rifles with a whole new one that could chamber the rounds. It was expensive, very expensive and laborious. The alternative was to switch out the barrels and bolts from the guns under refurbishing in the newer calibre. How well the rounds would work in these existing rifles that had been used heavily in their career was questionable. And that was what Samar and his apprentices were currently finding out.

An apprentive of Samar's burns out another barrel after inspecting the quality of their upgrade to the new calibre.

"Same as the last."

Samar sighed. As positive as the end result was, the outcome left much to be desired. The lack of certain advance materials and machines to harness them meant that the metallurgy of their metals resilience to wear and tear from extended use was severely limited.

"That's the fifth bolt under five hundred rounds." The apprentice held up the fragmented bolt of the rifle that underwent a tolerance test.

"Sup' homies!"

"Hurk!" The lovable mercenary of Ajay's came to pay a visit to his gunsmithing mentor.

They came around patting him on his safe return and recovery.

"So hows the famous Mizaru dealing with his renown?"

"What now?" Hurk responded.

"Mizaru, wasn't that your incognito that was spread around?"

"The hell's Mizaru?"

"We see no evil, we hear no evil, we speak no evil. The three wise monkeys of a famous proverb. Yours is Mizaru, the monkey that covers its eyes to evil. It shows that even in pressure you chose not to see people for their inner wickedness. That is your virtue, Hurk." Ajay appeared sitting by the crates and answered Hurk's query.

"…Bad's….."

"I'm not mad at you for being reckless, but I'm upset that you put yourself in harms way intentionally without seeking backup."

"Ehehe…" Hurk laughed awkwardly after receiving praise after praise.

"That being said, prepare for your punishment." The fellow apprentices giggled quietly.

"What?!- I mean, oh."

"You thought I'd let you get away with AWOL, both you and the three stooges will assist Longinus in shifting the Special weapons to the new Arsenal. And you will unplug those ears to what he has to say about nicking his launcher."

(Slump)

Hurk went on his knees.

"Please! Anything but that!"

"My verdict has passed. Carry on." Ajay left them to head to the office to read the reports.

The apprentices laughed at Hurk's miserable situation which was too funny and pitiful at the same time. It wasn't the moving of heavy items, that was easy for four grown men. It was the lecture from Longinus. At had the ability to break down even the strongest of wills. Ajay had once thought of sending Longinus to preach to De Pleur but the interrogators advised against it. He might bite his tongue to escape the pain.

"What 'chu guys doing? I'll help." Although, Hurk hadn't been working in the workshop as long as them they welcomed another set of opinion to their problem.

They told him their story and he inspected the rifle seriously.

"Did you guys use the AKs yet? You remember what they used to say about'em. It'll work in the sand and mud, battered or left in water. Plus, the bolts pretty sturdy too."

They felt like slapping their heads against the rocks. It was so straightforward it was right in front of them, use a different type of rifle platform. The weapon they were using was the AR-15 derivative because it was the most favoured weapon in the Royal Army arsenal for its handling characteristics. But the design wasn't robust enough for the change in calibre, like the AK's two-lug bolt. The original calibre of the gun was 7.62x39mm which meant the 6.5mm Grendel was a smaller cartridge that the initial bullet fired and less wear on the barrel and bolt, the two components that defined the workings of the gun.

They immediately went about working on a prototype after calculations were punched in. They begun testing the prototype once it was assembled, the gun took tolerances that were previous unpassable and allowed their proof of concept to be conceived.

They designed a system which the calibre change to an existing AK in their inventory could be quickly retrofitted to the new calibre. As well as adding many modern upgrades to its existing frame. The result was an AK rifle with modern furniture, rails for mounting accessories and an added magazine well block for AR-15 type magazines. Featured a bolt release and cross compatability with existing weapon magazines. It received the honorable designation of MH-15. **M** odular assault rifle under design by **H** urk in the year 20 **15.** Full name would beMH-15 Individual Combat Weapon System, because of the various weapon configurations that would follow. The military logistic designations were dictated by the abbreviations (Type of weapon)(Maker/Designer/Commissioner)-(Year). For many years to come, the rifle would be affectionately referred to as the "Hurk" for its durability and accuracy like the person.

Hurk blushed happily at the praise he received, he was barely used to it. The days he spent in Kyrat had changed his life forever, another day was another blessing for him. He would do anything for these people and for Badala. All they needed to do was say the word and he would execute it.

But what Hurk didn't know about his nickname was that there was a second meaning behind his name of "Seeing no evil". It meant that when he killed, he saw no wickness in his own actions and that made him the most feared marksman amongst the Golden Path.

* * *

The main assembly hall of the town hall was filled with men and women of different backgrounds. Various units in the Royal Army, Royal Guards of Yuma, Elite warriors of the Mukti Tigers, the recently defected Golden Path 13th scouting group, and the Hunic warriors of the Northern slopes. Each group was surprise to see the other and wondered what they were doing here, especially the Huns and the Golden Path warriors. They nearly got into fights had they not seen Ajay sitting at the podium with the Condotierri and Captain Maya, Queen Min's protégé. The total members assembled in the quickly cramping town community hall numbered at five hundred. These were the officers and NCOs of another four thousand that were not present out of the units selected by their respective Chiefs and supreme commanders. Arjun, Yuma, Amita, Er Hu, Loken.

Ajay sat on the podium playing with the urn in his hands, reflecting on his encounter with Kamala's parents.

They were astonished to see the famous Duke and Demon kneel before them begging forgiveness for failing their daughter. At some point, they understood something had happened to their child but not what they expected. The mother, Aryaa cried rivers. The father, Miren held his emotions back and studied Ajay.

They couldn't hide in their hearts how shocked they were that the man she was referring to in her letters was in fact the Northern Demon Badala. But the description of his features matched Ajay's. He reached up wanting to strike him but his hand fell onto Ajay's head and asked him to keep her close. He was after all her 'Guardian Angel'. They couldn't bring themselves to blame Ajay after all he'd done and hoped. They could see he genuinely loved their daughter and was heartbroken when she passed. How they knew about this, Maya had been there to mediate on his behalf and he was grateful for it.

"Ajay, it's time. Don't keep them waiting or they'll rip each other to shreds if you don't do anything." Maya advised him.

He placed the urn in its carrier on his belt. He was too used to the feeling now, once it had been his mother's ashes. Now, it was Kamala's. Ironically enough they both bore a similarity, he blamed himself over their deaths. Why was history repeating itself, or was this some weird coincidence all together? Now he would not let a third instance happen even again.

He walked up toward the officers and leaders of the five armies.

"You've been called upon by your respective commander-in-chiefs to serve. We're about to embark on a highly ambitious yet low-profile experiment. Army High Command wanted it for some time now, but every attempt failed. They lacked something that their organisation had no provisions for or couldn't support. But now, we think we're found the answer to it with you, ladies and gentlemen." He walked down the steps to ground level.

"The time now is most critical for us to succeed. Mohan's appearance has severely upset the balance of power, I won't lie to say that if we weighed their chance of victory against the Royal Army and tigers combined they would have sixty percent chance of victory." The news was disturbing to the audience, all of them fell into individual discussions.

"But there is forty percent chance we win, right?" A voice replied from within the group and everyone turned their heads towards the person that said it. The one that said it was the Hunic warrior chief Yang Er Hu. Ajay smiled when he gave his honest feedback.

"Indeed there is, this undertaking will increase our odds beyond that estimate. But if we choose to dally, we'll only be running on a forty percent probability of success."

"All of you possess a characteristic that is unique in your army to the others. Royal army are versatile to rapid changes and defensive strategies, Royal Guard has assault and raiding preferences, Hun warriors specialise in low oxygen environments and are competent mountain fighters, the Tigers can teach you that numbers don't always account for everything, and the former Golden Path has its pathfinding abilities and guerrilla warfare tactics." Ajay just summed up all of their specialities. Some felt proud that even the Northern Demon was aware of their army's prowess it these areas.

"So that's what I thought, there were actually Golden Path here." It was this comment from the Royal Guards that set of the fierce argument.

"What the hell are you traitors doing here, huh?!" Said the officer from the Royal Army.

"What's it matter to you, all you Pagan-loving bastards!" The 13th scouting group took a defensive approach to their standing. And set off the fuse with those align with King Min and Queen Yuma.

"That's rich, coming from two-timing traitors!" Now the Tigers wanted in on the fighting.

The Huns laughed at the lowlanders fighting with each other until the Kyrati armies criticized them as well and they got dragged in.

Maya and Ajay facepalmed and shook their heads. First day and they were already at eachothers' throats.

"Are you all gonna ignore my presence and fight in front of me?" Ajay asked with an intimidating glare and icy tone.

The five armies immediately went back to their original seating areas and quieten down.

"Commander Loken and his men are no longer affiliated with the Golden Path. They helped me considerably and before the start of the blizzard, they came here with their families which should present how serious they are about this change of allegiance. One plus side to them was that they opposed Sabal very early on, including during our encounter when Sabal was with them. Of course, the bastard is no more presently."

At the mention of Sabal all the armies seem to talk about it, but a serious change of opinion had taken place. Mainly with the Tigers who hated him with a passion, the enemy of my enemy was my friend was the way they saw it and their previous attitude flipped 180.

"In future, during cross exercise Commander Loken and his men will make you adept to the way the Golden Path conduct their forces and how they are deployed. They will be your reference on what to expect of the Golden Path in the coming months although the Golden Path would be undergoing changes of their own. In the same way, each army will show the rest what their group can do. You will all study and apply these to your units of command."

They now understood the purpose of the the assembly, a joint task force. The flaw that every army in Kyrat faced was they were too overly specialised without room to diversify. Ajay brought them all together so they would teach one another eachother's strengths.

"Right! We'll start tomorrow morning, report to your assigned units and get aquainted." Ajay said to in dismissal. It confused them, why did they have to acquaint with the members in their units they were already serving alongside. Noticing their reaction, Ajay announced.

"Oh, did I say it earlier on? I jumbled your men up amongst a standing unit. Each of you will command soldiers and warriors from each other's units."

""WHAT!?"" They couldn't believe what they just heard him say and protested fervently.

"Your grace! This is ubsurd!"

"Are you telling us to let our men be commanded by others besides their own commanders?"

"The men won't accept this!"

"SILENCE!" Maya shouted with hostility and they quietened from shock that she had such a powerful voice for someone so slender. The Royal Guards were the first to shut up, she was after all their future Commander-in-chief.

"Do you presume to think that we haven't already considered this? You have all been given specified orders by your highest-ranking superiors to merge with this Unit. Do not question it or I will take that as immediate insubordination!" Having this woman scream at them was an unfamiliar feeling and it scared them all into obedience. Maya instantly established herself as the number two in this organisations hierarchy.

"Right, as I was saying. You'll be commanding one another's men. From this moment on, you'll consider yourself unaffiliated with your former comrades. This unit will be your home and the person standing next to you will be your sibling. Let's have a bet, shall we?"

Ajay wanted to keep things interesting.

"Whose ever commander of their army can get their mixed battalions to work in harmony with each other and work on well, will get the next Arsenal built in their respective Army's territory of their chosing. All the men under their temporary command will receive cash awards and weapon inventory to bring back to their armies." Everyone was silent.

Like dog ears that shot up, Ajay spoke of such a promise. The commanders and leaders couldn't help but lick their teeth. Ajay had one juicy steak that all the armies coveted, that was his manufacture of arms. The Royal Army couldn't help but rare for it as it would reduce their dependence on Ajay's Lakshman Arsenal. Royal Guards already had one but two would be a treat. The Tigers were eager to have an arsenal of their own which could allow them to be self-sufficient on ammunition which was desperately needed all the time. Having an arsenal for the 13th Scouting group would allow their families to have additional employment and influence in their new habitat. The Huns just wanted to show how good they were, that's all. Perhaps the Arsenal could help them rehabilitated and no longer depend on trade with those price extorting Sherpa.

They whispered their intentions with their superior officers on the plan of actions.

"The Royal Army accepts your challenge!"

"Royal guard does not back down from this challenge!"

"The Tigers are will prove to you why Golden path have trouble with Baghadur!"

"13th Scouting Group wouldn't let your grace down."

"How could we let these lowlanders outdo us, the Huns accept!"

Ajay had gotten the approval of every armies' band of officers and NCOs.

Now it was the test of whether they could work it out with each others' men.

What these men didn't know was that this experimental joint unit would be part of the highly secretive Army and Guard funded S-program. A key component that made it as formidable as Arjun projected it to be. Putting Kyrat as a major military power in Western Asia when the war was over.

"Your grace, does this unit have a name?"

While they had been sent by their commander-in-chiefs, they had not been told what they were to be doing. Only that they were now under Ajay's command and Ajay's enactments was genuinely making them his private force in their eyes and not part of their commanders' investment in the S-program initiative. Only time would tell when Ajay would reveal it to them, but in the meantime they would call their themselves…

"Unit 58."

* * *

Author's Notes:

I know I said in chapter 12 when I did the introductory on the Arsenal works that I'd stop being technical with guns again. And without me realizing it, I went complete Tom Clancy in this chapter again. Maybe its because I want you my viewers to understand the mortality and fighting conditions of the fighters and soldiers alike when battling in the dense forests of mountainous Kyrat. And there is no better way of showing this then by gauging their strength but the size of their "guns" (no pun intended). If Ajay is nearly bulletproof thanks to Chiffon, you know why he runs around the battlefield like a maniac without consequence of being shot.

6.5mm Grendel has not been fielded by any modern army including the highly-advanced US army despite the rumors and actual graphs of its performance. Curiously, the humble Serbia has taken the first step into introducing it as a standard military cartridge.

God bless Kalashnikov and Eugene Stoner.


	56. Chapter 53 - History is written by liars

Author's Notes:

This chapter was one i've dreaded for quite a while now. Specifically the famous story adaptation i chose to follow.

* * *

The regiment size joint task force that consisted of forty-five hundred was to be called Unit 58 for the time being until the S-Program was declassified. As much as the commanders of the respective armies were disgruntled with the idea of commander other peoples' men and few of their own. Ajay had made it clear to the that it wasn't in their power to protest or complain. He'd received written documents from their top commanders that these men were now in his possession.

So their situation was like entering their first day in boot camp. Nobody knew who was the other guy next to him until they went through grime and swear with each other for months. The officers and NCOs kept their ranks as did the warrior leaders. Presently the Unit was divided into five battalions, each led by a commander from one of the armies.

Tiger, Leopard, Badger, Bear, Eagle. Simple names that none of them would mix up. Leading Tiger was the field commander Amita sent. Leopard was led by a Major in Yuma's Snow Guard. Badger was commanded by Loken of the 13th scouting group that defected to their side. Bear was led by a Major favoured by Arjun's faction. Eagle was to be led by Yang Er Hu, the Hunic Chieftain.

For a week, they would put their units into the same training regime as their respective armies to get them aquainted with how they wanted things to be run. And already, problems started to arise.

The Royal Guard commander put them through a harsh physical regime with the intention of breaking their egos down and working with it. The Tiger Field Commander made them perform logistical work with heavy scrutiny. Commander Loken made them trek for days without anything else. The Royal Army commander made them dig trenches non-stop. And Er Hu was the most relaxed of all, they lounged about not doing anything.

Letter after letter of complaint was piling into Ajay's office as he read them and they had a similar theme. The Commanders were too stuck in their army ways they weren't flexible at all. The men hated them already.

"We need a universal training system." Maya suggested. And Ajay was incline to agree.

The Commanders weren't all tactful that they weren't just commanding their own men. They wanted to teach them their own way first.

"How about we make them do a mock battle? Red vs Blue." Samson suggested.

"With five battalion strengths?" Ajay reminded him. "If this fails from the command level then the whole organisation would be redundant."

The annoying flaw was that they still held allegiance to their former parties. This became a game of who's army was better than who's. "Let me handle this, my way."

The next day, Ajay gathered the five hundred leading personnel for a meeting.

"You've all been discharged from your respective armies. From this moment onwards you bear no flags. If we fail this experiment, you'll return back to your families instead." He announced void of emotion.

The armies were shocked as Ajay presented them with documents of their discharge from their serving armies. And it all beared the signatures from their commander-in-chiefs. Er Hu laughed at them.

"Don't be too happy, Chief Yang. I'll be deducting two hundred thousand from your salary if this keeps up."

"Tsk! You little bastard, how dare you blackmail this old one!" He yelled angrily.

Ajay realized what he should have done from the beginning. They all had their units to return to if this experiment failed so there was nothing too serious. So Ajay burnt their escape paths leaving this as the only road to traverse forward.

"Right, I admit the first week was my fault. I expected too much from all of you, I thought you could work with foreign entities by it was my mistake. It seems I misjudged the actual capabilities of some of you." Ajay intentionally antagonized them and got them worked up, though they failed to show it their hearts were ablazed.

"I wonder if I should take away your ranks too." Immediately, a cold wave passed over them. To take away their appointments as leaders of men was cruel, it took them years to reach this level and Ajay was stepping on it with a mere suggestion.

He needed the five hundred to think as one. So the commanders would need to go through retraining.

"All of you will undergo a paratrooper training course by former 1st Captain Samson De Costa and former lieutenant Ricardo Allegretto."

They all needed to sing in one tune. And the condotierri were gonna help do this for him.

The next day they were assembled at the base of the Northern Mountain. Samson and the condotierri were sitting on a large boulder over looking the five hundred officers.

"For the next month, you will not bear the ranks you have. You will be the lowest lifeform on the planet until you complete this course! Slowly working your way towards becoming proper human beings. In the mean time, I will address you as Scum! If you are at any time unsatisfied with the way I conduct myself with you, you have permission to leave and go home. You will address me as Sir! Am I clear?"

"""Yes, sir!"""

It was like boot camp all over again, but headed by these famous mercenaries led by the Demon. Ajay was entrusting a very important mission to them. To get the officers from the five armies to work like a unit. He'd seen the impossible when they turned Hurk into the most dangerous marksman in Kyrat when all he asked for was to bring him to Royal Guard level. They were ex-special forces, so they had some sort of secret ingredient that differed them from regular troops or elite soldiers. Unit 58's goal was to achieve something of that category either way.

"Now you see the packs prepared in front of you and the groups you've been assembled in. Climb that mountain until you see the red flag on it! The hell are you standing there for MOVE!" Samson started getting regimental with them and pushed them to climb the mountain.

"What? Didn't god give you two hands and legs to climb? GO!" The Condotierri forced them to climb like they were drill instructors. Shouting remarks at them to motivate them to move with efficiency.

Ajay spectated from a short distance to supervise their training. Beside him was Jeevan whom he called for just a week ago to begin training him.

The young man was eager to start as he waited for a while to get mentored by the Northern Demon.

"Climb the mountain like they're climbing."

"W-What?"

"Leaders do three times the work of grunts. In this case, you do three times their effort alone."

Jeevan was internally surprised but didn't question and climbed further. He wasn't given climbing equipment like the rest, only gloves. He took his time to climb the mountain along with Ajay who watched over him. Before long, the group trained by Samson noticed the young man being instructed personally by Ajay and wondered who that was.

"You spent all that time in a box, I thought this would stretch some of those loose muscles for your benefit." Ajay replied haphazardly as he climbed ahead of Jeevan with little effort. This made him struggle to prove to Ajay he wasn't a slack off and diligently increased his climbing speed.

"Don't over do it. It'll be terrible if you got a cramp while climbing." Ajay cautioned him. He told him where he should apply strength to and how to climb with minimal effort all together. While Jeevan had been exercising non-stop before meeting Ajay to meet whatever obstacle the latter provided him, mountain climbing was out of his expectations.

But soon, Ajay and Jeevan were ahead of everyone else by a hundred metres. They were astounished by this feat. They had climbing ropes, harnesses and each other to assist in climbing while that kid had nothing, Ajay was no exception but he as a deviant to begin with.

Who was that kid? And why were they losing him? It ignited a sense of dissatisfaction to the sight and they worked with one another to climb higher. Samson smiled wryly, it was Ajay's intention all along. To make them work for a united purpose that they would all achieve the same goal in the end.

"Hold on for a while, Jeevan. We'll take a rest." He said as the flag was already in sight, but Jeevan didn't know it. Ajay passed him a bottle of warm liquor to warm his freezing body.

Seeing their opportunity, the group of five hundred climbed and encouraged one another to climb to the very top with their fastest and safest speed. When the last warrior climbed the mountaintop and reached the flat with the flag planted in it they gave off a cheer that echoed the mountaintops.

The Condotierri laughed, it was only the beginning but they were off to a good start.

"What was that?" Jeevan asked curious.

"Must've been mountaineers or something." Ajay smiled.

They reached the mountaintop where the flag was. Jeevan was surprised to see so many people on the mountain with them.

"Is there some sort of event or something?"

"Probably." Ajay feinted ignorance as he led Jeevan toward the next set of cliffs. The commanders of the group were inwardly shocked at what they were attempting.

"Just who was this young man with Badala?"

"Another monster?"

When they asked Samson, he replied with..

"That's Hamal's second son."

"Hamal had a second son?"

"Think I heard of it, he made a ruckus at the Crystal Falls celebration and nearly got kicked out."

"How did old Raghu get Badala to teach him?"

They had many questions from this one encounter, Samson wanted to see what other expression they would pose if he unvealed another bomb.

"He'll be your future Commander of Unit 58."

* * *

Ajay was hardpressed, switching from the site for project Bastion and back to supervise the training of the commanders and of Jeevan who was taken under the wing of Hurk to learn weapon maintanence, crafting of fieldcraft and rifle marksmanship. He was then passed to Ricardo and Stella to learn maneuvers and troop movements. Anish taught him close combat fighting style of the Royal Guards during his resting period with a large sum of money or 'tutoring fees' as he pictured it. He left these areas to the experts, the only thing he could train Jeevan in for fair say was state of mind. It didn't seem like much but it actually determined whether one would fight with his all and win or hesistate and lose. Ajay taught him to picture scenarios and respond to them appropriately.

The kid gave his 120% in everything he was given and absorbed knowledge like a sponge. Ajay felt that he stumbled onto a godsend, it was a potential ally with strength that could rival his own. Or so he would like to believe, he knew what drove Jeevan. But what worried him most was that Jeevan would fall down the same path as him, they had similar lives after all. The loss of a mother due to their folly, discrimination to their circumstance and many other aspects. But Jeevan had his sister with him which was better. He would take the route that would mold him into a complete person.

His sister came often to check on him every opportunity she could, such a loving sibling. Ajay was a little envious of their relation. If Lakshmana were still alive would his relation be something similar?

When Jeevan asked once how he fought like he did Ajay replied.

"I forgot how to be human for a split second."

A chilling message for the young aspiring soldier of Kyrat to what he could potentially become if he loosened a few links to his conviction and conscience.

It was one thing for men to fear stronger men, but they were universally afraid of monsters. Men run from monsters because all they see in man is to be devoured. Ajay constantly reminded the Golden Path through vicious attack making them herald him as a spawn of Yalung, the blood thirsty demon god. In a way, it saved many lives in the process on both sides. Fear weighed them down and stayed their treacherous hands. Too afraid to confront him, they would surrender or retreat and sustain low casualties, the same went for the Royal Army and Tigers who dare not misbehave in his presence. Ajay's Northern Demon Badala was the most effective deterent against Mohan's Golden Path. But men would only stay frightened for so long.

When the façade falls, which it would in due time, the Royal army would be in a terrible situation. While the Golden path would be strong as ever thanks to Mohan. That was why Jeevan was the start of something new. He was a potential hero of Kyrat that might lead men to victory. All he needed with to learn from the best. There were a lot of potential rising stars of Hope among the earnest Kyratis that Ajay saw but they lacked the motivation and courage to do so. Maya, Amita and Saras were some of those extraordinary people he's meet so far with unmatched talent. Arjun though old was a genuine patriot. Kamala would have been a figure to rally behind had it not been for her passing, instead she was the Tigers' martyr. Then there was Darshan, Yuma's secret weapon against the Devas. He fought and forced five of the main fighters into submission on his own. That was something unheard of and why Yuma precisely censored it from the public.

Somehow it felt like he couldn't read that fella at all. But he had a feeling that Darshan's interest wasn't always with Yuma only that they had aligning interests. But when she was deviating from their parallel paths he would leave her from his own interests. Some times he gave off the feeling that he wasn't watching Maya because Yuma ordered it.

Ajay was back in the warmth of his Homestead. Sitting by the fireplace with Bhadra who was reading up her work.

"What 'chu reading?" He asked out of curiosity.

"Just a folklore book as a part of my project, I plan to read it to the children in the childcare one day when I graduate." Her course was already going into practical assessments and she was doing her assignment readings.

"Why don't you read it to me, I'll grade you."

"Mmmm…" She replied unsure.

"What?"

"I just wondered how many mythology stories have you heard."

"None. But then, neither have the kids so you'd better read it well to them."

"…"

He did make a good point, she was supposed to introduce the story to them anyway.

"Alright, here it goes….. (clears throat)… The Epic of Ramayana."

"Rama-what?" Ajay asked ignorantly.

"You really haven't heard of Ramayana? You even call yourself a Kyrati? Almost everyone here has heard of it when they were children."

Wind passed by Ajay as clueless as he was, a cricket to sound out the moment was direly needed.

"The states haven't actually been forthcoming to imports for years. If you asked me what children's stories I heard of while I was young it'll be Walt Disney stories."

Now it was Bhadra's turn to be baffled.

"Walt Dis-ney?"

"It's fine, culture difference that's all. Now, weren't you gonna tell me the story?"

"Oh- alright. Now where do I begin? The story begins in-…."

The story of Ramayana.

The feats of Rama, the Ayodhya Prince were spread throughout the lands far and wide. However a twist of fate exiled the legendary prince who was incarnate of Vishnu in the seventh iteration. He, his wife Sita and his ever-loyal brother Lakshmana accepted their fate and roamed the sacred forests.

Years pass by as they live out the terms of Rama's exile. Until one day, they chanced upon a Rakshasa woman, beautiful in appearance and in features. Taken by his handsome features the women attempted to seduce Rama who refuses her due to his faithfulness in his marriage to Sita. She tries again instead with Lakshmana but he too denies her. Humiliated and hurt that she was inferior in their eyes to a lowly human she attacked Sita but was quickly thwarted by Lakshmana who disfigured her in the process of defending his sister-in-law. She left, furious and deeply humiliated.

But what the Prince and his family did not know was of her status. A princess among the Rakshasa of mighty Lanka. But also, the demon king's sister.

A Rakshasa general who was also her sibling had confronted Rama and his brother on this insult but were easily defeated. Because Rama was no ordinary prince, but an avatar of the powerful Deva Vishnu. How could lowly rakshasa compare though they were more powerful that most of the beings on the earth and immortal.

In revenge for the wrong Rama's family had done on his sister, the Lord of Lanka, Ravana kidnapped his wife Sita whilst they were away on a hunt. It was then that Rama and Lakshmana's quest to retrieve his wife begun.

Seeking the aid of various beings such as vanara, the sentient apes. And encounters his dedicated Devotee, Hanuman of the vanara tribe. Who assists them greatly in their campaign to free Rama's wife and subdue the Demon King Ravana.

Fierce fighting at the gates of Lanka rattled the very stone foundations from the marching of the Grand armies of Lanka and the coalition armies aligned with Rama. Fighting into a long stalemate with terrible losses on both ends. The war takes a turn when Ravana's brother betrays him to side with the righteous Rama and is eventually slain. Sita, Rama's wife eventually returns to him. With Lanka's rights to the throne given to that Rakshasa who aided Rama, they returned to Ayodhya where Rama became the rightful ruler to the throne to lead his people.

The story take a turn for the worst as Sita is accused of losing her purity to Ravana. She'd been behind that wall of Lanka for years so anything could have happened the entire time. But Rama had faith in his wife, however his people did not. Upon banishing her to live in solitude of the forests alone. At some point, they reunite but Sita "returns to her mother earth".

So ends the Epic of Ramayana.

* * *

…

…

 _History is decided by the victors._

 _Where the wicked become the magnanimous and the pious become the corrupt._

 _Words pass from father to son, ensuring fiction as annals in the history of man._

 _But the weak will always be weak, the wicked shall never be good and the just are never blind._

 _I need you now more than ever, one final push to ascertain justice as is our right upon man._

 _So is the will of Karma. Sown by none other than the Devas._

 _Threads that can never be broken, as is the one that binds you and me._

 _Most beloved, most foolish Brother._

… _.._

… _.._

"Ajay….Ajay! Oi!"

"Uh-… yeah, I'm up."

"Muuhh! If you're gone sleep while I read to you the story then I shouldn't have even read it!" Bhadra pouted.

"Um-…. Sorry, it was just pleasant listening to your voice. Kinda of like a lullaby, you sure that wasn't your intention?" Ajay smirked.

Bhadra became flustered.

"I'm not gonna fall for it so easily, repent!"

"Ok! Ok! I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me. Maybe it's cause I haven't slept in a while."

Reminding her that Ajay had been working non-stop, she found it hard to accuse him of being disrespectful to her effort.

"Alright, I'll forgive you just this once."

"You're an angel."

"Only when it suits you."

"All the time."

"Humph!" She snorted unconvinced.

Ajay went out for some fresh cold air to clear his fuzzy head. The story was quite interesting, told from Bhadra's edition. Although it felt rather bias in his opinion. After all it was written from man's point of view. And the character Rama represented the greatest of them, so it obviously favoured him. But for some reason, Ajay questioned the character of this Rama and Lakshmana. There was a lot of plot holes which could be because Bhadra was telling him a children's version but he couldn't help but sympathize for that rakshasa woman that they disfigured and for Rama's wife. It was unnecessary to go for such extremes from how formidable Rama and Lakshmana already were against horde of Rakshasa, Lakshmana was guilty of excessive force. It could have been avoided and they need not face the entire saga against the Lanka Demon King. Rama could have returned to Ayodhya to be king with Sita at his side without charges of inpurity on Ravana's part. Instead she was banished by her husband in his peoples' favour. There was no justice in Sita's life being with Rama.

Somehow it reminded him of Mohan, the people's messiah and of his mother, the Tarun Matara. And it angered him, he simply couldn't see Rama as the true hero of the story but a villain. With arrogance that caused so much death and destruction in the process because of his pride. But it wasn't the character's fault, it was just Ajay's mind wandering off into fantasy. The poem had messed with his head, it had such an effect on his mind that he almost believed his own assumptions.

And it was recited in the voice of that woman.

The one from his Ghale Homestead nightmare.

He would have to go to Noore to seek medical advice, though the latter would tell him time and time again that a medical practitioner wasn't also a psychiatrist. It was a completely different field. Yet they called themselves doctors too but couldn't treat sick patients, the irony.

Ajay had a sudden itch to take out the item he had the most unanswered questions towards and removed it from his neck and looked at it in his palm. The Kalachakra Wheel, such a small item had such frightening potential of bending time to its will. Found at the foot of an ancient underground temple of a forgotten deity, he didn't know why he picked up such a superstitious item to begin with. It was just reflex that his body reached out to claim it as his own. Ajay couldn't help but shudder that some unseen forces had some dealings with his return.

But he had no proof nor indication of such forces, only an assumption based on wild thoughts.

He had other things to worry about, Unit 58 was one and the super fortress Lanka was another.

Again, a coincidence in names he'd heard from that book Bhadra read to him. Lakshmana, Lanka and Devas. He wasn't at all familiar with the local mythology here in Kyrat although it was similar to India as Bipin told him.

He was expected to have a meeting with High Command and check on the S-program site to make sure they weren't slacking off. Time was of the essence, he'd heard rumors from the communications office at the Royal Fortress of attacks by Golden Path on some forward outposts. Futile attempts to test the guard of the Dragoons and Hussars stationed near Baghadur. He would have to pay a visit to Baghadur to see how they were doing with his own eyes soon.

He knew his father wouldn't make it easy for them, he didn't take twenty years just to come back now when Golden Path was at its weakest. He was obviously preparing something, which was what bothered Ajay the most about Mohan.

The Royal Army and Pagan knew almost nothing about him. He was assumed dead at Ghale Homestead yet here he was.

Ajay suddenly felt that there was something coming for them.

And they were hopeless to stop it.

* * *

Mohan returned from his trip around the town. It was a wonderful surprise at the beginning of the storm to receive so many willing applicants to the cause. Apparently Badala had allowed them to exit the North and reunite with them. He often wondered about the Demon's sense of honour, from his compatriot's description he was a personification of the demon god murdering his way through the ranks of golden Path. Even his old companions that survived and were affectionately given the name old guard were terrified of him. His latest broadcast was to slander his name and counter his speech. Mohan smiled at the feat, in another time he would have become a worthy rival. The Golden path were of course shaken by his words but it would only work if he himself was flustered by it. The old members knew him for what he was and so these accusations were meaningless on them.

But that was slowly changing. The Devas Bhishman, Sanjeev, and Vasu were retraining the Golden path fighters to their old guard counterparts competence and teaching them the forgotten ways of the Royal Guard inner conclave. Although it was forbidden to release it to non-members of the guard, the Royal Guards now weren't true Guards of Kyrat. A select group would be indulged in the ways.

But there had been no news of Ved or Swara anywhere. What became of them he did not know, even with a mighty being such as the mistress he had no clue. Did she know and feint ignorance intentionally? He would not know, she had always been that sort of secretive.

Jason Brody took command of the renegade forces once belonging to Paul Harmon, Willis's contact. There he watched at the young man extended his iron grip upon them and showed them who was their new boss. It made him wonder who exactly was that spirit in his life.

But other than the three Devas present and Jason Brody he was short four that made up the original eight. The number that everyone revered and the Royal Army dreaded.

He would have to christen new ones.

Jason was more than qualifying himself to be the fourth in line of the remaining three. While he was a foreigner, he had helped the cause on numerous occasions and received the approval of several elders and commanders in the war council. He was convinced that somehow the two that left were still alive somewhere. That left two more openings for the title of Deva.

But so far, the fighters in this era left much to be desired in quality. It was frustrating, thankfully his had Vasu around to manage this.

Mohan stood before his mistresses chambers in the villa granted to him by the Village head graciously. She sat in lotus position deep in a meditative cycle.

" _Your trouble could be sensed from leagues away, child of Kalinag."_

"You read me like a script mistress." She laughed at his being.

" _So eager to depend on the strength of others. Isn't that what had begotten you into that predicament so long ago?"_ She teased.

Mohan nodded but silently cringed, he hated that subject being brought up even by her. The betrayal of his love.

" _You seek two more to fill this childish rank of Devas. Oh child, you have no idea of the celestial might of the true Devas. To bear their name is a genuine insult to their existence and one that awards them a thousand deaths. But….. this is humanity for you. You undertake words only to suit your convenience. Words bear more power than you could possibly imagine, words bind Karma."_

Again she spoke with mysticism. Were all ancient beings as such? It was the beauty of a forgotten civilisation Mohan yearned for in Kyrat.

" _Your comrades take three places, the missing two will appear in due time. I can see their threads of Karma still linked to you."_

Mohan found it assuring that they were alive and a divinitation from his mistress confirmed their arrival soon.

" _One for the demented soul that inhabits the crude vessel."_ She was refering to Jason, Mohan gathered.

" _One more shall go to Vel."_

Mohan frowned at that name. The girl who his mistress had forcefully brought back to life and kept at her side. At the mention of her name and wanting of her presence a similarly cloaked individual emerged from the shadow.

"My mistress, I must protest. Her presence-."

" _Disturbs you?"_ She laughed disdainfully at Mohan. _"But of course she would, she transends beyond what you are capable of. Because she bears no will of her own."_

The perfect tool of his mistress. A face though beautiful, was equally lethal. Because Vel possessed abilities that even Mohan lacked. Only because of her hearts purity that she was able to learn tomes and scriptures that were not supposed to be accessible to man. Vel was a bonified Witch that could ensnared the hearts of the weak to her will. Like puppets in suspension.

"And of the last place? Has any divinitation befallen the final one to undertake the duty?"

" _You needn't look far, he has appeared before you and has his fate binded to you from the moment you revealed yourself to the world."_

"He is the person who has returned to the land of the living to exact terrible vengeance on the cursed Demon that struck him down." Replied a full facially restored Sabal with a satisfying grin on his face as he crunched his knuckles feeling the unnatural sensation of endless power flowing through him as it did in Vasu.

Mohan shook his head internally, so it was this fool in the end he thought. What could the mistress possibly see out of this disastrous child, probably something he couldn't. But in the end all she saw was another tool to further her agendas.

From where she sat, though they didn't speak it. She could hear their ill and distasteful thoughts as if they spoke it loudly to her.

Reaching up to caress the unblemished skin on her face as if there had been devastating scars of disfigurement there previously.

 _-Oh humanity…. How wretched your very existence is to my presence.-_

* * *

Author's Notes:

I worked on this part for a very long time. Even now, i don't know if i got the mixture right. Please share your thoughts so i may edit if it is unsatisfactory.

I've watched the 80s movie adaptation by Bollywood and it was pretty nice. Read some of the books on it. It comes in so many parts being complied its like a Harry Potter series of books. Research nightmare, cause of the many iterations portrayed of this story. If that wasn't enough, other neighbouring countries to India have the same story told in a different way. that was how influential Ramayana was to East and West Asia.

I was forced to chose one. And adapt from it.


	57. Chapter 54 - A Pocketful of Soldiers

Author's Notes:

Daring, perhaps. To put actual mythology into the story. Again, i'll say it was planned from day one. It was just the worry that my writting style was insufficient to protray it in an enjoyable way to you my beloved readers. We'll see how it goes, no reason to worry if i haven't even released it yet.

* * *

The snow had piled up to the waist but for the first time in a month, the winds had died down. While it was still the season of the blizzards it was a moment of rest for the weary people who watched the windows rattle for almost a month. But for the first time in years, no one had died of freezing or hunger. Pagan had spent considerable amounts from his own pocket to procure dry foods and fuel, the people knew this and were grateful to his charity for the first time in a while.

The children came out to play in the snow, the adults shovelled their pavements to gain access to the main roads.

Ajay and Unit 58 had their own way of playing in the snow.

A simulated battle between the blue forces and the red opposing forces. The Tiger, Eagle and leopard battalions commanded by the Tiger Field Commander, the Snow Guard Major and Yang Er Hu represented the blue party. While Badger and Bear stood as the ambushing red opposing forces.

Made as real as possible by the use of MILES equipment, Multiple integrated laser engagement system. It reminded Ajay of the laser shooting gallery back state side. Sensors were attached to the soldier's combat harness and helmet to simulate his body, while his rifle had a special device attached to the muzzle. When he or she fired the rifle loaded with blanks, a short IR laser burst would be sent to simulate actual gun fire. Depending on the weapon they were using and what was the setting they could have various probabilities of hit on a target wearing the sensors. When a person was 'hit' the alarms on his sensory gear would trip and go off announcing he or she was 'dead' or 'injured' depending on the area targeted by the laser. Ajay and the Condotierri stood around as referees to the combat scenario.

The soldiers were carrying the earliest example of the MH-15 family of small fire arms, affectionately called "Hurk" by the design team. Somehow that rumor passed along the ranks and they were now calling it that, much to Ajay's annoyance.

Were they saying the weapon was like a clumsy ditz?

"Nothing."

Said the Snow Guard commander who was actually the Sandesh Ajay knew from the Valley of Yetis in another timeline. Peering through the thermal imaging binoculars issued to him.

"Could it be the snow masking their signatures?" Asked the Tiger Commander.

"I don't know."

Much had happened during the first four weeks of their intense officers training by Ajay and Samson De Costa. They had developed a great sense of camaraderie with one another which surprised the men from every army. Now the officers treated the men from other groups with greater care and respect as if they were their own men. Receiving instructions from their own commanders to do the same. Unit 58 had effectively merged all its joint elements.

"Why don't we march out and find out?" Er Hu said gungho as ever.

"Hey!"

"Er Hu, stop! It isn't as easy as they make it. Remember, they have Badala on their side now."

While Ajay waltzed around in plain sight at their intended target a village with a flag at the centre they had to retrieve to win the game. Ajay was in fact, wearing the MILES equipment himself. But to boldly walk around the village where everyone could see him made them feel something was not right.

"We'll attack at dusk when visibility is low. How bout that?" The Tiger Commander suggested to Er Hu.

"So what do we do now?"

"Badger and Bear are nowhere to be sighted. But it doesn't mean they're in the village either. Tsk! Golden Path tactics have always been troublesome." The tiger commander complained despite being one before.

"Why are you two shivering about, that boy obviously wants you to have second thoughts about attacking the village with his presence there!" Er Hu also pointed out a good point. What if it was all just a ruse? That's what Badala was best known for, playing mind games with his enemies.

"I'll send out my group first to test the waters." Er Hu replied before leaving them, they made no attempt to stop him as they knew once he was dead set on things he'd stick to them. But that didn't mean he was a fool.

Nine hundred of his soldiers walked cautiously towards the simulated village. Ajay had already begun to take notice of him from a distance and smiled.

The men moved from street to street with utmost cautionand great coordination, scanning the blind areas and sweeping their weapons. The flag lay before them, and so did Ajay who sat drinking from a flask.

The men returned to Er Hu to report an entirely empty village with no signs of the enemy. Er Hu calmly walked towards Ajay who was minding his own business and happily drinking.

"An objective left completely defenceless and a lone soldier to guard it. It hardly seems like a strategy that helps them. Did they really think your presence was enough to keep us away from here?" Er Hu asked.

"Nope! But it did divide a third of your forces from the main force which was all they needed to reach their objective."

"What?"

(BOOM) The village began exploding with smoke dischargers and the sensors on every of Er Hu's soldiers in the village went off including Ajay's.

"Some times, the sacrifice of one is all it takes to grasp victory." Ajay told him as he looked into the distance where muzzle flashes could be seen from the opposing forces attacking the remaining blue forces.

Er Hu chuckled deeply. The Army commander and Commander Loken had out played them all, they barely got the chance to fight directly with the opposing forces and were instead wiped out by hidden 'explosives'.

Meanwhile, with their forces evenly matched. The opposing forces fought with the element of surprise on their side and attacked the rear which was the most vulnerable of the formation. The Blue forces struggled for a while but were defeated when Sandesh and the Tiger Commander's sensors went off.

Ajay passed the liquor flask over to Er Hu as a reward for his initiative in volunteering to go and spring the trap, although it wasn't like he expected it to be. In the end, all of them had gained great insight from the battle.

That was all Ajay and the Condotierri wanted them to learn. You only live once but that didn't mean you get stuck in your own beliefs thinking it can't be done.

*Opposing forces, Badger and Bear victory. The war game ends.* Sounded Maya's voice from the microphone on the watchtower not far from their location that overwatched the entire field.

Er Hu accepted the flask and drunk deeply as he always did.

"Maybe one time, you should come to the mountains. Then I'll show you what real drink is!"

He smiled fearlessly. Throwing the flask back to Ajay could caught it.

"Perhaps. But I don't like crushing a man's pride."

* * *

The war games ended with a Victory to Badger and Bear battalion, led by the Army Commander and Loken Kaji. With the initial odds of 2 against 3 with them as the lesser, he'd won the respect of all of the officers and men in Unit 58. They were assured that he would be able to get them out of a tight spot should the Golden path try anything similar. All the vibe and rumors that he was a Golden Path spy vanished into thin air and the Unit were never stronger in their unity.

Ajay dismissed them all to their temporary housing to get some rest but not before handing out the awards. The losers also received consolations for their effort and good show of collaboration. He gifted them mastercrafted kukris made by an old forgemaster that was still residing in the quiet Nadi village. As for the winners, he gave them the rights to use the third arsenal forge and request emergency resupply at any given time.

Some things happened and he ended up being dragged up to the mountain abode of the Huns by their Chieftain Er Hu.

It was partly his fault for provoking the pride of the mountain warrior at a game of drink. He sighed. The drinks didn't matter but he was being asked by their tribe shaman to pay a visit which he withheld for almost a month. He also wanted to meet her as she was the actual power of the tribe and he had not seen her even once and neither did she. Er Hu was more of the tribes protector and figurehead. But the heart and wisdom of the tribe was Shaman Shili. The Huns were a very spirited people, their culture was deep rooted into Tengrism. Simply put it as shamanism not to dissimilar to the cherokee Indians. They reached the plateau of the settlement on top of the mountain, ajay was astounded to find an entire complete village neatly arranged stretching up towards the top with decent pavements and all. Hardly the landscape he imagined but what did it matter. The returning warriors numbering at a hundred also came back with them to rest and visit their families. Maya tagged along with the mention of liquor. She had a strange liking towards strong alcohol which was strange to note being she was taught by Yuma etiquette. Then again, at the secret cave she drunk the entire bottle and two more at the inn during dinner.

"The chief is back!" One tribesman announced their return and the whole community came out of their houses and stopped their outdoor activities to greet him. To their amazement, he invited two lowlanders along to visit. Not being well aquainted with the Kyratis they kept their distance but acknowledged them as Er Hu's guests.

"Not what you were expecting?" Er Hu asked as they walked up to his abode.

"Better." Was all Er Hu needed to hear from Ajay and patted him on the back like he was already his good friend.

They reached to top of the mountain face where Er Hu's house was overlooking the rest, talk about show of power. The Huns took it seriously and so did Er Hu, the moment he stopped showing this someone else would fight with him from his place.

Although that wouldn't happen in the foreseeable future. He managed to land the alliance with the Kyratis through Ajay and they were receiving funds to develop their living standards. The deal might not stay if Er Hu wasn't in charge to regularly meet the Northern Demon.

Regarding his status, only the Huns seemed unaffected by it and it was quite refreshing not having someone other than his friends not look at him like a monster.

"Have you lived your entire life up here, Chief Yang?"

"I did go out when I was a little younger than you. Back then I was a stubborn bastard."

-Aren't you still one?- Both Ajay and Maya thought at the same time as they looked at one another.

"Wouldn't move an inch, that was until we encountered an intruder. Now he's our friend."

"An intruder?"

"Well, to be precise he was injured. You should ask Shili, she has better memory than me about it." Er Hu said as they neared the door.

The patting of feet could be hear on the cold stone surface inside and the door flung open.

"Father!- ah-." Leng Yue expected only her father and not two visitors and not especially Ajay. She avoided eye contact and turned to her father.

"Good to see you're well, daughter." He scruffled his hand on her head and walked in.

"Hello, the names-."

"She knows your name very well. Don't you, Leng Yue?" A cold glint passed Er Hu's eyes. She knew what he was referring to and so did Ajay. The day she attacked Ajay without reason and with lethal force.

"What's this about?" Maya asked curiously.

"His grace had a little chance encounter and he played around with her."

Instantly, Ajay's warning lights went off, it wasn't wrong but the way he phrased it sounded almost sexually harassing.

"F-Father!-.." The girl said highly flustered with flushed cheeks as she too interpreted the other meaning.

"Hmmm? Is that so." Maya said deadpan and already view Ajay as a sex offender.

"I believe the words fighting and playing are the same thing in the Hun's vocabulary." Ajay knew that if he stumbled in his speech it was declaring he was guilty as charged so he replied calmly.

The Leng Yue hit her father hard for causing a misunderstanding, to which he laughed and carried on inside.

"I'm terribly sorry for my father's insensitive words. He sometimes fails understand there can be dual meanings depending on circumstance." She bowed apologetically.

"So what he was saying just now-."

"No such thing took place! I merely attacked Sir Badala and he acted on self-defense. Once again I apologize for my own fault."

"He's just a little too straightforward. That's all, no harm done. You're alright too." He said before entering the roomy house.

Maya entered smiling to the younger girl who blushed slightly, mesmerized by Maya's beauty.

"I'm Maya." She raised her hand. Leng Yue was shocked for a while but made an effort to raise her hand to shake it.

"Yang Leng Yue… Ah!" Maya grasped it firmly and shook. Her expression showed she was extremely pleased to meet her. It made wonder why she had hated these people not to long ago for their interference with her interactions with a certain someone.

"I was the child all along….." She murmured.

The door shut behind them.

* * *

"Right! Bottoms up!"

"Cheers!"

(Gulp) "Whoah….."

The baijiu liquor that Er Hu handed to Ajay and Maya instantly entranced them. It wasn't like the expensive and complex taste of Pagan's chateau red wine nor was it like the fresh taste of Shangri-lager. The import liquors weren't as "Delicious" as this, it was almost addictive. It was a shame to end with merely a single jug so Ajay got the wiser.

"Right, down to the wager." Ajay exclaimed.

"Ah! Yes! I'll go get another few jugs! Hehehe! It's not too late to back out now, Badala." Er Hu teased.

"Getting cold feet are we?" Ajay responded.

"Humph! You wish, it's your loss!" Er Hu went down to his cellar to retrieve more.

Maya leaned over to whisper.

"Sometimes I just want to kiss you." She had the same thoughts about the liquor or maybe stronger but didn't dare bring it up.

"Then why don't you."

"Because you're a womanizing leecher and I'm afraid you'd take advantage of me when I'm drunk." She cooed as she hugged her body protectively, perhaps the liquors effect was faster on her.

"So, don't drink then."

"No!" She responded almost immediately. It was inevitable that Ajay would laugh.

Leng Yue watched them from the corner of the room where she wasn't noticed. She was not of the drinking age as her father told her, not that she was into drinking. She merely wanted to have a closer look at Ajay because he seek to resemble a certain someone sixteen years ago.

"Here! Five of my oldest brews. I dare you to try it!" Er Hu came back with a crate of the exact amount. They weren't small jugs either.

"So what are the stakes?" Ajay asked.

"If I win Chief Yang hands me an annual supply of the brew."

"Haha! Only if you can handle it!" She then turned to Ajay.

"And I'll have a favour from you like always."

What were favours from him worth now? Like hell, he'd make it worth his while this time.

"The same thing from Chief Yang as Maya. And from you…."

"Hmmm?"

"Keep me company for one night." He said with a sleezy grin.

"Pffft!" She spat out her liquor which she later regretted.

"You really are a womanizer!" She said with a cold glare.

"You've been saying that ever since we met but clearly my actions have yet to prove likewise. So I decided to make use of my status as a 'womanizer' as you said. What? To afraid to take the bet now?"

"Bring it on, pervert!" She grabbed up her cup contrary to Ajay's expectations. His intentions were to keep her from overdrinking as it always lead to something difficult for him to manage. He took this from the numerous accounts he had with Maya returning from the inn after drinking. Bhadra dutifully reported her from puking at the side of the patio or messing the toilet. Why she drunk that much unregulated was beyond him. But he needed her to stop, unfortunately she prized this particular liquor so highly that she ignored his ridiculous demand.

Even Er Hu was a little sceptical about the twos' relationship. At first, he thought they were good friends but now, it seemed they were lovers but in a rough relationship. Leng Yue was no different and she was feeling a bit tight in her chest hearing such a thing even if she barely knew Ajay. Why did he have to share the same face as the man she loved?

Ajay had a serious problem where if he backed out now, Maya would drink equivalent to his share without consequence.

"Then mine is quite simple! Badala increases my wage by 20 percent."

"No more than 5, you're been payed alone ten times an officer of your offices wage." It was non-negotiable. And was Er Hu getting greedy. This liquor was bringing out the worst in each of them, showing their darker sides.

"Fuck off! 15, you stingy miser!"

"10."

"…. Fine, deal! As for you, hmmm… become my wife? (Hick)"

"What?!" Leng Yue shouted from a distance.

"Excuse me?"

"Badala obviously sees some value in you, you're beautiful, strong and confident. Almost reminds me of my dear wife bless her heart. I just feel like competing, you're ok with it right, Badala?" He smiled like a geezer. Ajay's eyebrows twitched but he maintained a friendly face. It seemed that he wasn't the only one being cheeky and using the wine as an excuse to talk shit.

"Sure, be my guest. You'll finally take the first step towards marrying such a hotty, wonder what her guardian would think? The last suitor that crossed her got thrown in Durgesh and his family lost their title and wealth. But don't worry, I think it's fine now if you tell her you won fair and square through a drinking game!"

(Gulp)"O-O-Oi! I was just kidding, see!" Er Hu begun to sweat, he was aware of who her Guardian was, the most powerful monarch in the country. Equivalent of starting a war with her.

"What? You were just joking all this while? Come on, be a good sport now, Er Hu." Ajay said with a hint of sarcasm and annoyance.

"Uh-… i-…" Even though he was usually blunt and it had gotten worse because of the alcohol he heavily regreted what he said.

"I think I'll include taking from your salary about fifty percent." Ajay forced him into a corner.

"Uh- wait, can we-." Er Hu's expression became pale, Leng Yue giggled at her father's due punishment.

"Right bets are in! Let's dance!" Ajay denied them the right to revoke their actions making them have no choice but to win or lose terribly to him.

And from Ajay's depressing history, he was not a light drinker.

* * *

The Fourth jug was barely finished when Er Hu collapsed after 20 cups then followed by Maya with 27 cups.

-Such lightweights.- Ajay shook his head as he took another leisurely drink from the ever pleasant liquor, his thoughts not yet clouded. It made him realize his liquor threshold increased considerably without him knowing. Or rather he was barely feeling drunk.

The hell was going on, was his blood breaking down the alcohol in his body faster than the normal human body? He turned to the shadow by the doorway that his sharp senses picked up early on.

"Hey kid, could you fix a meeting with the shaman for me while I tuck these two away?"

"Uh- yes!" Leng Yue responded and went off and wondered why she responded to his request without a second thought.

Ajay carried Maya up to the guest room to placed her in the bed and threw the blanket over her. He attempted to do the same for Er Hu but the man weighed a ton, so he grabbed a few sheets and covered him on the couch. Er Hu didn't seem to mind as his comfortable expression showed it and attempted to kiss Ajay out of a sleeping fantasy he had with a woman. He smacked the man on the cheek and the man chuckled sleezily. Ajay's opinion of Er Hu was rapidly dropping. He heard a quiet giggle from the corner again.

"Um….." He was caught red-handed hitting her father.

"It's alright, he deserved it. Come, Shaman Shili awaits you." She smiled brightly.

He walked with Leng Yue out of the house and on to the Shaman's hut.

"I've never seen my father drunk till he slept." She expressed her surprise to the end result of their drinking contest which he won. Not that he'd press those penalties onto Er Hu and certainly not that demand on Maya as it was asking to be a fugitive in Kyrat on the account of now-Queen Min.

But as she mentioned that, he started to feel less human for out drinking someone like Er Hu who was already the pinnacle of what a man could achieve in physique and endurance. Leng Yue was also having the same thoughts, he was just as demonic as the lowlanders below bragged, but they weren't rumors at all.

"Maybe he was just too enthusiastic today." Leng Yue chuckled as he tried his best to be modest and defend her hopeless father.

They arrived before the hut where Leng Yue told him to wait for her to announce his arrival.

"Enter." A voice called out before she even stepped in, it was obvious he was expected.

Ajay entered like he was told. Inside the hut was covered with strong herbal scents, and apparently something was brewing in the cauldron in front of him. Sitting crosslegged was a woman in her early forties, hardly the age he expected of an elder shaman, he pictured more of an old crone.

"Don't let my youthful appearance deceive you, Ajay Ghale."

Ajay reached for his knife the moment she mentioned his name. The glint in his eyes filled with killing intent frightened Leng Yue stiff and the Black Leopard previously dozing away jumped to its feet growling at Ajay for releasing a dangerous aura.

"Don't be alarmed, I swear on the heavens your name shall not leave this abode as long as you desire it to be that way." The shaman declared.

"Then pray tell, how did it get here in the first place I wonder?" He said with sarcasm.

"Darshan tells me much of what goes on in Kyrat."

"Darshan? Darshan?"

The hell was the bastard doing all the way up here?

"Before you go about making your own assumptions, Darshan has been a friend of ours for decades. Since this one had barely left the cradle." She pointed to Leng Yue.

"…Shili is it?"

"That is what my friends call me."

"You'd better start explaining to me some things pertaining Darshan or that will be what your friends use to call you." Ajay planted the most oppressive aura onto Shili, Leng Yue who had previously thought it couldn't be worse saw first hand what made the Kyratis shiver in fear before him. Shili was a little affected by it as well but maintained a calm disposition.

"Have a seat and I shall begin."

Ajay sheathed his knife and sat down. The leopard lay down but faced Ajay's way in case he did something to its mistress.

Shili begun her story on Darshan. But it was more like her story than a fact account.

Darshan, real name unknown. He appeared before the huns wounded and at the brink of death. A younger Shili, the next in line to become the tribe shaman nursed him back to health. His name he would not say. So she gave him the Sanskrit name Darshan for the forest she found him in. Darshan begun a simple life with the Huns, assisting in their chores when he could. There was of course distrust of him as he was a foreigner and they had a poor impression of anyone not Huns especially Kyratis. The monarchy indiscriminately attacked them decades ago and it was only by the intervention of a certain General by the name of Bibek Khati that they remained in peace for so long.

But that distrust was wiped away from their books as a raiding party of Royal Guards from a nearby outpost in the Valley of Death came raided them for some profits. Mainly to sell the women and children into slavery.

The young chieftain, Er Hu proved his worth to his ancestors and beat them back. But there was trouble. Two children were taken from their cribs. One was his own daughter and the other was that of his cousins, his own niece. The Royal Guardsmen threatened to kill the babies if they didn't offer up their women to sell. Er Hu was put in a tough situation, he desperately wanted to save his own daughter but at greater cost to the tribe, how could he do that. But his prayers were answered as Darshan went down the mountain seeming to know his way to where they were and attempted to rescue them on his own.

He came back bloodstained but with the two babies sleeping soundly. When the scouts returned to investigate, what became of the Kyrati outpost, they reported it was torched. All the Royal guards were gutted and lay on the floor with horrified expressions. A single man killed his way through fifty men that gave them difficulty and returned with their offspring, such a deed was not to be forgotten. But he had stained his hands with the blood of the Royal Guard, something they wouldn't take too kindly. So he proposed he would go down to become a Royal Guardsman instead to waver the charges with the prowess he had to offer.

Since then, the respect for Darshan had reached a point where they ignored strict rules on outsiders and treated him as one of their own. The children he rescued Leng Yue and Yu Bao developed a special bond to him. Leng Yue's grew more than it did with Yu Bao.

And that was the history of Darshan with the Huns. Sixteen years. Coincidentally the year he sealed away the Devas in Rajgad Gulag and slew one. As Gary informed him. Why Gary defected, the one Darshan killed, Jaswant Rajput was insane. He wanted to burn the villages for supporting Pagan's regime, that man was another crazy zealot. But Gary told Ajay he shouldn't be so surprised, it was Sabal's elder brother.

So Gary leaked his location to Darshan. Darshan hadn't been long in the Royal guard when he entered under the recommendation of old Bibek. Something the Royal guard academy would certainly not refuse. Darshan took on Bibek's surname and his blessing as his legacy of the house Khati. How he met Bibek was another story all together.

"Let me first say I'm sorry for overreacting."

"Apology accepted. I was expecting that response anyway, but I was a little startled by that aura. It holds such bloodthirst. The thick miasma of blood that came from you, it must have been a bloodly road for you." Her words tried her best to be as least offensive as possible.

"You have no idea."

"This concealment of identity must be very important then."

"My real dad is the arch traitor of Kyrat, the very man I'm fighting now. It' both good and bad for both parties. The Royal Army doesn't need another earth shaker."

"I see, the situation is more delicate than I perceived. It was as Darshan foretold."

"Since when was Darshan a shaman?"

"He's not. But that doesn't mean he can't read divinitations or the threads of Karma. He's something else entirely that is out of our understanding." So even Shili didn't fully understand him. Ajay rubbed his head and sighed.

"I won't ask anymore about Darshan, I came here to meet you not talk about him."

"Quite right. Your reputation proceeds you Ajay Ghale."

"Don't call me that if you want the King's assassin cadre to raze this settlement." It was a serious issue that Pagan enforced heavily. So those that knew were sworn to keep their mouths shut.

"Alright, Badala then." Shili was quite understanding of the situation and the caution Ajay gave her on this sensitive information.

"Why did you accept my proposal if the Kyratis had constantly treated you as an external threat?" Ajay asked curious as to why the accepted his offer in the beginning.

"Because you didn't, for the first time in a thousand years your letter was an acknowledgement of our inhabitance and heritage in Kyrat."

"You were an offscorn village in the virgin mountains in my territory, there was no way I could ignore that." Shili smiled as she saw that Ajay was a different sort of person to the Lowlanders.

"If you will allow me, I would like to perform a divinitation for you." She held out her hand for Ajay to lay his on hers. He rolled up his sleeve and placed it on her cold hand. She placed her second hand on his wrist and down to his palm, studying the lines.

A frown appeared on her face as she read deeper.

"What?" Ajay was inclined to ask.

She didn't reply as she took out charts to cross read with his hand.

"Three destinies once separate, binded into one. It involves good karma from all three, but it also invites bad karma from all three."

"What in the world are the three destinies?"

"No… perhaps I'm not phrasing it correctly. It's souls, three souls binded into one being."

"You have an enormous amount of Karma threads upon you, it's like they were piled upon your existing ones from a past life."

-What?-

Ajay couldn't make clear sense of her divinatation but she was close to guessing his arrival into this timeline though not quite.

"The path ahead will be more treacherous than it ever was for you, child. Even so, proceed on without hesistation as what awaits you at the end will be endless rewards."

"So I follow the rainbow to the end to find the pot of gold."

"I'm not familiar with that phrase."

"Alright, don't hesistate, soldier on. Is that what it meant?" Shili nodded.

His meeting with Shaman Shili wasn't what he expected and it left him with a sour mood.

"If you're fellow tribesmen get into a critical state don't hesistate to bring them down to the Hospital or give us a call so that we can help you."

"I'll take that into account. You sow good karma with me so I shall do the same for you. If you even face difficulty with anything you don't understand do not hesistate to come to me for council. Any friend of the tribe is my friend, and so are you Ajay Ghale."

Ajay nodded and left, returning to the house to retrieve Maya and head back down the mountains home.

Shili looked to Leng Yue who stayed behind. "I know what you want to ask."

"…." Leng Yue looked to Shili anxiously.

"There are things you are better off not knowing, child."

"Even so, I want to know."

"You want to know why Ajay Ghale bears the striking resemblance to Darshan, no?"

Her eyes danced as she waited for Shili to tell her.

"The blood of Kalinag flows through them both. But they aren't related to one another in anyway."

Shili picked up a medallion she received as a gift from Darshan all those years ago, in the icon of a wheel.

"The same and not the same. The flipside of a coin." She murmured softly.

* * *

The Royal Army and Tigers weren't the only ones taking advantage of the halt in wind. The Golden Path took every opportunity to distribute their supplies to their outposts that were isolated. The month of snow and wind had taken toll on the frontline outposts. About fifteen fighters froze to death, but this was normal in the coldness of Kyrat. The food supplies and fuel were a limited commodity. Vasu and the Devas did their best to distribute their unit's resources to the people as did Mohan.

Jason Brody kept the renegades in order through fear and incentives. The incentives were raiding the Tigers for loot and supplies which they had little trouble with him as their boss taking the lead.

The Golden path had increased in numbers and quantity of officers but so did its upkeep to maintain it.

Solomon did his best to requisition more arms and ammunition through the mountains. They managed to enslave a nearby Sherpa encampment to workhorse the materials over from the borders of Pakistan. No one cared if a few Sherpa went missing, they were simply nomads that came and went as they pleased.

But today was the date that Willis informed them was of great importance. They were going to bring in their most powerful ally yet. Paul Lynch and the pmc group of CNS corporation, an emerging defense contractor with the United States that was quickly monopolizing that industry. The private military contractor group was a relatively new entity of that corporation but well funded.

The Golden Path assembled by the flat land where the Main recruitment camp was near the City of Pain. And watched the sky as several large airlift cargo planes flew by and out their backs, more than three dozen parachuted cargo containers fell to the ground. The ground wasn't suitable for their airlift capable cargo jets to land as there wasn't sufficient landing strip length and the path wasn't gravel. But it didn't matter to them.

The parachute connected containers landed with a thump and the doors opened. Immediately over a hundred men poured out of some of the containers and approached the other containers to unload their cargo.

The Golden Path watched all of this with astounishment to type of equipment they carried out and the gear they wore. Donned in ash-white pixel uniforms with visored helmets, ballistic pads and plates that made them seem more dangerous than even the well-equipped Royal Guard. Armed to the teeth with rockets, assault carbines, machine guns and precision rifles that the fighters had never seen before.

Aside from the many ammo and supply crates that they took out from the several containers were the vehicles they packed inside the many crates. They drove out light utility vehicles, armored personnel carriers, even helicopters when they undid the canvas covers and container sides on some containers were stowed away inside.

It was like an entire pocket army had assembled to crush the Royal Army on their behalf.

Willis snorted. "Still a fucking show off as ever." He cursed under his breath.

Four men walked in their direction, Willis and Mohan could already make out the familiar features of one. Dressed in a business suit and attire like he was from Wall Street in a winter coat, was Paul Lynch.

When Lynch saw Willis, he scanned him top to bottom he let out a complacent smirk. Willis had obviously changed a lot since their last encounter. The only identifiable feature was his signature ray bans on his no-bull face.

"Just as I imagined, a gritty and paradise lost version of the partner I knew."

"Yeah, well who do you think is to thank for that fuckface, pardon my French!" Lynch chuckled at the rage his incurred. As he turned to the other person he was more than familiar with as Willis.

"You haven't aged a day." He held out a hand which Mohan accepted. "What's your secret?"

"Making sure my secrets were buried." Mohan caused him to trip on his sentence as he stated Lynch's mistake. Willis chuckled as he now knew who's side Mohan was really on.

"Humorous as ever, Mohan Ghale. Any luck with your son?"

"Oh, you need not worry yourself over the trivial. Pagan has my boy under tighter security than I ever could afford, his link with the whore is his own weakness."

"Quite, I'm sorry to hear that, friend."

"Don't be, now I've never felt more liberated. Just me and Pagan."

"Why don't I introduce some of the fellow to you? Although they aren't to talkative sort to begin with."

On his left was a grizzly looking man, a clear shaven one and a bearded on with a scandinavian heritage.

"From my extreme left is Dominic-."

"Executive Lynch, I will remind you not to openly announce our real names as per our contract and yours. The old man doesn't take things seriously as is this op." The Dominic fellow who was the grizzly looking fellow announced.

Lynch chuckled. "Well, you heard him. Again, this is Field Commander "Crow", next to him is Lieutenant "Hank", and last but not least is Captain "Dane"."

"That's fantastic and all, have your boys get out of the open before they become icles." Willis told him but Lynch laughed.

"You don't worry your socks off for others Willis, that's so unlike you. My boys are equipped with temperature controlled insulate suits under their armor. Unlike you and the Zulus, we'll begin operating if you don't mind."

There was a hidden insult with Lynch's comment despite their technological superiority. Willis and some of the Golden Path officers grit their teeth, but Mohan was not the least bit offended. The officers that Lynch introduced went off to direct the men around the containers to set up camp where they were for the imminent storm coming. To secure all of the equipment while unpacking them for use.

One patrol party was already assembled to recon the area.

"Quite a dick ain't he? Hi, I'm Mitchell, Mitchell Reeves. I'd like to learn about your geographics if you don't mind." But this operative seemed to be the exception in his humble attitude so the officers gathered and assisted him in providing ground intel.

The others did not even interact with the Golden path fighters and stayed to themselves. They didn't trust the natives and for good reason, they were interfering with somebody elses war. They were just paid to do a job and that was it. Lynch didn't matter, Kyrat didn't matter. Only their commander and themselves.

Mohan could already read all of this from their attitude and conversations. He laughed disdainfully of the CNS operatives. He could see the peril they were already in bound for with the complacency that Lynch was leading them into. But he chose not to interfere and have Lynch come running back with a desperate look on his face. Willis could see this on Mohan and chuckled himself.

Lynch was about to learn dread from Kyrat's Northern Demon.

* * *

Author's Notes:

Sometimes you my readers might worry i'm going in an undesirable direction with limited plot or just insatisfactory. Just have a little faith in Lord Havok, and believe that he'll deliver.

I.e. Just because Ajay is willing to spare Jason, doesn't mean he'll forgive him for the things he's done and is about to do. rage can blind us from reason sometimes.


	58. Chapter 55 - Welcome to Kyrat, Invaders!

Author's Notes:

Nothing but fight fight fight this chapter.

* * *

The report landed on the desk of Arjun and his eyes widened in disbelieve and resentment for the lax in surveillance on their part.

A major airborne force was detected flying over Pacchim Valley. The AESA radars and EWACS balloons mounted on the mountainside of the S-site provided perfect vantage point to survey the whole of Kyrat's airspace. They had been installed once the commencement of the S-program began and the lateral high-technology agreement Ajay made with the Israeli officials through the Mossad agent Paul Ferenc. They procured these airspace monitoring equipment from them at the right time or they would have never known the intrusion. The radar was working as it had been intended, the anti-aircraft batteries weren't operational yet either. Only they didn't expect anyone to actually monitor the weather and attempt to breakthrough the when the winds died down.

Worse was that Arjun had ordered all aircraft to remain in their hangars. The quick-reaction force couldn't react quickly. There was still no telling when the winds would pick up again.

It was too late to regret it now.

"IFF identified seven US airforce C-17s passing over the Golden Path Recruitment Camp. They ignored our flight control warning dropped a considerable tonnage of cargo there as they flew by. IAF's Adampur fighter squadrons scrambled early this afternoon and are on-route to apprehend for violation of airspace." The air surveillance officer reported. The direction was from Balochistan, Pakistan where the Shamsi Airfield was located. A known US airbase was situated there.

"Any guesses on what they dropped?" One of the war council members asked.

"The PMC group in affiliation with the CIA." Responded Arjun, the equipment dropped was substantial so it could only be. This unsettled the group, seven heavy airlift cargo planes could easily drop a full-strength battalion or 500 tons of equipment or supplies, airtransportable vehicles were also a possibility.

"Call the Dragoons and Hussars to apprehend them!"

"And risk the unknown? You saw the reports on the PMC group. They're a major invester in the United States military economy! There's no telling what they have in store for them."

"Tsk! Are we just going to let them invade Kyrati soil?"

"No." Arjun responded adamantly. The United States was seriously meddling in their affairs, it was earning the full-on animosity of the Kyrati Military and Monarchy. The CIA had gone too far. There was no salvaging this, ever.

"Call for Badala, and point him a target!" Arjun said with a ruthless tone, contrary to his usual composed self. The war council knew he was more than angry.

"Who will support him then?"

"I've called Amita to provide pathfinding, the Hussars will accompany his grace to raid them."

The commanders nodded in approval and went about making calls to the appropriate parties. Arjun looked out into the valley.

"It's time they learn the true cost of invading Kyrat."

* * *

Ajay was in the midst of planning further construction areas in the uncomplete fortress Lanka at the time of the message from High Command. Donning his Mk. 2 armor and weapons he regrouped with Anish and the Battalion commander of the 1st Hussars Armored Battalion at the Crazy Cock Bar in the town Hubris, off Baghadur and between the airport and the upcoming super fortress Lanka.

"Your grace!" The battalion Commander from the last time saluted as did his officers in the presence of Ajay.

"Why here?"

"Because down here, none of the words will leak. It will simply be taken as wild drunk jabbering." Said Anish. They actually booked the outdoor temple bar for them to discuss their strategy.

Anish self-helped a pair of pints from the faucet. "Drink?" But Ajay pushed the hand holding one aside.

"I can't believe you still have the mood to drink! We're actually facing an invasion by a foreign power and you want to bullshit your way to the pub?!" Although it was an honest plan to discuss in the bar so that it wouldn't escape out, Ajay had criminalized their actions because of 1st Lieutenant Anish. Anish gave in and raised his hands.

Seeing Badala frustrated was unnerving for the officers of the 1st Hussars. But they'd been called upon to conduct a high-profile mission that required their immediate attention. Ajay took a seat at a table and everyone else sat around that table where their Battalion Commander whose name he still didn't know, Anish and another seat for-.

"I'm sorry for being late! I had to attend to- Badala?!" Entering the bar was Amita, she had not expected Ajay to be present. Expecting him to be working diligently on the fortress project.

"Have a seat, we're just getting started. And get that thing out of my fucking sight!" Ajay shouted at Anish who was gulping down the pint still.

"So what's the situation, your grace?"

"At 1300 hrs today, seven C-17 military transports diverted off route from Shamsi Airbase in Pakistan and passed over Banapur. Radars caught a significant tonnage of metal drop in that area. It definitely isn't Solomon nor is it another airdrop on Willis's account. Lynch from the CIA's eastern theatre is here and he's brought the pmc's with him."

"How many?" An officer asked.

"We don't know, analysts guess its somewhere between 100-150. Unlike the SOCOM marines that were only equipped to extract Willis and get the hell out of Kyrat these men have equipment to stay indefinitely most likely."

"So High Command wants us to sent a statement?" Anish asked no longer touching the beer.

"They want us to test the contractors and be off. We have zero intel on them, it'll be a hit and run op, but hit hard we will. Right now we have the advantages in element of surprise and their infamiliarity with the landscape. The storms haven't fully cleared so their GPS won't work and neither will their satellites get a scan of the area."

"What can C-17s carry?" Whispered one of the men.

"I heard they could carry a tank." Said another.

"Really, no kidding."

"Then let's load old Shami with the HEAT rounds." Some NCOs discussed their ammo loads for the 90mm cannon variants of the Ratel IFVs they have been operating for nearly two months.

The Ratels had undergone significant overhaul the last time they used them in conflict in the retaliation in Banapur as Ajay ordered.

Originally the lacked various ammunition types as well as troop provisions on their vehicles. Now they were equipped defensively as well as offensively.

The 90mm and 20mm cannons had High explosive ammunition available to them for maximum damage on human targets. Where the machine gun mounts were without gun now had them, the 12.7x108mm NSV Heavy Machine Guns from India's ishapore ordnance factory. For defensive measures, the smoke dischargers were now functional. The Ratels were initially brought out of mothball so they had most features inactive. The vehicles were surrounded by cage armor to detonate the plentiful RPG rockets that the Golden Path might use to disable the vehicles in ambush.

But the real update from before was their latest edition. The workshops had finally modified one of the Ratels to mount the unused Spike NLOS missiles that required a vehicle of decent tonnage to launch from.

The Spike variants need not be in the engagement area but with the mortar variants pummelling the enemy from afar. All they needed was someone to laze the targets with the IR designator they were issued and the missile would fly to the target. Laser-guided missiles.

"So what's the plan of attack?" Amita asked. She came because she wanted to assist in striking the Golden Path since this was the region she was most familiar with and that was the Golden Path recruitment Camp.

Ajay recalled long ago when Amita and Sabal fought with one another over the dumbest of reasons. Save the people inside or retrieve the intel. In the end, he went for the intel which was important as it pertained an attack in Chal Jama monastery. But that was then, now he was leading an attack on the Golden Path.

"High command probably wants us to hit their equipment so that they get stranded like the marines before them." At least Anish was smart enough to tell that.

"It's as Anish says, we're here to give them a mighty Kyrati welcome." Ajay grinned deviously.

Some of the men chuckled humorously.

Ajay picked up the wooden forks from the holder and the salt pepper shakers as representations.

"How many will you spare?" Ajay asked Amita on the number accompanying them.

"Around eighty, I'm sorry it isn't a lot." She looked apologetically.

"That's fine, it's enough."

"We'll divide into three elements. Element one consisting of um-." He still didn't know the battalion commanders name till now.

"Kuber, sir." Noticing his struggle the battalion commander introduced himself.

"Sorry it took so long for me to ask." But Kuber waved it was alright.

"Commander Kuber will assault them directly on the Northern route with the direct fire support vehicles and mechanised infantry. Anish will take the long route around to the Eastern side and ford the river to pincer them, while you have an indirect fire battery remain at the rear to provide smoke and mortar fire support. Amita, you and your fighters will play an important role."

"Ok?"

"You'll not play a direct combat role in this fight but equally important nonetheless. You'll scan through the PMCs equipment from afar and out of sight, marking them for demolition. Once you've done that, rejoin Commander Kuber and leave." Ajay left her the responsibility of using the IR designators to precision guide the missiles to destroy their supplies and vital equipment. They would have to teach her and her men along the way.

"What will you be doing?"

"I'll be at the heart of it, lighting flares at their locations for you to mark. So keep and eye out for them cause they'll do every thing to blow them out. They're familiar with this sort of stuff." Ajay was going right into the hornet's nest to visibly indicate the critical weapons areas for Amita's forces to mark.

"Understood, we'll try our best."

"Your grace, that would mean you're going into heavy enemy concentration! I must protest!" Kuber worried for his wellbeing, like the last time he did when they levelled Varshakot.

Ajay ignored his comment and stood up, facing all the officers, Royal army and Tigers. Seven hundred men assembled in front at the moment to listen to his words.

"Men, never in a thousand years has a foreign power set foot in Kyrat. The CIA has meddled here for too long and have become overly-ambitious and arrogant, to think they can ignore legitimate border jurisdictions. Our responsibility is to remind them who's country this is. Spare none and hold nothing back. They're mercenaries, paid by the coin to ravage the lands at a client's beck and call. No International law protects them! They've earned every right to be trampled upon the moment their boots touched Kyrati soil! So follow me and for the first time in generations, be the first to fulfil your duty as Kyratis-… united as one!"

The soldiers and fighters alike let out a war cry that shook the foundations of the old temple and the mountains filled with snow trembled.

Kyra had called upon her children to repel the foreign aggressor.

* * *

The CNS operatives had spent their first day in this haven behind the Himalayas called Kyrat. Almost all of the operatives had never even heard of this place until their briefing on the plane by Dominic a.k.a Field Commander Crow.

The containers that were used to store their equipment and them during the drop were reused as shelter as they re-arranged them to form pre-fab housing for the one hundred and seventy five contractors. The scouts had done a perimeter sweep and found nothing in ten miles of their location. The Golden Path and case officer Huntley spoke of outposts dotted around the country and a type of fort known as a stronghold dominated the regions and asserted power over that place. Currently there were three with names that he couldn't even pronounce or be bothered to learn.

The men were complacent as executive Lynch, the most recent board member of the main branch office. He wasn't a hands on man yet he pretended to be one just to impress the board. But the man was a clown, the company would accept no responsibility for the ops Lynch authorised for a place in the board of directors. He played the spy game and executive office game but he hadn't fully understood corporate thinking and was therefore their puppet.

Still, it was his responsibility to bring him back safely as the old man had instructed. Unless he becomes a hindrance to the companies interests.

Dominic found it unsettling that he was the only one feeling unnerved. Before he left the plane, the co-pilot told him they were being hailed for airspace violations. The intel Lynch gathered from the analysts at Langley said Kyrat had no provisions to handle planes bigger than a Cessna and had no radar to monitor that air. But apparently the co-pilot said otherwise.

It meant, they were already detected by the local army here and could expect an attack any moment. But Lynch trusted the reactions of the Golden path too much. Relying on local intel was good but it had its limitations. He couldn't hail satellite imagery because of the thick clouds and the GPS was no good either.

"Where's Lynch?" Dominic asked his subordinate Mitchell, the one called Lieutenant Hank.

"Dozing off in the lounges. You need him for something?" Dominic cringed, he asked for this op and he was not even asking questions like where is the blackboxes or what are the nearest concentration of troops near their position. How the hell did he reach the appointment of Director in Langley?

"Keep the men on passive alert, we're threading on unknown grounds."

"Something wrong?"

"It's too quie-(BOOM)" He said too soon. "What was that?!" As he and Mitchell dashed out of the quarters made from the containers to investigate.

(Pop) (Boboboboboom) Cluster munitions detonated and vaporised the vehicles parked out in the front along with some men. It was a sign of a direct attack.

"We're under attack!"

"No shit!"

"Silhoettes spotted, three o clock!" The looked to the road ahead. A row of armored vehicles were moving towards them.

"Get those ICVs running! And bring out those rockets!" Dominic became taking command of the troops to face this adversary they had no intel on accept from Mitchells documentation that they were the Royal Army and a demon was among them. Hardly the thing you wanted to hear from superstitious folk.

The men begun to run for cover as they donned their armor and weapons. Taking refuge in behind the sandbags and containers walls.

Another mortar barrage sounded.

"Take cover!"

(BoooM) But instead of explosives it was smoke chaff that airburst over their heads. Their surroundings were now covered with thick smoke.

"Use thermals! Don't let them out of your sight!" Dominic reminded them of their basic thermal visors intergrated into their helmets.

"Mitchell, take the stalkers out into the forest to get a better vantage."

"Right, moving! Stay in contact, right?" Dominic nodded.

They entered firing range of their weapons, so the operatives opened fired on the vehicles and the soldiers hugging their vehicles for advancing cover.

"Sir, they've got 90s and 20s!" An overhead sniper matched the silhouettes of the vehicles through his scope.

(BOOM) One minute he received the report, the next the sniper overwatch was killed by a direct hit from the 90mm High explosive shell from the Ratel IFV.

"Fuck! Where are those LAWs?!"

The men came out with the rockets and anti-material rifles but were forced into cover by the heavy machine gun and rapid 20mm cannon fire that penetrated the cover and killed some more men.

By now the ICVs were ready and rolled out onto the field to protect their own soldiers and fire back its high velocity shells into the armored vehicles that the attack which was most likely the Royal Army.

Lynch came running towards him from cover.

"How the hell could you let this happen?! Answer me!"

"Answer you? You made no apparent orders to secure and fortify the area in an unfamiliar zone. Relying on crap intel from weeks ago! Don't tell me how to do my job, deskjockey!" He retorted harshly despite Lynch's rank in the company. And turned to settle the current battle taking place that had higher precedence.

Then another audacious attack happened from the other side of the river.

"Multiple targets twelve o clock crossing the river!"

They were being pinchered. The Royal Army wasn't taking kindly to their arrival. He witnessed his men being pinned behind cover from heavy fire. Their enemy could also see them through the smokescreen

"Dane! Answer me!"

*Yes, boss.* Answered his calm and composed colleague.

"Flank around the the forest from the West and take those vehicles in the North out!"

*On it.*

"I-… why the hell do they know we're here?!" Lynch couldn't understand it but it was clear as day the Royal Army did. Dominic didn't want to converse the subject about the hailing from a ground control. Now his highest priority was keeping Lynch alive.

"Stay down if you don't wanna-"

"Sir! Target approaching two o clo- Arrrghh!" Dominic turned to investigate what became of his spotted that turned out had screamed out his last.

"Get him! Get him!" The operatives fired through the thick smoke to try and maim there target a single shadow that darted around. The thermals on Dominic could see the outline of that person but not his appearance. Moving at lightning speed, it shrew his men like twigs as it approached him with extreme prejudice.

"God no! NO! Arrhhh!" The last man in Dominic and Lynch's vicinity died.

(Pooff) A flare popped off in the smoke and dropped to the ground.

Another six more were ignited while the killer was mowing down those in his way. And now it was heading towards him.

Dominic let rip his machine gun at the target. The shadow vaulted into cover as he sprayed the movement of the shadow. Two more operatives backed him up while the rest were attending to the attackers, adding to his firepower. From the engagement that occurred just now, the assailant preferred melee over range. It was that type of thinking that cost him the lives of two more with the sound of thunderous cracks of shots.

Eviserating the men that were protected by composite nano-crystal steel plates to get pulverized into mush. It said a lot about the big stick the shadow was using.

Dominic grabbed Lynch by the collar and hurled him into cover. The shadow was closing in on him, he unslung his automatic shotgun and blazed away to his front.

Then an iron grip held his shotgun up away from the front. There he stared straight as a mask filled with gore on its black metal finish. The design spoke of meticulous effort to bring out a dreadful image of a demon.

"Ah!-." His moment of hesitation cost him as he was flung to the floor from a hand twist. Dominic slammed into the ground with a thump and the shotgun was discarded. It was Lynch's turn to be scared stiff. As the masked man stared at him grinning.

"Welcome to Kyrat, Mr Lynch!" He said as he lit a flare and threw it at the stockpile of electronics. Then it hit him, this crazy bastard busted his way through their defense lines to mark their equipment. He ran for the flares but received a rifle butt to the back which pinned him to the floor.

"You've really made it too easy for me. Or perhaps Willis actually set you up here without immediate support to humiliate you. Ha!" Lynch's eyes widen and he cursed under his mouth, Willis was getting back at him for that time. But since this man was taking the opportunity to talk to him he could convince him to help him look for what he came here to look for.

"Maybe we're not so different after all, Mr. um-."

"Badala, Duke of Lakshman. Or what those shits in the Golden Path call the Northern Demon."

This was the demon the Golden path were so afraid of? The thought rushed into their head but the local fighters fears were justified, just look at what he did to them here.

"Badala, perhaps we can come to an agreement, we're here to-."

"I know why you're here, Paul Lynch. You came to sweep your filth under the rug again. But that doesn't matter to me, you're all equal in my eyes. All dead ducks." He ejected the shell casings from his massive double barrel and threw in new slugs without fumbling with the shells.

"I'll be sure to sent Willis your way soon." He raised his gun to blast the unprotected Lynch apart.

For the first time in a long while, Lynch felt powerless and helpless to change his outcome. He'd come so far only to be pushed aside for another's success and progress. He shivered despite his wealth of power and knowledge he could contribute. He wanted to declare his allegiance to this man, he would swear he would had him all the sensitive information on Langley and Willis if he so wished. But that man's eyes said he wasn't the least bit interested in what he had to offer, that man was a real demon.

(Bababaam) A stream of automatic fire rippled the area around Ajay from muzzle flashes in mid air. At first, he was puzzled by the absence of shooters in that direction. He could almost make out faint ripples in the air. Lynch let out a complacent grin, it was the newest type of system in the CNS operatives' possession. Near-perfect uncooled optical-thermal camo cloaks made it such that the soldiers could do their wet work without being seen or noticed. This technology hadn't been released yet so there was no way this Badala could know.

But he figured it out soon enough.

Lynch underestimated Ajay, as did the stalker operatives. Ajay sensed people not by sight alone but by presence, sound that couldn't be masked and his experience in over hundreds of unexpected firefights. He shot at the ground sending a huge pile of dirt in the air and it caked the 'stalkers' with dirt over their optical camo cloaks. His suspicions were confirmed. Just because they couldn't be seen didn't mean they weren't there. He fired the second shot at one which eviscerated him and shocked the others that he could see them despite the null thermal reading their cloaks gave. Dominic took this opportunity to break off Ajay and attempted to wrestle with him for the dangerous gun. The latter rifle butt him in the gut and took out his kukri which he used to impale him with.

Dominic grabbed the knife with his hands to prevent it from damaging more critical areas. But his attention was taken again as another fist struck the side of his head and knocked him to the ground.

"Dominic! Damn it!" Mitchell cursed as he fired at Ajay beneath his camo cloak.

Ajay fired his grapple hook at thin air which wrapped around Mitchell and he fell to the floor caught.

Mitchell tried to break free but couldn't, the wire was high strength triple weaved composite wires. Cutting off the wire, Ajay took out his grenade launcher loaded with incendiary and shoot in the general direction of the remaining cloaked 'stalkers'.

The screams of burning men could be heard as the cloaks weren't fire retardant to the burning magnesium of the rounds phosphorous mix. Ajay turned back to a white as a sheet Lynch.

"Parlor tricks aren't enough for you to outdo me, Lynch." He said with an intimidatingly glare while he stood menacingly over Lynch who was backed up against the walls of a container shivering at a junior in front of him.

"Then what about me then?" Came a deep and powerful voice. With a knife swinging by Ajay as he backed off on reflex.

Another player had entered the firefight.

Dominic and Mitchell looked up to the person that forced this masked overlord to back away hastily.

"I've waited long and patiently for you to show up, Badala!" The man exclaimed.

Ajay recognised that man from the photos Gary had handed to him.

Mohan had deployed his strongest of Devas to fight Pagan's Demon.

* * *

A change had taken place in the battlefield due to the appearance of a third party, the Golden path. Here to aid the CNS operatives in their desperation.

Vasu stood between Ajay and Lynch.

"Former Major Sen I presume." Ajay said cooly.

"You bastard Demon! I'll never forgive you for what you did at Banapur!" He charged at Ajay with kukri ready.

"Banapur? Humph! Compared to countless atrocities of Golden Path I think that was barely a blimp on Mohan's ego!" Ajay flipped out his kukri at the ready and 1911 pistol at his side.

He fired at Vasu who dashed towards him like a raging bull. Ajay fired at his back a few times as he had little time to waste and had to get out before the missiles fell which was in one minute.

His shots struck Vasu in the back and Ajay thought that would be the end of it. Only he didn't expect Vasu to turned around like nothing happened and charge once more. Ajay had no time to be shock at whether his eyes played tricks or not. And emptied the clip into Vasu. The latter was struck around his body but made no show of discomfort of agony from the bullets hitting him. Vasu swung down his blade at Ajay who raised his kukri to counter, only he misjudged the strength that was delivered. It hit him so hard it forced Ajay into a kneel to his disbelief.

"I'll take pleasure in ripping you to shreds!" He roared at Ajay. Quick to disengage from the lock, Ajay hooked his leg to kick him off his feet to break off the lock as well. Vasu jumped over his slide and Ajay rolled away when it failed to bring him down. As he got up he immediately faced a thrust from Vasu's kukri which he parried with difficulty.

-Fuck! Were all the Devas' this strong?!-

Ajay knew he himself was almost inhuman in speed and strength but it was clear the Devas were outclassing him in these two categories. And this was only one of them, albeit the strongest but only one. How did Darshan fight five at the same time?! He had to rethink his strategy and fast.

He noticed the odds changing in the combined Golden path and CNS operatives' favour.

Reaching down he grabbed Mitchell, much to his surprise and fear as Ajay held him over his shoulders after delivering a chop to his nape to knock him unconscious. He then threw incendiary bombs to cut off the road between him and the Deva whom he now understood was a terrifying foe to cross with the blazing viscous fuel prevented Vasu from crossing with even his new physique.

"We'll meet again, Major Sen. But I must ask you, was that strength yours or was it borrowed?" Ajay said before he left with a kidnapped Mitchell who Ajay thought was a mere special soldier was a camoflauge cloak which he thought was important to review.

"Wait! Badala!"

The moment Ajay retreated away, the whistling sound of missiles which were approaching their target could be sighted in the horizon. Vasu acted quickly by grabbing Lynch and Dominic by the biceps and ran out of the vicinity.

(BOOM) (BOOM) (BOOM) (BOOM) (BOOM) (BOOM)

The Spike Missiles came raining down at precise targets and demolishing valuable equipment and supplies. Although they would only know about the Royal Army's intentions later on. Now they were counting their lucky stars they survived such a vicious assault.

The Royal Army mechanized elements began a full-scale withdrawl and the operatives and Golden Path did not pursue. They didn't want to after all that had happened.

"T-Thanks, buddy." Dominic got out asking before he coughed violently and falling flat on the ground from fatigue and rested flat.

"You're welcome, the names Vasu, Vasu Sen. I'm one of Mohan's lieutenants sent when we found out about the raid."

"Who was that?" Dominic asked. This was the first time he'd seen anyone like that.

The attire he wore had little affect on his opinion of how he'd actually be. He overpowered all of them in mere seconds with the luxury to talk. When Mitchell returned to aid them under the stealth of his camo cloak hoping to jump him like it did with all the other insurgents, terrorists and other black ops operatives from Russia and China they fought against. He turned the tables so quickly they didn't have time to react as he killed all of them except Mitchell. He now knew the existence of this expeditionary forces most valuable trump card and would definitely inform the rest of the army to stay on their toes. There were several camo cloaks still in their crates that were unused for them to carry out future missions with less difficulty. But only if he wasn't there. That man's presence was imprinted deep in Dominic's psyche, his movements and fighting style was like he'd fought in more battles than everyone of the Operatives combined.

Vasu read all of this from Dominic's expression of thoughts and stated the truth of their matter.

"That is the Golden Paths greatest enemy."

* * *

The vehicles of the 1st Hussar had successfully withdrawl a safe distance with the Tigers safe and sound. They had suffered a considerable number of casualties, the weapons these mercenaries used weren't like anything they'd ever seen. Kuber's eyes nearly popped when he was getting reports that gunfire was penetrating the hulls of the Ratel IFVs and men with body armor were shredded anyway.

About eighty lost their lives today and two Ratels were knocked out of commission, it was the highest toll they had ever gotten with Badala at their side even. It went to show how dangerous these mercenaries were and the weapons they carried with them.

Despite these setbacks, they had fulfilled their ultimate objective. Which was to cripple their supplies and equipment to limit possible attacks on them or the Tigers in the immediate future. Sure they would resupply somehow but it would take time till that happened.

Most of the dead had been retrieved and those that weren't able to, they took the ID tags to verify their deaths. There was however some luck in their fight, they managed to retrieve an intact corpse, weapon and equipment of one of the operatives that was blown towards them by a 90mm High explosive shell from cover. Kuber knew how important it was to gather data on the strengths and weaknesses of the CNS operatives. His men had reported many times to him that they swore they hit their adversaries dead in the chest but failed to penetrate and kill them. Their body armor was like nothing they'd ever seen for the lack of bulk it had on the operatives.

Now they waited for their hero to return from the most dangerous job he appointed for himself.

"Sorry I took awhile." They turned to the direction of the voice and were relieved to find him safely returned.

"No, your grace. Having you back was of greater concern."

"I brought back a souvenir." He dropped the operative from his shoulders to the floor and bent down to retrieve something from the unconscious operative. A cloak with hexagonal webbing design and a watch that seemed to have some link to it as it blinked.

Once Ajay retrieved the item he wanted to loot he went over to Kuber and Amita who had lots to tell and hear from him. The soldiers removed the knocked out merc and tied him up and threw him in the back of the armored Ratel.

"Your men did well with painting the targets for the missiles. Thanks for the help, Amita." He said to Amita. But the latter shook her head.

"No, thank you. You've prevented a potential tragedy from taking place in our home ground."

"I had a friendly chat with Lynch. He's no serious threat to us as the Devas that interfered. Vasu Sen was there. Urgh….." A sudden pain began to set in on his shoulder which he used to defect Vasu's vicious hammer strike.

"Badala!"

"Your grace!"

Amita and Kuber undid his armor as he sat crosslegged on the ground.

"Internal bleeding and one hell of a bruise, but no cracked bones." Amita felt through his skin to tell that. Ajay was still wondering why Amita was beyond her usual practical self, this started happening ever since the New Year intrusion. Did she make some new year resolution to stop being such a stuck up bitch of something? She was also awfully chummy with him every chance encounter.

-So weird.-

"I'm fine, just me being careless and complacent that's all."

But still, how was that Deva so strong. He'd encountered people before that were way larger than that middle-aged man and hit with exceptional hardness, but not like his. It was like getting hit by a car or a rhino. It worried him, if all other Devas were just as strong in close quarters. He even shrugged off an entire clip of .45 ACP without stumbling. Why didn't he aim for the head, Ajay wondered?

"Let's go. Ladies and gentlemen, you've done your country proud. I'll forever remember this and those that died today. Forever."

The soldiers and fighters alike saluted him with the most profound earnestly.

Ajay, Amita and Commander Kuber sat in the Command Vehicle as the convoy of Ratels and other armored vehicles drove off. Their destination was Baghadur, to drop Amita off and finally home. They would report the success of the operation to High Command and the attention it needed to give to the CNS operatives in future as well as the Devas on Ajay's coming report.

Ajay allowed Amita who offered to treat his shoulder apply the balms and remedies to the injury while he studied the cloak.

Its ultimate function was to mimic the surrounding environment like a chameleon which it did exceptionately well, almost too well. When fighting those operatives, they did their best to make sure they only seemed like passing wind. It was a dangerous tool to have in their possession and he was sure there were more from where that came from. Would they distribute it to the Golden Path too? Who knew. Until now he thought it was merely a fictional product but seeing its capabilities he knew it was every bit a fact. He'll have Samar take a look at it and the equipment of the operatives to appraise.

It was troubling as it neither picked up on the thermal optics. Just how high tech was this military manufacturing giant to produce and actually field these types of equipment that he was sure the US army had barely even touched onto? He stepped onto a dragon's tail, there was no going around it other than slaying the dragon.

Willis was slippery as ever, not a single word of his location from the informants in Banapur or Tirtha. He'll need to capture a senior commander or executive to acquire some clue as to where he was. Perhaps Solomon was a good start. Or maybe- (Screech) The vehicle halted to a stop.

"What happened? And attack?!" Kuber popped the cupola hatch to investigate.

"There are these foreigners blocking the road!" The lead vehicle commander shouted. "Oi! Get lost!"

"Now now. Don' be like that lad. We're just a bunch of hitchhikers, man. Our ride's gone kaput and we need a lift to the nearest auto shop. How bout you be a sport and give us a lift, ok? Help a fellow who's freezing his arse off here in this cold."

"Yeah, come on!" The other man said like a little kid asking to get a ride.

"This is a military convoy, so the answer is already clear! Move or we will be forced to use-."

"Let them sit in the middle vehicle." Ajay told the lead vehicle commander so he didn't question and let them hop on board the ratel to sit with the troops who were ready to return home.

"Is that your boss? T-Thanks buddy! You're a real help!"

"Yeah! What my bud said!"

Ajay turned to Kuber.

"Have your men in that vehicle ensure they don't leave it under any circumstance. We'll take them back to the Royal Fortress to interrogate." Kuber understood and didn't question Ajay's intentions that obviously had good meaning. He whispered his instructions to the vehicle commander to keep them under arrest till they returned to the Royal Fortress.

Then he tapped the vehicle to carry on.

Still, Kuber wondered.

What could these two Englishmen possibly have that Badala wanted?

* * *

Author's Notes:

More high tech goodies to come.


	59. Chapter 56 - Trapped in Eternal Hell

Author's Notes:

Summer classes for me tomorrow. No guarantee I'll be churning out chapter after chapter in a week. At least one or two per week like normal. I won't be covering Yogi or Reggie yet. That can be covered in a few lines less than a section in a chapter.

* * *

The narrow corridors resounded the music Killer Queen by Queen playing from a recording with the occasional screams of electrocution. It was the new Chief Interrogators favorite piece when getting to work. Unlike De Pleur, he tortures the victims in less physical ways and more to do with breaking down their psychological barriers. The music was one of these ways.

(ZZZZZZ) "AAAARRHHHH!"

But then again, there was still need to use a tinge of persuasion now and again. The Chief Interrogator was in fact exchanging notes with his predecessor who was tied to a bedframe hooked to a power source. Although his exchange was merely one sided where he was the only one giving Paul pain and suffering.

"This can continue to be painful, Paul. But it doesn't need to be that way for long."

"Put! Fuck you!" He spat in the Interrogator's direction.

They happened to be in the most ironic place for torturing him, De Pleur's former compound. The one he left after defecting. At its basement was a perfectly orderly torture room to conduct business, there was even an observatory with tinted glass to observe the torture.

A door opened in the far end of the room and whistling begun in the tune of the Star-spangled banner as a silhouette neared them from the darkness of the surroundings.

"The irony, Paul. Some many victims sat where you sat and now its your turn."

"Bads? Alright! I give up, I'll tell you everything I know!"

A finger reached out from darkness and placed upon his lips.

"Shhhhh… whether you have intel I want or not no longer matters. Today is a very special day. Cause I'm serving up a soufflé for a recently widowed mother of two."

"What-…..ahahhahah! Noore?! Is that who's behind the glass? That's right, I played with your husband and kids till they died inside and out! The loyal husband cursed the day he married that bitch that landed him in this mess. The two kids what were their names again I don't remember-…..begged for their mommy! Screaming like little girls as I plied off their toes and fingers… one… by…one!" Paul laughed maniacally with every spiteful word to hurt Noore behind the one-sided glass.

The hand that placed itself on his mouth previously pressed him against the upright bed frame with incredible force.

"Tit for tat they say, or what these parts call Karma. What you did to Noore's family I'll do upon you thricefold, she need not even bloody her hands to see you get your just desserts, Paul." The voice of Badala said ever so calmly like he was hardly infuriated by Paul's taunt and it made Paul nervous.

"Remember Paul, you're only one of the culprits of her families murder."

Cold chill ran down Paul's spine and he turned pale white as he recalled Badala telling him that when they caught him.

"No-."

"Yes." The voice replied.

"NoNoNoNo! She's just a child, you monster!"

"So were the young Najjar boys, but then. That didn't stop you either, did it Paul."

"No….." He refused to believe this was happening to him.

"I wonder how Ashley sounds screaming for her daddy, how long would it last for. For such a sweet girl I think she'd lose the strength to scream after a few days. Then I'll tell her why she's here."

"Huh!" Paul shivered.

"I'll show her what Daddy Harmon does for a living, every photo, every video. And let her see the face full of ecstacy as he sticks a needle into a victim's eye or pulls out his nail. I'll even tell her mommy shared the same fate as those people."

"NO! STOP! STOP! Godfuckingdamnit stop!" Paul cries like a coward and pussy, it even surprises the Chief Interrogator who worked on Paul for over a month in and out tortures. His body might crumble but his spirit held. Until now.

"I'll whisper into her ear sweet nothings, "It doesn't always have to be about suffering you know?" And I'd place a gun on the dashboard in front of her."

"Whu-…What?"

"Every time you pull this trigger and take someone's life of my chosing, a little bit of the pain you receive everyday lessens. I'll tell her."

"No-." Paul's face dropped further into despair.

"I'll turn Ashley Harmon into my perfect killing machine. My puppet to do my bidding! Tell me! How does that sound, Paul?!" A grin leaked from the shadows.

"NOOOOOOO!" He cries again into a wet mess, shaking the bed frame he's tied to with the cable ties cutting into his wrists where he was tied.

"Everything you've done, not just to Noore's family but everyone else has led up to this point, Paul Harmon. You've sown your own Karma. From the very beginning, and it all crumbled down when you met with me." Ajay came into the light revealing a sinister grin. Life vanished from Paul's body as he recognised the boy that Pagan brought back with him.

"Wha-…. You? You?! Why?! Why?! Why?! How could it be you?!" Paul shook around in his bindings.

"It was right in front of you all the while but you were too dumb to see it."

"You-…you were right in my grasps then!"

"I was, and you wasted that opportunity on nothing. Well, it's not like I couldn't have broken out at any time it's just that I wanted to see what else you'd show me. I was this close to meeting Willis again. But then, you let fear get to you and tried to shove me to poor Noore." Ajay laughed disdainfully at the despairing creature called Paul.

No words could form in his mouth at the time when Ajay revealed this to him. And then he said it..

"But I'm gonna give you that chance, one last time."

Paul looked up in disbelieve as did Noore who stood up from her seat in the observatory room, her heart pounding. Ajay turned to the Chief Interrogator.

"Cut his restrains and leave."

The Interrogator was too shocked to believe what Ajay just told him but followed it willingly, whatever he was planning he was assured with strength. The interrogator cut off the restrains and left the room and locked it quickly when he exited.

Paul fell to the ground left stunned at what happened, and gazed at Ajay for a few seconds not knowing what to do.

"Now…. convince me." Ajay enticed him to come at him. Paul struggled to his feet and grabbed the scalpel from the table. "Yearghhh!" He charged at Ajay with red in his eyes.

Ajay casually dodged it as he swished his blade in Ajay's direction to cut and injure him.

"Come on, Paul. You'll have to try harder than that if you want your daughter to be safe and sound." He said laughing in a playful manner.

"Monster! You fucking monster!" He fumbled to pick a more definitive blade from the work table. A combat knife entered his grasp. Something he was more familiar with. Ajay took out his kukri for the sport of it.

They circled around each other.

In Paul's thoughts,

-I need to kill him! He needs to die! For Ashley's sake! He-…. HE NEEDS TO DIE!-

"Rargh!" Paul roared as he swung his knife at Ajay. Consequences with Pagan slipped his mind entirely, Ajay was the most dangerous person to Ashley's safety. He needed to go.

Paul thrusted and slashed with maddened vigour which Ajay calmly parried. The more Ajay smiled the more insane Paul became as he sensed he wasn't changing anything. Until he begun to laugh maniacally as if he lost a few screws in his head. Murmuring to an absent Ashley that daddy was coming for her soon.

From behind the glass, Noore and the Chief Interrogator watched as Ajay broke him mind and soul from a human into a rabid animal. The Chief Interrogator cringed at the sight, despite bearing witness to many atrocities during his time, the Duke of Lakshman was a scary monster that toyed with one's mind.

But to Noore, it was clear what Ajay was doing. He was exacting revenge on Paul on her behalf.

Ajay induced despair onto Paul through his daughter, Paul's only hope in life. And he made it such he would crush it, deform it and twist its nature then have him look at what he had done to her. It didn't matter if Ajay meant it or not, Paul whole heartedly believed it and it was a torture to him that no physical affliction the Chief Interrogator could outmatch. No wound was greater than that of the heart.

She wondered if she was a cruel woman, to yearn to see Paul's face of despair and fall into a depressing madness. Ajay was bringing out every bit of Paul to trample upon.

"DIE!" He shouted as he thought Ajay was backed to a corner. A leg came up and struck his hand forcing the knife to clatter to the floor. Ajay swung his kukri pass Paul's side of the abdomen and cut deeply.

He yelped from the pain and the blood rushing and stumbled to pick the fallen knife up. Ajay did nothing to stop it. Then he went at Ajay with as much energy as he could bring out.

Ajay continued to dodge and slash a part of Paul whether lightly or deeply it hurt him terribly. Ajay had coated his knife with a native plant sap that increased a person's sensitivity several times. In the hopes that Paul would feel every bit of pain Ajay was doing to him. Paul wailed in pain and agony but he got up with shaky legs and bloodshot eyes.

To entice him further, he threw the knife away which received the immediate response of a mad dash at him. But Ajay caught the hand holding the knife and twisted and sent a struck to his wrist with the other arms elbow. (Crack)

His wrist had shattered from the enormous force delivered by Ajay. "Eaarggghhh!" But Ajay didn't stop there.

"This little piggy went- (Crack)!" His snapped Paul's fingers one but one, the latter didn't stop screaming. "Ah! AAAHHhh!" Ajay continued by pummelling with brutal strikes from his fists that carried the strength to break his bones, hardened from his upbringing and by the blood he spilt.

In hell and empty on energy to continue fighting Paul fell to the floor with no strength to budge, his exterior was battered into a pitiful state. Ajay reached out and grabbed him by the hairs on his head and wrapped his arm around Pauls neck and begun to choke him.

"You've misplace that chance I gave you. But I'll give up one last chance….. Say my name."

"A-ahjaey…." He struggled behind the lack of air.

"Sorry, I couldn't hear you I don't think Noore could hear you even behind the glass."

"Hee-lp…. Me….." He made the last effort to beg to Noore to convince Ajay to stop.

"That's not what I asked for, Paul. It seems you're not good with opportunities."

Paul gasped desperately for air as he hands and legs wriggled to break free. Scratching Ajay's hands and pushing against his body.

"Ajay, stop." But to his surprise Noore came into the room and actually wanted to spare Paul.

"Why should I? And why should you plead on his behalf?"

"Be- because, no one will take care of his daughter. Also, you shouldn't bear the guilt on my behalf." Ajay made no expression that showed his was convinced any how. He loosened his stranglehold slightly allowing Paul to breath and cough violently. He could see that though Noore was unwilling to forgive him still in her heart but she still possessed compassion for a fellow man. Ajay was relieved to know this was her.

But that was what he himself could never be in this timeline.

"That's the poorest excuse you could give on his behalf, Noore." Paul shivered as it made it clear what might happen next.

"I meant every word I said concerning Ashley, Paul. Send her mother my regards, I'll raise her in your stead." Ajay latched his arms around his head and twisted till there was a life severing- "NooOOOOO!- (CRACK)" Paul's body fell to the ground with a face full of despair and helplessness as the light disappeared from his eyes. His last thoughts were -Ashley, baby…. Forgive me.- But it would never transmit to his daughter.

De Pleur's reign of suffering had ended in his own house.

Ajay remained quiet as he got up, his body filled with his own blood mixed with Paul's as he walked for the exit. All he said was obviously bluff to destroy Paul. Ashley, who was in the temporary care of Elina would never know what became of her father. He had enough for one day. He was sure Noore had too-.

Arms wrapped around him as she embraced him from the back with her face pressed on his back. He could feel it dampening though not from his sweat. Ajay turned around and gave her a hug, her slender hands had never had this much strength as they squeezed him tightly. His hand placed upon her head on his shoulder stroking her to comfort Noore and let her know he was there for her.

She wepted loudly in the small compact room over his shoulder as he didn't move from his spot the entire time she emptied her sadness and pain, kept within her for six long years.

The emotions that were bottled up inside her for so long burst out like a flood. So for the first time in a long while, Noore's emotional barrier crumbled. But it wasn't because of sadness, it was in relief.

The revenge that Noore sought for her family, had finally ended.

* * *

The storms had returned to fill the land with snow and violent winds once more. Samar bet the CNS operatives were cursing them right about now. Ajay had destroyed almost all of their subsystems and support equipment. They were going to have a very uncomfortable stay in Kyrat. Just as Arjun intended for the foreign invaders.

Lakshman Arsenal was working at full speed to bring weapons and ammunition to full the armories at the uncomplete Lanka fortress. Chiffon had been hard at work producing new uniforms and ballistic armor for the frontline troops and an exclusive uniform and armor design for the high-profile Unit 58. He brainstormed for months when Ajay turned to him to build an image for the Unit the size of a brigade, something different from the Royal army and guards under Yuma.

The basic colour was red representing the regal colours of King Min and an outline of Black that stood for soldiers under the command of the Northern Demon. And as usual with Mumu's style, form fits function, they were very functional indeed. The webbing for equipment had inserts for ballistic plates so it could be replaced easily and the soldier didn't have to wear body armor and combat harness over it. They were one piece together.

The Arsenal now had a department that produced all of these items under Mumu's supervision. While Samar had another important job to attend to.

Sitting on the work bench in front of him were the items recovered from the battle with the CNS operatives. Rifle, body armor, electronics, and support equipment. These were the things that he was tasked to investigate. Ajay had gone off early that morning, he spotted him with Noore driving off somewhere. It was probably something important and didn't concern him.

"That looks like an XM8." Declared Captain Goh who had come for second opinion regarding the equipment like the rest of his Marines.

"But it's built out of titanium and some other polymers." Perkins held up the rifle that barely weighed anything, almost lighter than a submachine gun.

"If it were just the frame it wouldn't be disturbing." Stew could guess it was more than that.

"It's not. Have a look at this." Samar handed out a bullet he retrieved from the magazine of the gun.

It was weird and didn't look like a normal bullet, it was flat on the end with a sharp needle of hard metal poking out.

"A sabot round?" Perkins was the first to guess what it was.

"Close, an Armored piercing discarding sabot dart." Samar nodded as he pointed to the rifle.

The projectile principle that followed modern tanks. A sub-calibre dart made of highly dense material fired from propellant that was for larger rounds and guided by a sabot that kept it straight as it left the barrel. The amount of lethal penetration against armor was greater than a bullet of the same size. Which explained the severe casualties that day besides the numerical and terrain advantages they had over the ill prepared CNS operatives.

"I tested it against heavy body armor."

"And?"

"It passed through like butter, the person wearing it might as well not wear armor. The effect is worse as the plate causes the projectile to fracture."

"Ouch."

"Exactly."

It wasn't the only weapons the Hussars encountered that led to heavy loss despite armor support. They were reported to also have airburst grenade launchers, some javelin-like ATGMs and automatic shotguns in their possession. Everything they had was dangerous.

"What about the armor?" David asked to change the subject from a grim new discovery.

"Some sort of titanium composite alloy in laminates. These mercs really have money to spend on tech like this!" Samar exclaimed. But the Marines were in the same mind. Not even the US armed forces equipped or spent this much on troopers.

"Electronics is the standard GPS and dead reckoning module, but what's the most curious of all is the thermal imager integrated into the visor on the helmet."

Stew peered through the helmet and pushed down the ballistic goggle visor which activated and displayed the room in thermal imagery.

"Sweet!"

"Not sweet, every operative was wearing one. They'd see you before you saw them." Perkin guessed a scenario.

"But out of all the gizmos that were retrieved this cloak that his grace appropriated from the prisoner is rather intriguing. In fact, there is no other example like it. Though I can't see it with the tools I have there are microscopic lens dotted throughout the fabric capturing the surrounding environment and blending to the appropriate scenery. The best part is it doesn't reflect someone on the other side. It's just been programed that way. From what I see, it's linked to that watch over there that turns it on and off."

A watch looking device sat on the table next to the cloak.

"Wow. An invisibility cloak! What I wouldn't give for that." Fantasized Perkins.

"Badala's strict instruction, Perkins is not to approach five feet from the cloak until he returns."

"Damn it! If he wasn't him I'd kill him for this!" Perkin roared while the rest laughed.

"But it still doesn't play out the technological superiority they have against us." David as every was serious about it.

They're supposed boss was here and Ajay had met and nearly killed him had it not been for the Deva Vasu Sen that escaped a month ago. It boiled down to what should they do. Attempt to assassinate Lynch, but would it free them from the eyes of the CIA and resume their military career? Or help Ajay snatch the documents before Lynch got there. Even if Lynch wasn't alive, it would be embarrassing to have congress get their hands on filthy secrets of the CIA and put them on trial.

Without noticing her entrance, Maya had come in.

"Miss Maya."

"'Sup." She greeted before looking at the cloak that was left unattended and threw it over her shoulders. The marines weren't allowed to say anything, because she had a special status with Badala that they were clear on. She played around with the watch and suddenly her lower body vanished before their eyes.

"Sweet jesus! It's a floating head!" Perkins poked fun at her.

"Oh?" She reached for the rifle on the desk and the magazine.

"Woah… wait- what are you doing?..stop!"

"Now I would like to ask….." She said cocking the rifle after inserting the magazine. "Do you see the shots?"

The marines scattered from her as she pointed the gun at perkins behind the veil of the cloak, Perkins was too surprised to move.

(BAAM)

A round fired from the rifle pass Perkins and struck a target board behind him.

"Well?" She asked expectantly without indication that she did anything wrong. Was she targeting the board all along?

"I didn't see the image of the shot from the back of the cloak, this thing is legit." Stew said.

It appeared that the cloak wasn't a reflection of whatever was around it but a microprocessor innovate a similar landscape to the surrounding like a true chameleon. It almost reminded them of the Predator alien.

Maya turned the radial on the LCD screen watch which deactivated the cloaks mimic function.

"And it even tells time." She waved the watch-like device with a smile. Devilish, the through that crossed everyone's mind. She was easily the fourth person that was not to screw around with in Kyrat.

Now that they more-a-less knew the capabilities of the operatives what was their countermeasures?

For the sabot ammo fired by the CNS operatives, David suggested a layer of diagonal honeycomb sandwich against the armor plates being issued to the Army as standard. The idea was to erode the flechette from the shot before it reached the actual plate. It didn't guarantee the shot wouldn't penetrate but it would reduce the damage done to the individual shot and guarantee his life. They would have to experiment on the different lightweight materials that could achieve this. Titanium was the first option but again they lacked the time to manufacture that many for all the troops. Plus, the CNS operatives only numbered around a hundred or maybe less after that raid. The worry was that they'd start supplying the Golden path with similar weapons and equipment. But that was left to the Royal Army's strategic air defence command or SADEC for short to denied future air intrusions attempting to smuggle shipments by air.

They heard a rumor from communications that the Indian Air Force had forced the planes to land at their airbase and confiscated the C-17s. Under pretext of failure to acknowledge air space and repeatedly refusing the air control's warnings. While Kyrat wasn't yet recognised under UN or US legislation, it was technically made as a part of Indian airspace as per Arjun's mutial border agreement pact with India via Saraswati's hard work engaging with the New Delhi defense officials.

They could guess that the US overseas authority was not one bit pleased about it and would demand their birds and pilots whom were in a state prison back. How New Delhi would handle this was beyond them. Either way, it was out of their hands now.

They played around with the camo cloak a few times until a lightbulb mentally appeared over Maya's head, her gifted intellect would allow her to see it solved.

"Hand me some flares or thermite, a lot of them. Come on, chop chop!" She instructed them and they did as they were told.

They gave her both and in large quantities.

"Perkins, here."

"Wow, really?" He accepted the cloak willingly after receiving her approval.

"Wear it and stand there." She pointed to the range. Then his face turned pale, being reminded of what she did to intimidate him the last time.

"I won't shot you, I promise on my heart."

"Is your heart even there?!" He retorted as a straightman.

"That's not a very nice thing to say to a woman, Perkins. Shall I ask someone else to take your place instead?"

"Nope! All good." He made his way to the place she designated with the cloak over him.

"Now hide." Perkins turned to radial and he disappeared.

All of the men peered through their thermal optics. Like before, Perkins was no where to be seen even on thermal. Maya popped the flares and lit the thermite around the dirt and it produced a heavy concentration of Infrared smoke. Thankfully it was the range and their were ventilators to divert the smoke out but now there was a astounishing discovery.

"Ah! I see him!"

"Yeah, that's Perkins alright. Check out those hips!" David joked to their amusement.

Perkins took of the cloak. "Very funny guys! It was earned through rigourous thrusting exercises."

The men snorted as if he was bluffing them.

"So what did you see?" He asked them.

"We saw the whole place lit up with a decent amount of IR and noticed a dead spot in the place you were."

"The cloak doesn't seem to adjust to abnormal surrounding temperatures so quickly, so in the thermals you'd appear as a null IR area and that's how we'll detect them." Perkins finally understood her strategy, it was smart. But it required a person with incredible intuition of guessing where they roughly were. So all they needed with to manufacture an special IR smoke grenade. A few magnesium compounds blended to the phosphorous mix would do the trick.

With all of these countermeasures in place, the CNS operatives were a smaller problem to the main threat.

"So how's Badala doing, Miss Maya?" Perkins asked the random question as they hadn't heard from him for quite some time though they'd been busy themselves gathering reconnaissance from the Golden Path's newest full size base in the very heart of Tirtha. While it looked like the Golden Path was offering protection to the remaining hundred thousand civilians there. It was actually a human shield in its grand design. They knew the Royal Army wouldn't attack them or risk discrimination from the civilian populace to their already poor standing in Pacchim Valley. The Northern Regions weren't so affected under Yuma and Ajay's supervision and support to develop.

Lakshman now had a population of over three hundred thousand. Ironic as it used to be the barren Valley of Death where only a few villages here and there survived by lending their human resource and iron smith trade. Lakshman was starting to resemble a proper large town no longer a frontier town when it first begun. It was all thanks to Maya, Ajay and the diligence of the townsfolk.

"I don't know. Go find him and ask." She shunned Perkins rather coldly when the subject was brought up. What in the world happened to make her so upset, Perkins and the rest wondered. But as she turned away from them her eyes danced about unsettled and her heart was palpitating uncontrollably.

Recalling that ridiculous bet she made with Ajay. When she came to back in the homestead and retraced the events she covered her face, avoided him the entire morning.

Because she felt like she could die of embarrassment. And why was this so? His bet with her was for her to spend a night with him. Her forehead burned thinking about it. She knew very well that it was Ajay that incredibly lasted so long that she fell on the couch drunk. Yet, she knew that Ajay wouldn't really mean what he said that day in the Hun settlement.

So why was she getting flustered over it?

Something so trivial.

* * *

The winds weren't as strong as it was when it arrived but it was still strong enough to blow them off the cliffs had they not taken the specially equipped snow track vehicles back to Lanka. By now the fortress was around forty percent complete. The three main corners of the fortress that were the size of a stronghold each had been completed and entered operational status. They were called bastions by the engineers for ease of reference of the entire fortress.

The inner part of the entire fortress comprised of intricate mazes of pathways and overhead bridges for ease of supporting various parts of the fortress, it also made it difficult to an attack to reach the inner sanctum area where the uncomplete third Arsenal unofficially dubbed Lanka Arsenal. It's main job was to exclusively supply and rearm the garrison forces in Fortress Lanka at any time. A feature that Ajay added into the main plan to make it more sustainable to attacks although it was unnecessary. But it would allow forces that passed by to resupply quicker, especially Amita's Tigers.

Next to the Arsenal in the neighbouring sector were several other facilities such as a hospital for the troops and civilians alike, a central communications building and tower for the antenna, a few barracks that were made to house over two hundred soldiers each. There was even a bazaar for the civilians to sell their wares inside and for civilian workers and soldiers alike to purchase and enjoy their items and food. There were also four villas located in the most protected place on the top of the mountainside added to the design by Pagan's request. One was for him to stay when he visited in comfort. One was designated for Ajay whom he assumed would spend more time in Lanka than back in his humble Homestead and as the Commandant of Lanka. One was surprisingly for Amita whom her Tigers were expected to occupy one of the Bastions as a part of their alliance. It showed to the Tigers how close their ties were with the Royal Army and Crown giving them a sense of pride that their movement was not only recognised by the Northern Demon but by Pagan himself. The last was vacant for whomever was an important guest to stay in. Strangely there was none for Yuma or Noore despite their contributions elsewhere. Though Yuma as the Queen would be staying in the same villa as Pagan. Noore was a major player in Kyrat's revenue so the fact that Pagan didn't ask one for her was strange.

Personally Ajay wasn't against the idea, it did make sense that dignitaries might come in the future. But they were in the midst of a civil war, building these villas was a waste of time that could have been spent to speed up the bastions fortifications. Still, it didn't stop the Royal planners from initiating it over two months ago. Three of the Villas were all ready by the time Pagan came to visit and say hellos and shake hands with the common folk as a part of campaign effort. He suggested another golden statue like that in the Royal fortress here. But the designers pleaded with Ajay to convince him otherwise. Ajay was also inclined to disagree but he tactfully handled it by telling Pagan it could wait till the Civil war was over and the citizens were celebrating their victory, the statue of him could be even larger due to donations and gratitude. 'No' wasn't a word in Pagan's vocabulary.

Ajay's villa was attended to by his own personal butler and attendants that kept the villa in an orderly manner. It replicated the design of the Royal Palace or perhaps the word was inspired by it albeit in a two-floor apartment size. It was just as lavishly furnished with brightly coloured garlands and fabrics that decorated the house.

For once, he was glad it was comfortable to stay in at Lanka. Because he brought Noore back with him to Lanka from Paul's compound which was somewhere between Pacchim Valley and the Uttar region. He would have driven straight home after their business was done but the weather was too strong to go all the way back home in Lakshman.

Noore had slept along the way, tired from all the crying she'd been doing. Ajay brought her to the bedroom and tucked her in. He'd been doing a lot of tucking others away recently, including a heavy and shameless Er Hu. He felt like he wanted to puke when he remembered that scene where Er Hu was having a perverted dream and was acting it out in reality.

The butler and attendants were sent by him back to their quarters as they weren't necessary tonight. So they could return to have a goodnight sleep today. This was the first time that Ajay would actually sleep in the Villa since it's contruction. He'd spent his nights resting in the barracks on a vacant bunk.

He went to the shower area and down poured hot water from a portable heating source in the back of the villa. The warm water washed away the blood from the late Paul and some of his own. The warm water stung some of the areas that had cuts or abrasions, mainly his fists which he used to beat Paul half to death with.

Ajay now had the time to question his emotions at the time he took Paul's life from him.

Nothing.

It wasn't just Paul. But everyone else he shrew. His mentality was such that because he had killed over tens of thousands over in the previous timeline, then what was a few thousand more here. No one had died here yet. But it never crossed Ajay's mind, because the experience of sending Kyrat into anarchy was real. He felt disgusted with his attitude, it was a sign that his humanity was fading away slowly. If anyone he knew passed away again, would he shed a tear?

Ajay had no such luxury as he did in the previous timeline. His very presence was what deterred the Eight Devas. He'd heard from intelligence that Jason Brody had been elected as a Deva despite his background and heritage. The hell was Jason thinking? Or was it no longer Jason Brody and instead that psycho that Daisy and Jason's former girlfriend Liza kept talking about. There were two more being ascended to the title of Deva. But unlike the rest, these two were kept a secret from even the Golden Path communities. For the sake of protecting their identities and making the Royal Army wonder perhaps. Mohan was restoring the strength of the Golden Path to its former power or even more than before.

Vasu Sen's strength was the greatest concern to Ajay. He was an abnormality, but were the others imprisoned with him the same? He had to guess so. Vasu's swings were like a passing freight train, knocking Ajay off his footing every swipe. Luckily he didn't stay long of the result would have been clear. The Devas were genuine monsters.

What his side needed more than ever were individuals that could rival their power. There were hints of such people he'd meet before. Kamala possessed unnatural charisma, Hurk was a godly sniper with the designation 'Mizaru', even younger Jeevan had an unbelievable absorption rate of military knowledge and problem solving. Arjun and him agreed he was to be the Unit Commander of the S-programs Unit 58. Arjun possessed steadfast fortitude as reflected in his age. Saraswati was a genius in defensive builds. Maya like Yuma before her had tactical genius in the midst of battle, as reported by Saras during the Airport offensive against then- Solomon's mercenary cohort.

With time and effort, they could grow to become masters of their own league but the Devas were in the way of that, threatening to snuff them out before their hour came. How long more did he have to wait for them to fight alongside him as equals?

But there was one person that could stand against the Devas presently.

Although, Ajay was not inclined to approach and ask him. How could he convince him, how could Darshan fight alongside him against Mohan and the Devas? His presence gave the impression he was aligned to no one, Yuma was using him just as much has he was using her, a mutual agreement only.

Wait. Gary and Shili both said he had affiliation with old Bibek. As surprised as he was when he met Maya and Bipin's old caretaker to learn that the frail old man that could barely walk without help was a legendary General taught him he couldn't judge by exterior. Could he go to the old General's house and request how to fight like Darshan then? But that would take him off the playing field and he couldn't risk doing that at anytime soon. Where was Darshan anyway? The man was like a phantom. Even Maya had been complaining she couldn't find Bishal anywhere when she came to offer treats to him. With the vagrant-looking man that was actually an officer in Yuma's company and a white tiger that acted more like a house cat in Ajay's presence he wasn't having much hope looking for them to help him.

But even so, he couldn't fight his father on his own.

Ajay walked out of the shower all dry and ready to turn in for the night when he found Noore up sitting by the window looking at the winter wonderland before them.

"I feel lighter than ever. It's so unfamiliar it's disgusting." Noore hugged her body tightly.

Ajay just stood watching the scenery without talking, just listening.

"I now know what you meant by emptiness even after vengeance…."

"…"

"How did you cope with it?"

"I didn't. I spent months at one time, sitting and watching the scenery like you are. Nothing enlightened me, nothing gave me the strength to continue on. The world moves even without us and we hate it for leaving us behind so we retaliate against it and become the monsters."

"Even now, I still don't have the answer. My anger, my rage against Mohan, Sabal and Jason can never be quenched. Even in death I still want them to suffer. That's all I've made out of my life, living by vengeance. That was how Badala first came into existence."

"I….. I don't want to live that kind of life." She protested against Ajay's prospects.

"Good for you."

"No it's not good, Ajay. Then what about you?"

"I don't know. What becomes of Ajay Ghale when the war ends? For a long time, it was a bullet to the head. Pagan would manage somehow with Yuma now so it's no problem."

It was painful to hear Ajay's lack of will to continue living, he had a deathwish as she suspected all along.

"Maybe… Maybe there is a place for us on the other side." Noore tried to sound hopeful.

"Maybe." He responded to assure her otherwise of his own thoughts.

But Ajay knew better. He'd searched long and hard, people had always reminded him that there was something to look forward to when their hard-earned victory came to fruitation. But that was them. He was nowhere to be found in that picture. Ajay still saw the mass murderer of millions that deserved a fate worse than death in him. His guilt ran the entire length of the Kingdom.

He was the demon of Kyrat.

"Why don't you see yourself a part of Kyrat's future, Ajay? Please, indulge in my selfishness just this once." She knelt in from of a seated him and clasped his hands earnestly.

"For so long, I wondered why did you come up and tell me of my families passing? Why did you swear to keep me alive as long as you lived? Why would you go so far for a stranger you barely knew and want to save her from an unsalvageable disaster?"

"For my own selfishness."

"Why?"

"Then let me tell you a story then."

Noore moved over to sit next to him to listen attentively.

"There was once a boy that cursed the world he lived in, the cruel situation brought upon him and his mother by a man who was his father he barely knew but hated nonetheless. The mother died of heartbreak slow and painfully. The boy became maddened with insufferability and blamed everything but himself. He obeyed his mother's last dying wish to bury her with Lakshmana. So he travelled into Kyrat a homeland he barely knew and chanced upon a queer man who declared his familiarity with him but the boy knew nothing of this weird fellow. A king he was, a tyrant at that.

Frightened by his infamiliarity and display of cruelty to the people around him the boy fled and bumped into a group he too knew nothing of. Claiming they knew his father, the leader lent a kind and friendly smile. Something he yearned at the time in such a cruel and unforgiving place.

He witnessed the tyranny against these people that 'rescued' him and wanted to repay them, but he also had a mission. Returning his mother to Lakshmana. Was it a place? And if so, where was it?

He had a mutual agreement with the group. Free them from the shackles of the King and they'll help him find Lakshmana. So he foolishly fought alongside them. It wasn't long before he saw part of their unsightly natures coming into full view. Two warlords fought for reign over the group, at this rate his goal to reach Lakshmana wouldn't happen. So he chose to help the one that rescued him. But strangely enough, when he was busy dismantling everything that belonged to the King. The King took the time to enlighten him about the happening of Kyrat. The true natures of the people thought to be heroes by the public.

There were many people who looked to him for help. A young girl who'd been unjustfully forced onto a religious figurehead mantle. A mother who's husband and children were in the tyrant's henchmen's grasp. A man with the mentality of a lost child.

But all that was on the boys mind was the final result. He didn't care for any of them nor their fate. So he handled them in the worst possible manner.

The girl he looked away as the warlord placed her upon the undesirable mantle of spiritual leader which he would puppet from the shadows. He fulfilled the man's requests but left him wandering the same road he'd done for nearly forty years of his life with no end. The mother…..

Perhaps he hoped that out of his whole journey there was at least one noteworthy thing. So he tried for once to be earnest and attempted to rescue her family and captured the henchman. But learnt that reality was cruel. The family had been long disposed of. Now he had the hard choice of delivering the message to her. He tried but it was as far as it went. So when he revealed to her the fate of her family, she stood at the ledge of Shanath Arena. She would jump down and end her life, he could see it in her eyes. She slit her wrist with his knife and cast it to his feet. A choice to make, right then and there she made it for him. Her eyes looked longingly for him to keep his own on hers, to convince her that there was more to life than pain. But he did the insufferable and turned away retrieving his knife. She knew that there was no salvation here for her and jumped.

If he knew that a little part of him had died that day, he would have done otherwise. But he didn't.

Now there was only one thought in his mind.

Not too long, the final bastion fell. He marched up to the tyrant kings palace and pointed his weapon. The king was not at all upset by his actions or appearance. Revealing onto him why his mother had run off with him so long ago. His mother like the girl, was forced onto a religious role she never wanted. Found kinship in the tyrant who suffered a similar fate as her once. Falling in love despite their differences and her status as a married woman, a child was a product of that love between them, Lakshmana.

Infuriated by her infidelity, her husband the leader of the rebel group killed the baby and in turn was killed by her. Filled with grief and pain she fled Kyrat with the young boy not old enough to know what was going on around him yet.

Lakshmana was a person, his half-sister. And then the King handed him his throne or what was left of it after all he'd done. The King not a king any longer left. But the boy felt deceived, after all this time. He could have told him the truth, he could have spared him the pains and suffering of the journey by telling him then and there.

But how was the King to know his mother had not told him of their past. Fury overtook the boy and he chased the former king and eventually killed him. But in his last breaths the King kept declaring he was not at fault for the way he felt, there was no hate for ending his life. But love, for allowing to look at the boy as his own son.

The boy retreated to his family home, confused and unsure of himself. Spending months sitting and pondering what he should have done to save himself of these feelings of guilt. It was clear as day, he should have paid more attention and care for the things around him, the people that at least gave a damn about him. But now they were no more, and he was alone. Days passed by without change in his lonely life on the slopes of the place he called home for four months.

Until the time of judgement came for him, the warlord had come with an army to take his life. The last person that could threaten his dream of a bastardized Kyrat. Praying fervently to indifferent gods who would never answer their prayers or needs.

The boy lost the will to fight off his allies turned aggressors and eventually fell to the floor riddled with bullets. His last thoughts were nothing but regrets for his decisions and indecisiveness, but there was nothing he could do not, it was too late. He finally admitted to himself he was wrong all along. The last seconds felt like an eternity in purgatory, but perished he did."

Noore naturally retreated backwards as she heard this tale spoken to her by the person in front of her. Fear was what she felt. But a hand reached out and clasped hers preventing her distancing from him. She already made sense of what he told her with what she knew about him and who that boy really was. It was terrifying, it was not possible. And yet it was standing right in front of her.

Her difficulty to move on was nothing. To the life of eternal puratory Ajay had lived.

Holding both her hands with an iron grip and a look of an endless cycle of despair running through his colourless eyes. He revealed the last piece of the puzzled that defined the deepest darkest secret he held for so long.

"That…. was the life of Ajay Ghale."

* * *

Author's Notes:

My usual style of editting some grammar in newly released chapters is to post them first and read it online. Then change when i spot them. So bear with them if you read when it just gets posted. Do note that i might spot the grammar later and not correct it. Between reading again and editing or writting in new chapters i would opt for the latter with less time available to write and post now.


	60. Chapter 57 - Mohan's Devas Pagan's Demon

Author's Notes:

Yogi and Reggie are perhaps in the bottommost of the FC universe popularity contest and have the highest "please kill" requests, since Justin Bieber, Joffery on Game of Thrones, or Nikki Minaj at one time. I was considering at one point selling them to that man in Yemen that likes them young.

* * *

The road that Ajay threaded on spoke of an eternal hell, one he could never climb out from regardless of effort or success. The abyss kept looking at him from behind, waiting to drag him back into something inescapably sinister and frightening. On that, Noore couldn't help but shiver.

How Ajay always knew most of the personality and traits of everyone in the exact description even when they hid it from everyone. How he knew so much about the terrain of Kyrat and that lair of the Yetis up in the Himalayas. That story…. The young girl resembled Bhadra in the role of Tarun Matara, the man with the lost child's mentality was Hurk. And the mother of two and a husband in the possession of the King's henchman….

Was her.

"… But… how?" She dreaded the answer as much as she asked it, but curiosity doomed her.

"What if one minute you were at the brink of death, and the next….. you returned to where it all went wrong." He said in a tone void of emotion. It was the truth of the life he'd been living. Why he even bothered to tell Noore despite it not giving him any comfort was beyond him. When she asked, he just had to say it. To let her know that her suffering was barely a scratch on the surface of what true despair was.

Noore realised it too in De Pleur's compound. The reason Ajay was so terrifying in interrogating was he could imagine up the purest of hell for each and every person who crossed him. Paul's was Ashley, his meaning to live, Ajay showed him a possibility of what he would do to trample it and Paul despaired. He immediately caved into fear and lived the most terrible despair of all, not seeing Ashley grow. The greatest suffering, he could ever inflict to Paul. Because Ajay was living in the greatest hell of all.

"This is my reality, Noore. What I wake up everyday to. The possibility of this hell coming to this place and history repeating itself. I know the outcome and I will never let it happen again." Ajay loosened his hands and walked towards the window.

"But I'm just one man."

She now knew the weight he bore, the burden was not just of Kyrat, but his own Kyrat too. Noore reached out to him but an unknown force of uncertainty weighed it down and her hand collapsed.

She and Ajay were accomplices. But this sort of life was something she was scared of, she absolutely wanted to run away from him now.

But what about Ajay?

This was the life he'd been living all this while. Was she really going to abandon him like he did her in another time? Who was the one that reached out to her when she despaired? Who promised to avenge her family for her? There was only one answer to those questions. She knew that if he were to perish, there would be nothing holding her back from ending her own life.

-You can do better, Noore. No- you can do better.-

He hands rested on his shoulders and moved to his chin to lift up his head. Those two brooding eyes held a vortex that threatened to pull your soul into it from looking. But she endured, for the sake of her most trusted companion.

She bent down and placed her lips against his forehead.

Ajay's reaction turned into one of confusion. The vortex was still present though, while explaining to her he had reminded himself of the hell he was in.

"All this while you put a strong front for everybodies sake. These things happened to you and you kept it bottled inside, if no one asked they would never know. Even now, I'm scared. The prospect that drags us both further into the abyss. But then, what of now? How much you've sacrificed of yourself to make this all possible. You stood there for me when I wanted nothing left in life. So let me do the same for you now." She pressed his cheeks together.

"Let me make saving you my life's mission." Strength and determination radiated from her eyes with fire. That fire slowly lit back in Ajay's voidless eyes.

And to his shock she planted her lips onto his.

* * *

…

…

 _Sometimes I feel you truly are the only one in this realm that will understand my tragedy and sorrow. Time is irrelevant in despair._

 _A few breaths feel like hours, days like years. An eternity of pain._

 _It's precisely why your agony pierces my heart deeper than you could possibly know._

 _But this is why, what we do from here on is so important. Stay steadfast on that path you think is the right one._

 _We're not too far away, you and I. When we finally reunite, I will tell you everything. I promise. Please trust in me, that I will do everything I do because if nothing, my sincerest love for you._

 _Our hour is nye…_

…..

… _.._

 **Ten Vedic talismans**

 **Ten sacred guardians**

 **Bind the wrathful Asura,**

 **beneath the everwinter mountain for eternity**

 **Three guardians perish, three talismans shatter**

 **At the hands of the indomitable one**

… _._

… _._

Ajay woke up to a feeling of his head had just weathered a storm. He found himself on the chair with a blanket over his body. As he turned around, he spotted Noore sleeping next to him on the opposite chair. She had been there to listen to him in this period he dug so deep into his own psyche he nearly couldn't get out.

"Thanks, Noore." Ajay got up and went to wash up before he left her to sleep a few more hours. Leaving a note to thank her for listening to him and assuring him she'd stick by to watch over him. There was much to tell her concerning his worries but that would have to wait for a more settled time. The Winter was almost over, and the Golden Path were more than likely to begin an assault when the winds stop. From that point onwards, it was all against all. Mohan's Devas against Pagan's Demons. The Demoness of Durgesh, Yuma pledged to him when he met her in Lanka that she was going to participate in the battles to come. Her Royal Guard were mustering and standing ready at their staging area in Ratu Gadhi.

Ajay shook off the words in his dream, but now he had ignored it the more it happened. He was thankful that there were people to stand by him when he fell into depression. The fortress Lanka was in need of his supervision as was the completion of Unit 58s training switch to operational status. He felt an emmerse weight off his chest, Noore was the first person he told his most hidden secret and she accepted him for it. He had someone to rely on for the remainder of his days.

He looked down below to the men and women hard at work constructing the unfinished walls and structures of the soon to be mighty fortress that watched over Kyrat.

Somehow dying to save them all didn't seem like a bad option. At least he'll be remembered.

* * *

The house of his Mistress was where he stood making plans for the coming invasion across King's bridge and onto the Royal Fortress. Only the Devas, now exalted with the same abilities as Vasu were with him. They chose the same path as Vasu and shared the same fate as brothers by oath. Only Jason, the two missing Devas and that girl Vel were absent. It made Mohan wonder of about his oath with his younger brother, Arjun.

As time passed he forgave Arjun for staying, he finally understood why. Arjun's loyalty was to the crown not to the person. In other words, he could see his brother return to his side when they won. The only person who he felt had a shred of loyalty left in their relation, it was just Arjun's nature. Unmoving, like a rock. But loyal to the end. He'd put his brother in a difficult situation when he rebelled but it was all for the greater good.

"In one weeks time, the storm will clear and we will have a clear space all the way to King's bridge." Mohan announced.

"The logistics are prepped and ready." Bhishma confirmed.

"Arms have been distributed."

"What of the foreigners?" Sanjeev asked referring to the CNS operatives.

"They've taken a non-combat role of purely observation. Badala hit them hard with an Armored force that didn't exist before. They're depending entirely on Agent Huntley for food supplies now. Their Commander Crow informed me his airdrop of supplies takes place when the snow stops. Although he received distressing reports that the India Air force are watching the Himalayas."

India? The thoughts of the superpower being aligned with Pagan made things entirely different. Would Pagan be crazy enough to bring India into the picture?

"Arjun. He must've entered a deal with New Delhi, from his alumni days in the Staff College." Mohan was the first to guess. He'd been there to congratulate him on receiving his scholarship.

"This Duke of Lakshman, Badala is equally not to be trifled with."

They had all heard the tales of the Northern Demon and wondered if it were possible for one man to do so much damage and achieve so much. His ruthlessness showed it was a possibility.

"What did you learn from your fight with him, Vasu?"

"He's young, but don't let that make you think he lacks experience. He knew his limits and when he knew how strong I currently was he retreated. His original mission then was to sabotage the foreigners' supplies and perhaps understand their strengths."

"To make them dependent on Willis?"

"To make them understand the crime for invading Kyrat." Vasu responded.

While they may have been at war with a vicious demon, this demon still understood the rulings of a civil war. Not to let third parties get involved. So far, all they the Golden Path had done was invite more and more each time they failed. It went to show how talented he was at warfare.

"This Badala is incredibly shrewd, we cannot afford any mistakes when assaulting King's bridge. He'll definitely be there."

"What of the traitors in Baghadur?" Sabal got to joining the conversation.

"How about you handle them, brother? Defeat them, if that cannot be done deter them long enough for us to storm the King's bridge garrison and assist you." Mohan gave him instruction.

"I will do it, brother! You have my vow!" He exclaimed enthusiastically.

"We're counting on you then, brother." The rest agreed with the course that Sabal would take.

"I have a question." Vasu spoke.

"Speak."

"What are we to do against Darshan?"

Sabal grinned his teeth, he had learnt from Bhishma the real cause of his elder brother's passing behind enemy lines. This older monster was something he hated as much as the demon that took his precious life away from him. The feeling of death was nothing like anything the masses thought it was, Sabal dreaded every moment his life slipped from him at that time.

This person had become Vasu's primary concern, whether they were exalted by the Mistress or not Darshan possessed rather weird abilities that made him still dangerous. Mohan was aware of this too, he'd seen the damage done to Jason Brody, the formation that binded that wandering spirit to the vessel was in a horrible condition when he found him. And Vasu said it was done by a wooden sword. It only meant one thing. Darshan was medium practitioner that possessed offensive type spells to enchant inert objects into relics. Where did he learn it from? No sorcerers or witches were left alive in Kyrat. Not even the fabled Demon Banishing Clan.

"I'll leave the measures entirely in your hands, Vasu. I'm unfamiliar with him but if he is as you say then we might have ourselves the only person that can harm us, brothers."

A man that could harm their nye-immortal physiques, such a thing wasn't possible amongst man against something else. Those that fought Darshan only dreaded him further on this conclusion. If he ever fought alongside Badala with the might of Yuma and Pagan backing them, then even Mohan wasn't so sure they could win against them by themselves.

He hated to admit it but he depended on his mistresses powers and the extension of her hand that was Vel. Her powers seemed endless and yet she still sought the doorway into sacred Shangri-la. The lust for power was endless.

If Darpan were still alive he could have revealed where he hid the other half of the thangkas and they need not invade Uttar region to find the rest. Sadly, he was no more, Pagan had taken his life when he was reported to escort his son to Banapur. It was another reason Vasu hated Pagan more, Kyrat was a small world. Everyone was related to someone, a friend could be serving in the Royal Army while a brother could be opposing him in Golden Path. For the man who murdered his older cousin, he would boil him.

"Make everything ready by the end of snowfall, then we'll march out immediately to liberate Pacchim Valley." Mohan ordered fiercely, they saluted him and went on their way. Vasu, being the last man made a passing glance at Mohan walking towards his benefactor whom sat in deep meditation.

"Thank you, brother." Mohan said noticing Vasu's still apparent presence. He walked off and closed the door.

Mohan walked up towards the dias which his mistress sat in motionless. The hood concealed her appearance, Mohan had only seen it once and it couldn't be expressed in words. A beautiful face that could make all fall in love at first sight, a complexion that couldn't belong to a mere mortal but a fairy. Had his heart not suffered from great pain and depression, hardening against all else he would have succumb to it as well in that one instance he saw it.

But now his desire was getting to him, though it was offensive to do so he reached out to push the hood off. His hand almost reached as it was merely inches away when a gust of wind blew him against the walls.

" _My patience with such presumptuous conduct will only go so far, serf!"_

"Forgive my transgression, I let my desires to see that beauty that mistress hides away from the world get to me!" He said with part flattery and great difficulty as a force continued to press him against the wall and limited his breathing. A flick of her wrist sent the force to vanish and Mohan dropped down coughing.

Mohan got up to his feet and reported the current events to his mistress after her long meditation. A little while he noticed her posture was as if it was unsettled her hand placed upon her breast as if feeling in pain.

"Is something wrong, mistress?"

" _Nothing that your weak self could manage on its own!"_ She snapped coldly at him.

"… _. Leave me in peace."_

"By your will." Mohan turned around quickly and left. His lips curled in displeasure, he harboured thoughts of usurping his master but with the power she displayed it wasn't possible. Perhaps if he were to steal her destiny from her in Shangri-la their fates might reverse.

Mohan left the room. Although she could read every treacherous thought he could think of she ignored it. Such a trivial matter, she could dispose of that fool with a thought.

But it was of less concern.

Her transcendence to seek that boy out had taken its toll. Not because of the power it drained but the pain that was engraved so deep within her. That boy had lost his way once more, a pathway full of agony and despair. How she yearned to be the one to be there for him. But her conviction restricted her, she had waited over a thousand years for this moment. She could not destroy that effort over a longing. So, that widow would have to do, being there on her behalf.

" _Will you succeed where countless failed before?"_

She looked down at a trinket gifted to her by the one she sought for millennia, in another lifetime. A bronze mirror with four missing inserts of flooded her, times of happiness, a time of tragedy. She grasped the trinket tightly in her porcelain hand.

" _Or will you make me wait another thousand years?"_

* * *

The hospital was not like the ones in the states, the different in funding and available technology to support their various healthcare services. A two-storey building occupied a fifteen acre grassland near the lake to a temple long burnt to rubble. Regardless, the view was impressive. It had meant to be that way, therapeutic and all. It would be even more impressive when the snow cleared, the staff assured her.

She'd come all this way from the warm and comfortable log cabin loaned to her friends by a long-time lover of hers. She was handed the key rather coldly by the rather gorgeous female officer who he requested to sort out things for them. It was clear what they were to her, this Captain Kadayat. Hurk said she had a bad run in with Jason once, since then her impression of him has been rock bottom.

Though Hurk had long left the hospital led by Dr Najjar, as did Oliver but Steve's injuries were more serious and required him to stay. She had heard of how he had gotten that way, taking the shot for Riley. It changed her impression of him from since they first encountered him whining. Dr Najjar was reported to have gone to the mountaintops on an appointment, so she even visited hard to access patiences. It was admirable of her.

She walked up the familiar steps she had been aqquainted with for over a month, carrying some snacks and books she bought from the bazaar with the help of a girl named Bhadra. Ajay was apparently her guardian, it made her wonder about a young girl staying in a house with a bachelor. But then, it didn't make much difference when Noore informed her that she wasn't the only one staying there. Noore herself was a paying tenant and the other two were freeloaders. One was Captain Kadayat and the other was in India.

So many women under one roof.

She couldn't help but wonder if Ajay's behaviour had changed to that of a player along the lines. They were all very gorgeous in their own way. Seducing women of all ages, she laughed at the thought but somehow felt it could have happened even back in school. Some of her classmates gossiped about him sometimes, girls loved a bad boy now and then. Noore assured her for whatever reason, Ajay was the least bit interested in relationships, he'd made that clear on several occasions.

Ajay was breaking the social barrier of having many girl 'Friends'.

She knocked on the door before entering.

"C-Come in."

She'd walked in on Liza giving Steve head once. She refused to walk in after that incident, waiting for the former to leave before speaking to Steve. Liza did not talk to her for the next few days following, in fact she hardly did for the whole time they were in the luxury of not being held captive.

On a daily basis, a woman named Elina would bring the food supplies to their cabin. She would ask about Ajay and she would reply she knew very little, only that he was working against time before the snow stopped. Because when it did, the Golden Path would go on an all-out assault. She went over to the Malla couples' cabin to pay visits now and then to keep them company, although they received the towns' utmost hospitality on the account of their lord's approval of them and their daughter who was a hero amongst the common folk.

Daisy opened the door to find Steve in bed and Liza sitting at his bedside, the latter avoided all eye contact.

"Hey, what bring you here Dais'?"

Daisy said nothing but raised a paperbag with a certain produce.

"Ohohoho! Come to papa!"

Daisy walked over and handed him the bag full of salted sweet buns fresh from the stall. While the winds were too strong to set make shop in the open, the council provided the community hall for all the stalls in the bazaar to stay out of the storm and sell their wares. Occasionally, people would come all the way to the community hall to shop for necessities and sometimes other non-essentials.

"So…. How're you guys hanging out? Did that Badala fellow visit?" Steve asked while wolfing down on the buns that became his favorite snack.

"Riley's been hanging out with Hurk after he left, they're trying to get him entry into that weapons factory where all of Hurk's toys are but with no luck."

"That's a given, I bet Badala even placed an instruction to refuse us entry."

"Why did you let them go?" Liza asked in a cold tone. Daisy was getting sick of her constant ostresizing, she'd been patient enough not to criticise her.

"Hurk promised to keep us safe, he brought us out whilst suffering heavy injury. I think that's enough to say that Riley is in the safest place possible. He is Badala's most trusted friend as well."

"Oh really? And here I thought it was because of you trying to worm your way back into a failed relationship." The was obviously worsening terms between Liza and Daisy, perhaps she'd always felt this way. But the circumstance wasn't safe enough for her to complain.

"Liza!-." Steve was shocked why she wanted to pick a fight in his presence. But Daisy didn't lower herself to her level and replied calmly.

"I'm not even gonna argue with you on that. My relation with him was something that kept all of us safe. Did you know what was the damage we did on the day we escaped? De Pleur attacked local partisans the Tigers in league with the Royal Army. Three hundred and thiry-eight people died that day because they thought we sought refuge in their territory. Paul even threatened to kill a child that day. And where were we? Enjoying comforts in a house on the mountain smoking pot and drinking liquor."

Hearing this made Liza and Steven's stomach turn. Steve put down the cakes. Liza's mouth was sealed, it was as Daisy said. Her previous relation to the Northern Demon was what allowed them to go scot-free from these charges that had Daisy not been around, Badala would certainly punish them regardless of whether Hurk knew them or not.

Hurk had gone AWOL to convince Jason otherwise regarding their presence in the Golden Paths grasp. Ajay put him under probation for a month after his recovery, followed with heavy labor. He had an example to set amongst his peers and Hurk was no exception to these rules.

"Right, enough of that. How's the body, Steve?" Daisy initiated the change in conversation.

"Doing fine, the nurse says in a week I should be able to go out in crutches at least. Starting somewhere aren't i?" Steve said cheerfully to nullify the previously hostile atmosphere.

"That's great, you should be out by the time the snow melts, then at least you won't miss a thing."

"How's Riley doing? Has there been any update on Jason?" Daisy's face turned poor, she had indeed. Noore had told her of the situation was far worse than they imagined. At this moment, she couldn't help but glare at Liza with fierceness. Steve regreted ever asking that as it triggered off another-

"W-What? You've got a problem?" She replied defensively.

"As a matter a fact I do, you insecure bitch! Exactly what part of taking care of Jason did you fulfil?"

"Still going on about it! OK! I freaked out! I was scared! It was my fault! Everything about Jason going crazy is my fault!"

"Yes it is, but you know what, it wouldn't if you'd just asked us for help like a normal person would when he or she has a relation problem! Who got us off the island in the first place, Liza?!"

"Who got us off? You meant who got us into that mess in the first place?" She retorted. While it had been true that it was Jason who insisted that they take the trip to the mystery island that the spotter Doug suggested. They were just as oblivious as him, not even Grant suspected anything despite his military service.

"And don't speak like you actually cared for him. Where were you when I left? Did you ever call him yourself?"

"Every week on Saturdays, 1pm after lunch for an hour and a half. I was surprised he even kept you breaking up with him a secret for so long till I suspected your absence." Daisy laughed sarcastically.

Liza bit her lips.

"Forget it, your relation was just a way to satisfy your real longing for Grant. Using him as a substitute, even I have to hand it to you. That's cruel." Feeling she went this far she decided to get it off her chest. The way she stared at Grant from a distance while she was with Jason. She didn't really overcome her lost to Daisy in being with Grant.

"Daisy! That's enough!" It was Steven who shouted to quiet them down and not to engage in a catfight. But by now it had gone to the point of no return. Liza looked at her with all the hate she could muster, wishing to strangle her right there. She instead ran out with slightly teary eyes.

Steven sighed. These were just things that happened before him.

"I'm sorry."

"You shouldn't be saying that to me, Daisy." He said with a wry smile.

"….. I'll work on it some time."

"Be sure that you do, I look forward to having nice chats with you and Liza. Think Vegas, babe!" Steve shone a bright ending to their adventure together.

"Thinking of having us both share a bed with you?" She said with a smirk.

"Hardly. You were this Demon's woman way back, which means you've got some moves that'll make men into slaves. I'm afraid for my life." He laughed with her.

"Also, you're not my type." He added.

"You're not my type either, but you are a good man. Liza is really lucky to get back together with you again. It's just the Family name Brody's been getting into a lot of disasters lately. Their Father dies in '98, Grant in 2014. Who'll be next?"

"Just now I asked but you didn't say, what's Jason's status?" Now that they were alone, Daisy sighed as her prepared to enlighten him on the situation.

"He's aware of our safety. But didn't leave, Noore said he was leading the rebel soldiers that were under Paul. He's engaging in the same activity as those pirates back then."

"Jesus."

"This has gone beyond split personality, there's only one person controlling Jason's body now."

"And what about Badala, what does he have to say about all of this?" He asked without expecting a response.

"….."

He would allow Jason to defect, this was only one the basis of a favour to Grant on Daisy's accord and wellbeing. But if Jason continuely refused to cooperate then he couldn't blame him for wanting to kill him. Daisy had known Ajay for years and he did of her. While he didn't lie, he also didn't hide the hatred he felt for Jason as a whole. His presence supplied the Golden Path with false hope, Ajay was forced to kill more of his countrymen because of a foreigner's meddling. Thinking this way, she understood why Captain Kadayat's demeanour to them was cold.

He wanted Jason to make the foolish mistake of denying his friends' help. He wanted him to pay for the pain he caused him with the death of the girl whom he held most dear.

"Hey, Dais! What's with Liz running out just now?" Oliver came into the room as soon as he heard Daisy had come.

"Don' worry about it, Oli. Just Daisy being a bit of a bully that's all." He laughed awkwardly but covered for Daisy.

"Oh- Ok. Don't be too hard on her, man. She's been through some real shit since we left."

"Excuse me?"

"What? Didn't you know? She came over to visit Riley and me couple of times for some smokes and drinks."

-Shit.- Daisy realized the weight of her words had been to harsh on her friend.

But the question was...

Was it too late to return them?

* * *

In the back drop of the strong snowy winds, one could almost make out a dark silhouette in the distance where King's Bridge was. It was a testament to how humongous Lanka was, and it was barely even a half of the whole construction. Just three bastions were finished, the interiors furnished and the lightings and cables were laid. The Third Arsenal was partly operational in the ammunition production and the weapon refurbishment facilities which was sufficient to sustain the fighting capability of the garrison regiments. Amita had also made a base of operations in her given bastion, the official status of the Mukti Tigers were as a paramilitary organisation of the Kyrati Armed Forces so they could requisition equipment and supplies from the armories when they were available.

There was a unique surprise in the building of the super fortress, during the digging to lay foundations a geothermal deposit was found somewhere in the area closest to the communications and dispatch centre. For a fortress of this magnitude it had a rather gluttonous upkeep in energy. The deposit provided sustainable energy to meet those electricity requirements. An engineer drafted out a steam turbine to build to generate the energy.

In terms of the armaments, the Royal Fortress stockpiles were brought in. This included the Stinger missile launchers recovered from Willis's shipments during the Meh Teh Offensive. While the Golden Path had no aircraft of their own, the CNS operatives were a different story all together. It was better to be safer than sorry. A few batteries of heavy mortars, recoilless rifles and autocannons were mounted on the walls to provide heavy firepower against large groups that attacked in overwhelming numbers. All the troop armories were fully stocked and furnished. Food and water supplies were no exception.

Ajay stared at the mighty walls from the outside in the winds of the blizzard. He was already feeling the oppressive might of the giant fortress discouraging him from storming it. The Golden Path fighters would naturally feel the same way when they approached. There weren't only high walls but sloped parts that almost encouraged you to walk up its incline, but it was a death trap to slow momentum and a killzone area for anyone foolish enough to assail the walls on those areas. There were a combination of moats and ditches, everything possible to make life difficult for the attacker and for the convenience of the defenders.

Saras's design was a statement onto its own, her name would go down into the history books as the genius that designed the inpenetrable fortress. Ajay suspected that Mohan would bring a force that made Sabal's last look like a child's attempt to rule the world. Perhaps around ten thousand or more as a vanguard force led by the Devas now that Sabal wasn't calling the shots. Currently, there were three elite regiments garrisoned in Lanka. Around three thousand soldiers, when compared with the Golden Path they had quality over their quantity. But they weren't indestructible, and they could die from flute shots or carelessness. He was sure they'd split a force to subjugate Baghadur once and for all, but if he could funnel all there forces towards Lanka, then the Tigers homebase would live to see another day and its people would be safe. The three battalions, 1st Hussars and 5th and 6th Dragoons might not be enough with the additional minimal garrison of Tiger forces in Baghadur.

Should they lay a minefield along the borders that defined between Baghadur and the rest of the Golden Path territory? Or maybe he should give them priority to call fire support from the S-23 heavy field guns now based in Yuma's staging area at Ratu Gadhi.

He walked up the mountaintops to the edge of a cliff that overlooked the fortress to deal with another business, already there were four silhouettes. Two belonged to Fortress guardsmen tasked with delivering the captives Yogi and Reggie to the appointed location. The latter two were exactly who they brought along.

Naked and shivering in the snow.

Ajay flung a bottle of scotch that landed on the snow in front of them. They timidly reached out.

"Did I say you could touch it?"

Although there wasn't a shed of hostility in the tone, they were nonetheless weighed down by the aura of the guards standing beside them. So they returned to their original places.

"This cliff has a long history of suicides, lost loves, despair or just plain insanity. This place is the first venue on their schedule. Both of you might be the very first unreluctant deaths in the history of Kyrat."

(Gulp) Went both of their throats. It was the death flag for them.

"Look… we're just tourists roaming the lands in search-."

"Spare me the bullshit, donald. You've been engaged in petty thefts, cons, human trafficking on the first, second and third degree as long as Noore was still running the arena."

"It's yogi.." He murmured and earned the back end of the guard's rifle to his gut. He moaned in pain.

Ajay took out a revolver, unloaded the cylinder and threw in a cartridge then threw it to the ground in front of them.

"Ever watched Deer Hunter?" Ajay gave them an analogy.

Their faces turned white as a sheet. He was about to play with them Russian roulette.

"The game is quite simple, I'll keep asking questions and if I feel they are good you'll earn your life. But the other lad won't, the moment you don't answer them or have anything to add it's the trigger for you. Are we clear?"

The guards stood a few feet back and readied their rifles at the two.

"First question, an easy one. Do you acknowledge that you had taken part in numerous cons, theft, scams and human trafficking run by Paul Harmon taking place in Kyrat on locals and tourists alike for the last few years? Yogi? Reggie?"

They squinted their eyes at the detail of the question like it was a confession.

"Yes!" "Yes!" Reggie betrays Yogi by saying it earlier.

"God fucking damn it! You cunt!" Yogi curses. He turns to Ajay expectantly, but was surprised to see a recording device in his hand. He had indeed just gotten their last-minute confession.

"Roll the die then." Ajay suggested.

Yogi picks up the revolver and places it against his head reluctantly. The guards shout loudly threatening to kill them on the spot.

Yogi breaths heavily and presses the trigger whilst squeezing his eyes shut.

(Click) An empty chamber.

"Fuck!" He sighs in relief.

"Right, next question." They looked at Ajay with fear and trembled, he wasn't taking breaks.

"Look we're sorry we-!"

"Get on the fucking floor!" Shouted the guard when Reggie overstepped his boundaries. "Right! Right!" Quickly succumbing to force.

"With Paul no longer running the operations, who leds it, who organises who goes where?"

"S-Solomon! The chinaman from Hong Kong! Gun runner in his spare time an all!" Yogi says frantically.

"Gets the renegades to cap'em and sell on the blackmarket to some really sickfucks! The younger the better! And he-."

"Shut up! Lemme have a go!"

"No you shut it!"

"Reggie speak in less than five seconds." Ajay solved their answering problem with who answered too much.

"They operate in that brick factory where they ship the fresh meat off to-." Reggie never had the chance to finish when Ajay burst out laughing. He stood up from the boulder he sat on and drew his kukri and pressed it against Reggie's face.

"Do you take me for a fool? Or have you never been to Rochan Brick Factory before?" The factory was rubble thanks to Paul and Hurk. It was probably a trap in case anyone interrogated them.

Ajay swished the knife around.

"Take off his ear." The guard nodded and grabbed Reggie who screamed like a little girl as the guard swiped his ear off with his knife.

"Fuck! Fuck! AAAArhhhh! Jesus fuckingchrist!"

"Slow and painful death seems to be where you're both currently headed." He made it clear that if it was a lie or not satisfying enough he would take off parts of them too.

"Next question, if I were him were would I be? If you know then answer….. if you don't… don't answer." He said grinning, a trap.

"Shanath-."

"Sleeping saints! Sleeping saints statues!" Yogi answered.

"What happens there?"

"Human trafficking! I-It's near Vyatha or what the locals call City of Pain! Plus its near the border!"

The guard motioned Reggie to pull the trigger which he did and picked up the gun ever so slowly. The guards jeered at him to do it, but this time they were joined by Yogi in the shouting.

(Click)

"Wheew!" He sighed

"Don't get too comfortable yet. Third question, what is the time he frequents, the number of soldiers and prisoners that's always present? Where are they exactly being held, where does Solomon usually settle?"

"That's more than one question." Said Yogi trying to be smart.

"What do you think we should take off, gentlemen?" Ajay turned to the guards. As it was Yogi's turn to lose something.

The guard chose the pinky of Donald. He screamed for a while.

Ajay tossed the bottle of scotch to them to drink and pour over their wound so they wouldn't die so fast of hypothermia or freezing.

They drunk like thirsty sailors on the boat for days without water.

It was a combination of the two this time. Ajay had faith they knew all of these things because they were likely the biggest contributor in human commodity, particularly foreigners. Solomon was a businessman and they were con artists, those two went hand in hand.

He learnt a great deal about Solomon. Until now he had never seen him, only seen a picture and heard about him from Yuma. The man was from a relative's clan in Hong Kong to Yuma and Pagan, human trafficker and arms dealer. He found sanctuary with Pagan and Yuma in Kyrat from Interpol, his influence expanded to East asia where he became the biggest supplier to Phillipine rebels, Moro muslims terrorist groups, Cambodian rebels and a certain privateer enterprise in Rook Island. But human trafficking was his specialty.

Why Ajay wanted him was because he was the closest person of any other next to Willis. The big game he wanted all along. Solomon was just an appetizer for Yuma to slowly peel apart for turncoating. Yogi and Reggie were inevitably engaged in human trafficking from their days being on Noore's blacklist she cheated them of their passports which they needed to leave country to slowly work them back.

But after Noore disappeared and they scavenged for their passports and found them with luck, they decided to stay for some pocket money. Made a partnership with the careful Paul and Solomon.

Golden Path were literally giving them allowance to takeaway citizens to sell in exchange for cash and guns for the cause, a necessary sacrifice in their eyes. But an abomination in Ajay's.

At the end of the fifth empty chamber they had told him a sizable amount, the luck they had getting this far without shooting themselves. But it was the end of the line.

They knew it was a six shooter so the last one was for whoever was the unlucky sod.

"Final question-."

"Wai-WaiWait! Parley!" Reggie tried to go around it and negotiate on his terms. The guard delivered harsh justice on him with the heel of his boot.

"Which is more guilty?" Ajay said with a vicious grin.

To his surprise neither whistle blew the other but kept entirely quiet. They stared at one another.

"You're a good man, Yogi."

"You too, Reg."

They patted eachother on the back. Ajay watched the charade with a blank expression. They started to visibly sweat as Ajay showed he was not convinced by their act. And then-

"Kill him! He's the fucker that screwed the most!"

"You prick! Now who's the worst, fucking hypocrite!"

They argued and demanded Ajay execute the other. It was like a British comedy playing in front of them. But Ajay wasn't paying much attention as the guards that were chuckling away. He was watching the hand reach for the revolver in front. They had apparently seen Deer Hunter it seemed.

With a flick, Yogi swung the revolver to face Ajay.

(Boom) The force of a .700 caliber slug blasted Yogi in half and his incomplete corpse fell down the cliff.

Reggie was shivering where he stood, the blood of his friend was smeared all over him. He had never expected it to exchange so quickly. It was clear that Ajay was not so easily fooled. The guards were shocked, for a moment of lax and they nearly compromised the Duke's safety.

"Right, thank you for all you've explained to me. You can go now…." Ajay said dismissing him.

"Uh-….." He looked back in shock where his long-time friend had once been, to see nothing left his heart couldn't except it. Such cruelty taken out on them, he'd never witnessed it before.

He got up on shakey legs and walked down the cliff, he stood at the lower end of the cliff and became curious as to what had become of his dearly departed friend's corpse, walking nearer towards the ledge when- (Boom)

The second round in Ajay's slayer discharged and blew him off the ledge to be with his partner in death. The guards were not surprised by this, Yuma and her interrogators had done much crueller in Durgesh. But those crooks had already confessed to crimes that legally warranted death but firing squad. His grace merely accerelated the proceedings. Those two weren't worth the paperwork for the Judges in Uttar Region. Ajay looked down at the two sets of separate bodies, he had yet to complete his previous sentence so he finished it.

"To hell that is."

* * *

Author's Notes:

Deer Hunter, Robert De Niro and Christopher Walken. If you don't know the reference the fastest way i recommend is to see the russian roulette part on youtube. Forced to play by their Vietcong captors, they gamble their odds on a luck to a row of bullets to kill their captors.


	61. Chapter 58 - A Disciple of Yalung

Author's Notes:

Ajay goes Ooga-chaka, ooga-ooga Ooga-chaka, ooga-ooga...

* * *

The winter winds were on the verge of dying down. But no one knew the exact day or hour it was cease for the the last time, it was always like that. Even weather instruments and satellite imagery couldn't tell you that because of the violent wind flow through the Himalayas that matched throughout the entire region.

The whole of Kyrat was on the edge of their seats, waiting for the light to penetrate the grey sky. Signalling the commencement of the first ever Full frontal assault of the Golden Path on the Kyrat Monarchy. In that, a grand total of twenty thousand fighters would disperse from Banapur, Tirtha, and many of the villages on the mountains that weren't usually mentioned on the charts. Their destination was King's Bridge, the only safest entrance to the North and where they could hit Pagan the hardest. While this was happening, a fraction of their force would occupy the major towns in Pacchim valley and set in the flag of the Golden Path on its foundations. Amita's Tigers were of another concern, Baghadur stood like a nuisance in the eyes of the Golden Path for months since she took over it controlled the North west and it also over looked the airport and the large Hubris town. In future, they were to provide Mohan's Golden Path with new recruits and requisition more supplies and weapons from overseas with the airport under their control.

As if they'd let them get their way.

It was thanks to the storms and steadfast patrols on the three battalions part that the Golden Path had mde no apparent contact with the Northern parts during the two months of storm. Naturally, they knew not of the preparation that the Royal Army had done. This included the existence of Lanka.

Now 45% complete but ready to take on any attack thrown at it, there was no allowance in entry across King's Bridge without getting pass the super fortress, and that was the whole idea. In a modern army, it was all about mobility and so stationery defences were obsolete if all that was required with to keep the defenders occupied while the main force went for the prize, while was the Capital. But in Kyrat's context, the mobility of an aggressor was severely deprived due to the natural barrier of the Himalayas, unless they spent billions airdropping supplies he wouldn't get anything done.

But also, the Golden path weren't a modern army in any indication but an insurrection of rebels. Small-arms and technical mounted weapons were the basis of their inventory. They lacked the most important aspects that allowed them to supposedly challenge the walls of the fortress which were heavy artillery, armored vehicles with direct fire support capability or even air cover. Most of these they initially had but were destroyed or confiscated by the Royal Army at the failed airport retake. But it wouldn't stop them from trying, to ascertain the strength and weakness of the fortress designed by Saraswati.

Standing strong facing the rest of the valley stood the three bastions of Lanka, each the rough size of an existing stronghold. Possessing their own, barracks, communication hub, courtyard, armory and helipad. The walls were made such that not only were they more difficult to assail than the bastions themselves but they allowed troops from all corridors to support places under heavy attack quicker. In future, there would be a second layer of the same type of defense in the interior but that would have to wait.

Barbwire and landmines were placed at the borders of the walls to make life difficult for the Golden Path when they came. Three infantry regiments took garrison in Lanka, including the Amita and the Tigers in the bastion closest to Hubris and the airport.

But the defense of Lanka was not the issue he worried about, it was everything else. Like spoilt brats that couldn't get their way, they'd bully everything around them. Going for the rest of Pacchim Valley, Meh Teh Airport and Baghadur were the major installations that they coveted greatly as it assisted their strengthening of forces. Three battalions were as High Command confirmed not sufficient. But he couldn't leave the fortress during the attack himself, he had to be there to assert that the fortress was every bit effective as they foresaw. He had to react to every instance they tried to breach and quickly eliminate them.

So Ajay had the difficult choice of sending Unit 58 to defend the forward base with the three battalions and the rest of the Tigers at Baghadur. It was the last thing he wanted to do, sending an unfinished brigade out to do battle. This inconveinicence would have to be their trial by fire it seemed. There would be heavy casualties that was certain, he was quite sure it didn't take all of the Devas to storm Lanka. The Devas were strong in physical strength as they were in tactics, they were Royal Guard officers once. Mohan himself was a Captain.

He had to let the only person he could trust to keep the brigade alive as long as possible to handle things, Maya. He left Hurk to watch her back from afar in vantage points overlooking the battlefield. She was also given priority to the Field Gun Battery set up over in Ratu Gadhi, capable of barraging anything within a 30 kilometer radius. Loobing shells over the mountain, those 180mm shells did some serious damage, creating craters at least the size of a local estate.

There was one bright side to all this and that was the availability of air support. Helicopters could now transport men to the field or retrieve them for medivac, they could also be used for ground attack with their unguided rocket pods and 30mm chain guns.

Ajay had once suggested whether it was feesible to launch an attack on the Golden Path whilst they were organising. But High Command was reluctant to send out regiments that could potentially lose their lives in not to the Golden Path but the harsh winter storms. Mother nature was not to be underestimated, if the Golden Path thought the same then it was reasonable to assume it shouldn't be attempted.

Once the defense against the Golden Path attack was finished, he planned to be inserted behind enemy lines where the Sleeping Saints Statues were to find and kidnap Solomon.

With that done, he had only one problem.

How was he to combat the Devas?

He was having strong suspicions that they weren't always that way, but someone had changed their nature. Inhuman strength and the ability to shrug off seven .45 slugs to the body and still seem fine was rather questionable. This was supported by the fact that a dead Mohan miraculously came back like the messiah even when the people that saw his dead corpse were sure it was that. From his own experiences, the Kalachakra Wheel, the Valley of Yetis and his demonic bloodlust were all of a similar mysticism. If he denied it at this point he was an ignorant fool.

So the million dollar question was, how do you fight with the unnatural?

Most straightforward answer was the unnatural. In other words, the only person that had seemingly unnatural correlation to the Devas was Darshan. But not even Yuma declared where he was, she probably didn't know either and didn't want to look incapable of answering such a simple question that could cost her the respect of her authority. How does a superior not know where her subordinate is? So he still had no luck, the last time he was reported to appear was apprehending the escaping Devas. Where he beat Jason almost half to death and played with the Devas.

He couldn't depend on such a wildcard to suddenly show like that time. He had to rely on what he had available.

The Devas were cunning, they'd definitely try to fight inside the fortress where heavy weapons couldn't bear on them. If he brought the Gepard Lynx rifle loaded with armored-piercing incendiary that could kill even the near-invulnerable Yetis then things might play well. As if they'd let him.

There was one last option for him, the one alternative he dreaded more.

If he let the anger pour into his attacks, he might have comparable strength. But there was a flaw, he couldn't control it, a berserk rage that could jeopardize everyones' lives instead. Then, when he was spent, he would black out for days after he expended his strength. It was essentially a last stand option that couldn't be used. He couldn't do much with just him alone to fight the Golden Path.

But what if he wasn't.

His main concern with the Golden Path was that they were becoming to acquainted with his appearances and practices of terror inducing tactics. Over time, even man stops fearing the beasts that lurk the forests and take up arms to change their fate.

So he had to introduce something new into the equation. Some thing that took the entire idea of the Northern Demon and made it look benevolent in comparison. Thankfully, the local Kyratis and fighters were highly superstitious, if not they wouldn't have been fearful of Badala. But now they had the savior of Kyrat, Mohan Ghale at their side. The hero would eventually slay the demon, that was how stories always went. Even if the Heroes were actually bastards in reality, they were favoured over the monsters just because of similiarities in features. But they could be monsters on the inside for all they knew and no one batted an eye.

Ajay held the mask in his hand, staring at it to gain some sort of enlightenment.

Yalung.

The mask he attained from the infamous Goat. The mad killer who dedicated his kills to Yalung. He was so feared despite his actual weak strength because nobody knew who he was or when he would appear. That man killed in the name of Yalung, bestowing the blood before the bloodthirsty demon god as a ritual sacrifice. A true disciple of Yalung… Disciple.

Within the Lost Valley of the Yetis. A regiment gone rogue declared themselves the Awakened ones or alternately The disciples of Yalung too. Led by Master Sandesh who was then a Colonel tasked by Yuma to retrieve the 'elixir'. But in this timeline, he never advanced to that rank nor did he go to the lost valley. Because Yuma had not sent her years looking through ancient artifacts, she was instead nurturing Maya from child to adult. Maya singlehandedly changed the fate of her adoptive mother and the people under her. He never saw where many people he met here in the previous timeline. Bipin, Saras, Elina, Samar, Darshan, the Devas, Mohan, Jason Brody, the hunters, the Marines and the CNS operatives.

He was reluctant to go back up the mountains to draw the elixir to use as a hallucinatory bio-weapon, there were too many variables he could mess up.

But the persona of the disciples, he could use.

He could remember as clear as day the accounts of his stay in the valley. Day after day of attacks on his hideout by the vicious and frightening Disciples. Savagely dressed, painted faces, and glowing yellow eyes. It was something that even he was a little afraid of.

-Could I form the nightmare of the Disciples of Yalung here?-

Ajay went to the stores to retrieve some war paint and went to the bathroom. He stripped of his upper body clothing and dipped into the white ash paint, smearing it over his face. With a face of ash it looked like a corpse had been dug from a grave. He used the crimson dye and painted exactly the same pattern as the Disciples had done. He rubbed the rest of the ash grey over his body and followed the red dye markings of the face to match on his body.

What he got, was a fearsome disciple of Yalung. He looked toward the armor he wore as Badala sitting on the chair and the mask by the basin stand. He picked it up and looked at it again.

"Not this time." He tossed the mask onto the armor.

He walked towards his private armory in the villa of his in Lanka. The weapons he brought with him into battle, those loud and intimidating weapons. He would not need them either. He went out into the wilderness with nothing on him save for his trusty kukri. With the only article of clothing on him being his pants and shoes. His top was bare save for a shirt, but those days in the Himalayas escaping Durgesh had make him so harden in made no affect to his body. If he controlled his breathing properly he could stay warm with just his own body heat.

He left everything that was remotely Badala's, the title and responsibility of the Duke of Lakshman, the development of the defences in Lanka. They were now no longer his concern while the snow still fell on Kyrat. The winds were still strong and the storm still at its highest. Only a little more than a week till the snow disappeared.

And only a week to perform his little experiment.

He spent the next day travelling through the snow towards the Golden path territory, he used his knife to craft himself a wooden bow and some arrows. Some coated with poison, some with petroleum glazing its cloth wrapped-end, some that used semtex grenades fashioned into explosive tips. Ajay hunted for his meal in the wilderness, and he went for the biggest game of all. The Bear, though hibernating, it was the best time to strike while it slept.

He found a cave and prepared some traps outside and with him. When he was ready he entered the cave. He crepted through the sizable amount of bones in the corners and found it unnatural. Then he realised….

"I'm in the cave of one of them freaks…"

(Sniff) (Heavy panting)

Those were not his but owned by the inhabitant of the cave. A white streak zipped by the corner of Ajay's eye as he readied the armor piercing tipped arrow in that direction. The white streak sped pass his eyes through the cavern quicker than the eye could see. And it was large

The tapping of two pairs of claws against the hard-rocky surface of the cave told him of its weight characteristics. It matched only one description.

The Ghost Bear.

Another one of the freaks of nature in this deadly paradise. A pale white giant brown bear, first though to be albino. But it wasn't, it was age. The bear outlived its natural age without any sign of deteriotating but instead becoming increasingly dangerous and ferocious. He never hunted it. Ajay wasn't so luck to find every single animal that warranted a hunt. Even Mumu was fine with a few of those freaks' pelts. But he heard dangerous rumours surrounding the bear. With age came not only strength but also wisdom. Be it lone hunters or a group, the moment it could sniff you, you were already within its grasps.

It couldn't detect him early because Ajay had the scent of nature about him. And stumbled upon him during its hibernative cycle. Ajay himself wasn't expecting the legendary Ghost Bear here of all caves. But that didn't mean he was gonna back out of it now.

He slowly reared with the bow raised, to get to the traps at the outside of the cave. The bear was not in his sights, neither was it making any sound. It was so cunning it knew about these traits that gave it away. Ajay had no choice but to back away and await it.

But he didn't need to wait long as a flash of claws came from the darkness, he jumped back in the nick of time and sent a salvo in the general direction. The bear howled to confirm his successful hit, Ajay took the opportunity to run out of the cave as he had thoroughly enraged the bear and would ignore all caution. And as he expected the bear ran out of the cave with bloodshot eyes, three arrows lodged in its front furcoat. The bear's mistake cost it as it triggered the ground trap and was lassled by the feet and several counterweights drew it off the ground.

Ajay shot a few more shots at its head with his bow until the bear stopped moving but heaved desperately for air. Ajay finished it by sliting its throat, the blood stained its ghost white fur.

He had caught his first meal in a day of travelling. Ajay proceeded to skin the bear into clothing and the flesh into steaks for his lunch and dinner. Sizzling one under a rock stove for his immediate fill of the stomach and smoked the other meats into jerky for the continuous travel by foot. By jeep, it could take as little as an hour to reach Banapur, but the weather made travelling prolonged. He was travelling by foot, which didn't shorten the trip anyway. But this was his choice.

To adapt to a new type of experience, on that didn't require the logistic support of the army or the comforts of a community. He was undertaking the tribunal of a lone huntsman. While he knew the forest by familiarity of map he did not fully understand its nature, where the wind blew, the animals that roamed it and grazed upon the grounds. The unfamiliar presence to the forests.

For some time, he wondered what was the life of an army hunter. The mysterious paramilitant who relied on nothing but stealth and a bow. Yet it had made the most impact on the Golden Path as a whole than any other establishment. How they could detect a foreign presence without seeing him, that strange whistling that enchanted the nearby wildlife to their side, their ability to blend into the environment and were capable of losing their presence.

Whilst he was thinking of all of this, the sound of collective growling neared him. The scent of flesh meat in this quantity had attracted the local scavengers. Wolves.

A pack of them to be precise, but what was a group of wolves to him? Although, it was a surprise to see amongst their formation that closed in to assert their right to the game that Ajay had painstakingly hunted, killed and carved was a rather nostalgic appearance among them. Acting as their pack alpha was the black pelted wolf, known widely but the cursing livestock farmers on the days prior to the storm setting in as the Mad Devil.

Mad devil in appearance and in function. On bite of its rabid saliva could cause you to go into a instant fever and prove fatal as poison if not treated. The alpha wasn't just known for its bite, while Yaks weren't easy to kill even for packs, it was this fellow that took the initiative in performing a lighting quick attack to the throat and disabling the Yaks instantaneously. This was hypothesized by the carcasses of the Yaks found munched up by hunters.

Ajay took up a chuck of fresh meat and threw it to the wolves. "That's all you get."

The wolves looked a little surprised for a second, the alpha helped straighten them out by continuing its pace towards Ajay and the rest of the meat.

-Greedy little runt.- He thought.

But the Mad Devil had skills to back up its daringness. While they were aware that for something to kill the local overlord of the forests around here was not ordinary. It didn't stop it from investigating, testing if Ajay's strength was what truly took down the forest master.

Ajay placed down his kebab of bear tenderloins and walked calmly towards the alpha which was tailed by its less than eager pack members. For these wolves, he was confident he didn't need to get physical. While he didn't know the way to domesticate wild animals he did know a trick how to subdue dogs. Or in this case, a member of the canine breed. Something he used on strays back in Brooklyn who went around his neighbourhood a lot.

(Whistle) Ajay blew a high-pitch sound to a lower note.

And all of the wolves including the alpha sat down with their ears flopped downwards making whining noises. Much to his satisfaction, Wolves were indeed from the same family as man's best friend. Then an idea popped in his head. He proceeded to walk up to the alpha, Mad Devil that wanted to get up and growl the moment he neared. But Ajay violently snatched its head and pressed it down on the ground subjugatively. He stared at the wolf with his intimidating demon's aura to aid in making the wolf submit. Until the fire in the alpha's eyes disappeared and was replaced with fear. It became as obedient as a newborn puppy.

When he held out his hand the wolves instantly lay low in a dog bowing manner, a withdrawing hand action allowed them to stand easy, a trick to keep them suppressed. Ajay went towards his plentiful meat stash and handed out freebies to his newest canine partners.

Before he realised it, not taking this matter as seriously as he thought.

Ajay had become a pack master.

* * *

Hunting with the wolves at his side was an undescribably joyful feeling, therapeutic if he was allowed to say it. The ghost bear's fur over his shoulders made his trip a little more comfortable and his silhouette a bit harder to make out in the white powder snow because of the matching colour and the harsh winds blinding visibility. The wolves had natural talent at working together that was certain, so when he tested them out on a rhino that trundled through the snow with great difficulty he had less precaution as when he engaged it usually with high-caliber weapons like the .50 cal rifles. The wolves surrounded and taunted the rhino while Ajay stood from afar and loobed heavy pound arrows into its side. Hunting a rhino with a bow was the very last thing he would have done in the past but it was different this time. The rhino succumbed to its injuries as the wolves bit at its tough hide with little damage unlike the heavy pound arrows. Ajay slit its artery, he was rather familiar to a rhino's anatomy thanks to a certain arena incident. The rhino bellowed its last, the wolves obediently waited for Ajay to cut through the hide and reward them with the rhino's inner goodness. Ajay skilfully diced parts of the rhino into cubes that he threw to the wolves whilst he cut out a portion for dinner.

This life seemed rather nice, although it might end in a week's time because of the winter. Perhaps he could take retreats into the Himalayas away from a certain mountain and its inhabitance. But now he was sought of stuck in a routine, almost forgetting he initial reason for venturing out unnoticed. It was to see the reaction of the Golden Path towards something new and unseen. He checked through his mental map and recalled a nearby fortified outpost belonging to the Golden path near the Tirtha main camp. He made his way towards a cave close to the outpost to wait out for a better time in lowlight.

Meanwhile, he and the almost domesticated wolves slept and eat in the cave by the warmth of embers of the charcoal Ajay picked from a ruined house in the snow. They became addicted to his decent petting of their fur as an alternative to food in rewards, becoming akin to actual dogs. He rested easy as the night was when he would spread terror anew.

* * *

Midnight had come over Kyrat, while the moon could not be seen the wolves of the valley howled as part of their nature.

Ramal grumbled at being made to stand sentry duty out in the cold whilst the rest were warm by the stoves indoors. Him and a few others outside felt the same way and complained to one another.

It was the same, strong winds blew restricting visibility to a mere ten yards in front, a cold that threatened to turn them into icles on the spot.

The Royal Army was in just as terrible situation as them, Ramal knew it. Already a hundred had succumb to a winter burial, through either freezing, getting lost and eaten by wolves or simply died of hunger.

Ramal was one of the few that made the long trip from Uttar region all the way to Banapur to join the legendary Mohan Ghale. His uncles had always talked about revolution but then again they excused themselves for not taking part due to age.

Ramal didn't care, he himself wanted to lay eyes upon Mohan Ghale. This was all possible because the fabled demon, Badala allowed it to happen. Ramal still didn't understand how that person thought. In some ways he did have a code of honor too. He didn't restrain them from taking up arms against them.

When he passed through with his young and eager friends he was surprised to see rationed food and clothing distributed to them. Although the Elite guards were not the slightest bit happy about giving their supplies to traitors in their eyes they gave it nonetheless on their Lord's orders. He had complicated feelings at King's Bridge about whether he really wanted to join just for the sake of thrill and righteousness. But he let his friends persuade him otherwise and followed. At the foot of the hill, waiting to welcome them was none other than the Great Mohan Ghale. Shaking everyone of their hands personally for the persistence in coming all the way. It lighten their hearts to know the trip wasn't in vain.

While their leader was hospitable, the same could not be said for the senior fighters who only saw spies or traitors amongst the ten thousand of them. A field commander ordered their effects given by the Royal Army to be confiscated and redistributed amongst the frontline fighters. Under pretext that they needed it more and it was all for the cause. It made sense, even if it was a bit mean of them to do so.

Like all of them, they were shipped to the Golden Path Recruitment Camp just outside Vyatha or what was known to many as the City of Pain. The main ruler of that place, De Pleur had been taken captive by Badala and the Tigers. There was no hope of his return either way once in Badala or Yuma's hands, his daughter had also mysteriously vanished from his estate near the former stronghold of Varshakot. Taking his place was a rather special person called Jason Brody. To the whole Golden Paths astounishment, he had been bestowed the title of Deva to fill in the gap of fallen Devas that died in the North to their wounds and intense labor. His promotion was more celebrated than the other two, one a cloaked young woman who gave the sense she was very beautiful under the hood and not so celebrated was Sabal. He'd heard a lot of Sabal's exploits and failures over the radio, although there was something not right about him. He even heard him having a rather distinct scar which was obviously not present. Perhaps the media overblew it or something.

Some field commanders weren't exactly happy about this decision and confronted him. That's when they met with an unsuspected surprise as Sabal actually overpowered them, sending quite a few to the wards for a long period in the snow. He heard from some seniors that his character was selfish and self-indulging, it became worse with this change in power with him. Making him more akin to what the folks here called him Rakshasa affectionately for his evil personality. Why Mohan tolerated him at all was beyond anyones expections. If he decided to execute him one day, no one would blame him.

Ramal gazed into the distance, having no apparent thoughts or motives. It was then that his heart quickened after spotting a shadow in the distance closing in towards him.

"Who goes there?" He called out as a part of his instructed line.

The shadow stayed for a while and he went over to his colleague.

"Hey! There's someone out there." Bring him over to see, but by then the shadow was absent.

"You sure it wasn't a wolf or something, they appear from time to time. Don't stress yourself out over nothing, rookie! The Royal Army and even the demon aren't stupid enough to challenge nature. So relax." He patted him on his back before rolling out to his next route destination.

"Guess it was just nothing." He turned back to his post and stared at the blizzard uncomfortably, he wanted more than anything to return to a warm fire.

An hour passed, Ramal found it strange his friend didn't past the checkpoint where he was for so long. If he couldn't go then someone else would have gone instead. An eerie feeling plagued him as he readied his rifle to investigate what had happened.

For some reason the lights in the cabin were off as well. Did they actually sleep? His first priority was to find his friend, but as he passed the other checkpoints none of the other guards were present either.

His heart palpitated as he rushed towards the main cabin. When fifteen roaming guards disappear this was a matter for the Command to be notified of an incursion happening on the outpost.

"Hey guys! Th- Huh?" As he entered the dark cabin, there was almost no sound, save for the wind battering the shielded window. He pointed his weapon in front of him.

"Show yourself!"

No one responded. Ramal moved closer towards the switch to the overhead lights. Little did he know of the horror that would appear before him.

(Click)

He wished he never turned in on.

The color that dominated the widen cabin space was red, the colour of thick blood scattered all over the place. Bloodstain of hands scratching against the walls, and the bodies themselves were chucks of meat laying about.

Losing the energy in his legs he fell on his back without making any sound from his mouth. His body froze solid, not even wanting to shiver for fear he would be discovered by whatever did this. He slowly crawled toward the door by his back and when he reached the entrance he ran out with the quickest speed that he could.

Then, he met with part two.

Hanging off by the ends of their legs tied to the lamps above were the guards and his friends that went missing. He looked all around him. Bodies that weren't there were everywhere. Blood stained the walls and inscribed on one was a painting of antlers he was unfamiliar with. But that wasn't his prior thought.

"Join us….."

He trailed his gun toward the direction of the voice to find nothing.

"Walk the path of eternity…" Coming from another direction. Sounded like a voice amongst the wind, giving the intense dread that a mysterious power had done all of this.

Wolves howled despite the absence of the moon, the sound was very close to where he was. It added to the terror that ran through Ramal's mind.

He had long heard of stories about a killer that roamed the lands, an excommunicated priest turned homicidal maniac. But the man was vanquished by the demon. So that definitely wasn't the case.

"Awaken and walk beside us….." He turned around once more and saw a figure covered in ash white gazing at him with yellow irises. And that was when he heart sank.

"AAAHHHHHH!"

Ramal screamed and ran in the general direction of Banapur. He didn't care whether it was dangerous or not, out there was better than here in this nightmare. Running at maximum speed towards the safety of homebase, if they punished him that was fine. He didn't dare to stop and turn around thinking it was ok. He didn't want to see that horrifying face ever again.

He should never have left home.

Ajay stood in the snow with the alpha next to him, watching the messenger for their terror bring news to Banapur in the most terror instilling fashion possible. Having only seen and not comprehend what Ajay was, he would go back to bladder all he needed for them to make no sense of his words. But the bodies they would find at the end of the week would be real.

Ajay scratched the fur under the Mad Devil's neck that the wolf liked very much.

While that survivor hadn't witness Ajay kill off his comrades at his own pace, Ajay had dispatched the guards with relative ease that even with the Maya and the Hunters wasn't as quick. The Mad Devil darted around and leaped for the opponent's throat and gorged into it instantly killing the man or woman. Like a black lighning bolt, it was a rather special animal he had never had the experience of taming. Ajay almost regretted not trying the same with Gulo or the Sky Tiger cub Bishal as he didn't see their real importance in anything he couldn't control then. But it was never about controlling them, it was about mutual trust. Something he imparted into the black alpha wolf, and the wolf became something he could trust his back with…. A friend.

"From today onwards, your spoils are mine and mine are yours. Your name will be Vajra and you will be my friend."

The alpha, now named Vajra panted happily like a dog did as Ajay proceeded to pet it.

Ajay looked in the direction of the other nearby outposts to Vyatha, far from the main camps in Tirtha and Banapur.

Now all he needed was to try this a few more times.

….

….

 **Ten Vedic Talismans**

 **Ten Sacred Guardians**

 **Seal the wrathful asura, beneath the everwinter mountain**

 **Four perish, one renounces divinity**

 **To walk beside the awakened as his Dharmic Guardian**

 **Five Talismans shatter**

 **Unfolding fate of the burning heavens**

 **Such is the will of the Indomitable one**

…

…

* * *

Vasu attended a meeting with the vanguard field commanders who would spearhead the charge into the North when a dispatch came to whisper into one of the staff's ears.

"What is it?" He asked but the field commander was also not sure what he heard correctly.

"Some outposts near Vyatha have been completely wiped clean, no survivors or traces of the attackers."

"So why was this not settled earlier?"

The field commander didn't say anything but his body language said "Can I talk with you for a moment, brother?"

"Meeting dismissed, come brother. Let's hear it." The other commanders left as Vasu accompanied that field commander towards the residential areas allocated to the fighters.

"The investigation teams recovered rather nasty images of the sites." He handed Vasu the pictures in his pocket. It could only be described in one word.

Massecre.

But the level of brutality was on par with animals. The body parts torn and discarded, no a single whole body was recovered from the sites.

"How many?"

"Seven outposts, all of them along the fringes of out territory facing the Royal Army."

"Have the outpost been garrisoned?"

"The men-…. No, brother. No exactly."

"What do you mean not exactly?"

"As in, they secured the outposts but they refuse to camp inside and rather stay out in their tents." These attacks were clearly of psychological warfare in mind. Somehow Badala came to mind, after reviewing much of his exploits these seven months from the fighters. But was he this savage?

Vasu stared long at the pictures until he came across a rather perculiar picture. In it, was a wall painted in victims' blood an emblem.

"What do you think this is?" Vasu guessed it was the affliation of whom ever attacked.

"Dunno, never seen initial before. Deer antlers, right?" The field commander said. It did look like antlers, but Vasu had a feeling it was something else.

"So where are we headed then?"

"While I did say there were no survivors, there was one. It was to protect him in case someone wanted to silence him."

"You suspect a member is involved?"

"I don't know, but when you've operated in the Golden Path in the time like mine. You often question who is the real tyrant. In truth all of them are just as bad, why couldn't life be like it used to be?" The field commander sighed. If he had said that to any other Deva, the man might've imprisoned him, but Vasu begun to have serious doubts about his affiliation to the Golden Path and Mohan in particular. Words that Darshan said took root in him, was his side the righteous ones any longer?

"But it's not just that, I didn't want to affect morale." The Commander added. Vasu found it serious.

The field commander took him to a house where a man sat in the corner with a blanket over him, a look of pure terror on his face as he stared intensely at the door. The Field Commander gave Vasu a glancing look to show the situation to him was not false.

"Ramal, I have someone who would like to hear your story." The commander tapped him.

"…Ok. B-But! First close the door!" He pointed to the open door where the wind blew in. Vasu closed it immediately for his sake.

"Greetings brother, I'm Vasu. What's yours?"

"…. R-…R-Ramal."

"Ramal, what happened over there?"

He stared at Ramal with seriousness, when he saw this he burst into tears crying to himself. Vasu could see he was mentally traumatised to the point he almost lost sanity.

"… I ran…I Ran and ran and ran! It-…. I could still hear it speak in my head!"

"What did he-…. it say?"

"Join us….. walk the path of eternity ….. awaken an-…. And walk besides us!" He said in a shivering mess.

"How did this person look like?"

When Vasu asked Ramal was reminded of how terrifying the look was.

"A corpse!... A walking painted corpse!"

Vasu's eyebrows twitched and him and the commander exchanged looks to one another.

"Rest easy, you''ve been through a lot, brother." Vasu patted him on the shoulder. But-

"No! NO! It's not, it remembers me! They'll find me and make me one of THEM!" Ramal screamed pertified. The sight was disturbing towards the other two.

"I have but one more question, brother. Then I'll leave you in peace."

Vasu took out the picture of the bloodly antlers to show Ramal. At first he didn't turn to gaze at it but when he did-

"WaaAAAAHHHHHH!" He wailed uncontrollably and lost all control over his body as he spasmed about, like he had experienced a haunting and was possessed. Now he understood why the field commander chose to leave it out of public knowledge. It was more horrifying than Badala attacking them. It was an attack of the unknown.

"ANTLERS?! NOT ANTLERS!" The man screamed like he possessed a vision, and fainted following the stress. The field commadner went to check he was still breathing.

"That was scary." The field commander said patting his chest.

"It was a good call, not presenting this to the council, you did well. I'll personally look into it from now on." Vasu said.

"Mmm.. I'll get back to my work then. Try not to think to much about it." The Field Commander departed after putting the sobbing mess back in his cot. Vasu gazed upon the tearing Ramal, he had seen a horror that could potentially threaten the very inner ranks of the Golden Path. Something that was new and horrifying, something they had little knowledge about. And that scared him, despite his near invulnerable body and the blessing of the mistress. He felt that it had the power to cut through him like his body were a paper sheet.

Vasu returned to the villa which Mohan and the mistress were.

"Something wrong, brother?" Mohan called out to him.

"Brother, it's nothing to concern yourself with."

"On the contrary, if it burdens even you it must be something important."

Vasu sighed and explained this new unforessen threat, to which Mohan frowned.

"He was right to keep it behind closed doors, who knows what type of damage this could potentially do to the high morale now. Still….."

IT was as Vasu had predicted, this threat was as dangerous as the Royal Army. Was it one person or was it a group, he didn't know even that.

"Do you have a picture of the entity?" It was disturbing for Mohan to refer to it as an entity and not a person. Showing how serious he was preparing it to be. Because in a world like theres, these things existed.

Mohan flipped through the photo cards and saw the bloodly works, then his eyes landed on the picture of the antler painting. He stared at it for a long while.

"Brother?" Vasu noticed something wrong when Mohan's eyes widened.

He held out the picture to Vasu.

"Vasu…. What do you see in this photo?" Mohan asked in a grave tone.

"I-…. I'm not sure, Officer Depa thinked it was deer antlers."

"They're not deer antlers." Mohan replied instantly, his response confirmed that he knew something about it to Vasu.

"What is it and… who are they?"

"This mark….." Mohan pointed to the photo.

"Is the sigil of the awakened." A tremor ran through his mind

"…. A cult?" Mohan nodded.

"You're close on that one. They worship a particular entity, one that the mistress has been dying to find for a long time, since the confounded Demon Banisher Clan sealed it away and erased the path to its existence. Now it lies in out texts as merely a myth or I dare say, tradition."

"It?"

"Yalung." Lighning stuck from outside the window and inside of Vasu.

While he was never the superstitious sort, ne never would have imagined that the dreaded Demon God Yalung actually existed and was sealed somewhere.

"There's another name for them, on highly appropriate to their motives and agenda."

"And what's that?"

"What the priests always do to quench Yalung's thirst, except with man instead of goat." Mohan said with a smile.

"We call them-."

" _The Disciples of Yalung."_ The enchanting voice of Mohan's benefactor answered his query from her dais. Vasu turned to face her as she had the intention to enlighten him.

" _A wrathful asura, sealed away upon the everwinter mountain for eternity. Binded by ten Dharmic Exorcists who casted a talisman, resembling their own sacred motif."_ She spoke in her usual mystical quirk holding no true answer, or rather they had no idea what it was at the moment.

"What do they want here in Kyrat?"

" _What they've always wanted."_

Vasu didn't like the sound of that.

" _More sacrifices, more… blood….. to exalt the demon god."_

* * *

Author's Notes:

Some complaints about Ajay not having an animal friend. (Solved)

The Sky Tiger in Maya's possession, Bishal. Is more important than you could imagine.

Last but not least...

I have not personally played FC primal so i wouldn't know if it resembles it in any way if Ajay seems tribal right now.


	62. Chapter 59 - Si vis pacem, parabellum

Author's Notes:

Jackal and Jack. Are they one in the same person or different? Who knows. My iteration of the story won't affect this uncanonised theory.

* * *

It had been an entire week he spent out in the frozen wilderness, learning the true nature of Kyrat and improving his senses to the surroundings and ingenuity at using the nature to his advantage in combat.

The windows to the villa was slit open from the outside as Ajay squeezed inside. He had returned to Lanka. But he could not unfortunately come by the front entrance, his appearance lacked considerable credibility. Ash white paint and blood red patterns gave the impression he was an unknown mountain savage, adding to the black pelt wolf accompanying him. The first thought they would have was he was a savage and he'd have to prove he was Badala. But he didn't want that.

He'd spent a considerable amount of effort creating a third party that hounded the Golden Path, having it traced back to him was bad for his image.

"The Duke has a sick hobby of dressing savagely and mutilating bodies of innocent victims." It might not look like that at first but opinions and rumours spread like wild fire.

He went to the bath to wash away the week of filth on his body, an incredible sensation passed over him from the warm water. Finishing his shower, he donned some clothing and went to find- (Crack)

"Ahhh! Wolf!" The house servant screamed as she came into the kitchen to find Vajra scavenging in the pantry. (Sigh)

Ajay ran down and went to clear up the mess and just in the nick of time as the butler came over at the quickest speed with a shotgun. Ajay wondered how the butler came into possession of one. They were shocked to see him, as he learnt from them that news was the Duke had disappeared mysteriously without leaving any information to his whereabouts. Ajay immediately cleared up the misunderstanding, it was his fault for not communicating his absence but he had stumbled upon a epiphany and didn't want to lose his way and surged forward.

The female house attendant assisted him in washing down his new companion, Vajra. Surprised as she was to see such a powerful creature act as friendly as a dog, but then it was under the company of a demon duke so it wasn't as unbelievable as it was imaginable. The butler left to report the return of Ajay to the acting-Fortress commandant which was Ajay's appointment that he stepped in to maintain function of the fortress. He would in turn inform High Command that Ajay had went out on reconnaissance to understand the Golden Paths current status behind the storm. At least, this was what he told him to say, telling Arjun that he went on a scenic trip was one way to make the former freak out and complain with his colleagues about the eccentricity of Ajay's behavioural quirks. He could imagine him anxiously biting his fingers when he initially heard he went missing and tearing his hairs of his head when he returned with such a layman explanation.

Vajra shook the wetness after the attendant was done much to her grief as he splashed her, but she laughed instead. At the end of his little Friday the 13th scare on the Golden Path with dead bodies he chanced upon a rather interesting trait on Vajra. As impressive as the black pelt wolf was on its own, it actually had the ability to summon nearby wolves to help it. It gave off the feeling that Ajay had befriended the king of the wolves, but it was as simple as Vajra dominating the local inhabitant wolves with his powerful physique. A body which was larger than most wolves and almost at the proportions of a great dane breed of dog. The wolf wasn't just strong but cunning as well, it knew all the weak points of the other predators and humans were no exception.

He regretted not training Bishal in the same way, now it was as meek as a house cat in his presence. But in the end he had the lightning quick Vajra instead to aid him in giving more options against the Devas. Even if all he was confident in achieving was the delayal of the Devas to command their field elements, at least the Army had a chance to fight the less competent commanders of the Golden Path on fairground. He just had to remember to vaccinate it, the name Mad Devil wasn't just a behavioural trait. Noore came to mind, and that latters insistence to stop associating everything medical with a doctor. But she did know a vet in the vicinity.

When he had redressed for the cold and cleaned up the mess he made, he went to his office to inspect the progress thus far with the acting commandant before leaving for the North.

As he approached the door a flying object came his way. Ajay skilfully dodged as if the person that threw it had the intention for him to move out of the way.

"You bastard! You have the gal leaving everything with me!" The acting Commandant looked at him with scorn.

"I didn't leave it with anyone, you picked up the job its your responsibility." No one asked Maya to stand in, it was the Bastion Commanders duty to step in. By far there were only two, Amita and a Colonel from the army commanding three regiments that garrisoned Lanka.

"Tsk!" She clicked her tongue as she sat in the armchair.

"Thank you."

"…..." She responded with no emotion at all. Ajay was clear what it meant, she was giving him the silent treatment.

"Can I have the reports?"

She reached into the draw and threw a file of the weeks updates in front of him. And was about to turn around to give him the continuation of her hostility when her eyes caught glance of a panting Vajra sitting obediently next to Ajay's leg.

Her eyes glittered for a moment.

Passing a quick glance at Ajay to make sure she wasn't seen in the act by Ajay. Fortunately, he was too absorbed with the happenings in Lanka. Vajra looked at her reach out with a longing to pet it.

"Don't even think about it."

But Ajay was not oblivious to the surrounding.

"Favor." He still had one he owed her, who would have thought she would expend it on something as mundane as scruffling up the fur of anything furry.

"Done." To his sealing of the deal, she walked over unrestraintly to hug the black wolf. She used the Hunter's whistle on it, hoping to shorten the gap in their upcoming friendship. But to her surprise-

(Grrrrrrrrr) What followed was hostility on Vajra's end.

"Oh?" Even Ajay took notice to it.

For Maya, it was not the result she expected. She crouched with a flabbergasted look on her face.

"W-What?..."

(Bark) (Bark) Vajra took things to another level as he switched her status in his eyes from neutral to enemy. Maya, too surprised that the herald whistle failed. It wasn't that she did it wrongly, she'd done it many times on various different animals too. Not just the small ones but on Tigers and Bears too. It was Vajra.

"Heel." Ajay said as he stuck his hand out in front of the wolf and what followed was the obedient sitting of Vajra.

This too was a surprise to Ajay, he had quite high evaluations of the hunter's call. Perhaps it didn't work on freaks like Vajra who were monarchs of their respective animal species in Kyrat. This made some sense as the first thought reminensced back to when Prayan was mauled to death by Bishal's mother the sky tigress. The first thought should have been the hunters and animals were best of friends, but it didn't seem so with the Sky Tiger. Bishal was a different case as it was raised from young by Maya, but its mother was a proud tigress of the Kyrati Kingdom.

"…. Hey, how'd you do that?" She asked.

"I trained it."

"I know, but how?"

"This coming from a hunter, don't you have pride in your signature trait?"

Maya pouted, the level of humiliation was unbearable, but she couldn't refute. If the other hunter cadres heard him say that, they'd throw their bows on the floor and head home.

Ajay sighed and grabbed her hand. "Ah-."

Bringing it over towards Vajra and caressing its pelt on the back. Vajra didn't respond wildly like the last time, then Ajay retrieved his hand leaving Maya's on the fur. Nothing bad happened.

Her mood began to brighten as she gently patted the fur of Vajra the same way she did on Bishal. This time the response was different as the wolf rolled on its belly for her to continue. She giggled and gave in to its demands.

Ajay shook his head and returned to his reports.

"Hey, Ajay…"

"Mmm?"

"Where were you these six days?" She asked petting Vajra generously.

"All I'll tell you is that I haven't been wasting this week."

"…."

She understood this at least, so a silence matured between them.

"How did it come to this?"

Ajay put down the files and looked in her direction baffled.

"One minute your father's rebellion was at the point of its climax, now it's become almost on par with his royal highness and Mistress."

"I don't know." He really didn't.

"And I don't like it, we have no choice in this matter, all we can do is prepare."

She laughed dryly.

"Never a corner or ending for you is there, Ajay."

-No corner? Try getting betrayed by people you thought were your comrades.- he retorted inside his head but never voiced it.

"You have no idea." He said instead.

"Do you really feel no bond to your father?"

"That person, who calls himself Mohan, is not my father."

"I don't think I could ever comprehend you, how you could decide whether someone is family and in a split second later decide he's not. You scare me."

"I do, and you know what? Some times I do too." He said looking upon his hands as if they were smeared with the blood of tens of thousands.

"I'm sorry, I've drifted into something dull." She chuckled awkwardly.

"Don't be."

"I'm tired, what say we return home while we still can." She proposed they return to the homestead to rest up before the skies cleared and foreseeably the longest battle would commence.

"Ok."

"Great. Let's get going then." She sadid rather cheerfully, as if she wanted to return.

"Mmm…."

"W-What?" She could feel Ajay staring at her intensely.

"I never pictured you as such a schemer." He said smirking, she had a bad feeling about his next sentence.

"Schemer?" She was completely perplexed on what Ajay was on about. As he smiled bashfully and said.

"If you were so eager to fulfil your bet and sleep with me, you need only ask!" He said slyly as in all intensive purpose to be a joke.

And in that instance, she turned red with fury and embarrassment. Drawing her kukri. Ajay laughed as he exited the room before she fully drew it, she threw it at him. The knife wizzed passed him and embedded itself on the door.

"BASTARD! I dare you to bring it up again!" It reminded her of how incorrigible he was. Why did Ajay always do this to her even when they seem to have a growing relation? It was because he knew that to drag her into a world as cruel as his, she would never be the same again.

Ajay laughed as he went to requisition a vehicle for their return, Vajra ran to catch up to him. As he expected, like what Saras did with her daily.

Maya was more amusing to just to poke fun with. He smiled with a certain charming brightness.

-I'll treasure these moments with you even if you chose to forget me.-

* * *

The mood within the encampment was foul, there wasn't a patrol or group that didn't complain about their situation. They'd been told in their briefing that this place was a failed state, an image of a certain African country they had previous gone to make dealings in uncut diamonds was under their expectations.

Instead on the first day of their landing, they get attacked by a vicious assault that killed off nearly half of their forces despite their technological superiority in weapons and equipment though prototypes were highly reliable. An mechanized force struck them with the intent of destroying them, but it had been concluded by Dominic and Dane that the purpose was to instill fear upon them as well as stranding them in Kyrat making their arrival redundant.

"A frontal assault with gradual pincering attacks to force us into a heads on skirmish. Followed by Smokescreen to blind us from the IR designators that marked the targets for their guided missiles towards a majority of our equipment." Dane gave a review of the events through the Royal Army's point of view, and he wasn't wrong.

"Then there was that crazy bastard that came all the way up here. This assault… was definitely planned by him." Dane nodded to his superior's own assessment

"What are we to do about Mitch?" Dominic clicked his tongue, there was little he could do.

"Fucking spook. Have fireteam Zulu keep our incompetent executive within the compound, from now I'll override every of his Commands. Nobody answers to him." Dominic had the power to assume temporary command in his position, Lynch had stuck them so deep in shit they were about to drown.

"Right."

"What's our current inventory and reserves?"

"Ninety-seven alive and kicking, the rest are dead. Three-quarters of our vehicles including the ICVs are gone, satellite and jamming relays are gone. Quartermaster reports half the supply of rations are gone, we'll have to start eating the local delicacies soon. Ergh! Yak meat. Most of the Javelin missiles and Stingers are gone, but small-arms are good. Bert says we've got 4mm standard Sabot bullets for days."

Dominic didn't answer as he thought about their current situation.

"Sir?"

"I called the old man."

"!" To Dane it was serious enough to go straight to the CEO and tell him the deal they were in.

"Play along with Director Lynch for a while longer and see what secrets he's buried and take it from him."

"….." Failure within the board was the least tolerated. It was the firm belief by the 'old man' that when the subordinate made an error it was the leader's responsibility and not vice versa.

"So now what?"

"The Kyrati rebels' are attacking the government forces, Lynch and the other spook wants us to watch but how long are we gonna stay here? We'll finish this sooner than without us."

"Sir, need I remind you that they sat by and watched while we got pummelled and only helped the last minute?"

"The feeling is mutual, under the same circumstances I would have done the same. Right now, we need to familiarise ourselves with the terrain and get intel, we'll need some friends as well."

"Will do, as for friends…."

"Mmm?"

"I heard an interesting rumor with another fellow from stateside here, one Jason Brody."

"What about him?"

"The files we reviewed with Langley suggests he's a Status L, callsign 'Snow White'."

Being in an organisation that manipulated the CIA from behind with promises of corporate power and bribery, CNS had a wealthy stash of CIA records through a access hub to their mainframe. Being a senior officer in the enforcement sub-division of the Company he was given permission to use or gather intel. Status L, L standing for Leviathan was a catelog of one of the most dangerous men and women on the planet put in one file cabinet in an underground server and a hardcopy backup in another vault. They were dangerous because they didn't never worked with the CIA and some had threatened their establishment on several occasions. He'd been in one of the global hotspots that had a few drop by. Two in fact. One was that man that died taking out two resistance organisations whilst saving hundreds of thousands of fleeing refugees in Africa with the help of the Jackal, another Status L. Krieger corp was an organisation that was absorbed into CNS had also tasted the wrath of one by the name of Carver who killed their founder and executive. The old man bought the company because of the prior research files in bio-chemical engineering he needed to enhance his pet project. Something to give his supersoldier program a little more juice.

Dominic was against the idea of it not on the ethnics but as it was a wishful project that hindered much of the enforcement agencies potential to grow when billions of dollars gets sent over for research on a military concept that doesn't even exist yet nor was it necessary in a times like these where the most major conflicts weren't major powers fighting major powers.

But his neph-

"Sir, I'd like to suggest an alliance with Mr Brody." The end of Dane's constructive suggestion broke his inner thoughts. It was a good idea but would he join?

"What do we have to offer him in return?" He was being pragmatic about it. Whatever reason a fellow American had being here couldn't be good.

"Cash or stone incenti-."

"Do you really think he's here for that?" Now Dane was a little convinced it wasn't.

"(sigh) Investigate further, he might be an additional edge we could used. In the mean time prep for an attack on those government forces, we'll be playing a combat role whether Lynch or Ghale approves or not. We owe them a blood debt, and I intend to have it repayed in kind."

Dane understood what he meant, if they didn't return their grief to the Army they'd never be satisfied and the men would go out of control. In the meantime, he had to investigate the background of Jason Brody to find out his reason for arriving and recruit him. A Status L was a powerful ally whether they liked him or not. The next was to patiently wait for Lynch to reveal his purpose here and take it from him.

"Yes, sir."

"And bring out the 'big boomstick' for this op." Dane was a little surprised he mentioned that weapon. The hand-held weapon that whilst still in prototype phase had tremendous potential to morph the battlefield to whoever deployed it.

"Codes to quartermaster, 45-99-12 to unlock the case. Have fun."

"I will sir, but to be honest I think it's a little overkill." Dane left those words before dashing off excitedly like a child ready to redeem a present from a toy store.

"No, it's not." He recalled the scene their base fell apart and amidst the chaos, laughing at them was that one individual that could be classed as the most terrifying Status L he'd seen.

-Not with a person like him around.-

* * *

Ajay and Maya drove back to the North via a Jeep to the tune of Men without hats. Vajra enjoyed sticking its tongue out in the window despite the strong winds.

The music was broadcast by Rabi Ray's newest competition deemed to outdo his predecessor with the music hits from the West. Albeit from the 70s to the 90s, the Radio Dj was a fanatic over Western hits and imported an entire collection. From Beegees to some Britney Spears albums. Rabi Ray was furious, comparing him to poor Chotu and openly threatened the fellow DJ that he knew Ajay and would call a favour to eliminate him with extreme prejudice. Rabi Ray was getting a bit out of hand with that invite he gave that time, even if Rabi Ray now gave more positive comments on his radio broadcast and was no longer a pirate radio channel but an official broadcast at the Society of Social Harmony relay.

Ajay, being raised in the states was inclined to side with the new and upcoming DJ for familiar songs.

They drove back to the homestead, it had been a long week for them and there was only a short time left for them to rest and get their minds sorted out. It was going to be as a long dead middle-eastern dictator once said, "… the mother of all battles." Maya was incline to agree with Ajay's suggestion in returning home. She sat with Vajra on her lap and its head out the window.

Ajay was starting to feel that Maya's fixation wasn't restricted to just Tiger cubs but all things furry. He hoped his companion wouldn't suddenly have a change in heart, he trusted it.

Hours later at the doorstep of the homestead his trust was betrayed.

Due to the goodness of Maya's delicious treats the wolf was domesticated, what were in them, Scooby Snacks?

He was going to disappoint Vajra for taking him into battle in Lanka while Maya was defending Delta Barracks where the three battalions were and Unit 58 was due to fight with the division of the main force attacking Lanka. It was extremely dangerous despite their numbers because if the Golden Path were tired of attacking Lanka they'd divert to Baghadur to reinforce the rest of their split force and prepare for another siege with more preparations in store from capturing the rest of the South. That was why after repelling the main force, he had to lead Yuma's Royal Guard held in reserve to pincer and crush the rest of the force and aid the rest immediately after.

He while the wilderness training was enjoyable, there was nothing like the scrumptious smell of Bhadra's cooking. Like the enjoyable whiff passing by them at the very moment.

"Quarter my share says its Goat curry." Maya placed her bid like they usually did upon returning together.

"The same says Chicken Bhutua. Turmeric sometimes smells like curry."

"Since when did you become the chef?"

"I was always a cook till I got kicked out by a superior chef." Implying Bhadra.

"….."

Ajay opened the door and they placed their coats on the hanger.

"Bhadra. We're home."

Noore was no longer staying with them, but in a nearby house with Paul's daughter, Ashley. Simply furnished but suitable for a one daughter and single mother to stay and live in. Bhadra occasionally came by to say hello and bake a cake or two. Ajay hadn't been around whilst this was happening, he'd been working non-stop and was doing wilderness research.

Somehow, she took it upon herself to take care of Ashley in Ajay's stead. It was a great help to him as he had more important things to handle right now. But he was slightly concerned, Ashley was the daughter of the man that cruelly played and took the lives of her dear family. What was her thoughts on raising his daughter? He didn't understand that well, though he'd been the one that orphaned Ashley. He checked through Paul's house and the family registry, Ashley had no immediate kin. Aside from her dearly-departed adultering mother, Paul was the only family she ever had. Paul Harmon itself was an alias forged by the intelligence agency he worked in before coming to Kyrat, so his actual birthname was probably wiped from the records.

Vajra shook the ice-cold blanket off its pelt, Ajay took a towel and wiped down the dampness. It didn't hurt now and then to give a little care to his animal friend, it was obedient enough to know what Ajay intended and let him wipe the condensing ice off.

They made their way through the narrow corridor towards the living area and to their surprise.

"Ah, hello."

They had visitors. Daisy and her companions with Noore at the lounge.

There were some he recalled their names but not all. Hurk was apparrently taking his time off showing them around as he was sitting with them too.

"Oh? Fancy seeing you here." Ajay responded.

"Yes well, Noore invited me over."

"And the rest are your minions I suppose."

"Yes.." She chuckled.

"I'm not even gonna refute that." Riley declared with his hands to his back, they were in the demon's home so they had to watch their behaviours. Perhaps only Daisy saw a man in him, the rest were terrified the moment they heard his voice announce his return.

They became even more terrified when a giant wolf came in from where they entered.

"Hiee!" Liza was the first to respond. The boys were neutral while Daisy held eyes of fascination and began to whistle the same way Ajay did to subjugate them.

The wolf lay on its front as she came over to pet it and Vajra welcomed it. This action initiated an envy in Maya and a tinge of humiliation to a civ who could do better than the hunters.

"I'll be in my room, have my share sent up."

"No. You're joining us for dinner or nothing at all." Ajay said while she was halfway up the stairs.

"Tsk! Fine! Whatever! I'm going up first." Her hostility to Daisy and her friends' presence made as she went up to change and have a shower.

"What's her problem?" Liza murmured within the protection of her friends around her on the couch.

"She's a firm believer that there's no such thing as innocence in war." Ajay responded as if she she it loudly to him. Liza was a little shocked he heard her when she herself was sure he wouldn't.

"And what about you?" Noore asked from her seat.

"That innocence are always the ones that get grinded down to paste over stupid upstart ideals. Take Golden Path for instance." Ajay said with a cold grin.

"Righteously passes itself off as liberators, yet resorts to underhanded acts like kidnapping and human trafficking to fund their operation. You're quite familiar with their modus operandi, aren't you?" Ajay said to them as he went over to retrieve a bottle of ten-year scotch from the counter and a few glasses which he brought to the table.

"Then again, Pagan and me are no saints either. Sinners? Plenty. Noore knows that best of all." Ajay made no attempt to cover this from the light hearts Daisy's friends were. Instead he poured generously to all the seven others at the seats.

"Ah- thank you…."

"Thank you"

"Gee thanks!" Riley was estatic towards the hospitality.

Ajay threw the whole bottle over to Hurk. "Hehe! You read me like an ipad." He was unfamiliar with that phrase but took it with a pince of salt he meant book.

Ajay sat next to Noore who had a glass of her own favorite drink already poured in it. The heavy tonic gin she brought from the airport duty-free. It was pretty heavy stuff for him as a pleasure drink, Noore was used to it as it helped drown her sorrows in the past. Noore smiled at him warmly, which he smiled back in kind. The rest almost mistook it for a relation going on between them, but it was more of close companions. Nothing more.

"I was just sharing my history here with the rest." Noore gave him a brief intro to what they conversed about. Ajay nodded and took a drink from his glass.

"Care to share?" Daisy asked him for him to give a brief summary of his to ease her friends' tension in dealing with him.

"Sure, if dinner is ready. Bhadra?"

"All done, just waiting for the go."

"Alright, we'll be over."

They assembled at the dining area with a table extension and chairs. Maya came down in lighter clothing sitting the furthest away from Daisy and the rest next to Noore.

"Looks like I was wrong, here. Here are the winnings" Ajay chuckled as he handed his portion to Maya, she wasn't going to refute as all of Bhadra's cooking was great. Ajay threw a raw steak in Vajra's direction and the wolf caught it in mid-air and went over to the fireplace and gorged itself in the Yak steak from the fridge.

At first, Daisy and friends were not familiar with the spread and were a little reluctant to start digging in. But the moment those spoons full of soup or stew touched their mouths, they had converted to Bhadranism and herald her the deity of the kitchen. It was a little scary that it Bhadra's cooking was acclaimed not just to local tastes by foreign as well.

Ajay talked about his history in Brooklyn and how he encountered Daisy, leaving out the parts that referred to his identity as Ajay Ghale and his mother's name Ishwari. Bhadra and Maya listened in on it as this was the first time he'd indulged a little of his former home.

Maya's thoughts dwelled on his history in the states a feeling of guilt fell on her opinion of him. While everyone thought his live was set over there, it was anything but stable. Ishwari's worsening will to live affected her terminal cancer condition. The first step to Ajay's change in attitude from the days in Brooklyn was understanding he'd been responsible for taking his mother's life. The fool-hardy arrogant street kid became a meek person. Noore begun to have a better picture of his entire live road that led to that point in time.

"So you're probably wondering how did Daisy's ex turned from street brawler to a mass-murdering second-in-command to Pagan. Well, that's a story for another time." He laughed as if it was trivial, reminding them how dangerous he was to them, and their presence was hardly a threat to him.

"A can tell you that it involved a rather sizable amount of bodies that piled." He said with a grin to play with their reactions he was so fond of rousting. Strangely enough, there were three people that had the complete opposite of his expectations in their reactions, the expression of excitement. Specifically Riley, his eyes twinkled with fascination. Daisy smiled wryly and shook her head. Steve managed to maintain his cool. Liza frowned.

"How can you even say that lightly?" She asked him in a rather annoyed tone that he was just bragging about killing others.

"Why not, Miss Snow?"

"Wha-….?" Like she couldn't believe what he just said.

"Death is an inevitable part of life, you'll die one way or another. You might not ever live till an old age. It's what the Western world seems to forget at times, thinking that lives are valuable. But truly the only lives that anyone values is their own, sometimes that of their family counts too. But everyone else is of little concern, its just their egos playing a part in that moral understanding."

"I don't think-."

"Liza, that's enough!" Steve warned her. But Ajay waved his hand in a friendly way.

"It's alright, Keith."

"It's Steve! Goddamnit, Daisy! Sending his name in place of mine. What the hell was that for?" He said upset. Daisy snickered by bowed apologetically.

"For a minute there, I was worried you weren't asking these questions. And the answer to that is the United States of America isn't the whole world, Miss Snow. Yunno that funny thing one time I visited the one of the more-quiet southern states and they didn't even know who the president was then. It's a bad habit to measure the rest of the world base on your own standards and principles no matter how much we profess that the world is international. Muslims pray Friday noon, Christians go to mass on Sunday mornings, Hindus and Buddhists mediate without specific days. Everyone is different in a little way. The states seem to have forgotten that time and time again. Take 9/11 for instance, politicians and bureaucrats manipulated peoples fears of terrorists activities through media, propaganda and ethnic segregation. Tens of thousands of vengeful American men and women sign up on the Armed forces the next day, awaiting the day they get shipped to Afganistan where the terrorists should have been based. And end up in Iraq instead. Almost like Pearl Harbor, the same instance happened and they were shipped to Europe instead of the Pacific to fight the japs that bombed the port." Ajay said smiling without angst or vigour. But they started to see his point. It was their cultural upbringing that defined their moral conduct, the same way other cultures define other people's moral codes.

"Somehow, priorities switched to taking down a long-defeated dictator and occupying Baghdad. They didn't know why they were there to begin with but they had their orders now that they were servicemen. Till now I bet they thought they were sent their because Iraq was sheltering terrorists, but its even simpler." He took them on a little history lesson of the latest conflicts.

"Oil." Daisy answered the right question.

"Correct, with an economy as voracious as the States they can't afford to let an association that isn't under their influence control the oil prices or the states could fall into an inflation and everyone suffers. The government rouses peoples collective hatred and manipulate it towards achieving their own selfish needs."

"So you see, Miss Snow. Society is a little more vicious than it portrays itself to be. One decade something is alright, then next its 'morally' inacceptable and anyone that says otherwise is a blight to society. It's just that in this corner of the world, we're a little more straight forward and when we say we'll kill, we ready will. This is my job, sending the brave and the earnest to their deaths. With promises to give their families a better tomorrow."

"And will you?" Liza asked, she was rather active in inquiring which surprised Daisy.

"Telling them that is a waste of words, I can only prove it in the actions I have in place. And even if I didn't promise them that, I'd do everything to make it happen. I still have Noore helping me on the way, she might not look it but she's actually the Marquess of Shanath." Ajay chuckled.

The 'Ooh'ed in astounishment.

"The poorest Duke and Marquess in the history of Kyrat." Maya added. Noore and Ajay chuckled bashfully.

"Don't forget poorest Princess too." Ajay added, implying her as well.

"Not another word." She said with a powerful glare before attending to her furry replacement Vajra, Bishal seemed to have mysteriously spirited away with Darshan. And Maya wasn't the least bit happy about it. Be he a specialist major or not.

Daisy's friends were having difficulty picturing this chatty and rather politically informed person to be a savage demon that terrorised the Golden Path. It was even harder picturing Daisy once in a relationship with him. So their mouths hung without saying anymore.

Ajay waved his hands up in defeat. But they understood what she meant, despite his and Noore's appointment in nobility, they lived rather simply. It was mainly because Ajay wasn't the type to spend on unnecessary purchases like Pagan did for brief moments of fun only to get bored the next minute. Every dime and penny went to funding the S-program and Unit 58's upkeep. Arjun discussed with him whether they should activate it when the storm settled but Ajay insisted to keep it as a trump. They didn't know what other surprises Mohan had brewed up in the last two months, the fortress might not be such a big surprise to him even. So they had to play his cards wisely.

"Dude, tell'em." Hurk nudged Riley. They murmured softly with eachother about something.

"What's up?"

"Um- Sir Badala?"

"Don't be shy, Badala will do."

"Ok. Badala. Well, I'm a licensed pilot."

"Uh-huh."

"We know we've been causing a lotta trouble for you and all, so if it's alright I'd like to dedicate my services to you." The rest were surprised by Riley, while they were reluctant to, he had taken the first steps towards recovering their relation with him and the locals.

Ajay raised and eyebrow. It seemed that Hurk and Riley had discussed their options. So Hurk encouraged them to take an active part to make amends. But for Ajay-.

"Your service isn't required Mr Brody."

"Um- can I ask why?"

"Because it makes you and your friends involved in this civil war. Even now, your status as Americans is being questioned in the states. Langley had a clear cut definition for you, and that's terrorist sympathizers."

"T-That can't be."

"Langley is a building full of assholes like and worse than Willis Huntley. The word patriotism is the most make believe word they've used on everyone."

"Pftt!" Hurk couldn't control.

"It would be funny if it wasn't such a bother, your brother's been making it difficult for us. But considering your status and his. The CIA are a little more accommodative of him because he has a particular set of skills that aren't common. Perhaps they'd draft an amnesty contract with him. Termination of selective targets to reduce prison sentence. Doesn't sound bad for him, doing his dream job."

They were all silent with the mention of Jason, it was a taboo they wanted to avoid but Ajay intentionally brought it up.

"Um-."

"But if you're quite insistent in repaying, I have a proposition." Ajay stated. He stumbled upon and opportunity to draw the troublesome Jason away from this battle, having only to deal with the more dangerous Devas. Jason's friends were the key.

"Ok?"

"In a few days, there's going to be a battle. Chances of Jason being there are pretty high, most likely in a special unit or with the vanguard spearheading the front for thirty-thousand fighters."

"Thirty-thous-!"

"Shhh!"

"I'll have one of you in the fortress broadcast your location to him, when he does come, we'll box him and you can have a few minutes persuading him to lay down his arms and getting off the playing field. I was hoping Miss Snow would take up the challenge seeing her history with Jason."

Liza hesitated when it came to something dangerous like this, the memories of Jason in his split-personality state gave her shivers. Noticing something wrong Ajay was about to retract the idea when Daisy stepped forward.

"I'll do it." The rest were shocked by her volunteering, Ajay was also a bit surprised. But he stated the conditions first.

"….." Perhaps her cool headedness was what Jason could trust, it would be a lie to say Ajay didn't feel uncomfortable on letting her go.

"Knowing your personality, I know I can't convince you otherwise. Say Jason takes you with him, would you follow?"

"Yes." She responded without hesitation. She knew that if the dialogue failed Ajay would come straight for Jason's head, regardless whether he was grateful to Grant for taking care of Daisy or not. Jason was an infidel in Kyrat.

Sighing internally, he finally said.

"Alright." Noore was about to suggest otherwise but another person spoke for her.

"Wait! You can't be serious, Daisy?!" Riley was the only one to voice a complaint.

"Hey, Bads. Weren't you in a relation with her?!"

"It's precisely that which I know she's more stubborn than General Arjun, and she'll only make life difficult if anyone doesn't give in." Ajay said with meaning, Riley found it hard to argue back.

"Somehow, I feel that even Jason won't hurt her of all."

"And if you're wrong?" Noore asked.

"I don't make wrong choices, I make investments. Very well, you'll accompany us back to Pacchim Valley. Then I'll start briefing you." Daisy nodded, although her friends were ever so worried things wouldn't go according to plan.

"Let's see if there's even a single bit of him left." Ajay murmured.

* * *

The Lanka Arsenal worked around the clock to repair and inspect all the weapons that returned from the patrols and brought from the North. Just to make sure the cold and dampness didn't affect any parts. The forges churned out fresh cartridges sent out to the bastions by the box. It was the lifeline of the fortress should the fortress be contested for control by the aggressors, and also supplied the troops that dispatched from its compounds to attack from the fortress.

The stage was set, the troops ready and the fires lit in every soldiers, every warriors eyes. They anticipated this day with patience of a saint, all of them thirsted for the blood of the Arrogant and ignorant Golden Path fighters who would come.

Ajay was preparing in his own way, as per agreement Daisy came along to bait Jason away. If she couldn't convince him she at least kept him off the battlegrounds, that guy was a pain in the ass to deal with. Riley was still against her going as it was his brother so he should have gone, but they didn't know the soundness of Jason's mind at the time.

Ajay had spent considerable effort forging the pieces that Jamuna requested from her specifications as she constructed the weapon he requested her to build for him. Samar's legacy apprentice was a chip off the old block, but Samar believes she could succeed him. Who would have thought that young woman from long ago, lining up at the recruitment drive to the upcoming Arsenal would be his successor as the head gunsmith in Lakshman.

Using his years in the machine shop and metal works, he crafted the folded steel parts with extra care as it involved a lot of flexing. Hammering the steel pieces to strengthen its mass, he quenched it in oil as the final part in heat treating the last metal piece.

"You've made my job considerably easier, who would have thought the Duke of Lakshman was a down to earth fellow."

"I've always been a down to earth man. The title and nobility are just part of the King's way of playing favorites." He said smiling, not that she would understand but nodded anyway.

Jamuna used a measuring instrument to ensure the parts were consistent and parrellel with no errors.

"Done. Here you go, milord." She held out the weapon to which Ajay reached out and held it in his hand.

The bow that is.

Built from folded steel and aluminium frames, composite tri-weave string.

His experience in the wilderness taught him about the value of absolute silence, it was a great asset to have. But there was one simple flaw to the simple wooden and recurve bows he used and that was they lacked killing power. They couldn't penetrate some body armors that the officers of the Golden Path wore. And as the range was further, they presented less of target area to hit, so to increase probability of hit it had to be at the chest area which was protected.

His encounter with large beasts, mainly bears, rhinos and the rest of the freaks Chiffon coveted for their furs and skin showed they couldn't be taken down with a single hit. Even for rifles, it had to be large calibre high powered rifle rounds to kill them, especially the rhinos.

Ajay drew the custom-built compound bow designed by Jamuna.

"Huh! Feels lighter…" Ajay was unfamiliar with the compound bow design so Jamuna briefed him.

"Those cams act as let-off, reducing the weight of the pull for endurance shots. Those ones currently take roughly 75% of the total draw weight of 95 pound."

"Great, I'll need it."

"Other features are the sound dampeners on the limbs when you release the string, reflex sight with laser rangefinder as requested. Drawing weight is adjustable from 60 to 95lbs depending on the target types and how quick you want the successive shot to be." It allowed him to give lead to his arrow in distance shots when the laser rangefinder marked the exact distance from the target rather than him giving a rough estimate. Especially important with the use of his mix of semtex sensitive explosive tip arrows.

Ajay went with her to set up the heavy targets at the range and drew a bundle of arrows from the stores. He strung an arrow to the notch and drew the bow a full arch. As marketed, the initial pull was difficult but as it passed a certain distance a whole lot of tension was relieved allowing him to hold the string back without much effort at all.

(Pow)

As he released the arrow with a powerful flinging sound the kinetic energy dart flew true to its target 50 metres away and pierced right through the protected target with a ballistic shield striking the and piercing the backing of the targets. The results, incredible.

"Nice."

"Nice? That was phemominal! I'm so proud!" Jamuna celebrated.

"….. Right, see if you can build a few tungsten-carbide tips while I sort out the rest of the calibrations." With access to the CNC machine in the Arsenal it would be no problem for Jamuna.

Assuming if he used the kinetic energy principle, the increase in mass along with 95lb bow velocity would allow him to penetrate most armored targets and deliver enormous energy on impact with such dense materials.

"You hunting Rhinos or something?" She asked with a bit of suspicion.

"No." Ajay simply responded.

With that out of the way, he could build several other types of arrows. During his wilderness experience, he'd gained enlightment on some new methods on killing with the bow. He crafted a whistling arrow to communicate with his wolves once, he could use the same method with the troops. He built an airburst explosive type arrow too used to scare and inflict maximum damage to a pack of dholes that got too ambitious with him once.

Whilst seemingly adding a bulk to his kit, it actually wasn't as large as the slayer. The bow could be folded for storage when he didn't use it and deployed immediately thanks to Jamuna's innovative ideas. The arrows simply required his trusty quiver made of a certain badger's skin to ensure they stay protected. It was going to replace his autocross sidearm in the 'silence but deadly' role. But most importantly, it could add to his usable weapons to deter the most dangerous enemy he would face during the battle for Lanka.

Jamuna saw a glint in his eyes, one she saw in all the cold-blooded hunters that frequented the armories for weapons refit.

"I'm hunting Devas."

* * *

Author's Thoughts:

(Ajay fudd) "Shhh.."

(Havok bunny) "Ehh…(Chews carrot) What's up, doc?"

(Ajay fudd) "Be vewy vewy quiet, I'm hunting Dwevas."


	63. Chapter 60 - Power to destroy legends

Author's Notes:

A bit of time working on this chapter as I have a few that follow and relate to it. While the end to RaK (Reborn a King) is pretty far, probably about under hundred chapters, may exceed depending on the cropping of plot material. I've already started looking into new stories to write. Below is a list that will be coming during and after RaK:

Farcry fanfic – Between Yearning and Ambition (AmitaXAjay Romance/Tragedy) Prototype released.

Farcry fanfic – RaK – Threads of Fate (Prequel short stories) First story covers the rise of Pagan.

XCOM fanfic – Undaunted Conquest (Reboot from old stories) To honor the first stories.

XCOM fanfic – All You Need Is Psi (Time returning protagonist) weak to strong

When will they release, hopefully soon. :)

* * *

The repeated memory of the cries for help in his subconscience died down as his eyes fluttered open from a long period of immersing himself with his spirit.

Mediating deep within the forest cabin he inhabited since the beginning of his life as Darshan, the wild was of no threat to him as he possessed both the whistle of the hunter's and a deep understanding of the spirits that inhabit the forest. When his eyes closed, it was absolute focus on the mantra handed down to him by the spirits of the restless Demon Banisher kinsman. Despite the generation gap of over hundreds of years since there was a true successor, their single utmost desire was from him to hunt down and destroy every last immortal demon that still walked the material earth. Even if their will was never passed, he would still do so. He'd killed possessed humans and animals, plenty of brahm rakshas from the dead clergy that lived in decadence, and Rakshasa roaming the mountain tops. Not many believed they existed though they worshiped gods like Banashur and Kyra. Only Darshan was aware of this and his aura allowed him to find them in hiding.

But out of all the resident demons he destroyed body and soul, there was one he failed to find. The one that destroyed his past life, one as a loving husband, doting father.

Until now.

Mohan's appearance was evidence of this, no one was as powerful or in possession of lifesaving boons like her. Everytime cycle, it was always Mohan. Though she never appeared in person, the Vedi compass shook with never before seen vigour to the presence of a demon. Whispering the will of the clan's utmost desire to crush all demonic entities. In fact, she even had a name. He had one for her as well, Cursed Witch. Despite the name, she was anything but a witch, it was too modest a category to class her under. Because her roots lay her to an origin once thought a myth.

The screams of his wife and child rung constant in his head once in a while. He'd come down a long and gruelling path to revenge. But he wasn't satisfied with merely killing her. For once, Darshan possessed a single clue to her constant loitering within the domain of Kyrat and the search for the gateways into Shangri-la in her several iterations of time. She struggled and failed in every opportunity to acquire what she solely desired.

The reason she appeared in Kyrat in the first place was for the same reason Darshan sought to kill her.

Over family.

So when he had the chance, he wouldn't just shrew her. He'd maim her, then destroy her only hope of reviving her family in front of her just to let her know the feeling of having loved ones taken away from her for eternity.

He'd prepared physically and mentally for their confrontation. The talismans all painted and slotted into his bag, the wooden runic blades were exalted and his temperament levelled. The last of the pages to the manual he recovered from the demon banishers ancestral temple had been mastered to its full potential. He wasn't the type to be satisfied with what was on the desk so he analysed each and every formation, hexing techniques and decrypted their function and talent. From that experience, he created his own hex and formations, every bit ruthlessly efficient and cruelly dominating as his personality towards demons were.

He was every bit ready to fulfil his clans sole purpose to seal and destroy immortal demons. While not taking part in mortal affairs directly, it didn't mean she wasn't going to watch the father and son fight for the lands. That was when he would go for her, when all her troublesome minions were away fighting.

"Bishal, aie!" He called the sleeping tiger to accompany him down the mountain towards the direction the Vedi compass pointed. Bishal yawned and got to its feet, the cub it once was got replaced with a fully grown white tiger. Though a few pounds lighter and smaller than its mother had been trained by him. Brought out into the wild and forced to understand the cruelty of the animal kingdom. Darshan forced it to kill to survive and survive it did, fighting and winning many chance encounters with wild beasts, large than it or in numerical advantage situations. It had earned scars from its last fight with a madden elephant and wore them proudly. Though he was Maya's Dharmic Guardian, what good would a paper tiger do as her protector against that cursed witch. So he beefed him up a bit. Bishal acted tamed but had a glint in its eyes that belonged to its proud line of tiger lineage, there was room for improvement but for now he would do.

He waited sixteen years in this era to achieve his vengeance upon the witch and he wasn't about to let anyone interfere with his objective now.

He would kill all that got in his way.

Including this realms Ajay Ghale.

* * *

In the command centre of Lanka at the most protected area in the fortress, Ajay sat with the Bastion Commandants and Field Commanders taking part in today's defense against the Golden Path spearhead. The picture of their strategy was quite similar to the Russian defense of Stalingrad, forcing the Germans to fight block by block whilst a counter-attack force assembled from outside the city to pincer the weary germans. Yuma's elite Royal Guards were that counter-attack force placed in reserve at the rear to conserve their energy to fight the Golden Path as they withdrew and aid Maya and Unit 58.

"Any sign of the storm subsiding?" Amita asked.

"The last weather forecast from the charts says the Eastern Winds in Nation of Yinke have blown the storm away from their country." A liason officer of hers answered.

"Still, I can't believe we're fighting thirty-thousand warriors." The Royal Army colonel who was the last bastion commandant spoke.

In truth, all of them trembled. The pressure was intense even before the arrival of the Golden Path, but no one spoke of it.

"They're really pouring everything into this assault."

"…" Amita realized the strategic importance of maintaining her position in Lanka. It was Badala's trust in her that granted her one of the bastions in Lanka which was the symbol of absolute power over Kyrat. She was not about to let Mohan take it from her.

"The odds of four thousand against thirty thousand don't bode well." The Colonel lamented.

"But if we succeed, the feat becomes legendary." Ajay exclaimed as he entered the command centre. The conclave of officers stood and saluted, the Tigers did the same.

"At ease, are the men ready?"

"They are, sir. What of the general?"

"Busy overseeing more important things in the Royal Fortress, seeing the bigger picture."

Although he said it, he actually never heard it from him. Layak was the one to tell him so, Arjun was in a non-conversational mood. Something to do with his disappearance a week earlier, he freaked him out and the General dispatched soldiers throughout the lands looking for him. To think at a time like this Arjun would have something akin to a hissy fit with him. Well, it was his fault for not informing him beforehand.

"Her royal highness gave us access to a battery of pack howitzers in Utkarsh and a helicopter assault battalion once the storm clears."

"What are the rules of engagement, your grace?" The Colonel asked on everyone's behalf.

It was clear that once the spearhead came, they'd be surprised to find a fortress that was not there before. Then word would reach Mohan and the Devas of it to see for their own eyes.

"Report then kill, there is no civilian presence for ten miles so that will be our engagement parameters. Colonel Raja will oversee defense of the walls, Amita will focus on all logistical concerns, Major Pan will observe and call in the artillery and gunship support on heavy enemy concentrations as well as requisition medivac when required. I'll be in the front to impose on the spearhead and perhaps preoccupy the Devas if they're there." Ajay distributed the various positions to the Commandant and Field commanders that were present.

"I'll assume that all of you have read our strategy on the dousers High Command handed you and burnt it after reading." He looked to check as they all nodded including the Tiger Field Commanders, they all knew the sequence of events that would occur and what were the signals to initiate. They had spent a week studying the material and the latest amendments done by Arjun based on the intelligence changes and the progress of Lankas construction.

"Permission to speak, sir."

"What is it?"

"What are the odds of us winning?" It was unauspiscious to ask when their odds weren't in their favour but it was a question they all yearned from Ajay who was aware of the bigger picture. If it were Arjun in place of him he'd scold them and send them off his theatre of operation.

"I certainly can't measure that, I'd love to say it would be a crushing victory on our end. But as life has always been for me, nothing ever goes the way we design it to turn out."

""…."" Made the question the officer asked sound a little naïve.

"You are all elite soldiers and warriors of Kyrat, the Golden Path is threatening the sovereignty of our country. Whether we win or not, doesn't matter. We absolutely cannot let them take Lanka, we cannot let them even take a single step on this bridge. If that happens….. The Golden Path will reside to its hidden nature and condemn every person that lived their lives behind the mountain walls of the Himalayas a traitor to their righteous cause. From there, I assume you can imagine what happens next."

A chill ran down all of their spines. Though he never mentioned it, his explanation gave a very clear mindset of how the Golden Path worked. Based on interpreting things at their conveniences and distorting facts, the movement was entirely impulse driven. They pictured the Golden path arriving in the Uttar Region, to bring about a new era of massacre to the Himalayas.

But now Ajay saw a fire of determination in their eyes.

"But that's when the fun part begins." Ajay said with a fearless smile.

"Because if we succeed…."

They all turned towards him as he had some unfinished things to say. His next sentence shook them to the core of their beliefs in the the impossible becoming true.

"We will wipe Golden Path from the annals of history. Permanently."

* * *

An unfamiliar calmness came over Kyrat, the complete silence of the winds and empty vastness returning.

It was the signal that Golden Path had been waiting for two months to arrive and it was finally here. The day of reckoning for the Royalists was about to fall upon them, through their actions. Thirty thousand warriors mobilized across the snowy paths towards King's bridge, all on high vibes that the Royalists would be shocked to see their numbers and shiver in place.

But Vasu knew better than that. There were spies carefully embedded into their organisation that would have informed them of the numbers in advance to give them time to prepare. They had to make use of now when the Army's helicopter fleet had not been brought out of their hangars piled with snow. Sabal had already been dispatched towards the meddlesome Royal army barracks near Baghadur. A total of three thousand warriors against an estimate of three battalions that were stationed there, though the number could have changed it wouldn't exceed a thousand. Sabal was in the safest possible outcome. The question he still asked himself was why Mohan bothered to tolerate that rascal after all he'd done and said.

"Hatred is the most powerful fire, caring only to retaliate, to take revenge at the cost of anything and everything. Given time, it morphs the individual that carries it into something else. It's the very quality I look for."

"Hatred is an inquenchable flame that burns brightly, one who bears it cares not for his surroundings, only that his rage be directed at the person that brought those feelings into him. Ready to sacrifice everything for the feeling of satisfaction. Pagan's demon is one such example, an indomitable spirit to crush Golden Path. Sabal will be my answer to him."

These were the words Mohan left for him. But all Vasu saw was an incapable coward that sacrificed for his own gain, how was such a person capable of fighting a person of Badala's character? Even if he did receive the resurrective powers of the mistress and the strength bestowal, Badala was more cunning than him as well as experienced in close quarter fighting. Wouldn't the Devas-… wouldn't himself be sufficient for the task with their newly acquired strength?

A dispatch came running towards the temporary command centre tent out along the long trail that the convoy of troops and supplies moved along the frozen riverside Shanath's Naccarapur Town. The last major town before King's Bridge.

The dispatch huffed and puffed before approaching Vasu and whispered in his ear due to the sensitivity of the info.

"What?!" Vasu couldn't control his overflowing emotions, because of the impossible happening.

The next fifteen minutes, he spent travelling by fast jeep towards the area which the scouts reported to him. At the ridge, he spotted Mohan standing there with his back turned already, he had apparently received the same message. As Vasu walked up the slope towards where his brother was, he spotted the reason for his arrival in the distance.

"My god….."

"Arjun's been busy." Mohan said calmly.

"But that was just two months!"

"It's clear he had support from the two Demons." Mohan referred to both the Demoness of Durgesh and the Demon of Lakshman.

"This…." Vasu still had trouble believing what was in front of him.

Spread along the entire mountain pass where King's bridge should have been visible was a grey stronghold. But unlike the ones he was familiar to, judging from the distance it dwarfed any that existed in Kyrat. Like a mountain citadel, the sun shone through the gaps and presented the grand majesty of the fortress he dared call it.

"It appears incomplete." Mohan said as he observed through the binoculars in his possession. When Vasu heard it he checked for himself and in seeing so a feeling of hope returned to his senses.

"Prepare to lose ten thousand at least, and assuming they anticipated this day be ready to lose two-thirds because the demon will be there." An image of Badala inhabiting the mighty fortress appeared in his mind.

Vasu looked to Mohan with determination.

"Not if I can help it."

* * *

"Move it! They're almost here!"

"On the double!"

Ajay stood at the parapet from his villa overlooking the battlements being manned by the soldiers, a grand total of four thousand troops garrisoned within Lanka. The Officers and NCOs went about shouting for the men to quicken the pace as the enemy was already sighted in the distance of the ridge where the large town of Naccarapur next to Shanath Arena lay.

Ajay waited patiently whilst he checked his equipment, armor and weapons. He had just finished calibrating his newly built compound bow, setting the draw weight to the highest torque. He intended to kill everything that got hit by the arrows.

"You've been awfully quiet for some time, is it really so hard to imagine a smooth conversation?" Ajay said to Daisy who seemed to dwell on some internal thoughts.

"Nothing ever goes to plan."

"Ha! I should be the one saying that to you. But if you want my opinion of Jason I'll give it."

"Alright."

"His personality seems to match that Vaas fellow more than it does with your friend. So lets assume he's Vaas. How do you tell a murderous buccaneering pirate to take the peaceful option?"

Daisy seemed more and more unconvinced that Jason's case was salvageable from Ajay's explanation.

"How much do you want to save this kid?"

"Everything I've got!" The determination shone in her eyes, Ajay chuckled. It was the same eyes that looked at him all those years ago in the states. The one that had the power to change his fate, even by a little bit.

"Here." Ajay handed her a capsule which she took.

"What's this?"

"A satellite tracking device, something a friend of mine gave me."

It was a swallowable homing beacon given to him by Paul Ferenc the Israeli Mossad agent. Daisy looked at it for a second and stashed it away.

"If you get into trouble, swallow it. The membrane will dissolve in five, triggering the device with chemical reactions and we'll know exactly where you are."

"How soon can you get to me?" She said in a joking manner.

"Twenty, give or take."

"Ha! Couldn't you do better?" She said grinning. Turned Ajay's expression was still serious.

"Daisy. This'll depend on your status. If you aren't there with Jason when we find you, my brigade will be forced to kill him."

The seriousness of his warning made it clear where his line with tolerance towards Jason was. Hoping that by a very small chance, their friend was redeemable.

"Ok. I'll do my best."

"Mmmm. If you come across Willis's location that'll be helpful."

"Find Willis, got it!" Daisy went to her designated area where it was marked on the GPS handed to Jason via spies in the Golden Path.

"I wish you all the best, there might be a glimmer of hope for him. But I still can't see it. Just promise me you'll prioritize your own safety above everything else. You came here with everyone, you should leave the same way." Daisy looked hesistant to say something after Ajay had indicated that they were to leave after this fiasco. She wondered why he wanted that to be so, even after this near chance coincidental meeting with him in Kyrat.

"I look forward to your next debrief, agent Lee." Daisy couldn't help but chuckle at his obvious attempt to lighten the mood.

"I will." She said with a smile before leaving. She turned back to look at him as Ajay was already occupied with sorting his own stuff, then left.

Ajay went back to his tuning his bow, upon completing the task he drew the string with much effort and entered the cut-off weight greatly reducing the amount of tension.

"Stay safe…." He murmured.

* * *

It was ten in the morning, so the sun had risen high up in the air by now. Shining upon every single feature.

What the Golden path saw was a humongous grey concrete fortress structure unlike anything they'd ever seen. The sight and the motives of their commanders to storm that building sent shivers down their spines. When it came to the Golden Path, their operations were fairly limited to guerrilla warfare. Hit and run style, when it came to stronghold battles they would always have three times the defending garrison in manpower to attack and even then, sustained numerable casualties.

But before them lay and entire field of open ground approximately twelve hundred metres followed with a combination of barbwire, anti-vehicle trenches, possible landmines then cross the shallow moat. And to the structure itself was a sloped wall that looked deceivingly climbable but exposed anyone to shots from the defenders and mired them from advancing. And to think that they had to get through all of this besides the precise shots from the garrison soldiers and heavy weapons inside. The only area that did not have such defences was the large reinforced gate which was built in a drawbridge as there was a river moat dug around it. Unless the Devas were with them, the men refused to join the attack. The fortress had achieved its primary feature, a physically intimidating citadel that deferred and discouraged attacks against them.

"They're here!" The forward lookout called out to Ajay and the field Commanders on the wall.

The Golden Path appeared out of the forest and of the large town of Naccarapur just off Shanath arena. And entire line of yellow from the armbands they wore on their sleeves stretched from end to end of the forest line, yet that wasn't even a third of the force that had yet to arrive to the front. This was merely the vanguard of elite meant to test the wall and if possible storm it.

As if Ajay would make it so easy for them

"Colonel Raja, I leave executive command of the fortress to you." Ajay said over the radio.

*Yes, your grace. May the king's light shine upon you! Out.*

Ajay walked upon the length of the wall, fully equipped. Against the sandbags and harden concrete were the over a thousand of the forward defenders. All wore uneasy expressions, they watched as Ajay passed them.

"Your grace."

"Milord."

"Sir, be safe."

They gave him their compliments as he passed, Ajay nodded curtly in response. He looked over the walls and saw what they were all anxious about. From afar, the Golden Path attempted to rouse their spirit and frighten the defenders with chants and warcries that could be heard from a mile. It showed their eagerness to fight and kill for the greater good. The garrison commander of his bastion which stood as the pike to the Golden Path advance remained by his side silent.

Ajay could see the pressure that weighed upon them, he'd used similar tactics upon the Golden Path before. He cleared his throat before he spoke, the thousand souls that inhabited his bastion turned to him as he wished to make an announcement.

"Good, we have full attendance. It means we can thoroughly teach the Golden Path their place." He said with a mighty grin. At first the men looked in shock, but then broke into snickers, then laughter.

"See…. That's the spirit." Ajay walked up to the observation platform where the heavy autocannon was placed, but everyone could see him.

"To be honest, I'm shivering… shivering in anticipation. I can't wait for them to arrive at our doorstep and deliver themselves to us. I can't wait for them to break the gate and rush through! I can't wait for their Devas who lead their vanguard to come and face me! I can't wait to turn their sixteen years of hope into instant despair!" Ajay said with confidence.

"This fortress was designed by the famous Major Roka as the ultimate safeguard over Kyrat, foreign and domestic. I can bet you, Mohan is pretty shocked to find it where he thought a road straight to the north was." The men laughed at the thought.

"But they're no slouches…. and I'm just one man. There're tens of thousands. They say the Devas are one of a thousand men strong. That means I'll be taking on three thousand worth off your back. So I'll expect all of you to have at least hundred heads by the end of this battle."

"I need not remind you. You're here on your own voalition, you came knowing the odds were stacked against you and yet you still came anyway. It proves that there is something more to you the mere soldiers. You have the will to stand for what you feel is right, so is the strength I see in the premier warriors of Kyrat! The Golden Path wants to take that position away from you, but they don't intend to fulfil the duty of it at all!" Much of the soldiers' hearts had fully burnt with the desire to tear the Golden Path columns to shreds. He could see it in their eyes.

"But to lose even one of you to trash would be a loss that even King Min could not bear with. There's a quote from an old show I watched in the theatre long ago, I shall use this as my orders to you all. An American general named Patton once said to his men. "I want you all to remember that no bastard ever won a war by dying for his country! He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his."!" There was a bellow of laughter from the inner compounds of the wall, they all knew what Ajay meant.

"So join me in this fight, so that we may make martyrs out of them!"

"""RAAAWWW!""" The men in the bastion let loose a powerful cry for victory that shook the other bastions into wondering what that shout was. Even the Golden Path warriors could hear it from where they were chanting. Ajay had rousted the blood lust of the First Bastion, the one that stood in front of the Golden Path advance and would take the heaviest blow of all from the attacks.

"Let's end on this soil not just Mohan, but the legend of Mohan!"

* * *

Vasu stood ready with his brothers amongst the vanguard of five thousand on their vehicles that intended to rush up and secure the forward structure of the titanical fortress. Vasu had gone to military strategy lectures in the past and knew of the effectiveness of a star fort which it was. In modern times, it had lost effectiveness to lightning quick strikes and changes in battle doctrine. But in the mountains where armored vehicles were difficult to bring into and supplies were even harder to transport allowed anyone who controlled it a vantage of armed activities and quickly crush any sign of rebellion. It was a major problem for them as it also blocked the only way to the Uttar region where the Royal Fortress lay and the Royal Palace where Pagan had sat too long in. They couldn't outflank it as it had its back to the wall of mountains so the only way through was the front.

Vasu had heard the warcries from the front structure and knew who was there.

"Badala…." He said grinding his teeth, the images of the massacre he invoked in Banapur in retaliation circled him mind. It forced his hand into bargaining with forces he didn't fully understand.

"It's time." Bhishma said looking at his watch. The schedule plan for the assault had been hastily planned as they heard reports that Sabal was evenly matched with an unknown brigade that had been lying and waiting for them at the Royal Army Barracks at Baghadur. They had to finish this battle to support him.

"Tsk!" He clicked his tongue. It was clear that the entire invasion had been anticipated by Arjun and Badala, whilst they were gathering strength in numbers, the two had been busy building this abomination to suppress the Golden Path to its entirety.

"Men!" All faces of the vanguard force turned to Vasu in anticipation for his commands.

"The Royal Palace lies beyond these mountains, the enemy hopes to deter us with a stack of bricks. But they underestimate the raw power of belief that fuels our bodies and creates something that not even technology, numerable odds or intimidation can take from us." Vasu drew his knife and raised it.

"With this knife, I shall cut off the Demon's head and present it to all! Brothers! Sisters! Join me and become part of legend unforgotten!"

"""RAAAWWW!""" The battlefield trembled as heavily as the roar that a mere thousand led by Ajay let loose.

(BOOM) (BOOM) (BOOM) In the distance were the battlefield was, several dozens of smoke rounds from their mortars blanketed their advance.

"Units! Move out!" The Field Commanders led their men in the charge towards the quiet fortress.

A thousand metres.

Leading the way were improvised armored vehicles to shield the dismounted infantry at their rear in the advance.

Streaks of tracer flew in the air towards them. The dirt around them exploded and the kicked up.

"Move! Move! Faster!" Vasu ordered as they were aware of the vulnerability of staying too long in the mile-long killzone. The firepower from the forward structure intensified and now the tracer streaks weren't limited to machine gun rounds but autocannon fire. This was proven when two of their vehicles ignited into flames from a mere shot.

Eight hundred metres.

"Mortars! Incoming!"

Now the howling of cluster bomblets from the mortars sounded.

"Hit the deck!"

The entire column fell to the ground to minimise their silhouette to the exploding bombs. Unfortunately, there was a misunderstanding to the munition type which was not munition bomblets from mortars but howitzers in airburst mode. The destructive warheads of the 155mm shells detonated overhead and killed the entire front flank of the spearhead of the vanguard.

Two hundred died in an instant to the barrage of shells. Their frontline vehicles were all destroyed as they had no overhead protection to the High explosive propelled shrapnel. The vanguard was mostly fine. But now, it had broken their advance. The fighters stood wideeyed at the shear destruction brought about in a mere two minutes of engagement. It filled their hearts with fear, had Vasu and the two other Devas Bhishma and Sanjeev not been there to guide and led them. They would have throw down their arms and run.

"Those who do not fear death, take the lead and Charge!" Vasu shouted as he ran along with the two Devas. Seeing his feat of bravery in such dire odds, the veterans accompanied him in a wedge formation. More and more of the previously disheartened warriors lifted their heads and followed in the charge. Small-arms fire erupted from the fortress walls at the five hundred metre mark and cut down many more of their comrades but they still charged with an unquenchable fury in their eyes. It was as Vasu said, they could take their lives but they couldn't extinguish their flames of rebellion.

(Ping) (BOOMBOOMBOOM)

As the forward most elements where Vasu was stepped onto something and a canister shot up in the air and detonated a metre off the ground. Fragmentation sliced through meat and bone of those near it, Vasu was not absolved from it either.

"Urghh!" But as per contract the fragments embedded in him fell out and his injury healed at an astronomical rate, the other warriors didn't notice this so they thought he was extremely lucky to have survived that. But Vasu frowned, it reminded him of how inhuman he already was. Did he still have a soul to call his? But he stowed those feelings away as it wasn't the time.

They had reached the hidden minefield.

"Bring up the line-charges!" Vasu called out as he order was repeated by the NCOs to the engineering teams in the protection of the group. Several groups of soldiers came up with a roll of explosive cords and bangalore pipes to breach a hole in the apparent minefield. The end of the line was attached to a javelin that Bhishma held. Normally to propel this much line it would require a rocket, but Bhishma's strength was unparrellel thanks to the Mistresses blessing.

He hurled the javelin over a fifty-metre distance and it carried the line of explosives across. He threw several to widen the breach. From the sniper towers in Lanka, his actions weren't gone unnoticed and they fired their .50 cal Anti-material rifles at him. Sanjeev shielded him with a broken off door of the improvised armored vehicles that were abandoned.

"Deploy smokescreen!" A field commander shouted. And a whole column of smoke grenades were thrown to mask their location.

Vasu looked to the engineer that held the plunger.

"Hit it!"

The engineer turned the handle.

(BOBOBOBOOOM) The entire column of cord and bangalore torpedoes detonated along with the bouncing betty-type mines. A blackened ten-metre wide road through the minefield ensured safer passage towards the fortress.

"CHARGE!" Vasu roared once more, although it wouldn't be his last.

"""RAAAWWHHH!""" A response came a thousandfold louder. The Vanguard followed through the breach with him bravely despite their mortality, though Vasu was grateful his Curse/Blessing was what kept him alive, it disgusted him. His men were dropping like flies while the three of them in front weren't.

Three hundred metres.

An anti-vehicle trench and dragoon teeth lay before them, it was high enough for temporary cover, but if they stayed too long they could get pinned down. This was especially so as they had entered the optimal range for most small-arms carried by the soldiers protecting the walls.

Immediately, the dove into the trenches. All three thousand remaining soles that is as it was only large enough to fit that many. The small remainder faced with this despair chose to pull the pins of their grenades and charged alone. Getting chopped by rifle fire.

The firepower from the fortress intensified as they were within visible distance and range. It forced the vanguard deep under the trenches.

Vasu took a mirror and looked over the trench he was in to observe the remaining three hundred metres to the walls and what obstacles lay there.

(Sigh)

It wasn't any easier. A row of barbwire followed with a moat towards the slope of the wall. Every thing to mire their movement towards the top where the soldiers were. He observed a little more in hopes to find the Commanders but in vain. Not even Badala was amongst them, yet they fought with such viciousness and bloodlust he almost mistook them for his men initially. Besides the wall was a large reinforced gate, where no obstacle lay.

(Ping) The mirror broke as a sniper shot it and ended his little snooping around.

"Bhishma, Sanjeev."

"Brother?"

"What is it?"

"We will clear a path for them."

"Are you crazy?!"

"What were our bodies for?!" He shouted back.

"We might be blessed with this immortality but if we don't use it, it might as well be our curse!"

The two thought grimmly concerning the matter. If they charged out into fire it would seem unreal to the observers.

"We've already passed the point of being called human, we might as well let the right party fear us."

They nodded to one another and stood at the edge of the trench.

"Captain."

"Uh- Yes, Sir?"

"Wait for our signal."

"Huh?"

"Go!"

The three of them emerged from cover and ran in a column towards the fortress alone. The mens' hearts dropped seeing them run into certain death. The defenders saw this and snorted, bringing their guns to bear. Shots grazed them and struck critical areas that should have brought them down, yet they continued to charge without stop. The soldiers eyes shot out at the seemingly indestructible three that ran the insane three hundred metres killzone towards them. And a tinge of fear lurcked within them, making increase their efforts to kill them to ease the fear.

The Golden Path Vanguard watched at the three leading figures ran headstrong into enemy fire and wondered why they did not do the same. The whole row hiding behind the trench rose to their feet and charged towards the walls. Now there was a bigger concern to worry about, the defenders changed their attention towards the whole vanguard that crazily charged toward the barbwires. There, some lay their body on the barbwire to use as a plank or bridge to step over onto the other side. They died soon after as rifle fire killed them but their bodies remained as a bridge for their comrades to advance and avenge them.

By now there was only twenty-five hundred left, but their morale was unphased. They moved in rhythm towards the moat where the three Devas had already crossed.

On Vasu's end, they'd just crossed the moat while being peppered by a few of the soldiers who noticed something was truly wrong with the whole picture of them prancing through the lines without seeming injuries. They had been wounded, but the insane recovery rate had caused the pain to vanish in an instant and the injury no longer there. They could feel every bit of the pain, but their iron will kept them from breaking under the torrent of gunfire.

Looking up ahead the walls could be seen over the ridge but as Vasu and the others gazed down the spotted yet another trench but this one was two metres off the gradient of the slope making it imposible to assail without being seen by the careful defenders, but that wasn't all. Tunnels were curiously placed along the trenches leading directly into the fortress walls. It was obviously another trap to funnel them into a tight area.

"What now?"

"…"

They vanguard would be in their position at any moment, the more they dallied the more lives would get wasted.

"We spring the trap."

Vasu led the Devas into the tunnels that were lit already, as if anticipating someone would use this passage. The gunfire seemed distant as they ventured further down into the passageway.

Now the only light source was a man-made hole up in the twenty-metre ceiling, but lit the area sufficiently that no shadows covered the blind areas. They went through a series of zig-zag passageways that made their trip almost seemingly confusing until Vasu pointed out-

"We're in a maze."

"Labyrinth to be precise." A voice responded to his answer. Guns trailed to the direction of the echo and blazed away. They didn't want to waste precious time on a mere distraction.

"My labyrinth to be exact. It seems I wasn't wrong, you're not like the usual riff-raff among the Golden Path. You chose the hardway towards victory."

Knowing it was a trap they still came. Where they were was the most complex part of the defensive inner workings. Several underground labyrinths had been set beneath the walls of the bastions to misled attackers into finding alternative routes to storming the structures by climbing the walls which was the most dangerous when it was manned.

Now that it spoke longer and Vasu had time to think, he recognised the voice as-

"Badala!"

"No shit, Sherlock."

"Brother, do you know what this means?"

"It means we can end this battle before it even starts." Vasu responded whilst drawing his knife.

"Come out, Badala. You intentionally lured us here to fight, so have at it then."

"Seriously, what were those fools I've been fighting all this while? Where have you been all this while?" Badala's chuckling could be heard from somewhere in the labyrinth.

"Yes, I lured you here. You're resolve is admirable, but the people you align yourself with just makes that self-righteousness a hypocrisy."

(BOOM)

An explosion rocked the place they were in.

"What was that?"

"Perhaps the rest have successfully breached the wall." Bhishma was being optimistic.

"No no no. Lieutenant Arya. That's not the case."

"Wh-What?"

"That was your exit being sealed with rubble." Ajay revealed his intention to lock them from the outside. Vasu began to sweat as they were isolated from the men as they were to them, he could do nothing to support their assault.

"Judging from your expression Major Sen, you've figured out the seriousness of the situation." They turned to the direction of the voice and this time were rewarded with a glimpse of the mask greaming in the light cased from the manhole. He sat upon one of the four-metre-high walls of the labyrinth structure.

"You locked yourself with us, do you not realise the importance of your own head upon your shoulders to this battle?" Bhishma sneared mockingly. But all he received in response was a hearty laugh from the demon.

"It that how you saw it? I must say, unlike your elder brother, the two of you aren't so bright, how did you earn the title Deva again?" He laughed mockingly.

"You-…." Vasu blocked the two.

"Enough of your childish rants, this ends now."

"Of course it does, but not for me…." Ajay said as he melted into the darkness.

Their senses heightened as they observed around them.

(Pow) (Ching) "Huh?" Sanjeev looked to his hand that was suddenly jerked towards the wall, he looked up and found it impaled by an arrow to the concrete wall. For the first time since his ascension to whatever this state was, Sanjeev cried out in agony.

Despite their wits about them, they couldn't traced the origin of the arrow. Vasu and Bhishma began to sweat, despite their apparent immortality. Badala could 'hurt' them.

"But for you."

* * *

She stood at the ridge of a forest cave watching the battle below take place between the mortals. The Devas battle with the demon beneath the earth was no hindrance to her sight. She watched as the one she sought fought against immeasureable odds with a smile on his face, bringing back painful memories in the deepest recess of her mind.

" _History repeats with a twist, a revival of the Battle of Lanka."_ She sighed to herself.

Just then, footsteps could be heard and she turned her head. The intruder's presence had not been felt this entire time apparently so it was a surprise someone could sneak up on her of all people. Yet the intruder made no attempt to mask his presence at the last moment.

He came into full view from the shadow of the entrance. At first, she looked at him as if it were merely a traveller that chanced upon this place. But there was something very strange with his soul signature and his aura had a familiar detestable stench about him which she couldn't put her finger on despite her incredible wealth of knowledge.

His aura was playing havoc on her senses. But then, it hit her.

" _You!?"_

She responded with widen eyes.

"Yes. Me."

"….." She knew why he was here and how he came. And so did he.

" _You recovered a wheel from my Samsara Mirror, did you not?"_

He made no answer but the reply was obvious. He. Darshan drew out his wooden swords held in duel-wield, and threw several talisman papers onto his body and around his feet, beginning to chant.

She looked stunned at the action, but then began to laugh as she made sense of it all.

" _So that's what gave you this audacious confidence! Ahahahahaha! Just because the Demon Banishers, just because that girl could seal Yalung does not mean you can do the same!"_ She growled in apparent fury.

" _Nine order patriarchs casted ten vedi talismans onto him whilst draining their lifeforce to seal him. Though he and I are not the same. You are but one, a successor bearing their legacy yes. But alone."_ She said in a snort as she waved her hands about to cast a gust of wind. Darshan resisted as the wind was nullified by the surrounding talismans and faced the wooden sword in front to pierce the second torrent.

"Who says I'm alone?"

(Roar) A white black-stripped streak leaped out of the shadow towards her.

In that instant her icy heart sunk, the appearance of the new foe reigniting a fear she had deep within her. From the time, she met that damnable mortal, Kalinag.

When the Sky Guardian taught her, an immortal demon what was fear.


	64. Chapter 61 - Demon that lurks in Lanka

Author's Notes:

As per usual, a specials chapter is release with this one side by side. Two chapters. Most of you are familiar with this trend of mine.

Xing nian quai le (Happy chinese new year) Ma asian brothers and sisters! Who amongst you are born in the year of the Rooster, first one to PM me i will get fulfilled a special request to my best ability.

This chapter was written while listening to Bring me the Horizon - Throne

* * *

The witch backed away with inhuman reflexes making the white tiger slashed thin-air. A shadow neared towards her from her left with a cold merciless glint in his eyes, slashing his wooden sword towards her. Within the short time frame before his blades imminent arrival she waved her delicate hand across the floor sending a gust of dirt blowing upwards to form a material sand barrier.

Darshan took out a talisman and threw it towards the barrier, creating a nullified zone within the materialised barrier to allow him unhindered passage towards the one it blocked him from. At the moment the taliman touched the sand and the barrier crumbled a shining edge passed through the falling sand aimed for his heart.

His reflex kicked in and saved him at the last minute as the wooden blades blocked what appeared to be a broken sabre. But it was anything but oridinary. Using the sword as a means to push himself away from her, Darshan jumped back five metres and continued in an orderly withdrawl. While it looked more like an ancient relic, there was something he couldn't quite put on the broken blade. Something primodial and destructive about its aura, like it would destroy everything that stood in its way, good or evil it saw them as equals in its eyes. He looked to find one half of his sword had corroded where it contacted the broken iron, the corrosion continued until the wooden sword turned to ash and shattered. It was a foreign object to these lands, something that had always been in her possession. Months of crafting and inlaying formations disappeared in mere seconds, the sword wasn't normal at all. It had to be from the realm of legends, an astra?

"Bishal, jao!" Darshan ordered the big cat to have another go at her and suppress her while he performed another mode of attack.

Darshan faced her and pressed two finger to his forehead where his Ajna chakra was and drew a talisman with his spare hand while reciting to chant. Bishal continued with its vicious attacks which the cursed witch dodged with relative ease but with great concern. Its ancestor, the sky guardian had carved a deep lingering fear within her to bear for all eternity. Despite its limited immortality, the guardian sacrificed everything to maul her to death. The mortal Kalinag was no threat to her like the sky guardian was, though it had long passed to almost bring her to ruin. Darshan knew of this and used this opportunity to buy him time to prepare. She was obviously aware of his plans but it was getting increasingly difficult as it wasn't just Bishal, the sky guardian's apparent descendant she had to contend with but the talismans that Darshan intentionally scattered about the ground like landmines to limit her movement.

They contained sealing hexes that could severely limit her abilities. She was shocked to say the least, how prepared he was to take her on. Knowing full well she was an immortal demon, but not just any demon. Yet he seemed to have done considerable work to defeat her and he did so in the shortest span of time.

She was facing the prospect on him actually sealing her, or worse. Destroying her body and soul.

After finishing his internal mantra, Darshan pointed his two fingers towards her and said

"Seal!" in a commanding voice.

An invisible lightning flew out from his fingers and struck her, sending a wave of paralysis through her corporeal body. She vomit out blood from her mouth as she tried her best to fight back the complex formations that had entered her body and sent Dharmic rites to suppress her. She struggled to break free and evade his next action.

" _You!-…"_ She glared daggers at him.

But was beginning to feel the full threat of this man's abilities. His abilities were no less than those ten patriarchs of the long dead Demon Banisher Order, perhaps as strong as that girl.

"Seal!" He roared once again and an invisible pressure weighed down on her even harder, crushing the surrounding rocks and pebbles at her feet. Bishal stood watching as it could sense the current attack. This was made possible through the Karmic thread he entwined between them in his concentrated chant and laced it with sealing hexes. But Darshan was not doing this without a price, blood flowed out of his mouth and nose as a backlash for suppressing something as powerful as her for even a mere second was an agonizing task. Yet he did it with little regard for his own wellbeing, he had fully intended to face her with everything. A frightening willpower he possessed. The broken blade clattered to the floor as the stress of the spell he casted was becoming too heavy a burden to deal with.

Bishal closed in and flung its claws across her cloak tearing its ends as she narrowly avoided the strike despite her impairment. But this time she had to deal with not just the White Tiger but Darshan. The second she looked away from him, he'd covered the distance he previously created between them, both hands on his last wooden blade ready to impale her with. This was the opportunity he'd waited so long for, he wouldn't let it go into thin air.

It had been far too long since she'd felt mortal danger as she did now. The last time she met him, he wasn't even a speck worth of attention in dealing with. Now, he became such a powerful demon exorcist that could threaten her existence. There had never been such an individual like him for over millennia, not even the ten patriarchs of the Demon Banishing order were like this.

But most of all, she knew why he was doing all of this. She should have known, that rebellious look he gave moments before his 'death' weren't a trifling matter. She and him had been linked by a significant amount of Karma that their destinies intertwined. But now, he was thoroughly taking it from her to enhance his own, which was to annihilate her from existence and perhaps the one she sought.

As the wooden sword neared its final destination, she stared directly into his voidless eyes. It only said one thing back.

"Watch me destroy your world as you did mine."

As if she'd let that happen.

Though her carelessness had cost her significantly and suppressed her to the point she couldn't bring other lifesaving boons to change the situation around she had, but one last tool to defend her.

" _VEL!"_

At that moment, a violet thread whipped out coming dangerously close from above slashing downwards towards Darshan's head. He backed out as if he had eyes on the back of his head, thanks to his incredible senses it had saved him from an instant death.

A second cloaked figure landed in front of him between him and her mistress.

"…"

She didn't give him pause as she flicked her hand which launched attack after attack from her nearly invisible thread that lashed out at him. Sensing great danger if he ever got into contact with them he was forced to back away. The boulders that lay about were sliced diagonally apart from where the thread passed through.

Seeing the change in odds because he missed out this unexpected variable, Darshan grit his teeth and had only one choice. Withdrawl.

Bishal had not been occupied and continued his chase of the cursed witch who made quick strides to avoid it. But without Darshan to aid it in suppressing the witch it was merely a chasing game between them.

"Bishal, aie!" He called for the tiger to return as he jogged out of the cave and tossed a stream of hexing talismans to block their way towards his retreat.

The second figure gave chase as her priority was to destroy him for his attempt on her mistress.

" _Ignore him!"_

She commanded as she went over to pick up her precious sabre. The cloaked figure stood still facing her for a moment, then nodded and returned.

Had her tool not been there, she would have suffered greatly. Her views upon that man had changed dramatically, he was now the only one with the ability to threaten her future endeavours. And she wouldn't see the last of him.

As for Darshan, he sprinted out of the tunnel towards the light of the forest. But for the first time in a long time, an unslightly expression appeared on his face. He had waited sixteen years, prepped to the point that she had even show signs of losing to him. It was refreshing to see that expression of hers in disbelief but that was all he got out of their exchange. He failed to force her into submission.

That other woman, was more dangerous than her master. It was because her abilities were material and possessed high awareness in controlling those rock slicing violet threads. Where her mistressed invoked the wind and earth to deter him, he could easily nullify magic with a talisman and his hexing seal had worked upon her. Bishal sprinted alongside him as he quietly made his way out.

Next time…..

"Tsk!... There will be no next time, witch!"

* * *

Arrows wizzed out of the shadows at them, some struck the concrete walls, while some successfully struck them and sent them flying from the force of the arrows. What surprised them was the piercing power of the arrows that most bullets wouldn't harm them seriously as did these.

"Huh?" As Vasu raised his hand to fire his gun he felt paralysis restricting his arm movements. He forced pass the temporary paralysis and aimed his gun with difficulty.

(Pow) "Argh! Damn the gods!" Bhishma was struck by another arrow from the darkness.

It wasn't just him, they'd all received numerous arrows to their bodies but the insane recovery kicked in after they removed and crushed the arrowheads.

By now, Ajay had more a less confirmed it. There was something terribly wrong with the picture, he gave about four to five arrows each person who blazed away at the general direction he was in. But his enhanced guile with the wilderness training helped him stay stealthy.

-Active camo cloaks were for sissies.-

"Fight us fairly, Badala!"

"Fight you fairly? Stop stealing my lines, you self-righteous prick. Three obviously augmented men against little old me? I pray for some lenience." He mocked them in the dark. It was clear he couldn't engage them directly.

But he was now faced with the problem of how to defeat them. He was all eyes towards their wolverine like-recovery, all they needed were adamantium claws and they'd become the ultimate superweapons.

"You can't kill us, Badala. You should already see this by now. And because you've seen it, we cannot let you live." Vasu taunted.

"Oh? Just because I don't have the means to kill you doesn't mean I can't make life hell for you. Just like now."

"Hell?" Sanjeev bellowed laughter as he snorted at his remark.

"You've been feeling it haven't you, that sting in your joints, the sudden loss of bodily functions. You've been tasting a cocktail of my special recipe laced on my arrowheads."

Their eyes widened. Badala had been poisoning them all this while.

The question was, would their bodies be capable of purging the poison or break it down.

"Batarachotoxin from arrow frogs and would you believe it, Botox? The stuff celebrities use all the time to keep complexions permanent. Layman's term, it's freezes your nervous system at the point of entry."

Faced with Vasu's strength and toughness previously, Ajay planned on how to counter it and he came to a conclusion that he didn't need to hurt to subdue them. He could just disable them, but his mixture had to be strong enough to take down the strongest animal in Kyrat. Hence he chose a combination of nerve attacking poisons to paralyze them, though not sure if they would actually die or be frozen. He gambled. Now their movements had become sluggish and lethargic, pretty soon he could even throw them in an iron box and parade them to the troops to rouse morale. Vasu quickly understood this point and tried to get Badala to talk as much as possible to buy himself and the lads time to recover. Though he was unsure if they could wear off the effects quick enough.

"You-…. You bastard!"

"Doing underhanded tactics when we wanted to challenge you fairly!"

"Don't kid yourself. You wanted an easy victory where I delivered myself to you. To be honest if I had some VX or sarin gas I would have fumigated you in here." Ajay responded playfully but meant every word.

Vasu bit his lip, they were wasting precious time where the men needed them. But instead they were stuck with the most dangerous person in the Royal Army they had boastfully claimed would take out but were having trouble even coming into contact with him. It was unnerving, he was not at all intimidated by their immortal physiques. Instead, it was like a tougher challenge, that was all. And yet they were still in his grasps.

They only thing he was thankful for was that it was them and not their more vulnerable comrades in these labyrinths.

"Judging from your expression you seem relieved to know the rest didn't catch up to you in this deadly situation. I hate to break it to you Major Sen. But I received comms a while ago, your vanguard is all dead. Fifteen hundred made it to the wall ditches, five hundred went to the other labyrinths and got mauled by the tigers and honey badgers, the rest tried to climb the walls and got shredded. Now, Mohan was forced to release the main force to take advantage of the gap in directed firepower. Happened only about a minute ago."

Their mouths wanted to drop. An entire force of five thousand, gone! Just like that, in an engagement that hardly even lasted fifteen minutes. How many times did they outnumber the forces that defended the fortress? All of them, dead. Vasu had the urge to drop to his knees in defeat and regret.

"I-….. I sent them to their deaths…" He murmured.

"Brother.." Sanjeev was under the same emotions.

"Too late to be sorry, Major Sen." Ajay said in the background.

The grip on Vasu's kukri tightened to the point blood flowed from the handle.

"Aye!... Too late to regret, but not from this chance to kill you!" He raised his stiffened hand holding the rifle towards and fired his under-barrel grenade launcher towards the ceiling to widen the small hole.

(BOOM) The roof top rumbled and the hole did widen. Brightening a larger area of the labyrinth which he still could not see but could see anything around his immediate area clearly now. Including a crouching Badala on top of the four metre blocks that made the maze of the labyrinth.

Ajay smiled. He put this into consideration long ago, he was after all the supervisor for the construction of the fortress, every part.

"There!" Vasu pointed as the other two took aim.

Ajay let loose the already strung arrow holding the semtex grenade attached to the tungsten carbide arrowhead.

(Pow)

The arrow impaled flesh and came out from the back of Bhishma's shoulder.

"Arrraaghh!"

Unlike the previous times where the arrows only grazed them or stabbed the skin of their bodies, this one went through the toughness of Bhishma's altered body. Ajay already jumped into the labyrinth and disappeared from sight.

But Vasu and Sanjeev did not have time to be attend to Bhishma or even time to be shocked as the arrow detonated inside of his shoulder.

(BOOM) A wet-gory explosion from inside flesh severed a considerable chunk of Bhishma's arm from his body. Wetness splattered the walls including his brothers. Bhishma himself, collapsed onto the floor with blood pouring from his mouth and his eyes have a vacant look.

"BROTHER!"

It was beyond anything that their bodies could take, he'd lost a majority of his body and lost too much blood. Something that even his exceptional recovery couldn't easily deal with.

Vasu patted his brother up and about but no response came. Sanjeev was too shocked by the scene, had their bodies not been changed they would have died long ago. He witnessed his brother being killed. Fury rose to his watered eyes.

"BADALA!"

"No need to shout, I'm right here." He turned around to see Badala at the end of the labyrinth corridor they were in. His quiver bag was empty of arrows so that was what made him come out, he drew his kukri and unslung his slayer as he walked towards Vasu calmly. Sanjeev still couldn't believe Bhishma was dead so he applied immediate first aid to the worsening injury. And noticed him still breathing but faintly.

So now it was a one on one, between Ajay and Vasu. Deva versus Demon.

"I'm gonna KILL YOU!" Vasu sprinted with his kukri raised.

Behind the mask, Ajay leaked yet another cold smile. This was far from all he had to offer. He learnt from many lessons that the key to victory wasn't to hold something in reserve, but was to go through with it with his utmost the entire way. All out! And Ajay had only one means to force out every bit of his fiber and muscle into a single decisive moment. Now was the perfect time to use it, an isolated area where the Devas were severely weakened. He intended to make the Devas regret in hell they ever crossed him, he wanted to thoroughly humiliate the Golden Path through this. What he wanted was the Golden Path to reach its apex, to burn so brightly it would go out soon after. At the end of this battle, the Golden Path would be no more. He would be the one that snuffed it out. The secret to this was….

Deep within, his rage was forever burning.

* * *

From the watchtower in Delta Barracks, Maya and the Commanders of the Battalions in Unit 58 gathered to observe the surroundings. Villagers hurriedly ran to seek refuge in Hubris and Baghadur, which ever seemed safer to them. The garrisoned Tigers built barriers and defences around the stronghold in anticipation of an attack. But Maya planned for the Golden Path not to even reach them.

"If you were a simple farmer, where would you run?" Jeevan commented in regards to the fleeing civilians. They were leaving behind everything to find refuge from the fierce battle about to take place.

"…"

Though it was against her better judgement, Ajay made her bring Jeevan along. To experience the battlefield and the cruelty that could be invoked in a single skirmish. This battle was the best opportunity to understand the whims of war and who better to learn then from the best. Maya had been tasked to lead the entire brigade on her own, while her rank did not allow her to hold that appointment, no one was going to question Queen Min's protégé or the suggestion of Badala. She had already undergone training from four different places during her military career. One was Yuma personally culturing her ethics, the Royal Guard Academy where she learnt the art of war from both the aged training officers and of the Canton families' private military advisors in the academy, she'd been trained in the hunter's way by the chief shaman huntress whom also trained Darshan in the way long ago and have spent time abroad in a girl's convent school learning English and accountancy.

Most of the officers knew her as the woman that stood beside Badala on the earliest and the most astounding of campaigns victories in Kyrat. The Battle of Ratu Gadhi, The Meh Teh Offensive, The Crimson Forest. They knew that none of the members in the Duke's retinue were ordinary, therefore so was she. But that kid-

"Um- I'd like to say a few words." To her surprise and theirs, Jeevan voiced out to the whole group of officers.

They turned their heads towards the young man, the words 'Future Commander of Unit 58' still rung clear in their heads from Samson's mouth despite it being months ago.

The lad whom many speculated was Badala's student. But his complexion said anything other than a warrior so they had their doubts about his credibility as a competent fighter.

"Thank you. My name is Jeevan, most of you might know me as that kid with His grace. And you might be right. I've spent nearly half of my youth in a cage reading only the theory of fighting, it was by his Grace- my teacher's grace that I'm even here. I know that it isn't a trivial matter that's happening, even now I'm trembling at the thought of being involved in battle despite the numerous lessons I had with the Italians, Hurk and Captain Kadayat here. I don't know what his grace was thinking, putting me in charge over veterans of many battles in the future. What he even sees in a person like me He's never answered that question." He walked over to the table where they were discussing the distribution of the soldiers to.

"My father urged me to return, my sister begged me not to go. I'm scared, this is all so new to me. But what I'm more afraid of is turning my back to fate, I've learnt the hard way very early in my life. And I do not want to repeat that mistake. You may not trust me in what I have to say even now, and I acknowledge and respect it."

"I don't know you, and you don't know me. But I hope that in the tempering of battle I'll get to know each and everyone of you. From foot soldier to commander. You might not think me qualified to lead you, that makes two of us. But I have a promise to my sister, a goal in life, a reputation as Lord Badala's apprentice to be obligated to. If I don't die early, I will be the strongest commander under My teacher!" Jeevan pumped his fist in the air.

"Even if my hands bleed, my body collapsing, my life on the verge of being snuffed out. I will do everything to make it a reality." He said with a gleam of determination in his eyes. The officers were temporarily astounded.

It was something that only their liege seems to emacuate move than once.

"So eager to do battle, I like it! I say, let the kid have a go!" Er Hu laughed heartily and came over to slap the kid on the back. But Jeevan and Maya could see that he was trying to shorten the gap between his fellow commanders and Jeevan.

Some visibly nodded while others still have a silver of doubt as they would have to leave it up to today to find out.

"If you're all done, I will distribute the battle proceedings."

"""Yes, ma'am!""" The shouted in unison, Jeevan included.

"Tiger and Leopard shall maintain Delta Barracks fortifications."

""Aye, ma'am!"" The Tiger Field Commander and Captain Sandesh nodded.

"Badger will perform reconnaissance and report fire missions for the 4th Fusiliers Battery. Do not call in danger close under any circumstance." She warned them not to call in fire support to close to their troop positions. This wasn't mortar fire they were calling but heavy field artillery designed to level a base or field battalion with a single barrage.

"We'll try our best, what are our Rules of engagement?"

"Do not reveal your location to the enemy under any circumstance. If fired upon, then withdrawl. Don't let yourself be cornered."

"Yes, ma'am." Loken saluted before dashing off to command Badger Battalion, comprised mostly of his 13th scouting group comrades but also an assortment of other units' men.

"Bear will remain in reserve in case the Golden Path expeditionary force tries anything funny."

"Understood." Responded the Army Major.

Maya turned to Chief Yang last.

"Do what Huns do best." She said with a smile.

Er Hu grinned ferociously and cackled cruelly.

"Jeevan, you will follow me to link up with Hurk to find the Command element of the fractional force."

"Alright."

Maya picked up her rifle and walked towards the exit to link with the Hussars, Dragoon battalions, the Condotierri and Hurk, Jeevan followed suit. But before she left.

"May the king's light shine upon you. That if you perish your spirit will forever be remembered and revered. And if you survive, your descendants would forever chant your glories." She said with a meaningful smile.

"Good luck, kid!" Er Hu patted him meaningfully as he passed him. The other commanders nodded to give their compliments.

She then raised her fist in a ball and shouted. "Courage!" Not only the officers but the men down at the field preparing their munitions and equipment heard her shout and put down their things. In that instant, a regimental response they had recited since the conception of the unit filled their heads.

"""HONOUR!""" They chanted in response.

"Loyalty!" She called back and they answered with-

"""ETERNAL!"""

* * *

The forward bastion where Ajay had initially defended was now run directly by Amita who stood in for him. She did what she did best, diverting unnecessary supplying areas to the more critical locations like the one she was in. The morale held pretty well, whatever Badala had told them made them completely eager to see the end of this fight. The Golden Path main force had decided to mobilize while the fortress was gathering its strength from completely crushing their vanguard. The dispatch reported Ajay duelling with the three Devas personally, as much as it was a sight everyone wanted to see they had more pressing matters.

"Short controlled burst!" The sergeants reminded the men to conserve ammunition as they fired their weapons only at the effective ranges. Currently, the mortars, howitzers, autocannons, recoilless rifles and General Purpose Machine Guns were firing non-stop at the converging Golden Path main force approximately twenty-five thousand strong a mile away. While they had taken minimal casualties on their end, they couldn't afford to be worn down by the Golden Path. The 25,000 men divided into three groups to storm the three different Bastions as manned by the Royal Army. Yuma's Royal Guard were kept in reserve at King's Bridge to support whomever needed it.

Amita observed through her binoculars on the commander's observation post the fighters a mile away getting shredded by firepower that would have annihilated any force smaller. But they never stopped nor did they quit, the rushed towards the safety of the anti-vehicle trench and the wall trench. When one died, ten took his place. It was a resurgence of the Korean War, where a million Chinese soldiers rushed to batter the US and UN forces for crossing Yalu River. Dropping like flies and in the thousands, forced the allies to retreat and men who fought had recurring nightmares.

(BOOM)(BOOM)(BOOM)(BOOM)

An eruption of earth from where the 155mm shells of the howitzers burst over head onto the thousands of troops, but soon they were entering the danger close area which was too near to the fortress itself and could potentially harm the defenders instead.

"Amita, dispatch from Colonel Raja!" The lieutenant reported.

"Send it."

"He wishes to reduce the munitions replenishment by half."

"What?! Why?"

"He wants to create an exit for the Royal Guards to outflank their main force but right now the chances of them breaking through the siege is the lowest. He wants to quickly reduce the enemy concentration at Bastion 3 to the West so they have a window."

Amita thought about the bigger picture, it was difficult to say no in this kind of situation where every round counted. And they were depleting their reserves faster than anticipated, because they had contested with the Vanguard initially.

"Fine, have it his way then. I'll deal with what I have, but remind him. That if this front breaks, we'll have ourselves more than a problem of deterring them. Wait for my signal to commence their breakthrough." The lieutenant nodded and ran towards the Command centre in the central keep. These high-profile messages couldn't be sent on the air wave for security precaution in cased they might be listened in on by a hacker.

They had already reached the minefields.

"Engineers! Prepare the demolition charges!"

The engineering team that was with them went about collecting the respective detonating plungers and clacker detonating devices.

When they returned with the det cords attached them and reported their green light condition.

"Just hold on."

The Golden Path forces funnelled in through the narrow breach made by the vanguard which was limiting their push up ahead. But more engineers on their side began to use the bangalore devices in their possession to detonate the mines. Soon, five similar breaches appeared in the minefield of the Golden Path to safely cross, the flow of warriors entering increased.

Now the bulk of their forces had reached the anti-vehicle trenches, it was the line for the surprise the Royal army had prepared especially for the main force and withheld it when the vanguard crossed.

"Hold." Amita told them as she held her hand up.

Over three thousand gathered into the trenches.

"Hold. Forward elements, ceasefire and take cover." She sent her orders to the defensive line in the forward most part of the wall. And they obeyed and took cover. Allowing the Golden Path to randomly fired over their heads.

Eight thousand gathered.

"Hold. If you ruin it, I'll kill you myself!" She shouted to the eager engineers, it was too serious a sequence to mess up and meant the difference between major loss and victory. They had set up the surprise a few days in advance before the Golden Path even arrived.

Fifteen thousand gathered and were already preparing to go the final three hundred metres across the barbwire and moat.

"Amita!" The Chief Engineer shouted anxiously that they would miss the maximum cut.

"Hold! That's not enough!" She insisted.

Eighteen thousand came through the minefield and gathered but the trenches, since nobody was firing at them from where they were, they got comfortable gathering warriors there while the rest looked to cross the final obstacles.

"Amita!"

"Shut up and do as I say!" She was getting pisssed. She knew they spent days of hard effort laying their works right under the anti-vehicle trenches but it simply wasn't the max they could go.

"Amita!" A different person called out.

"What!"

"Enemy Commander Mohan Ghale sighted at grid A3." She reached for her binoculars and looked at the furthest mark approximately a mile and a half away in the treeline of the forest. There he was, standing proudly, watching the battle from his binoculars. Until his eyes met with hers. Though it was a brief period, she spotted the most disturbing sight which was him smiling back at her. As much as she wanted to have a special team go out and hunt him she had to stay where she was.

"Call for priority barrage on grid A3! Subject is enemy Leader, Ghale! And have it in a creeping barrage toward the forest in fifty metre increments."

"But that's outside the engag-."

"Don't let that bastard escape!" She reminded the observer that it was too important to miss.

"Yes, Amita!" The forward observer rung the artillery battery directly. It was a priority fire mission they couldn't miss.

She looked through the binoculars again, but this time he was no longer there. Amita, pursed her lips, she didn't know if he knew and would escape fast enough.

"Cancel the last order, don't waste an unnecessary barrage on a probability." Amita frowned, they were this close to potentially killing the leadership but she had other things to handle now.

"Amita, they've passed the barbwire!"

She looked back to the current battlefield and towards the anti-vehicle trenches. The limit had been reached, twenty thousand had passed.

She looked back at the engineers.

"Do it!"

The Chief engineer nodded and turned north, south, east and west shouting. "Fire in the hole! Fire in the hole! Fire in the hole! Fire in the hole!"

"Hit the deck!" The officers ordered their men to get down.

"Hit it!"

(Click)(Click)(Click)(Click) The engineers depressed their plungers and electric ignitions.

What followed was a land wide tremor and a bright light emminating from the ground where at least twenty thousand gathered.

(BOOOOOOOOOOOM)

The entire trench line erupted in hundred-metre high flames where a mixture of high heat napalm and thermobaric explosives were buried and instantly vaporised and killed around twelve thousand warriors with the intense heat and powerful shockwave. The rest were knocked off their feet and unconscious from the massive concussive force.

The defenders from the three bastions roared in success of their plan all along before their respective commandants gather the order.

"KILL!"

Amita had intentionally delayed the explosives detonation until a certain amount came through, this was so they could isolate a certain manageable amount from the rest of the force that had yet to pass through the trenches on the other side of the massive firewall where the the trench was. The bodies added to the fuel and kept the flames going.

The field commanders who had come to realised the dilemma they had fallen into, a horrible trap.

The defenders bellowed with joy as they lay down a thick layer of firepower at the trapped fighters that were on their side of the firewall.

The sudden attack had stripped some of the warriors of comprehension as they walked around like zombies, refusing to accept the reality of the situation. Of course, they didn't last long with the amount of firepower that was being carried across they would get killed by stray shots. The rest trembled as they were unsure of what to do it this situation. Trapped between advancing with insufficient numbers or risking the flames to run away. The Field Commanders did their best to maintain order in the field of complete chaos. The rear guard sent barrages of smokescreen to cover the trapped element from gunfire and visibility as much as they could, but from there they could do nothing else.

The element which was on the other side of the firewall near the forest and the rear were helpless to save their comrades on the other side. All they could to was either wait for the flames to die down, look for another passage through, or simply abandon ten thousand warriors to their fate.

Somewhere in the forest line, Mohan stared shocked but then grit his teeth with an expression of fury. That face of the women commander, he would remember it where ever he went.

Amita was oblivious towards Mohan's sensitive feelings as she was dispatching her orders to directing fire towards the ten thousand men that chose to converge on the fortress as they had no other choice. But the difference between the two thousand that reached the barbwire and ten thousand that were three hundred metres away from they were two different stories.

"Amita, we're running dry on ammo! The reserve's been depleted!"

"What of the resupplying?"

"Not a word from command nor supplies."

"Damn it, Raja!" She cursed. They could potentially lose the front bastion to the Golden Path if this persisted. With the fighters' current desperation it was looking to be a sure possibility. The ten thousand weren't spreading their forces any longer, they were all converging on the bastion where Amita was, in the hopes of turning it into an urban fight where they stood a better chance of survival.

"Prepare bayonets." She ordered with little choice.

"Mount bayonets!"

"Bayonets!" The officers and NCOs passed the message to the thousand soldiers on the walls.

One hundred metres.

They had done the same thing as the Vanguard in concern with the barbwire, they had an unlimited supply of willing volunteers. Something Amita couldn't help but admire but also feel disappointment for.

-You waste your life over nothing.-

"Do not let them approach the wall!" The forward Captain shouted to the men as they took precise shots at the charging fighters. But everytime they sniped someone dead, a few more came running from the front. Now, the Golden Path were so tightly packed someone would definitely take a stray shot fired by the defending soldiers. But that didn't stop them in their tracks.

The Golden Path were supplied by Pakistan Ordnance Factory via the CIA, so their foot soldiers were as well equipped as a professional army. Battle rifles and full body armor which reduced the casualty rate of the entire thirty thousand that attacked the fortress. The Golden Path were also fuelled by one single desire which was to kill the enemy in the fortress. Although from the strategic standing point, they had taken so much loses in the battle of attrition that they would not have sufficient forces to invade the North safely after this. But they would have the fortress to guard against the North instead, that's if they could take control of it.

In truth, they were barely even passed the first inner wall defence and only at the outer most layer. After this, was a second high-wall that was vertical instead of reclined like the first. The wall did not have any flat areas to assail by ladder too. Then, there was another moat that isolated the central Keep where the Arsenal, Comms centre and Command centre were. Only by an internal drawbridge could they enter.

But right now all of the defenders were at the first wall layer, to retreat would incur heavy casualties and they wouldn't necessarily hold out for long. The fortress wasn't sufficiently manned as the Royal guard were held in reserve as part of the major plan. The reason they hard difficulty with ammo was also because of the same plan.

Fifty metres.

They attempted to cross the moat stream of water as quickly as possible.

"Throw molotols!"

If the Golden Path that crossed the moat previously and just crossed it could smell that petrol smell, they would have known it was another trap.

The molotol petrol bombs flew in the air towards the moat and struck some warriors cracking the bottle and releasing the fire while some fell into the water and extinguished. It didn't matter, as it only took one spark to turn the moat into a river of flame that lit up those currently within. The advance was halted as some survivors came out screaming to put out the flames, all their comrades could do was offer mercy kills or they would be set on fire themselves.

(BOOOOM)

Amita looked into the distance to see and explosion where the sea of flame where the anti-vehicle trench and first trap was being blown at a certain point. The flames in that area died down. Amita knew what they did. They used explosives to burn out the immediate oxygen to kill the fire in that area. The rest of the Golden Path who had been isolated from the trapped fighters poured in to join them. Amita grit her teeth, this wasn't expected. The enemy commander had figured out a way around this problem quicker than expected.

The previously trapped ten thousand gave a jubilant roar as their morale restored with their faith in the cause. First to come through that breach was the great leader himself, leading the charge. The roars became louder till it deafened the ears.

The Golden Path whilst still taking heavy casualties, threw their grenade reserves into the river moat to do the same as what their main force did.

"Shit!" Amita realised the seriousness of the situation taking a turn for the worst.

"All units, fall back to the second level!" No one was deaf to her command, they anticipated her giving it in light of the changes in odds. They got up immediately from cover and made an orderly retreat into the high wall. The other bastions weren't taking such a significant beating as the golden Path was solely focused on Bastion One were Amita was. However because of the nature of the fortress design, they could lend their firepower to direct it at the exposed flanks of the Golden Path advance. They were in fact taking the heaviest casualties from those attacks. But the situation wasn't improving, where were the Royal Guard?

-Colonel Raja was withholding them for too long!- Amita cursed internally as was still staying behind to lead the last of the forces to the second level.

But then, a white flag popped out of the chaos. The Golden Path halted the advance as soon as their commanders told them to hold.

"Ceasefire!" Amita waved to the signaller.

"Ceasefire! I repeat! All Bastions, ceasefire!" The signaller sounded off on the radio.

The firing died down on their end as well. The Defenders in the company of Amita returned to the walls in shock of what could possibly warrant a ceasefire at a time like this.

To honour their agreement to a ceasefire, the Golden Path withdrew to the trenches. All of them.

The Soldiers wondered what would happen next, and that was when he came out.

"Sunnova-.."

"It's Mohan!"

"Fucking traitor!"

The soldiers cursed. Amita walked forward to the edge of the inclined wall.

"What is the meaning of this Mohan Ghale? Do all Golden Path leaders love to get smug even before their assumed victory?" She referred to Sabal in all his empty showiness.

"That wit, you must be Amita. The woman I've heard so much about."

"What do you want?" She snapped coldly.

"What do I want? That would be a question I ask you, you saw the flag and didn't dissuade it but agreed to ceasefire."

"We will accept your surrender." She responded, to which the Golden Path collectively laughed.

"You seem to be mistaken, I didn't come out to request a ceasefire with the Royal Army. I came requesting it from you."

"Me?..." She frowned.

"I've heard about how you and your company had been poorly treated by Sabal and the old guard alike. And it was truly their responsibility which they will pay in full for forcing you and your companions to be betrayed by them."

"No use crying over spilt milk."

"Indeed. So here are my terms, you and Baghadur join us. You lead Golden Path at my side and we will rid the North of Pagan's foreign presence. When this civil war ends, you will have the position of prime minister and ten percent of the land for yourself to cultivate whatever you desire." Mohan offered generously. Even his own warriors were shocked, why did Mohan want her so bad?

The soldiers looked at Mohan with fury in their eyes. He dared to ask an ally to turncoat against them in the midst of the battle. Some were inclined to shot him where he stood, but Colonel Raja, the acting-commandant of the fortress gave the order to ceasefire over the comms to all forces as did Amita.

Amita closed her eyes and sighed. Mohan had deeply analysed her history and found her desires and hoped to fulfil them. It was an offer that few could refuse, to lead the country in the future and own a part of it as her own. With the Golden Path and Tigers combine strength it didn't seem impossible, provided they take the fortress.

Mohan's expression turned to a smile as he assumed it was going well.

Amita opened her eyes and stared at Mohan deeply. Mohan thought he had won a new ally.

"Are you retarded?" She mocked him as she let out a smirk.

The Golden Path were shocked by her refusal, knowing her, she should have agreed to it. And yet-

"""HAhahahahaha!""" The bastion forces laughed their hearts out.

For a brief moment, Mohan's expression distorted from his usual calm smile to show displeasure before returing to a blank one. Then he sighed.

"I see, you and your comrades have already been corrupted by Badala's influence." He said loudly for all to hear, he was justifying the Golden Paths destruction of the tigers under the pretense of corruption.

Amita was slightly astounded by the way he dictated facts so quickly, but she didn't regret her decision on behalf of the Tigers at all. They had gone through thick and thin with the Royal Army and Badala who defended them from ruthless raids and attacks by Sabal and the Golden Path for months. They supplied them with necessities they desperately needed, they gave them arms to protect themselves and lent troops to call for aid, they recognised their struggle for equality for men and women of common birth. To turn their back to this kindness was showing how hopeless they were to adversity and how poor their moral was to not see who was right and wrong.

Mohan had made a poor judgement of her character, based on her old personality that the Golden Path and Sabal painted her in. But it was also partly Badala's fault for changing some of her usual quirks.

"Whatever, just go back to your rearguard so you can be protected." Amita said coldly to him with a look of disdain for him. It was that look that triggered something in Mohan, bringing out a fury he hid deep within which he nearly lost control of when she looked at him that way. He responded with a hateful glare which made her veer back slightly.

Mohan returned to the centre of congregation of the warriors and drew out his kukri in a symbolic charge.

"All units, prepare to charge!"

The Golden Path clattered with their guns and knives in a war cry for a final charge.

"For the people! For Kyra and for-(BOOM)" An explosion ruptured from the tunnel which was previously sealed to trap the Devas.

"What?!"

But it was no explosives that cleared the rubble, but brute force which sent the human head sized boulders flying in the direction of the Golden Path and wounded some.

Flying out of the tunnel were two shadows that belonged to Vasu and Sanjeev, who landed on their feet perfectly despite their grievious injuries but stared with their wits about them at the clouded figure from the dust blown up from the forceful removal of the blockage. The figure somersaulted in a backflip and landed on the wall just next to Amita. Amita stared in shock as did the rest of the defenders who saw it.

When the dust cloud disappeared, the Golden Path and Mohan were host to a sight of disbelief. Some started to shiver, while others glared at the figure.

The figure being Badala.

But it wasn't just his appearance that made them shock.

"Let go of my brother!"

Held up with one hand was the wounded Bhishma, now conscious and frightened by the things he'd seen.

"Ah-….ahhhh…" He wailed in fear. To see the fright in a Devas eyes was a disturbing sight for the rest of the Golden Path fighters.

But it wasn't just Ajay standing on the wall with Bhishma raised in his hand from his back, it was as the demon.

A tremor ran through Mohan as he sensed something emaculating strongly from the demon.

"BADALA! Let him-."

The demon smiled and held Bhishma's leg with the free hand.

"Stop- what are you-." Vasu was starting to get nervous.

"Ah-…brother-."

The demon's hands tightened around his leg and neck and pulled in the opposite direction.

"STOOOPP!"

"Brothe- aaaarrrrrrgghhhhh!" Bhishma screamed as the demon tore his body in two. Even despite his bodily hardness, the insane recovery. It was all useless before the demon's strength.

(RIIIIIIPPPP) All were witness to the scene and sound of Bhishma's body being ripped in half from the waist. Blood sprayed everywhere, and his spine tore out from the lower body part as it stayed with the top. The demon threw the lower body towards the remaining Devas. Bhishma's expression was locked in utter and endless agony, from the torturous death he received. The scene was especially shocking to Mohan, who knew the actual strength of the exalted Devas. His teeth trembled at the sight.

The demon didn't stop there in its campaign to complete scare the Golden Path. It raised the upper half it kept and held it over its head and let the flowing blood drench its face. The rich blood poured into its mouth, sating its hungered appetite.

Then-

"EERRRRAAAAAAAAHHH!" Its roar echoed throughout the mountain, villagers near Shanath who had heard a similar roar months ago wondered where it came from and what creature could unleash such a bloodcurling roar.

Only the defending soldiers knew, only the eighteen thousand shivering Golden Path soldiers knew.

(Thump) Vasu's knees slammed onto the dirt in front of him, his eyes overflowed with tears.

The second half was thrown towards the lifeless Vasu and utterly shocked Sanjeev and fighters near by.

To kill a Deva, one that stood above a thousand warriors alone. His promise to the soldiers had come true. To the Golden Path, it was a nightmare they simply couldn't accept that instance. But now they had a different crisis, the demon turned towards the sea of fighters and released a bloodcurling smile.

Sanjeev regretted everything they did to lead up to this point, everything that was said to him, everything they did. To unleash, such a dreadful demon. The claims by the scarred survivors were not a single bit false at all. The demon was real. But things were far from over as it was. It's next words chilled to the core, whomever was nearby to hear it.

" **More."**

* * *

Author's thoughts:

(Ajay Banner) "That's my secret. I'm always angry." (Turns humongously red)

(Ajay Hulk devastates the Devas)

(Vasu Loki) "ENOUGH!"

(Ajay Hulk stops)

(Vasu Loki) "You are what're you beneath me. I am a Deva you foul creature! And I will not be bullied by- Arrhh!

(grabbed by the leg and pummelled around the ground)

(Vasu Loki) "….ah….."

(Ajay Hulk) "Puny Deva." (Walks away in style)

(Vasu Loki) "(whines miserably in shock and pain)"


	65. Chapter 61(d) - A Returning Saraswati

Author's Notes:

Fourth special. Attached to chapter 61. Enjoy.

* * *

The courtyards of the Defence Academy in Maharashtra were grand, it almost reminded her of her time in Sandhurst.

Saraswati was given a dorm room that faced the gardens, it was a beautiful sight to wake up to every morning for the last two months. The Academy Commandant who was her father's old classmate loaned her the room and said it was where her father bunked with him when they were mere aspiring cadets hoping for a better future for their families and for their nations.

It was the same Academy commandant who arranged with his friends in high places whom were his and her father's year group to establish a dialogue between Kyrat and New Dehli. She had been hard at work flying to and from the Capital of india for the Parliament building and back to monitor the progress on the cadets and officers bought over to study field craft in their military courses as guests.

"Saraswati, you there?" A knock came to her door.

"Yes?"

A female cadet popped her head in.

"Just checking that you're alright, you need me to help pack?"

"No. That's alright, I'm fine doing it at my pace."

"Mmm…. Can I enter?"

"Of course, you can. Akhila." After giving her permission the young woman happily strolled in looking around the room that was in the midst of clearing up.

"So you're really leaving this place, huh?"

Saras put down her folded clothing and looked towards the anxious woman with a smile.

"It was a short but enjoyable stay, you and the girls have made it so. I have a civil war to return to and there's someone who needs me back home."

"Back home?.. Ahhhh…" Akhila smirked, as she got the meaning.

"A special someone I see."

"That's right, nothing to get worked up about, my dear." Saras sighed as she returned to packing her bags. While she had until the end of the day she liked to prepare early so she was free to do whatever she liked right after.

"Nothing to get worked up? Royal Kyrati Army Major Saraswati Roka, the dazzling ocean jewel amongst the already few women in the NDA. Whom the dashing young officers would gather around from all services training wings could only dream of having just a mere chat with?"

"…."

It's not that she wanted to draw attention everytime. She faced the same dilemma in Sandhurst when some of the fellow British cadets of hers hit on her every opportunity they could, it did however allow her to go home with top honours since every bright charming officer was willing to lend her a hand in earning credits just for a smile or pleasing compliments. She chuckled as it was seemingly the same everywhere than just Sandhurst.

"Men are simple creatures, they'd go all lengths for just to please you but don't fall for their façade." It was profound advice from her mother which she took to heart. But Ajay was different from the rest of the men. When she first met him, he was probably the first not to stare at her for her looks or proportions. At the time, the only thing on his mind was his mission, so he judged her by her capabilities than her appeal. He even shunned her advances which were initially playful teasing. Her father initially had good vibes about him as well but soon changed his mind as he was building a reputation as a grim reaper of the King that struck all who dared to harbour ill will towards the king. He was loyal like them, but his loyalty was not to the position but the man on the throne. Her father once said if he had to chose between saving Kyrat and King Min, he'd would likely chose the latter.

It was clear he had a complex history with King Min due to his mother and her aunt, Lady Ishwari. Though she missed the coronation ceremony at Crystal Falls for the shocking news that Ajay had been conferred the title of Duke and Mistress Lau became the next queen-consort. There was a small celebration within the quarters for the Kyrati Officers, all of them held Ajay in the highest regard, some Indian officers were invited to party with them. Although Maya's brother was a little too silent for his own good at the party.

She knew it wasn't ill thoughts, he was merely concerned with Ajay's constant stream of reckless actions and demands. When King Min first appointed him to be his attendant, his mission was to protect Ajay. Yet at every corner, Ajay shoved him aside from danger. He wondered if he was being the one protected instead, it obviously was. Ajay did it because of their father's sacrifice and Maya's only living family.

Duke of Lakshman. She had heard his families epic when he told Noore. The name of the child that would have become Princess Min had Mohan not killed her twenty-five odd years ago. He honoured his dead-half sister by naming the town after her. It made Saras realise how broken his family truly was, she had the fortune of having loving parents that were still in mutual terms. It made her admire his courage to accept such a incomplete family.

She wondered when did her admiration turn into an affection for him. Was it after the airport offensive? Or was it when they first met? The man who donned mask and title of demon, vicious to his enemies yet forgiving and benevolent towards his people. That was probably the part which attracted her to him, someone that selflessly gave not just his all but his everything to bring peace to Kyrat without ulterior agenda without expecting returns. When she followed him into the mountains and became a burden he did not complain once about her stubbornness to follow, when he thought she died. She witness him go on a self-destructive rampage, forgetting his own mission to save Maya. Threatening the ethereal mysterious power that he would burn its essence for taking her away to the point that the presence feared him. She could feel all of this while she'd been trapped within the presence's collective conscience which it chose to sever from her to save itself. This she did not tell Ajay, because even she didn't understand it at the time. But her heart melted to see him do such a thing, that her life had such a meaning to him. Though he had constantly denied having that sort of feelings to her, actions were always louder than words.

Noore had once told her, he was driven by a deathwish. To free Kyrat from the cursed legacy of Mohan, the Golden Path and himself. He would destroy both, it was his penitence for the crime of rebellion his father incited and an unabsolvable guilt he held. She'd heard the disturbing news sometime later from Layak that Mohan had returned from the grave and the Devas broke out of prison or were coming out of hiding. Their latest plan was her shelved project deemed to expensive to build but after a unanimous decision from high command, mistress Lau and Ajay they commenced construction. They did the insane by building in the midst of the storm which seemed highly risky, but it showed how desperate they were.

Her time was up in India, the replacement officer had arrived to take over her office in delegation and negotiation. She wasn't about to excuse herself while the others were fighting even harder with Mohan around.

"You've been awfully quiet."

"It's fine, just thinking about some stuff back home, that's all."

"We really wish you could stay longer."

"Thank you, Akhila dear." She went over to accept an embrace from the leading cadet.

"Come, I'll lend you a hand with the luggage."

* * *

It would be a two-day trip back to Kyrat, they first had to take a coach to New Delhi then a private airfield to charter a flight directly to the Royal Kyrati Airport, otherwise known as Meh Teh. Saraswati took her time to meet with the only person who was returning with her, coming alongside her was Akhila the Army cadet whom she developed a friendship with in that short time span. She also had trouble getting out of her dorm as she passed the corridor. The cadets in the dorm and outside came to say their goodbyes, some handed her gifts to remember them by. So by the end of the building exit, their was a stack on her luggage she and Akhila carried.

"Surprise that person didn't come find you, considering that it's campus wide knowledge of your departure."

"Please don't remind me." Saras responded as if she had a headache. There had never been a person that pestered her as much as he did when he first encountered her during the new year celebration. If fact, it was the time many became acquainted with who was Saraswati Roka, she still could remember their silly faces when she came in with the indigo formal gown. For that night, she was the star of the hall, almost every man requested a dance with her and some bold women too. Akhila had difficulty swatting them away. In the end, she chose the Academy's Commandant, her father's acquaintance. Nobody could be upset about her choice. Except for one very annoying fellow from the air wing.

She wondered if Ajay had ever looked at her the same way she looked at that fella. Because if he did, she felt mighty guilty despite her affection for him.

Of course the person she was referring to-

"My beloved! How could you leave at a time like this?!" A handsome man wearing the uniform of the Air Force wing cadets went down on one knee in front of them as they turned the curb.

"(Sigh)."

That person was Pravindra Kumar, the airforce hotshot in the Indian Air Force. Speak of the devil and he shall appear.

"I spoke too soon." Akhila said with her hand to her mouth, covering the chuckling.

Saraswati didn't bother with him and pulled the luggage along to meet up with the person heading back with her to Kyrat.

"Goodbye, Cadet Kumar."

"Oh come on! Are you really gonna leave me?! After all the time we spent together?" He pleaded.

"Invading our privacy at the cafeteria was spending time together?" Akhila couldn't help but frown while saying.

"Shut up, nobody!" He said to her before turning back to Saras.

"Excuse me?!"

"No, excuse me. I'm having a delicate conversation, please leave."

"W-What?" Akhila was too shocked at the ubsurdness of Pravindra's words. But he was not interested to hear her views. Only his 'beloved's'.

A hamper flew his way and hit him on the head

"Ouch! Hehehe! Correcting my speech I see." It had become reflex for Saras, everytime he did something rude she'd throw something at him. She couldn't understand what would make him so aggressive towards anyone associated with Saras. At one time, he even harassed a lecturer who had asked Saras for an opinion regarding defensive tactics because she gave such a fantastic presentation once.

"Come on, Akhila. I don't want to keep Bipin waiting."

"Ah- alright." She mored along with her as they made their way to Bipins dorm before heading to the chauffeured car waiting for them at the academy's front gate.

They barely moved more than three metres before Pravindra came in front of them with his hands raised in a stop motion.

"You can't be serious? Do I mean so little to you?"

Saras wanted to slam her head on a wall. It was always his constant yapping. For once, she was grateful it was only two months before she could leave this place and him behind.

Pravindra had invaded her personal space on several occasions on a daily basis. The Commandant was reluctant to restrain him as the damn pilot had a special status and an impressive record at the flight school and several clashes between Indian and Pakistani airspace that were unofficial. He was a rising 'top gun' star in the Airforce that the joint chief recognised his contribution.

"Yes, please get lost. I have more important things to do." She was not at all tactful in the way she said it as she felt he didn't deserve her respect anymore.

"You say such hateful things so soon, I know! You are just trying to break our bond so that I would not suffer so much! So you do care for me!" He begun making stuff out of his ass. Akhila was having a headache as well. She couldn't believe how the once prideful and arrogant top student was like butter in front of Saraswati. Saying stupid things.

"You're the most annoying person I've ever met, please stop breathing in front of me." She said as she moved around him.

"Ah-…wait!"

"Major Roka." Bipin appeared around the corner with all his luggage with him. Dressed neatly in his royal red formal uniform of the Royal Guards, he looked every bit an officer of the Royal Guard.

"Ah- Bipin! You're out early, I was about to head over to help you. And what did I tell you about my name, just call me Saras. Your elder sister calls me that too anyways." It was a 180 treatment she gave to Bipin compared to Pravindra which made him turn red with jealousy.

"With respect, ma'am. I don't possess the same status as my sister. You are still my superior officer so the compliments will be such, ma'am." He said in an orderly military way without much emotion.

Saras chuckled. "You've certainly grown quite a bit these two months, I hope Ajay feels the same way as I do." She said with a smile. Bipin jittered about uncomfortably at the mention of his charge's name.

"Who is this Ajay? Please share with me, beloved! Why does mentioning his name bring a smile to you?" Pravindra asked anxiously as he cut in rudely.

Saras was at her limit, the mores she went physical like she usually did the more he took it as affection. The same applied for hateful words, but it was becoming tiresome to let him jabber while she maintained her silence. Which was why she suddenly thought of a way out with the concern Pravindra suddenly showed with the mention of Ajay.

"Oh, him? Why, that's the name of my husband." She said with a smile that was not a bit fake. Because it wasn't technically wrong.

Akhila raised her hand to her mouth in surprise. Bipin sighed. And Pravindra wore a face of utter grief. It turned so pale, his healthy tan skin turned so pale he could have passed for a corpse.

"You-….be- beloved? M-Married?... Uh- Beloved, you've pulling a fast one on me right?" He looked at her with a speck of hope in his eyes. Why didn't she just say it in the beginning, she didn't know why. At this point, she felt a sadist in her call out to crush this fool for his constant harassment he gave her. And she gave in and was reward.

"I didn't say wrong, Ajay is the name of my fiancé, whom I deeply love and care. The feelings are mutual on his end."

"Uh-…..ah-…"

No words could form in Pravindra's mouth after the revealing of Saraswati's married status. He felt like his entire world shattered in front of him.

Pravindra slumped to his knees and remained motionless.

Saras felt a bit of pity that he took it too hard even if she was stating just the truth of it. She held the handle and mored on but not before leaving the words.

"(Sigh)…. Take care of yourself, Pravindra." She wasn't so heartless.

"Come on, you two." She said to Akhila who carried her other luggage and Bipin who watched her break that man's heart.

"Ah- ok! Coming. Uh- thank you!" Akhila followed Saras and along the way Bipin took the handle of Saras's luggage on her behalf.

They loaded all the luggage onto the chauffeur car which the Commandant had called for to bring them to the train station. Bipin requested she sit in the passenger seat while he loaded the stuff.

"Alright, I guess this is goodbye then, dear." She hugged Akhila who came with her to the front gate.

"Goodbye, take care of yourself." The cadet responded, Saras nodded and walked to the door of the limo.

"Um-…. Saras? What you said back there, was it true?" She asked as it was the first time hearing such a thing.

Saras sat in the cabin and smiled.

"Every word. I hope to hear from you soon, take care, Akhila dear."

The neatly dressed woman nodded and smiled waving as the limo drove off with Bipin and Saraswati. Though her meeting was brief. Saraswati was a friend she would never forget in her time at the academy.

"(Sigh) I can't wait to get home." Sarawati stretched in the seat. Not hearing that jabber from Pravindra was a relieving feeling, it was definitely the last she would hear of him. End of story.

"…"

She patted Bipin on the back.

"And I thought you would have made a lady friend back there."

"That-…. Wasn't the.. p-priority." He said with his eyes darting about. Saras chuckled at his embarrassment despite his modest effort to maintain an upright demeanour during his stay at the National Defence Academy in Maharashtra.

"Mmmm…. Perhaps your preference is Kyrati." She said with a finger to her chin.

"What?!"

"Did I hit the mark?"

"No. I mean-…. It was never something I considered up til now." He said flustered.

"Alright then, it's decided. I'll find you a nice girl in the territory for you, anything for Maya's baby brother!" She tossled his hair on his head. He had to reach up to stop her.

But he could see that she was genuinely eager to get back, and he knew the reason for it too.

News back home was anything but good. Saras had sealed the deal on India's support to the crown, Bipin had scrutinized all available learning resources on Armored Warfare in the libraries and lectures. Hopefully, their return would bring about more positive light to the ever growing shadow of the Golden Path.


	66. Chapter 62 - Green for greed and regret

Author's Notes:

Aussie social security is a bitch, so much internal bureaucracy at play and plain laziness. Pardon my French. When they cancel your allowance for stupid invalid reasons, and you need to go over and justify that their reason was contradictory. (Sigh)

On the bright side, been getting some positive comments about the recent chapters. One person has addressed that its almost a clear victory for Royal Army and apparent defeat for Golden Path. While it might seem to be the end, like usual, i leave clues several chapters back as to what plays out in the future. Like for example, the two missing Devas have yet to return.

If you put your trust in Uncle Havok, Uncle Havok will deliver. It would be foolish to stop now.

* * *

There was an old Chinese saying, "There is no medicine for regret." It was an appropriate analogy for the current situation Vasu was in.

Despite their fabled invincibility, despite their experience in warfare and martial prowess, despite their unholy exaltation by Mohan's benefactor who was obviously not human despite the time and age. They didn't account for the simple fact that they weren't the only ones that had inhuman monsters in their ranks. They complacently denied the title Demon, Badala was given by their colleagues who had seen more action against him. It was simply inconceivable and yet here they were with bodies that couldn't be destroyed by normal means. They should have known that the name Demon was not a title given lightly, not a when it inspired fear. The title was not given by the Royal Army, nor the People.

But the Golden Path itself.

Vasu's senses were blunty and muffled as he looked up to see his brethren slaughtered by a single foe, sweeping them like a farmer reaping his harvest. Not with knives or guns, those had been expended in their fight, that monstrous gun of his went dry, his kukri broke against the stone pillar he cut in half as Vasu took cover for a brief moment. The demon swept his brethren with his bare hands, they came apart like twigs. Sanjeev came to him weeping but shouted for him to leave, for it was becoming something they couldn't handle on their own. He looked to where he last saw Mohan, now gone. The Commanders had taken him away. Vasu looked back at the incomplete corpse of his brother.

"Hey… Bhishma… get up." He called out to the lifeless corpse as he looked meaningfully at the corpses eyes.

Explosions could be heard in the distance, but all his focus was on his brother. The one he bled and fought beside for decades. It didn't register with him that he could die so easily after all they'd been through. After all the trials and tribulations, they barely survived but survived they did. So how could he just die right now?

"Brother…"

"He's gone! Get that through your head!" A shout struck his inner being, Vasu turned to the origin of the voice.

"San-…jeev."

"We need to get out of here. It's hard to accept, brother. But we lost. The Royal Guard regiments have come to reinforce them." Sanjeev didn't wait for a response as he threw his brother on his back and dashed off in the direction everyone was going.

"Wait… Bhishma's still there…. Brother? He's stil-." Sanjeev gritted his teeth and pretended not to hear his elder brother's constant heart given denials their brother in oath had perished. Even now, the demon rampaged the retreating forces. The fighters were so afraid that they threw down their arms and packs to lighten their load to increase their speed. The Vehicles taxiing the Royal Guards blitz began blazing away at the fleeing fighters, they cared not that they raised their hands in surrender and followed the example of their lord.

Vasu's eyes trailed towards the area that exploded with gore and blood, where the demon was, indulging itself in mindless slaughter. With his enhanced vision, he could see the ever present smile of glee still planted on its face behind the blood stained mask.

How did it come to this? Vasu recalled the sequence of events that led them here.

* * *

Six minutes ago-

…..

"Raarrrghh!"

There wasn't a thought other than cleaving Badala in half, as he charges up to him with kukri in hand Badala stayed where he was composed. He should have known something was wrong.

He hadn't engaged him until now because of his fragility as a normal person, even if he was strong he wasn't their insanely strong. Or so he thought.

There was a different air about him, a glowing pair of yellow irises shone under the shadow of the roof.

(Bang)

"Huh?" Vasu found the world turned upside down, or rather he was the one turned around. Flying. His body slammed into the four-metre-tall slab of concrete that defined the maze and the slab collapsed from the force.

"(Cough) (Cough) Huh!" When he came to, he didn't have time to even comprehend what had happened as his senses detected imminent danger. He dodged with all of his muscles, and not a minute too soon.

(Bang) The sound of something hard smashing the concrete where his body originally lay. As he tumbled away he saw the silhouette belonging to none other than the man they thought were supposed to be hunting.

A flash of steel came for his neck. Vasu raised his kukri to parry the knife away.

(Clang)

As his knife contacted the other metal he felt and incredible force push his hand upwards away. His counter was blown away with a knife strike by Badala!

"Impossible!"

The slash was followed with a series of ruthless swings, each without pause or respite and insanely quick that his eyes being enhanced still have difficulty tracking.

Vasu breathed out and recalled his training and martial arts to reassert dominance. Just because he could match his strength didn't mean anything.

"Eh?" He suddenly realised.

-Match my strength?-

It was that moment that Vasu realised that there was something too wrong about Badala. He was like them on the inside. And yet, something they truly didn't understand. A monster, and worse. Pagan's monster.

Vasu tried to disengage and regroup with Sanjeev but as he turned around to increase his speed, a shadow appeared on his left. Slashing his back as it passed by.

"Arghh!" He wailed as he continued to run towards the corridor in an attempt to shake off Badala. But then, his pursuer suddenly disengaged and he saw him used a grappling hook to move as quickly as he did. But Vasu wasn't at all relieved, in fact he was shocked. He was going in the direction of Sanjeev.

Vasu quickly followed him, retracing his steps towards the area they were originally.

"Yearrghh!" He heards a cry of pain.

-Oh-no!-

When he reached the corridor, he found Sanjeev fighting desperately with his bayonet mounted rifle. Bhishma was also awake, much to Vasu's surprise. But his hand was missing, the recovery had saved him, but significantly impaired him of one arm. Still, he fought voraciously with his kukri.

(Bang) A discharge of his double barrelled rifle blew a chunk out of Sanjeev and incapacitated him temporarily, leaving Badala with just a handicapped Bhishma to finish.

He parried Bhishma's attempt to slash him and pinned his only arm against the wall with the kukri he had. Bhishma wailed in pain yet again.

The sight was scary, but he couldn't leave his brothers to their fate. So he ran towards Badala with everything he could. Badala was already aware of his arrival and used the grapple hook to dart away from a charging Vasu.

Vasu fired his battle rifle in full auto. To counter, Badala used the grapple to change his trajectory in midair, the hook piercing the concrete resounded throughout the labyrinth. Yet it was difficult to make out his shadow or current location. Vasu could only detect him at the last possible moment when killing intent exploded out behind him. He ducked as the knife sweeped pass his head and grazed his ear.

(Ching) The Kukri Badala carried had cracked from the excessive use.

Vasu saw this as a game changer, Badala was now unarmed. Sanjeev had recovered from the assault of the .700 nitro sabot round. Bhishma tore his hand from the second knife impaling him to the wall which recovered instantly.

Though it was unlike anything Vasu had originally thought, he welcomed their assistance. He needed it now more than ever.

"This- This man is more dangerous than Darshan!" Sanjeev said panting.

"….." Vasu was inclined to agree, but was quite sure what Darshan showed them wasn't all he was capable of.

"We'll use the Crane guard, lock him as long as possible till we can get out!" Vasu said to which they agreed. The got into a three-person row formation.

On Badala's end, the entity that took his place grinned bashfully. More sport, it assumed.

"Go!" Sanjeev took the led in the snaking formation as he reached Badala first and struck his blade at a high point while he parried with the gauntlet. But simultaneously Bhishma came and did the same at a different point forcing Badala to step back to dodge since he possessed no weapons. Then Vasu came in slashing and successfully cut his arm. Badala made a low growl and glared hatefully in Vasu's direction. But by now they had effectively circled him and begun continuous attacks. Though he was fast, he couldn't predict the next line of attack as he had to switch concentration between three people.

Vasu realised something.

-He doesn't know the Royal Martial Art?-

It made him shudder and sigh in relief at the same time. He couldn't predict their movements and yet could effectively take on anyone of them singlehandedly. Vasu was starting to think that fighting him fairly was not something they were capable of and was embarrassing to admit he would outmatch them. Their taunts were baseless from the beginning.

-Then what was that weeks ago?- Did he miss judge his strength, underestimating him? When Badala couldn't parry his blow when they first met. But now, his movements and fighting style were so savage and unrelenting they dared not slow down or think of anything to keep him suppressed.

Badala roared but was unable to get out of the entrapment. Sanjeev snorted.

"Don't let up! Or we'll regret it!" Vasu warned Sanjeev's show of complacency. They circled around slashing at him from different heights and directions making it difficult for him to counter. They grazed his armor and found it to be seriously tough, but relied on the brute force to do the damage to him.

Badala was getting frustrated, as he growled so. Vasu and the others were wondering where that witty comebacks went and why he was acting very strangely since the start of their hand-to-hand fights.

They didn't stop pummelling Badala as they moved towards the exit which had been previously sealed. They thought they could suppress him all the way.

But they didn't account for his cunning. They would soon learn that they should never play the same trick more than once in front of him. He ignored all of their attacks and concentrated on only one of them. Bhishma took the short end of the straw as he went for him. Vasu and Sanjeev attacked with downward slashes and struck him. Badala lost footing for a second but it didn't stop him, for he fired his grappling hook at Bhishma and reeled him in. Because he had been severely weakened with the absence of an arm, Bhishma tumbled and was dragged in by the triweave line. Badala reached out and clasped his neck.

"Huurghhh!" He choked from the powerful grip, despite his own powerful physique.

"Let him-(Bang) gaaarrrhhh!" Badala used his newly acquired meat shield as a mace and struck him against the others.

Sanjeev received the brute of a flaying leg from Bhishma and struck the rubble that covered the entrance.

(Bang) The tunnel shook from the force of his body colliding.

Because of the narrowness of the corridor, their circling formation was no longer effective. And they were helpless against Badala who used his hand and feet to kick them away while his hand held Bhishma hostage. He could see the hesitation in their eyes when he held their comrade and used it to his advantage.

Vasu continued in his one man assault with the knife, employing that difficult martial art that few had bothered to pick up but if they did would become the most powerful martial fighters in the country. Being without a weapon, the figure that was nothing like Badala, more akin to a demon used its own fists to pummel back Vasu.

Vasu received significant bruises and broken ribs from that brutal strength employed by the demons lightning fast attacks. A split second of hesitation or pause would lead to their deaths, Vasu was convinced his immortal body could no nothing against a continued assault. He refused to give in as it would mean the end of him and his brothers, his recovery did everything it could to compensate for all the damage he was receiving. Sanjeev watched from where he was, regretting even inciting the idea of fighting Badala in hand to hand.

"Vasu!"

Vasu was already wobbling where he stood between the Demon and his kin in the narrow corridor in a deadend. Sanjeev begun striking the entrance with his enhanced strength that could shatter rock.

It was then, the demon said the most disturbing thing to them.

" **NeEd a hANd?"**

Vasu thrusted his blade that would surely impale the demon from the narrowness of the tunnel corridor.

(Ching) But the demon caught it with its bare hands and grinned back at Vasu. It wrenched the blade from his hands and grasped his face and pushed him back. Vasu went flying and slammed against Sanjeev. "ooppff!" "Argh!"

But it didn't end then, he dashed towards them with his everquick speed despite having an injured Bhishma in one hand and threw him too against his fellow brothers to make a three-tier sandwich of Devas in the tunnel. Then it did a jumping kick towards them and struck the outermost layer, which comprised of Bhishma. The latter wailed in agony as he received the most of the brute force that the demon had done so far. His body caved in to the foot that landed on his body, ribs cracked along with some organs crushed. He felt like he died several times already, the more he did, the more he feared that thing that had been tormenting him this entire time. Between their bodies and the rock, the former was stronger, so rock was crushed by their force acted upon it by the demons flying kick and the Devas bodies. Causing massive pressure and an explosion of rock and rubble out of the entrance of the tunnel to where the rest of the Golden Path had been under a ceasefire for negotiation.

In the air, Sanjeev and Vasu recovered and landed on their feet, their metabolism kicked in and recovered their extensive wounds. They looked around to find the entire army assembled and thought the odds changed. Except they didn't account for the absence of Bhishma who was still in the demon's possession. Grabbed back while they were all unconscious from the brutal punishment they one-sidedly received. Even so, their bodies recovered from such devestation. It surprised even Vasu, in a mere five seconds of rest, his recovery could heal not just his wounds but his energy. The mistresses blessing was unlike anything. And yet, they couldn't overpower this one man.

If only they knew, this wasn't all he was held.

* * *

If a single word could trigger a war, it was what the Demon said warmingly to the Golden Path whose inner voice was telling to direct its rage at. The Demon was a creature of instinct so it would take its thoughts as priority.

Mohan had long given the order to retreat, he of all people knew the situation better than anyone. The demon gave a recognisable stench, he had to approach his master on this case. They were all ill prepared for it as they were. A fortress in the path where the road to King's Bridge was supposed to be, an impressive defensive formation and arsenal the defenders could bring to bear, and worst of all was the demon that lurked within. The Golden Path followed him oblivious to the true terror he could foresee. That if they stayed, they'd all be slaughtered by a single force. He never expected that Badala was associated with the same kind of occult as them, but his incredible strength he herald explained it. Mohan's problem was decemination which force provided him that strength. Supporting Sabal was no longer an option, he would order the fellow to withdraw as well. They couldn't afford to lose anymore forces, enough of their blood had been spilt today.

The Royal Guard regiments appeared from the western corner to circle and destroy the Golden Path, bore witness to the numerically superior Golden Path running from a single individual. From that moment, they dared not question Badala's authority in future, no matter if they were under direct orders from Yuma. So they joined in the one sided massacre of the fleeing Golden Path, asserting their vengeance upon the people that rebelled and killed some of their mates over the course of the civil war. The defenders of Bastion one and Amita were left with mouths gaping, standing stunned and frightened. They saw a side of Duke Badala that they had never seen before, a monstrous side that scared them to the very core.

The demon was oblivious to their thoughts and feelings, all it cared for was the slaughter of its victims.

The conscience kept deep within was merely a speck that controlled this body that it gave to the Demon to render destruction upon the Devas as was its specified orders were. But now, there were no Devas in sight, only future victims of the demon. The demon forced that conscience back into the recesses of its mind.

"Oh my- gyaahhh!" The demon sliced a man in half with a swipe of its grapple hook and line used as a twirling flail, in addition to its monstrous strength, nothing could stop it. The dreaded chopping sound of the spinning death closed in on the fleeing souls who couldn't get out of the demon's zero. What came out was bloody and smashed body parts in the collision of the hook like mace.

But they were considered the lucky ones to die painfully quick. The demon enjoyed using its hands to rip apart body libs or heads to use as a club against the still breathing victims. Shreeks of agony and bewilderment filled the air. Making those still alive run without turning their heads around to look.

Some chose to cover their comrades retreat and collectively fired upon the demon. Not that the 7.62mm rounds did anything to it thanks to Chiffon's protection, the raw energy of the bullets force was also absorbed by the demons warped hardness and resilience of skin. They stood up to overwhelming odds bravely, and in the next minute. They regretted they ever had to go through so much pain before dying. For the demon used its flail and hands only to dismember its victims.

It had reached the forest, a mile away from the fortress where it was intending to make another 'crimson woods'. There was nothing to stop its rampage, the conscious that belonged to the body had been shoved inside and the only person that could suppressed it the other time was not around. It would have free- (Ding) (Psss)

" **(Growl)!"** A hidden syringe injected a cocktail of tranquilizers into the demon's bloodstream. Its speed used to chase the fleeing Golden Path slowed down until it was on its knees. The fighters took the opportunity to run out of sight, going back was not an option on their list.

The demon slumped to the ground, weighted down by its sleepiness and inactivity of its blood.

So what stopped the demon then?

Ajay knew that before unleashing the demon, he had to control its actions. But till this point, he couldn't. So he did the next best alternative. He would limit the time of the demons attack. He wore an auto-injector on his armbrace under his armor with a timer from when he let loose the demon.

Ten minutes to finish the fight with the Devas. He was under the impression the fight would stay within the labyrinth, but things didn't go as expected. The tranquilizer mix was concocted by Noore who spent days experimenting with samples of his blood and different solvents and chemicals that would hibernate this energized blood. And she succeeded, which was why Ajay was so confident in letting go of his inner demon.

But when Ajay awakens, he would bear witness to the carnage he caused. What he got out of it was more than he wished for.

* * *

From the forested hill they were based on, Hurk peered through his magnified optic at the converging Golden Path strifeforce sent to 'liberate' Baghadur, confident they would seize Pacchim Valley, they divided a small group to capture the only remaining fortress in the Western region.

"Four thousand and counting." Hurk said to the assembled Condotierri and Marines. All thirteen of them had come to the field, now all they were missing were the last two members of the group.

(Rustle) They turned to the movement in the bushes with their wits about them.

Vajra darted into the bushes making a friendly sound.

It was only when the familiar appearance of Maya and the boy appeared did their guards loosen. Maya petted the black wolf generously till it settled down, a growing attachment to the her despite its true master.

"Ma'am."

"Miss Maya."

"Status." She asked.

"Latest estimates are around four thousand, could be more as we've only seen the front element." Ricardo reported.

"….."

"Should be more than a piece of cake for the brigade then." He said complacently as he always did. Maya smiled wryly.

"I hope so, any indication on the Command element?"

"Five hundred metres down East from our location, Commander of the operation… Sabal." Hurk responded emotionlessly. Maya's hairs stood up, there was rarely a moment Hurk miss identified someone or something from a distance,

"Sabal?" Samson had also heard.

"Wasn't that prick killed by Badala, one-punch style?" Ricardo chuckled.

"This Sabal doesn't have scars." Hurk continued.

"What?!" Maya stormed forward and grabbed her binoculars to see.

Standing amidst a concentration of warriors, wearing that all familiar smug, now enhanced by his complete look. Was the thorn in their side himself.

"How-…."

"Was the one we face all along a double?" Samson gave an interesting theory.

"Could be." Maya didn't have any leads so it was best to assume it was him. But even if it was, so what. That was thinking any other person would have, except Maya. It was the point, where someone who had been concealing his identity would likely conceal his strength as well.

"We'll proceed with caution, capture Sabal if possible to extract intel on the new developments of the Golden Path."

"I'm surprised the Golden Path still allow him to be a Commander after all the shit he's pulled over the course of the campaign."

"….." She found this odd too. But then, it meant they had to be extra cautious around him. He might not be the same person they'd been fighting till now.

(Boom) (Boom)

The sound of explosions and gunfire erupted from where Delta Barracks was. It seemed they had arrived upon their waiting army and begun a skirmish.

"Let's roll then."

"Hurk, take point and advance scout." She ordered.

"On it." He flung the recently acquired camo cloak over his head and activated the remote wrist device to turn on the uncooled adaptive camoflauge.

"Tsk!" Perkins showed visual dissatisfaction. David sighed, his second-in-command was showing a childish side of himself to all the wonderous kit and gizmoes made available in the last few months of their alliance with the Royal Army.

"You're a trained professional, camo cloaks are for sissies." Stew consoled him with a pat to the back as he took point for the group.

"Damn it, Stew. You wouldn't understand. It's not combat I want that cloak for." It took a little while for Stew to register, his face turned sullen. Hurk was in possession of the only available 'invisibility cloak'.

"Fuck! Why does Hurk have it?!" Stew ended up joining the Perkins train.

"I know, right?" David couldn't help but shake his head. If it were still California, they'd get sent to prison but here the penalty if caught could be death.

Over at Delta Barracks, the Golden Path were having a fierce fight with Unit 58's Tiger and Leopard Battalions. In the battle, both sides were evenly matched. In equipment, they were both wearing body armor, not that it could stop the high powered weapons both sides used. They were also old guard versus the new Royal Guard led by Sandesh. If any advantage was his, it would be his adeptness to the snowy environment which currently daunted the Kyrat landscape. The thick snow mired the Golden Paths advance to their barricades. But the tigers had cross training so they knew exactly what to do and what would be his next command.

Their adept knowledge of the snow allowed them to hold off the Golden Path long enough for Chief Yang to flank and Maya to decisively cut off the head of the Commander of this force somewhere behind.

Hurk stalked closer to a canyon where tents had been set to conceal their location and protect their sensitive communications equipment.

Hurk was currently alone ahead of the rest to observe and report the numbers and terrain.

"Bearing 020, Three hundred from your position. Canyon entrance, two guards. Tracks of three hidden snipers in the area. Canyon walls are too high for an effective barrage. Over."

*Roger. Maintain position and we'll begin attack shortly. Do not engage on your own. I repeat. Do not engage on your own. Maintain radio silence throughout. Out.* Ricardo replied on the headset microphone Hurk donned.

Hurk sat against the rocks on his high ground continuing to observe the enemy with this Rangefinding binoculars. He estimated the team would take ten minutes to get into position to attack the Command team leading the assault on Baghadur.

His eyes landed on a new arrival amongst the Golden Path.

"Hello?" He murmured.

They wore uniforms in pixel, Hurk matched the appearance to the description he received of the CNS operatives.

-Weren't they supposed to be observing?- He recalled the briefing that intel reported Mohan told them to sit back, yet here they were. Apparently, the commander of their force didn't feel obligated to follow his orders or that of Lynch's.

But they weren't the only ones there. Behind them were the figures of two familiar people.

One belonged to Jason, the other belonged to Daisy.

"Oh shit!"

He realised that they were walking into a strike zone. He picked up the radio, but remembered that they enacted radio silence. Hurk's worry for Daisy's safety increased. His team were oblivious to her presence and would go guns ablazing in there.

He peered several times through the scope to find the hidden snipers that protected the Command team. When he had found them all-

(Breathed in) (Bang)…..(Bang)…(Bang)

He fired his M110 sniper at all three snipers without the suppressor to muffle the report. He saw the Command Team have their wits about them including the CNS operatives. Then he began sniping them, to lessen the numbers. A few seconds after his attack, the CNS somehow located him with a device that caught sound vibrations and located its origin. An anti-sniper system. A combination of rifle and rockets flew to his location. Chipping the rocks. He'd seen the weapons brought back by Badala, more dangerous than what the Royal Army or Golden Path were kitted with. Even an assault rifle had the punch of a battle rifle and the range but the weight of a sub-machine gun.

Then he saw one operative loosen a black case and pulled out some long bullpup weapon.

-Anti-material rifle?- He thought as he suppressed the other snipers in the area.

The man stood while holding the large weapon pointed in his direction. In that instance, all of his spidey senses were tingling with imminent danger. Hurk abandoned his location and jumped down the ledge the moment his former position exploded with rocks flying everywhere. Hurk fell on his back on some trees below and out of sight of that weapon. He looked up to see a smoking hole in the cliff boulder he leaned against. What confused him was that there was no report of that massive slug passing through. Even still, it had such a frightening capability. If that was not the last of that weapon, then his friends were in grave danger. Without a second thought, Hurk dashed in the general direction of the temporary command base.

-Please be there on time!-

* * *

Maya and the rest watched in shock as that weapon the operative held possessed such firepower that it barely made much sound except for the sparks generated from the weapons vents. The result of its firepower was a explosiveless impact upon the cliff where hurk had fired upon the entire group.

They initially wondered what was the reason, Hurk broke silence to attack them. It had to be some valid reason, he was intending for them to halt their attack. Unfortunately, Ricardo ordered radio silence because of their proximity to the Command base personnel.

Instead, they were now all eyes on that mysterious weapon held by the leading operative officer. The rest were a little astonished to see such a devastating weapon being deployed. But Maya had an idea of what it was.

"A rail gun."

She didn't know how something like that could be made into a portable weapon, she wasn't an engineer, but she wasn't oblivious to the latest developments in modern weapon applications and tactics.

At present stage, some Nations were developing it as a naval weapon. Promising superior armor defeating capabilities, without the use of propellent that made magazine holds in ships vulnerable to high explosives. To synthesize it into a handheld weapon was a feat that was decades ahead of even the most sophisticated armed forces development. Just who was this CNS conglomerate? Wasn't their focus on monopolizing the arms industry in the states? When did they have funds to develop this sort of tech.

Maya could see the applicable potential of the weapon. It meant that no one was safe behind walls or lightly armored vehicles when faced with an individual with a handheld rail gun. Not even armored attack helicopters, as there would not be a need to give lead to the shot at the cockpit or the tail rotor which was the most vulnerable part of the helicopter.

She now eyed that weapons with a sudden urge she felt before. And urge that could only be described in a simple way when she saw all things furry and cute.

-I want it!-

Maya turned her head towards the rest. Her eyes met with Perkins, holding the same glitter. It was then that they both smiled. It was a glitter of obsessive greed.

They were going to steal that gun.

"Plan?"

"Nothing ventured, nothing gained." She continued to whisper her plan to Perkins whose ears perked up to hear every detail of the plan.

"Got it. I'm moving out."

"Be careful." His superior told him, Perkins nodded and crawled into position.

"You think he'll be alright?" David asked Maya softly.

"He's as eager as me, he won't slip this."

"I meant Hurk."

"Oh, yeah. Should be fine, he's more sneeky than mice." She said with little interest. David was a little astounded, but then he figured it wasn't worth pursuing. Hurk was an anomaly like Badala, a feared sniper amongst the Royal Army with a reputation to move with such efficiency and split second decision he was herald as Mizaru, the monkey who shut its eyes to evil. Like Hurk could see no cruelty in how far he took his shots. He shuddered to think Badala had turned that chubby goodness into a lethal killing machine. What made Badala so frightening wasn't his prowess in combat, but mindset he operated under. Unhindered by strong morals, or rather bearing a more profound understanding of morals himself. What limited the effectiveness of any weapon wasn't the device itself but the user. But it wasn't the case for him.

What kind of battles could create such a person? What kind of trials did he undergo before getting to this stage where he remained till this point unchallenged in wit and strength. While still retaining a good character and modesty? David had seen many a day, so many friends go insane from the stress of combat that they either broke inside or chose to end their life to spare themselves pain. It was why he always told himself to maintain a strong moral compass whatever he did, Perkins said it was just him and there should have been more like him out there if not for certain circumstances.

Minutes later, Perkins was spotted amongst the command group accompanied by two CNS operatives who skilfully captured him. His arms raised the entire time.

"Good luck, buddy." David whispered.

Commander Crow walked forwards. "Check'em." He ordered the two.

"Hey! Hey! Easy on the goods, alright?!" Perkins said unhappily as they roughly tapped him down.

* * *

Jason wasn't having a swell time, when he received that letter at his desk he thought he was being called to a duel with Badala in an undisclosed location. What he got instead was 'princess peach' without a 'Bowser'. When he arrived at the location where the map told him to go to a mountain passage to a cave. So it was like Badala handed him a free lunch.

"Come back to us, Jason." She pleaded, he was surprised she knew that 'Jason' was no in at the moment. So his façade of the original bodies host fell in pieces, but it was interesting to say the least.

"You knew I was not your California boy….. and you still arranged this?" Jason laughed at the hilarity of the situation. To think that Badala would allow her to do such a thing. He laughed till tears came out of his eyes.

"I'm sorry to say sweetheart, Jason's never coming back!" He said with a malicious grin.

"No! I refuse to believe that!"

"And I did too, but you see…. Not everything turns out the way it should be." He said shrugging his shoulders.

Daisy's face was severely lacking in colour, her eyes flickered with anxiety. His behaviour was void of anything she recalled of Jason the last she heard and saw him. In his place was that horrible person, the one that took Grant from her. Both in mannerisms and tone, it was simply unforgettable.

For once, she sympathized with Liza. She was right, his condition deteriorated to such a degree that even if she stood by him he might hurt her or she might tear herself over the gradual loss of her lover. Then she realized…

-Didn't I do the same thing with Ajay?-

In pain of what they had become, left hoping for the better but in reality it was absolving themselves of the pain and worry over them. Making excuses. In the end, they weren't so different. Till now, she had yet to apologize to her for all the things she said. Perhaps when she got back, she could make a start.

"No, I don't believe for a second that Jason is gone."

"Think whatever you want, these are the facts. By the way, you know where I can find me a demon?"

"Take me back with you." Jason almost blanked out when he heard her say something too ubsurd to accept as a fact.

"'cuse me?"

"Take… me… back… with… you."

"No. I heard, but-…hahaha! You really are persistent aren't you senorita?" He said with a cheshire grin. But his response was met with a steadfast look in her eyes that even made Jason think about why she was asking such an ubsurd thing, it was like a zebra asking the lion to eat her.

"What do you hope to achieve?" He asked her.

"Bring back Jason, and…. Perhaps help you find peace."

"Pft… peace? HahahahahHAHA!" He laughed maniacally. "I am at peace, sweetheart! New body! New grounds! Absolute freedom! What more can I ask for?"

"Really?" Her eyes radiated an aura of inquisition, Jason was finding it weird she was reversing their roles.

"Really."

"Then why can I see a change in tone at the mention of freedom?" Jason was a little taken aback, something he was rarely capable of. Not since old man Hoyt passed on.

"You really like to pick at the words, did you know you have potential as a reporter, ma'am?" He said to maintain calmness.

"Well, you're not so different from a someone I knew. You both blame the world for your problems and circumstance. When you fail you blame it on someone else, because no one would believe in you if you were just a failure." She said with a sadden smile. Jason frowned, he was no longer laughing and his expression replaced with one of dissatisfaction.

"Tsk! Do whatever you want!" He walked out of the cave towards the place he'd been assigned to support Sabal. Daisy followed closely behind.

So things led up to the moment they arrived at the Command post which had just weathered a sniper's attack which a group of foreigners, Caucasian in descent. Used some sort of rifle to blast a rock in the top of a cliff they thought the sniper was.

"Did you miss me?" Sabal said grinning.

"Wha-?!" Daisy's spirit left her body. Something impossible was present before her.

"How did-."

"Fate, my dear. Karma sown between Badala and me and of course you to me prevents me from truly dying." He said with a fearless grin.

"You fucking trash." She glared. Sabal chuckled as he forcefully grasped her chin with his hand.

"Your glare is always a sight for sore eyes, it brings out something beautiful in you that mak-."

As Sabal's face neared hers, Jason's hand reached out and grasped his face.

"No touchy." He said with an annoying grin as he irritated Sabal in expression and tone.

"Tsk! Unhand me, damn fragment!" Sabal stepped back and swished his hand to knock Jason's off his face as well as release his grip off Daisy. And walked away from him to attend to other matters, not before sending a glance at Daisy that sent shivers down her spine. -Perverted bastard!- She sighed inwardly in relief. -Eh?- She looked to Jason with a complex expression. She was following without obligations for him to look out for her. So why did he protect her?

"Don't misunderstand, sweets. Nothing makes me happier than spoiling this little shit's day everday, it's a hobby. He seems to have quite an attachment to you, care to share?"

Daisy gave a gist of the story of their imprisonment.

"Tsh! I told him and he didn't listen, it's exactly as I said it would be. Well, he can't pay for his mistakes any longer." Jason chuckled.

"So, tortured. Huh? Still didn't lay a hand on either of you for that long. Is he impotent or something?" Jason mused with a hand to his chin.

Daisy didn't know what to make of his act of familiarity to her. Should she accept him as he was and try to break past his emotional barrier? She'd come this far, she might as well go all the way. Ajay was nice enough to give compromise for her, one chance to save Jason while she still could. She failed Ajay, just as Liza failed to save Jason. She was not about to make the same mistake twice.

"Hey! Hey! Easy on the goods, alright?!" Daisy turned to look at a man in a familiar Marine Uniform was held captive and patted down for further weapons.

He noticed he was being eyed and looked to Daisy and winked quick enough that no one saw. It was a rather cryptic message that something was about to happen, she turned over to Jason who looked at her. As she wore a face of worry, being a man of instinct, he was quick to find something suspicious.

"A lone marine out in the woods, is this some sort of new Jarhead joke?" Dominic asked. Sabal was watching from a distance, he recognised the marine as the members who came for Willis.

"Nah!" He said.

"Staff sergeant Gregor R. Perkins, Force recon. Socom. What could JSOC possibly want here?"

"Hmmm? That's odd, didn't you here? Agent Asshole was supposed to be head for St. Petersburg, but took a detour to Kyrat. What, didn't your boss tell you why he brought you here?" Perkins said with a smirk.

Dane struck him with the end of his rail gun.

"Oohhff! Ouch!... I'm not the type to receive pain usually."

"Get used to it!" Dane said to him after delivering another riflebutt.

But Perkins laughed in pain. "That's quite a piece you've got there. Don't think I've ever seen it before."

His reply baffled them.

"Were you the sniper?"

"Every Marine's a marksman Army-rej- oww!" As he was mocking him half way a foot landed on his stomach again.

"Where is the sniper?"

"Even I don't know the question to your answer, why don't you smoke some weed? It'll help take the edge off, Kyrat's got plenty of euphoric goodies scattered about."

"Where!" He slammed him as he interrogated Perkins.

"Why are you here, Marine?" Dominic asked, as he sensed he didn't come alone, where were the rest?

"Would you believe it if I said it was for-…" He pointed at Dane.

"Me?" Perkins shook his head smiling sinisterly. And exacted his finger towards what Dane carried in his arms.

"What, this?!" Dane felt like laughing, he tried to get in so that he could steal this weapon theirs. While it was impressive, to follow out a whole plan just for it-…foolish... Dane admitted to himself that he didn't have the tenacity this jarhead had.

Dane smiled and unslung the rifle and placed it to rest on his knee in front of him.

"XM2014 prototype kinetic linear-rifle is what the labcoats call it for now, we simply call it the sabot gun. Fresh out of the electromagnetics research department. Holds a magazine of ten solid 10mm slugs fired through solidified hydrogen superconductor charged rails. Free-recoil and Semi-auto for shooting goodness." Dane showed him the features with a sparkle of in his eyes, he suddenly felt like bragging to reward Perkins for his one-man effort.

"MmmHmm! MmmHmm!" Perkins nodded with approval.

"Whether you're in a heli or behind a bunker, this thing'll penetrate it and shred you with the fragments into a bloody heap."

"Oooohhh…"

"Enough! Just because he's a deadman doesn't you continue feeding him classified info."

"Aye aye, sir." Dane sighed as he slung his weapon.

"Where are the rest of your unit?" Dominic set him back on track for his obvious attempt to delay, but Perkins was really interested in the gun, that was what Maya sent him for.

"Did it take you that long to figure it out? Man, for mercs you sure are slow witted." He teased once more. Dominic was at a thin line of patience and pressed his automatic shotgun against Perkins forehead.

"In ten seconds, if I don't hear a response your foreseeable future is as a meat paddy!"

"I don't need ten seconds. Hell, I don't even need five."

"Then wha-." Dominic was about to continue but then, he heard the most disturbing thing as Perkins continued where he left off with-

"Three, two, one. Bye Bye!" Despite his hands being cable tied, Perkin's jumped out of the way into the cover of the assembled crates.

(Boom) (Boom) (Boom) (Boom)

A combination of grenades, flashbangs and incendiaries created an instant havoc in the proximity that Commander Crow and the operatives as well as Sabal and his command group were.

Lines descended from the canyon and abseiling down them were the rest of Perkin's team and Maya's company.

While the rewards were generous. The risks were greater than they could have initially anticipated.

* * *

Author's notes:

Devas look beat, but they'll bounce along right back soon. The Witch will take things seriously from now on.

I nearly had the impulse to name this chapter Rip and Tear. ('cough' Doom 'cough')


	67. Chapter 63 - Demons, bound and unleashed

Author's Notes:

No Roosters? That's dissappointing. They'd either be 12, 24 or 36 this year. This year's the Fire Rooster or what I like to call the flaming cock (Bad joke). Happy new year to all me chinese friends and readers.

* * *

…

…

The mountaintops were splattered with blood and bodies. The grand army of lowlanders marched up the mountains to suppress the demon on their King's orders. Despite the forewarnings of his council shamans and brahmins. Now all that remained were their severed corpses, drained of blood and life. All victims of the demon that would be referred to for generations to come….

As Yalung.

" **EEERRRRRAAAAAAAHHHHH!"** The demon wailed behind the chains that entwined around its hands and leg. The iron chains, sanctified and grafted with Dharmic rites and Vedi scripture readings scorched the demon like hot iron to the skin.

"We've come this far! We cannot let him break free or it shall be the end of the Kingdom!" The 2nd Patriarch of the Demon Banishers reminded his kin.

From nine spots around the demon sat nine of the highest order members of the demon Banishers. Immersed in deep focus, chanting the Vedi scripts to activate their respective heirloom talismans which were said to be bequithed by the lord of death himself upon the founder. This was ancient history to them, but this demon….. this ascending asura was not.

The last thing any wanted to do was interfere with a demi-deities ascension. But this one had an irreconcilable grudge to the bloodline of foolish king of the lowlanders. The asura had once been a man, a loyal subject who devoted his being to the king only to be betrayed and his honor, his family sullied by the one he served. That man was once a seeker and once bathed in the wellsprings of Shangri-la, and his path to enlightenment would have been secure.

But betrayal warped his being, from where he was left to die. The blood flowing from his body as was his life force. Karma linked between him and the line of Devi. From the brink of death, his heart pumped with an unstoppable flow of blood, his blood burned with fury till it lit the surrounds from where the everflowing blood touched. But his injuries never healed, he had chosen not to heal them, but leave them open for the blood to pour. For his hatred to poison the lands of the kingdom and for the King's father, his former liege to pay for his deceit and decadence.

The lands had been tainted, men and animals alike died of starvation and thirst. The demon's descent upon the lands smeared blood of thousands in mere days. Its very being, focused solely on the destruction of the Kingdom that aided the King and unto the traitor himself. He had arrived before the King's father in his new vengeful form. When the King's father recognised the demon that had once been his subject he fleed with fear and regret. Regret that he listened to the honeyed words of his recent mistress, his most favored concubine. To taint the man's wife of her purity.

The cause of his downfall was no where in sight, as if she spirited away as quickly as she appeared before him hurt yet beautiful.

The demon slaughtered its way through the many descendants of his that blocked his way until it arrived before him. Its body leaked not just unending blood, but a blackened flame of unquenchable fury. That fire treasure was ignited by the inner desire of the man to crush the foolish King and his bloodline for his betrayal and 'death'.

But just as he was about to deliver the most potent punishment to end the cycle of Karma between them. They came.

A hundred Demon banishers of their order, led by ten 'paths of righteousness' patriarchs. The subjects who were of least prominence and whom the King had long ignored had risen to prominence that day. They who were not native to the lowlands repelled the demon into the everwinter mountains.

The King's bloodline had been damaged beyond repair, leaving only him and his sinful father. The army was ordered to pursue against the advice of the ten patriarchs. So they went after them to seal the demon for good.

But things had turned for the worst as the army sent to kill the demon had been corrupted by the miasmic blood it left behind and turned into an ambiguous party that call themselves the Disciples of Yalung. The Demon Banishers fought with the disciples with significant loss and even more when confronting the wounded demon.

Now all that remained were nine of the ten patriarchs, the tenth had died to give them this moment. His white tiger sacred guardian had been given up to seal him.

The remaining nine were incline to do the same, as the odds stood. He would be free to reign destruction upon the lands once more.

" **RRAAAARGHHH- AAHARRR!"** The demon roared and shook the chains with increased vigour, more blood flowed from its body and reached the patriarchs. And burnt them. Still the stood steadfast, for if they failed so would the lowlands cease to exist.

The demon's power increased and their seals waned. They were losing this tug of war.

"It's no use. Even with our sacrifice-…. It's fruitless…" The 2nd Patriarch remarked under the enormous burden.

Footsteps echoed through the cave which they had arrived in. On their minds, they wondered who else had been called upon to come here after witnessing the bloodshed outside. The answer came in the most undescribable way.

"Princess Kyra? What are you doing here?!"

As the patriarch declared her identity, the demon's gaze turned towards her in confusion. A sudden drop in the oppressive force faded from crushing the patriarchs and the reorganised their focus to suppress the demon.

Kyra walked forwards towards the demon, which scared the patriarchs to death.

"Stop! Child, are you madden?!"

She raised her hands and performed the hexing chant that her master, the passed on 1st patriarch taught her.

"STOP! Do not throw your life away!" The 2nd Patriarch cried followed by the pleas from the remaining seven as one more perished from completing his rites.

She ignored them and continued, followed with placing her two fingers to her Ajna Chakra upon her forehead. The Demon could sense the dharmic rites building up from her spell, far surpassing the ten patriarchs. But it stood motionless and just spent the last seconds of its freedom staring at her.

With her mantra completed she gazed at the demon's burning eyes once filled with fury, now replaced with reside.

"Forgive me….(muted words)." The last word was too soft for the Patriarchs but not for the demon.

Tears rushed down from her eyes, the drops of crimson blood fell from her cheeks onto the floor. The demon looked at her in amazement from within the formation circle but then, at the corner of its mouth let out a wry sadden smile. It knew it was the end of the road for its revenge, but his fury was endless. So, it let her finish the formations to the prison it would spend eternity in, until the day its fury could finally be quenched.

She pointed two fingers towards the demon and with a commanding authority but bitter tone, she spoke the word that would lock the demon under the mountain that would become known by her descendants as Hajura' Amako Hatama.

"Seal!"

…

…

 **Ten Vedic talismans**

 **Ten Sacred Guardians**

 **Seal the wrathful asura, beneath the everwinter mountain**

…

 **The seal which was casted wanes**

 **The will of the 1** **st** **Banisher Patriarch,**

 **And the blood of Kyra fades.**

….

….

* * *

Ajay's eyes fluttered open. What lay before him was an all too familiar roof. His heart pounded at the sight and shot up from the mattress he was in.

"B-Badala!" Ajay turned to the voice that called out from the hand that clasped his arm above his elbow.

"Amita…" His head was filled with confusion as he looked at the nostalgic scene, where he recovered from destroying the relic to find Sabal and Amita by his bedside.

"Why and I in the Ghale Homestead?!" He said in a troubled voice. Amita was confused by his declaration as well, he remembered this place after so long?

"We recovered you from the woods after you-….. you passed out. This was the closest place we could find to put you."

-Woods?-

"What happened? The battle-."

"The battle at Lanka is over, Badala. We won!" Her tone changed to that of joy and excitement.

As those words left her mouth a wave of relief passed over him, he thought he was back in time to when he returned from that nightmarish place, the lost valley.

"So even you can have a face of worry." Amita said softly. Ajay rubbed his head boyishly, Amita chuckled at his behaviour.

"Where are the others?" Why was she the only one here?

"(Sigh) They're all waiting outside the house, that-…. Display you showed everyone shook them up."

"Display?" Amita looked at him with a cocked head.

"You don't remember anything?"

"I was fighting Major Sen and his two gay buddies in the labyrinth. And my vision got clouded." Telling her that he intentionally weakened the Devas before delivering the killing blow with his rage wasn't something she would understand at this stage. In fact, he was convinced that no one would have known that the Devas were that sturdy and inhuman.

Amita still have difficulty accepting the situation that led to the events that transpired.

"Fill me in, Amita." She nodded and sat on the bedside.

It was then that he learnt the extent of his destructive spree, it had gone out of bounds from the enclosed Labyrinth. After all that planning, he was it was that dangerous. But in the end, it was sort of ok and not. He shrew Sergeant Major Arya in front of everyone using his barehands to rip him in two. Then proceeded to attack the routed Golden Path and chased them into the forest. Even the description was gruesome.

"Will you tell me what's going on?" Amita asked with a worried expression.

"…" If she didn't ask, considering her personality that didn't like unseen variables it would have been strange.

"It was an experimental combat drug I've been working on. Clouds the sense of reason with adrenaline and reduces the dopamine levels to enhance focus and a few other quirks." Ajay coined up a logical explanation.

Amita was a little startled by the declaration. A drug could make someone so terrifying.

"This collateral-….. That's why I intended to stay locked in the labyrinth with them." Ajay sighed.

"This drug-."

"Was a last resort, the Devas are extremely dangerous. From what you told me, Mohan ordered a full force retreat including the Devas. What about Baghadur?"

"They're still fighting. Intelligence reported that they ordered the group that encountered Delta Barracks to fall back as well. Apparently. Sabal was leading them." Ajay's eyes widen at the last part.

"What?! Sabal?!" He memory was clear, he definitely snapped his neck, so why was he alive? Could the force that had brought this Mohan back, turned the Devas into something else have done the same to Sabal. Would he be as hard as the Devas then?

It gave him a feeling of anxiety that something horrible was going to happen. Ajay looked to the corner where his gear had been layed and approached to reequip.

"Where are you going?!" Amita was baffled, he'd just recovered and they had nearly won the complete operation.

"Maya and Samson aren't safe!" He responded as he threw the main body armor piece on him.

Amita was a little unsettled by his claim, if he said something was wrong, then something would go wrong.

"What kind of transport is available?" Ajay asked in a hurry.

"T-There's a buzzer at the courtyard. If we could take it-."

"I'll go alone."

"No! My men are there! If it is as dangerous as you say it is, having me there will make a difference even by a little bit!" She said with a determined voice. Ajay looked at her for a while as he was slotting his hand through the armored gauntlet.

"Gimme a hand first."

"Ok." She said with a smile, as she helped him get clothed from when he was simply in his pants. She did not mention that it was her who did the unclothing when he was unconscious because everyone was afraid to approach him, afraid he would suddenly claw them.

When she and him and finished clasping the last of the fasteners, he went over to pick up his bow and slayer, the two weapons which were more than proven themselves in the heat of battle. He knew where the cabinet that kept arrows were, but for the .700 nitro cartridges, they weren't always available everywhere even for the normal loads which weren't his custom Yeti-killing sabot.

The door to the homestead opened as Ajay and Amita came out. He found the entire bastion force hand come to wait for him. They let out a cheer for his recovery, nice enough not to celebrate their victory without the architect of their strategy. But Ajay passed through them towards the parked Buzzer with Amita.

As he started up the buzzer they looked at him anxiously, where was he going at a time like this?

Amita sat at the back of the open carrage buzzer as it was about to take off.

Ajay looked at the soldiers that gathered and got off the buzzer.

"You've all fought a hard and gruelling battle, you've done the impossible by repelling a numerically superior host. Your battle is over, but mine continues. This rest is what you've all earned for yourself, if in future I look for warriors that would stand by me to fight in near impossible odds, in know who to find." He said with a smile as he sat back in the buzzer and pulled the control stick back to lift off the ground and off into the distance.

The Battalion that safeguarded Lanka watched on as their lord disappeared into the horizon after leaving them profound words. For some who would truly retire, it was a day they would never forget so long as they lived. And those that continued fighting for the newly emerging nation of Kyrat, it was only the beginning to endless wars for Kyrat's sovereignty.

* * *

"AWOOOOOOOOOHHH!" The black wolf's cry rung in the canyon, which was followed with a gradual return in wolf calls. Vajra had summoned more wolves to the field to attack the Golden Path and CNS operatives. Friend and foe, it knew and would direct its scent and aura only at those that were hostile in nature to it.

Vajra chomped down on a piece of flesh belonging to an operative's throat. That operative was gasping his last on the floor. Most of the Golden Path commanders had been instantly killed in the attack by the Condotierri and Marines. Who else remained were a few of the CNS operatives, Daisy and Jason, not forgetting the immortal bodied Sabal.

The Marines were fighting with the CNS operatives led by Commander Crow and Captain Dane. Or at least suppressing them. There was another neat feature they found with the operatives' standard operating equipment which was mainly their visor integrated helmet with the nightvison and binocular abilities. They were unusually vulnerable to directed IR lumination or lasers. So they equipped their carbines with laser dazzlers that shone at the operatives' visors, temporarily blinding them. The only one that wasn't blinded with Commander Crow whose quick reactiveness saved his men. Perkins approached Dane and tackled him to the ground once he undid the binds, engaging in a brawl with him. The officer was a still a little shocked after what happened before all this. Before all hell broke loose.

The condotierri were in a stare down with Jason and Sabal, because Daisy was with them. Their rifles remained on them.

Maya frowned, though she was aware of Ajay's accommodation for Daisy, she was right in front of them in their ops. This was a probability for collateral disaster, even if they had them outgunned and against the wall.

"Come quietly, or there will be trouble." She announced to them. If capturing Jason and Sabal worked out, then they wouldn't have any issue. But knowing Sabal's unreasonable unyielding attitude, it could turn sour with him.

Sabal looked like he was almost about to laugh to death. "Trouble? It seems you aren't familiar with the situation you've gone yourselves in. Mmmm…. Do I know you from somewhere?" He changed the subject midway as he seem to recall seeing Maya.

"Aaah… Now I remember, you were that girl beside him at the airport." He said with a grin as he walked forward.

"Take another step, I dare you!" Ricardo said with his assault rifle raised.

Sabal stopped in place, but his annoying smile remained.

"Oh? A challenge, eh? If I reach you before you pull that trigger, how much are you willing to bet?" Ricardo was stunned slightly by his empty provocation, they stood apart by five metres with his gun facing him already.

"Stand dow-(Slap)." It wasn't just him that was shocked by the speed of Sabal that mored in during the hesitation and held Ricardo's rifle away from his body and wrenched it aside.

"What- gyaahh!" Ricardo was slammed away by an unreal physical force.

In that split second, Jason moved in on them. Machete ready with gun, but unexpected of him was Daisy that appeared between him and them.

"If you pass them, you'll have to go through me." She said.

"Really. Heh!" Jason zipped around her effortlessly and went off towards Maya, as the apparent commander, her head was a nice addition to his killcount.

Maya was focused on Sabal as the rest of the Condotierri engaged him and were being pushed aside like they were babies to an adult. What the hell was with Sabal, it was the thought that was running through everybodies minds. She only noticed the blade coming for her head at the last possible moment and her heart sank.

But Jason's smug was wipped off his face when a black shadow pounced toward him from a blindspot and he was too out of balance to shift to apprehenad the new threat.

"Grrrrrr! (Bark)" Vajra's fangs dug deep into Jason shoulder that he yelped in pain at his carelessness and naiviety that he could have himself an easy kill. He swipped his blade along his shoulder with the good arm. Vajra disengaged at the last possible moment and jumped back growling. Maya raised her rifle towards him but Daisy jumped between her clear shot.

"Get out of the way!" She shouted at her.

"….." Daisy didn't answer as she knew she was intentionally getting in the way.

Maya cocked her rifle. "I won't repeat!"

"Please, just give me a chance!"

(Bang) She gave her a warning shot at the dirt near her feet, which made Daisy get startled by the shot.

"Get lost!"

Daisy turned to Jason who was getting up to repeat his attack with caution, the blood was bleeding from his deep wound, but it wasn't something he couldn't manage, his new self or the former one.

"We need to get you medical attention, Jason. That bite has rabies!" Though she wasn't a vetinarian she could see a rabid dog and tell it was one, the alleyways of Brooklyn taught her a lot. And she wasn't wrong with that assumption, Vajra's former name was Mad Devil, as in its behaviour and the behaviour it induced on its bite victims.

"Tsk!" Jason dashed off without a second more of delay. Maya unleashed a burst stream of bullets his way as he dashed out of the killbox, she managed to graze him but that was it. Daisy turned around to follow him but the sound of a recocked chamber of a gun was heard.

"That's as far as you go." Maya said pointing her gun to her. Daisy was forced to stay.

"It was a mistake, he made. Out of all the plans we're gone through, saving that lost cause?! This would have been easier if you just stayed away."

"He's not a lost cause! You need to let me go, there's still a chance for me to help redeem him." She stood up to Maya's aggression. Maya rifle butted her harshly to the ground.

"Stupid foreign bitch! You think this is a game?! My men die because of him!"

"Please! Please I beg you! Let me-." Daisy dropped to her knees in a wet mess.

"Stay down and don't move!" Maya snapped.

"MAYA!" Samson called out as they were having the most trouble in the brawl with a complete complexion Sabal. Something she was still wondering in her long stream of wonderment of today.

"Don't let me fail another!... Not like I failed Ajay." Daisy cried out. Maya's actions halted at the mention of Ajay's name. It reminded her of the unfairness of the life he lived. She bit her lip in troubled thought.

Why did Ajay continue to allow such a dangerous person as Jason Brody to live? Was it just because of Daisy? Or was he hoping for something else? Was he testing his own life, whether someone that was like him was redeemable from endless suffering?

Her thoughts made her resolve falter as she noticed her rifle slowly come down from her aggressive pose. "Vajra… aie!" She held out a hand like Ajay did to suppress the wolf's aggression. Vajra went prone, understanding her as well as it did of Ajay.

"Get out of here….. Go on!" Daisy looked up as if she'd just received a blessing from an angel.

"One chance, if you aren't done when we find you again….."

"…. Thank you…. Thank you!" Daisy got up on her kneeling and was about to turn around when a first aid kit went flying her way and she caught it skilfully.

Maya wore a look of expectation from her, she gave her the medical kit to help Jason treat that injury quickly. Daisy gave a deep bow and turn and ran off.

Maya's expression was having a complex look, as she didn't know if she did something that would have gone in her own way of doing things that were quick and efficient. But she also wanted to see…. If Jason was truly redeemable as Daisy and Ajay hoped. It was ridiculous to even think of it in a logical perspective, yet there were many things in life that didn't have a proper explanation.

Like in World War one, the Germans and British troops celebrated a Christmas truce together though they had been at eachothers throats for weeks before.

She didn't have time to consolidate her thoughts as she- "Hello?" Sabal's voice was heard from by her ears. She jumped back in surprise and raised her rifle which was held away from him with one hell of an iron grip she didn't think was capable with a person of Sabal's slender proportion. She glanced a quick look to find the Condotierri all down and out, some with cracked ribs and dislocated joints. A sight that surprised even her.

She kicked away as she abandoned her gun and quickdrew her sidearm and blazed away at Sabal. The man didn't even move and allowed the bullets to impact him. Now Maya was left flabbergasted with what she saw.

"Inconceivable?" He said with a devilish smile. Maya took steps back at the unfamiliarity of this person- no, this thing that called itself Sabal.

Her expression was serious, she quickly gathered the surrounding situation. Samson and the condotierri had engaged him, while he was armless he fought all of them with nothing but his fists and this body of his. She saw the rounds impact but subsequently fall out of his body, like some sort of monster. The marines and some wolves were hard pressed at fighting the CNS operatives whom had the mind to get out of their deadlock with the force recon marines that only numbered less than three but pressed hard they did with unconventional tactics they prepped beforehand as countermeasures to the CNS operatives' equipment superiority. And was using the equipment flaws against them, they faltered because some relied to much on their equipment to stay up.

A hand reached out with lightning speeds and grasped her two hands. Vajra came growling and pounced upon Sabal but he grapped the pelt and threw it at the granite wall with considerable force that made Vajra yelp. He turned back to Maya.

"Yunno, you're not to bad looking yourself. In fact, you're probably the rarest sight I've seen in a while. A female officer in the Royal Guards and not just any but a Hunter. I wonder how you feel like under all that fabric." Alarms were going off in her conscious at Sabal's obvious monologue. Having no one interfere with them he was confident to be his usual self. Maya didn't struggle but sent a hostile glare his way and spat at him. But he followed with a chuckle as he wiped the spit from his perfect face with much delight to its completeness.

Her free hand reached back and pulled out her kukri which slashed at his wristbut again, he caught her and pushed her down to the ground.

"I told this to the blond bitch once, but I have a thing for rebellious behaviour. Shall I start disciplining you in Badala's place?" He said with an evil grin.

Her teeth reached down and grasped the pin of a grenade. (Ping) Flipped the safety handle held in place by the pin. Sabal was momentarily stunned by her action and released his grip, unsure of what to do in this situation. He hadn't engaged in close combat enough to understand underhanded tactics, it was still a high-handed way in his mind. Maya pressed her legs against his torso and pushed him off with all the force she could muster. Sabal was pushed off balance and tried to straighten himself, it was then that she threw the primed grenade his way and jumped behind cover.

(BOOM)

Maya got up from the behind the mound that protected her from the shrapnel and looked at the burning mess where she threw the grenade his way.

"You talk too much." She said to a dead person. Maya went to check on the condition of Samson and his team.

"Raarrrghhhh!" She never thought anything would have survived that, but yet he did. Sabal that is, in a burnt mess from the Incendiary grenade. He charged through the fires unflinching towards her. Maya barrel rolled away from his charge, and drew out her kukri once more and adopted a stance.

"I've changed my mind, I'm gonna gut you then play with your body afterwards." He said as he picked up a knife from a fallen Commander of his. By now, without the relay of commands to his troops fighting the Brigade, they didn't stand much of a chance and would withdraw almost immediately. Sabal's immediate wounds began to heal at an astronomical rate that left her in disbelief as skin formed out of thin air and covered over the exposed muscles. Just what the hell was he? She wouldn't ask as she didn't feel like giving him the pleasure in explaining.

It was now an unbalanced knife fight, she didn't have much of a choice. "You're much more fun than most of the girls I've been with, even sweet innocent Miss Snow and Daisy Lee. I can't tell you how much I've enjoyed our encounter, I'll forever remember you."

"Then please kill yourself already." She retorted coldly. Causing him to chuckle.

Sabal crouched as he was getting into position to rush towards her, Maya readied her knife. But as he pushed off from the ground to lunge forward- (Bang) (Bang) (Bang) Buckshot impacted his body and pushed him backwards, the sound of a slide racking on a pump-action shotgun could be heard behind her. She turned to find the person she'd ordered to wait on the top of the canyon to watch.

The shotgun ran dry and Sabal's amazing healing kicked in.

"Is that all you've got, boy? Just to save you lady friend?" He chuckled evilly as the last of the pball bearings fell out of his body.

"No…" Jeevan tossed the shotgun aside and pulled out his kukri blade and stood between Sabal and his prize.

Jeevan smiled in an eerie innocence. "It was to get your attention."

Sabal's brows furrowed, as he sensed something wrong about this boy. His mannerism seemed innocent and polite, but there wasn't hesitation when he blasted him back with the shotgun.

"Tsk! Fine! I'll show you the difference between heaven and earth, then I'll have you for dessert!" He said a little upset but amused at the situation.

Maya was about to go between them but Jeevan raised a hand to block her.

"Please. Let me fight him."

"Jeevan, this man is-."

"I know who he is and what he's capable of already. Don't forget, you made me watch up top."

"Then-."

"But if I don't surpass the unsurpass, I will never be able to overcome myself. My promise to the Unit will be just be empty words. I am the demon's apprentice, I have a name that cannot be sullied." He said with a light that blazed in him.

"Just trust me, I wouldn't have asked this of you if I didn't have a trump." He said with a fearless smile.

Maya wanted to hit all the stubborn idiots she'd been indulging today. She sighed, and Jeevan took it as her yes.

Sabal watched this charade from where he was with utter amusement, his day was most interesting. Not only would Mohan control the South and come to aid him, but at the end of the day he had two new toys to play with.

Jeevan walked up to him with Kukri in each hand, one given to him by Maya. Again, he wore that innocent look that was anything but benevolent.

"Have you finished being showy before the broad?" He said to taunt him.

"Oh? That was just me begging her not to kick your ass again so that I'll have a go." He said back in retort.

"Humph! Conceit brat! Let me crush that illusion of yours!"

Jeevan stood in an unfamiliar stance that Sabal wasn't aware of because he was not from the Royal Guard like his Brother Jaswant. Who if he was here would have instantly recognised it as the Royal Martial Arts Crane Guard his Deva brothers used so often.

"Love your enthusiasm. That's just what I wanted from you. Well then, allow me to used you as a stepping stone for my future prominence. Jeevan Hamal, Badala's apprentice meets you!" He said with a blaze in his eyes.

Sabal raised an eyebrow for a second but then smiled with glee. "Heh? A student of Badala? HahahahAHAHA! Oh? How I'll enjoy this!"

"Well? Anytime fryface."

Sabal's expression twisted at the mention of that taboo name that only his most daring of enemies called him.

"The price for calling me by that name, I'll make you pay in full!" Sabal dashed forwards to crush this bug and make him understand his place.

While Maya was worried for Jeevan's state she was more than confident in pulling him out from trouble as she had a few tricks up her sleeve.

Besides, there was a familiar glint in Jeevan's eyes. Something that emmaculated from Ajay in the moment of the hunt. That in that one look, they were going….

To overpower a peerless monster.

* * *

Author's Reminders:

Just remembered! Important announcement. Summer class exams are around the corner, 16th is my exam. So expect slow releases until that date passes. Thank you for your patience.


	68. Chapter 64 - When David shrew Goliath

Author's Notes:

Exams are closer than i thought they would be, still 16th but imminent. time to study like mad at the last possible moment, hurray for uni life!

* * *

The moment Sabal stepped forward, it was taken as the start of the duel. Jeevan began his move by attempting to circle Sabal, the latter snorted and leaped over him and landed behind Jeevan in a single lunge. Jeevan was clear on one thing, and that was if he ever got hit even once by Sabal he'd sustain severe injury that could cost him his life.

Jeevan almost ducked instinctively as a knife passed over his head, and returned two slashes across Sabal's sturdy body. All that he achieved were grazes across Sabal's skin which healed instantly, but it was the place which he struck. The heels of Sabal, which caused him to drop unbalanced at the lost of his limb muscles. He followed with a heavy kick to Sabal's jaw, but it felt like kicking a brick wall and was pushed back.

"…"

Sabal's expression as full of complacency, this kid couldn't kill him, let alone harm him greviously enough. Maya grasped the grenade launcher in her possession tightly as she watched on. Although, Jeevan's face was void of emotion and full of focus.

Jeevan drew his pistol and peppered Sabal.

"Humph! So it was all talk about fighting in hand to hand and killing me as such."

"Does it matter how I kill you? You'll die however I chose to." He retorted calmly and he dodged Sabal's unskilled swings. He was fully aware of Sabal's herculean strength so to fight him on Sabal's terms was ubsurd to begin with.

He never parried his strikes, only dodging them. The only time that could be considered a parry was Jeevan actively striking Sabal's swing in a certain way to redirect his blow. From a viewer's perspective, Jeevan was being one-sidedly pushed around without anyway of fighting back and forced to evade to survive. After a few minutes of constant swinging, Sabal was getting frustrated and Jeevan wasn't running on renewable energy, but he had put this into account for his wager.

"You're getting annoying, just die already!" Sabal swung and Jeevan barrel rolled towards a sloppy ground with a 50-degree downslope incline.

Sabal, not used to fighting close combat before his change was oblivious to what Jeevan was doing, only assuming he was trying to make things difficult for him to kill him.

But Sabal soon recognised a change in their strikes as he delivered the first one. Jeevan successfully blocked a full-on attack from Sabal's blade, he might have struggled but he blocked it nonetheless. He was shocked to see this as was Maya. Previously in his fights to quell the unsatisfied Golden Path Commanders they delivered punches and kicks that hurt themselves, when he delivered a blow with his own limbs it resulted in a man's fractured limb.

"It was as I suspected, you don't have any combat experience. All this time, I watched you attack the Captain and was wondering why you hesitated in so many opportunities." The reason Sabal's strike could be blocked was because he had no good footing to support the full swing of his blade arm with the twist of his waist to add the usual unstoppable power. While his swing was strong without it, it wasn't unblockable like before.

The key difference in Jeevan to Ajay was his father's tutelage of the Royal Martial art. When his father taught Sugun in the past, he watched from the window and learnt the strokes faster than his dim-witted and abusive half-brother. At first, he thought it was redundant as did Sugun. And age where the gun ruled, was hardly the place to study martial arts unless you planned to make an earning through entertainment. Let alone a dying art whose successors could only be counted with the fingers on one's hands. But then he watched some of the playbacks from a GoPro that Hurk and Luca had recorded of Badala's fights. While his combat style was a mix of gun and knife, and was never a pause in his actions it showed the importance of having close combat at all times. Not every instant was a gun fight, especially in enclosed areas. Badala utilized a combination of terror tactics, melee was one of these. Because what people feared more than a gun pointed their way with probability of hit was a blade in the hands of a killer coming for them. They'd have to eventually be upon them to use it and when they were there was almost no opportunity to use the guns at point blank. Badala was feared by the Golden Path because he went where few would go which was in the midst of fire to chop down his enemies. It gave an aura of invincibility when so many fired at him yet none took him down. He only started to review those strokes when Ajay offered his help to cultivate him.

On the first days of Winter after he took him on a regime of rigourous climbing and running exercises to practice escaping from a tight spot before anything else. He was taught boxing, the theory was what Ajay wanted to pass on to him. So that he would have some precognitive advantage to the opponent's predictable moves in close combat and also streamline his actions. With Jeevan's tenacity, despite the bruises and black eyes from when he thought he would hit and received a counter punch from Ajay in the match he persevered. Ajay was adept in Western boxing and his movements were instinctive with lightning quick reactions, it made him wonder what he did before this. He studied the moves diligently, some how he knew that one day these traits would be his saving grace. Today might have been that day.

"You dirty lit-." Jeevan didn't give him the time to swear as he sweot his foot to knock Sabal off his footing. Despite his bodily toughness, he still weighted the same as a human being. Sabal fell like a falling tree with his face to the ground. (Puck)

But he levitated off the ground at the last second, much to his astounishment, but later wailed in pain.

Sabal had been impaled by a rifle bayonet still attached to the gun, Jeevan raised the pike towards Sabal so that his own speed would pierce himself. Sabal cried out in agonizing pain, trying to ply himself free but his weight was off the ground.

Jeevan stood up and approached him was a gleam in his eyes. He swung his blade with full force down at Sabal's exposed neck, as the latter was facing the floor but was unable to lift out of the bayonet that impaled him to the ground from his stomach.

The sound of metal striking flesh, like a butcher busy at his chopping board. Jeevan might not be strong enough to make deep impressions on Sabal's inhuman physique before, but if he repeatedly struck the same place no matter how tough it was, it would still come ondone.

Jeevan slashed downwards at Sabal like he was beheading a convict in a repeated fashion. His fifth slash could see the skin come apart without it quickly regenerating back. Jeevan increased his vigour to widen the gashing wound. He did it while wearing his ever-innocent look.

A deep fear welded up inside of Sabal as he watched this boy slowly tear him to bits. His entire opinion of the boy that was Badala's student had changed. He was just as frightening, but where Badala constantly spared him to humiliate him to the brink of death, this boy held no opinion of him. It was just as he said, a stepping stone for his future. Another demon.

Sabal shook about in fear, trying to break free from the bayonet despite the pain it was causing him from widening his wound.

"You little bastard!- AARRHH!" (Slice)

"Sorry? Couldn't hear you over this hatcheting." Jeevan responded as he increased his head chopping, the muscles on Sabal's back of his neck could be seen. While the skin was unreasonably tough, the same could not be said for the flesh. And so when a crescent appeared where his mouth was, Sabal panicked as he knew all it took was a thrust of a blade to end his life, not even recovery could save him from that.

As Jeevan clasped the knife in both hands and raised it above his head and thrusted down, The bayonet that impaled Sabal broke from his shaking and the rifle collapsed with him. Jeevan had missed his target.

He knew he missed his chance, so he jumped back and rejoined Maya who gave him a look of praise through her smile. "You did good, but now its up to all of us to kill this monster." She said as they turned to the reviving Sabal who wrenched the broken blade from his stomach and cried out in pain as the recovery stinged him.

He turned to Jeevan was a new profound hatred that overwashed his sole hate for Badala, he was no longer on his top list.

"What you did to me….. (Huff)…. I'll do to you A THOUSANDFOLD!" He roared angrily at him.

Jeevan clicked his tongue, in this situation his opponent should have gone down even if he were 'immortal'. Now they faced a dilemma of not having sufficient firepower or reinforcements to weaken him again to subdue him.

Sabal turned to Maya.

"You just wait there. I'll be with y-(Bamm)" An invisible force struck Sabal off his feet and burnt his entire front torso from the impact. Sabal got up like a walking dead, the point of impact revealed a small gap in his body.

(Bamm) (Bamm) (Bamm) Three more of that weird sounding shots resounded with the immediate detonation of a powerful force that ripped apart Sabal's flesh and skin from the shot. The origin of the shot came from none other than Perkins. Who had long acquired the sabot gun from Dane, which had retreated to the safety of his group.

"You CUR!-(Bamm)."

Sabal was pushed back in the fashion of the 'liquid-metal killer robot' as his healing tried its hardest to keep up with the significant damage. Each shot widened a hole in Sabal's chest cavity, and it was obvious the rail gun had more power than even an anti-material .50 cal rifle loaded in armored piercing incendiary. It was at this point that Jeevan saw and opportunity to finally put him out of his misery. He clasped his two knives and ran up to a disorientated Sabal who just had his front blown by a godly weapon. Seeing him more in, Perkins conserved the last few shots. Seeing him come towards him, Sabal painfully swung his blade but was too slow as Jeevan dodged twirling the knives in his hands. Using his hips to twist, he thrusted the knives into the soft flesh of Sabal who cried out once more as the elements that struck him were now permanently in him and creating a wider gap which he should have died from in an instant if he were normal.

Jeevan wrapped his hands around the handles and pushed and twisted which added to the cries of agony from Sabal. But frowned when he noticed the wound was already healing itself around his pair of blades.

A grin appeared at the corner of his mouth as he dug the wound wider and reached into his pocket. What came out was a hand grenade which he immediately pinned the pin and slammed his fist holding it into the wound of Sabal.

"AAAHHHHH! You-….. YOU!- nnnnrrghh!" Sabal cried out from a foreign object entering him instead of the other way around.

Jeevan just thought of that when he did so and chuckled internally. Sabal kicked him away as he was causing him such dread. By the time he did, Sabal was already up with the wound almost healed completely, but with an unfamiliar object in his body. Jeevan got up and hit the deck like the rest as the explosion would be imminent.

(BOOM) The explosion rattled the narrow canyon and a huge smoke cloud plummed from the dirt being kicked up. The cloud engulfed the firefight going down between the CNS operatives and the Marines. Seeing this, Dominic took full advantage of the smokescreen and ordered a retreat of his doven remaining men. They came with twenty, full-on professional soldiers, equipped with the latest tech that hadn't even hit public and yet they couldn't even break pass three jarheads. Dominic recalled their faces, he would remember them all and when the time was right. Erase them and that stain in their portfolio.

"Ceasefire." David knew they had the intentions of leaving so their was no point in wasting rounds.

The immediate area was painted in red mist. Jeevan got up to look at the aftermath. (Plop)

A severed head fell right in front of him, Sabal's head which captured the moment of agony, disbelief and hatred in one expression.

The rest recovered from the concussion of the grenade in an enclosed area, and gathered at the head.

"Wow….. you did this?" Stew asked the boy.

"Of course, he fucking did!" Perkins came over and slapped Jeevan on the back. "Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you.. my Boomstick!" Perkins happily raised his newly acquired 'sabot gun' in the air like Ash of evil dead.

As he did, he met the deadpan eyes of Maya gazing back at him in silence. Perkin looked awkward at first but still no response came back, he began to sweat as her gaze intensified.

Perkins heart broke as he held out the rifle to Maya. A smile planted on her face.

"Why thank you, Sergeant." As she took the weapon off Perkin's hands. But her intentions were to inspect it, it was nothing like anything she'd ever seen, perhaps anyone else would see in at least a decade.

The rest gathered and went over to assist the injuries of the Condotierri who were still groaning after their encounter with the late-Sabal.

As for the 'Sabot gun', it was hefty even for someone like her. About the size of a long rifle, the entire length of the barrel extension was comprised of vents for the rails and superconductors which she guested were made out of a metallic hydrogen material giving it unpresidented power output.

The word sabot came from the ammunition, a kinetic energy penetrator made out of dense material such as tungsten-carbide. There were no propellent in the bullet cases because it was propelled by the electromagnetic current. She witnessed it smash the cliff into smithereens when they deployed it as a counter sniping weapon on Hurk. He was incredibly lucky to escape it too.

The sound of propellers could be heard from the distance.

"Coming from the east…. There!" Jeevan pointed to the shadow approaching them from the distance. The silhouette came closer until Jeevan could make out the figure to be-.

"Teacher?!"

* * *

It was who he said it was, Ajay. And sitting behind was with shaky legs and sickness from flying unusually high was Amita.

(Rustle) Hurk came busting through the forest greens with his rifle raised in an aggressive stance. But was greeted with zero hostility much to his dismay as he was expecting a firefight with the Mercenaries, Jason and the returned Sabal on the advantage.

"D- Did you deal with them already?" He was still having doubts about them facing off with one of the most dangerous people he knew and the new arrivals that gave him a bad vibe.

Jeevan raised her head of the now dead Sabal by the hairs, Hurk stared shock. But he didn't have the time to mouth his disbelief as the chopping sound of the buzzer deafened everything.

The watched at Ajay landed the buzzer and came out. He walked towards them with his armor so tattered and battered it was almost as if he fought for days, the fabrics were dyed in red and recked of strong bloodshed that almost blotted out their smell. They could only imagine what kind of battle was raging on at Lanka, and how many bodies he waddled through to get here. Which raised the question, why was he here of all times.

"Status." Was his first response.

"Nnn…. Seven injured including myself. The rest fine." Samson said with great difficulty as he was propped up by Ricardo.

"You ok?" Maya quietly when she neared him and found the reck of death about him that was keeping most of the men and women away from him, curiously Amita didn't seem that affected.

"I'm fine, what about yourself?"

"Sabal was giving us a hard time." She knew by saying that he would have plenty of questions. The response Ajay gave was within her predictions as she saw his eyes widen.

Ajay turned his gaze towards Jeevan who held the head of the person of his initial worries. He breathed a sigh of relief that nothing serious happened. Maya gave a short summary to him of what happened. His eyebrows raised at the description of events. What concerned her the most was Sabal who was definitely reported dead when Ajay killed him at the Bridge. Yet here he was with an unnatural power and insane recovery.

"Ajay, this-." She whispered but Ajay cut her off.

"I'll explain later and get the rest of the story and accounting from you. Right now, Golden Path is in the retreat but it doesn't end there."

"What?! Golden Path retreating?" Ricardo voiced his shock, how did a force of over thrity thousand just up and leave, without even the thought of maintaining the siege on the fortress?

"The Devas I broke, so naturally the rest of the pyramid comes crashing down." They were due and explanation but there was little time.

"We've little time to waste, I'll explain later. In the meantime, Ricardo, take Samson and the rest back to Lanka for immediate treatment, your old friend isn't awake anymore."

"Huh?- Oh." Ricardo found Samson had fainted from the increased pain and bloodloss. A set of keys to the Buzzer came his way which he caught.

"Can you fly stick?"

"I can. Thank you." Ricardo nodded and immediately helped Samson onto a stretcher he attached to the back of the mini-helicopter. Emilio and Luca joined in as their injuries were not light, the buzzer would have to make several trips, but it wasn't far from Lankas medical centre. Stella, Alberto and Hurk remained.

Ajay turned to the Marines and Captain Goh.

"You marines up for part two?" He asked with a fearless grin.

"Of course, count us in!" David responded with satisfaction, they had a good figh with the operatives and were on high morale.

"I just got off the phone with Sandesh, the splinter force has been routed. Apparently, the failure of the main force has reached them as well." Maya said as she put down the direct line with the brigade.

"Which is why we can't stop until Golden Path has been pushed out of Tirtha and Vyatha. Yuma's three reserve regiments have already mobilized to take Shanath. QRF 5th and 6th Battalion are on the move to kill the stragglers at Delta."

"So what will we be doing, looks like everything's pretty much been covered." Perkins asked.

"True, but now comes the part which brings us closer to finding Willis." David immediately understood what was their mission now. He had been in briefings with the General and the intelligence officials that were sourcing Willis's location to cut off the Golden Paths most critical supplier of arms. It was Agent Huntley's authority as a CIA case officer that allowed these requisitions to be placed. Why that damn agent wouldn't turn and leave despite their worsening odds was beyond them. Willis wasn't Lynch, and that was what made him an exceptional operative.

"We're going to Sleeping Saints. The objective is Solomon Khoo." Ajay answered their suspicions.

The marines looked glad that Ajay was doing his best despite the time to abide by their agreement. At a time like this when the Golden Path had too much at hand to worry about reinforcing the Sleeping Saints weapons cache

"You sure? Looks to me like you're in rough shape to continue." Hurk was concerned, he could see that the Battle at Lanka was not as 'easy' as what they were doing over here.

"I've been through worse, this is hardly even near that." Ajay responded cooly, to brush off Hurk's concern that wasn't necessary.

"Let's head for the road, there's bound to be a vehicle we can take to Sleeping saints' statues. Sound like a plan?" Stella suggested their mode of transport now that the buzzer was no longer an option, not that it could fit ten people either way.

"We'll do it your way then." Ajay faced Amita, the only one whom might not necessarily have anything to do here.

"What will you do then?"

"My people need me, and Delta barrack might need help evacuating the wounded. I'll do my best to stabilize the situation there." She proposed to cover for Maya whom executively commanded the Brigade that defended Baghadur. Her people would be more than glad to assist them, they had defended them as the first line of defense against an unfathomable force that had the potential to storm the stronghold with little effort as most of the Tigers were in Lanka.

"Alright, I'll entrust you then. Tell Captain Sandesh I sent you to take charge. If he asks for clarification then tell him we first met when he extracted me from the Himalayas."

Amita nodded and headed in the direction of the barracks which wasn't far from their current location. "Stay safe." Ajay nodded in response.

Ajay looked back at Jeevan as they made their way to the main road to find a vehicle. "Teacher?" He noticed his teacher wanted to say something. The rest had already went ahead.

Ajay could see Sabal's head still in his hand, Jeevan unconsciously dropped the head embarrassed that he scratched his head.

"Head back with Ricardo and the rest, I promised your sister you wouldn't put yourself in harms way. You've done more than enough. Your father can raise his head up high."

"Mm. Yes, teacher." Jeevan walked towards the rest of the Condotierri to await pickup.

"Jeevan." Ajay called out to which he immediately responded. "Yes?"

"You've also done me proud." He simply replied.

"Uh-…" Jeevan couldn't believe what he just heard. Ajay had commended him for the first time.

"Thank you, teacher!" He said excited as he ran along to catch up with the rest, staying was already quite embarrassing for him.

Ajay was left alone, except with the head of Sabal lying just next to him. He stared at the head for some time, the expression of refusal to accept his fate could still be seen. In his last moments that was the face he chose to wear till the end. Ajay was beginning to find Sabal beyond saving, he was incorrigible and it was a grace he was dead for the last time. Curiously this time, it was someone else who had saved him the trouble of getting rid of this weasel.

A smile appeared on the corner of Ajay's mouth. "So you couldn't believe it too, eh?" He said to the head.

Despite not being there to see his demise, Ajay knew in his heart that Sabal was definitely brought back the same way his father was. That same power bestowed inhuman strength upon the Devas as well. At present, all Ajay had was himself, his wit and demonic abilities to counter them. But what did Jeevan have? His cunning and his indomitable will, faith in his own abilities that Ajay helped hone and courage to climb difficult obstacles in life. It was like David triumphing over Goliath except in the biblical sense, the future Hebrew King had God's blessing. Ajay was beginning to feel that his quest for individuals that would protect Kyrat weren't as hard as he imagined. But there was only so much three such people could do against countless odds and a hidden power that could warp the very fabric of reality. He could only hope that more would pop out near him.

Ajay left the place to catch up with the party as they made their trip towards storming Sleeping Saints. He had it all figured out, they take a supply truck and sneak in. The Golden Path supply groups would be too bothered with sending out their munition supplies than check for security. It was a very predictable pattern relative to their organisation.

The head was left to its lonesome. But what Ajay and the rest didn't notice was that despite the blood that no longer flowed through it, the light within its eyes hadn't extinguished. It blazed with increased hatred than it did when attached to a body. But now its hatred wasn't exclusive to Badala, but the young aspirant named Jeevan Hamal, the demon's apprentice. The boy responsible for his utter humiliation despite his overwhelming advantage and immortal body.

Jeevan Hamal. The site which Sabal once stood before the grenade detonated within him and splattered all over was dyed in red and wet paste. That wet mess slowly and unnaturally moved towards the head like metal grains attracted by a powerful magnet. It was almost impossible to notice from the speed but it was happening.

How was this possible? Where Bhishma was severed, he never reformed. Because Bhishma, at the last moments before his death by severing had been in utter fear of the monster that tortured him for six minutes. But Sabal was different, his destiny was linked with Jeevan. While he was no match for the demon himself the same could not be said for Jeevan who he had been careless with. Jeevan was now the name of his eternal nemesis, that so long as he stood, the man that was once Sabal would never rest in peace. Even if he were to crawl out of the grave, incomplete he would do so. For there was nothing he wanted more than to destroy him for ruining what Sabal held dear.

His pride. His will, his fury burned ever so brightly.

The lumps of flesh and blood flowed to reform into a grotesque pile of flesh. Slowly but surely, the Golden Paths answer to the Demon of Lanka and his retinue that the witch had crafted would return.

Stronger than ever.

* * *

The weapons caches at the base of the Sleeping Saints site when moving with speeds that they had not moved since they established themselves as the central distributer of arms and munitions to the Golden Path bases at Banapur, Tirtha, Vyatha and the training camp.

When the news that the Golden Path main force had lost reached them through the secure channels, they were churning together all the ammo and weapons to load onto the five-ton trucks parked outside. They knew that whatever was to happen, their retreating brothers and sisters needed all the back up they could get. Their munitions could not afford to be cut off.

"The Royal Guard are chasing them back!" The comms dispatch informed the stationed quartermasters and Solomon of the latest development. The Golden Path porters were already frantic at the news. What should have been the day of liberation ended up as the most spectacular defeat, one that elipsed all others.

In their minds, Badala's words from that time rung clearly in their psyche that they shuddered.

"Mohan Ghale's return changes nothing…" A quartermaster murmured but was heard by his colleagues.

Some of them were originally from the Uttar region and though they joined to fight the Royal Army were sent to the auxiliary units to support the combat groups. They regretted their impulse to take up arms against the Royal Army and most of all, against the demon. The one who gave them provisions and clothing to live out the winter but yet lke witless fools, they joined the Golden Path because they thought it would prove they were something more. Now they couldn't return to their family homes, for in the eyes of the Royal Army and to an extent their own families they were nothing more than traitors.

Seated comfortably on a rested chair at the top of the chiselled-out shelter that stood behind the two sleeping saints. Solomon sighed as he took a swig of his favorite chardonnay, an influence Pagan imparted upon him with his first breakthrough in success. An old bottle that the old man treasured yet opened it to celebrate.

"Tsk!" He shook those unpleasant memories away, that was a Pagan long dead to him. He laughed at the irony on the day he heard that Yuma was to be the Queen consort. She had been the one who said Pagan was no longer who he was and yet she stayed and did this, she was an even bigger hypocrite. Why he did this wasn't merely because of Pagan, but rather his teachings.

The strong devour the weak. It was the unwritten rule of earth, the weak were always wrong in the face of the strong. And Solomon understood this, Pagan had after all usurped his father, Gang Min of his criminal empire, disposed of all his successors and mistresses and cemented himself as the 'Dai lo' of the Min Family.

Even if he wasn't the same person anymore, his will was still around to be carried out. And Solomon would do as such. Even if it meant destroying the hollow shell of the man and his own family members.

"(Sigh)." Solomon got up from the chair with not the glass but the bottle of red wine and drank it as he rested his hand upon one of the columns as he looked down below at the scurrying porters and quartermasters. It was clear that things weren't turning out the way he expected them to, not since Pagan brought that boy they still had no lock on who he was. Not even Willis's CIA computer analysts could give him a name. Badala popped out from thin air. From the way he fought, he could tell he was generally resourceful with what he had. Even when the odds didn't favour him at all, he possessed a battle instinct that almost exceeded that of any other abnormal he'd come across before such as Jason Brody. As much as he initially hated Jason for ruining his business with Hoyt he did open his eyes to the truth, Pagan's truth.

Solomon held out the bottle over the ledge and dropped it down below, it cracked just next to a porter who cursed and sweared that he was nearly killed by him. Not that Solomon gave a damn anyway.

He noticed a truck that was going into the site which was not some thing that was usually done around here as they were made to wait outside for the porters to carry the supplies to be loaded. That was so there was no congestion in the narrow pass up to the site. A few quartermasters came up to tell them to get back out of area and wait.

(Bang) (Babababaam) Auto fire tore them down where they stood.

The shots got everyones' attention as they turned towards the parked truck which had its passengers alighting. But they weren't friendly, the shots confirmed it.

It was then that out of the passenger seat of the truck came out the devil which was the talk of the site.

"B-Badala! It's the demon!" Someone shouted, hoping that the alarms would be pressed and anyone that was armed would apprehend him. But the thoughts that was on everyones mind was to get out.

Badala advanced with men and women in the Royal Guard uniforms and US spec ops camo.

Solomon watched these events unfold with utter shock. Amongst the strike team that raided them were even familiar faces that Solomon recognised better than most. Half belonged to the Force Recon Marines and their officer whom Willis stranded. The other half were more like old acquiantances. They were part of his mercenary force ages ago.

While they spread out to kill off all those that came to them armed and the rest fled with haste, Badala walked up the steps towards him calmly and without concern.

He looked up and that was when their eyes met. In that instance, he knew that Badala had come all this way for him.

Solomon ran towards the temporary office he set up in the temple site and reached out for the remote. He pressed it and sent a signal to the many animal cages he'd prepared for any unwelcomed intrusion. Mostly comprising of big cats but also of a few very expensive to procure Bears that had been drugged for aggressive behaviour. The animals had free reign of the site but began hunting the Golden Path that were in larger quantities through the maze of ammo crates and weapons.

Badala noticed his actions and unslung his bow and strung an arrow, he downed the animals that got in his way or were on the verge of mauling his own men. The arrows flew with such force that it pierced through the animals cleanly but delivered a massive force onto their wound that killed them. Solomon could tell that the bow had an unbelievably high torque, one that made even a bullet proof vest redundant.

Solomon picked up his radio and dialled in the secure channel.

"Willis! I'm being attacked by Badala! Have Lynch send help!"

*…Yah- I'm gonna stop you right there, see I am not in the position to make demands from Mohan or Lynch at this time. Not that those two would provide me with anything despite personal protection.*

"Then come and help me!" He responded angrily that Willis wasted time telling him this.

*That's a no go from me, you're asking a one-legged man with insufficient combat prowess to deter Bad's of all people to travel half the region to save your unprepped ass.* Willis denied him of help in an instant.

"Willis, you!-." Solomon wanted to burst into flames from the intolerance he had for Willis. After all that assistance and help he provided.

"Do you not know the word honor among thieves, you shameless bastard?!"

*Humph! And don't you know the wise words of uncle sam, chose your friends wisely?* Willis snorted and retorted to him. Solomon was astounded by the shamelessness of the fat bastard. No wonder he always worked alone, no wonder Lynch was lucky enough to dump him in that cesspit Rook Island and still return. Whoever worked with this son of a bitch was doomed to be fucked over somehow.

*I did enjoy the times with you. Try saving yourself the pain and blow yourself up with the demon. I'll be seeing you in hell soon, ciao. (static)* Willis changed the channel and ended his last conversation with Solomon.

The radio fell from his hand and onto the ground with a clatter as Solomon stared blankly at the back of the statues from the seat of his office.

The sound of roars and growls died down as the animals were subdued by Badala and his men.

Solomon's eye wandered to the last remote that lay on his desk, one last contingency he prepared in case the Golden path were the ones who decided to fuck him over which he didn't think would happen but was harmless to prepare for.

He snatched up the remote and stormed out to face the demon himself.

-You want me to die, right? Well, the more you do, the more I will survive this and strangle the life out of you myself!-

* * *

Ajay let fly the last arrow to down the last bear that blocked his path. The bear plopped to the ground with bubbles forming from its mouth. He bent down to check the beasts jaw and gums.

"Narcotics…." They had been drugged for more aggressive behaviour.

"Boss!" Stella called out. To which he turned to her, but she pointed in the direction where the marines were pointing their guns at a newly emerged Solomon and demanding his compliance with fervor. That was until they saw his hands were up but with a remote in his hands.

"Step back, weapons down!" David called out so they understood. Solomon walked pass them calmly towards Ajay.

"Parley." He said cooly.

Ajay smiled slightly and holstered his compound bow but drew his suppressed custom 1911 'Sandman'. He pointed in the direction of Solomon who was having complex emotions about Badala's true intentions of coming.

"You know very well what's in my hand. Beneath these crates, scattered about are ten kilo charges all primed to blow."

"Great, you'll save us the trouble of sabotaging this operation. Do you have any last words?" He said with the red dot lined up to his head.

Solomon was astounded by what this fellow just said, as if the threat was empty to him.

"Did you not hear me correctly?! I said that I've rigged this place to blow us all to kingdom come. I die, then you die as well!" He shouted loudly so that he wouldn't miss his words the second time.

"And don't think I don't appreciate your effort. But sadly, you are in no position to negotiate. The only privilege that you have is that we take you back to the palace so that Pagan can spank you." Ajay said in amusingly. Solomon looked at him with grit teeth.

"Consider those my terms. If not, then die alone."

The explosives were not a threat that could phase Ajay, not even when he had men standing on top of them.

"Yo- ….You bastard! Who do you think you are?!"

"I am nobody."

"Truly are intolerable, does code of honor ever apply to you?! Does it ever apply to anyone these days?!" He ranted on as he waved the remote. Even Hurk who had him zeroed was worried he might accidentaly discharge the crackers.

"This coming from the person that betrayed friendship and family." Ajay laughed at his hypocrisy.

"Betray? I've betrayed no one! If my actions were betrayal then what about Pagan, huh? When he first came to Kyrat and took back the Palace for the Royalists did he not execute the last Devi bloodline? When he took power from Gang Min and butchered his relatives was that not betrayal? When he took in that whore from Ghale was that not a betrayal too? All I've ever done was upholded Pagan's ideals. The laws of the jungle, the strong trample the weak! What's wrong with that?!"

Ajay's eyes twitched unvoluntarily at the mention of his mother, the one he unwittingly called a whore. But the rest of what Solomon shouted he heard clearly.

"Ideals…." Ajay murmured to himself but Solomon heard it and thought to himself in relief that he had gotten to Ajay somehow.

"Ideals?... Laws of the jungle? Hahahaha!" When Ajay laughed a sour feeling entered Solomon as if he failed but he didn't even know why.

"If human beings were animals as you say they are, then even I'll believe that too. We live, we eat, we kill, we fornicate. The parts don't change at all." Hearing he agreed to his ideal Solomon got excited.

"Then-." But he was interrupted again.

"But have you ever seen an animal that turns on its own young or the other way around?"

"Uh-." Instantly, Solomon became wordless at the reply Ajay gave him. And what he meant was that despite everything there was only one single flaw to his ideal, something that not even Pagan subverted himself, because he too was human and a living breathing thing.

(Bang) Ajay fired a shot at Solomon during his hesitation and the remote fell from his hand. Stew jumped out and caught it. And Solomon plopped to the ground.

"Nnnnn…arrghhh!" Solomon groaned from the shot that impacted his leg. Ajay walked up to him.

"But who am I to talk about human philosophy with you. I'm just a demon." Ajay said with a satisfactory smile. While he'd been spared by Ajay, Solomon did not feel assured at all. In fact, he dreaded him even more. For someone to openly renounce his humanity meant that he would do things that exceeded the humane.

"Take him away." Ajay said to the marines. David nodded and grappled his shoulder and took him to the truck they came in.

Stew came over and handed him the remote. "Thank you!" He said smiling and looked towards the massive stacks of ammo and weapons lying around.

"You sure we can't capture this cache?" Maya asked next to him.

"We won't have time to process it or confiscate it, the Royal Guard won't even reach as far as Vyatha with the amount that survived the battle at Lanka." The were still fourteen thousand warriors still alive and kicking, sufficient enough that they could defend all the major camps and settlements.

"….."

Ajay smiled again, the day had gone better than they had hoped. He held out the remote to Maya.

"Do the honors?"

Maya chuckled and gleamed a beautiful smile. At times, he could be thoughtful too. Ajay walked towards the truck that was at safe distance from the caches.

"Wouldn't I destroy those statues as well?" She just realised the historical value of the statues that were carved at least a thousand years ago to commemorate Goddess Kyra's restoration of Kyrat after the devestation wrought by the demon god. Even if she wasn't religious…..

"That's the idea, Maya." He said to her before leaving it entirely in her hands.

She looked up to the pair of Deva statues, one belonged to Banashur and the other to his bride Kyra. The Kyratis had always celebrated her specifically through declaring a young girl as the Tarun Matara, though Maya wasn't clear of what their duty encompassed. It was clear from Ajay and Yuma's accounts that it was frownable by modern standards. To think that if Ajay had never brought back, lovable Bhadra. She would have to suffer this fate. Thinking this way, there was no hesitation to destroy that deeply rooted tradition. She could see why Ajay gave her the power to destroy it, it was for her to comprehend it herself.

(Beep) The remote made an audible beeping sound as she depressed the trigger. But….

Nothing happened.

"Ajay!"

"Yeah?"

"It was a dud." She said chipperly.

Ajay laughed insatiably, that infectious laughter passed onto the rest as he told them the story. Perkins began making fun of Solomon for his lousy workmanship in laying simple demolition wiring, even if the latters only response was the pain in his leg from the shot and from his heart that he was about to receive just desserts from Pagan personally. He contemplated suicide but death was suddenly such a scary prospect when the demon was with him.

Maya chuckled as she shook her head. No positive detonation? No worries!

She dug into the stash and retrieved an RPG and went a safe distance from the cache near the truck. She made sure that the back-blast area was clear before firing.

(Poof) The rocket flew to the centre mass of explosive material stacked up.

(BOBOBOBOBOOM) (BOOM) (BOBOOM)

The surroundings of the cache erupted into flames as the hidden explosives blasted the surrounds of the statue and its foundation.

The truck started and drove off once Maya had boarded.

The statue of Banashur crumbled to the ground first from the enormous pressure wave of the munitions and because of the general age of the stone. The Goddess statue stood firmly, not to be outdone by the flames, but too began to degrade as the pressure waves of the detonative explosives that had been planted by Solomon to close the cache site off from the outside also detonated. Stone and rubble was thrown around as deadly shrapnel to whatever remained. The goddesses outstretched hand began to crack and break off. Falling to the only accessible point of the site of worship. Luckily, Ajay and gang had already passed it and were zipping off to the North with their newly acquired prisoner.

In the North, they were expecting to celebrate their resounding success against the Golden paths most epic movement yet in twenty years.

For the Golden Path itself, it was a day of tragedy and calamity. The road to the North had been denied to them and the South had not been liberated as promised. But worse of all a sizable majority had been killed in the siege of Lanka which they could not maintain. Badala had proven to High Command and the Golden Path Leadership of Lankas dominance over Kyrat, whether it held lesser numbers in garrison or if it was temporarily incomplete.

Ajay's declarations had been fulfilled on two accounts. Mohan's appearance did indeed change nothing. And with the destruction of the Sleeping Saints, the second message had been clear to them when they were to learn of its utter destruction.

No god could provide them with salvation. Because so long as the demon was around, their prayers would never reach.

* * *

Author's Thoughts:

(BOOMBOOMBOBOOM)

The hospital explodes as Joker Maya leaves the building dressed in a nurse's outfit and a poorly drawn but scary clown makeup.

Joker Maya reaches her transportation only to find that the explosions ended too soon and the hospital had yet to be leveled.

(Joker Maya) - That's it?-

She shrugs her shoulders while waving out her hands. taking out the remote, she presses the button repeatedly.

(Joker Maya) "Nothing?"

She presses it one last time with a decently retracted thumb to apply force.

(click) (BOBOBOBOBOOM)

The explosion surprises her as she fumbles with the remote and heads off after another day of domestic terrorism.

The authorities fear the worst as 'fryface' Sabal Dent was in the hospital.

But wouldn't be assured for Sabal Dent would return in a more twisted fashion than before.


	69. Chapter 65 - Old Acquaintances Return

Author's Notes:

Exams are finally over, my summer paper i hope i aced it as i prepared greatly for. Back to writing, now is the best time before the actual term begins in March. Been receiving some interesting PMs recently, including requests for fanfics outside of FC4. All taken into consideration, might attempt it in the near future hopefully.

* * *

While the view was ever spectacular from the Royal Fortress, Arjun barely had time to admire it as he did in the old days when things were a lot quieter. He begun to miss those days, but he didn't regret all that had happened so far.

(Bump)

Layak dropped another pile of papers on his desk, the eighth one so far. Arjun cried internally, there was so much paper work to sign and check that he wanted to jump off a cliff. What the papers contained were requests for renewal of supplies and equipment, more men, more weapons, and more vehicles.

Layak left the room to gather another stack waiting for him and Ajay who was sitting at a table filling out forms of his own. It was not that he didn't appreciate him coming over to make things easier for him but…..

Seeing him of all people at a desk was a strange sight.

"You've been staring in my direction for quite some time now, Arjun. Did you finish your stack already?" Ajay said without turning his head to face him as he continued on with the papers.

"Ah-.. no. Nothing."

Ajay's equally high stack was regards to a very different grouping. Because of the joint tasks of their work, Ajay was here to counter check with Arjun.

It mainly pertained the production rates of the two out of three arsenals to restock the depleted regiments at Lanka and Delta. There was a plan to upgrade the arsenals to produce not just small-arms cartridges but artillery ordnance, because an army wasn't just comprised of men with guns. He was still technically the CEO of the arsenals regardless of his ranks or title so it fell to him to make the executive decisions of the arsenals. Although the arsenals were state-run, they were still built with his money, Pagan's allowance as a Marquis and Duke were set aside for territory management. But the arsenals were funded by his treasure hunts, among many of his personal expeditions into the mountains to retrieve an ostrich egg sized ruby was already a multi-million dollar find. The conflict diamonds that came from Longinus's homeland which was used as his payment were almost depleted within Pagan's vaults. Although Longinus always gave more than the actual diamonds worth, he wouldn't be here forever. He still had a personal mission to his conscience.

Even so, the treasures weren't enough to fund overall developments. Not forgetting the needs of the Tigers as well. He didn't need to fulfil any paperwork for the Royal Guards. That was managed by the superior accounting of Maya who herself was part of that army. Not that she was in a smiling mood either, she sent him a text about how Yuma was nowhere in sight and the Royal Guard commanders were demanding her to fulfil their logistical needs, probably fooling around with Pagan as of late. It was a strange thing to see them so close, not when he experienced her wrath in Durgesh and the KEO mines last time.

Ajay also had the responsibility of resupplying Unit 58, he thanked heaven that the town of Lakshman did not need his intervention with the council of ten there to micro-manage. He did receive some positive news from them.

Like how the population grew from twenty thousand to fifty thousand in a matter of three months. The steel milling, lumber camp and craftsman industry experienced a boom, with a demand in raw materials and a competent workforce things were allowed to move on its own. The PDF program allowed the literacy rate to go up by eleven percent which was fantastic, High Command was suggesting to have the militia serve tours as garrison forces in Lanka which Ajay wasn't so inclined to allow given the current situation with the Golden Path. Although, High Command had a different idea of how the war was going. Ajay was still convinced it was far from over, just because they failed miserably doesn't they won't try again, what have they been doing all this time other than proving that Golden Path would not fall so easily and had some fight left in it.

The last thing he needed was another interloper of the civil war currently in progress, Willis, Lynch and the PMCs were enough.

That being said, the Council had suggested he begin introducing a tax system to limit the migration into the town as it was affecting the populated age disparities in other towns and villages when the young left to find a better life at his town. The town might soon experience an overpopulation with was neither good for the growth of the town and could potentially form slums. Elina had already drafted up a plan for him, he'd left much to her over time and she was becoming the unofficial mayor of the town aside from her duties at the Arsenal. Maya's tutoring lessons really shaped her up in the art of bureaucracy, perhaps he should bestow that title on her for formalities sake.

He was getting worried that he was taking her time of raising her daughter whom no longer had a father around. But Elina told him not to worry as Alisa was doing fine in the care of her grandparents, Bibek and his wife. To think that old man that could barely walk without the aid of the stick was a legendary general that tutored Major Sen and Darshan showed Ajay he couldn't judge a book by its cover. He could recall the strokes that Major Sen and the other two used on him, it was both beautiful in form and lethal at close range. That formation they took multiplied their individual prowess several times by eliminating Ajay's time to react with repeated but constant attacks that were non-stop. Even in his state of anger he was almost helpless to them had it not been for the narrowness of the labyrinth that restricted their movement. To think that Darshan had bested all of them at the same time, did that mean that neither he was natural as Ajay thought him to be.

Although, something really bugged him about their forms when he engaged them before his indulgence of rage. It was as if the stances they took and the forms themselves had some gaps in their technique, like it was incomplete.

"Some times you scare me." Arjun initialled a topic which wasn't very pleasant to begin with.

"How so?" But Ajay encouraged it.

"Does everything with you need to be so overbearing?"

"Overbearing? Like what?" Ajay said with an expression of innocence.

"Wha-…. Like when you tore Deva Bhishma in front of the Golden Path."

"I did that to scare'em of-."

"You scared not just the enemy but your own troops! It's become the rumor that even G2 and propaganda can't kill! But that's not all!"

"…."

Ajay sat and listened quietly. He guessed this was just Arjun blowing steam for him going AWOL of that wilderness training camp.

"When the dignitaries came-."

"Which ones?" He knew which ones but played ignorant.

"The Russians!"

"Yeah, go on."

"I mean, sure. They went way too far with the deal they offered by charging us more than agreed but it didn't mean you had to walk out on them like that."

"So would you have preferred we accept that time? After insulting the integrity of the armed force? We're a customer, not their vassals."

"Wh- no! I-."

"Arjun, not everyone is as earnest and honest as you for someone at your rank. Human greed is an ever-present thing and they had the pride of a nation to uphold. And so do we. Besides, we got the deal in the end at the price we asked and a few bonuses, right?"

He was referring to the arms deal between the Russians and them to procure some serious hardware that was critical to the S-program and upgrading the equipment they had at hand over three months ago. It was such a long time ago, yet Arjun couldn't stop worrying about it. Because Ajay stepped on the paws of the Russian bear.

Thanks to Arjun's contacts in New Delhi with their department of defense they were able to get hooked up with the charming fellows from Moscow.

They sent two representatives to discuss the talks, from the moment they stepped out of the Antonov plane to be greeted with hospitality by Layak and the liasons all the way back to the royal fortress they returned it with indifference. When they sat in the conference room when Arjun spoke of their needs in the arms procurement and how it would benefit them both through the resource channels Kyrat could offer, they had not even bothered to pay attention to him. It was rare that Arjun had spent such time to do the presentation and yet they returned his inquiry with a cold shoulder.

Yet, their attitude was to be expected, Kyrat was a small place in the Himalayas that wasn't even recognised by UN. They were under the impression that if they came to them, Arjun and Ajay were so desperate to turn to Moscow for military procurements.

So Ajay responded with asking Layak to call for the Palace Guards to deport them back to the airport. Least to say it wasn't just Arjun that was shocked but the dignitaries themselves. The rest of the Staff officers who had quietly been watching cheered internally at the display of force Ajay showed them. Where the Rhino yielded for the sake of the countries interest, the demon did not.

The dignitaries were stunned by his order and begun to feel that Arjun was not the highest authority they had been allowed to meet but Ajay. Ajay didn't stop there as he indicated their lack of etiquette and to pay compliments to both Arjun for his rank and Ajay for his Title. Reprimanding them for coming here with the sloppiest of interests.

"If you weren't interested to begin with then leave, you've wasted not just your time but ours! I will remember this 'grace' you've presented us, comrades!" He said in the most hostile way possible. The Russian dignitaries were shaken by his…. Overbearing attitude that they realised their shame in their conduct. Of course, Arjun played the good guy and stood between Ajay and the Russians. When he introduced Ajay to them they let out cold sweat, because Ajay wasn't just a young officer they thought him to be but the second most powerful authority of Kyrat.

They made a few phone calls back home and said they were no longer adequate for the agreement and someone else was coming over who was more capable of handling the deal now. The following day, they returned home and a call from SADEC's early warning and air control that a jet and two fighter escorts were requesting permission to land. Arjun gave the all clear and personally went to Met Teh Airport this time to ease the VIP that was coming in place of the two former dignitaries.

Arjun came back to the Royal Fortress with ten men, four of which were Generals while the rest were members of their foreign affairs and one of them was rather familiar to Ajay as he'd seen him of TV a few years ago.

Dmitry- something, he couldn't remember his name either way so he stuck with calling him by his appointment.

He insisted on being called 'the associate' for transparency sake, though it was hardly open but he figured their caution was for the sake of eavesdropping satellites by their superpower rivals. Russia had no business in the Himalayas and that was how they wanted the official story to remain.

The man apologized for the poor conduct of his associates and had come to personally ensure the deal between Kyrat and Russia go ahead. Ajay responded with "let's make this ancient history then, shall we?", Though it hardly showed on his face, Dmitry was pleased. While he was a lot more accommodative than the previous two, it was evident they never lowered their heads lower than they needed to, nor apologize incessantly. Dmitry told him it was "Russian Poker Face" that the two dignitaries had been behaving, seeming to forget it wasn't Russia nor their more understanding allies but a completely different cultural backdrop. Kyrat was technically South Asia. Of course, it was an excuse but Ajay feint ignorance to let bygones be bygones. His counterpart could see that and took note of it. As for the informal reason they didn't take Arjun seriously before was due to a saying in Russia, to "laugh for no reason is a sign of stupidity." Ajay wasn't sure about the validity of that reasoning but it was a sharp contrast to their Asian cultural habits and wouldn't be surprised that they saw it as idiocy on Arjun's end. When Arjun heard of this, he wore a sullen face for a whole week.

The deal went through and was signed after Arjun's presentation on what was their situation and what we needed to procure from them and they returned to the Airport after bottles of champagne. As they boarded the jet Ajay tossed Dmitry a coin-size block of aluminium.

Without Ajay explaining or Dmitry responding, he knew what it meant. Like when Israel was in dire need of Titanium, they had a high demand for Aluminium that Ajay had a net estimate of $300 billion under the mountain ready to mine. He was inciting their interest in Kyrat which he hoped would interfere with the United states interests. The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

"Things turned out fine." Ajay repeated.

"It did not! You brought a superpower into this powerplay!"

"No. I played one superpower against another." Arjun froze as he suddenly hit a revelation of what Ajay said with a worriless smile.

"Y-…. You don't mean you-."

Arjun fell further into shivers at the thought. Ajay had solidified an arms deal into a potential trade agreement with them. But behind the charade, it was also a deterent against the CIA and in turn the US government should they get involved. He had placed Russias trade of import and export interests in Kyrat that would place significant changes in their economic situation to revitalize their economic status from the old crumbled Soviet Union. Dmitry knew he was being played but at least he got something out of it. On the outer appearance, all of the nations were friends and partners but underneath they were just militarizing and improving their conditions for a potential global destabilization. The conflicts that erupted around the world were not only instigated by the people of the respective countries bridled with Civil war but third parties. These hotspots were testing grounds for new concept tactics and weapons that outsiders lent or fielded on a side to show its full potential.

Or it was simply war profiteering. When someone was fighting, there was a constant demand for supplies, weapons and their respective munitions. Like Kyrat. In a sense, they were profiting from Kyrat's unrest. It was all a matter of perspective, Ajay could see this clearly because he had a deep understanding of human nature, especially the wicked aspect.

"After all the shit that's gone down, I'm surprise Lynch didn't just fess up to his spook big wigs to make it public and clamp down on us with a UN embargo, perhaps even send 'liberation' force. Still, it gave us time to work that out."

It was a concern that Arjun long worried about, that when the US involvement in Kyrat became public, they would start by declaring them as a de facto nation that committed numerous counts of atrocities which you could literally find evidence everywhere. What would happen next would be their support of existing resistance movements. I.e. the Golden Path with a larger supply runs and airlifts to help overthrow the monarchy. Then there would be raining tomahawk cruise missiles and precision bombing strikes bombarding all of their military bases. Ajay had seen what they did in Libya and it was a potential outcome for Kyrat if they didn't get behind a permanent member of the UN security council who could veto the US attempts to sell them out as baddies. There were five member nations that could do that, France, USA, Russia, China and United kingdom. Since Arjun chose India to hold their alliance with instead of China who was also a permanent member, Ajay had to find some way of getting the other three to stand by them.

Russia was the closest permanent member after all.

"You!- you had this all planned out?!" Arjun said with a shaking finger pointed at Ajay.

"Is that all you have to say? How bout a round of applause of this wonderful Duke?" Ajay applauded himself with a grin.

Arjun was speechless. Time and time again, Ajay shook him and sent his dear fragile heart sinking everytime he did something so unimaginably crafty, this one was the most brilliant one yet and the most frightening. It was clear he outmatched Arjun himself in every way and that of the Golden Path. To think so far ahead of Arjun's own ideal to modernize the Armed force.

Ajay knew himself, he wasn't as smart as Arjun thought he was. Yet strangely, everything presented itself neatly before him and he could see patterns of events before they took place like he knew their reactions and behaviors beforehand. Could he have become more intelligent with this curse of his? Ajay laughed at the thought, if that were the case, was he truly Ajay Ghale to begin with?

"You're a monster…" Arjun mouthed out those words and realized he actually said it out loud much to his terror and regret.

But Ajay's response, though equally surprised by Arjun's declaration gave him something of a response that Arjun couldn't comprehend even during the quite years ahead.

Ajay smiled to him and said. "I'm glad you're one of the few that still talks to me like I'm not. Hopefully, when this war ends…. I'll be the last."

* * *

For a full week, there were minor battles taking place between the Golden Path who were spread dangerously thin because of the previous strategy to divide and conquer all of the Southern regions. Their opponent was the Royal Guard regiments, fully equipped and ferried by the mechanised units and a whole fleet of Blackhawk helicopters on standby to the locations that required their presence.

The Golden Path gave up their pursuit of Baghadur, Hubris, Shanath and Naccarapur. When they returned to the safety of their territory they had found their most critical weapons cache in flames, Solomon missing, and the sleeping saints statues desecrated. Only one person- ney, one monster dared to defy the sacred presence of Kyra and Banashur. He had after all razed Holy Jalendu to the ground to make a point that the era of religious driven culture was coming to an end. Without Jalendu's holy relics to coronate another Tarun Matara, the Golden Path saw no other option in rallying the people.

The Royal Guard Regiments didn't stop there with their assault apparently. They drove a spearhead through what was once the Kyra tea factory and plantation, isolating the Golden Path base at Tirtha from Banapur and the recruitment camp. Some of the deserting members sought refuge in Chal Jama Monastery, only to be dragged out and executed by the provost.

Outside Banapur, along the entire stretch of paddy fields were field tents and men and women attending to the many injured from the expeditions. So far things had cooled down with the situation secured around the valley which Banapur was centred in. They wouldn't be attacked by the Royal Guard here where defensive presence was high and the guards units were too far to support the front elements. But that did not erase their worries. The cause of their terror was still out there.

From the looks of things, it appeared as if the Golden Path had experienced a major set back. But it was far from over. Mohan's order for a full-scale retreat had in fact saved the entire bulk of the organisation, although loses still dwarfed all other major battles. They still had the ability to bite the Royalists back with their twenty thousand.

The question was, what would the Golden Path do to get out of this mess? Mohan sat with the Devas in front of his benefactor. Whom, for a whole week had not moved from the stop which she mediated and healed evident wounds. When Mohan first saw these, he was shocked scared. What sort of power could possibly harm the mistress could very well kill them without so much as a flick of a wrist. Vel sat beside her mistress in using her violet threads to wove out stitches that binded her wounds, injuries that should have heal given her powers and identity.

" _Bring forth, Vasu Sen."_ She spoke her first words after that long period of licking her wounds. Mohan nodded to Bhaskar the keeper who remained as he went to fetch Vasu. He had to drag him over as the former grieved the loss of Bhishma to the extent that his eyes were ever lifeless. Sanjeev was in the frontlines maintaining the situation so could not console him.

Vasu was brought before her with the same inactivity.

"…"

She brought out an old mirror and breathed onto it. Then held it out to show him. Within the mirrors reflection was a memory of her previous engagement with that terrible man.

" _When was it you first encountered this man."_

She had her suspicions but she wanted him to confirm it. Mohan stared wide eyed to see an actual unprotected and unexalted human being fight an entity like her to the point that she was pushed almost till the point of being wiped from the earth.

She didn't rush him as he slowly recovered from his stupor for a while and looked at the mirror. He blinked several times before coming into a conclusion of the matter of who that was he was looking at.

"Darshan?..."

"What?!" Mohan shouted showing the first time to them how surprised he actually was.

"Unbelievable, to think that man has become this powerful.." Bhaskar the keeper lamented whilst shaking his head solemnly. While he was not a Deva but a scribe, he possessed long forgotten knowledge that was no longer stored within books. It included his understanding of ancient writings.

Mohan had long dismissed Darshan as a young adversary of the aging Devas but never actually believed him to be the threat they often proclaimed, not even when Bhaskar told him given his and their current status of power.

" _The last of the Demon Banishers, yet stronger than even ten patriarchs combined. A generation of his own. An adamant will behind his spells is what constitutes such potency in his abilities and talent as an exorcist and demon hunter."_

While she outlay the true threat to their grand design she also complimented him. Of all the people she'd met, he was by far the most unexpected and genuinely interesting of characters.

They remained silent towards the discover, until-

"Mistress…." Vasu mouthed something as his consciousness returned slightly.

"If I were to give you my all, will I have the strength to defeat Badala?"

"Wha-…" Mohan was astonished by Vasu's display, he'd caught whiff of him voicing out a few times about his adverse against the mistresses blessings. The witch was equally silent.

"…." But she understood the pain it was causing him, a part of his soul was corroded in hatred.

" _Isn't the powers I've given you, one that you can call your own enough?"_

"… It was more than anything any person could ask for, to be near-infallible in combat. To survive where others would perish a thousand times over. Yet-…"

Why weren't they able to deal with one demon?

"Why did we lose to Badala?... Why did he toy with us to the point that Bhishma fell into his grasp-… helpless?!"

Despite their immortal bodies, their comprehension of martial arts, and the fact that they were three men. Badala seemed unbeatable.

" _Your inability to comprehend does not phase me."_

It was this sentence that Vasu looked up with a disbelief in his eyes. And anger.

"You knew?..."

He got up from the floor and walked forwards to the dais.

"You knew he was that strong and yet you-…" before he reached the edge, Mohan had already stepped in front to block him. Vel was at the edge with her threads waving about, ready to decapitate him if he took another step.

" _I had such hopes for you and your brothers to handle that matter on your own, I had even bestowed you with power that does not come freely in this realm. Your inability to fight on par with him and constantly underestimate him? Is no fault of mine, Vasu Sen."_ She said coldly.

Vasu bit his lip, it was just as she said. In fact, it had nothing to do with her. She was merely supporting them for her own agenda and not for their cause.

Vasu fell on his knees.

"If I were to give you my soul, my loyalty and my devotion. Would you not look on it as a selfish request from your devotee?"

Cold eyes gazed upon the kneeling Vasu, an opportunity to gain a powerful hand had come about. Vasu remained where he was until he received an answer, he wouldn't do anything but wait for one.

" _When I call for you, you will appear."_

"Yes."

" _When I ask you to kill, you will dispatch."_

"Yes."

" _When I want you to die, you will take your own life."_

"….I'd gladly take it!" He declared in his bitterness.

Mohan watched this take place silently, the oath of binding that locked their fates together. If she fell, he'd fall. So was the destiny to serve her. Mohan recalled when she had asked him to do the same after reviving him at a price, for further power. But he refused, of all the things he could give, his soul was his and his alone. That was why he would never become like Vel or like Vasu now.

" _Leave us in peace. In the meantime, you should greet your acquiantances outside."_

Mohan left the place to the as he helped Bhaskar out of the hovel. Vel remained behind as she always would.

As the doors shut, Vasu remained where he was kneeling. A delicate hand reached out from the cloak to touch his face. He could feel the coldness radiating from it with a strange sensation of warmth amidst the chill, something he couldn't make sense of.

" _Your devotion to your brothers is an admirable trait, Vasu Sen. However…."_

Her caressing hand retracted and she used her fingernail to slide across cut her finger to let blood trickle out. The hand placed itself on his forehead where the Ajna Chakra was and drew a symbol of a hex upon it.

" _From this moment on, that devotion will be for me…. and me alone."_

* * *

Outside Mohan returned to with Bhaskar helped up by him. As usual, the members of the Golden Path and the villagers paid their respects as the passed him.

It was only a few minutes since he left that he noticed a huge commotion at the Cliffside road into Banapur where the mountainous border lay to some of Kyrat's equally least known neighbours to the outside world.

Men and women rushed towards the road with estatic faces, as if their hope had been restored some how.

-Old acquiantances…..- The words that his mistress left him, they could only refer to a few he genuinely called friends. And what others called heroes.

"So they've come at last." Mohan helped Bhaskar in a slow but steady manner towards the mountain trail.

There were shouts of joy and relief amidst the crowd which made Mohan wonder what the fuss was all about. Not even when the captured Devas return did the reception get this big. There were still recovering fighters limping towards the entrance to greet them.

Them, likely being the last two that vanished off into thin air when he was reported to have been killed. Dr Ved Sawal and Swara Lamsal. When they saw him, the crowd parted way respectfully for him to see them.

"Mohan…." A gentle woman's voice called out to him from an aged but still beautiful woman.

"Sister. It's been too long."

"I don't believe it! It really is you!" A hand grasped him from his shoulders and bear hugged him. His frame as big as ever, Ved Sawal.

Then, he released his hug and studied Mohan's appearance with a tingle disbelief.

"You haven't aged a day."

"Lots has happened since then. Now, the situation is even more dire since I came back. Regardless, welcome back to Kyrat. And welcome home." He said with a meaningful smile.

(Cough) "Great teacher, the general reports that three-quarters of the staging force are ready at the borders awaiting your orders." A uniformed soldier informed Lamsal in a respectful way that like the Golden Path did to Mohan their leader.

"Thank you, please tell him I've established contact with the founder. And have the advance party assemble, I will let them see him in a minute."

"Cultural justice for the shining way!" The officer saluted and went away with a previously unseen uniformed group behind Swara and Ved.

Mohan took a peek to see there was more than them that came here.

"You both have been busy."

Swara chuckled as Ved let out a hearty laugh.

"Where is dear Vasu?" The woman asked him consciously.

"A little busy at the moment. But you'll get to see him soon, lets find somewhere we can talk about the things that have transpired, shall we?"

"Agreed, but first. We have a few followers in this expedition that we would like you to meet. They've been dying to lay their eyes upon the founder of the Golden Path and Shining Way movement." They took him aside to return to the direction whence they came.

"Shining Way?" Mohan asked as he followed them towards the edge of a cliff that looked down a valley that led in the direction of the neighbouring country of Yinke.

"If the Golden Path were to truly perish then at least it would have itself a spiritual successor. That is what the Shining Way is all about, and why we left Kyrat in search of new grounds. In a sense, you are its spiritual leader. The Great Mohan Ghale." Swara said as she waved him to stand and have a look down the valley. Normally if it were anyone else he wouldn't do that but they were the few exceptions.

He lay eyes on what awaited him down below with the utmost pleasant surprise. "Is that-..?"

Ved smiled. "And they're is yours to command."

As his body became visible to the thousands below, a crisp sound of foot stamping at the ready resounded.

"""We greet the founding father with our utmost respect!""" Shouted the many thousand soldiers that were evenly dressed in grey fatigues with blue outline collars and buttons, flanked by vehicles and horse drawn carriages of mobile artillery. Giving a rather grand look to the army that Swara and Ved brought with them through the mountains on a secret path. But it wasn't just an army they brought.

….. But the backing of an entire nation.

* * *

Arjun waited by the roof of the control tower of Meh Teh Airport deep in thought about what Ajay's true agenda really was. Even though the later was leaning on the wall just next to him.

As a change of pace from working non-stop on the reports and executive orders to pass, they agreed to pick up Saraswati and Bipin at the airport. Arjun was sceptical of whether Ajay truly meant to see his daughter or was it just for the young Kadayat. Bipin was still by King Min's appointment, Ajay's attendant.

Though Ajay didn't reply to that thought, it was for both of them. They were both his friends after all. Although he wouldn't lie to say he felt some sort of longing to see Saras again. Not long after arriving a few minutes before the scheduled landing, a C-100 civilian version of the military C-130 that was a newly purchased cargo and passenger plane for Kyrati Airlines landed. While the airport runway had a drop of about 400 metres for the airplane to pick up speed to sustain flight. The runway itself was only five hundred metres long which was only enough for certain Short landing and take off capable aircraft to land and fly. Traditionally, because it only supported Cessna-styled planes to carry four passengers or a few crates of heroin and opium to a destination. The biggest plane they had was a fleet of old Douglas DC-3s for long munition and drug runs in the past most of them got shot down by heavy machine gun surprises as they flew low on the nape of the earth. Courtesy of the Golden Path.

But it was all about to change soon.

There were already some improvements done to the airport facilities aside from the defensive perimeter built for the airport garrison months ago. The control tower was upgraded with a modern AESA radar and surveillance equipment supplied by Israel which they were ever generous for giving to show their interest in the rare-earth metals Kyrat could offer. There were larger hangars to house the large C-100 size aircraft, extended runways and a SAM site to shoot down any unwanted visitors or runners that attempted to nick a plane and leave. Thought it was least likely the one of a few other Anti-Air Missile and Gun Batteries stationed about Kyrat that would do the deed. And lastly, there was a proper Duty-Free finally! Though these were only the beginning.

The plane came to a stop near the departure and arrival building which Ajay and Arjun were waiting from the roof from.

"I'm sorry for what I said back there….. I-."

"It's fine, Arjun. I know you didn't mean it. Instead, aren't you happy your daughter is back safe and sound?"

"… (Sigh)." It was as Ajay said, there was no point in hangin with negative thoughts.

"Still, I thought the elder sister would come to see the young officer, not you." Arjun said.

"Oh, Maya? She wished she could, but unfortunately Yuma had left the entire bulk of the Royal Guard in her delicate hands for over a week with no sign of the reports ending. We were lucky on our end, Arjun." He patted the general on the back and made his way down to greet the returning Officers.

They walked side by side slowly towards the guarded fence which hthey had no problem getting through with either Arjun's rank or Ajay's known identity. The large cargo plane made into a large passenger craft. Awaiting the loading ramp to lower down with anticipation, they caught sight of Saras and Bipin the instant they caught sight of them too.

""Oh-.."" It seem they were also raring to see the rest.

They waited for the ramp to fully lower before stepping off. Without further instruction the two went to greet their respective charges. Arjun to his daughter and Ajay to Bipin.

Arjun wore a smile as he stretched his hands out for an embrace as he was expecting, but the person who he intended to receive it from went quickly pass him in Bipin and Ajay's direction.

Ajay and Bipin were oblivious to this as their focus was with eachother.

"Nice to see you aga-AAn!?" Ajay tried to rebalance himself from the sudden weight applied to his left shoulder and body that came at high speeds. That weight came from the person that had been dying to see him again since her departure for Maharashtra. That person pressed her checks against his face.

"I missed you too." Ajay said thoughtfully.

"Ahem!" Arjun cleared his throat to the closeness she was presenting in front of him and the absence of a greeting to her own father.

"It's been a while, Father. Did you make things difficult for mother while I was gone?"

There were a ton of things Arjun wanted to say to her and reprimand her about, but it all washed away with the mention of Manisha. Cold swear ran down his spine as he tugged his collar to let it cool off.

"Your grace. Congratulations on your new title." Bipin said in regards to Ajay's.

"Oh come on! Not you too!" Ajay grumbled and sighed at Bipin becoming formal. Saras hid her chuckling behind a hand as she'd witness him morph from simple trooper into an officer of the Kyrat Royal Guards. He intended to be the most exemplimary officer in his own calibre as a show of gratitude for all that Queen Min and his sister had shown to him over the years.

"Your sis would be proud of you. I'm proud of you too." Ajay tuggled him in for a group hug. It was as Saras had foreseen back in India, she couldn't hold back her laughter much to Bipin's grief and Ajay's lack of understanding.

"Aren't you going to show us what's changed since we've gone?"

"Maybe tomorrow, you just came back from a series of train rides and flights for a few days. It must've been tiring. Your father and me have been at the desks for days and we need a break as well. In the morning, I'll be more than happy to show you Lanka."

"Lanka…. So you really had it built." She knew the costs that would incur in building such a grand design that was why she never seriously proposed it to the Crown or High Command. But with Ajay and her father's persuasion, it came into effect. And had been instrumental in deterring the numerical Golden Path forces. It's concept was more than proven sound and worth the upkeep for maintaining law and stability.

Ajay took the led as they made their way towards the staff SUV where Layak awaited to chauffeur the four of them and their luggage.

"If you saw the forces that struck marched up to King's Bridge and run after taking serious losses you'd be amazed." Arjun commended his daughter. Saras smiled in response, it was ever so rare that he would do so as her performance was always superb.

The mood was good for all of them. Ajay enjoyed the brief time he had that didn't involve conflict or another upstart attempt on the Golden Paths end. His 'intern' gave him a wonderful presentation of prowess. While none of them knew about Sabal's changed status, he was still able to threaten Sabal with what he had. After Maya had told him the story he had no choice but to indulge her in his end as well.

Arjun was glad to have his daughter back and the progress report that everything was fine in India where over three hundred officers were stationed to study the art of warfare from their staff college and academies.

Bipin was relieved to see that Ajay was well and his sister in equally good health. It was after all his responsibility to watch out for Ajay.

And Saras, was finally back where she belonged. Two months of lonely nights, she'd make him repay every day of tiresome and stressful days working. Compensated through-.

"Halt!" A commotion occurred back at where the plane had shut its engine.

"Stop right there!" Two guards yelled at a running man heading their way.

"(Huff) (Huff) Wait! I'm-." The man didn't have time to justify his stowaway in the cargo plane that Bipin and Saras was on.

"Get on the floor, asshole!" The guards, now five surrounded him as he reached the fence that separated Ajay from them. Cocking their rifles and apprehending him with pushes and tugs to inspect his body for explosive substances.

Bipin and Saras stared in shock.

"No way!" Bipin said half serious and half in mockery. Saras, who had initially been in the best of moods face turned sullen at the sight.

"Oh my god….. Let's get out of here, quick!" She turned and pulled Ajay urgently. Ajay had never seen her this way, towards a person that is. So he was naturally curious though she pulled him away, Bipin understood and walked with them.

"Aghhh!- Wait! Beloved! I came all the way here for youuuu!..."

* * *

Author's Notes:

In case many are still oblivious or have played FC4 but not noticed the in-game notes. Kyrat isn't the only fictional country in that area. At a particular shrine, there is a note which states that Kyrat is surround by other less known countries. The countries are:

South – Papir Republic

East – Yinke

West – Kumsa

Whom I will involve for expanse of area and universe.

The name Yinke which the two Devas resided for 16 years if I'm not mistake could be the Chinese words 穎客 yin ke, which is kind of like a travelling scholar. Explanation? A maoist communist presence in that area. Like Peru's Shining Path movement during the civil unrest which the Golden Path was based off in reality and what inspired the Nepali Maoist rebels to take power. Scholar, depicts a high literacy rate and use of poetry to influence culture and learning.

Therefore, Ladies and Gentlemen! I present to you Havok's fanfic within fiction. The People's Democratic of Yinke. Supported by China? Mmmm…

Havok: "Ney! Through the quotations from Chairman Ghale (Mohan) we prosper!" (Parodying Mao Zedong)


	70. Chapter 66 - A Memorable Night at Lanka

Author's Notes:

Lots of informative opinions recently. I just have a few things to say in regards to Ajay and the Plot of this story. In the beginning, FC4 was an unfinished game launched early for a scheduled release for E3. Lots of potential and back story flushed down the toilet on that day three years ago. My intentions of the story that i wrote was an amateur's attempt to bridge some of the plot holes together with a unified story and plot. Magic, mysticism and active political situations.

If you'd found Ajay's character to have been shifted considerably from his reserved and indulgent personality then you've at least read the story in such detail. You deserve a non-existent pat of the back which i wish i could give but can't. And the answer to that is... plot twist.

* * *

Events forwarded to the evening since Saras and Bipin's return from Maharashtra. Ajay and Arjun drove them back to Lanka to stay for the night while the crazy man was being escorted under armed guards to the cell of the same place.

They stayed in Ajay's Villa built on Pagan's request and rested. Ajay took this time to pay a visit to the newest of prisoners who wasn't even Kyrati.

He had a name.

"Lieutenant Pravindra Kumar, the IAF's premier ace fighter pilot." Bipin briefed him on the overall info as Saras refused to tell him and would rather he was deported back to India as he should have been. For Ajay, it was rare to see her freakout about anyone other than himself… and yetis.

Pravindra was a long line of men and boys who had been caught by Saras's alluring spell, her appearance and her highly desirable traits of mannerisms and talent. By far, no one was safe from it, not even the upright British Sandhurst Officers. And Pravindra was no exception, except he wasn't one of those that could accept that Saras was beyond their ability to court. And Pravindra didn't let borders limit his attraction to her.

Ajay walked the long line of cells that inhabited the detention barracks manned by the Army Provost near the walls of the central keep of Lanka where the heart of the fortress was. In his hands was a bundle of food neatly wrapped by the generous stall vendor. He passed through the gates and bars with little difficulty, only needing to explain why he was visiting and the MPs let him through and escorted him to the correct cell.

He passed a row of open cells, some contained deserters, while others had captured Golden Path members that surrendered. All were equally frightened by his appearance in the dungeon they were in, praying that they wouldn't be the ones to be personally interrogated by him. But sadly, that wasn't on his agenda of coming to the cell.

The MP brought him to a room which they used for confessions and interrogations. A table with two chairs were the only Spartan furniture in the clean room, appart from the lamp that shone down on the table.

Ajay sat patiently for the MPs to deliver the Indian to him.

And at last, the door swung open with the MPs' shoving him against the table.

"Sit!"

"Ok! I'll do it, jeez!"

"Your grace…."

"Thank you, both of you. Could you give me a while with him?"

"Of course, milord." The MP sergeant bowed respectfully and left after uncuffing him and shutting the door.

As Pravindra sat, Ajay introduced himself.

"Here, I wasn't sure if you'd eaten from the trip you made." He placed the bundle in front of the Lieutenant and unfolded the wrapper, revealing a wonderful smelling fragrance of freshly baked naan and mutton curry.

Pravindra reached out without restraint and begun wolfing down on the bread, Ajay couldn't help but chuckle slightly.

"Thanks… " He said with a full mouth.

"No worries. So while you're eating might I hear your side of the story, Lieutenant Kumar?"

He battered his chest to force the half digested bread down his throat.

"Didn't she tell you? Weren't you with them, ur?"

"You can call me Badala."

"… Badala….. as in-…. Venge-."

"Yes, Lieutenant. I'm Duke Badala of his Royal Highness Pagan Min. But for informalities sake it'll just be Badala for now."

"Uh-…ok? (sigh) So where do I begin?"

Pravindra told him the story of how he met the love of his life. For the record, it was the exact opposite of the events that Bipin mentioned. But it all begun at the New Year ball when he like many others were instantly caught by her stunning appearance. Since then, he'd been stalking her and openly declaring his love for her. He was the persuasive type of lover, akin to a Sean Connery James Bond. No means yes.

Ajay had a name for it, he called them symbiote lovers. They stuck around you as deeply as a parasite so that if they were separated in any way, the person would feel a sense of loneliness or emptiness from the symbiote lover's absence and yearn his or her return.

"Quite the romantic adventure, it could make big bucks if it were published as a novel or a movie script in Bollywood." Ajay gave a random comment.

"You think?!" He said excited.

Ajay just thought about how lacking their local film production genres were, especially when Sharma Salsa only wanted to do action flicks from a GoPro. In the previous timeline, she paid him rather well for it, most of the Kyratis only watched it because they thought the son of Mohan was an adrenaline junky and it was good entertainment to sway their minds off the civil unrest. Never again.

"Badala?"

"Nothing, just some inner thoughts. What was it?"

"I was just going on to the part about my release. How bout it? Could you do a lad a favour?"

Ajay just smiled at him, but his smile was void of any kind of joy.

"Lieutenant Kumar, allow me to illuminate your situation presently."

Pravindra cocked his head but listened attentively.

"You're currently AWOL from your assigned unit in Maharashtra, you entered Kyrat without the appropriate Visas or paperwork from the IAF authorities that granted your departure from India. For the stability of our foreign relations with India and your own safety, I had General Arjun to call up the Kyrati consulate to relay your presence in Kyrat. He told me it'll take a week before your Unit S3 comes here to retrieve you and debrief you back home."

Pravindra's face instantly ashened but suddenly his attitude recovered as he declared to Ajay…

"Oh that? Caught between Love and career, naturally I'd chose the former!"

Ajay blinked a few times to recall what he said word for word.

-Did he just say he was quiting the airforce…. just for Saras?-

"MmHmhmhm. How's that for true passion?" He puffed his cheeks proudly.

Ajay suddenly hit an epiphany on Pravindra. The reason why Saras was so annoyed by him and why she constantly failed to ditch him like she did with the other fellas she wasn't interested in. Pravindra lived in his own world, where things always turned for the better with him. It was a lunatics way of thinking positively in spite of dire circumstance, and it could piss of your peers when you smiled despite sharing a shitty predicament. Furthermore, he interpreted things on at his own convenience. He was a super dense guy. Even if that was the quality that made him an excellent pilot.

"Lieutenant."

"Please, call me Pravi!"

"Ok, Pravi. Try to see it from our angle and try not to be offended. You're an asset that ran to a neighbouring country on its own two legs. An asset that has a wealth of sensitive intel regarding fighter squadron formations and aircraft statistics that the IAF have invested a decent amount of effort in keeping peering eyes from researching and developing a counter to their strategies. Both of which was worth tens of millions of dollars and a lot of peoples effort. You need to think carefully when you simply declare something as brazen as quitting which in the current circumstance they will consider as Desertion and treason through defection. They'd either arrest you or send someone to kill you."

"Ah-… but you'll-." He was even suggesting that Ajay would shelter him. Ajay had to inform him that he had a limit.

"I represent a foreign power that wants to maintain the good relations Kyrat has with India that took a heck of a lot of effort to establish on both ends. Not something I'd compromise over a lovestruck pilot's hope of achieving a happy ending."

Pravi wore a sullen face that made Ajay pity him a little. Aside from the problems he caused, his actions did show that he truly loved Saraswati. To the point that he was willing to give up everything just to be with her. That was nuts, but Ajay liked nuts. It was the very character that certain oddballs had which you needed now and then in a military organisation, to do jobs that most men and women couldn't.

Ajay had heard from Bipin about his portfolio. He was a fighter pilot assigned to guard the sky against intrusions in the airspace near Kargil. From a number of unofficial air clashes with Pakistan Air Force and an engagement with a US patrol that vered off course into their airspace, his presence gained prominence with the Western Air Command. He was of course their secret trump. But this trump of theirs was also known for his lack of respect for authority and constant violation of regulations and doctrines that the airforce adopted. In other words, Ajay was looking at a Maverick.

Yet he could tell that Indian Tom Cruise wasn't without moral or conscience. He just wasn't a person that liked being restricted for no reason. And that often clashed with the system.

"Look, while it's a long shot with no guarantees, we might be able to arrange for you to have a provisional stay here under the pretext of cross training. That is… if you're up for it."

The instant he suggested that, Pravindra brightened up and danced for joy.

"I knew it! I just knew it! You too are a believer of true love! Thank you, brother! No- Big boss!" Pravindra clasped his hands around Ajay's and shook it with a profound vigour.

"Easy there, Pravi. While I did say we will help each other out, I did say it wasn't certain. Out of ten how much would you rate the probability of them indulging your selfishness for your status as an ace pilot?"

"…." He placed his hand to his chin to think about it.

"Nah! Shouldn't be a problem if you explain it to the Academy Dean!" He declared with little regard for the consequences. Ajay sighed internally, to think the India Airforce had to deal with such a brat for his unique skills, it almost didn't seem worth it.

But Ajay gained something out of it. The name ace pilot wasn't something that appeared as a norm, just to cultivate a pilot took serious spending of millions to train and equip with the latest hardware. A term that was only used in large enough air forces that held several combat wings like Indias premier airforce. To think that an ace would show up at his doorstep, was a rare find for the war that raged on presently. It was now a matter of whether his superiors would accommodate him or not and where would Ajay place him after that.

"What have you flown in so far?" Ajay asked his record of crafts he'd operated before.

"Um-… Usually its my old faithful sukhoi, yunno the SU-30MKI fighter? I did fly a cargo plane once during a conversion course and my uncle let me clock a few hours in his private helicopter."

"…" So it was his upbringing. He was pampered and fed with a silverspoon since birth. Uncle lets him fly his helicopter? If helis grew on trees for people to pick and didn't cost as ten times of filling a trucks tank to only fly for an hour then he'd say it was about as common. The trips Kamran flew him to and from the battlefield, he could easily have bought a Chevy and driven for a few decades and chuck away for the sake of wastefulness and still not beat the cost.

"Right, I guess that'll be all for me for now. In the meantime, please listen to the MPs here. I'll draft a report to have you released soon." While he was a noble, that didn't mean he could order the men around as he pleased like Yuma or Pagan could as they were the Commander-in-Chiefs of the respective forces. He still needed to fill out a form to request his release and reason.

"Thanks, boss! You're the best!" He declared like he was already Ajay's gangster minion.

Ajay walked up to the door and knocked for the MPs to open it and bring him back to the cell.

"By the way, if you've been pursuing Saras all this while you should know a wee bit about her history by now, right?" Ajay asked before he left.

"I know a little bit. That general who was with you was her father Arjun Roka, the Rhino of Kyrat. Stubborn in nature but Loyal. She's in the Royal Kyrati Army's Engineer Corp. Graduated in Sandhurst. And-….She's engaged to some impotent twart called Ghale."

Ajay nearly fell over from his insult.

"So you know she's engaged….. and you're trying to court her still?" He asked with a twitching eyelid and a fake smile.

"Yeah, heard it from Akhila before I left. Some brat that's been locked up like a princess in that Royal Palace of that king of yours. Sits his ass in a palace while his woman fights in a war that he should be in, and he wants to have her all to himself? It's no trouble stealing her away from a boy that hasn't even grown hair at around his privates. Wish me luck, ok?!" Pravindra waved him goodbye in a jubilant manner that he didn't notice for a second the face that Ajay couldn't keep back for a splite second. A face of utter loathe. He was now experiencing the same feeling of nuisance being near him as Saras did, yet in her case she had been encountering this for over two months. He felt like he and especially Arjun owed her.

Ajay walked out of the room and gave a quick back hand wave. When the door closed he turned to the MPs

"(Sigh)… Soldier." Ajay called the MP.

"Your Grace?"

"Tommorrow, give him a 'warm' Kyrati welcome. Beat him but don't cripple him and keep all the parts that matter intact until you receive an order from your superiors to stop. Remember to demand from him the location of Mohan."

"Yes, your grace. Might in inquire when will your request from my superiors would roughly come?"

-Now it should look like they mistook him for a spy.-

"..Mmmmm… maybe in about a weeks time? Earliest, I guess." He said with little care, and deadpan eyes. He didn't wait any longer, the rest were waiting for him back at the Villa.

-Warmest regards to your stay here in Kyrat. Pravi.-

* * *

Night had already befallen the fortress and the street lamps had already lit for safe passage. The markets and vendors within the bazaar district of the Lanka was bustling with activity. Already, the residential zones within the fortress had been filled by some of the migrating refugees to add a little social life for the stationed soldiers in the garrisons and for them to be with their families.

"Your grace."

"My lord, thank you."

"Please accept this as a gift, my young son made if for you."

Ajay's appearance was not hard to spot. While he did dress normally, there was a certain way he carried himself. Needless to say, all of the soldiers recognised him from his regular visits to all operating platforms in the fortress, highest to lowest. He was the only noble to walk on his two legs without escorts or riding on a vehicle or rickshaw to go from place to place. Yet he was the third most powerful individual in Kyrat. But he portrayed himself as sort of a people's lord, that routinely looked at the needs of the common folk. It made him rather popular with the simple farmers and tradesmen who knew he would take their welfare into account. He also didn't discriminate which was what made the Sherpa and minority tribes and wanderers commit him to memory in their long travels.

Yet not everyone agreed with the way he did things. First in line were the Golden Path, senior and junior generation. Who had been the constant victims to his tyrannical actions. Soon, Pagan's wild and unjust actions were overshadowed by Ajay in the eyes of the people and views towards the reigning monarch softened as they remembered who his 'watchdog' was. There were also certain noble families and alliances that did not favour him an waited for the day that he kick the bucket. While House Hamal had stopped their grievances to a certain extent, the union of other house of lords that were initially opposed to a nobody taking up the title of Marquis then Duke. It showed that the King had little regard for their status and position. But they dared not question his authority, only curse Ajay in their hearts.

While he did prevent Raghu's families' influence from collapsing any further, it still remained that he killed his treasured son. Though there was no proof, he knew it was him. The old man was extremely crafty, removing all potential contenders for the appointment. That was how a dumbass like Sugun could maintain his post as the Chief of the Royal Guards. He would bide his time when Ajay was in a desperate situation and betray him, for taking his dearest existence to his life from him and forcing his family into such dire straits, like putting his bastard son as the next heir. Raghu was a genius at hiding his emotion, during the ball there wasn't even a hint of him showing animosity, but Ajay knew it was there.

Then, there were the Canton Families.

When Pagan first came to Kyrat, he did so with his fellow members of his triad and mercenaries whom were laid-off police officers from Hong Kong. Most of which were from the Special Duties Unit, a SWAT-like unit in the Hong Kong Police Force trained by the British SAS before the takeover of Hong Kong by the Chinese.

Pagan informed him about it once for his own safety. Out of the most prominient families were Min, Lau, Khoo and Sun. The Min family was estranged with Pagan for years and had their own agenda, formerly the lowest branch family in the Min Triad of Hong Kong that aligned with Pagan during his usurpation of Gang Min, his father. Although, Yuma maintained her position as the head of the Lau Family so they had the same views as their boss and matriarch. Sun remained neutral towards their views with Ajay, due to his nature of easily offending and crushing resistance with his overbearing attitude and Pagan's favour over him. They dared not trifle with him for the sake of the status quo. Lastly on the list was the Khoo family, like the surname indicated were Solomon's relatives. Placed in a dire strait by their upstart of a member whom they cursed endlessly. While they had yet to meet him in the cell reserved for him in Durgesh, they planned to not let him think he got away with offending the family.

So why were these former triad members so important for him to take into account? Because they held the most influence over the domestic affairs in Kyrat, being related to Pagan and his rise to power. They stood a level above the existing Kyrati nobles and were people that even they dare not offend no matter how low they were in their respective families. It was thanks to them that the Royal Guard were so combat proficient with their Royal Academy instructors who were SAS trained and belonged to them. They also ran part of the heroin business and the mode of transportations that dotted around Kyrat. Of course, from part of their earnings they were expected to hand a good amount to Pagan regularly.

Like the nobles of Kyrat, they resided in an exclusive valley from the Uttar region behind the mountains and near Pagan's home in the Royal Palace. Which was why Ajay previously never aware of their presence. Even then, they were divided into districts based on their status and power. But these former triads occupied an exclusive area called the Canton District, which like the name implied were solely occupied by the Cantonese speaking members.

This was what Yuma had been contending with all this time, keeping her fellow Hong Kongers in check. Since she was doing such a good job, he'd leave it to her while the affairs of Kyrat were his beef. But it wouldn't be long before the Canton Families would want some involvement in their affairs and jeopardize their operations. Ajay had a simple method with anyone that interfered with him, which was what Yuma was preventing. Stopping anymore from becoming like Solomon just to serve their own interests.

Ajay went to the same shop to buy another order this time a serving for four. The Villas butler and servants were off on leave so he would provide for them tonight. After several helpings given to him by the stall owner he reached the doorstep of the villa.

"I'm back."

"Ah- here, let me help." Bipin came to retrieve the items from his hands and placed it on the table.

Saras and Arjun came over, but this time there was an additional guest.

"Did you excuse yourself from work early?"

"How rude. I'll have you know I could have left that load with Mistresses Staff at anytime I wanted." Although that was entirely different from what she texted him. Perhaps she just didn't want to burden her brother with her workload. So Ajay refrained from asking further, although she didn't hide the fact that she was excited to see him again after so long.

They sat at the table after Bipin laided the plates and distributed the food. Arjun intentionally sat between Ajay and his daughter as he didn't want anything more going on between them. Though in her head, that wasn't happening. She'd bide her time for the time being.

"(Whistle)" Maya made a hunter's call. In response Vajra came into the room panting like a dog as Maya placed a dish with its generous portion inside, petting it before returning to the seat. Arjun was at the edge of his seat to see that a wolf had just entered the house like it was a resident.

"Another animal friend, Maya? What happened to the adorable and one of a kind Bishal?" She asked playfully.

"Bishal got taken by that damn junkie Darshan somewhere only god knows! And I don't own this one, he does." She pointed to Ajay.

The three others stared at Ajay like they still didn't believe it. Especially Arjun.

"…" Bipin sort of accepted it, him being the one that subjugated Bishal in its youth. Had he kept it, it would have been like the black pelt wolf currently wolfing down on the chow.

Saras's response was giggling. "Are you going to get me one as well?"

"I'm not collecting animal freaks to do battle against one another. But having Vajra around is kind of convenient. He's a good boy, just don't get bitten by him or you'll need to go to the hospital right away."

"Sounds like you've been busy these few months."

"Then shall I start off the conversation with our end?" Ajay dug into a bag next to him and drew out a jug of the Huns' Baijiu.

"This is…?" The rest were baffled by the choice of drink, but not Maya. The moment she saw that familiar jug appear, the sparkles in her eyes glintered with immense radiance.

* * *

Bipin even caught sight of her show of excitement and wondered what was going on, and since when did Maya become an alcoholic?

"I assume you've all read the local history books, no? Inhabiting the Eastern Fringes, on the mountain tops are the descendants of the Hunic people. Originally an advance scout for the main force that headed to Europe. Among their many unique practices is brewing this." He said as he placed four small bowls for drinking and slowly poured the contents in each.

"This?" Arjun scratched his head.

"Only the best jug of wine you'll ever have!" Maya loudly declared, contrary to her more indifferent and reserved attitude, making Saras bust out laughing at her unrestraint attitude.

Maya realised her sudden out of character moment and returned to her seat blushing.

"Don't worry, girl. They'll understand soon enough. Here, the most generous cup. To the most hardworking of us." As he said, he poured her vessel to the brim before handing it to her.

"Is it really that good?" Bipin was now curious.

"Perhaps the real reason the old Devi Dynasty attacked them was so they could enslave them into making them this stuff." Ajay mused.

"That was a terrible joke. It can't really be that good can it-(sip)-…(Slurp!)" Halfway in disbelieving Ajay, Arjun's mouth contacted the alcohol that entered his throat. First was a burning sensation, then a wash of that sweet aroma around the inside of the mouth, suddenly making it feel like it became the sweetest candy.

"Ahem!... Perhaps I should pay a visit to the Chief Yang's village." Instant conversion: Successful.

"Even though it never crossed your mind all this time?" Ajay said chuckling.

"Shut up! You've got a problem with that?!-… (Cough) Forgive me, it must be the wine… Little bit more if you will, boy." One moment all flustered the next he was as obedience as a child asking for more.

The revolution of behaviours that arjun presented were a barrel of laughs for Saras. But she also took a sip from the vessel that was handed to her.

"I see what has even Maya and father hooked. This stuff is out of this world, have they considered selling it?"

Ajay blinked a few times and thought over it, he felt like slapping his head for not thinking of it sooner. Kyrats greatest exports: Rare-Earth metals, Traditional medicine and Hun Baijiu like nothing you've ever tasted.

He looked over to Maya who was already sketching out a plan on a handkerchief. Her marketing and accounting skills were superior to his anyway.

"Maybe in a few years time." Ajay suggested shrugging his shoulders, to which the rest laughed. It meant he had intentions to keep it a secret for a while to savor it for themselves.

"How did you get it?"

"An apology from Er Hu for 'that' afternoon." Chief Yang must've been shaking in his boots, thinking that Ajay would actually abide by his bet which he won and take a huge sum from his salary.

Maya puffed her cheeks. "Hmph! Of course, he should have given more, he offended more than one person." She said getting a bit conceit.

They continued to dine and drink like it was the most natural thing to do. They ate and continued on with a drinking game just because. And it softened the edge Arjun had with Ajay considerably, as it did with Bipin to him. Arjun was the first to fall to the intoxications of the heavy liquor and dropped to the couch where they continued at. He began to blabber about his history with Paresh and how Bipin was starting to resemble him. But prayed that he not to take on too closely to his father for fear they may share the same fate. "It is good to aspire to do greatness, but remember that there are people around you and are what defines you as a person." After that, he plummeted down on the couch snoring.

While he didn't realise it at the time, but it was the closest he'd ever had to a dinner as a family.

The next was Bipin, he had loosened considerably since he returned home and slumped next to Arjun.

"Let's put them in the same bed and see what their reaction is tomorrow." Ajay suggested. The two girls giggled away as they helped him carry them each into the third guest room with them tucked away nicely.

"I think that if father ever bothers me in future, I'll remind him of today." Saras said as she gazed at both of their sleeping innocent faces. Maya tried hard to hold back her laughter, but she was equally horrible for teasing her brother to this extent. Well, whatever. Ajay thought, if he did have to admit to it at least he had two accomplices that would go down with him in the end.

They continued with emptying the jug on Maya's request which they didn't turn down. She really loved the wine a lot, it might even be the downfall of her one day. Ajay shook his head, but accompanied her in the drink as he always had.

But like last time, the burning sensation appeared but quickly vanished from his blood. His red blood cells were breaking down anything that would harm his body at an astronomical rate. Soon, the jug had finally finished and she could barely stay awake. Swishing side to side but with a face of contentment, it was her once in a while release from all the accumulated stress. That was why Ajay never restraint her, it was what she had always done to manage it.

"I think its time for this one to go to bed." Saras whispered to him, he just nodded. Unlike the rest, Saras held herself back and took only one cup but it was already enough to make her face turn a health shade of red.

"You should rest too, you need to adjust to the hours here. Goodnight."

Ajay said his goodnight before carrying Maya again to the other guest room and tucked her away. For once, he was grateful that Pagan demanded he have a villa with so many rooms to inhabit guests.

"…. Don't run….." She murmured in her sleep, a distressed look appeared on her face, though her eyes were shut.

-A nightmare so soon?-

"…. Let me have a sip of you first….. Baijiu….." She responded, now her expression was one of pure bliss. Ajay sighed and shook his head. A pleasant dream of her chasing after a liquor jug running on its two feet perhaps, the thought made him chuckle as he quietly left the room to allow her to bask in that nice dream.

As he walked out of the room, the moonlight greated him from the open window. He looked out for a while, below the villa where the market was, were cheers and shouts of joy as the men and women celebrated to the beat of classical music. He spotted some soldiers there having the time of their lifes. If only the whole of Kyrat could have that, he sighed to himself. But some men only wanted things done their way and not vice versa.

As much as the people were enjoying themselves in this rare moment of unrest and tension, this way of living had to end. This civil war had to end, it had been going on for too long and it was affecting the progress of everyone. Only then could they live in a worry-free environment. He would have to push the Golden Path hard. He would have to take to the field soon and out of his embarkment, only return when he had Mohan's head in his hands.

Ajay shook off these dark thoughts, he was getting too aggressive. He still needed to remember that it wasn't about winning the war. It was about how it was won. And there was no other way than painting Mohan as the ultimate villain, by forcing him to play all of his cards one after another. Till he became so desperate that he resorted to unsavoury things that made even his own men question his authority. Only then, could he deliver the finishing blow, but that was how it had to be. Or else there would be a rise of another 'Golden Path' taking the quotations of Mohan without fully understanding what his nature was. It was like Arjun said, his display at Lanka had raised questions about his own ideals for Kyrat. Was he the rational thinker for the benefit of the people and the kingdom, or was he actually a bloodthirsty tyrant just trying to get his way?

Ajay decided to go to bed. With all the bloodrushing to his head, it was better that he take things slow and calmly. Maybe close his eyes and count illusionary sheep, he thought as he opened the door to his room.

"Hello there." A voice called out from his mattress

Or not.

Ajay closed the door behind him gently and turned to face the mysterious individual who had waited for him to return to his bed.

"Yunno… this house has an extra bedroom."

"I know, but there's only one place I'll sleep in." Spoke the ever playful and seductive voice of Saras.

As his eyes adjusted to the darker area, Ajay made her out from the shadow. Laying provocatively across his bed with her attire no longer in the uniformed fatigues of the Royal army, but in a black silky laced negligee. There was minimal light, but her snowy white slender legs enhanced by the fabric she wore stood out to bait him.

It suddenly occurred to him why she had barely indulged in the liquor that even he had difficulty putting down the cup. Saras was interested in a different type of entertainment for the evening from the very beginning.

"I never expected such a pleasant drink could render all of them drunk and out of action so quickly. But I guess it was all in good order. In fact, I should be thanking you for bringing it out in the first place."

"Oh? Why so?" He said walking slowly towards the bed calmly.

"Because, both Father and Maya are out of the way, knocked out cold for at least a night. Aaand-….." She intentionally dragged her words. Ajay came over to the bedside and sat beside her.

"I find no better time than to continue with where we left off, a round two per se."

She got up and wrapped her arms around him from the back as she pressed her body against him. But Ajay did nothing to stop her.

"You don't seem as averse to the idea as I thought."

"Did you expect me to fumble around at this point?" Ajay replied with a chuckle and reached a hand to touch her cheek. And said with a calm yet serious look in his eyes.

"I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss your company." Upon hearing him say that, her eyes fluttered slightly at his confession. She sighed a breath of relief as she leaned forward, pressing her forehead against his while closing her eyes to take in the moment.

"Both you and father are horrible. Sending me so far away and have made me wait for this moment for months." She said softer than before due to the proximity they were to each other, so close that he could hear her deeper breathing.

"Then I guess there's only one thing I can do to make up for it then…..." A hand hooked around her waist and pulled her body toward him, she yelped playfully at his assertiveness that she never accounted for. Perhaps that time away had truly changed him as well.

Their lips connected with a passion that wasn't previously there between them before. Saras had always been forceful in persuasion, but Ajay was still weak in the heart for women he held in regard. It made him realised that he was a victim to a symbiote lover too, her.

A wicked hand of his grasped tightly on her chest making her giggle provocatively.

The owner of said wicked hand gazed deeply into her eyes and told her of his intentions for the night by finishing his sentence he last left hanging.

"By giving you months worth of affection in a single night."


	71. Chapter 67 - Indulging One's Selfishness

Author's Notes:

I've noticed in my story a very weakly covered aspect, which is the absence of the Cantonese-accent Royal Guardsmen which of course come from Hong Kong. Why was this so in FC4? Probably had to do with the outstanding presence of Hong Kongers in Canada where Ubisoft Montreal is based. So Ubisoft Montreal graphed a plot which could fit the nationalities that it had at hand.

This is the first time I've added in content not originally planned for the plot. There will even be a new heroine side character from the Canton Families. (No, not for Ajay, he's had enough flocking around him. Not him at least.)

* * *

It was early morning, although there were still no sign of the sun being visible the air was losing its chill and the birds were chirping. Like the proverb on the early bird getting the worm.

Ajay waited for Saras to use the shower first, then washed up and get himself dressed for an early jog around the fortress. It was both done routinely to maintain his fitness and to regularly observe the integrity of the defences around the wall. The garrison nightshift always had their wits about them as they knew he made surprise visits. Ajay came out of the shower fully dressed in his running attire with a towel over his head to dry his hair. Saras was in the midst of putting on a blouse, having already seen her body it was not necessary to mind any longer. She could feel a pair of eyes staring at her back nonetheless and giggled at his boyish ways. She wasn't expected to report for duty for at least three days after all.

Though, they got up early not because it was part of their routine.

"Somehow, it feels like we're having a secret rendezvous, doesn't it?" She said with a light smile.

"….."

They weren't exactly being secretive about it. Yet if Arjun specifically caught them, it would be a whole mess that required significant remedying and it wasn't exactly the time to distract the Marshal of Kyrat from his duties.

He looked out from the window deep in thought about what the future would bring, right now the sun peeked over the mountains to inform the lands that dawn would soon be upon Kyrat. Saras came over and pecked him on the cheek just because.

"When you're done with you setting up your alibi, come back so we can have a chat at the teahouse down below. I'd like to hear about what's been happening on your end in detail." Ajay nodded and walked out after putting on his shoes, he was just about to walk down the stairs to the main door when-

"AHHHH!" "AARRHHH!" Screams came from within the house.

Then there was laughing from Saras, Ajay chuckled a little on last night's prank.

Off he went, for his morning jog around the Fortress. Today there was an additional bastion under construction he would go around, Bastion 4. Since the barricade defences, landmines and other obstacles had been refitted and repaired. The time of peace warranted the continuation of Lanka's construction to fully operational status.

High Command agreed that with the proven success of Lanka, there could be a significant reduction of the required strength to make the defences within their current zoning while manpower could be reserved for other uses or other threaters of operation. Like the defense of the Uttar regions, keeping a close eye on Baghadur through Delta Barracks and the Airport. So excited that they sent the PDF to conduct their cross training with the active units garrisoned here. It was one thing to ignore what Ajay had specifically said, but apparently someone had made a trip to the Pagan and convinced him to overrule any other suggestions, somehow directly or indirectly.

Ajay intended to find out who was that fucker, while it may look like nothing to the normal soldiers and the PDF who were all excited to visit the fabled keep. It was a political manuever, someone was already challenging his authority openly. And it was definitely more than one person, probably a group. Ajay laughed at the attempted, he'd make whoever did that regret it several fold.

He passed the many checkpoints that had details of guards or were manned by a crew on station or simply just performing maintenance.

Of course, seeing him they couldn't ignore his presence and greeted him which he returned in kind. He could see there was much change to the fortress internally. For starters, apart from the many heavy armaments that made its way into the fortress, the anti-aircraft sites had been completed. The stinger missiles that Willis sent initially to counter the Blackhawk helicopter fleet of the Royal army had been taken out of storage, those in the hands of the QRF motorized reconnaissance were also returned to form Surface to air missile sites. They also imported some of the Indian Army's old Bofors 40mm anti-air artillery systems that were donated to them, four of them were inhabiting each of the bastions and one for the central keep.

While the Golden Path didn't have any sort of aircraft saved for the unprotected buzzers which a machine gun was sufficient. The Bofors autocannons could be used on ground targets to a devastating effect. With the kind of armored vehicles the Golden Path had, nothing could stop those 40mm shells from penetrating then detonating in a blast radius of 50 square metres. And to think that it fired at a rate of 330 rounds a minute, if the Golden Path came for round two they'd just be wasting their lives the next time around. Although, if it were the CNS operatives with their flashy helicopters, assuming some survived their first raid then the result might be different given their nature as highly secretive advance tech it could feature, perhaps stealth to radar. Which Ajay least likely doubted as if that were the case then the Royal Palace would have been stormed and Pagan gun down like a certain operation to kill a terrorist leader.

He reached the steps of the house huffing after doing a final kilometre dash. A bottle of water held out over his head from where he'd been leaning against the wall. Ajay reached out to take hold.

"Thanks…" He said before downing the water into his stomach.

"Yunno… I could almost get use to living here." Saras mused as she sat on the steps next to him.

"You can have the Villa, I think the architect of this place at least deserve that much for her efforts." He gave away the Villa that Pagan commissioned for him.

"Then where'll you stay?" Was what she was more bothered about.

"Anywhere, I could stay in the barracks if I wanted. Or, if you could lend me a place to stay for the time being." Ajay said amusingly to which Saras chuckled due to the reversal of their roles.

"My rent is expensive, and my mode of payment isn't in Rupees."

"Spacious ensuites, a frontage for an amazing view, and living with a beautiful woman everyday? I'm sure it'll be worth it." Ajay spoke in flattery.

"Come in, they've just started having breakfast." She said to him with a smile as she went ahead to the front door.

Ajay followed but not before taking a look outside at the calm and peaceful scenery. It was moments like these that he wished that what was likely to come would not happen.

* * *

At the table, Ajay helped himself to the spread of buns and pastries. While Bhadra was not there to cook for them, the bakers around here were farely competent. So the morning meal was enjoyable on all accounts.

Only two people didn't seem to be having a good morning.

"You're a real piece of work, boy!" Arjun burst into anger when Ajay ignored him.

"Who's fault was it that you were the first to drop without turning in yourself?" Was Ajay's only reply.

"Wha- You!-….." Arjun couldn't believe what he heard from Ajay.

"And what about me, what did I ever do to deserve that?" Bipin couldn't help but ask.

"We just put you both in the same bed, what's with all the noise?" Maya said sighing.

"Perhaps they did something we aren't aware of together." Saras suggested naughtily.

The two of them kept mum. Perhaps they leaned upon one another, perhaps… something else. From then on it was zipped mouths.

"And Bipin."

"Y-Yes?"

"Congrats on your promotion to Captain. In time, I hope you'll be able to command a battalion on your own."

"Um-…"

"Just say thank you, Bip." Maya reminded him of manners. As he did so with an earnest bow.

It was a promotion listed in the turn over report that Layak indulged him a week before he returned. Bipin was the one who first brought the mechanized infantry concept meshed with elements of the American Stryker Brigade Combat Team manuever to make it work. Because Kyrat was only so large and couldn't support as many operative capabilities as developed nations with their armed forces. It was why Kyrat had never bought any armored vehicles, that and the terrain was not ideal for any sort of tracked vehicles like tanks. Having armored units would be more of a burden than it would as a deployable asset. But of course, there had been numerous advances over the decades concerning armor firepower, versatility and the way to deploy them.

With Bipin and Anish's proposal, High Command was willing to give it a go. So far, there were only two motorized armored battalions operational at the moment. They were the 1st Hussars, run by Commander Kuber and Anish. Then, there was the newly formed 2nd Hussars Commanded by one Lieutenant-Colonel Samuel Min and was also the unit which Bipin was expected to Command in future.

Ajay was a little concerned by the 2nd Hussars Commander having the surname of Min. Clearly a family member of the Canton triads who was in service to Pagan. These few months, the Min family had been doing rather questionable things such as intervene with the interrogation of Solomon under pretense of protecting family when his own family did not.

"Got any friends in that unit who'll take care of you?" Ajay asked.

"Mmm.. there is Sam, my friend from the days in the Academy." Hearing that, Ajay frowned. The most undesirable matching just presented itself before him.

"Don't worry, he's not like the rest of my peers. In fact, he was the only one that didn't give me a cold shoulder then." Bipin tried to assure Ajay like he was a worried parent to begin with. Maya was especially worried due to her brother's treatment in the past. He still wore the scars of his imprisonment in Vyatha years before.

"(Sigh) It must have been a harsh life for you, young one. Your father was the greatest hero yet-…." Arjun showed sympathy for the lifestyle Bipin had to undergo because of the collapse of his family house.

"If there is anything you ever need, a favour from me. Consider it gratitude for the great service your father performed for his King and country." Arjun said heart felt.

"Oh? Am I witnessing acts of daylight nepotism, again?" Ajay interrupted the mood that Arjun set grinning evilly, who was now sweating from his forehead. One word from him to the King could very well end his life and family. Especially considering Ajay's character of punishing the wicked horrendously.

"Relax, I think it's fair to say it would be considered repayment for Paresh's contributions. That being said, Bipin."

"Yes, A- Badala?" He quickly corrected himself as he was in the presence of Arjun whom was still the only one unaware of Ajay's identity.

"If you do find anything suspicious, so much as a glint please report it to Arjun and me."

It was so undesirable when your friend was potentially your enemy. Up till this point, the Canton families had not even been involved in the events that transpired since his arrival. Apparently, someone was shrewd enough to sit back and watch. And his or her prediction paid off when the first sign of calamity that could befall them came in the form of the charred remains of Sugun.

They did contribute financially to sponsoring the establishment of the 2nd Battalion much to his initial surprise of their willingness to donate. It took off a lot of burden from Ajay who had used most of his wallet into financing the Arsenals and the S-Program, around Four-hundred Million was sponsored by them which was by no means a small figure. But of course, there was a catch to it, and it was revealed to him in the most logical reasoning. The ration of men in that unit had a vast majority from the Canton background, as in nearly the whole unit. It was either a safe haven for the Canton soldiers or it was a gathering of power.

A glimmering possibility of that unit doing their own thing and getting in his way was high. And it annoyed the hell out of Ajay, it was like they were reverting to segregating Kyrati from them. Something he'd tried so hard to dissolve when Arjun decommissioned the main Royal Guard, a highly unpopular move with the nobles whom were in the armed forces. He of course promoted all of them to officers to make up for it.

By far, it was still the most well equipped unit. Unlike the 1st Battalion which principally operated the reactivated Ratel IFVs, which by the way were undergoing an overhaul with the armor and weapon kits that just came in. These guys were operating brand-spanking new Finnish-made Patria AMVs.

A modern 8x8 wheeled vehicle in the same equivalence as the Stryker ICVs that Willis appropriated from US armories. And they were just as heavily armed, some versions had an advance 120mm automated mortar called NEMO, several were equipped with a turret from the Russian BMP-3 vehicles. But the most impressive, as was reported by an ever-vigilant Anish was the tank destroyer variant using an advanced Belgium turret which held an 105mm autoloading tank gun. Making it the closest counterpart, if not superior in survivability and situational awareness to the M1128 MGS fire support vehicle that Anish and Bipin drove around during the Airport Siege.

How these were possible in procuring was through numerous phone calls and appointments. The Belgium 105mm turrets were ordered from an office branch in Maharashtra curiously and to their convenience. The BMP-3 turrets with the 30mm autocannon and 100mm tank gun were part of the deal with Dmitry, otherwise known as 'the associate'. The mortar system was part of the order with the vehicle frames.

So how were they able to ship armored vehicles all the way from Europe legitimately without being stopped or confiscated because UN felt the need to prevent an ambigious nation from gathering arms? The answer was partly India, building a pretext that they were the procurers. The other part was the infamous smuggler who was the good old yet reliable Jackal. And there were few people that wanted to get involved with a man of his ability and tenacity, not even international law could keep you safe from him.

Agent Paul Ferenc told him a story of how Joint Signatory Framework ordered his assassination once, the would-be assassin ironically surcomed to malaria. But over a stream of events, that assassin assisted him in saving an entire nation of refugees in fleeing but ultimately died in the process. Paul's friends tried to get in their way because they were trying to rid the diamonds that were supposed to be their payment as mercenaries in that nation. Unfortunately, none survived to tell the tale. Paul and another person, a French woman chose not to pursue the conflict diamonds so they survived. It was a little surpise when that woman turned out to be Ms. Dachss, a member of the 'Mexicans' that were crucial to the S-program and spent their days restricted to the boundaries till Arjun declassified the program. They were an expensive bunch, money wired to a swiss account. Lesson learnt from Longinus and Samson told him to never give payments in anything but green cash or to a swiss back account of their chosing. Stones were the worst type of payment because of their compact and easy to get lost nature, often stirs up human greed easily among the ranks.

That was the story in a nut shell, nobody crosses Jackal. And even Ajay would take that into consideration, although the man had chosen to help him out in numerous binds already without even meeting him. It was fair to say the Jackal approved of his actions in starving the civil war, Ajay was thankful that Longinus put a good word for him in the first place.

Back to the topic at hand, the Min Family were definitely up to no good.

While Bipin might be 'protected' by powerful figures, the Duke of Lakshman, Queen Min's protégé, and most recently the Marshal of Kyrat. It still remained that he could be taken captive or killed at any time they were away, you still couldn't bring back a dead man.

"Bipin, I'll say this only once. Be mindful of your surroundings." Ajay said with seriousness in his expression.

It made Bipin feel as if something was going on, like an invisible war was being waged amongst themselves.

A war on two fronts, how could the Kingdom manage? He thought, little did he or anyone in that room know.

That what was to come, could very well threaten the foundations of Kyrat's thousand-year sovereignty.

* * *

It was an annoying sight, to see the person that had been responsible for their predicament in the very tent they set at the edge of the recruitment camp of the local movement.

"So what you simply want is reconnaissance." Willis nodded as he lit up another of his precious cigars that were on short supply as it was. He'd already gotten use to the imbalance of his missing leg with a crutch to support him.

"It's been bothering me for ever since the satellite revealed a picture of that region to me. I hope I don't think it is what I think it is."

"And why should my company give a fuck about what you think, let alone go on an expedition through the mountains to take pictures just on a whim of yours?" Willis inhaled deeply and breathed out a cloud of smoke.

"Think of it this way, cupcake. You want me to finish this up so that you can go home. Win-win, besides, you wouldn't be going into the mountains alone." Willis motioned for the renegade Marines under Fredrick Grilles who came into the light of the command centre they were in.

"These boys have traverse the treacherous mountains before. I need to know what's down there."

"What about your local assets, where are you double agents?" Dominic asked.

"All dead, and on the same day months ago. They got flagged by someone on the inside perhaps."

"Perhaps?"

"It was figurative, buddy. All my assets in the North have either gone dark or were killed, Yuma did a thorough spring clean of her ranks so I'm on my own on this one. How bout this, consider it a favour I'm asking from you."

"Why would a favour from you be of any value?"

"Meh! Who knows, I know I'm careful, but remember who put me in this situation to begin with."

"…"

Willis dared to say it as Lynch had gone out that morning to speak with Mohan. Who was now this founding father of the 'shining way' ideology that the two weird Devas exported to the country of Yinke. Whose current government was the People's Democratic of Yinke, another socialist group in the mountains. Willis heard a rumor they were secretly armed and trained by the People's Liberation Army Western Theatre Command, they were gonna need whatever the Chinese supplied, because Solomon was no longer around to give a helping hand. He had to admit, Badala was extremely cunning as he was dangerous up close. Using the anarchy to snatch him from as far behind enemy lines as Sleeping Saints. Not that the Golden Path members cared much for him as they did for those dipilidated statues Badala blew half to hell.

That being said, the pixelated picture taken by the spy satellite in orbit revealed some disturbing images to Willis. In the Western corridor of the Uttar region was heavy movement and flight activity. They could only take a brief picture and not a real-time video because of some interference they were receiving. Analysts suspect it was man-made in origin, the question was who would bother to disturb them and who was in possession of such satellites capable of doing so besides their own. Russia? China? Willis realised he needed to be extra cautious, while Badala achieved amazing victories against Golden Path attacks he never pursued them nor launched any offensives that the Golden Path regularly did. That site on the picture was the key to what Badala had been doing all this time since he first arrived, he needed visual confirmation now before Mohan made moves that could throw even his new cult worshippers into chaos. Because if it were what he thought it was, then the Golden Path and the newly arrived forward elements of Yinke's scouting force for the invasion were in for some real trouble that could potentially annihilate all of them in a single swoop.

"That's not good enough for us." Dominic persisted in denying Willis, and he was forced to give up one of his cards.

"Alright, how about I throw in a little something extra, huh? How bout this?" Willis drew out a paper from his jacket and handed it over. Dominic took the piece and read it, his face distorted and looked back at Willis in dismay.

"Consider that an advance payment, time to get working gentlemen! This site ain't waiting to be uncovered by itself."

* * *

Ajay went to teahouse with Saras hand in hand at her request. At this point, whatever he did for her was indulging in her selfishness. It didn't conflict with his views towards the final outcome of the war and what he intended to do.

Of course, that was not what the soldiers and civilians saw when he walked pass. What they saw was a beautiful woman with the People's Duke, perhaps a lover they speculated and whispered softly. Then there were some who openly shouted good luck to him, not that he responded.

The result was as Saras had intended, soon a rumor will fly around that Badala was seeing someone. But then again because she had not been there at the crystal falls ball she wouldn't have known that the guests thought Ajay was with that woman protégé of Yuma's. Maybe they'd mistaken her for Maya, maybe they'd discern them and take Ajay for a womanizer, who knows.

"Table for two, preferrably somewhere away from peering eyes and ears." Saras informed the teahouse waiter whom dashed off to find the manager and reported their situation. Not too long later, a place had been prepared by a corner window seat on the second floor.

The waiter poured them a fresh batch of tea and bowed before leaving.

"Thanks." Ajay was the first to take a drink to settle his stomach from the heavy breakfast he took.

Saras continued to stare at Ajay for a while.

"What?"

"…. You've changed quite a bit since I left for Maharashtra."

"Suffering molds character I supposed." Ajay shrugged his shoulder and took another sip. Saras looked at him a little troubled at his attitude towards himself.

Ajay put down the cup.

"You wanted to know about what's been going on correct?"

Saras gazed at him without flinching. "I promised didn't I? I won't shut my eyes from the truth anymore."

"Even if the truth is more horrifying than what you already know?"

Saras nodded. Ajay closed his eyes to take in all that had transpired since her departure and formed a summarized version.

And so Saras became the third person to hear about the unnatural presences of Mohan and the Devas. A shadow had cased itself over Kyrat in the form of an entity which they had no defense against. The only one with knowledge of this threat was possibly Darshan, who was nowhere to be found with Bishal. To story on that man, he did a short summary on him as well, mostly parts told to him by Gary.

The last part of his story was his own warped nature, courtesy of the Shrine of Yalung. Of course, it had been the one from his previous timeline but it was technically the same so he left that part out. Only Noore knew of his origin, and he wanted it to be kept that way.

Ajay's throat got parched from all that talking at the end, so he drank refills of his tea to remove that thirst.

Saras was left deep in thought, processing this information. She remained deep in thought with a troubled expression all the way, but all Ajay could to was let her get it registered in her head. He'd only be capable of answering inquiries from her at this point.

"Indestructible bodies…."

"They're not indestructible, just very hard to kill. .50 cal and above should do the trick, and anything that can outstripe that insane recovering speed."

"And what of your father?"

"That thing isn't my father. Just a hollow will trying to reanact what he would have done if mom hadn't shot him."

"….." She understood why he felt this way, it was fair to say that Ajay bore no feelings of love for his father that hadn't been there his entire life. Most of all he was furious with him for killing an innocent baby over his mother's infidelity. Ishwari might have been in the wrong but what did Lakshmana ever do to deserve that? But most of all, he hated his father's legacy, the Golden Path and its narrowminded power figures.

"And if it were really your father?"

"He wouldn't have taken up the mantle of Mohan again but die out, perhaps seek redemption after much contemplation. But not thread the same path that shrouded Kyrat in two decades of civil war."

"I see, then something else has truly taken his place and manipulated the Golden Path."

"It's not him I'm worried about, it's the entity that molded this one to resemble my father." Ajay ceased to call it human. Bestowing abilities to people like Sabal to make them wreck havoc as much as possible with their impulses.

"Is their anything we can do?"

"Stockpile weapons and heavy firepower and wear down their overall manpower. It's the people that define the movement, so all we need to do is sway them to think the Golden Path is finished and it shall be so."

"And what about your condition?"

"Noore's doing her best to keep the symptoms in check, but there's been no major breakthrough. This goes beyond biological science into something we don't even have a theory for." He refered to his blood and abilities.

"But if you're exposure caused this, then-." She looked at her own hands and body.

"You won't have any of these symptoms, the Relic promised me. However, it did leave out that I wasn't clear from the effects."

"So what can we do?"

"The only way it stops getting worse is if I quell my rage fully."

"And will you?"

"As if. It's one thing that I'm constantly at edge about Golden Path and Mohan. And then there's Jason Brody."

Saras had been given a brief overview on the individual known as Jason Brody, the person Ajay held accountable for the death of Kamala whom he held dear. It was an anger that outstripped all others.

Saras chuckled slightly, which broke Ajay out of his solemn mood baffled.

"And yet you let your ex go after him. Do you know what I see Ajay?"

"I see the first steps of you letting go of your hatred that runs as deep as your blood. You've seen it with the way your father acted, it's like a curse bounded to your blood. But you're not like him, you're actively trying your all to deny it take root in your soul. And that on itself is admirable." Saras smiled and placed her hands upon his.

"Hmmm…. After hearing all about this ex-lover of yours I have a sudden urge to ask her all about you."

"And why would you do that when the person in question is right in front of you?" He asked in the same light mannered way.

"It's no fun hearing it from the horse's mouth, I'm pretty sure I'll be able to learn an embarrassing history or two from her." She said laughing.

"Oh you…. I'd be sure to keep you a short distance from her as possible." Ajay said in response as a joke.

"So between both of you in bed, who was the dominant one-?"

"Ok! End of topic. Let's move on."

"Come on. Indulge me for a bit." She insisted playfully.

"How about we talk about Pravindra as well then?" Ajay said with a forced smile.

"Urgh…. Point noted." She retreated from the topic as well.

At the mention of that annoying fella whom was not far away, Saras quieten down and returned to her quietness. Ajay was beginning to find the name Pravindra was a useful word to use at times like this even if he was a prick and currently being beaten for it. A bit of sores and bruises would do him some good for a spoilt brat like him was the way Ajay saw it.

The time was ten-thirty, they'd spent about an hour or so at the teahouse.

"So what do we do now?"

"Let's have a walk back to the Villa, we'll take the long scenic route." A smile planted across Saras's face. Ajay was now taking initiative. Ajay held out a hand which she took and followed him to browse the market place together with him. It was one of those moments that she treasured.

But she couldn't erase a feeling that things were too easy for her, almost as if…

He was simply indulging her only for this limited time. The fear of what Noore told her regarding his ultimate drive concerned returned to her.

That Ajay simply does what he does because of an irreconcilable death wish.

* * *

Dazzling eyes fluttered open from under the cloak she wore at all times, concealing a beauty that made man and woman alike go crazy. The emotional torrents of these lowly humans was the least she needed in her time of recuperating.

She had just branded Vasu with soulbinding arts, now he was truly her servant and hand to act on her behalf. A privilege that Mohan had denied and would never receive again and held by only one other that remained at her side at all times. Except now, with Vasu to stand in. Vel left to personally take to the field at freeing the road to Tirtha.

The witch herself pressed her fingers onto her forehead, she had just immersed herself in meditation and had used her divine sense considerable. What she used it for, was to watch over that boy.

With him, a woman that gave off the scent of divinity, she was clearly blessed and looked upon by the mountains in favour. A sharp contrast to the boy's signature that taunts that mountains into usurping its place as the overlord of the lands. Fragments of the Asura embedded within him, wholly apart of him yet incomplete.

The woman was having the time of her life, a face which reminded her of herself in the eariest of days that she treasured dear to her heart. But the boy's heart had not improved, it was still locked in the same miasma of pain and suffering. Guilt and shame weighed heavily on him, if his only his heart wasn't so good natured, it would have spared him the pain.

" _They are both one in the same."_

She was worried for the boy, whether he could take the sufferings she had in store for him. Yet, she had no choice. What was to happen, must happen in order for the stream of events to take place. Then finally, the end she'd waited a thousand years for.

Where not only his but her pain would end.


	72. Chapter 68 - A King Sought His General

Author's Notes:

As i mentioned before, once my semester starts on 28th, I will have less opportunity to get behind the keyboard. This chapter covers exclusively on Pagan.

* * *

(Ding)

That was the chime that Pagan woke up to every morning, in addition to the pleasant aroma of sandalwood incense set by the servant a few minutes' prior that would wafer pass him exactly at the time.

"Huurggh… (Yawn)" Pagan stretched his body as he went out to the balcony to be shone on by the morning sun light. A smile was planted on his face as he was reminded of what a beautiful day it was and especially today of all days. The annual mark of his birth.

In the past, it hadn't been a thing that Pagan valued, in fact he loathed it. The trials and hardships he had to undergo as a child, his birthday was a constant reminder of the hell he'd lived in. Today was his forty-ninth birthday, and it would be different from all the fourty-eight other times he celebrated and didn't.

Frankly, everyday was a beautiful day to him since Ajay's arrival. There was hardly a wrinkle on his forehead since then. He was expecting the boy to freak out when he revealed the history of their fucked up past, but it seemed Ishwari had been indulging the boy which was contrary to what he initially believed. Perhaps on drunken nights she became a little loose tongued. It reminded him of that one night.

He expected taking care of Ajay was a challenge upon a challenge by beginning to shape up his act on the kingdom left running stagnant for nearly two decades. Instead he received the reply. "Leave it to me!" Like a good son taking over the family business.

And he didn't disappoint. In fact, he was far from that by light years.

Day one of arrival, when he brought him back with deadpan- dipshit?- doorknot?….. whatever his name was, it wasn't important. The fact was that Golden Path had the same idea as him and tried to nab Ajay from him for their own nefarious purposes, which was totally inacceptable. Imagine if they successfully got him and convinced an oblivious Ajay of their cause. He'd be wrecking havoc as efficiently as he was doing so on them at present. Just the thought alone gave him a massive headache that even if he killed dozens just to quell his rage it wouldn't easily disappear.

And wreck havoc he did, among the Golden Path in the most glorious manner. So much so that his alias Badala became the talk of the entire Kingdom. Pagan's charming colleagues in the Canton District that came with him years ago, the Kyrati Noble subjects of his, the entire military force was blundering non-stop. Who was this demon that Pagan brought?

Even when he had one or two contacts in Brooklyn observing Ishwari and Ajay for years he still had no clue on how Ajay had learnt to be so ruthlessly efficient and cunning. Thought he didn't disapprove of that type of character being one himself. Ajay did spend weeks upon his arrival reading through books on military affairs, economics and statecraft he requested from Gary, but it seemed as if his knowledge was insatiable. Had they been withholding info or fabricating it while they spent his hard-earned cash from forcing people to labor in the mines? He would plan to have Gary dispose of them soon.

With every new development and major victory Ajay accumulated his heart danced for joy, because with these achievements it wasn't hard to justify his promotion up the ranks to the second highest nobility and made Pagan's life extremely easy. He could actually retire this early, he had so much to plan for in his long vacations to come. Meaning his days could be spent hunting, and having fun, not that there was any change in his schedule though.

In the same analogy, Ajay's involvement in the 'family business' made it flourish several times. His work was not limited to fighting exclusively as Pagan saw. Like any noble or successful military man, he was expected to have a play in politics, Kyrat's echelons were one of the scummiest. Yet he managed somehow, cleaning up that fat annoying brat in the Royal Guard, who he was sure plotted against him with support from his fellow Mins. They all knew who was the one who killed Hamal's boy, including old man Raghu himself. And it was what scared them, it was an open statement that Ajay didn't follow obligations to the king and court like they did. That meant that if they were a hindrance, they would be removed the same way as Sugun. Raghu wasn't saying anything but it didn't mean he wasn't burning with fury in his heart despite Ajay's help with his other son. Raghu had always a cunning old fox, but this demon couldn't be misled. He had in fact trapped him by taking guardianship of his only remaining heir and forcing his further cooperation.

Pagan marvelled at his intelligence, in a way it was similar to Ishwari and yet different. Ishwari persuaded people with gentle words by could get you tongue tied with her clever planning. But Ajay's way was provocative, mainly to antagonize the unfriendly into fighting with him. That way he could force them into submission and become as benevolent as he wanted to later. With those that were the first to charge head strong at him, he made them into examples of what would happen by crossing him or Pagan. It appeared that his method was effective at rooting out almost all of the incompetent and corrupted officials in Pagan's purse.

By dissolving the Main Royal Guard. He could reorganised the Royal Army into something that resembled a modern professional army by banding exceptional individuals that Pagan himself didn't take much heed to, like Paresh's boy. Even built a large town slowly becoming a city he named after his late-daughter bless her heart. Very soon, he could pass the crown over to Ajay and that would be all… All… He didn't really have much to do after that.

-This must be what retirement feels like.- Pagan nodded his head contently, he opened the windows to let the other bed occupant bask in the glory of a wonderous day.

"Wa diu! Close the blinds, old fool!" His queen roared angstily from the bed they shared since the small but memorable ceremony they had at the canton families ancestral hall.

"Good morning to you too, dear." He chuckled and did as he was told.

There had been every noble there to attend, unfortunately Noore and Ajay couldn't come. They were having dealings with that little traitor Paul. Ajay sent an envelope as a wedding gift, full of pictures capturing Paul Harmons agonizing face, as well as a video recording of Ajay torturing him. Yuma watched it with him during movie night.

He was a little shocked at the way Ajay brutalized Paul, whom he had known for many years to be the toughess bastard there was that could turn a torture situation around. That was why he was the chief interrogator in his army. Apparently, Ajay showed him something new and took his place as probably the most feared interrogator in Kyrat. He slowly broke Paul into despair and madness bit by bit.

It was also a rare moment when Yuma chuckled the entire time the video was played. She liked that Ajay had taken advantage of the chaos in the most recent of Golden Path offensives to nab Solomon and destroy those damn relics, that damnable distant cousin of theirs that ran out and played this shit on them. Solomon's own families members were also shocked and not pleased with Solomon's actions, but they could do little to settle that maverick.

At the dining, breakfast was served by his favorite Stockholmed celebrity chef whom his country had long forgotten about.

"French toast with scrabbled eggs, sir. A little something to expand appetites for a change." Chef Patrick smiled.

"Thank you." Yuma received her plate.

"Enjoy madam. Your highness, lunch will be available by noon. I've sorted with Master Gary so if there is any change in your day schedule your meals will be ready for you."

"Right, thank you Patrick! Have a cohiba from the pantry."

"Thank you, your royal highness and allow me to wish you a happy birthday and good tidings to you."

"Heh! I'm already experiencing it." Pagan chuckled, Patrick bowed and left with the cart.

It was Gary's and Eric's turn to pop up. Eric, like route sat down and had the same portion as Pagan. Part of the route to have the same diet as Pagan. The last Pagan heard, he was pretty upset Ajay spotted the difference between them in a split-second without much difficulty. It was a mockery of his twenty-year acting performance, years of study at the Melbourne Acting Academy and as a professional actor and double, he couldn't stand for it. He went to research religiously on routines that would enhance his performance as a perfect double of Pagan. Pagan couldn't help but find that Ajay's arrival had changed so many peoples' lives for the better and for worst if they were his enemy.

Yuma ended up serving him spoonfuls which she caringly blew to cool off. Pagan mused the change in this one as well. She was still the Demoness of Durgesh to the public eye, but his wife at home. Perhaps it was the official position as a legal wife, something that even Ishwari wasn't proclaimed partly because of her status as Mohan's wife and his own initial misunderstanding of Ishwari's feelings. Yuma no longer held a grudge against her, much to his relief. It was clearly the case as he once snuck on her visiting Lakshmana and Ishwari's shrine. Talking to two cremation jars about the stream of events that led them to this point.

While she refused to speak of it in front of Pagan, the dead tell no secrets. She'd actually been grateful to Ajay though she would never say it to him, and in turn grateful to Ishwari for bringing him into this world. She said her condolences to her before leaving. The chapter of Yuma's pain had ended.

"What shall do today, husband?" She asked with a smile on her face.

"Gary, what's on the schedule today?"

"Ahem! Your Highness, today's itinerary consists of several tasks to complete before your half-day begins."

"Mmm."

"First off, at nine-thirty you have a scheduled hearing of one Solomon Khoo. However, the Min family has interfered with the tribunal by threatening the judge."

"Tsk! Leave them to me. This only requires a short visit to straighten them out." Yuma declared.

"What the lady boss said." Pagan turned back to Gary.

"Very well, your highness. Now for the next agenda of yo-."

"Is Ajay coming to the party?" Pagan interrupted having remember the most important detail of the evening.

"I have not checked with him yet, unfortunately. It appears that he and the General went to the airport to pickup Captain Kadayat and Major Roka. Comms had mentioned them staying at one of the villas overnight."

Pagan chuckled in defeat. Ajay was really outdoing him in everything, did he even sleep? He was like some sort of machine working 24/7. Working on the militaries classified program which Pagan was also excited about since they claimed it placed Kyrat as the most powerful Himalayan nation in an instant. Supervising the fortress Lankas construction, Gary informs him its eight-four percent complete. Training that Brigade of his, he was surprised he actually turned a rag tag bunch of soldiers and militants into a spec-ops unit. He was barely at home as was reported by Bhadra, which he was for once disappointed in Ajay as her guardian. But who was he to talk, since he had so much free time he should end up being the caretaker of Bhadra instead.

Although that child was growing up fine, he had visited that vocation school she attended. The principal, thought shocked and frighten that another powerful figure appeared on Bhadra's account showed him a list of accomplishments that Bhadra had done in the school. And colour him impress, it was as if that boy had rubbed his shoulder and all his diligence and hardworking behaviour fell onto Bhadra. He hoped she wasn't overworking herself just to show her gratefulness to Ajay for bringing her out of that hell. To be chosen as a Tarun Matara was to be a slave and humiliated by those old priests. A trauma that Ishwari often had recurring nightmares about her coronation ceremony in the recently razed Jalendu.

"I just recalled, Maya sent me a letter saying she too was picking up her brother. Perhaps they spent the night at the villas." Yuma informed him.

"Meh! I'm sure he'll come,- actually- Gary."

"Your highness?" Gary responded ever ready.

"Sent Arjun a text, he and Ajay are expected to come to the party at um-…. Maybe 6?"

"Yes, your highness. It shall be done."

"Good man!" If it were an order, he couldn't turn it down. Not that Ajay had ever disobeyed his orders or that of Arjuns though the later had not authority over him. He still respected Arjun's position and that of the military.

"Right, I'll be going off to 'handle' matters." Yuma kissed him goodbye before leaving out the back with Kamran ferrying her. Much to Pagan's displeasure, taking his favorite mode of transportation before him.

Gary took him down the mountain and through the Royal Fortress ground towards his next agenda.

* * *

Like most heads of state around the world, he took up interactions with the local community to improve connection to the people. He was always under heavy escort when he visited the people by the villages. Todays village was the Sano Pahada village, an outskirt settlement but part of the territorial boundaries of Lakshman.

Like all the other villages he'd visited before, they received a weeks notice he would be coming to check on their condition. Most villages took that period to tidy up their charming little hamlets, a rumor went around that when Pagan was impressed with the village he would send additional funding for their development. Whoever crafted such a ridiculous rumor ought to be shot on sight, this was his hard-earned money and gold he took from ancient shrines and burial sites.

Although Ajay once mentioned that being benevolent is often easier than being cruel. Being cruel and selfish often weights on your mind from worrying someone would steal your stuff. And exact contrast to properly investing it in someone or something. Because the rewards for even the smallest of charities would come back to him several times back. It was all Karma.

"Perhaps I can spare a few trinkets..." Pagan said although reluctant to do so.

The village chief and elders greeted him profusely at the gate when he alighted from the vehicle. For the villagers, it was the first time seeing their sovereign so they had some mixed feelings about what they thought he would look and how he looked. But then, his appearance was unmissable with 'his' face on the Kyrati Rupee.

They brought him to the plaza where a small performance was done by the children and some young teens. One act was about Ajay a.k.a Badala's triumph over the Golden Path at Lanka, and how Mohan pissed his pants at the sight of him defeating his generals the Devas. Pagan laughed heartily at the sight of 'Mohan' sending a stream of water from a hidden hose connected to his pants to present him pissing, and using that spray of water to deter Badala and the Army as he made his escape. He laughed to tears.

"My good man, who are the parents of these children?" Pagan asked the Village Chief lightly as he leaned to his side to ask him while the next performance of a band was about to arrive.

But the Village Chief's face turned pale with fright, it was an answer that couldn't present itself proper in front of the King. It would spoil the image of the perfect Village.

"Something wrong? Don't tell me you smuggled them from another village." Pagan remarked jokingly.

"Uh- N- No, your Royal Highness! It's just-…. They don't have parents." Pagan now understood why the Village chief had refrained from telling him as it might potentially ruin his good mood they worked so hard to build.

"So if they don't have family, where do they stay then?"

"They stay at the House of Khati." The Village elder interrupted the conversation and pointed to the mountainside. From where he pointed exactly, Pagan could make out a house on the top of the mountain carved out to fit it.

-House of Khati, home of the brave general.-

"Gary."

"Your Highness."

"I'd like to have a visit alone, you and the guards can enjoy the show."

"Yes, your highness." Gary crisply responded.

"U- your highness I must pr-!" Despite the Village Chief's objection, he went on. Gary stood between Pagan and the Village elders and him. Although they were worried about his safety, they had no power to stop him.

Pagan walked up the narrow corridor and steep steps, wondering how those kids could traverse this dangerous passage everyday. It was barely even a quarter of the steps and he was already tired, but since he'd come this far it would look stupid for him to go back because of something so trivial. For someone that rode around via helicopter and walked only as far as his backyard it was impressive.

Pagan kept going despite his constant huffing and puffing, it brought back a nostalgic memory of the old days as a young man, he worked until he dropped. It was a feeling he loathed and swore he would never go though again, yet now all he wanted to do was climb this mountain, not for anyone but just his own wish. At the end of twenty minutes, he had finally reached the front arch of the entrance that was flat land all the way.

"It seems that I've been improper as to make a King walk up to meet my old self." An old dignified voice called out from the front entrance. Pagan looked up from his panting to find an old hunching man at the entrance where he saw no one before.

"Looked a lot easier from down below." Bibek chuckled.

"As it always does in life my King." He reached out a hand for Pagan to get up with.

"But at the end of the day, all that hope and dreams gets answered with a sight to behold." Bibek motioned towards the scenic view this place had. There was no word to describe the majesty of the mountains and valley from where they stood. Pagan was beginning to feel that the Royal Palaces frontage was starting to appear pale in comparison.

"Bibek Khati, former general of the left wing, Royal Guard at your service. So what do I owe the pleasure of the King of Kyrat visiting my humble self?" Bibek bowed respectfully.

"Could you entertain me for a bit?" Pagan asked. Bibek nodded with a smile.

He brought him to his mansion that appeared to be in poor but maintainable order.

"Do forgive us for the state of our abode. It's not that we do not have the funds to correct or renovate. It has to do with just my old self appreciating the simplicities in life."

"This place has…. Character." Pagan responded, to which Bibek laughed heartily.

"The same words the son of Mohan used."

"Ajay came here?" Bibek nodded.

"Please have a seat, my wife Aasha will make you a cup of chai that will make your trip here worth it. I guarantee it." Bibek motioned for him to sit at the table. Pagan sat on a square mat.

"As to answer your previous question, he did. Even though he was unaware of this old man's identity."

"So why did he come then?"

"The young girl, Bhadra. He wanted her to mix with peers her age, but also to find lodging for her with one of our children, Maya. Mistre- forgive me, Her royal Highnesses protégé."

Pagan remembered who, that girl that was bedridden in his house and the one that Yuma freaked out about. Although, there was something about her that was familiar, like she resembled a certain someone in the distant past. He couldn't put a finger on who, it must have been a rather forgettable individual.

"Your highness, please." Aasha handed him his drink.

"Mmm... thanks. (Sip). Mmmmm." It was indeed a pleasant surprise.

"Does it appeal to your taste?"

"It's fantastic, what's your secret, madam?"

"Love and affection, your royal highness." Pagan chuckled at the though.

"So with introductions gone through, what was It that your highness truly seeked when he came all the way up this near-in hospitable part of the village.

"…."

Pagan put down the delicious drink.

"Why does General Khati, the most revered and glorified general in the previous dynasty and forgive me for saying this in advance but- stays in such a ruined place? I mean, even with accomplishments alone you could have stayed in the Higher Echelon Valley and lived life in luxury. The same could apply to your many generations with that kind of wealth."

Bibek responded with a smile.

"My king, what makes you happy?"

"… Love I guess."

"Would you be willing to give up your land, your title, your fortune for it. Even if this love were only for a brief period?"

"Mn." Pagan nodded without hesitating.

"My question is your answer, as is your own answer to my question. As men, our lifespans are limited, yet we do everything to make the best of it. So that in the afterlife, if we do believe in such then we have nothing to regret, and we can proudly say we've given everything in life a go."

"That still doesn't answer my previous question." Bibek chuckled, it seemed that the rumors that the King became muddleheaded were wrong."

"Yes, it only covers part of your inquiry. So I'll pose another question then."

Pagan listened more attentively than he even had.

"What do you suppose happens to heroes after victory?"

"Well, they'd bask in the glories?" Pagan tried at answering.

"Perhaps, but for how long." Some part of him began to understand what Bibek said.

"When the hero vanquishes the foe which the people had long cowered in fear of, what happens to the hero? Or rather, if the hero protected the people from the adversary, who protects the people from the hero."

Pagan now understood why Bibek had retired from politics.

"There was a saying by western statesman, "The coward only threatens when he is safe." Where they weren't brave enough to stand against the adversity themselves, they used the hero to their convenience. Pushing him aside for they do not fear just a single man. It often makes one suspicious of their surroundings." Bibek laughed, but Pagan wore a serious look.

"When the people no longer rely on the hero, what use is he to society. He's nothing more than a burden. It is one of the cruel aspects of a society with morals, when one lives in the luxury of peace they often become conceit and lazy. A nature that has repeated itself throughout history."

"….."

"The son of Mohan wears such eyes, of the hero I mean. When the people he fought to protect turned their back on him, no-…. Perhaps they betrayed him."

"You saw all this from one chance encounter?" Pagan confirmed with him.

"I've seen many things in life my King, many cruelties, many betrayals and many deviants which I had no choice but to turn a blind eye to. When you ended the Devi bloodline, it was not manevolent in the eyes of the mountains. But a favour it owes you for restoring natural order, or it would have been had it not been for that upstart, the boy's father." Like Arjun, Bibek was a man of conscience and rationality. He believed in his job to protect the kingdom, while his peers saw the kingdom as the reigning monarchy, both of them understood that a kingdom was defined by the people that occupy its domain.

"The irony, the enemy of his father looks at him as if he's his own." Bibek was curious to the nature of their relationship as well. "While it is not my place to question what had occurred, my service is always there for you to call upon, my king."

-Ajay had been betrayed before?- Pagan was unable to make sense of it, he clearly had an intel rig to monitor his history in Brooklyn. It was a history that was hidden from even him. His step-father. Ajay had once told him he killed him, who was that man?

"Bibek, was it? Thank you for your time and hospitality, send your wife my same regards."

"No. It was a pleasure to have King Min at our humble household." Old Bibek spoke in an ever-dignified manner despite the lifestyle and choices he'd made for himself. It gave Pagan a lot to think about.

"Oh, and your highness.." Just as Pagan was about to leave.

"Yes?"

"I might advise your highness to keep a close eye on him, while he seems vibrant and unyielding. Even a stone wall will wear from the constant weather. He might burn brightly now, but the brighter he burns to more other envious forces will seek to snuff him out. His conviction against others might be strong but there is still one person he'll must inevitably face, stronger than any other and him. His very own demons."

Pagan bowed respectfully to Bibek and left the same way he came. The old general watched the king take the hardway down the mountains. And thought of how things should have been had it not been for the interference of Mohan. The Young and ambitious Royal Guard Captain whom he once tutored and shared his ideal of a strong Kyrati nation. The Young Mohan sought to do that by incorporating Religion into his equation of moving people. While men might not move for another man or even a mountain, he would definitely get on his knees for god. That was Mohans way of uniting the country. A foul mistake Bibek made that had affected the very country he sought to protect and burdened the younger generation now fighting against those relics.

Standing at the very front against them was Ajay Ghale, as the anti-thesis of his father.

"He wears the mask not to scare his enemies…." Bibek murmured as he smoked his pipe and sighed.

"But to carry the burden of being the greatest evil under the heavens…"

* * *

Pagan returned to the village in the same state as he left, which they were all relieved to see. To reward them for their effort and presence, he bestowed them with what they had hoped to achieve.

Sano Pahada had no natural resources around it, its soil was barren with too many rocks. Its only commodity was manpower, it was what the village excelled in. Raising dedicated individuals, they hoped would bring their village nad family out of poverty. Yet they chose to stay in such a diplidated place, was it pride or was it as Bibek had done. Out of maintaining his diligence and improving his character.

Pagan ordered Gary to have supplies of given to them monthly and funds so that the village would be able to maintain itself and improve on its own accord. The Village chief and elders thanked him incessantly as he left but not before handing the children whom performed for him a ruby jewel each. "Consider this my investment in your future." he said. The children bowed awkwardly, leaving Pagan laughing as he boarded the SUV.

Pagan left the village on good vibes. Ajay's words were beginning to make perfect sense.

"Karma, it's all about Karma." Pagan chuckled some more.

It was still early afternoon when he returned to the Royal Palace after passing through the Royal Fortress and paying the war council a visit to get an update on the situation. Things weren't looking good for the Royal guards advance further into Golden Path territories. The blockaded town of Tirtha had been freed by an individual whom intelligence reported was herald by Golden Path as this "Violet Witch of Tirtha" saying she manipulates threads that cut through steal like butter and is rumoured to be very beautiful. Already, three battalions came back with less than half their strength when maintaining the blockade to starve out the Tirtha forces

He wondered if he could use Ajay to charm her into joining them, the thought entertained him for a while. Ajay had been quite the playboy recently, his spies had reported to have been seen in the same room as Arjun's daughter whilst the rest were asleep, a night rendezvous.

He was a little worried he wouldn't find someone, not that the echelons of nobles were on any short supply of noble's daughters hoping to wed him. But things were going smoothly as it was. It was funny as he swore he heard Arjun once brag about an arrangement he made with Mohan prior to the whole regicide he pulled off decades ago. Was this fate? Pagan himself was of cult-personality therefore didn't believe in fate manipulated by higher beings than himself.

He neared the door to his dinning to get himself a drink to wash out some of the ache he felt from his climbing up and down unaided. Serious trekking, running and climbing weren't for him at a man his age any longer. Not that he ever did many things physical after usurping his father, it was all mind games with the Hong Kong authorities and his fellow rivals 14K and Luen Group. The same could be said in his rise to power in Kyrat.

Gary had gone to settle things for his party at night. So he had the whole day to chill out in his home before the guests came, both Ajay, his Kyrati subjects and the Canton Families. It was time they met each other face to face, he had a whole lot to disappoint the families to come with hints of Ajay being his likely successor. They would obviously not be pleased with him, putting a Kyrati before them in succession. His own flesh and blood. Like he cared.

It's not like they would willingly accept a child of his own flesh and blood either.

He opened the door to the dinning to find Bhadra resting her head against Yuma's front saying something excitedly he couldn't make out from their distance.

"Hello, my dears."

""Hello. Pagan.""Old fool."

He went over to the bar counter and retrieved the decanter from the back drawer of liquors. "Yuma, scotch?"

He asked as he placed two old fashion glasses for pouring. But curiously there was no reply, he heard them whispering to one another, then Bhadra came over with a bright expression. "And what would you like, then?" He remembered about serving Bhadra.

"As if I could take anything at my age, Pagan." She shook her head. "Besides, I don't think you'll be able to share drinks with your wife for a while."

"Mmm? How come?" He looked to Yuma with a baffled expression.

Yuma was all smiles, but her smile wasn't her usual one that still had an air of arrogance and authority. But one that she used to make when she first started holding affections for him.

But Pagan was soon enlightened as to why. When she raised her hand, and in it was a stick.

-No. That's not right, why does it look like-….-

As she held up what appeared to be a pregnancy test stick, he could clearly see what was drawn on it.

Positive.

"Not while this little one is baking inside." She smiled in that same gentle look while rubbing her belly.

The old fashion glass fell from his frozen hand. No words could form in his mouth as his face stricken with shock and disbelieve. It was the last thing he was expecting to happen, and yet it happened despite his and her advanced age. Yuma laughed at his rigid look but appeared in front of him with a pleasant smile.

"My birthday gift to you….. be ready to receive it in eight months, papa."

* * *

Author's Notes:

Pagan's age: 48 going 49

Yuma's age: 43

Don't tell me that isn't possible. I have a friend's aunt that conceived at forty-five with her husband at fifty-plus years.

Also according to plan. Hurrah for not needing to inherit throne. Or so Ajay thinks.


	73. Chapter 69 - Party Entertainment

Author's Notes:

Summer class results came in, Distinction yay! But now is the real semester, not many opportunities to write often. Nah! Who am I kidding, I'll keep writing the same speed. Except during the exam periods.

I've been receiving rather unsatisfactory remarks in reviews from someone by the name of LeoTheSage (Guest). I can't approach him on PM to clarify his use of strong language and sentences that do not provide me or readers with insight on the story. They are more like comments you post on youtube, quick without much consideration for what they say. Therefore, I had them removed so that it would not impede the reader experience of the stories for those that have not reached the latest chapter yet.

Anyway, this chapter is twice as long, just because. Good mood.

Also. Chapter is 69. Lol.

* * *

In full combat harness gear and waiting at the edge with his rifle and pistol loaded, Jeevan double checked his ARP-1 para assault rifle. Someone had played a recording of Ave Maria on the P.A. to screw around with his senses.

(Piiiiip) The counter starter went off.

Jeevan began his decent into the maze via rappelling cable. He brought his rifle up at a ready position scanning the corridor and rooms carefully.

(Bang) (Bang) Every target he found, he double-tapped.

Then proceeded to the next room with a closed door. Digging into his pouch quickly to utilize the flashbang. He stepped back and kicked the door open. "Flashbang, out!" He threw the grenade into the room without exposing his hand.

(Bang) The world went muffled around.

Jeevan took this opportunity to enter the room scanning for targets and hostages. Two out of three were cardboard hostiles so he delivered them their just desserts with a quick succession of shots between the targets under a second.

Just as he was about to 'release' the hostage, a hidden baddy flipped up from the couch. He calmly turned his rifle towards the new adversary and capped it.

A few other boards popped out of places he'd previously checked and he did the same to them as he did with the others. Jeevan finally freed the hostage with a tag to stick on the cardboard hostage. He had been lucky when finding the room with the hostage without scanning the other areas so he could end the exercise quicker.

But the alarm that ended the exercise wouldn't go off, much to his surprise. He went reloaded his weapons and continued on to search the other rooms. He already found a hostage, was their more than one?

He reached the end of the corridor where there had been a tripmine hidden in the floorboards that gave a creek but he found it with his careful footing. Scanning his surroundings before disarming the tripwire bomb with pliers.

He proceeded into the room that the boobytrap had been laid to protect and scanned the area. Two targets popped from different ends of the room. Jeevan acted on reflex and pulled out his sidearm and shot on with each of the weapons he held in and arm before holstering it in favour of the rifle. But the last room he checked had no hostage, instead there was a suspicious black case sitting on the coffee table that was pressing him to investigate.

He cautiously used the tip of his rifle to lift the case. (Ping) He was not cautious enough to suspect there wouldn't be a wire type booby trap but a pressure switch type.

(Bang) His world went white then dizzy, it was a flashbang type of device that went off.

He tried his best to recover his sense. As he did, he saw three over lapping Ajay's approach him.

Behind him was an entire group of young men and women all in civilian clothing with issued combat harnesses. They were the PDF militia that had been stationed in Lanka for two weeks to familiarise themselves with the field craft and the operating procedures of the fortress as much as they could.

Ajay placed him on the sofa of the mock room and shone a light into his eyes.

"How many fingers do you see?" He raised his hand.

"Four. I'm fine, teacher." He waved as he remained on the sofa.

The PDF recruits gathered around Ajay inside the room, awaiting his instruction. Where exactly they were, was the most recent addition to the training centre in the Northern Barracks of Lanka. An urban ops training ground approximately a hectare in area. It comprised of several closely packed buildings to simulate an urban environment, the purpose was to prepare troops who were stationed in Lanka to deal with the highly dense and close confines of the fortress which could be considered urban.

"Now, on to the assessment. Where did Jeevan cock up?"

A nineteen-year-old boy raised his hand. "While your grace did say to rescue the hostage, it would have been wiser to check the whole house for hostiles first."

Another one spoke. "He was trying to rush it to get pass the record holder."

"Shouldn't have touched the case without explosives knowledge."

It was like a roast, he received everyones harsh remarks.

"Oh, how you all wound me." He chuckled in defeat.

"Pretty good assessments, but not quite there." Ajay answered.

"Your first mistake was your assumption of the situation. While I did tell you there would be a hostage to rescue as your priority, that did not excuse you from the situation after clearing him."

"Ahem!" One of the girls coughed.

"Or her." Ajay corrected. But what did that matter whether the hostage was he or she. He couldn't understand brats these days.

He turned towards the group.

"Remember that in the battlefield of whichever kind will have unforeseeable dangers. Always be aware of your surroundings, so that when the tables turn in any way you will be able to use whichever terrain feature to your advantage." It was like the sign that hung on the entrance of the ops centre, written by god knows who. "Shit happens" Because of the nature of the urban ops courses unpredictable nature.

Some nodded in understanding, while some didn't take it too seriously. The demon had created such a major imbalance in the powerplay that even if they waited in Lanka, the enemy would not show itself. At this rate, the demon's job would be relinquished to military instructor.

"Your second mistake was, you should have brought a friend with you." The group laughed.

"Alright, we'll call it a day here. Tomorrow we'll have each and everyone of you run the course, and since you'll all have time to prepare knowing what might come, Jeevan and I will be mixing up the odds. Remember to deposit your unused ammo to the armorer, you know how pissed his can be when there's rounds unaccounted for." Ajay said with a sly smile.

The joy from their faces turned into complex ones, with Jeevan being the planner of their go at the urban ops. Jeevan was not a trainee like them, he'd been training rigorously with Ricardo and Stella who were now on a vacation in Florence, meeting some relatives. Samson had complex emotions about returning to his home after he'd left his wife and daughter in the previous situation but Ricardo insisted he come back so he did. The three others went on a gambling spree with Anish in Singapore at one of the casino hotels that looked like a ship on a stand, something- Sands, he wasn't sure of the name. It was in fact a good idea for them to rest and recuperate from being on Kyrat for six odd months and now was a better time than any while the Golden Path were licking their wounds to care about offensives.

But it had to end here. And that was what High Command was talking about, one swift blow to end Golden Path for good. Taking the lead in this spearhead would be the proven and tested Armored Hussars Regiment.

The two Hussar Battalions were in the process of cross training. Trying to get the 2nd Battalion up to speed on how to conduct their armor missions or they'll just be as good as armed soldiers in vehicles and not an armored force.

Though they might be entirely comprised of Canton members, they were still part of this army. Even so, there was an apparent disparity in equipment between the two battalions. The 2nd comprised of modern systems and very recent armored vehicles, mainly their Patria AMV fleet. He hoped that just because they had better equipment than most units it wouldn't get to their heads. As it stood, the 1st Battalion would still kick their asses in a mock battle with their refurbished thirty-year-old equipment and they still wouldn't see it coming, despite the process of their current equipment overhaul.

They were after all the force that had trained in their craft three months in advance with plenty of combat experience. 2nd Battalion had none, just a bunch of Chinese fellas grouping together with expensive Armored vehicles with rather impressive features. But Ajay wouldn't underestimate their Commander, Samuel Min to say the least. Bipin did give a rough overview on his friend from the Royal Academy days.

Samuel was in the same training unit as Bipin. As he expected, Bipin was subjected to a lot of discrimination, not just by the Canton members, but by the Kyratis from renown families as well. To them, Bipin was simply a commoner claiming to be related to House Kadayat which had destroyed in the 1998 offensive on the Royal Fortress, the closest the Golden Path had ever been to getting to Pagan.

Who was there to befriend him but Samuels, some other A-grade student like him in the academy. Although he didn't have many interactions with his fellow Cantons either due to his status as a Min. Being directly related to the King had its priveleges and pedigrees. Although there wasn't a second that Ajay would consider Samuel his friend. While they were 'friends' in the academy there was still a sharp contrast in their family status and their Military ranks. Where Bipin had worked as hard as Ajay could see with qualities that definitely made a great officer, he stayed at the rank of Corporal when Ajay first encountered him. Samuels was then a Major, considering the frequent acts of nepotism and despot actions by the Royal Guard then, then-Major Min should have helped Bipin out a few. But Bipin hadn't even heard from him since then.

It was clear that Bipin no longer met Samuels standards and was therefore forgotten. Even if Bipin had fond memories despite his treatment in the Academy, Samuels definitely wasn't someone Ajay liked already.

Whatever the case, he'd have the chance to meet him and any other of those conceit little shits in his battalion at Pagan's Birthday party. Ajay's evaluation of the canton members was always low, even in the previous timeline. Though, back then he forced them into dire straits so they had nowhere to go but fight. The older generation were reasonable competent, but the younger generations were no better than the Royal Army.

Ajay and Jeevan stopped at the armory to drop off his borrowed rifle and remaining ammo which the armorer cleared and made him write in the book.

"Hey chief, what's with that relic?" Jeevan pointed to the rather iconic machine gun that hung on the wall behind the armorer in his armskort office.

"Brat, that thing'll shred you before you even have the chance to scream." The armorer said back.

"Do you even have ammo for it?" Ajay asked, it being a weapon iconic to the second world war and fired some older model of ammunition that the arsenals didn't produce.

"You should have seen the stockpiles of weapons the old monarch brought from Switzerland. Although the weapons were already dated by the time it arrived. And the M16-equipped Nationals beat the Royalists' sorry asses back then." It was during a time before Ajay and perhaps even his own father during the Devi Dynasty days.

"… Alright, quit staring at my prized "Buzzsaw"! Hurry up and finish signing the logbook, you're making a queue already!" The armored declared grumpily. Jeevan mumbled a complaint as he finished up.

"You coming to the King's party tonight, no?"

Ajay asked Jeevan on their way to the the motorpool after Jeevan finished signing the logbook to account for the bullets and rifle he borrowed to show an example for the PDF militia. Ajay and Jeevan were only one of ten other groups under supervision by the garrison forces, each group had around twenty which made about a Company of them. They informally called themselves 'Jatayu' Company, it sounded familiar. Because the name came from Bhadra's story on Ramayana she read to him a month ago. Some mystical bird that attempted to rescue Sita from the demon king but got cleaved in half. He had no idea why they wanted that name, seeing the dire straits the inspiration ended up in.

Curiously enough, he encountered that brat from the Khati orphanage, the older kid named Biraj. Still holding a grudge against him through no fault of his own, part of the PDF that were shipped here. Apparently, he wanted to support himself to lessen the strain on Bibek so he signed up with the PDF to get paid and was taught basic field craft along with arithmetic and writing. Which was important for his future in the working world.

"Ah- yes!" Jeevan gave a rather delayed response.

"Do you want to come with us or with your sister?" Ajay lightly proposed as it would have a different effect on Jeevan's viewed status. With his sister, it would remain the same. But with Ajay and the rest, it would be seen as he were part of Badala's company and therefore protected by him. Naturally, Ajay included his sister Kanaan whom much to his humor appeared everyday to deliver him lunch or ask about Jeevan's safety. Such sibling love, Ajay often felt himself envious of their close bond with one another. But it was clear they were the only family to one another in their eyes, Raghu was just their provider.

"Can she come with me together with you?" Jeevan was often adventurous, a behaviour that Ajay didn't condemn. As the saying goes, "He who dares."

"Then what about your father?-"

"He'll manage." Jeevan said with an innocent smile, although he was beginning to think that smile was anything but innocent as of late, even Maya agreed. It was more of a persona of his that most now remember him by.

* * *

It had been some time since he returned to the homestead, but here he was. He enjoyed the few hours that were left before their departure at five for the Royal Palace.

Bhadra came back from school with some of her friends with her.

"Oh, you're back. Did the General forbid you from working at the fortress?" She said in a provoking manner, her classmates giggled. She was apparently upset that nearly all of the housemates were off somewhere and left her alone at Ajay's homestead in Lakshman.

"Hey Bhadra! If that place were as comfortable as here, then I would have left you the keys."

"Is this the behaviour of my guardian I'm seeing?" She said with a expression.

"A house all to herself? I thought this was the kind of freedom every seventeen-year-old girl always wanted." Ajay said in a joking manner. Her friends giggled quietly at their spat, Bhadra was not at all pleased and pouted.

"(Sigh) I'm sorry I didn't call home." He said in monotone. And Bhadra stared at him with deadpan eyes before following her friends upstairs.

"I wonder who's the guardian and who's the dependent." Ajay felt like coughing blood at her super effective retort to which he fell to the ground with his hands supporting his weight. Bhadra chuckled lightly at his pathetic appearance and went up.

"I'll be ready in an hour's time, and welcome home." Bhadra did not forget to welcome him home at the very last sentence. Ajay wondered what was that argument all about in the first place. Was it her raging hormones as a young adult, he had a pretty clear image of his own school days himself. Then again, why was he thinking like an adult in his thirties. He wasn't that old either.

Ajay shoved it aside as he lay back and relaxed in the comfort of his own sofa by the fireplace, for though winter had ended it was still chilly today.

He was just about to hit the sweet spot in his sleep after half-an-hour when a heavy but soft object lay upon him.

"That bulging stomach, it must be Saras." Ajay didn't even need to open his eyes to know who it was, that perfume couldn't be mistaken.

"Tsk Tsk Tsk! It's not nice to comment about a woman's shape, Ajay."

"Neither is it nice to wake someone up from a well-founded rest." Though he said that, he moved over for her to lie next to him. They lay down without speaking another word to each other, before he knew it, Saras had actually slept soundly, although the gentle breaths against his face were ragged. Ajay looked at her tired face now experiencing a moment of peace and relief. He checked her pulse through the veins in her wrist, it was rather weak. Probably due to the exhausting work she returned from, Ajay sighed.

-Even when you're tired, you shouldn't have the energy to play around.-

Ajay made a trip to the pantry to retrieve some herbs and ingredients before brewing a concoction to help with her blood circulation. It was one of the many skills he picked up from the travelling gurus and witchdoctors, a skill that served him well today. It reminded him of the time Maya had been intoxicated by those mushrooms and how they thought it was a mere fever. For a second, his heart jumped as he suddenly had the thought Saras had the same instance. But settled down as he recalled the mushrooms and many of Kyrat's toxic and poisonous flora and fauna exclusively needed damp and dark places, caves usually.

Ajay came back with a warm liquid remedy.

And Saras was awake by the couch, apparently she noticed his missing presence sooner than he expected. But she stayed as she caught a whiff of the brewing herbs.

"Drink, it'll help with your body circulation. Stop doing all-nighters for a while." Saras chuckled at the house physician's advise.

"A soldier, a blacksmith, a politician, a lover and now a doctor? When will I ever see those matching rings?" She said waving her fingers about.

"Perhaps you shouldn't go to the party in your current condition."

"I'll go." She immediately retorted.

"Then rest up while you have the chance. And drink before it gets cold." Her hands reached out to accept the cup and she blew at the water to cool it before drinking.

A slight medicinal taste with sweetness to it could be felt by her lips as she continued to drink down the solvent. "Mmmm… what is this?"

"It's just some Wild Ginseng with honey. Noore is growing a whole crop of them for the open market, although they're still in the developing phase."

"Thanks, I'll take your advice to heart." Saras responded. "Wow. It almost feels like there's an immediate effect!"

"Of course not, idiot. That's just your body firing up to absorb the remedy. Come, lie here. If it gets you to stop moving, then so be it." Ajay sat patting his leg for her to lie on. Saras was genuinely surprised but she quickly took advantage of the opportunity while stock last.

Ajay did some light reading of the reports regarding the logistic statistics and demands for supplies, since his proposal to Saras denied him the time to slack-off. Although they were quite plentiful in weapons and munitions at the moment, things could change. The logistic layout was still the same. Armaments at the arsenal needed to be produced simply and with efficient man-hours. Ammunition commonality made things a hell of a lot easier to supply certain bases and outposts. Heavy equipment like crew-served weapons and vehicles had to be serviceable at all times by the combat engineers attached to the respective units. Only then would the war machine sustain.

And in the same instance, she fell asleep again. Whatever she'd been doing before, it was extremely tiring. He recalled her leave for an emergency job with 3rd Company at the S-Program site in the Western corridor of Uttar Region. But considering the quality of their previous work and the cement used their facilities shouldn't be crumbling down any moment soon. There was a guarantee of at least fifty years on the facilities.

Everytime he got a look at her face up close the same question always popped up in his mind. He ran his hand across her hair, revealing that bright and shining face from that curtain of wavy hair.

"What could you possibly see in a monster like me, Saraswati Roka?"

* * *

The chauffeur limousine came to pick them up at the homestead, the three girls, Bipin and Ajay. Himself, dressed in a business suit crafted by his only source for clothing, Mumu's. Maya, Bipin and Saras had the luxury of wearing their military formal uniforms which Ajay thought was better. Unfortunately, he wasn't truly part of the military and so could not. Unless Arjun gave him his job which was unlikely. Bhadra had a simple evening dress which she claimed someone from the tailor department in the vocation school gave it to her as a gift.

Noore was making her way to the Royal Palace by her own means. To Ajay, it was better that way. So he wouldn't have to look Ashley in the eyes while she remained oblivious to her father's true murderer. Why was it, that amongst all of the killings he had to feel guilty about just this one? Paul was a bastard to begin with, and yet bastards still had a family to raise. His death prevented numerous possible deaths of others' family members. It was because Ajay had lied to Ashley and had made her indirectly responsible for her father's death.

They stopped by the House of Hamal, a grand mansion on the hills as was nearly all the other noble estates in a hidden valley simply known as the 'Echelons'. Why was it called something like that? To simply decern the disparity in class between them and other families and commoners. Every noble family in the Echelon was aware of who their neighbours were so they could tell if you weren't one of 'them'. Elitism was a common problem in any society, be it a monarchy, a democracy or even a communist administration. Another one of the foul characters of humanity to look down upon others less fortunately than themselves.

Waiting at the driving porch were a familiar set of faces. The moment Bhadra turned to see who it was she frowned, more specifically at Jeevan. Saras was surprised that Ajay had been acquainted with Jeevan and Kanaan Hamal whom were some of her friends for a long time.

Raghu was also at the door ready to board his own escort but waited for Ajay to approach.

"Your grace, please take care of my children." He said with an audible but extremely unsincere tone hidden beneath his smile and faked sincerity. Ajay obviously knew why but played his game.

"Don't you worry yourself, old friend. I swear on my honour that Jeevan will be a man that will surpass yourself." He said before boarding the limousine, not bothering to look at what kind of face Raghu wore behind his back.

The limo was lengthy, so it could accommodate two more.

"Ajay, more over. I wanna sit at the corner." Bhadra murmured.

Ajay sighed internally, if Jeevan had set a better first impression at the crystal fall ball then Bhadra wouldn't have held animosity towards him now.

But Jeevan was quick to notice it.

"Look, Miss Rishal. I know it doesn't excuse what I said and did at the party, I probably made myself the biggest joke there in doing so. But for what it's worth, I'm sorry for the things I said."

"Hmph!" She didn't bother to entertain him and looked to the window. But he had done all he needed to.

"Still, I'm surprised that you two have met with Badala personally." Saras said pleasantly.

Jeevan scratched his head awkward, being reminded of their chance encounter.

"Speaking of encounters, you should have seen Bhadra and Noore's face when Maya put on a dress. Those mouths, gaping I tell you." Ajay chuckled away.

"It was more than just them both, and you weren't an exception." Maya declared proudly.

"….." Ajay shrugged and opened the minibar to unscrew the cap to some gin.

"Before meals?"

"Hoping I get drunk and accidentally kill as many of those canton shits as possible."

"You really don't like'em don't you?" Saras sighed.

"No, I'll have to agree with him on that, they aren't like the Kyratis. If you thought mistress Yuma was arrogant, she would be considered graceful among them. Hand me a drink too will you, I'm starting to feel incline to do the same." She tapped Ajay but he was already ahead in pouring one for him.

"Yunno what, count me in too!" Jeevan said.

"That's the spirit!" And so Ajay handed out a shot cup full to each and every one of them save for Bhadra who was still a minor.

"Right, what to toast to…." Ajay said with the cup at the ready.

"To a massacre at King Min's party." Saras declared. (Ching) He clashed the cup with her for a reasonable toast.

"Here here." The rest toasted to one another. Seeing them do that and excluding her….

"Damnit…. Badala! Pass me a cup!" She said like a little red hot chilli pepper. Ajay couldn't help but sigh, if he didn't she wouldn't talk to him for a long time or cook him meals. So he figured that if she was in the company of all of it should be fine.

"Oh? Bhadra wants to become a lady in one night, alright! Here, a double of the same." Ajay poured generously.

Bhadra took hold of the cup and dunked it down her throat coughing from the unfamiliar burn. There was a mixture of laughs and cheers from the group.

"One more year and it'll be free reign for you on how you want to drink." Ajay told her. He just hoped she wouldn't go overboard and drink out of the desire to drink excessive.

But either way, he had managed to get Bhadra to crack ice with them and himself.

* * *

The Royal Palace wasn't far to begin with, and it was less of a difficulty in passing through the Royal Fortress that blocked the only passage to the Palace with Ajay with them in the limo. Only the chauffeur and car needed to be checked and they were clear.

They arrived at the front of the Palace and found that they weren't early. There were dozens of vehicles parked outside the front porch with pairs of guards roaming around to respond to any emergency. Layout was reminiscent of the Crystal Falls Ball. Only, Pagan's party was to an even smaller select few. Nobles in the 1st and 2nd class rankings and their immediate family members, statesmen and entrepreneurs associated with Kyrats economy, Military officers from High Command and ranks of Major and above. All of the Canton members had permission to come due to their special nature of their status.

Unfortunately, they did not have the convenience of dropping in unnoticed as they entered through the front where the crier announced their arrival to the masses already gathered.

"Here comes! Duke Badala! Viscount Hamal! Lady Hamal! Lady Rishal! Lady Roka! Lady and Sir Kadayat!"

Nearly all the faces that were looking away from them and busy in deep conversation laid eyes upon the group that could be considered its own faction with their own agendas. Some faces were recognizable from the previous high society party, some weren't. At this point, the group dispersed to meet with their own circles. Saras went to find her father, Bipin went to meet up with Samuel Min and the Hamal siblings went to report to their family member gathering because of an arrangement made for Kanaan to be wedded was coming soon.

Bhadra came over to whisper to Ajay.

"You did bring a present did you?"

"Don't worry, I've got that covered." He assured her as she thought it would be something in the trunk of the limo. But Ajay knew that his present wouldn't fit in a limo trunk.

"I'm heading over to check on Yuma." She dutifully reported her departure before leaving. It was now just Maya and him.

"My friend!" Ajay didn't need to focus on their next line of action as Longinus came over to greet him. In his hand was a suit case and attire of a similar type to Ajay. Giving him the impression Longinus was like a "Lord of War".

"It's been a while, Longinus. How've you been?"

"Ah, eager my friend! A climax to the civil war that rages on, thanks to you."

"You have an equally big part to play in this as well, buddy. Remember who was it that helped build this defense industry."

"Perhaps, but alas it is also time for me to move on. The lord awaits my good work elsewhere. I've already said my goodbyes to my friend Samar and Pagan. Now it is just you." Longinus informed him of his immediate departure. The previous timeline was the same, Longinus could not stay for long.

"I know, it's a shame you have to leave. But I guess you have your mission. Remember that Kyrat will always welcome you back if you ever feel troubled or stray from your objective. If you ever get in trouble, there is no place we wouldn't go to find you."

"Many thanks, my friend." He clasped Ajay's hand which the latter held out to shake. "I left a gift for you and all my friends in the Arsenal." He whispered to Ajay carefully.

"May god go with you." Ajay said to him meaningfully.

"And may he protect you. Ajay." Longinus replied before turning to leave without hesitation.

"Farewell, Prosper."

Longinus stopped halfway from departure, turning back with a white pearly smile.

"No, until next time. My friend." And for the final time, Longinus left the palace on his way to leave Kyrat for good. His destination, South America. To hunt down a trail of his conflict diamonds.

Ajay went to look for the rest that had left him to have some time with Longinus. Perhaps, Longinus was one of the first few dependable friends here he'd ever had.

"I can't imagine how difficult it's gonna be without Longinus." Maya appeared beside him.

"…" He had no reply. Longinus did indeed contribute significantly to the defense industry that comprised of three fully build arsenals and logistic chains that supported the army and para-military forces of Kyrat. He was also the person that introduced the Jackal to them, who for all intensive purposes supplied them with highly sophisticated hardware that wasn't as easy to procure as small-arms and had potential to be embargoed by higher authorities.

Ajay took a moment to take in the events that needed to be fulfilled with Longinus's departure from the playing field. Maya stayed beside him waiting, he didn't know why her first thoughts when arriving wasn't to look for her guardian like Bhadra did, but he didn't question her.

"Let's go find your brother, shall we? I'd like to see what type of person his C.O. is."

"Mn." Maya accompanied him to look for Bipin in the courtyard area where he was last seen running off excitedly.

"What did you get for Pagan, by the way?" She too was curious.

"Did you get anything for him?"

"No. He barely knows me anyway. So what was it?"

"I ordered it from an Italian firm a month ago under a private purchase, and boy did it cost me a bomb! Almost that of buying a private jet." Literally millions of dollars.

"Man, what's with that ridiculous spending then?"

Ajay leaned over and whispered the details and the gift he organised with Arjun for Pagan.

"…" After hearing it she sort of thought it was like he could predict the King's mannerisms.

"So it's pretext then." Ajay nodded to confirm.

"Still, couldn't you have gotten him a cheaper one?" She replied like a housewife scolding her husband.

"It had to be better than his existing one or that would defeat the purpose. Then he'll be grumbling that we short changed him and on his birthday at that."

"…." She knew that Ajay understood the King's thickle mood best and knew how to keep the King's support on their Military implementations.

"I guess I don't really have the right to judge."

"Oh, I guarantee you'll be surprised with the demonstration as well." Ajay assured her.

They had walked almost for three minutes till they reached the courtyard where a commotion was happening.

Ajay sighed but let out a vicious grin. "It seems they couldn't wait to stir trouble."

* * *

"You've got to be joking…." Jeevan couldn't contain his disbelief at what his father had just told him.

"It's already been preplanned since November. It took time and effort that I will not waste over a small incident."

"Small incident? He tried to rape her!" Jeevan pleaded senselessly.

"And you beat him half-dead for that! Had it not been for the grace that Lord Kwan considered for his son's relationship with Sugun then you would have to face the music of your actions on your own." Raghu turned and waddled with the cane in hand back to the function room.

"And I want you away from him, do you hear me? The last time you nearly severed our relations entirely." He said in a cold but calm manner.

"And incident was then. He's had years to reflect, now I must be off to meet with the Head of Sun Family, Lord Gwan." Raghu departed as soon as he informed them of his arrangement with the Sun Family.

"Tsk! Damnit!" Jeevan struck the tree that was next to him in frustration. His sister stood nearby, she was the most uneasy by the arrangement. After all, she was to be engaged to Sun Han Feng. The man responsible for Jeevan's near permanent imprisonment and attempted rape of Kanaan years ago.

After a while of silence, Kanaan spoke. "I'm more than prepared for this."

"You will do no such thing!" Jeevan shouted at her as she begun to walk away.

"And where will we be if we chose to do things against our families wishes?" She said in a heartwrenching tone.

"We'll find a way. Come on, Kanaan. Are you really going to give up here and reside yourself?"

"Or, I could just marry him."

"I WILL NOT ALLOW IT!" He burst into a greater anger at her suggesting. His loudness caught the attention of a few guests that were dotted around the courtyard but not near enough to hear what the conversation was about.

"…(Sigh)….. Thank you. That was all I needed to hear from you…." She laughed in a sad way.

"No…"

"And all this time I was worried you would not succeed in life…." She said tearfully with a sadden smile. She took hold of his hands.

"Even despite your unbecoming behaviour the Duke chose to accept you the way you were. If only you knew how fortunate you really are, not many are as understanding as him. So don't waste this chance to prove yourself, like you always wanted." Jeevan bit his lip till it bled. He knew she would say that to him. It was just like that time with their mother, the choice between himself or his loved ones.

Why did it always have to be this way? Why did god fancy toying with him so much? Was a bastard child like him so fun to destroy? Because if that was so, he would revoke god. And take the path that his teacher had warned him not to. To thread the path of the demon.

Hands wrapped around him and a warm body pressed itself tightly against him. His sister, though only sharing half his blood but nonetheless his sister hugged him.

"Do it not just for you but for me as well, little brother." She said in an oh so gentle voice, the way their mother talked to them.

Tears wanted to fall from Jeevan's eyes but he held it back and returned the embrace. "That's not fair…"

"Life is never that way, foolish child. But we always make the best of things." Kanaan returned him a warm and charming smile.

(Clap) (Clap) (Clap)

"Hou! Hou! Zemo houuu- dik hing dai zemui!" (Wonderful! Absolutely wonderful! Such good siblings!) A teasing voice was heard from behind the structure of a shrine along with a round of applause from the same person.

"You." Jeevan said with a hateful glare.

"Hiya! Brat. Or maybe it should be, brother-in-law!" He said in an antagonizing way.

"What do you want, Sun Han Feng?"

"Tsk! Tsk! Tsk! No need to be so formal, my dear wife. Honey will do from now on." He said with a cheeky smile. As he reached out a placed his hand on her cheek in a loving and dear manner. But to his surprise a hand swatter them away.

"That is completely ubsurd!"

"Jeevan-." He shocked his sister with his willingness to destroy relations again. But Jeevan continued.

"Marry filth like you? I wonder, after that incident. Did all your possible marriage options bug out after finding out what a little twart you were?" Jeevan lashed out with his tongue.

"You!-…. You little!-." Han Feng turned red with humiliation and anger.

"What! Might I remind you that you are nothing but a filthy foreigner. Marry my sister? You couldn't even qualify even if your family took the throne through regicide!" Jeevan continued to barrage him with words. It appeared as if he failed to take his sister's words to heart and went with the worst option…. Like he always did.

"Jeevan Hamal… Need I not remind YOU! That while I may not be a damn mountain savage like the rest of YOU! I am the eldest son of Sun Kwan of the Four Families! I am a member of the closest retinue to King Pagan Min, YOUR sovereign!" Like a fuse, Han Feng blew and shouted at him to stand down. As it was his right as a member of a society above him and all other Kyratis.

Most of the Kyratis that heard him scorned at the little bastard but dared not intervene or scold him, because it was as he had just spoken. He was of the cantons, he was related to King Min, and no one amongst the Kyratis could touch them and think they could get away with it.

Sadly, in their eyes. Jeevan failed to see it, but in all actuality, he was fully aware of it but chose to do it regardless. He knew that he was jeopardizing his teacher's honor and face with the current neutrality he held with the Canton families. But he'd already made his decision, he chose family over power. He chose with his own free will.

"Come on, sis. Let's leave this place." Jeevan didn't hesitate as he took hold of his sister's hand and pulled her along towards the exit. Where would he go? Kyrat would no longer welcome such ungrateful brats like them. So it had to be elsewhere. But even so, it was better than here.

Kanaan's frame trembled at the willingness Jeevan showed to sacrifice everything for her. It may have been a split-second decision but she didn't hesitate to follow him…. Until a rough hand clasped around her wrist.

"You're not going anywhere. And neither are yo-. Urghh!" A tightened fist struck him in the face and he flew towards the ground.

Jeevan hurriedly took her and went for the exit while he was out for a while.

"Ho Ho Ho! Where do ya think you're going?"

"Hehehe!"

"You think you can get away with what you just did?"

But they ended up surrounded by ten men, likely from Han Feng's group.

"Stay close behind me." Jeevan told his sister before getting into a fighting stance. Ten was a little more than what he was commonly used to of three being, Stella, Ricardo and a clumsy Hurk. But he'd been in brawls with Ajay both in knife hand-to-hand and street boxing. And Ajay wasn't kind or forgiving in his lessons.

"Tai low! Ni mo see ah?" (Boss, you ok?)

"Tsk! I'm fine, I was just nice enough to tell him off and that little punk actually socked me. Give him a few just to teach him his place." Han Feng demanded of his comrades.

"Right, you heard the man. It's nothing personal boy, just doin- gyyahh!" The man barely had time to finish as he delivered a punch but received a heavy kick to his shoulder that almost dislocated it.

"Damn you- gaaarrggh!" Jeevan delivered a quick jab to the stomach the other man that attacked him with a haymaker.

One tried to sneak him a punch to the ribs and he returned a counterpunch to his lower jaw with a cracking sound.

"Damn it! What the hell are you doing?! You're ten men! Ten fully trained elite soldiers of the 2nd Hussars Battalion! And you can't even beat a brat?!"

"Why don't you come and personally take charge then?" Jeevan mocked him.

By now, the commotion had attracted a crowd. Although no one had done anything to stop them for fear they would be dragged into the fight.

Han Feng walked forward this time. "Seven of you take him. Three of you take my fiancé and be gentle. I'll let you have a go once I'm done." He said with a grin.

So they came at them simultaneously, it was impossible for Jeevan to deter them on his own so the probed him at every opportunity to drop his guard near his sister. And every time they did, one person would strike at him with a fist or a leg. Temporarily pushing him back and creating an opening for them to nab his sister from his grasp.

"Ahhh! Stop!" Kanaan yelled at the three men that dragged her away.

"Don't you dare touch-!"

"You have bigger issue, brat!" Han Feng threw a fist at him but Jeevan carefully dodged and kicked him towards two others. Four came rushing at him, now armed with chains and sticks from somewhere, perhaps they kept it on their persons all this while.

So the odds changed drastically. As they kicked and shoved Jeevan into submission with their numerical superiority and weapons at hand. When he surcomed to the beating and fell to the floor they beat him to remind him of the insult he had spat at their faces.

Kanaan pleaded for them to stop tearfully, but her calls went unanswered.

"Shhhh….. it'll all be over soon. We'll enjoy ourselves over a bit of pre-marital night wonder while your brother can cool off in a cell. Perhaps he should spend his days in Ragah Gulag from now on, huh? AHahahahaha!" Some of his comrades that weren't occupied with beating Jeevan laughed with him.

But if Sun Han Feng knew the what Jeevan's affiliation to Ajay was and not an admirer like they thought he was. Then things might have been different.

Han Feng would not have had to suffer like he would after he came, and asked after tapping him pm the shoulders in a calm voice.

"What might you be doing to my intern?"

* * *

There was rarely a moment that Ajay showed a sparkle of excitement in his eyes. Not even during the bloody battlefields against heavy odds. It ran exclusively when he was about to engage in any sort of melee.

When they passed through a sea of spectators who parted from them. Ajay and Maya found Jeevan beaten by a gang of potential victims to exercise his muscles on but withheld as he tapped the dirty little pervert when he heard him speak of sharing a bed with Kanaan.

At first, the man turned around with a face that said, "What right do you have in interrupting me in my fun?"

Although that man, had some reservations as to who Ajay was. Declaring that Jeevan was his intern. It couldn't be that Badala that the rumors were spreading around that Jeevan was an apprentice of, right? After all, that was merely a rumor. There was no way that the demon would pay attention to a conceit brat that didn't even have half the blood of a noble.

And this guy that looks like an elderly noble woman's boy-toy couldn't possibly be that man. Could it be that this man was teaching the brat how to be a gigolo to worm his way up the echelons? Han Feng laughed at the thought.

He even failed to notice the Queen's Protégé next to him. Someone that had the authority to make him crawl all the way down the mountain and up on all fours and he was happily bark in response to the command.

Unfortunately, Han Feng was blinded by the moment.

"Hang on for a moment, when we're done with him you can have him all to yourself."

"Tsk Tsk Tsk! That won't do, and you have yet to give me an explanation as to what you're doing to me intern. One that I've spent a considerable time and effort raising to be a competent leader of my private army. So? And why you are holding Kanaan against her will? Mister.. um-…. Who are you?" Ajay said in his usual provocative way, a playful manner which inclted aggression for not taking them seriously.

"Listen you pretty boy faggo-arrghhhh!" Ajay held his hand that he reached out to point at him by his thumb and index finger. Pressing on his acupuncture point and forcing him to the ground. Ajay lightly twisted his hand and placed him in an instant back hand lock with said two fingers.

"Now pretty boy, I might forgive because it was the face my mother bestowed upon me. But faggot, well. Judging by the depression in your crotch area, I'd say that you have better qualifications than me…. But just to be sure, should we make that a reality?" The last sentence raised the hairs on Han Feng's back. It was at this point that his fellow canton comrades had already disengaged from Jeevan and went to him still oblivious.

"Go and treat the boy." He motioned to Maya who was already on top of it. While he still held Han Feng in the lock.

"Urghhh….. do you know who you're messing with?! You'll be sorry you ever mess with(Crack) AAARRHHH!" Ajay snapped his wrist with a quick turn and left Han Feng to roll in pain.

"Jeevan, I won't hide my disappointment in you for your actions."

"I know. I know I've let you down, teacher….. But I just couldn't let myself down first." He said in pain from all the bruises but still struggled to say it.

"For once, I'm glad in you, kid. How bout we have a lesson then? For tonight's part, I'll show you how to disable without killing eleven trained men." Ajay said with a mimicked innocent smile of Jeevan's.

"You? Who the fuck do you think you are?!" One shouted at him after hearing such an ubsurd nonsence.

"Whomever you think I am, because you clearly don't even read the daily papers." Ajay said as he stood before the ten men.

"You fucker! When Lord Kwan hears of what you're done your whole clan will burn!"

"Really? What I wouldn't give for you to say that to him. It'll give me all the justification to wipe out all the canton families!" Ajay said in a disturbing smile. Now they weren't so sure in their hearts who he actually was.

"Perhaps I won't wound you to badly then if you do me that solid." The man that led the rest bit his lip and charged forward.

"Sei hai ham gah ch-(crunch)(Crack)." In a stream of rapid movements, Ajay struck him with his elbow to the side of his head sending him to the floor on his side. But he didn't stop with just one hide as he grabbed hold on that man's hand and pulled him up from a kick to the knee (Crunch) He dislocated it causing him to topple down and sent a strike on a palm to his neck. The man toppled to the ground motionless with three areas of fractured bones. And it all happened under two seconds.

The rest actually hadn't seen it as they charged forward to aid their comrade.

Ajay aimed for one of the unarmed men and struck him in the belly with a liver shot before grabbing him to use as shield for the few that used batons and chains. They flailed their friend by mistake, but Ajay had already knocked him unconscious to the pain with a rabbit punch to the neck to knock him unconscious as he kicked him towards them. His skin had terrible tears from the flaying chains and bruises from the baton strikes but he had fulfilled his part for Ajay by being dead weight to buy him time to disable the rest.

He dodged a flying kick from one of them that sat out of the fight for a while and grasped him by the leg. Ajay raised his own leg above his head and brought down to strike that man's leg from the pelvis joint. Dislocating it as the man fell into a painful split, which Ajay delivered an uppercut to finish him.

They often attacked him whilst he was in the midst of disabling one of their comrades, so as to take advantage of his back turned to them. But Ajay was more than aware of his surroundings. He coiled his arm around one's arm to the shoulder and dislocated it before sending a chop to his airway.

Barely one minute had passed and five were on the ground not moving at all. Now there were five adversaries and that leader who ordered Jeevan's beating left, he obvious included him in the equation. The crowd watched as Ajay toyed with them like he was playing a game, their strikes never hit their mark and his body naturally curved around their kicks and thrusts. At the speed they were going, it could barely even match up to those Hun kids. -Elite my ass.-

He was now frowning in disappointment and sighed exasperatively. The remaining five had a reluctance to engage him now with what they saw he did to the downed five. Completely brutal, when he meant disable they thought he meant knock out. But for each of the men he dispatched he broke or dislocated at least three parts of them. And he was barehanded.

"Are you by chance in that newly formed Hussar's battalion run by Samuel?" He asked them and they immediately stopped where they were. Much to their relief that he had some reason to his ruthless assault on them.

"That's right! At least you aren't all brawns." Han Feng called out. Expecting Ajay to admit his mistake from attacking them and hand in an apology.

"And where is your superior officer?"

"I am, sir!" The sea parted once more and a slender man with a neatly tied pony tail walked forward, beside him was Bipin. Shocked by the sequence of events that took place he facepalmed at the scene. It was clear that Ajay and the most of Canton families were destined to end neutrality.

"Commander! You came at the right time, this maniac came out of nowhere and attacked us!"

Ajay looked at the shameless man in front of him with a bit of surprise.

"Wow…. You really are some piece of work. Well whatever." Ajay ignored Han Feng now and faced the Commander of the 2nd Battalion that walked forward.

"Lieutenant-Colonel Min I presume."

"It truly is a surprise that you know of me, your grace." He saluted to him.

"Not when a unit such as yours stands out like a sore thumb." Ajay said with a grip, to which Samuel chuckled respectfully.

"You flatter me, your grace."

"How's your training with Kuber doing?"

"Commander Kuber is exceptional, it's a new lesson everyday for me and my men." Kuber did report what he evaluated of the 2nd Battalion to him as well. While the commander was eager, the same could not be said for his men.

"Quite. I hope you'll be ready by the end of the week, because we intend to get in harm's way. Come meet me after the party, Samuel."

"You!- You dare call the our commander by his name?!" (Slap) A hand struck Han Feng dumb came from none other than his superior. He had missed him saying 'your grace' several times already because his mood and pain from the snapped wrist took over his collective calm.

"I should ask you the same thing. Since when was it permissible for you to challenge a Duke." Samuel stared at his subordinates with hostility.

When the word Duke rang out. The remaining five froze solid as if a spell had been casted upon them to stay that way till they died. A similar reaction came from the crowd, although some knew who Ajay was, they were unsure of his status when compared with the Canton family members.

"No… you can't be serious that this gigol- (Slap)" He was struck a second time for talking.

"Still not on your knees! Or do you want me to cut them off!" His superior barked threateningly. Ajay had a strange feeling about the tone of his voice, but couldn't put a finger on it. It was clear that Han Feng's foolish actions had provoked the one person that even his father had dared not start a war with, the person that the Min's looked with envy and caution and the Khoo's with fear.

"Ah-…Ah…." The weight of his actions began to set in and take away his ability to speak or breath properly.

"That's alright, he doesn't need to get on his knees." Ajay said, as he straightened his tie and blazer from all the excess movement.

"Y-Your grace! F-F-Forgiv-."

"Take off your uniform." Was all Ajay said as he looked down upon him.

"Um-….your grace?" He asked meekly and baffled.

"You're an embarrassment to the armed forces. I don't see why you should continue to bear the insignia of the King's soldiers."

"B-But your grace-."

"Remove it now…. Or I'll remove it from your mangled corpse." His tone changed into an icy cold one. Han Feng shivered as he felt the full onslaught of the demon's aura, something he and his friends used to laugh about all the time. When his friend Sugun had died he thought it was merely because of his own incompetence in entering a den of lions at Banapur. But now, he bore witness to the oppressive might of the Demon Duke that enforced the Kyrati military and authorities with an iron grip. And his choice was to step on it.

"Your grace, if I may." Samuel stepped between him and his subordinate, shielding him.

"Go on." Ajay entertained him.

"Captain Sun is a dedicated officer to the army and has served with me since our enlistment. To ask him to hand in his uniform after his years of dedication. Will you not look upon his service to the king to be lenient?" Ajay had to admit, Samuel was pretty competent in politics. As expected of a schemer, Ajay thought. But I'll see how much you're willing to hang on to this little shit.

"Dedicated, huh? Alright, let's look at this from another perspective then shall we? First off, I've heard a rather disturbing rumor about your 'Dedicated' officer having attempted rape upon my dear friend's sister Kanaan. When I arrived, I saw your 'Dedicated' officer directing orders to these thugs you call soldiers to gang up and beat my intern, with weapons no less. Now I'm not adverse to them play fighting as it's often good experience for dear Jeevan. But taking my friend's sister, who is also my friend against her will takes it a step further out of my tolerance. Your 'Dedicated' officer had also failed to acknowledge who I was on multiple occasion and for fear of my life as they attacked me, I acted on self-defense. But who would have thought that they did not even meet basic close combat standards of the Royal Army. Hell, they couldn't even beat a sixteen-year-old from the Hun settlement to a match of arm wrestling. So what I'm asking is is if this is the baseline standard of the 2nd Hussar Armored Battalion. One of the two battalions that were intended to lead vanguards of offensives? Because if it is, then I'm afraid I'll have to inform Marshal Roka to deactivate the operationally ready status of the 2nd Battalion on pretext of not being sufficiently trained to handle the realness of combat. It would be a shame to send these unfortunate souls to their deaths." Ajay lay his checkmate for Samuel who slightly frowned but sighed.

"So you see, Lieutenant-Colonel. This all tracks back to you even through no fault of your own. Yunno, I see great quality in you, I really do! Standing up for your men in face of adversity… However, that should only be afforded to competent soldiers." His last line was in a dark tone.

"Don't you agree?" Returning back to the joyful tone again which made the surrounding audience shiver in fear of him.

Samuel turned to Han Feng with a grave look. When Han Feng saw it, his face fell.

"Remove it now." Samuel had chosen the unit over his 'dedicated officer'. He had no choice in this matter.

Han Feng chose not to fight against it and reluctantly removed his uniform down to his underwear.

"Now march down the hill and up again." Ajay's demands became oppressive. Han Feng was shaken by the demand which he dared not refuse, but in all his life he'd never experienced such humiliation in front of the public. Furthermore, he'd been demanded to relieve himself of duty.

"Badala, do not go too far!" A roar came from within the veranda of the Palace. There, Pagan, Yuma and a few other important looking triads had appeared. Including the one that shouted, that was Sun Kwan.

"Dad….." Han Feng murmurs with joy in his eyes.

"And how is that so?" Ajay asked not at all flustered.

"How can the military fire someone for the lack of the decent virtues and still force him to humiliate himself in front of you? No one is perfect." Sun Kwan spoke in a stern voice.

"Oh? That about removing his uniform was under his own voalition, but I'm making him march up and down as punishment for assaulting my intern."

Sun Kwan stared daggers at his son for a brief moment.

"My intern, Jeevan is covered in bruises and cuts from him being ganged by ten assailants which I will deal with when we're done. Whereas I'm simply making your son walk a bit to reflect on his action. Don't you think that's lenient enough?" He said with a grin. But Sun Kwan was more stubborn than he thought.

"Disciplining my boy is my responsibility alone."

"So you'll take responsibility for his actions then?"

"…." Sun Kwan neither answered nor corrected. He was sort of in reluctance to owe him anything. And for good reason, but Ajay could see it in his eyes.

"Would you care for a bit of pre-party gambling?" His proposal raised the eyebrows of several of families. Pagan's eyes brightened, he like the way he did things.

"Care to have a friendly fist fight?" Most of the people were unaware of Badala's actual prowess and thought it was just his strategy or gunfighting style that made him a fearful force. A lot of outrageous rumors were mixed so it was hard to get a track on what was fact.

"What are the stakes?" Sun Kwan asked game.

"You win, I'll consider giving you the face you deserve and forget about this whole upset. I'll even throw in a bonus in the form of special priveleges for the 2nd Battalion." Ajay didn't conceal the fact that 2nd Battalion was more than likely affiliated with the Canton families in more than just sponsorship, but perhaps allegiance too.

"And if you win?"

"Mmmm….. what say you and your family owe me a solid? I might even let your little bastard stay in the army."

"Fine. Send your best fighter and I'll send mine." Sun Kwan added to his own convenience without consulting Ajay on it. He only wanted to win, but….

"That's fine. Then for my side I chose Jeevan."

"Wha-…. Fine!" He didn't want to change the odds now that Ajay had decided for himself. Ajay walked back to Jeevan whom as stunned that Ajay had just volunteered him.

"I've already set the stage for you, kid. Your opponent will be just one fella this time, possibly a heavy weight in their payroll."

"Why are you doing this?" Maya questioned him.

"Sun Kwan will owe me a solid, but I'll let you decide it if you win." Jeevan's eyes brightened.

Ajay had actually organised it in such a way that he could fight for his sister's freedom. Maya and Kanaan begun to understand the meaning behind it too and so didn't question him on that.

Jeevan struggled to get up on his feet as his body was still sore. Seeing that from afar, Sun Kwan, his son and family members snorted in arrogance.

Pagan begun his bet with the other lords and nobles, he intended to pack one of his recently emptied out vault with some cash. A representative from the Sun family appeared, contrary to Ajay's initial assessment it was a lightweight with the physical features akin to Manny Pacqiao.

-Fast and furious, eh?-

He turned back to Jeevan.

"Looks like they're playing things carefully here. At your current condition, you might not be able to dodge his hits." Ajay began his analysis of the fighter.

"….."

"So don't. Bite down on the pain, just don't let him jab you in the critical areas that will weaken your strength and energy. Then strike hard, if you can end it in one hit then do it. If not, wait for your opportunity, lure him in with overconfidence. You don't know your opponent, but neither does he. Make him assume you're a rookie." Ajay handed out his strategy to win.

Jeevan nodded and walked forward to meet with the Sun fighter. They both took off their shirts for the sake of not impeding their movement. It was an opportunity to show to the ladies some beefcakes fighting on a ring. Jeevan's physique had undergone serious changes from not just his training with the Italians. But Ajay himself. Ajay only taught him two things, one was to self-hone his mentality in dire conditions. The other was sessions of boxing which he often came home with bruises the size of round-up fists.

Ajay had taught him all the boxing moves he'd learnt from his time training with Tinashe's ex-lover. He also taught him some dirty moves so that he knew he could be strucked at those points by an opponent. He had a total of four hundred and sixty-three spars with Ajay, and lost all but one which ended in a stalemate draw. In that draw, it was a revision of everything Ajay had taught him. He wished it could go on, but his energy was fading and Ajay called it a day so it couldn't really be called a draw in his opinion.

Jeevan turned to look at where Sun Han Feng and his family stood looking at him murderously, his father was among them as well with a frown on his face.

But Jeevan had come this far, his own life choices defined his route. Contrary to his belief, Ajay had stood up for him instead of forsake him. He had compromised his teacher's relation with the canton families that would rise into conflict, he'd gone against his father's words and damaged their house relation to the Sun family beyond repair.

"Right, I'll settle some ground rules first. Number one, no hitting below the belt, legs, hands and whatever other limbs you have are permitted." The audience laughed at his joke.

"Next, when your opponent is on the floor you are not to hit him and he to you. He will be disqualified if he remains there more than five counts. The fight will remain in this circle as well. At anytime, you may submit your surrender if you chose to do so. Right, out of the boring stuff. Let's dance!" Ajay finished up his rule setting and returned to spectate their fight.

The lightweight fighter, perhaps a muai thai expert danced around with his two feet at the ready. Jeevan took the boxing posture and stood planted with his two feet. His sister watched hopeful of the results despite his rough shape, Ajay was at least confident in his abilities. Maya was also a bit confident that he would take out an opponent stronger than he was, Sabal was proof of that.

But he couldn't afford to lose here. There was too much at stake, his sister's freedom. His teacher's reputation. He had to win, and he would do so for these things.

* * *

Author's thoughts: (Ip Man Parody)

Grandmaster of Wing Chun, Gha lei approaches the fighting ground. Raising his hand.

Grandmaster Gha lei: "Wo Yao Da Sap Go!" (I want to fight ten men!)

-Ten men appear-

-Ten men fall to the ground with broken bones in at least several places.-


	74. Chapter 70 - Playing One Another's Hand

Author's notes:

Tis a wonderful feeling to be back in uni after a year break.

* * *

The bets had all been cashed in, the Sun fighter and Jeevan had been circling one another and testing each other's defences for the last five minutes.

Pagan bet a wealthy sum as did Ajay on Jeevan, Pagan too believed that the boy would help him fill his coffers. Not because Ajay told him the odds but rather his own belief that he might succeed. He had a glint in his eyes filled with determination that caught Pagan's interests.

Ajay was thinking about how it might cover the cost for Pagan's hell of an expensive present where even Maya would have told him not to squander money away. But he already made the purchase, at least it came with a ten-year warranty.

"Come on! Drop him!" Some of the men that beat him shouted for the fighter to triumph over Jeevan.

But so far, he'd been dishing out at Jeevan without receiving any returns. The crowd watched with losing interest. They thought he was incompetent and appeared pitiful as the Duke forced him to participate against a trained fighter.

Jeevan had long endured the beat down the other fighter launched, he occasionally lured him in to attack him but seeming to be in the midst of launching an attack then backing out. So as to seem as if he was unsure of himself.

The mature fighter initially had a grin on his face but now fatigue was setting in on him. He knew he had to finish this fast or he'll run out of energy. After gathering a few breaths for a chain of assaults he was to deliver, the fighter lunged forward to strike him with a a jab. Jeevan's eyes glittered with anticipation for him to try that as he pulled away at the last possible moment and twisted his body to add momentum to an uppercut to the solarplex. The fighter coughed but didn't have time to react to Jeevan's next move now that he had gained the initiative from him. He launched hook punches to the fighter's lowered head, knocking him from side to side. Jeevan then grabbed his wrist and like what Ajay showed him in his one on ten fight he threw another uppercut to his jaw. The fighter launched back and fell to the ground with a rather loud thump.

Instantly, the crowds' attention returned back to the fight. Some who had previously bet on Jeevan out of pure gut feeling cheered him on for the sake of their winnings.

"Five…Four…Three…Two-." Ajay counted with a decently slow speed so that everyone thought it was fair.

"Get the fuck up or I will have your head!" Han Feng screamed.

The fighter got up with a vigilant stare at Jeevan. The one he previously thought a rookie was not. It was an opponent on equal ground. He'd take this fight seriously now, especially with the difficulty in breathing from the first strike Jeevan purposefully delivered to weaken him further. If he didn't do anything now he'll be this kid's punching bag later.

He made quicker steps to try to throw Jeevan off course, the latter chose to withhold his attacks wisely and his eyes surprisingly tracked where the fighter went like an eagle locked on to its prey. The fighter now knew the graveness of the situation that could lose his favour with the Sun family.

The fighter fired a few quick succession jabs, not caring if he hit Jeevan in a critical spot, the idea was to get his opponent on a rigid cover-up defense for him to deliver a hook to his unprotected sides.

He took the beating like the fighter foresore and the the fighter placed his preplanned line of attack into action. Except, he didn't account for Jeevan already anticipating he would launch this line of attack. And just as the hook came, Jeevan bobbed his headout of the way and threw a powerful cross punch to the fighters bare face. (Crunch) His nose received the full force of the impact of the fist that had not yet released all of its potential energy into kinetic.

The fighter threw up a knee to Jeevan's face, however the latter had maintained his footing so it allowed him to back away from the sudden change of style.

Some of the spectators booed when they saw him use his legs in their little boxing match.

"I already said, all limbs are allowed." Ajay reminded the crowd to which the quickly picked on the humor he last dropped in his rule setting, quietening down to watch.

Blood gushed from the fighter's crooked nose, but his eyes showed a light of defiance to go down. Whatever he was being paid to fight, his patron had gotten his money's worth from some previous fights.

He began unleashing a barrage of punches and roundhouse kicks at Jeevan's already sore body. Although, this time it was to wrench his defense out of order and create a gap which he could strike at. Seeing his opponent restoring to aggressive moves, Jeevan employed an elbow block to counter the attacks. Thereby wearing his opponent's strikes and protecting himself from the beating.

The relentless attacks continued for some time, until Jeevan could sense it weakening and slowing down. It was at this point which he waited for the fighter to throw a punch in his estimation. But he didn't block this attack, instead he counter attacked with his elbow. But it wasn't aimed for the fighter's head or body. (Crack) "ARrrghh!"

Jeevan's elbow struck home on the wrist of his opponent and completely rendered his right hand in capable of delivering anymore hits.

The fighter chose not to surrender still, which impressed the crowd and the Canton families with his determination.

"What an idiot! Getting your hand disabled!" Ranted a delirious Han Feng.

"Son, shut up!" Growled his father to silence his ill behaviour. He too was impressed with not just the fighter's tenacity but Jeevan's actual prowess one on one. No wonder the Duke mentioned it as 'play fighting' before. No doubt, the duke was more skilled than either of them.

With one hand rendered inoperable the fighter switched to legs to do his work. Performing mid-height kicks to weaken Jeevan who refused to let his gut or body be hit by the strikes, but it was costing him the feeling of his hands. Soon, he would not feel the force of his punches.

Ajay watched this calmly, there were moments that Jeevan had hesitated before. It was often how he lost to Ajay very quickly, but his opponent was someone else this time. And Ajay knew that this person wouldn't be as indulging as him in withholding his attacks. Jeevan knew this as well. It was what Ajay wanted out of this whole organised fighting match, for him to gain experience in fighting a real pro. Even if he lost, it was trivial to the experience that Jeevan had gained from this. Although he'd have to find another way of cancelling Kanaan's engagement to the little shit.

But Jeevan did not intend to let this opportunity slide from him. He had achieved his aim in this match. His opponent, the fighter now abandoned his defense of his upperbody entirely with the redundancy of his hand although the other worked fine but his defence options were limited. So he went for legs instead. The fighter approached with lightning speed and performed a low kick to where the back of his knee was in an attempted to ground Jeevan. Unfortunately, it was the end of the road for him as he kicked thin air. Jeevan had leaped from his spot in a turn with his leg extended and performed an in air 360 roundhouse kick to the face of the fighter. The fighter flew for the last time and skit along the circle on the ground. Knocked out cold.

"Five… Four… Three…. Two….One and a half…. One and a quarter…One…..Zero. We have a winner!" Ajay reached out and held Jeevan's hand and raised it for the crowd. Cheers and applause rattled out from the crowd who were thoroughly entertained by the performance. The Canton families were no exception, they had forgotten their initial grudged feelings they had for Ajay and his intern when he approached them on that matter.

"Well I guess that's that. Since they've put us on such I high note today, I think I'll just forget about this incident as well."

"Hahahaha! Indeed you really are generous, your grace. I too am a man of my word! Come, what is it you wish of me? Preferably something within my ability, young man." Sun Kwan already knew Ajay would hand his favour to Jeevan so he asked him directly.

"If you'll keep to your word then I'd like for you to cancel my sister's engagement to your son, respectfully Lord Kwan." Jeevan didn't forget to be humble towards the head of the Sun family I n that respect. Well, I wasn't really inclined to go with it to begin with, it was my madam's idea to begin with. But since I have no choice but to oblige to this favour I owe you then I shall cancel it."

"And Sir Hamal, while our arrangement has been cancelled we will still honor our agreement to an alliance." Sun Kwan told old Raghu whom was initially showing an unsightly face but quickly changed it to attend to Sun Kwan's words.

"Many thanks, Lord Kwan." He bowed respectfully.

From the distance, Han Feng glared hatefully at Jeevan and left without saying another word. His presence was ruining his mood further.

"I'll forever remember this humiliation you've bestowed upon me, Jeevan Hamal! And I WILL return it a hundredfold! Just you wait….."

Jeevan was oblivious to his future intentions, he was currently estatic that he had allowed his sister to remain free and maintained the status quo between House Hamal and the Sun family. Although he was fairly certain his father's mood was low despite him saving him his step-daughter. Kanaan came over from beside Maya to give Jeevan an embrace in tears, her brother had done so much for her in this one night. Even resolving to flee with her out of the country, but it didn't need to be so. For he had a powerful backer.

"There, there." He stroked her back while consoling her.

Sun Kwan's relationship with Ajay had improved slightly better than anticipated. Ajay had foiled Raghu's extended plans of revenge, albeit unintentionally. The old man too had left the scene as he couldn't stomach the events about to take place.

Ajay patted his bag full of his winnings, although it wasn't nearly enough to cover the cost of Pagan's gift it was better than losing money.

Sun Kwan had made a side bet in the midst of the fight and covered the cost of his initial bet for the fighter who was now receiving medical attention. So he lost nothing. Pagan on the otherhand was still receiving his earnings thricefold from his original bet, Gary was helping him to collect on his behalf while he approached Sun Kwan and Ajay.

"I see you've both had a bit of acquaintance but allow me to introduce you to one another. Little brother Kwan, I'd like you to meet Badala, my adopted son."

"….." Ajay sort of expected him to say that now.

"My boy, this is Sun Kwan of the Sun Family at the echelon estates. Though he might not look it, Ah Kwan is a fighter himself, both old Raghu and Arjun are more than acquainted with him as they fought alongside him in the days of quelling the Nationalists."

"Pleasure to get acquainted, Lord Kwan. It seems I was wrong about your son, I wasn't aware he had such expectations resting upon him." Ajay raised his hand for a handshake.

"The pleasure is all mine, Badala, Duke of Lakshman. And don't bother about that little shit, whatever I told him he clearly threw it out of the other ear when I told him not to offend the Duke." Sun Kwan returned him a firm grip.

"You've trained quite the apprentice there, Badala." He said as he looked to Jeevan having a quiet moment with his sister.

"Yes, do tell us how the Kyrati Demon gained an 'intern'?" Pagan was quite curious of this as he didn't expect someone to be able to match up to Ajay in terms of prowess.

"He's a bright kid, hotheaded I'd give you that. But earnest and willing, he was already capable of doing these things before I met him. He just didn't know it yet."

"A truly rare find then." Sun Kwan nodded in approval.

"Why did you pick him up in the first place?" Pagan asked.

"Um-….. is Lord Kwan privileged to know class 4 files?" Ajay asked sheepishly.

"Well not with his retirement from service but I'll just grace him with this knowledge, think of it as my trust in Ah Kwan." Pagan confirmed.

"Very well, your highness. That kid is to be the commander of a classified brigade." Sun Kwan took a moment and gazed in Jeevan's direction, matching him with his own interpretation of a brigade commander.

"And what is the function of this brigade then?" Sun Kwan was rather straightforward, it was almost reminiscent of Er Hu. He was sure those two would get along fine one day.

"It operates independently of the army, deep strike insertions, reconnaissance, raiding, infiltration, and a whole lot of other stuff I won't say yet." Ajay gave a short summary of what they were without indulging too much.

"Since you've told me a bit about yours, I'll tell you of mine." He said with a smile.

"Yours?" Ajay feint ignorance.

"Come now, friend. You certainly know about 2nd Battalion, led by our charming young officer Samuel."

"So you had a hand in sponsoring them too. You'll have my thanks for lightening what's already a heavy load in modernizing the army."

"Mn. Nearly every member of the Canton families have provided funds in…. improving the army's capabilities."

"That's great and all, how each and everyone of us chip in to help each other. Soon, Kyrat will finally have its era of peace and prosperity!" Pagan declared jubilantly.

"Well, that would be the idea Pagan. Your present opening starts in one and a half hours. I think I'd like to take this time to get to say hello to the rest."

"Alright, be sure to tell Kailee she still owes me for pulling strings to get her girl into that Vancouver University, the UBC." Sun Kwan waved his hand in a friendly way and went off.

"So what do you think about him?" Pagan immediately asked Ajay.

"What I think?" Pagan nodded.

"Either that was a very dodgey conversation with no real meaning or Sun Kwan is by far the best actor I've ever seen here." Hearing this, Pagan let out a very satisfying grin.

It was even better than Raghu who lost his cool when things almost turned sour for his relation with the Sun Family. But for the public image sake Sun Kwan openly announced his continued good relations to House Hamal. He had probably gone to console his idiot son under the pretext of meeting up with family members.

-Like two peas in a pod.-

There was an undeniable similarity between the two families. Cunning Heads, Raghu and Sun Kwan. Conceit and spoilt brats like Sugun and Han Feng. Birds of a feather, they inevitably stick to the same kind of crowd.

"What gave it away?"

"His eyes, perhaps all of their eyes. Is flattery a common aspect in Chinese culture?" Pagan chuckled as it was quite true.

"If you lived in Hong Kong, you would be amazed at the levels of complexity in status, formalities and playing of cards is like. The Kyratis are too honest and naïve to function in the same kind of world as us."

"….." It was that same earnesty that led to the twenty year long civil war. And why thousands died very battle. It was how a overly trusting last bloodline member of the Devi Dynasty go stabbed in the back by Pagan after his function was served.

But this did explain why Pagan had a common habit of expressive showmanship and high-handed means, like a peacock. It was to prove a point to his fellow Hong Kongers to stay in line, the moment he didn't show anything it was taken as signs of weakness. And they would rise up and take advantage of the time and overthrow him. But so far that hadn't happened yet, it was all about the timing. The Civil war had entered a peak era when Ajay showed up. But now that it seemed like the embers were dying with the apparent major victory over the Golden Path. They were taking this opportunity while government forces were licking their wounds from the prolonged fights. While their possible 'revolution army' was at top strength and ready to act… well, almost. Perhaps after they practive their craft with the 1st battalion.

"This should be fun." Ajay answered after a long pause.

"That's the spirit! Meet up to the challenge and take the glory from them by beating them at their own game!" Pagan happily patted Ajay on his back.

In the end, it was all about feats of glory. The more complicated and dire the odds, the more its legend would pass around and become history. So Ajay would let them fatten up till they were ready for slaughter. Unfortunately, there was still an annoying variable that he might not be able to fully handle. And that was the Golden Path, though silent recovering from their losses. One would think that from significant losses like that their faith in Mohan's ability would crumble and there would be strands of mutiny to preserve as many lives as possible through a truce.

"I'll leave them in your capable hands, it should be good reference for what you might have to go through in future when you support Kyrat on your shoulders."

"…"

"Now…. I will be busier than I ever was with the household getting bigger. You were right, Ajay. It was always about Karma." He said smiling before leaving Ajay to himself.

Ajay noticed that his mood had changed dramatically since the battle of Lanka. Almost as if he was finally out of his twenty-year long rehab and back as Pagavel. The man that played the national authorities of Hong Kong against the triads while he sat on a balcony drinking chardonnay with Yuma.

And what was this about his household getting bigger? Did he decide he wanted to adopt someone? Bhadra or Maya. He'll probably indulge everyone at the climax of his party.

Ajay arrived before Maya and the Hamal siblings. Noticing his arrival Jeevan got on his knees in front of him.

"I'm sorry, teacher. For everything I did, I forced your hand-."

"Don't, Jeevan. My promise to be your teacher wasn't to your father or to your family, but you alone. Your welfare is my first and only priority, but if you commit a mistake I'll punish you harder than others."

"Then punish me!" He said whilst on his knees in front of Ajay.

"For what?"

"When I came with between the choice of maintaining your dignity and family, I chose to forsake yo-." (Slap) Ajay threw the back of his hand across his face.

"I was glad you did that, I really was.- But for you to doubt your own actions right now!-….." Ajay grit his teeth hard. He tightened his hand as if wanting to hit him again. But the hand never came.

"Do you remember what was the reason I picked you up?" Ajay's words were soft as if his anger previously wasn't even present.

"… So that I could make a choice…. For myself." Jeevan picked himself up as he recalled their first meeting as apprentice and master.

"That wasn't the only reason." Ajay chose to tell him.

"I chose to guide you, because you represented something that even I could never achieve, Jeevan. It's a quality that's been lost to Kyrat for far too long. There is naivety, there's foolishness, and then there's bravery. The difference the last has with the others is the ability to know from here…." Ajay pointed to his forehead. "And here." Moving down to where his heart was.

"And I have hope that you would represent the future of what a person can be if he solely believes in himself to do good. I'm not training you to be me, Jeevan. Kyrat has enough demons, fanatics and bandits as it is. I want to make a world with a few good men." It was not just Jeevan that felt empowered by Ajay's words, the same could be said for both Maya and Kanaan that stood their with widened eyes.

"Kyrat deserves better. And today, you've proven to me that my hunch was right."

* * *

There was much merry making, dancing and music. Ajay skipped out many of these events to have a good meal with the group. He also got the chance to have a seat with Samuel who joined them at the table to sit. While Samuel in retrospect represented the Canton factions in all their shrouded interests. Ajay had this weird feeling about him, like he'd seen something familiar before. His mannerisms and movement of simply walking seemed very motorised like every step was carefully judged before taking.

Samuel was hiding something. And perhaps, it was also from his own family members.

Samuel shared his story of how him and Bipin met in the Royal Academy. They were unfortunately blacksheeps in their respective areas. But they had better grades and evaluations than most of their peers, which was why he could take the route of officer training. Sadly, Bipin's dubious lineage cost him his chance. And the instructors weren't going to fight his case with the evaluators even if he was exceptional. Perhaps he could make it to Sergeant Major of the Royal Guard, there he could truly make a difference for the Guards. Of course, with his proposal and support from Arjun and a vice-lord, he was granted a commission. His intended goal was to become the Chief of Armor at Brigadier rank. But that would be in a few decades time.

"Quite the story, and where will you aim to go then if I may be so bold?" Ajay asked Samuel before taking a bit out of the crab Rangoon that he picked on his plate from the buffet line.

"Where I hope to go…. I've not really thought much about that. Truth be told."

"Huh? Wasn't it to- murrh!" Samuel covered Bipin's mouth to muffle the last words.

"So why did you join the guards?"

"It was to get out of that stifling atmosphere that my family was in and I was subject to that for too long. The Guards was my way out and a way to be independent."

"Mmm…."

"So what about yourself, your grace. What was the inspiration behind the mask?"

"What do you think?"

"Terrifying, yet may of the younger generation canton members still don't believe the stories that come from the broadcasts. They still think it's a propaganda machine effort you invested heavily in."

"Perhaps if they got out more that wouldn't have been a problem." Samuel chuckled as what he said was kind of true. Even those in the army, guard and police force were all in the rear echelon troops or away from frontline duty guarding some installation that barely needed that many guards to watch over.

"What was the reason….." Ajay thought a bit about it as it was nearly lost to him of all people.

"The mask…. Was an expression of my hatred for Mohan's legacy." Both the Kadayat siblings' expressions darkened, did he mean the Golden Path….. or himself?

"What could you possibly hate the Golden Path for?" Samuel seemed to have the idea it was the former since he was unaware of Ajay's identity.

"Do you know the difference between Nationalism and Patriotism?"

"Um-…." Samuel was unsure of how to answer, weren't they both the same? It was a question that ran through everyone's minds.

"I believe Charles de Gaulle, the French statesman had once said something like it. "Patriotism comes out of prioritizing the happiness of the people. Nationalism comes out of prioritizing the happiness of your people."."

"…." Samuel became a bit stiff with his actions.

"I'm not going to ask which are you, so relax. But you might be able to already picture the Golden Path as which. They sure as hell do not see the northern kin as their own and especially the Canton minority." Samuel looked to Ajay in wonder. Did he just call the Canton's part of Kyrat?

"A rule by Theocracy. When god looks down on all that stand under his charge. Could you imagine what kind of place Kyrat would be? "I go to war, because my supreme lord tells me to." Or "It shall be done, God wills it!"."

"That sounds like a paradise to some and a hell for others." Samuel gave a neutral view.

"It's all a matter of perspective. Like how Golden Path saw it fit to herald me as the demon of the north. Hoping it would rouse some sort of holy crusade against me." Ajay snorted at that naivety.

"Well, I think I've had enough to sustain me for the rest of the evening. Thank you for gracing me with this chance to get to know your grace better."

"We'll meet again the next time when 2nd Battalion gets called to the field. It won't be long so get ready, Bipin will help you along the way so use him."

"I'll utilize him to the fullest, your grace. Have a good-(crash)." As Samuel stood up, a waiter had not noticed him and passed closeby and Samuel knocked his shoulder against the platter. He fell back down upon Ajay's lap.

"I- I'm terribly sorry, sir!" The waiter declared as he reached out to help him up.

"No no- that's ok. Ow."

"Here, let me-." Ajay was in the midst of raising him up and as Samuel's head passed him, he caught whiff of something. Which caused a delay in his actions for a split second before he proceeded to help him.

Samuel said his farewells and apology for landing on Ajay. But he was alright with it, accidents happened all the time, but he was glad it happened this time.

Bipin followed after his superior, Ajay was wondering why he was always so close to Samuel, if that was even his real name. Perhaps, he genuinely didn't know like the rest.

"What was that all about?" Maya asked as she could see a change in his eyes.

"Nothing. Just a surprising discovery just landed itself in front of me."

* * *

The courtyards which had previously been filled with some of the guests watching the fist fight between the apprentice of Badala and a professional boxer was now filled with every of the guests. Young and old. Because it was the favorite part of the birthday party for Pagan. It was present unwrapping time.

It was not just a big thing in being generous to the earn the king's favour but how it compared with other gifts from the others. It symbolized the amount which the person had the liberty to spend, a statement of his/her current wealth and influence. This event with dual meanings also established the perceived power arrangement of factions. Mainly among the Kyrati nobles and of theCanton Families. The Kyratis had high hopes due to a rumor the Canton Families had spent a considerable amount, almost emptying their wallets into funding an armored battalion with state of the art equipment.

Ajay had no doubt, they had more money where that came from and they could very well have maintained the upkeep of the army on their own for twenty years. But they weren't required to by the King who was the sole provider for the army's budget.

Already, the many subjects had presented their gifts to him. Now it was onto the main part, the canton families and the Main Kyrati houses.

One of the Canton Lords passed him one of the most iconic pieces a self-proclaimed dictator needed since Saddam made it trendy.

"What I always wanted!" Pagan wielded the gold-plated AKMS rifle and took aim through it a few times while striking a pose, earning him a round of applause from his loyal subjects. It made the boxes of rare Chinese tonics given by the previous Lord look less appealing for some reason.

Another weird and fascinating gift was a burnt-out piece of a tail fuselage encased in a glass box, said to have been from the 'stealth helicopter' during the CIA operation Neptune Spear sourced from the black market. Another was a rare Cuban cigar no longer manufacture which Pagan helped himself to one immediately.

By far, the most impressive in Ajay's opinion was what Sun Kwan drove into the courtyard.

"Aston Martin DB4, 1962. Heard from someone you were missing that one and my buyers happen to find one sitting in a garage of an old retiring gentlemen in Edinburgh."

Said car was in mint condition, as if it had just come out of the Aston Martin assembly line. Ajay was quite fascinated with the car and he didn't hide that when he took a look with glittering eyes.

"Does it intrigue you, your grace?" Sun Kwan called out to Ajay for everyone to hear.

"I've always had a thing for beautifully crafted works of art. It is as you said, a rare unicorn that not many get the privilege of seeing." Ajay said with an honest smile. He knew what Sun Kwan was planning when he called Ajay out. It was to humiliate him with his poor upbringing and lifestyle that only changed with his promotion to Marquis then Duke. That was common knowledge among many of the nobles, that Ajay was of common background before Pagan picked him up.

"Well, I hope that you do have more opportunities to see many things that can be afforded with your modest wealth." He said as if their was no ill intentions.

"Thanks, but I'd rather spend it on meaningful things." He replied. Ajay caught sight of Sun Kwan's eye twitch ever so slightly that no one else noticed.

"Speaking of gifts, everyone else has given there's. Since your grace has yet to show his, it must be a really 'best for last' no doubt."

-Knew it.-

It was as Ajay guessed, they wanted to have a dick measuring competition with their expenditure on the King's birthday. Sadly, he was about to disappoint them. It almost relieved him slightly of the guilt in spending for Pagan's birthday gift from him. Millions of dollars now belonged to that Italian company now, he had to waste so much and it wasn't even for him. But he had no choice, it was supposed to cover up for one of the most pressing issues within the Army and thank god he had the wallet full of unused cash in surplus to buy it.

"It's nothing as fancy as you said, Lord Kwan." Ajay waved his hands in denial while still wearing his smile. He heard light snickering amongst the crowd from behind the group of Canton families.

"Might I ask what is it?" Sun Kwan pressed on.

"Oh, just something to make the King's life a little safer and more enjoyable. I got him a new taxi." It was at this moment that some of the nobles couldn't control their laughter and burst out despite their rudeness. But if everyone else was doing it then they were not guilty. But Ajay didn't mind the rudeness and laughed together with them, not showing any signs of humiliation. And it ticked off Han Feng who was seated in the back.

"Hang on, I don't have a-."

"Your Highness, with your permission. May I bring out your present for this year?" Ajay asked as he stepped forward with a bow.

At first Pagan was a little sceptical as to whether to allow this to go on, they were trying to bully his boy in front of him. But seeing the confidence in Ajay, he figured he had something planned up.

"Very well, please do."

"Fantastic! Now I'd like the group over there to move back as it won't fit this humble courtyard." Ajay waved to where the Canton Families were seated. Some looked up in disbelief, while others were infuriated within by what Ajay had just told them, was to move aside.

"How about asking someone else to move?" One of the canton family members declared loudly in retaliation.

"That's not going to happen, you see I organised with Kamran to deliver it exactly where you ladies and gentlemen are standing and seated at. It's night now, and he won't be able to see anything but the flare."

"What flare?" (Pop)

Ajay immediately lit up a flare and threw it in their direction. It landed at the centre of their group.

"Right there. It needs flat ground, thank you for your tolerance and patience my good sirs and madams!"

Pagan sniggered inwardly. For every insult, Ajay handed it back with interest. Many of the canton members glared at him with daggers, including Sun Kwan, who's face had now degraded into an ugly expression.

"I'm gonna ask my friends and family to step back for your own safety, trust my boy. He knows what he is doing." Now it was different when it was a command from Pagan. Allowing them to restore even the slightest bit of dignity. But to the Kyratis, it was a turning point in the power balance within the court. Ajay had made the ever unreasonable and unyielding canton families step back.

Ajay ignored their further displaces of defiance and reluctance. At this point, they would more or that thing would flatten them. He pulled out a radio from his pocket.

"Party clown to falcon. Do you read? Over."

*Party clown this is falcon. I read you loud and clear. Over.* Kamran replies over the humming and beat of his helicopter.

"Party clown to falcon. Time to return to the nest. Over."

*Party clown, Ten-four. Over.*

Ajay was as humourous as ever, with his silly callsigns that entertained the crowd when he said it.

Soon, the sound of heavy chopping of blades could be heard from the distance. Pagan, who was used to hearing Kamran fly in to pick him found something off about the usual beat of the rotors. It was less prominent and more like droning. The flashing strobes of the helicopter was seen by everyone.

Because of the night, only the lights were there to tell them it was there, that and the sound. The helicopter finally appeared over their heads directly below where the canton families used to sit. Ajay had been true to his word that it would land there, but the fact remained that he pushed their hands.

The light that lit the courtyard presented the helicopters silhouette for all to see as the helicopter landed perfectly and began to wind down the rotors and shut the power off.

It was here that Pagan stood up walking towards the helicopter with surprise, but pleasant surprise.

The present was what was on everybodies minds, but none of them knew what it was till Ajay told them. Except for Pagan.

"Unbelievable…." Was the only words that came out of Pagan's mouth. He was too shocked that Ajay of all people had spent this kind of money on something as trivial as his birthday. Someone so practical and cost-conscious he never expected him to do this for him.

It wasn't on the helicopter, and neither was it in the helicopter.

It was the helicopter.

* * *

But it wasn't like the usual sikorsky Blackhawk he frequented Kyrat in under which was virtually identical to the rest of the combat S-70 blackhawks in their small fleet.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you…. The NH90 Tactical Transport Helicopter. And it's sole pilot, Flight Lieutenant Kamran Aidi." Ajay announced. A wide applause intentionally came from the kyratis, initialled by Jeevan and Maya whom were among the group.

"Now, there's no point in showing it to you. So let's take you in it for a test ride shall we?"

"Let's!" Pagan contently stepped on board the helicopter without help.

"I'd also like to invite a few who would be willing to have a joy ride with the King this one time only. I'll allow for eight, so are their any volunteers?"

The crowd burst into a frenzy, to sit with the King. A rare opportunity for him to notice them. There were shouts and calls for Ajay to pick them. Sun Kwan had lost the mood and was about to turn in when-.

"Lord Kwan, where are you going? You obviously get first priority, the King awaits you in his new ride!" Ajay called out to Sun Kwan. Hearing this, he crunched his knuckles hard but turned around with a smile and said.

"But of course, if your grace would let me."

"Your son can come along too, it'll be a wonderful change from sitting in the confines of armored vehicles all day."

"I thank you for your graces, kindness and consideration. We'll take you up on that offer." Though reluctant, Sun Kwan motioned for his son, Han Feng to follow him onto the helicopter.

Five minutes later, Ajay, Pagan, Sun Kwan and his son, Arjun and five lucky others were seated in the highly spacious compartment that was technically for twenty in its original configuration. They were afforded leather seats that ran the length of the walls on both sides. It was tailored for Pagan's comfort in long flights after all. Ajay remained standing by the door with a harness slung to him and latched to the door.

They donned their microphones to hear one another when I flight.

"First of all, I'd like to welcome you all to Min express travels. Please remain seated at all times while the helicopter is in transit, buckle your safety beats at the optimal tightness and please refrain from smoking." Said acting Attendant Ajay.

"All good? Right, Kamran. Send her off."

"Aye aye. Commencing take off." Kamran powered the bird with relative ease.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I'm your gracious host Badala. Today, I will be giving you and exclusive preview of the latest in monarchy escort vehicles from its long line of reliable legacy systems."

Kamran took off from the air without much movement than it would have been on the Blackhawk variant.

"What your sitting in is a variant of NATOs newest combat helicopters. Designation NH90, this one was built by AgustaWestland of Rome. Specific to requirements. Holds a maximum of twenty people on board as you can tell by the room we have left. But it's not the interior that makes this a fine replacement for the faithful Blackhawk helicopters of our beloved Royal Armed forces. But the performance. Oh hey, look at that." Ajay pointed out of the window to where a searchlight in the ground was pointing to them. A man was standing in the visibility of the spotlight with what appeared to be a rocket launcher in his possession.

"Uh- RPG! RPG!"Someone shouted. A puff of smoke from the rocket igniting was seen visibly by the passengers. The faces of Sun Kwan and Han Feng dropped considerably. Pagan was a little concerned but not that concerned. He knew Kamran was more than capable of handling something of that difficulty.

"Yeah, I saw it." Kamran called out coolly from the cockpit.

The chopper turned responsively and quickly to avoid the rocket that zipped harmlessly pass them.

"As you can see, something like this does not phase our pilot. Although he's had considerable training and is a talented individual when concerning helicopters. The glass cockpit reduces the load while Kamran often deals with in his flights. Especially when he often flies without a co-pilot. The responsiveness is owed to a fly-by-wire system that makes fluid transfer of controls to the aircrafts control surfaces." Ajay continued with the demonstration as if the RPG was nothing. Although they had arranged for someone to intentionally fire one at them when they passed a checkpoint in the demo flight.

"But often, there are different types of threats that may be of greated lethality than mere cheap RPGs. For example, say infrared and laser guided missiles like perhaps a stinger missile, the chopper has a variety of protective features in its defensive suites."

(Pi Pi Pi Pi) An alarm blinked a red colour that dominated the cabin area.

"What is that?" One of the passengers asked Ajay.

"Oh, that? That's the laser warning system, it detects and informs if someone is getting a missile lock on the chopper." Ajay said with equal calm as the first time.

"Wha- Yo- Your insan-.." Han Feng barely got the time to speak what was on everyone's minds as Kamran performed evasive manuevers with extra precision.

While the helicopter was twirling in the air Ajay proceeded on.

(Pop) A stream of flares burst out from the doors.

"That was the automatic Infrared chaff releasing. One of the countermeasures against heat-seeking missiles like the one following us right now." Everyone was on the edge of their seats, except for Pagan who was laughing wildly with joy.

An explosion from a distance was felt as the helicopter rumbled.

"That would be the missile getting confused at the last moment and detonating." Hearing him say that, they sighed in relief, but they didn't know for how long. Ajay had taken them prisoner on this rollercoaster of certain death.

"While there might not be instances where someone would fire a heatseeker at this chopper, mostly because of cost. So what's the next best threat to a helicopter? Large calibre heavy machine guns." The crowd turned pale. He had been doing this for the last few times already, would tracers start spitting out from below with intentions to down them?

"Unfortunately, Kamran is not going to fly so low as to let someone shoot at him. And at this speed he's going, 162 knots. They'll have trouble leading the aircraft while they have a window." Ajay was now placing them at the edge of their seats from what was once a comforting ride, was now a game of life and death at the whims of this duke. All the anger and enmity Sun Kwan and Han Feng felt for Ajay disappeared instantly. It could be seen clearly, he meant for them to come along. Sun Kwan's initial thoughts about returning to neutrality with the Duke of Lakshman were his utmost concern. This man was crazy, more so than Pagan. A maniac not held down by rules. If that was how he felt about Ajay, then his son was shivering with clattering teeth. They both equally hoped to be on the ground soon enough.

"Well, is not like anything below .50 caliber could get through the special lightweight composite armor sandwiched between the superstructure of the chopper and around the compartment. But then, why take the hits from those insects down below. I say, give them back some of their own medicine."

Ajay depressed his foot on a paddle, pulling out a mount which held a previously unnoticed 12.7x108mm three-barrel gatling gun.

"Courtesy of the Royal Armorer, his gift to his highness. Oh, it looks like we're arriving at the turkey shoot."

Immediately Pagan got out of his seat at the mention of that familiar word.

"If your highness would please take the gun."

"I'd be delighted!"

"Twenty seconds to blasting staging area, prepare for gun run." Kamran informed them.

"Right, let's see what you've set up for me." Pagan said eagerly behind the gun that Ajay had powered and spun for him.

Arjun, though tense at first because of the demonstration of the helicopters full potential was the most danger ridden ride he'd ever participated in. He sighed as he gave a look to Ajay but nodded in appreciation.

And why was this so?

The Army was facing a jeopardy in their logistics. One that affected their ability to respond to QRF instances. Because the supplies for the S-70 blackhawks were completely dry, they were no longer serviceable. And procurement for new parts was no longer possible because of their estranged position with the nation that the factory was located. The US.

Currently, the reduced fleet of Blackhawks were cannibalising on some of the other less operationally ready airframes. It was onto heli shopping from there, from a previous deal in Singapore, they procured some aged AS332 super pumas from the Singapore Air force's puma fleet to supplement. Thanks to their connections with Tel Aviv. While there were a few other secondhand military helicopters that were under procurement to supplement the blackhawks. It remained that Pagan's chopper too was in dire need to replace parts from its extended use.

So the purchase of this hell of an expensive helicopter was to cover up this fact for Arjun and High Command. Even though it was Ajay who paid for it, he knew Pagan's mood best. And having him downgrade from his usual ride in performance and aesthetics was something inacceptable. On the bright side, he made Pagan extremely happy with the present he gave so Ajay complained less about the gap in the rubies and diamonds he'd hoarded from his monthly adventures into the caves and mountains, Kyrat was a treasure trove to the daring. He needed Pagan's continued support of the army and of the S-program if they was to crush Golden Path and enforce Kyrats place as a dominant power over the Himalayas.

They reached the shooting area, where similar spotlights were set up with visible figures painted in red.

"Red, are they friendly?" Ajay teased.

"That's easy, I'll just fire a warning shot." His expression contradicated his words as Pagan grinned deviously at the helpless Red targets and spun the barrels.

(Brrrrrrrrr) The minigun fired a salvo of Armored piercing incendiary the destroyed the target.

Ajay pointed out where all the targets were as Kamran zipped by at fast manuever speed. Pagan gunned them down was skill as a potential heli door gunner.

"Happy birthday, pagan." Ajay murmured softly that no one heard.

His face could not hide the excitement and joy he felt that very moment. While expensive for someone like Ajay, it had a primary purpose. Which was to serve as an improved transportation for Pagan in protection, comfort, speed and enjoyment despite its more practical reasons. Rarely did he receive gifts that came from the heart.

Every time he depressed the trigger and let fly a salvo of lead, his grin grew wider. Pagan shouted his true thoughts without care or responsibility. Because it was what came from the heart.

"This is the best birthday present, EVER!"

* * *

Author's notes:

I have no idea how many blackhawks the Royal Guard had in inventory in FC4. But judging from the frequent use in the loud assaults on the fortresses and that one attack on Banapur and a few other places. I'd say it was at least under a seventy.

Finished at late night, will wake up and correct any grammar in the morning. Night. (Edited)


	75. Chapter 71 - Life at Lanka

Author's Notes:

I probably owe you guys a special chapter. It's late so i'll do it tomorrow.

* * *

Life at Lanka was bustling, more than ever. The fourth bastion had been completely along with its respective facilities, it was at time of celebration for the engineers and work crew for another milestone in their construction to meet date line. It had been nearly two weeks since the national holiday which was Pagan's birthday, where he announced on radio how he had enjoyed the time of his life.

He also announced the arrival of an expectied prince or princess of Kyrat. Frankly, Ajay was surprised that it was even possible with their advanced ages. But he guessed it was just how it was, to be honest he was glad this happened. It meant that the Min Dynasty would endure and he would no longer need to take up the throne when Pagan had long passed, by giving it to his child. No one would object, not even the blood relatives among the canton families could.

As for the Canton Families, specifically Sun Kwan. His little joy ride scared him stiff, there were instances that he'd been at death's door before. But in a helicopter, he was completely helpless. Sun Kwan knew with his intelligence that Ajay had intentionally invited him, to warn him never to cross him if the situation was ever convenient to do so. Because cornered rats bite the hardest, and Ajay was prepared to ruin him if he joined the Canton Families in whatever mischief they were planning.

On other news, Pagan was regularly enjoying flights in his new customized helicopter Ajay dubbed the "Pagancopter" informally. Ajay didn't meet with Noore who came with Ashley, he didn't want to deal with looking at Ashley's innocent eyes and lie to them. He just made a phone call to take to her from a distance. They were doing fine at her apartment space, she told him that the investigation reports from Pagan's private spy ring had returned. Unfortunately, nothing could be pulled on any immediate family members. Paul's real name was erased and he'd stuck with the alias since he was recruited by the intelligence agency. Laura Harmon was a designated partner for him by the same intelligence agency as a social life cover for his spy work until his service ended. She had no immediate family either. Ashley was truly without family, Noore chose to keep it from her so that she might still hope that they were out there.

It was the string of sins that Ajay and Noore were forced to carry for her sake.

After such a high profile event, it was on to training the PDF in the fortress. Even though, he really didn't want them to be here he had no choice in the matter. So all he could do was train them to be as good as the garrison soldiers if not better if time would permit. Although, morale and initiative would always be lacking in comparison to actual professional soldiers.

Ajay was busy teaching his group how to craft slings and harnesses to improve their carrying capacity and speeds of reload which was essential in a firefight.

"All done." Biraj showed Ajay excited by the fact he completed his faster than the rest.

Ajay inspected it and tugged at it harshly. Biraj began to get worried.

"Hang on- don't!- (Rip)"

"You sewed too few on the straps, if you carried full weight that stitch would only come undone in the midst of your fighting." Ajay said handing back the harness. Biraj glared at Ajay in unrestraint, but Ajay was more than familiar with how Biraj was. The kid was fond of Bhadra, seeing him as an obstacle in his love life. It was a misconception on his part as Bhadra's thoughts on Ajay were far from Biraj's imagination.

After another hour of sewing, Ajay came over to check it.

"Very good. Now, let's move on to advance weapons training." They were split into their electives based upon their posts. Some were on heavy weapons training, dealing with RPGs, heavy machine guns and crew served weapons like the mortar. Others were sharpshooters learning the basic behind sniping. But perhaps the most exotic job were the militia taught how to man the 40mm Bofors cannons by the stationed Air defense contingent under Artillery in the event they needed on-site substitutes because of manpower issues. Ajay took Biraj and five others that were supposed to be the company's platoon leaders to the armory where they practiced the use of the military radio transceivers.

"We operate on five standard channels, be sure to create a private channel for your groups intercommunication and not on the main broadcasting channel."

They spent some time fiddling around with the transceivers.

"So what else can we do besides relay info and give orders to our respective platoons, your grace?" One asked.

"You can always call me on channel 5-8 if there's a serious problem. But only Colonel and above are allowed to use that channel as per military orders from the Marshal. Although, its only he that calls me on that ever so often." Ajay joked.

"Can we really call you from that channel?"

"Please don't test it. Maybe if Lanka was in flames and all the soldiers were dead then I might come. If not, sit tight and listen to your C.O.."

"Then that's never going to happen." The same person said in a tone of disappointment.

Ajay looked to Biraj, who was struggling with the radio set in aligning the right channel to speak as they had learnt.

"Here."

"That's fine, I'll manage."

"Alright, hotshot. Do your best." Ajay chuckled as he let Biraj do his own thing.

"Permission to speak, sir." The Company 2IC, Nehal asked.

"Yes?"

"Your grace, why did you chose to come and teach us? I'm sure there are more important things to do for the duke." All of the recruits looked up with expectant faces.

"Everything and everyone that passes through Lanka is important. From the most elite troops to the logistic rear echelon troops. The design of the fortress might be impregnable on paper and proven once before. But….. in my line of work, nothing is impossible. And Lanka isn't perfect, even at full strength. If I give a even a little care to every detail, I wouldn't regret it when the time came when the fortress experienced dire straits."

"W-…. Would such a thing happen?" Nehal asked in shock.

"Not with the Golden Path in its current state. Mmmm….. perhaps if it were by an invading force with air superiority then Lanka would face jeopardy of falling." Ajay said with a bit of thought.

"But it's not like there's a foreign army waiting to cross through the natural barrier of the Himalayas just to attack this fortress. So rest easy."

Some sighed in relief.

"How's that transceiver going with you Biraj?"

"Shut up." He said with more thoughts on the radio. While Ajay could deal with Biraj's usual rudeness. It was a different thing for the rest who watched him ridicule the duke many times, and it was creating a friction between them.

"Your grace, we've made something for our group. And we were wondering if you could lend us your views on it." Nehal took out a piece of paper and handed it to him.

"What's this?" Ajay studied what was drawn on the paper within the boundaries of a circle.

A golden bird that looked like phoenix swooping down upon an upright sword.

"Looks unbelievably grand, I think many army units will have to redo their emblems after seeing that." Ajay gave his honest opinion. It was good, a little too good that it gave unexpectedly high expectations of the bearers of that emblem that would be Jatayu Company's sigil.

"Why did you pick this bird in the first place?" It was a question that bugged him a lot. The five of them turned to Biraj who was fiddling with the radio set.

"Biraj, did you draw this?" Ajay asked astonished.

"It's just a rough sketch that's all."

"No, Biraj. I think you actually have a knack for arts. Have you considered expanding, taking up an arts course at the vocation?"

"I can't afford it-."

"That's what scholarships are all about, kid. If you want I'll even write you a letter of recommendation to enter."

"I'm not interested….. not at the moment though….." He mumbled the last phrase softly.

"Is it to support Bibek and the kids?" Biraj's hands stopped fiddling with the dials.

"That's none of your concern."

"It's admirable, he's very lucky to have you watching over the younger ones. All the elder ones left him without much contact, Maya, Bipin, Vasu Sen."

Biraj didn't answer him.

"Yunno that scholarships do pay you to study, right? And there'll be an internship for you to take up a job immediately. Plus….. Bhadra will be there." A head spun towards him with eyes of anticipation.

"No jokes! Is that true?!"

"It is, Biraj. If you're asking about Bhadra, she's there everyday. Off at eight and home by three if there's no co-curricular activities."

A flicker of hesitation could be seen in his eyes.

"So? How about it? Would you like me to write that letter?"

"…. What do you want in return?" Ajay grinned, he was smarter than he often appeared. Perhaps love was what did that.

"Cooperate with me till your Company gets relieved of their station in Lanka. And I'll write both an exception letter to your PDF Human Resource and another to the principal of the same vocation school where Bhadra goes to for a recommendation into their scholarship program."

"Do I have your word?"

"Do I have yours?" Ajay answered back.

"…." Biraj nodded.

"A nod can mean anything, I want to hear it from your mouth."

"Ok- alright, please do it for me." He said frantically when Ajay showed signs of pulling out if he wasn't really interested.

"Good, then come over so I can teach you how to properly do it and quit wasting everyones' time." The rest snickered as Biraj meekly walked over and sat with them to learn on the transceivers.

"By the way, you only answered who painted it but not why you chose this creature as your emblem."

"Oh, that! Well, I wanted to have Biraj say it the same way he told us when he proposed it as our mascot." Nehal informed him.

"So, Biraj. Why Jatayu?"

Biraj's reaction wanted to trigger an immediate remark that it had nothing to do with him but he remembered his now standing agreement with Ajay and sighed.

"Though it died from challenging the Rakhasa King, despite it's condition it prioritized its relation to SIta, the King's daughter-in-law whom it considered its daughter as well. The Rakshasa may have shrew it, but it gave that mighty demon wounds to remember it by. In the same way, we might just be a PDF, we're just civilians taking up arms to form a militia. But we can still hurt you, and from your wounds you will remember us by." Ajay grinned, it seemed he was underestimating the eagerness and fortitude of the PDF.

"… For we are the 7th Company 'Jatayu'."

* * *

The activity in an undisclosed location near Chal Jama Monestary was the staging area for Golden Path and their newest allies from the East. The People's Democratic of Yinke had dispatched their premier army to assist Golden Path in dispatching justice upon their long-time adversaries in a bid for control of the country.

The Golden Path fighters were most amazed to see how an entire army slipped by the border guards vigilance. It was the same mountain pass which allowed Ved and Swara safe passage out of Kyrat for their journey to Yinke to preach the shining way ideology.

Shining Way differed from Golden Path in ideology through several ways. For one, the former was thoroughly a communist governed state, the latter was a socialist ideology with references towards theocracy involved.

Mohan, was the founding father, in every respect to the Golden Path and the Shining Way. And in this manner of perspective, they were brothers by faith.

The expeditionary force that came with the two reappearing Devas was an elite Alphine Regiment with several battalions worth of light infantry, artillery and curiously enough, tanks.

That passage wasn't known by the local geographic records, nor was it visible by satellite. But it was enough for a vehicle the size of their Type 69 main battle tanks to drive straight through without being mired. They currently had a single armored battalion they could afford for their offensive on Lanka. The feelings were different for the Golden Path. This time, they had serious firepower instead of masses. Professional soldiers instead of partisan fighters to aid them. What would the Royal Army think when they were attacked by soldiers of equal if not better qualities? Though Vasu said none, he was inwardly against the idea of foreigners fighting for their own problems. No matter if they had affiliation with Mohan or not, you could supply us but don't involve yourself directly in our affairs. Swara was more than glad to see him again and the subject slipped from his mind during their reacquaintance so conveniently.

"So we sneak into Lanka and open the gates for the rest to enter in the dead of the night, correct?" Sanjeev asked the Commander of the expeditionary force who had been trained in Beijing as part of an alliance overseas trip with China. Yinkes primary source of technology and hardware, their economy also depended heavily on trade with China's autonomous region, Tibet whom were a territory under Beijing's administration.

"We've already dispatched scouts and spies in disguise to recon as much of that fortress as we can, no emplacement in infallible." The commander of the expeditionary force gave his assessment.

"Soldier, who does your allegiances lie with?" Mohan asked the commander who replied without hesitation.

"To the party, but before the party comes the ideal 'shining way'. As the patriarch of said ideal, it naturally falls to you to command us." The commander said with determination.

"Excellent, thought we shall follow with your plan. My brothers shall provide you with the terrain info. I must take time to reflect." The Commander saluted Mohan and left the building, leaving just Mohan, Vasu and Sanjeev. At the same time the door was held open by the Yinke Commander, Willis followed with Lynch stepped inside. The Commander passed a glance with them and became suspicious of the existence of these foreigners.

"Whatever your planning, I have some words of caution." Willis said unrestraint.

"At this point, you don't have the ability to support our cause, let alone walk on your own." Sanjeev said to him.

"I'm being serious here, Badala has been planning something with the Royal Army since he arrived. And I tell you, it's big!" Seeing that look of worry in Willis of all people made Mohan a bit concerned himself.

"That fortress, Lanka was built with the intentions of enforcing Pacchim Valley and King's Bridge. It's not something we can ignore. With the element of surprise, we take the fortress and use it against them." Sanjeev explained.

"Its not the fortress you should be worrying about. Haven't you noticed it yet, well maybe not when all of you came later than me- but, haven't you noticed that Badala and the Royal Army have never once mounted a heavy offensive to remove our presence or even a sustained attack on Banapur?"

They all looked unconvinced.

"War always depletes supplies, resources and money. And it's clear they've been saving up to build something-…. Something in the North-West." Mohan turned to Lynch being the calmer of the two.

"What is he on about?" Lynch just chuckled.

"It's the first time he's seen satellite imagery from a laptop perhaps, but I can't blame him for that."

"Listen you, hot shit!-."

"Oh no. I don't think you're entitled to say that to me, after all you nicked my PMCs and sent them on a wild goose chase into the North."

"Tsk! You're really a piece of work you know that! How many times do I have to tell you, we haven't even seen all of Badala's playing cards!"

But none of the people in the room took him seriously. Was the arrival of an actual army aiding them getting to their heads.

"I'd like to vouch for Willis this one time." Of all the people who said it, Willis preferred if Lynch never stepped forward.

"You fellas want to take the fortress and Willis wants to caution you on taking the fortress due to an unforeseeable threat that supposedly looms over the mountains. So all you guys need to do is secure the fortress quickly and move in of the North. Whatever happens, you still have the fortress to retreat back to."

"For once I'd like to stand with the American on this one." Sanjeev said in his calm.

"Why thank you, buddy." Lynch patted him on the back in a friendly way.

"And to show my utmost support, I'll throw in a bit of air cover for you." Lynch said in a light manner.

"Are you insane? Didn't Crow tell you they had air defense?!"

"Jeez Willis, you don't always have to be such a worrywart. You'll take care of those batteries in the fortress won't you?" Lynch asked Sanjeev who grinned maliciously.

"Consider it our top priority."

Willis had the impression he was standing amongst fools led blindly by another hyped-up fool. He noticed Vasu staring at the group silently, something had changed about him since he last saw him. But he didn't know what it was, those eyes turned to him. And it felt like the man was gazing into his soul, but that wasn't all.

Willis had the feeling he was a deer to a tiger that he was. And that tiger was hungry.

* * *

Another day at the fortress Lanka, it seemed as if he was spending more time at the fortress than home like the others. Though, Saras and Maya were equally busy at their quarters. Having a taste of Bhadra's mutton stew was a feeling to look forward to.

Ajay proof-read his letters to the vocation school and to the PDF admin on Biraj's behalf. He preferred to do things while he still had the chance to do them. When he was satisfied, he placed them in their respective envelopes he'd previously stamped and written the addresses to the respective individuals.

"Be careful with that! You wanna file a report on why those pieces fail because you damaged their electronics?!" The cranky armorer for Lanka shouted at the PDF helping him move the crates around with a forklift within the confines of the Central Armory.

"…" It was the third time the armorer shouted at them.

He was upset because instead of the usual supply troopers it was these stand-in PDF who didn't know where what went where.

Ajay stowed the letters in his jacket and helped out with the moving of boxes. Though, the armorer remained in his foul mood, Ajay figured he was always that way but didn't mind it. If he took stock of all the items in the armory with such scrutiny, then Samar was right for posting him here to do this job.

Most of these crates contained ammunition cans fresh from the arsenal in Lanka. Although, it wasn't always ammunition. Sometimes it was small-arms, heavy munitions, spare-parts to crew served weapons. This time, it was the thermal imagers and reflex sights shipped over from Arsenal One in Lakshman, he understood why the armorer was shouting at them to be careful now. You break it you bought it, they weren't cheap.

After his assistance, he headed back to the villa where he hoped that the servants would prepare a meal for him. He took the market route to save time. Every time he passed through, there was always something new, a new store selling a new variety of products. The Kyratis were industrious when they weren't controlled by heavy taxes or legislations preventing cramping down of the sale limits of certain products. If they kept that up for another ten years while including the end of the civil war soon, Kyrat might leave its status as a third-world paradise lost into an actual developed country. That was looking at the situation in a positive light which wasn't impossible.

Ajay next improvement to the fortress was looking to provide residential areas in Lanka for the migrants and for the families of the soldiers which had yet to become a reality. The refugee town Hubris might be improving with the careful protection and assistance from Amita but it was still facing a situation of overcrowding from the displacement of people after the Battle of Lanka when villagers fled the ravenous contingent attempting to capture baghadur and Hubris. Had the Hussars, Dragoons and Unit 58 not been there, there would have been more death.

Passing through the market place actually reminded him to get something for Bhadra. While by some grace, Saras had told her the story of Kanaan and Jeevan, she sort of sympathised with him for having a similar caged lifestyle. Now her irritation lay solely with Ajay for his lack of communication with her. He'd managed to solve that with a group chat through their smartphones, he got one for her. Unfortunately, she wasn't answering his queries. Intentionally getting him to grovel before her in forgiveness. It was a trait that Ajay understood from her too late, if she was happy, she would lavish you with scrumptious treats every meal and break. If you fell out of her grace, you might as well shiv yourself because to go cold turkey on her meals was utter agony. How did Amita feel then?

"Welcome! Ah- your grace! See anything you fancy?" The stall vendor attended to him as he browsed his wares.

"Hi, just having a look." The wares wear handcrafted embroidery, scarfs and other miscellaneous items both first and second hand. A handcrafted figurine of a badger looked nice. His eyes inevitably wandered to an entire row of dolls. But those particular dolls looked kind of familiar.

"What's that?"

"Ohh. This your grace, is a best seller item among children and lovestruck young women from all around."

"….." Ajay picked up the doll, he was a little reluctant to give this as a gift to her, less he return to find pins and needles in it.

"Who makes these?" A question that rung in his head.

"Ah- that! They're made at the linen factory just west of Utkarsh town. I believe the original patenter was an officer in the Royal Army, he went by the name Anish." Ajay sighed, it matched his description all too well. While he was enterprising, he often took a lot of shortcuts to getting rich. No wonder he could afford to go and gamble in Singapore with Luca and the other two boys.

"Your grace?"

"It's nothing, I just had a pleasant discovery regarding the patenter owing me royalties for using my likeness without pay or compensation." He said with a grin.

"Uh- ok…."

"Anything good for seeking forgiveness from a charge for leaving her home alone?"

"But of course! And don't you worry your grace, just offer this up to her and you'll win your redemption! Now where did i…" The stall vendor began to search through the cabinets looking for perhaps an expensive item that Ajay would be obliged to purchase.

Ajay waited for him while looking at the other wares, he did not expect anything else but then his eyes fell upon it and a stream of memories rushed back.

A bamboo flute lay propped up on the table with other random items among the 2nd hand items on display. His hands naturally reached out for it and he inspected the flutes condition. It was solid but full of dust that was all. He wiped the dust off and blew through the flute sending a puff of dust out the other end. It was genuinely thrown aside.

The memory that triggered this was a song which his mother played to him during his childhood and more often than he recalled. Everytime she played it, she cried.

"How did it go?" At one point, he did pick up the flute out of fascination and tried playing some of the songs from the 1970s greatest Bollywood hits that he bought from a local store one time. When he asked the indian records seller what song his mother sang by reciting it to him, the man shrugged his shoulders. It was a local Kyrati song perhaps, or it was a folk song that only his mother knew. Ajay hadn't been here long enough to know all the local folk songs.

"Finally found it! It was worth th-."

"Manager, how much is this flute?"

"Oh you mean the Venu…. That's just a piece of ju- I mean, it's a very valuable item that was passed down from generation to generation of great Venu players." Ajay looked at him with a deadpan expression when he changed his sentence midway to something that suited his convenience.

"Alright, you got me! Twenty hundred and its yours."

"Did you just try to con me a while ago?" Ajay asked inquisitively.

"O-…on second thought, how bout it put it together with your other purchase as a free gift! On the house!" The manager said sweating. But sighed in relief as Ajay nodded. In the end, he got the item that was for Bhadra, which turned out to be a porcelain figurine of a dancing woman. But made so elegant it was quite pleasing to the eye. And for the price of the piece, it was quite alright. But on a brighter note, he got what he wanted for free as well.

He went home to retire, the butler Puru relieved him of the porcelain figure and promised to treat it with care as if a newborn. The caretaker of the house, Daya was busy at work in the kitchen brewing up their evening supper. They'd broken formalities long ago and joined Ajay in his meals at the table of their master. He did enjoy company after all.

Meanwhile, he'd have time to himself before they finished. Ajay proceeded up to the back of his villa to fetch a rag and pail of water which he used to carefully clean the bamboo flute. And that was when he noticed something interesting about the flute. While not very noticeable, after wiping away the grime and dust, the bamboo was found to have rather intricate designs upon it. Symbols and carvings of all the animals that staked the forests of Kyrat could be found on it. It had apparently been a travelling companion to someone, perhaps a woodsman or a travelling tradesman.

The flute was lending itself to have many hidden surprises. When he was just about done, he blew through the end and it produced a very clear sound for a mere bamboo flute. Ajay wondered if the owner of the stall had misjudged the actual value this instrument could hold. He played a few notes of that folk song that ran through his head but didn't know the name to. It went on for a few minutes as he struggled to recall and play by the stairs with no sign of improving.

"(In the mountains…. Highhhh-above,…the snow encases my sorrow….)" Someone sung with a melodious voice. Ajay wanted to stop but as that person sung it he suddenly recalled the rhythm and continued on with playing just for memory sake.

"(…. I look… overrr the horizon-…. The dusk withers the embers of my journey…)" The woman continued to sing with the heart. He looked up from his seated position to see a gorgeous young woman singing as she walked closer as he was about to reach the end of the song.

"(….. the mountainnns….. where I belong….)" She ended the chorus with an amazing pitch. It was in Hindi but he remembered what it meant, when his mother translated it for him.

"Say…. Where did you hear that song?" She asked in a bright tone even before he had the chance to inquire himself about it.

"M- my mom used to sing it to me once as a kid, I don't know the name to it though." Her brightened face suddenly saddened.

"I see, oh well. At least they won't say I made that song up."

"Um-… Where did you hear of it from?" Ajay asked as it might have some leads to its origin.

"Mmmm… I don't know. For as long as I can remember, it's been in my head all this time." She said scratching her head.

"Where are my manners, I'm-….. Soren." He used his convenience alias.

"You're lying." Ajay had a shock from what she just said, even if it was true.

"Ops! I'm sorry, I do that unconsciously some times! Hehe! I'm sure you have a good reason to hide it." She raised out her hand.

"So I'll do the same then, you can call me…..hmmm….." Ajay was getting positive rays emiting from her very body, like she's been living in a bright and sunny world kind of feeling from her. It was slightly discomforting to him who lived in an exact opposite nearly his entire life.

"Ashna (Friend)." She gave him a warm smile free of charge. For most men, it would have melted their hearts from that kind of sweetness she had, but not someone as grim as Ajay.

"Alright, Ashna then. Mind answering me how did you get in here?"

"Here?" She said as baffled as one could be.

"This is a restricted area where only few are allowed in. This is Duke Badala's villa." It wasn't just passing the walls to get into his villa courtyard, it was also her presence in the central keep which made him a little nervous that a civilian madeit all the way in here without guards stopping her.

"Oh?... So that demon lives here?" She said in an excited way, contrary to what most visitors whom had only known his reign of terror on some of their family members in the Golden Path. But if they were like the townsfolk who knew what he was like then that was different.

"You-…. Do you know your way around Lanka at all?"

"Is that what its called?"

-What's with this tourist? Did she come down from the mountaintops away from civilization?- It wasn't uncommon for people to live away from populated centres.

"Look, let me put away my stuff and I'll esc-."

"So why do you get to stay here if it's restricted?" She said with puffed cheeks.

"I'm… a steward to Badala himself. Taking care of the household."

"You're lying again." She said with a frown.

-Shit! I forgot! She had that weird talent of as a lie detector!-

"Ok, I'm not. But I do have permission to be here." It wasn't a lie.

And Ashna could see that through staring at his eyes. What was with this girl? Ajay felt she was either incredible for decerning truth from lie or very terrifying.

"Mmmm… so I really am restricted from being here, is it?" Ajay nodded.

"Could you just lie for me then?" She said with her hands clasped.

"What's so important for you to be here?" When Ajay possed that question, she pondered again, ever so cutely in her actions. He guessed she was about his age, maybe younger, and….. there was something about her that… almost re-.

"Master said to have a look around along with her new disciple. She said I could go and have a look around in this place. But to think its name is Lanka…. It's just like that tale she read to me!"

Ajay scratched his head, a possible hillibilly who's master was potentially a mountain hermit asked her to have a look around to explore. While he was inclined to send her on her way, she did do something for him without realizing. That was help him recall the full notes of the song his mother sung as a lullaby as far back as a baby.

"Look, I am grateful to you for helping me in reiterating that song for me. How about I take you around the place as thanks?"

"Really, you'd do that?!" She said with amazement.

Ajay looked at his watch, Daya wouldn't be ready until seven while was an hour-an-a-half away from being brewed up.

"I've got time." He responded with a smile. Her hands clasped around his so quick he barely caught sight of it.

"Thank you! Thank you! T-….To tell you the truth, I actually got lost. I was trying to lose my scent from that nuisance who kept harassing me at every opportunity. Telling me to be safe and what if the mistress heard you were hurt and yada yada….." She shook her head side to side.

"Must've been rough, come on. I'll show you a nice place to have great snacks."

"OK! I'm starving actually." He genuinely heard her stomach growling.

"Pfftt!-." Ajay laughed a bit at the expense of her dignity. Her smile quickly turned to frowning.

"Oh- don't worry. There'll be snacks there on me just for today." Her frown turned upside down again.

"Well come on! What are you waiting for?" She was already at the gate.

Ajay shrugged his shoulders and led the way to the teahouse.

* * *

There was nothing that could bore Ashna when they found a place at the teahouse, she was visibly staring and absorbing the sights and sounds of the bustling activity of the busy teahouse. Since he was having dinner soon, he settled for just Chai to wet his appetite for later. He also ordered some custard pastries for her to have. An in-house specialty of the teahouse that was their selling point to regular customers and everyday patrons. She nibbled sparingly at the pastries that were given to her with such grace he thought he was sitting next to a noble, even if he was also one. She had pretty strong dining etiquette being taught to her.

"Are you going to eat that?" She pointed to the third pastry one the plate, it seemed she rather enjoyed it.

"They're all for you. Enjoy it."

"You're a really nice guy, did anybody ever tell you that?"

"No."

"Well they should!" She said with a frown as she could believe that someone as nice as him didn't get commended for it.

"I don't need someone to congratulate me or praise me just so I can do the things I do. I do it because I want to."

"MmmHmmff… whaii twotawllly gwet twit." She said with her mouth full, completely ruining the image of a well-mannered person. Perhaps it was because she was getting too comfortable with being around him.

"So how long've you been in this region for, have you ever visited it?" Ajay inquired out of curiosity.

Ashna quicken her munching of the custard pastries to clear her mouth, and even licked her fingers to show how much she enjoyed the sweetness of the custard.

"Not long, master says I was born here when she picked me up as a child." So she was adopted.

"Right, let's get going shall we?" She said eager to look around the place. Ajay just sighed and took her out to walked around. As he did, there were people murmuring about Ajay. Some had seen him with Saras and now was escorting another woman. "Player…" "Playboy.." "Leecherous noble." Was passed around by the housewives at the market. Ajay wanted to slam his head against the concrete wall for forgetting to be tactful in the presence of the public. Now his reputation as a player would spread, he was crying inside of him.

"You ok?" Ashna asked out of concern as she noticed something off about him from her eagle like sharpness.

"No, I'm fine. And don't say I'm lying, I can deal with it!" Ashna chuckled as he became more conscious about her antics even if they'd only known eachother for less than two hours.

"Ajay took her around the fortress to show her some of the features that were available to the public. An empty barracks that was used as lodging for the soldiers family members temporarily, an aqueduct system for fresh water streaming down the mountains, one of the highest observation points to see nearly all of Pacchim Valley from and the outskirts at the edge of the outermost wall of Lanka.

There were some parts of the concrete that had lines or battle scars for the lack of a better word. The engineers chose to leave it as a reminder of the assaults that Lanka had withstood.

Ashna chose to balance off the edge of the wall despite its shape. And Ajay found she had rather impressive balance as well, what was her master, a martial artist? Ajay didn't feel interested enough to ask. It was nearly dinner soon, although they would wait, he didn't feel like making them wait for him.

"I think I've been selfish enough to take you away from your duties for one day." As vigilant as ever, Ashna began to understand it was time to end their excursion.

"….."

"I've really enjoyed myself more than I hoped for, thank you Soren. You've been more of a friend to me than many bother."

"That's fine. You can come back again and I'll take you around to see what's new here. There's a lot being planned for Lanka, it'll just get bigger and better."

"I can't wait!" She said excitedly, Ajay chuckled at her tendency to get excited easily. And that's when he was caught off guard to the peck on his check she gave to him.

Ashna turned to leave but stopped in her tracks.

"Yunno…. I don't know how to say this… but I have the strangest feeling we've met….no- nevermind. I look forward to having another fun tour with you, Soren. That care." She waved to him and left him in a state of lost thought.

Because it wasn't just her that had that intuition.

Ashna walked out to the meeting place where she agreed she would meet with the other disciple. Out in the forest near the town of Naccarapur just three miles off the fortress.

The shadow appeared from behind the tree.

"I told you not to stray from my sight. Milady."

"Stop being such a control freak! Remember that I'm your senior, I can tell you to do anything and you'd better do it."

"I have no obligation to obey milady, that privilege belongs to the mistress alone."

"Hmph! Whatever, can we go back now?" She turned to leave but-

"What did you observe in that fortress?" He questioned her as he stood in her path.

"I saw a bustling town more than I saw a military installation." She said as she looked back at the distant silhouette of the fortress.

"That's typically how they all are, those people don't even know that they're being used as human shields."

"Jeez, could you stop looking at it with such negative views? Think positive for once, junior!"

"I am not your junior, Milady. I am Vasu Sen. The Commander of the-."

"Yada yada yada…. You've already told me for the fifteenth. And stop calling me Milady, I feel like an old hag. Let's go back. Ok?" She didn't want to entertain such a boring person, and went on ahead.

"Far enough then, Lady Vel."


	76. Chapter 71(e) - Recurring Memories

Author's notes:

Bit late but i managed.

* * *

…..

…..

A huge bonfire dominated the place which their family mansion once stood. A close servant to their mother took them into hiding. But she ran back, her mother and father stayed for what would be the death of them. One's they'd once called brothers, betray them, or was the other way around. Her father had always whispered quietly that he would get just desserts for what he had done years before. "But I'll never let both of you pay for our sins." Paresh said before sending them away.

By the time she slipped through the servant's grasp and returned to the mansion, it was already in flames and the bodies of her parents were charred bounded to a stake.

"Check out the loot on these traitors!" One of the nine men with golden sashes around their arm held up a jewelled necklace.

She instantly recognised it as her mother's her real mother's necklace who had long died from childbirth. For Bipin wasn't her full blood brother but half. Nevertheless, his mother cherished her as her own as well. But that was the only keepsake she had.

She ran up to the man and clawed her way to the necklace.

"Urgh! Help!" The man cried out as a seven-year-old scratched his face out into a bloody mess.

His friends wrenched her off him and struck her in the gut to pin her down. Followed with viscious blows to her fragile little body till she could barely move.

"Is it the traitor's brat?"

"Who cares, we'll need to show something to Jaswant after this."

Another man grabbed her by the hairs and lifted her up, she screamed and whined from the pain.

"But we don't need her entirely, just the head will do." He said raising his kukri in the air to behead her. The other men were silent, hesitant to stop him, they dared not trifle with one of Jaswant the fanatic's lieutenants.

His hand sliced the air towars its final destination which was her neck but never reached its target. (Clang) The knife clattered upon the ground and a burst of blood gushed out from the man's chest that had a ten-inch gape in it. His grip loosened and he fell to the ground motionless.

"The hell! Who ar- GYYarrh!" A flash of steel swooped about in the night parting the heads of the remaining eight before they had to scream in agony or retaliate.

The girl, named by her mother as Maya. Too weak to get up peered through her heavy eyelids at the person that came to her rescue. The face was clouded due to the darkness setting in because the flames were dimming.

"For all that is to come, have faith."

But she recalled the man's silhouette as the man picked her up and took her away to her new home with the Khati Household. Her fatigue and pain begun to overtake more than she could handle and fainted. When she came to within the Khati household, Bipin was by her side crying his little eyes out and to her surprise, her mother's necklace was lying by the bedside table.

But from passing out that night, she'd forever lost the chance to find her benefactor. Although the last words he said to her was what gave her the strength to change her fate for herself and Bipin's dire fate.

…

…

"…..-ander…..Commander!" Maya woke up from that call.

"Yes?" Maya shook the fuzziness she'd been experiencing from awaking from her afternoon doze off. She had been working to replenish the Army, the Guards paperwork was already done. Lately, things had been thrown to her by Queen Min because of her 'maternity leave'. The work should have gone to Colonel Raja but Yuma had designated her to do the load, she could have sworn Raja left with a smirk.

"I've brought in the list of procurement requests from the nine regiments you asked for."

"Yes, thank you….."

"You look tired, ma'am. After we have finished this order of work, I'll handle the rest. As for now, shall I read them for you instead?" Maya smiled at the young officer for his thoughtfulness who blushed slightly.

"Yes, please."

"Uh- yeah. Ahem! For the first one, it seems as thought they've all asked for the same thing. In their words: "That 3-barrelled 12.7mm minigun at the King's party." It must've left an impression on the officers that attended the King's birthday."

"Denied." She shot down their request instantly.

"We'll need to file a reason."

"The miniguns aren't constituted for long-term use, having them in their inventory means they'll need to be supplied the parts regularly. Besides, Samar has his hands full providing those systems for the helicopters first." The last she counted was twenty, some were bought by the Indian special forces.

"Very well, I'll do a draft on that. The next is on requests for thermal optics and reflex sights. The reports suggest an increase in lethality per average trooper in patrols by fifteen percent."

"…." It was to be expected, improving their soldiers ability to take quick reactive shots and to identify the enemies presences with the thermal imager in day and night was a valuable asset to have and potentially saved lives.

"The distribution will remain the same for the thermals, one per platoon. They don't come easily in supply. But reflex sights I'm willing to distribute to each rifleman."

"I'll inform logistics to handle the distribution then. I think you should retire, I'll handle the rest, ma'am." Maya nodded and got out of the armchair and picked up her bag, leaving the Royal Guards executive department at the Royal Fortress.

Usually a car would fetch her down to her home for the last six months. She took the time in the staff car escort to take a look at the ever-majestic scenery of the Kyrati mountains and valleys. She wondered if in future that view would remain, as at the rate of how developments were going Lakshman and other places might turn into full cities with skyscrapers. One of the most impressive civil developments since the beginning of the Min dynasty when a certain woman had made reforms for the country was the railway line stemming from Mumbai all the way to Lanka from the Western corridor of Kyrat. This allowed several hundred tons of imports and exports to be shipped without the costly use of airplanes to deliver large loads quickly. It also created a boom in the industry for development of infrastructure. Lakshman's vocation school allowed training for personnel to be equipped with the adequate know how of building, welding, project management and use of heavy vehicles.

She was glad Ajay wasn't just funnelling money into extravagant spending on the army and defense industry. Just in these few months he'd used nearly five billion green notes equivalent on imported arms from Russia, Southeast Asia and Europe. Seventy percent alone was used on the S-Program which highlighted the exorbidant amount for the riskiest project that Kyrat or any himalayan nation had ever embarked.

But it was that or Kyrat constantly struggling to be recognised as a legitimate power, this was the reality of the situation for them. Ajay's plan matched his reckless and relentless attitude which was being imprinted on the Royal Army, not necessarily a good thing when there is a time they should back out from something and don't.

She recalled how Yuma snorted at his claim to become a good king when he first arrived. But since then, she'd watched his change in behaviour. At first, he cared for nothing. But softened on his returned from Banapur much to her surprise. She witnessed him mourn for a girl he barely knew, a simple yet determined girl in the Golden Path. From there, he gave up on saving anyone affiliated to Golden Path and viewed them with extreme animosity, Jalendu Temple burned to a crisp to express his rage. From there, it grew to such heights that it caused him to go out of control. A byproduct of a narcotic he said, but she wasn't convinced. No drug could do that, not at least one known to the public. Ajay had a dabbling in something supernatural in Kyrat, but it wasn't just him. Sabal, the Devas and his father Mohan were all associated with something so deep and threatening that Ajay intentionally hid it from everyone.

To think he was supporting the kingdom against such a grave threat all by himself was almost unknown to the kingdom said lots about his unnoticed dedication to getting Kyrat out of there terrible situation and state. Maya had a feeling Noore knew a lot more than she let on, in fact it felt like Ajay trusted her more than anyone else. His accomplice in their endeavours to seek redemption and forgiveness. For Noore's work though forced was still done by her hand, Ajay's crime which he would never say. Happening in the states before he came perhaps.

Maya rubbed her head in pain from the mass of information she was processing for no reason, on top of that reminiscent dream she had about the fall of the Kadayat Household and the death of her father and step-mother. When the staff car dropped her off at the house road. She walked up the steps to Ajay's homestead looking forward to a hot bath and a scrumptious meal brewed up by Bhadra. She couldn't imagine dinner not done by her anymore, she was thoroughly a Bhadranist concerning appetite. It was too bad for Ajay that he chose to work in Lanka when he could have left them to it. But he stayed to guide the PDF in their training and tour of Lanka, which they had both objected to with High Command. But someone from the Canton corridor was pulling some strings. What that did was weaken the military presence in Lakshman that was already running on only PDF as a defense and armed police officers at most.

What did that do? Maya suspected the Canton families were eyeing Arsenal One of Lakshman, being the most developed. It was pretty obvious from Yuma the Min family was planning something in regards to the throne as the political landscape changed with the announcement of Yuma's soon to be born child. The dire strait of this was that in the eyes of the court, there were now three candidates for the throne. Badala, Yuma and the child. But the child's presence could be manipulated in such a way where they would turn on Ajay under pretext he was attempting to take the throne with his chances lowered.

Why Ajay chose to keep dwelling on the subject of ascending the Kyrati throne was beyond her, although she felt as if he never wanted it to begin with. Even though it allowed him to change the very geography of Kyrat instantaneously.

(Purrrr) Maya looked up to the porch of the house to find a familiar friend.

"Bishal! (Whistle) Hey there!" The big cat pounced on her and licked her plenty.

"I missed you too…Mmmm.. and boy have you grown quite a bit. Come on, let's get you some treats." She opened the door for her friend to enter the house while she took off her shoes.

(Growl) (Bark Bark)

-Oh, shit!- She forgot that there was another animal occupant in the house. She quickly went to get between them before they started clawing and biting eachother to death.

But then- (Whistle)

Then both creatures went of their hind legs at the sound of the hunter's whistle that wasn't from her.

(Clap) (Clap) (Clap) "That was amazing!" Applauded the other house resident.

Maya came in stunned by the scene of the two-sitting side by side. Cat and dog in harmony, she looked towards the auditor of this joke to find Darshan sitting at the table where Bhadra served him some tea with cakes that she also ate and drank.

"Ah- Maya! Welcome ba-." Unfortunately her attention wasn't focused on Bhadra but instead the one that took her best of friends away without permission.

"Do you have anything to say, specialist?" Darshan took a sip from Bhadra's tea.

"I've enjoyed Miss Rishal's afternoon tea thoroughly to my satisfaction." Bhadra giggled.

"What had you been doing to my friend?" She asked in a cold and icy tone.

Darshan returned her stare with a strange aura that completely destroyed her focus, even though there was hardly any hostility from his end. She blinked a few times to get back her senses, Bhadra looked baffled as to what happened and why Maya suddenly quieten down.

"Your Dharmic guardian was a little worrying so I had it trained a bit." He didn't lie in what he said. Still, Maya didn't like that he just up and took him.

"Stay close to him from now on. He'll be a greater protection to the unseen than Ajay Ghale could at the moment."

"Eh?" She was utterly confused by what Darshan just said to her, it sounded almost as if Darshan was in the same world as the Golden Path leaders and Ajay.

"I'll be off on my own accord, thank you for entertaining me Miss Rishal. It was a memorable experience."

"Ey! Anytime, Darshan. Just glad you returned Maya's animal buddy too!" Bhadra waved from the kitchen as she was preparing dinner. From the looks of things it seemed as if she had gotten along well with him.

Darshan turned to the door but looked towards Maya to extend his salutations and goodbye before he left.

"I'll be taking my leave-."

"Just hang on a minute." She said gritting her teeth, she wanted an explanation.

"No. Time is short, what Ghale has done has just accelerated this conflict to go into second gear. Things will be more perilous than they've ever been. I'm leaving." He turned to leave her without waiting to hear if she approved or not. Just as he was at the door he stopped and said almost too soft to hear but she'd heard it.

"For all that is to come, have faith."

"Eh-…. What did you-..?" Darshan departed before she had the chance to finish her sentence.

Her mind thundered with that familiar phrase he used at the very end. What the man who saved her from certain death at the Kadayat Household almost sixteen years ago told her. The image of that man overlapped with Darshan's all too familiar silhouette.

"Don't tell me-…."


	77. Chapter 72 - The Pied Piper of Kyrat

Author's Notes:

When i first saw the Eagle grab that deer in game, my mouth gaped. When i saw it again with a wild boar, i laughed. I didn't think it was possible, and i checked the internet and it turned out to be an actual fact. Fuck me! Eagles can do anything, and everything they fucking please!

* * *

Screams from Vyatha were a constant thing in the City of Pain. It was all to familiar to Daisy who had been an occupant a month ago. Yet here she was at her own free will, to break the spell on 'snow white'. It was a work on progress, but it was starting somewhere. She began by understanding the new Jason, what his motivations were, his attitude shaped by his past. She had watched the gradual process of Jason breaking down on Rook Island yet she did nothing then. But now, it was her chance. If she failed, Ajay would take his head at the first opportunity and she knew he was more than capable of doing so. She became aware of the natures of Mohan and his Devas as was Jason's. Something unnatural had altered them in some way. How Sabal could come back from the dead and survive a broken neck or in other instances direct shots to his torso and head during the firefight. She wondered if that Maya girl was alright.

Jubilant humming could be heard from the outside of the door to the office which was once Paul's. The 'King' of Vyatha had returned. Over the course of Jason's possession, he took control of the renegades and less than desirable Golden Path cutthroats. Reminiscent of 'his' pirating days.

"Honey, I'm homeeee…" Jason called out and entered the kitchen to cook up a meal like he usually did. It was one of the weirdest things to see, and he was a decent cook at that. He'd cooked all of her meals thus far. She guessed that even killers needed to eat in style.

"There you goo!" He came over in a cooking apron and placed two servings of roasted goat on the table by the veranda overlooking the whole of Vyatha city itself. Ignoring the screams, it would have been a wonderful ambient setting.

"Ah-Ah-Ah! Hands off the table and what do you say?"

"Um.. Thanks."

"Kiss the chef?" He asked doing a mock kiss.

"Maybe not." Jason laughed as he took his seat and ate his portion.

-The hell is with this setting?- That was the words she used the first time he did this, by now she was used to it.

"…..-and so, I made him eat his friend! Hahahaha!" Jason talked about his encounter with some guy named McLovin he tortured just days before their arrival on Rook Island. If she was that man he talked about, she would beg for him to end her life of that hell he put that poor soul through.

Jason had been surprisingly open to her in fact, she would have been charmed by him had she not forgotten he was still the same psychopathic killer that trapped and toyed with them on the island.

He also murdered Grant. And she hated him for it, but he was also Jason and at the same time not. Holding the younger brother of the person she loved hostage.

"Why do you still persist?" He asked after settling down from his meal and one sided conversation.

"Why do you still resist?" Jason chuckled.

"That Guero has long been put away not by me but Kyrati Jesus, Mohan."

"Put….away?" She asked baffled.

"Like fucking magic, (click) Chris angel mindfreak-style!"

She was no closer to understanding what he was saying.

"Even if I wanted to switch, which by the way I don't. It's not as if I knew how… that man changed the combinations my sister placed and-…. There's something dangerous about him." He murmured.

"You're wasting your time here anyway. Well, not that I didn't enjoy your company though, senorita." Jason took a drink out of the glass of Shangri-lager he poured himself. He was thoroughly enjoying the local specialties this new environment had to offer. Just the other day, he enraged a rhino and harassed it with a buzzer. When he was tired, he remembered to fetch the horn before leaving.

"What if he could undo it?"

Jason spit out his drink. Even for someone like him, what she said was crazy.

"Yeah, like he's gonna give away his trump so the white boy could just walk away." He was still disgrudged that someone still had a hold of him, his freedom was limited to the boundaries of wherever Mohan wanted.

"Take me to meet him then." Jason laughed so hard he almost broke a gut.

"Don't you want your freedom?" He stopped laughing and looked at her with a glare.

"Don't make me laugh, what you want is not what I want?"

"Maybe, but who's to say your wish can't be fulfilled when I get what I want?"

"Ha! Getting lil'Jase back means destroying me." Jason grasped her violently and pulled her towards him.

"Are you asking me to kill myself?" Her eyes shivered but then steadied with resolve as she replied to his inquiry.

"No. I want what's best for both of us."

"You? Want the best for both of us?" He said laughing, but her serious expression made it less hilarious as she wasn't kidding yet she definitely didn't have the power to make it happen, that was why she depended on him. Like she depended on him for everything else, food, water, keeping the horndog of men he had at bay to by reminding them of their place. Not that the renegades ever dared to mess with their boss's woman either way.

"I don't know what sort of childhood you went through. Perhaps you worked so hard for someone in the past, only to be let down. From there, you simply didn't care anymore." It was almost as if she was reminiscing Ajay's life in Brooklyn.

(Slam) (Crash) Jason struck the table with his hand and sent the plates crashing about.

"What could you possibly know about being let down?" He stared at her with a hateful glare like he would crush her at any moment.

"Because I was the one that did the letting down to someone before." Jason snorted and went over to pick the plates. It was weird that he was so neat despite his other hobbies.

"He can reverse what he did to you, but he might also be able to surplant you to another body." She reconfirmed and Jason chuckled. The more she spoke, the funnier it got.

"And pray tell, why would he do all these things that'll inconvenience him to this extent?" He wanted to hear why she thought that this guy would just give in to her beyond selfish requests, were all blondes like this? (Author: So not true.)

"Because I have something he wants." Jason stopped laughing again. She actually possessed something valuable. Undoing Jason meant undoing Mohan's hex of binding which was causing an itch on him for the past few months.

"So… what's it?" He asked after leaning closer.

"Only if you promise to give him back."

"Yeah, sure. Only if it's a guarantee he'll do it. Wonder if he'll give me a body to chose from, hopefully one with a bigger pecker than this one." He patted his trousers.

Daisy tried to ignore the last part. "I mean what I say. Do we have a deal?" She raised her hand towards him.

"You have it, spice lips." He clasped her hand and shook firmly.

It was at this moment when a minion came to them and passed him a piece of paper. At that moment he raised his eyebrows.

"What is it?"

"Looks like their prepping for a surprise raid on that sweet fortress they fucked up last time, they wanna take it for good this time. And they've got backup from some dope army of a foreign country. Ha!" Things were looking dire for the Royal Army already.

"And I got invited!" He waved the slip about and went to the door.

"Where are you going?"

"Gotta prepare, Daise. No field camp can go without preparation."

"…"

"Sooooo… what'cha got that'll get'im to release me and Jas?"

Daisy had her convictions about what she was about to give to them. But it seemed like it was the only way for Mohan to release Jason's consciousness from his prison. Provided he was a man of his word. What she was about to do could very well jeopardize one person's life for another.

-Forgive me, Ajay. It seems like the only way.-

She said as she closed her eyes to beg for forgiveness hoping that apology would reach him, like it could.

"Well?" Her eyes opened and she said to this Jason the piece of info-… no, intel that would get Mohan to release them both.

"It concerns the whereabouts of his son."

* * *

Puffs of smoke bellowed from where the row of vehicles were parked, bombarding the cleared off mountainside that was used as a firing range for the Hussar Battalions. It was already week three since Pagan's birthday now. Today was just another day of training for the 1st and 2nd Battalion Hussars. Ajay was called back from the fortress for R&R, which he used the time to inspect the Armored forces like he promised to Samuel and Kuber whom got along fine. Sadly, the same could not be said for the men, it was a clear distinction between them. Kyrati and Canton, they'd provoked eachother on numerous occasions already as Ajay had expected.

Ajay had gone through a thorough training regime with the PDF so that they knew their craft to the finest detail. So that when they felt hesitant in the battlefield, at least their reflex or instinct could take over and improve their chances to survive. Why was he so worried about the presence of the PDF left unattended in the fortress anyway, was this a gut feeling?

Letter's regarding Biraj's deactivated status and enrolment into the vocation school under an arts scholarship had been accepted. He relayed the news to the ecstatic Biraj, his attitude towards Ajay changed 180 after that. Which made things easier for him. Now, all he had to do was wait for Jatayu Company's tour to finish in a week's time.

It was clear in the strategy to rid Golden Paths presence from Kyrat was through a series of high speed destruction of installations and the capture of high ranking leaders. That meant carrying high firepower on the move to clear each objective one by one. It was still better than foot infantry or the more vulnerable heli-borne shock troopers.

1st Hussar's vehicle overhauls had been completed after a month long project in the workshops and arsenal.

Currently, the Hussars' were ranging their guns. The 2nd Battalions' 105mm Patria tank destroyer and 1st Battalions' newly upgraded Ratels with a higher pressure Mk8 90mm guns from the same Belgian manufacturer. Smaller than the 105mm guns of their younger unit counterparts but equally lethal to armor and infanty targets. It's standard loads had also changed to two types of ammunitions, High-Explosive Squash Head and APFSDS, otherwise known as Sabot. Both had automatic loading capabilities which reduced the stress on the crew.

Kuber said that both guns could fire indirectly like artillery up to 8 and 10 klicks respectively from smaller calibre to larger.

The crew members of the 1st Battalion were more than familiar with their vehicles, they'd also trained heavily in coordinated armor formations and movement drills. Whether against infantry or other armored targets. While there weren't any armor on the Golden Paths side, who was to say there wouldn't when things looked settled.

The guns of the tank destroyer platoon of both respective platoons were having a gunfighting competition to see who was a better shot. The 1st Battalion men weren't worried at all, because Anish was commanding that platoon. The competition comprised of mobility around obstacles, shoot-and-scoot, firing on the move and static shots at long range targets. They were on to the last segment.

(BOOM) (BOOM)

To be honest, both vehicles had pretty advanced digital fire control systems so there was no way they'd miss. So the competition blew down to speed and mobility. The 6x6 wheels design of the Ratels had caused Anish's platoon to lag behind the superior cross-country mobility of the 8x8 wheeled Patria AMVs. But when it came to shooting on the move, they fired without the use of the calibrations of the fire control. While the 2nd Battalion was still messing with the ballistic computers to key in the coordinates of the target.

"Come on! Anish, sir!" The 1st battalion cheered on from the gazebos. The 2nd Battalion equally cheered for their own platoon.

Lieutenant-Colonels Kuber and Samuel were under the shade of the command tower with Ajay, inspecting high commands' strategy to destroy Golden Paths elements in Tirtha and the Golden Path recruitment camp.

"High command, authorised the use of white phosphrous and thermobaric warheads against soft targets. Three days before the attack there will be a warning to the remaining civilians to stay in their homes. Do not fire on buildings unless your dismounts can confirm there are just hostiles inside. For those with a mix, have the infantry deal with them then move on." Ajay stated the rule of engagement to them both.

"Question, your grace." Kuber asked.

"Sure, what is it?"

"Why is Banapur the last on the list of placed to apprehend and not the first? That is after all the place where majority of the forces are concentrated in."

"I just noticed as well. Could it be that this was intentionally done by High Command and the Marshal?" Samuel asked. At this point, Ajay had discerned that Samuel wasn't a player for the Cantons, but that didn't mean he was potentially a chesspiece.

"Once all elements have been cleared outside their headquarters, the mission will change into hunter-killer. You will not be engaging the forces in Banapur."

Now they were baffled beyond understanding.

"Banapur is to be daisy-cuttered."

The shock backlashed them when Ajay told them what was the ultimate fate of two thousand residence in Banapur, and three thousand of the stationed soldiers in the area. Fuel-air explosives, a type of composition that conferred deaths through shockwave and high-intensity heat.

"What?!" Samuel's mouth gaped.

"Your grace, there are civilians still in that area!" Kuber protested.

"The C-100s parked at Meh Teh will make a few bombing run trips, the first target is the nearby Golden Path camp then the town itself. Upon release of the first daisy cutter bomb pamphlets will be released to let them know that the town is the next target. Those not out in two-hours….. well, we'll be cleaning up their ash."

"Your grace, the people won't mov-." Ajay was aware of the stubborn nature of the residence, they were thoroughly Golden Path. He'd been with them in both timelines to make that conclusion, even if they were Kyrati citizens, they were rebels.

"I've given the villagers at Banapur multiple opportunities to disassociate themselves with Golden Path. Not once, but four times! Time and time again, they chose to side with Sabal, then Mohan. If they believe so deeply in his ideals, then they can die for them! You will consider any survivor at the site later as a member of Golden Path. And your orders are to kill all members and associates of Golden Path that resist arrest." If lives could be curled by mere words, Ajay had made that a reality.

The two commanders were thoroughly convinced that it would happen even without their approval of the methods.

"High command seemed to think the exact same thing." Ajay revealed that it was an authorization by their superiors and not the Duke of Lakshman.

"Is this really necessary?" Kuber couldn't accept it.

"Which would you prefer, wasting the lives of your men only to have a stalemate with desperate fighters with no guarantee of winning. If they win, their anger will be taken out on the civilians in other places for ignoring them and assisting us. If you win, they sure as hell won't let you both savor the victory over them but turn it into an empty one instead." Hearing Ajay's grim prospects on the alternative made Kuber feel ashamed of asking.

"Or would you prefer they die instead of your men in one quick death without regrets with an airburst munition killing and vaporising them instantly. You preserve the lives of your men, you save the lives of thousands more you were sworn to protect when you wore that uniform."

"Although…. It still doesn't absolve our actions against them." He said to the reluctant officer to confirm his views on the fuel-air bombs. Kuber was left to process his thoughts and beliefs as Ajay got up to leave the tower, he turned to Samuel.

"This'll be your battalions' first combat mission, not the finest of hours. But remember, cornered rats-.."

"Bite the hardest. I'll take note of what your grace has said." Ajay smiled when Samuel understood the saying and bid him farewell till the day of the operation.

* * *

In light of hard times, there was no place like home. His last time at the Homestead was when he waited for the girls to bring them to Pagan's party.

The man was happily flying around in his new helicopter but also taking intense lessons from Kamran and the flight committee of helicopter pilots that were in his payroll. There were times he wanted to fly his own vehicle, so he stopped making excuses to try. Ajay barely found him at the palace as he was in the air clocking flight time with Kamran. In the palace, he met Yuma who says she was two months in on her pregnancy. Ajay didn't forget to congratulate her, which she smiled. It was a weird thing to see for him, since she had tried to kill him last time and this timeline was with many close calls with her super assassin Darshan. Although it was clear the latter had his own agendas but not coinciding with each other's interests. There was no easy days for Maya, who was left entirely with the working load. Pagan had insisted Yuma stay indoors for the entire length of the road ahead and to minimise looking at paperwork. He was quite excited about being a father, again.

Ajay was glad, he too had hopes for their kid. While Pagan might insist on him taking the throne out of restoring natural order. Ajay didn't think it was that bad. After all, monarchs weren't decided from birth, they were forged from their leadership over a land where its people yearned to call their home. Ajay saw no qualities in himself to rule over the people, he was through and through a subject of fate and the will and hopes of others. He didn't have his own dreams save for the restoration of Kyrat from the mess his family had created. After that-….. It would be peaceful days at the Homestead.

The end of Badala, the end of Ajay Ghale, and the end of his vengeance.

Ajay played the flute that he kept in his possession since he found it at the bazaar, it had a unique design to it for such a simple instrument. It was the engravings that made him rather curious of its origin and background. Unfortunately, there was nothing on it. He did ask the owner who he got it from, and the owner answered that an elderly monk handed it to him without explaining or asking for a price. The owner had an ominous feeling about it and threw it amongst his pile, hoping someone would buy it up. But none had done so, not until Ajay. A perculiar thing about the flute's structure, while the engravings were top notch the flute seemed unfinished as the hole of the whole length seemed crude. But that wasn't all.

One of the weirdest things about the flute though, was there was an animal row aligned to a respective hole. Ten animals in fact, all corresponding with the ten primary animals in the Kyrati ecosystem.

"…." A thought occurred to him.

-Oh- What the heck! Let's just see.-

(crude note) A broken note came out of the flute when he covered the hole on the eagle hieroglyph. He tried to meddle with the notes to produce a clear sound. Maybe if he changed the way he blew into the flute it would give a different result. He tried one with his mouth mimicking a whistle as he blew into the flute and to his surprise it produced an unusual but clear animal call of that animal, reminiscent of the Cherokee Indians signal calls.

"This thing's wicked!" Such a simple tube with holes could produce such an unsual sound. Perhaps in his radio silent moments he could use it as a unique animal call to inform the rest what to do in hostile territory. Although, potential victims would wonder if they were hearing things as Ajay were to mimick nearly every animal in the area.

(Plop) A sound could be heard in front of him in the veranda where he was seated under the shade.

"The hell?" It appeared to be a goat's carcass.

A goat fell from the sky? Ajay rubbed his eyes to confirm he wasn't seeing things. (Screech)

A shadow appeared blocking the sunlight from Ajay, which put him on his wits as he felt his way to the slayer propped against the armchair. It was a very annoying yet familiar occurance in Kyrat.

It was an eagle attack.

Black Eagles of Kyrat were one of the most majestic creatures in the man-made conservatories. But in the wild, they were the most dangerous things next to a tiger attack. Black Eagles were aggressive all year round here, and they'd attack anyone for no particular reason. Ajay especially hated them because they were a nuisance when he climbed those bell towers. They were also one of the craziest creatures he'd ever seen. Once, he'd been out hunting and stalked a sambar and was about to deliver the killing shot when an eagle flew down and nicked the carcass. That was a hundred and eighty-kilogram beast, and it could sustain flight whilst making off with his deer dinner.

And this one with the wingspan of over a metre was swooping down towards him. The slayer was more than enough to kill it at this range, but it would be a waste of difficult to make and on short supply ammo. So he swivelled his gun around with the butt facing the incoming attacker, ready to butt it with the end of his gun.

But to his amazement, the eagle landed in front of him and what appeared to be its prey, the goat which it had been on its way to eat in safer grounds. The eagle just stood there facing him.

-No…. it can't be.-

Immediately the thought on the flute appeared on his mind. He took it out and looked at it then the specimen that stood waiting for something.

(Flute call) He blew into the flute to test the theory which if was genuine would totally blow his mind.

(Screech) The eagle made a screech noise and jumped forwards but stayed where it was.

"Oh my god. Oh my god! Bhadra! Maya! Saras! Eagle!"

All of them ran downstairs at the word, Eagle. Eagle attacks were too common and highly vicious, they expected to treat wounds of a victim. Instead they came to the door with Ajay standing next to a completely obedient Eagle.

"Is this some sort of joke….?" Bhadra initiated as a retort.

"No idea how this happened. Quick! Take a picture!" He threw his smartphone over and made a pose with the eagle with his hand over its head like he was comparing it and his height.

"Pftt!" Saras couldn't control.

"Done. How the hell did this happen? What did you do to it?" She passed back the phone and inquired.

Ajay explained the flute he bought at the market and about the perculiarity of its design, the match with this coincidence. Ajay suddenly sensed a feeling of dread as something reached for the flute in his hands. He raised it on reflex and just in time before Maya caught grasp of it.

"I should have known." He looked at Maya with distaste.

"So much power, to call the very nature at will! And it fell into this idiot's hands." Ajay was more than familiar with her love for furries, and this flute would bring them all to her at anytime she wanted.

"Can it call other animals?"

"Dunno, here." Ajay handed the flute without complaint to Saras, earning an eyeful of glares from Maya whom wanted to try more than any of them. But Ajay knew that if it fell into her hands, he'd never see it again.

(Flute call)

They waited for a while for an animal to appear. And what came next gave them a heart attack.

(Wet growl) A leopard burst from the trees and sprinted towards them. With pale faces, their immediate reaction was to run back into the house and barricade the door.

"Why the hell did you pick the leopard?!" Maya said crossed.

"I dunno! I thought it was just one of Ajay's pranks! Seeing as he trained BIshal and Vajra, I thought he wanted to scam you after he trained an eagle so I collaborated!" She confessed.

Personally, Ajay was a little annoyed that this was what Saras saw in him. A person who was always scheming against others. That was so not him! It was only just a few cases where he manipulated Paul, turned the Golden Path remnants into Mukti tigers to counter Sabal, kept Sabal alive to run back in-….

-I am a schemer.-

After making resolve on what he was, Ajay peered out of the window like the others. That been said, he wondered why he followed them when he had the most powerful gun in his possession at hand. Guess he got led on by their frantic behaviour.

Ajay opened the door to the outside to find the Leopard on its hind legs sitting next to the eagle albeit growling and screeching at one another but not biting or pecking. It was at this moment that they realised.

That Ajay's flute was the real deal in controlling animals.

-Dafuq-….-

Ajay was loss at what to do with these two animals at his porch.

"Shoo! Shoo!" He tried to send them off, but they looked at him funny where they sat.

"Here, let me try." Bhadra took the flute and played it the same way that Ajay had told them. (Flute high-pitch) But the way she blew into it triggered a different response. That being the leopard and eagle turning towards Ajay and Saras and showing hostility. They pounced towards them with the intention to kill suddenly.

Ajay's reaction was quick to that change in behaviour.

(Boom) (Boom) He blasted both the creatures with each shot before they got to him or Saras, then turned to Bhadra who looked at him with a mischievious grin. She knew she did something wrong as she handed back the flute.

"How did you blow it?" Was all Ajay was interested in. The way she did, triggered a different response with the animals. Ajay's whistle called the respective animals to him. But Bhadra's sent them into full attack mode, it was clear she had accidentally discovered the attack command on the flute.

"Sorry, I can't whistle very well. So I tried to shortcut by doing quick blows into the flute."

The four of them stare at the flute in Ajay's hands. Not sure of what to do with such a mysterious item which could command nature to the user's bidding.

"""….""" It was a dangerous item to have.

Ajay loaded a non-sabot round into the slayers chamber.

"You guys want barbeque ribs for dinner?" Instantly their faces turned to delight, Saras and Maya chuckled away. Ajay intended to use the flute to summon their dinner in the form of a wild boar.

In the end, what made the day was a happy stomach.

* * *

A blanket of stars painted a pretty picture for the night over Lanka. It was to be another night of celebrating in the local taverns that were filled to the brim with people. Much to the delight of the proprietors and proprietresses, for the amount they were earning every single night.

There was nothing like a decent meal, icy cold local brew and company to end the week of hard toiling or soldiering. As the construction workers sourced from Hubris and the soldiers along with the PDF danced and sung to the beat of their favorite local songs.

The guards were grumbling that it was their shift to guard the posts at the beginning of the long weekend. Especially Jatan who was guarding the outermost wall, which was total pitch black in the open fields beyond. He'd been made to serve this guard duty out of pulling the shortest straw from the group.

"Grumbling won't make it any better." His partner told him.

"At least, they could've picked a better place for me to serve. Then at least I could've asked someone to fetch a pint."

"Huh! Quite the daredevil, aren't you. Aren't you afraid the demon will catch you drunk at your post tomorrow morning?"

"He went back to Uttar for a week long break this time."

"I'm surprised he even took one. You've not been here that long but many of the wall vets and workers have been saying he stayed since the construction of this place."

"Of course he did, if not how would it not have dished out that beating on Golden Path like it did at the Battle of Lanka."

"True, you think that bastard Mohan'll try again?" His friend asked as he stared out from the wall looking at the embers of light where Naccarapur town was.

"Nah. Not in a million years. Badala was right, his appearance changed nothing."

"I hope you're right. See….. I've been having this feeling every since yesterday."

"Don't jinx it."

"I'm not, its just-… don't you feel its weird that Golden Path has survived this long."

"…"

"I mean, why doesn't Badala attack them at Banapur. We even know that's where the Golden Path base is."

"We're just some grunts, dude. We'll never understand what the big wigs think. Heard Badala kicked those Canton bastards asses at the King's birthday party too."

"Really?! No way!" His partner responded excitedly. It was because the Cantons had long sustained a status above others save for the King himself. Literally no one could touch them and remain unscathed, until Badala broke that myth. The rumor passed the censorship the Cantons tried to enforce at the party and spread like wild fire.

"Guess we can ask the man himself when he passes by next time." Jatan popped out a cigarette from the stack.

"Here man." His partner flicked out his zippo lighter and brought it to him.

"Hey, than- (splat)." Something wet sprayed upon his face.

-The hell?- He wipped the wet stuff from his face and looked at his hands under the light of the zippo.

Blood.

The zippo fell from his partner's hand and the body fell with it. His partner's body with a hole through his head.

"ENEMY IN THE PERIMET-murgh!" A pair of hands clasped around his head and twisted. (Snap) Jatan's body fell lifelessly to the ground next to his partner.

"What was that?!"

"Sound the alarm! We have a breach!"

But Jatan's last call had prevented further deaths from occurring unaware. Hooks flew over the wall and anchored against the edge. Hundreds of shadows in grey uniforms climbed over the walls with the purpose of taking the initiative in distrupting the response within Lanka.

(Biiiiibiiiibiiiii) The garrison was strict about emergency drills thanks to the protocols set by Ajay. So everyone who was partying or sleeping immediately stopped what they did and turned towards their posts with the utmost speed.

But they would soon find that with all their preparation, nothing could prepare them for what was to be the biggest battle for the Southern Valley.

In the distance, the witch stood observing the night attack unfold. She had previously observed the boy with her divine sense. And to her surprise, in his hands was that item. How he attained it, she did not know.

" _Banashur, god of gods. Sang the world into existence. What a crude and shameless story you crafted for the mortals to revere you in."_

* * *

Author's Thoughts:

Saras's opinion of Ajay as a schemer.

"They're all schemers, schemers trying to control their little worlds."

-Joker, The Dark Knight


	78. Chapter 73 - An Hour of Uncommon Valor

Author's Notes:

Just when i said school was nostalgically pleasant, assignment after assignment, project after project comes my way and batters our poor lil' Havok.

At long last, it's finally here. The time i've waited so long for, its time for Arjun to pull the covers to their secret projects planned in for months. As far as i can remember, it was in the twentieth chapters. Call that impressive, i thought i'd finish the story in less than a hundred but now i'm not so sure. Meh. It's not like i'd go so long it becomes a book. The importance is richness in material and content strong not the length of my pages.

Enjoy you all!

* * *

The firefights that took place in Lanka lasted hours, constant battering to and from. The current situation was looking bad for the garrison soldiers who fought to keep every inch of ground they lost to these unknown soldiers whom they had no idea were. But one thing was for certain, from the Golden Path fighters seen fighting alongside them it was clear who they were allied to. The garrison forces were heavily disheartened. To just have been in the celebratory mood and the next minute in a full out war with attackers that used trained combat manuevers. The other reason was the absence of the resident demon, whom both the inhabitants of Lanka and the Golden Path who had collected intel beforehand knew about.

When the news reached the garrison commander and staff within the central keep, he was furious. The Golden Path, rebels, now thorough traitors to the kingdom and the nation for bringing in foreigners. They'd lost the outer walls of Bastion 2 and 4 to the overwhelming presence of enemy.

"I wanted that report five minutes ago! Where is it!" The commandant roared.

A senior officer hurriedly entered with a flesh wound.

"Report!"

"We've lost Bastions 2 and 4 completely. They were taken by surprise completely… (huff)… 11th and 20th Company didn't stand a chance."

"What of the other Bastions and barracks?"

"We're at seventy percent remaining in our strength. Sir, permission to push up the reserves and PDF."

"Take two companies to reinforce the other remaining bastions, that's all."

"And the PDF?"

"They are not of your concern, Captain."

"With all due respect-."

"You will not! No one will take command of the PDF except Lord Badala."

"He isn't here! And you want to waste more of our forces so that you can keep nice with the Damn duke that-." A hand grasped his shirt and pulled him towards the Commandant.

"Never. Insult him in my presence again. Am I clear?" He said in an intimidating tone. The staff knew very well he held reverence towards the Duke. He had been there by his side where they stood at the very front of the defense at bastion one during the Battle of Lanka. For that, High Command awarded his steadfastness with the position of Commandant under the recommendation of Badala which he graciously accepted responsibility for. The Duke had also regularly checked in with him on his work and progress. It gave the Command staff a sense of pride knowing their work was recognised by such a high profile individual.

The Commandant flung him away without hearing a response.

"We have a responsibility to protect the people, gentlemen. The PDF are just kids and they need to be protected all the same. When we fail, then it will fall to them to protect our families, the civilians and themselves."

"….."

"Captain Phanish, from effective immediately you will man the last of the remaining forces including the PDF. Prioritize the evacuation of Civilians to King's Bridge."

"Not Hubris or Baghadur?"

"It won't be safe in the event the Golden Path take this fortress. Good luck, son." The young officer saluted and left with his rifle slung.

The Garrison Commandant took a swig from his flask of whisky and handed it to his officers to share a drink.

"What's the status on the comms lines to the Royal Fortress?"

"Something's jamming long range communications and all cellular activity. This isn't equipment Golden Path can afford or possess." It had to be that foreign army. The seriousness of the situation had just gone up another level. Another invader was in Kyrati soil, and was actively attacking their most important military installation.

"What about the landline?"

It was the case with all emergency backups for the strongholds and Lanka itself. A landline was hidden to allow communication straight to the Marshal's office or to the quick reaction force barracks. The former seemed like the more important to inform as the numbers were still unknown and the fortress though seeming indestructible was falling into the hands of the enemy.

"We've checked the contingency files, it's…."

"Well? Say it."

"It's-…. In Bastion Twos Labyrinth." The officer struggled to say.

The Commandant sighed. Right now, they had two alternative solutions. Either stay and fight it out and perhaps sustain till the lack of their comms to communication brings up and investigation to find the invasion force in the morning. Or they could risk everything to send a distress signal to General Arjun's office to tell him of the current situation. What the enemy wanted right now was the central keep.

His staff looked expectant of him for the final executive decision.

"We warn High Command of the threat even if it means the death of us." Not to his expectation, the staff broke into chuckling. It was then that he realised that it was their hour.

"It's been a pleasure serving with you all. That wherever we end up, dead or alone in a old folks home years from now." The staff laughed, the former option was definitely more appealing.

"We rest easy knowing that our lord will grant our restless souls vengeance!"

* * *

It was a cool night, so the barbeque they were having was just right. Something warm to fill their stomachs.

Bhadra had been relieved of cooking to let Ajay do a stateside-style BBQ he learnt from the barbeque parties Mama Tinashe did to celebrate her kids' birthdays. He tried his best to replicate that hickory barbeque sauce to his best ability, but was only a quarter near to what it should be. Nevertheless, the sauce did its job in making the meat release a pleasant aroma that made the girls, a tiger and a wolf drool. He wasn't sure how those two weren't at each other's throats, Bhadra mentioned something about Darshan returning Bishal and doing a strange whistle like the one she tried to imitate when she tried the flute.

"Hi!"

"Ah- you're here."

"Yo!"

At some point, Maya had called for Bipin to come over. Although, unexpected was Samuel that came with him. Both were dressed in civies and casual.

"Man, what is that heavenly smell I've been sniffing since I got to the base of the hill?" Bipin inquired the lovely aroma.

"She already told you, it was barbeque. Hi, I thought I'd stop by cause I heard about the ribs. You won't mind if I join, right?"

"You're already here, have a seat. We'll bring you one when its ready." Maya was rather neutral about Samuel, as long as he didn't seek trouble like the rest it was fine. Samuel took a seat next to Bipin and Saras at the oudoor table under the blanket of stars.

"It really is an amazing view up here." He commented.

"It is. Although, we take it for granted everyday. Today though, we get to enjoy it." Bhadra smiled happily as someone had relieved her of cooking for once and she wasn't complaining due to the skill involved. To be honest, she had her doubts about the barbeque, it was the one technique in cooking she was unfamiliar with. Luckily, they had a trained professional Barbie chef all the way from America to grill the ribs.

Ajay was diligent about the cooking from the moment he killed those pigs and gutted them, to the wood type used to fuel the fire. He was picky about all these minor but crucial details in having a great barbeque than just a good one.

"Alright, first batch done." He arranged a few slices onto the platter and brought it over to the table for the them to start their much awaited meal.

And boy were they surprised with Ajay's efforts. One bite was all that changed their views about outdoor cooking forever.

"It's amazing!"

"Really? I used to cook this at the neighbourhood I lived in once every summer." He answered modestly.

"What kind of life did you enjoy in the states?" Samuel said lightly. Everyone remained silent, he noticed their sudden change and realised he might have stepped on a nerve.

"In the states, there's always good food to have on your table among the other less desirable circumstances."

"U-oh!" He was not sure how to respond after. Although he didn't need to.

"So who wants seconds?"

They all raised their plates, Ajay chuckled.

"Jeez, that was barely ten minutes and we've finished one pig already. I've not even had a bite yet."

"Bhadra take over." Maya patted her.

"No way, i've been cooking all of your meals for the last half-year. I deserve to sit. What about both of you?" She pushed it aside, but it was clear to everyone else she didn't want to miss out on even one slice of rib.

"Let's settle this on three rounds." Saras raised her hand for scissors paper stone.

"Sure." They battled swiftly so as not to hog the rest.

At the end, Saras ended up with a single win and Maya with two. Making it clear who had the seat. Saras shook her head and got up to where Ajay was, but her expression was not at all upset, the opposite in fact.

"I'll be looking forward to you teaching me." She found other ways to entertain herself.

"Sure. Here." He handed her the tongs and placed a tenderloin on the the grill.

"Right…." Ajay stood behind her and guided her hand holding the tong.

"Oh!" She was genuinely surprise that it turned out for the better she lost, she got to savour something else more familiar. Ajay knew he got her attention but guided her on treating the steak on the grill.

"Is Badala seeing-…?" Samuel commented halfway seeing them at the grill working on the next batch with a lot of intimacy not seen before.

"…." Maya looked a little blank staring at them from afar.

"(Sigh) They thought we were idiots. Like they couldn't be seen together." Said Bhadra with puffed up cheeks.

"R-Really….." Samuel just acknowledged.

"You seem pretty nice for a Canton." Bhadra spoke bluntly. Samuel smiled.

"Thanks, I'll take that as a compliment. It's one of those ridiculous things we fight over even though we were all born here." Samuel said before taking a drink from the barley that was served.

They ate the second and last batch together over their conversations, Ajay had to make do with eating once it was cooked as he stayed on grill duty because Saras disappeared off to the toilet over an upset stomach or something. Even when he thoroughly cleared the meat and kept it fresh as possible with garlic and lemon.

-Guess grilling's new in Kyrat.-

Ajay took another bite out of a piece at the end of his fork. Maya went into the house to procure the her usual favorite liquor of BaiJiu for them to enjoy, she was strangely generous today for some reason. Perhaps it was the good meat to go with her favorite drink she wanted to share the experience of it.

"It's weird." Samuel said as he stood next to him.

"That the Northern Demon has friends, can enjoy himself, can live with himself after all the terrible things he's done?" He posed the question whilst watching the fire.

"The former two was enough, your grace."

"Badala. No point being formal after all this time. You aren't wearing your uniform either."

"Very well, Badala." He handed him a cup of barley that was for him but wasn't at the table for.

"Thanks." Ajay took a drink. Samuel stared at him the entire time.

"What?"

"Aren't you worried I spiked the drink?"

"….." But Ajay wasn't at all phased, he knew that even if he did. His blood would reject the toxins just as it did to the alcohol in his system when he drunk. It made him wonder what was Noore's secret concoction to suppress these demonic properties.

"I doubt you'd come this far only to throw away your life for indifferent family members." Both a retort and warning. Samuel chuckled and sat against the brick of the barbeque place.

"True. I lived half my life overseas myself yunno. Mum and me lived in Vancouver in a comfy cabin place. Went to school like any ordinary child, then she told me about my origin and lineage. Min Family of namesake family to the King of Kyrat. I'd never seen it on the globe before, only because it wasn't. I was twelve when I came back, and quickly learnt about the family hierarchy and where I was, could you guess?"

"A bottom feeder?" Samuel laughed.

"Blunt as ever, but yes. I was a bottom feeder alright, in fact I only shared half of the Mins' bloodline." Ajay rasied an eyebrow to the new information he indulged about himself.

"You might have guessed from that, my mum wasn't part of the family. Only my father, who sent us away because the family did not approve of consummating his love with my 'ordinary' mother. What was the difference between her and anyone else, a bloodline? Wealth? Influence? Anyway, he somehow convinced them in the later years to allow us to be together. Not that they ever approved of us in their hearts either way."

Ajay could see where this was going, in a sense he could relate to Samuel. He was neither accepted by the Kyrati migrants nor the US citizens in the states. A blacksheep, but Ajay managed somehow with Mama Tinashe's kindness and his own prowess at boxing that kept him on his toes against any roughening.

"So, I switched one side of indifference for another. With nothing to do, no expectations on me to do anything. I joined the Royal Guard at 18."

"And along the line, you met Bipin." He nodded.

"The Cantons looked at me with loathe, the Kyratis with caution. But it was used to it by then, in fact it was strange that Bipin approached me. At first I thought he was a leech trying to grovel before me to win my favour and his recognition, but it wasn't the case." Ajay took a look at Bipin who was trying to pull the jug away from Maya whom seem to over indulge.

"So you found a friend in him."

"I did, although I was a blacksheep, so was he in a way. I guess birds of a feather flock together."

"…."

"You remember when you asked me what was my aim when joining the army?" Ajay nodded.

"…. I want to leave Kyrat."

"So just leave then, why join in something you weren't interested to begin with." Samuel shook his head.

"There is an unspoken rule in the triads. The Min family enforces this tradition on its family members with no exception. My mom…. When dad died, she was truly left alone. Yet they wouldn't let her go back to Canada with me, all because of a blood pact with my dad's father." Ajay noticed how he had mentioned his grandfather as his dad's father indicating their astranged or abysmal relationship. He was also being rather open about his deep history which Ajay was sure he wanted something from Ajay. Hoping that his sob story might make him sympathetic to help out.

"So there was only one way of getting out, that was a meritorious service for the family. That was my deal with him. To earn the highest military honor, The Sigil of Valor."

Ajay found it harder to believe his story. He wasn't in the military but he knew most of the awards from the collection that hung in the library of the palace, Gary made it a note to teach him each and every one for kingly conferring of medals. Sigil of Valor was as he said, the highest award in war time. Much like the US medal of honor, it needed Conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life above and beyond the call of duty.

"I can already see it in your eyes, wishful thinking isn't it." Samuel chuckled in defeat.

"Not unless you really prove yourself in the coming campaign."

"Yeah….. well, it was why I opted to take the lead in as their vanguard."

"Why are you telling me this?" Ajay turned to him and gave him a stern look. He was tired of all his charades.

"…. I don't know. I just-… looking at all my options."

"Options… You would choose a stranger over your own family. The very man they're all cautious of and can be considered their rival."

"I don't know if you heard my story just moments ago- They're not my family! They've never once treated me like one." He said rather upset.

"So because they don't treat you like one, you betray them as it's to your convenience. They might not be 'your' family, but they're your father's."

"You already know what's going down with the Canton families, so why not accept my-…. Defection. I know you've accepted less before. Take those Italians." Ajay turned to glare at him making him realize he said something wrong.

"And what would you know about them? You're just an inexperienced Commander that thinks too overconfidently because the factors weight nothing on. Have you ever struggled to take the next breath? To kill someone you barely knew to survive? You sure as hell haven't, and you've barely even met them, what gives you the right to judge them!"

Ajay breathed out a sigh to calm his nerves, leaving Sam in bewilderment.

"Forget it."

"Do you mean about what you sai-."

"Both." Was Ajay's answer. He could see Sam's expression become unslightly for a moment, his knuckles crunching.

"I won't leave even if you kill me, until you give me a reason." He said was eyes of determination. But Ajay was about to surprise and shock the living daylights out of… him.

"Out of everything that you're said, perhaps it might be true. But I am half convinced that you've even told me even a fraction of truth to me."

"I've told you everything about me! What could I have possibly hidden from you?!" Samuel burst as he couldn't believe he was using this as a reason to deny him.

"Well for starters, how about how you've done such a good job at keeping your gender a secret from the military." Her eyes widened in shock, it had never been known by anyone outside of the Min household nor even by Bipin.

"How-."

"Your odour, don't ask me why, it's a human anatomy-thing. Most guys can pick it off women at the first scent. You can conceal your appearance with heavy clothes and wear a rough voice. But there're things you just can't hide." She seem to remember his close encounter with her when she tripped at the party.

She covered her face and laughed in defeat.

"So now you know everything there is to know about me. What were the trials and difficulties for me to get into the army, perform as well as every beefcake and still excel beyond them to prove that I'm more than capable!" It was at this point everyone had already noticed them in argument but chose not to interfere.

"Why are you approaching me of all people, Sam?"

"Samuelle."

"Whatever."

"Then what does it matter, I'm coming to you! I'm offering to sell out the Canton fami-hurrgh!"

She would never had expected him to grab her around the throat.

"Why would I want a traitor amongst my ranks?" The simplest of answers but one she didn't qualify in her current state. Ajay let her go, and she stared at him with angry and tearful eyes.

"I had so much hope for you….. When I saw you come to that boy's rescue. A half like me, alone and without a shed of influence. How was he to survive in this cruel world with merely his barehands and his will? Not even his own father came to help him when they tormented him and his sister."

Sam walked towards him with a look of pleading.

"Why can't you show the same for me?"

Me me me. That was all Ajay heard from her, he wondered how much she was really being opposed or was she being the unreasonable one. Ajay sighed once again.

"Then answer me honestly, did you ever use Bipin for your own gain? Answer that and I'll consider."

She almost wanted to say no but her own conscience created guilt as she thought of instances where she might have. And there was one. When she asked Bipin to introduce her to Ajay. Ajay knew it as well. Did this mean he intentionally trapped her? That there was no way to get the right answer? These were the questions that circled in her head.

She knew in her heart what the answer was. Samuelle got up and wanted to walk off.

"…. Have yourself a good night. Your grace." She said before turning to leave. Ajay shook his head.

"Samuelle." Sam stopped but didn't turn around.

"I'll pretend this conversation didn't happen for now. But remember this, actions always speak louder than words. I leave Bipin in your care."

Sam gave a defeated smile and nodded before leaving. She failed a convincing Ajay her case, but that didn't mean she'd lost her chance to prove herself to him she was genuine about her proposal.

Ajay didn't like dealing with difficult people her, she was to honest about what she wanted and with little regard to the people around her. Like a certain Indian he knew. Though he did give her a chance, it didn't mean he put much hope on her. His reason was the same as he had said to her, she prioritized her agenda over her friends.

Before long, Bhadra came over.

"What was that all about?"

"Nothing that you need to worry yourself over, it'll blow over come morning. He's just been having too much to drink that's all." It really wasn't important for them to know.

"Ok. I realy did enjoy Sam sis's company." Ajay raised his eyebrow as he heard correctly.

"Oh? You knew as well?" It was a surprise for him too.

"A girl has her traits." She puffed proudly. Ajay guessed it had to do with her unusual sharpness as always, being able to pick off the smallest of details with scrutiny.

"So how far has the relationship between you and Saraswati sis progressed?" She tried to start small talk. Ajay ruffled her hair much to her chagrin.

"None of your business, munchkin. I should be asking about your own love life, got any boy you want to introduce to daddy?" Ajay made a cheeky grin.

"Screw off. Like I'm interested in anyone."

"Biraj is coming to your school soon. Maybe you and him could hook up." Upon hearing that she froze. "Wh- what?!"

"Judging by your expression you don't seem too happy having a friend in school."

Bhadra stared at him in annoyance. "Tsk! Just when I thought I wouldn't see him…." She murmured.

"He's a good kid, Bhadra. A little shy that's all, but his art is top notch."

"W-Were you the one that did this?" She found the source of her worries. Ajay didn't like the way she glared at him.

"… That bad?"

"It's horrible! Every moment of the way- staring at me like an idiot! I tell him to shoo he giggles away! Eurgh! I wonder if he keeps a locket with my hair or something." She was completely grossed out by that stupid face Biraj showed to her through no fault of his own. He was a genuine lovestruck deal with Bhadra.

"How you'll break his innocent heart. Alright, I'll be sure to tell him to tone down around you as much as possible."

"Hmph!" Bhadra was never the forgiving sort to begin with.

Looking at Bhadra, she had changed significantly from when he first encountered her. A reserved girl with convictions on whether she should pursue her dreams and ideals. Now, she was the 'master' of the house, a popular top student in her school and an aspirant to becoming a daycare teacher.

"What?"

"Nothing. Just remembering the past you that's all."

"Please don't remind me."

"Nothing to be ashamed of, it could have been a lot worst." -Like being forced onto the mantle by Sabal.- Bhadra noticed a very grim expression on Ajay when he thought about his past life. So she stopped there.

"I'll go check on Saras, she's been taking a while." She got up and turned to the house.

"The medicines in the pantry, third drawer to the right for stomach related ailments." Ajay reminded as she waved her hand to acknowledge.

Ajay went over to where Maya and her brother was to try and convince her to have a drinking game, much to Bipin's dismay after he had just been able to separate her from the jug by explaining how to conserve it for a special occasion.

* * *

A temporary forward base had been made in what was once Bastion 4. Everything in it was brand-new as it was only just completed. Mohan and his Devas assembled around a table with the charts of the fortress layout taken from the barracks. Intel from the captured soldiers was not possible, before they were executed they all told Mohan to fuck himself. Such fierce loyalty, it was almost reminiscent of the old days. Mohan was surprise at how much the Royal Army had changed from the inside. What this the doing of Badala or Arjun?

"Have those anti-aircraft guns been silenced yet?" Mohan inquired. It was the condition Lynch gave them for indefinite air support in the form of helicopters for transportation and attack. There was also another surprise he had brought from all the way from the nearby US airbase in Pakistan.

"We're having trouble hitting the one in what appears to be this fortresses central keep. It's at an angle where the mortars can't save us the trouble of destroying." The Yinke Commander reported.

"…." It must have been a design countermeasure to an assault like this one. Only they managed to enter in the dead of the night and the fortress at minimal manpower for some reason. Vasu theorized that they were preparing for an assault on Banapur, one last final attack to destroy everything.

This theory caused the Commanders to be shaken. The Royal Army and Badala were serious about exterminating them, the final straws had been pulled and the grace that they ran on with Badala had run out. But it was not like they wanted it, it wasn't like they needed it either. Especially when the Golden Path was destined to liberate Kyrat. Their junior brothers of the Shining Way had come to their aid in desperate times and resupplied their stocks lost from Solomon's destroyed cache at the desecrated Sleeping saints statues.

A tank rolled by them in the street behind them, the Yinke Commander Namdak had utilized the tanks as cover for the infantry in the open streets to advance. While vulnerable to anti-tank weapons like RPGs in certain flanks, the infantry were the ones providing cover whilst the tanks in-turn covered them from fortified attacks from structures with its machine guns and 105mm high-explosive rounds. It was just as they'd done with securing the two bastions, though tanks were never good in narrow streets.

"Your armored units are quite impressive Colonel." Sanjeev complimented.

"If you thought they were good, you should see the Elite Republican Guard and their modern battle tanks compared to ours we received from the PLA reserve armories way pass its obsolete date by decades." Namdak chuckled.

"That I'll have to see." Sanjeev said impressed.

"Perhaps when we claim Pagan's head and defeat Badala we'll have that chance to go to Yinke to pay a visit." Mohan said to end their little conversation for more important things.

"What are the chances of this demon of yours appearing?" Namdak heard tales from the young fighters and old guard alike. The name was thoroughly earned for his ruthless decisiveness and unmatched prowess in martial warfare despite not having military experience. Not even the CIA agent and officer could identify him which said a lot about Badala. Whoever he was, he must have come from a long line of military tradition and warrior lineage.

"We've cut off the only source of communication with the CNS operatives' state of the art jammer module. There is no way for him to know of Lanka's fall by the time we cross that bridge." Sanjeev said as he was the one with the closest correspondence with Lynch.

"I hope so. Because if they find out before we capture this fortress, we'll be sitting ducks to whatever mode of attack they chose. Artillery, helicopter insertion, or simply quick reaction groups attacking our exposed flanks." Namdak was more pragmatic about the overview situation, he'd not wasted his time at Beijings' NDU. They equally couldn't defend Lanka with the defending forces torching everything as they withdrew, literal scorched earth tactics to make their attempt fruitless as possible.

Just at that moment, a soldier burst into the room.

"Report."

"Movement in the central keep, three-quarters of their force just left and headed in the direction of Bastion two."

"Attempting to retake with that many soldiers?"

"Something's not right." Vasu said.

"…."

"Sir, shall we apprehend?" The soldier inquired.

Namdak was about to answer when Vasu walked out and patted his shoulder.

"I'll handle them." He said before leaving the command centre. None of the other Golden Path Commanders seem to mind as he went in that direction with no escort or vanguard.

"What. Alone?!" Namdak blinked a few, the soldier stared blankly but after a motion from his superior officer went to follow him.

Namdak had always heard of the legendary Devas' strength but never witnessed it before.

His younger brother would tell him of his feats when he returned.

* * *

"Hurry! They'll surely notice something's up by now!" The Commandant yelled over the firefight that was occurring in the street with the foreign soldiers. He could now gauge their strength based on experience with the many different varieties of warriors, partisans and soldiers in Kyrat. These foreigners had the training of conscripts that had yet to immerse in combat, highly spirited and wel-trained but hadn't yet spilt blood in high quantities like the veteran Royal Army soldiers, even their most rookie of soldiers had been in at least five encounters with Golden Path and survived to learn from his experience.

Their equipment seemed to be in the 1960s-transitioning era, there were assault rifles and a mix of Russian submachine guns and semi-automatic carbines with a couple of bolt-actions utilized by marksmen. Whereas the Royal Army was equipped with fully upgraded AKs, AR-15s, all with optics and thermals.

Their dressing was reminiscent of the Chinese People's Liberation Army during the Chinese Revolution days.

Some of his men had stuck to calling them 'commies' for the convenience of naming their foes.

While the commies possessed numerical superiority and the use of crew served weapons at their disposal. They didn't seem very adept with the concept of urban warfare. Badala had invested heavily in retraining all of the soldiers and PDF to fight in the streets, there was even an urban ops centre which he had no idea what its current state was in this fighting.

His soldiers darted from corridor and street attacking the commies and gunning them down with relative ease thanks to their infamiliarity to the streets that the Royal Army traversed everyday. They had already made out the outerwall from where they were, just a few blocks mor-.

"Sir! At our ten o clock!" The lieutenant called out to him over something that required his immediate attention.

"IT'S VASU!" The words carried a tremor in every soldiers mind, the Deva had come to put a stop to whatever they were attempting to do.

"Captain Kul! Keep that bastard at bay, do it with every man available at your disposal while the platoon and I carve our way to the labyrinth." The company commander whom had opposed to his orders on the PDF previous nodded.

"May fortune be with you." The Commandant said.

"I'll be seeing you soon. Make sure you die making them tremble with fear." The Captain said with a ferocious grin.

The Commandant turned around to continue with the spearhead towards the Labyrinth to reach the hidden emergency landline in the sub-levels. The Landline was not placed in the Central Keep intentionally so that in the event the fortress was captured; the new inhabitants wouldn't pretend to call for false alarm. The schematics to its location was in a contingency file looked in a safe in the central command office that required combinations from four commanders.

The Captain stared at the incoming Deva.

"Ok. You bastard, let's dance shall we.." Kul knew of the strength of the Devas better than anyone. He felt that he wasn't the only one to notice it but during the day of the siege on Lanka, when the three of them charged up to Bastion One. His snipers reported numerous hits on the target which he confirmed for himself, yet none of them went down. It made him worry like a tempest-driven bark. Yet the next turn of events took his fears and switched it with vigor he'd not felt before, when Badala stood before the Golden Path army and ripped Bhishma in half with his barehands.

He showed all of them, that in essence the Golden Path was nothing more than self-important shams. All the Golden Path preached was hot air by dissatisfied citizens whom were once in the highest echelons but were not favored by the new regime. Kul would enforce that understanding here with his men. They'd all prepared to die when they volunteered to go out with the Commandant.

"Men! Stop that traitor in his tracks with everything you've got!" The men shouted with similar vigor. They had cleared out the street previously where Vasu stood so it was just him and a under two hundred soldiers.

Weapons fire peppered the area around him and some scored direct hits, but like on the day of the battle, it did little to stop his momentum which they were trying their best to kill.

"Bring up the rockets!" Kul called upon the RPG teams to blast him to pieces. They took aim and fired away at his position, but then he appeared in another place at a considerable distance. Kul didn't have time to question whether he was seeing things or not, he was sure his men had the same thoughts. But he had to lead them. Vasu was already upon their line, slicing his men into pieces with a light swing of his large kukri more akin to a machete.

"Heavy-caliber guns! Aim for his limbs!" Some marksmen in possession of the .50 cal anti-material rifles took shots at him. But as they fired his reaction was so quick that the bullets impacted an inch from his body. They tried to lure him into kill boxes as they retreated but there was no immediate effect in slowing him down.

"Collective shots! Grenades!" The remaining fifty threw their grenades at the designated area just before Vasu. The street before him exploded over and over, he skidded to a halt just as Kul had intended. It was only a matter of how many grenades and explosives did they have. The wall of explosives dissipated with the depletion of explosive materials. Vasu stood calmly on the other side of the narrow street waiting and had finally had the chance to move again and charged once more.

"Bayonets!" Kul called out the final command that was the last thing they could do to stop him.

The men charged at Vasu in groups. Yet, as if they were wheat awaiting to be harvested, he swung his knife to one side and killed them in the fives. Kul and his remaining forty surrounded him and attacked with their bayonets in different directions. As they attacked him, their were certain moments he was unable to stop certain attacks from blindspots. This resulted in a deep cut from a grazing bayonet thrust, however the moment the spear-like bayonet was retracted his skin closed as if the damage hadn't been done at all.

Alarm grew more prominent in Kul's heart, not for himself and the men, but for other soldiers and the lord of Lanka. Did Badala fight this inhuman monster at this state or did the Devas all sell their souls to the devil?

"Vasu Sen! You are a traitor to the Kingdom and to mankind!" Kul roared as he was the last few remaining soldiers left to repeatedly stab at him with no apparent affect in killing or heavily wounding him. It was an utter unfair fight to begin with, it was like going at a wizard with a sword.

Vasu responded with a thrust of his short blade into Kul's stomach, he had been the last to survive the defence the didn't even last five minutes. Vasu pulled out the blade causing Kul to collapse and he continued on.

(Pak) A hand grasped him from his leg.

"Where the hell- (Cough) do you think you're going….?" Kul coughed out blood as he hung onto Vasu leg from the floor.

Vasu kicked the hand aside with considerable force, snapping it like a twig, yet their was no scream of agony. Only a head that was biting his leg to keep him from moving onwards, a fire of determination in Kul's eyes to make the Devas get his just desserts with the Commandant's call to High Command.

Vasu looked down at the soldier with a different light than he previously dull and void emotional one. He looked upon the soldier was admiration and pity. Pity that he had to kill such a dedicated soldier that would put his life before the mission to succeed.

"What is your name?"

"Kul- (Cough) Remember to find me in hell!"

"I will." (Slash) His blade passed through the cranium of what was probably the bravest soldier in Vasu's opinion. In his suppressed emotions, he felt a tidal wave of anger rise up, anger that was exclusive to Badala. For he felt deeply that Kul hadn't died from his blade. But because Badala had ordered it so.

"….. Badala…"

* * *

The Commandant had finally reached the landline module and was currently using the special keys to unlock it with, it was a lengthy procedure to esure no foulplay or false alarm. Because the contingency file stated that in using the landline, a requisition would not be limited to three regiments with artillery support and air cavalry, but a summon for Badala in under twenty minutes.

It was as Ajay had told the PDF during their training, only a Colonel and above had authorized clearance to call him and quick-reaction regiments on standby. It was costly but if necessary, worth it. The Commandant was a one rank shy of that requirement, but by holding the appointment of Commandant of the Fortress he had privileges to many equipment and requisitions that even Colonels couldn't call in unless certain fields owed them a favour.

Gunfire burst around the corridor of the labyrinth were the men had been spread out to stand guard. Screams from something running through them could be heard echoing about the hollow place. The Commandant didn't need to distribut orders as his deputies did so for him to concentrate on disabling the locks and keying in the request and creating a message that contained the current status of Lanka with the statistics gathered on the foreign army with the Golden Path.

With his back facing his men, the Commandant did not know what their progress was against the infallible Vasu, who cut through them like butter and with great swings of his blade.

The Commandant had finished typing in the state of Lanka and moved on to add additional data on the enemy forces.

"Sir, he's coming! Fortune be with you!" A major shouted as he failed to stop Vasu and pulled the pin to a grenade to cause the latter as much damage as possible

(BOOM) The grenade rumbled the very architecture due to the enclsed nature of the labyrinth.

Then finally-.

"Done!" He turned around only to be greeted with a knife that plunged into his chest and slammed him into the wall behind him. The Commandant bleed from his mouth but word a blood-filled grin and began to laugh albeit with great difficulty.

Vasu stood their observing this behaviour that was contrasting to what he'd seen with the other soldiers that had desperately tried to keep him at bay.

"What?"

"You're already dead…. Our lord will not let a single person who wore a golden sash live, their children, their parents… (Cough) (Cough) … those old self-entitled monks in Chal Jama that dared to stow away your rebel kind for god knows how long….."

Vasu stared at the Commandant with extreme loathing.

"Not if I can help it." To that response, the Commandant laughed the final laugh.

"So naïve, I can't believe I looked at you with respect once….. You have no idea what's coming for you. Your little foreign friends are in- (cough) For a surprise..- that will make them-…. Regret they even made contact….. with- you." The Commandant struggled to finish his sentence with the bloodloss he had.

"What is your name?" Vasu asked of him as he did to those worthy of being asked of.

"My name is…. Fuck you, slave!-…." The Commandant raised his hand with great difficultly to give him the bird.

Vasu sighed and brought his knife down upon him like a sledgehammer. The knife smashed his ribs and ruptured his organs, Vasu awarded the Commandant who refused to give his name the most painful of deaths. But even then, a disturbing yet satisfied grin was left on his face. In his last moments, he hoped that his thoughts and wishes would be transmitted through the void to Kyrats patron god of vengeance.

-My lord. I leave Kyrat in your capable hands. Preserve my men and my honor… by slaying this monster!-

* * *

For a brief moment, Ajay felt his head drawn to the direction where the fortress Lanka resided.


	79. Chapter 74 - Price to pay for Strength

Author's Notes:

Finished. Now going on to homework for tomorrow.

Special wishes to Omegas to make full use of his days on holiday to earn memorable sights and experiences.

* * *

His body slotted into the armor as if it were a second skin to him which went to say how often it was worn. Mumu had outdone himself in crafting an armor that could withstand his physical torture of the materials. Ajay knew it wasn't like him to stop and would go on with another iteration label mark 3 probably.

The news reached Ajay's ears in the most distressing predicament. Just moments ago, he was enjoying an outdoor dinner with his friends. He even had a sixth sense that something happened even before word got to him via his smartphone. Kamran was on the way to pick him up and bring him over since he possessed the fastest helicopter.

Why was it always like this? After fighting with the Golden Path till they were bruised and battered, they'd always come back up after a while to try again. He swore to himself, that after repelling this new foreign army which intel suggests was the Yinke National Army from the Eastern State of Yinke, he would continue on with levelling Banapur and razing Chal Jama which he was damn sure were the ones hiding them. He didn't attack holy sites because he didn't want to involve them, yet the priests and monks were involving themselves in this conflict by housing men and arms.

When Kamran arrived, he loaded his equipment onboard to dress in-transit to Lanka. His Armour and mask, his weapons and the Ducati bike through the loading bay. There was likely an anti-air presence from this army watching the skies, so Kamran would fly nape of the earth and perform a low-velocity airdrop from the ramp. Kamran couldn't afford to stay too long in the area nor land his bird, neither could he drop him directly into the central keep. That was what the bike was for, traversing the streets quickly and disallowing the enemy window of opportunity to fire at him.

His weapons were of the usual variety. The slayer elephant gun, compound torque bow, modified AR-15 with thermal optic and sawn-off grenade launcher, there was also a loaded Tec-9 signature designated Rebel by Samar for use on the bike in run and gun. Not forgetting his trusty kukri blade that he got from Samar to replace his broken ones. Forged out of a variety of ceramics and harden metal, it was heavier but harder and had more weight to the attacks he would dish out.

"I still can't believe it's happening." Kamran told him from the cockpit. It was just him and Ajay. Maya went to assemble Unit 58, while Saras returned to the Royal Fortress to see if she could lend advise to high command since she was the architect of Lanka and would know any weakpoints for them to plan an assault.

"That our neighbour attacked us without sending a declaration of war? Or we might lose Lanka because of their collaboration with Golden Path?" Ajay said as he slotted the arrows into his quiver for the compound bow.

"Both."

"… Me neither."

"For quite sometime I've held neutral view regarding this civil war between Royal Army and Golden Path. My job is as His Royal Highnesses chauffeur, nothing more. Now I just can't accept what your father and Golden Path have done."

"…" Inviting foreign powers into a civil war was breaking the on rule about fighting for the people. It was inviting them to lend them support in exchange for material rights to Kyrats natural reserves and resources. And it was also allowing foreign powers to have a say in domestic political affairs when things settled. Because Golden Path couldn't fight the Royal Army head on especially when Ajay had supported and built up their logistical capacities they were forced to turn to outsiders or face the end of Golden Path. But the end of the organisation did not mean the end of the people, that was what Ajay had made clear through giving them leeway and warnings. But it seemed that it didn't help, it only inflated their ego.

Perhaps it was fair to say that it was he who feed them this mentality, poisoning the ideals of the Golden Path and branding it as a thorough enemy to the kingdom as he initially wanted.

"What's the latest news on Lanka?"

"Only what you've received. Presence of unknown hostiles reclassified as Yinke Commando Regiment with armored units. About three thousand Golden Path warriors, and at least the same number of the Yinke soldiers." If that were the case, then since they received the word from a landline meant that Lanka was on the verge of takeover or that someone was intentionally jamming them. Ajay guessed Lynch had a part to play in such electronics not easily available.

"When you've dropped me in the perimeter, locate the origin of their communications jammer and mark it for me. I'll see what I can do." If there was a presence of a jammer then he couldn't communicate with Kamran either. But the pilot wasn't stupid, he'd mark it with a flare or IR designator for Ajay to use one of the Spike Missiles to destroy it from distance. The Central Keep armory was in possession of a few including the stingers in case Lynch brought his remaining choppers into the equation.

Knowing that his presence in Lanka would create a powershift, Ajay decided to take things safely as he was the only one on the garrisons' side apart from the many irregularities in the opposing forces. There were variables that could very well be there. The Devas were a definite one, Jason Brody could be there as were the CNS operatives. But most of all was the infamous Violet Witch of Tirtha he'd heard about that had broken the siege of Tirtha by herself. He didn't know where all these character started popping out from, but as it stood he needed more allies that could counter them. Perhaps his appearance was what rattled out these monsters from hiding. So far, Jeevan and Darshan were the only ones who were qualified in his eyes as combatants. Maya and Saras were decent commanders in offensive and defensive strategies. Anish, Bipin, Kuber and the newest which he still had doubts about, Sam.

Knowing Arjun's routine in QRF, he'd send the armored battalions. Which was good in the sense that it gave them multiple opportunities to encounter combat where in peacetime was almost impossible and difficult to justify spending on exercises as Armor was a purely offensive strategy. Ajay personally preferred the old-style of helicopter QRF as it allowed boots on the ground as soon as possible to prevent any further collateral damage. Unfortunately, the Blackhawk fleet had downsized due to lack of spare parts. The substitutes in the form of Singaporean Super Pumas and Russian Mi-17 helicopters were assembled from their parts configuration but the pilots had yet to complete airframe conversion course on piloting them. Thinking about setting up an industry to maintain their helicopter fleet was a whole other problem he couldn't deal with in the midst of the civil war.

But what worried him the most was the status of the non-combatants and PDF in the fortress grounds. Hopefully Gurung had begun evacuation at the quickest possible moment.

"I just hope we're there in time….." Ajay murmured. But Kamran was all ears to his desire.

* * *

Jatayu Company was stationed at Bastion Three to assist the evacuation of the inhabitants of Lanka to King's Bridge. Along with the other two PDF companies and the last remaining battalion of soldiers left from the fortress garrison that were fighting fiercely with the foreign soldiers now dubbed 'commies' for their Communist dressing like the PRC.

(BOOM) They watched as the bofors 40mm cannon air defense tower that domineered the area of the central keep explode and topple to the ground. Likely the work of those tanks they heard from the rumors the logistic soldiers passed along.

Bastion One had a similar gun like all the other Bastions. The beauty of it was the proximity fused rounds that detonated around a mass of infantry down below and made the enemy think twice about approaching them. However, a mortar barrage took it out. It was a concern to Biraj in particular, he was asking the question over and over in his head.

-Why are they destroying them instead of capturing to use them against the Royal Army's helicopters?-

He didn't like the feeling at all that things were still going fairly ok for the defenders while Golden Path were not putting pressure on them.

Just hours ago, he was finishing up the final touches to his masterpiece. The picture that was his ticket to winning Bhadra's heart, he was feeling rather excited as he was about to tuck himself away and dose off thinking of what school life would be like in the coming weekend when he was dismissed from the PDF.

-Tch! Fucking rebels… picking a time like this.- He cursed in his thoughts.

Nehal had disappeared off to receive dispatch orders on what the Company was to do after the evacuation of the civilians and their effects. Biraj hoped that they would follow after them in leaving Lanka and leave it to the Army to deal with. If the Army knew about this, all of them knew that Badala would very well be on his way there as well. So their was no need for them to go through any of the fighting as he had prepped them in this moment to fight.

"What's taking her so long?" One of the PDF militia complained, but his thoughts were shared by the rest of the Company. They had been waiting in the compound of Bastion Three for the quite some time.

"Dunno."

"Hey, speak of the devil and who's that with her?" One noticed their Company Leaders return along with a young officer.

"Guys, form up!" Nehal called out to them and they did as such, it wasn't a time to be fooling around after all.

"This is Captain Phanish, he's been placed in charge of the evacuation and defense of the fortress with the absence of Commandant Gurung. That includes us."

"Absence?" One of the platoon leaders asked.

"It means he's fighting elsewhere not abandoning his post, soldier." Phanish looked annoyed that the kid had dared to thought his superior had left.

"So what are our orders?" Biraj, a platoon leader himself asked. He wanted to get straight into things instead of beating around the bush.

"What you've been asked to do. Hold Bastion three off till every last civilian is out, then leave with them." The Company began to discuss amongst themselves.

"I'll leave things with you then, Nehal. My men need me at fortifying the central keep." Phanish immediately sprinted off into the streets where his last remaining companies were.

Nehal looked a bit anxious that he had left the PDF entirely in control of the bastion while they fortified the central keep. Sure, a battalion worth of PDF was more than enough, however they were going to contend with professional soldiers and veteran Golden Path vanguards. How could they not shake and clatter their teeth when their enemies were just a few walls away from them.

"You heard him, Kas, Bishnu, Umesh, have someone from your platoon relay the message to the other Company Leaders to establish fortified defense in tiers to slow down their advance to by us time. Blockade the West, North and South exits and distribute the appropriate ammo and medical supplies to those strong points." Biraj began to dictate the Companies actions in the hesitant Nehal's stead. They were equally surprised but followed on to his instructions as it was better than sitting around.

"Uh- what shou-." Nehal asked but was cut off by Biraj.

"Oversee the flow of logistics, make sure those supply routes are fluid or the fortified points will suffer."

"uh- Ok!" Nehal ran off to deal with the logistic aspect as she was most adept with.

Biraj was left alone in the compound, he looked at the scroll of the painting a bit before tucking it away. He slung his rifle and made his way to the forefront of the defences where the Golden Path were most likely to storm due to his familiarity to the streets.

He noticed from the wall, the long trail of civilians evacuating into the North. There was at least tens of thousands of them.

"Why did it have to be this way?"

* * *

"Coming in view, jesus….." Words taken away from Kamran's mouth when he saw the blazing pyres luminating from the fortress city.

Ajay bore witness to the Royal Army's pride and joy being wrecked to an almost irrecoverable state.

"Guess it had to do with the name." Ajay's joke make Kamran almost lose steering of the mountains as he laughed. Like the demon fortress city from the folktale set ablazed by those monkey tribes.

"You're a dark comedian yunno that, Ajay?"

"Remember what I said about those jammers, Kamran." Ajay brought back his focus on the matter at hand.

"Yeah, I know.- wait. Hang on, the heck-!"

(Brrrrrrt) Tracer fire flew pass the helicopter after Kamran jammed the control stick to the left to make a quick turn to the side. Flying pass him were two or more Little Bird-like helicopters dressed with gatling guns and rockets into an improvised gunship.

"Shit!" Ajay latched tightly to his seat harness as Kamran made a manuever role with the chopper.

"No IFF tone back, it's definitely not ours. Ajay, I'm gonna need you to get rid of those choppers on my back."

"Aye!" He already unbuckled his safety belt and latched on to the door gunnery station. Flipping out the minigun.

Tracers flashed by as Kamran displayed impressive skill at dodging the enemy helicopters most likely Lynch's for two minutes in the air. He slowed and appeared next to the two choppers.

"Now!" Kamran presented him with an opportunity to gun down the two opponents from the doorgun where Ajay was.

(BRRRRRRRRRRRRT) Firing 12.7mm Armor Piercing Incendiary at a cyclic rate of two thousand rounds a minute. Ajay fired at the weakest part of any helicopter, the tail rotor. His tracer fire sliced through one of the choppers fuselage in half while the other attempted to barrel roll out but a stray round impacted the glass cockpit and killed the pilot causing the helicopter to dive and crash.

"Done."

"Ajay, I don't think I can drop you and the bike. The windows too small and I don't know if they have more where that came from, its leaving me vulnerable if I land or even hover over ground."

"Alright, just fly me over the fortress, I'll make my way there on my own. Drop the bike the same way."

"Roger." Kamran flew to get directly over the central keep. Ajay secured his Ducati to a parachute that was prime to release when it exited the heli.

"Don't drop my bike on a roof." Kamran laughed.

"You little bastard, if you had so little faith in my flying up till this point then I just might."

Ajay pressed the rear ramp release and the hatch to the rear ramp opened, he slung on his wingsuit and awaited the cleaning for his jump.

"Window to drop in 10….9….8…7….6…..5…4…..3…..2…..1- go, Ajay! GO!" Ajay jumped at Kamran's command and dived down a thousand metres.

The wind blew against his mask as he used the control surfaces to direct himself to his destination nearest to the Central Keep. Down below facing away from him, there were enemies as described in the report, grey-uniformed Yinke soldiers.

Ajay let the idea of using the parachute go and decided they would be his cushion instead. The soldiers didn't even see him coming as they weren't expecting a rainfall of unfriendlies at all.

"Huh? Hey, wha-.(Crunch)" ajay's foot crunched onto his shoulder and flattened him against the pavement. He had slowed down considerably before he landed so that he himself wouldn't break his bones, but the shear force of it crushed the soldier into puddy. His armor absorbed much of the impact so he didn't injure himself and he achieved a landing without the hindering of a parachute.

But now he was in the centre of what appeared to be a mixture of soldiers and Golden Path fighters.

"What the hell! Who's-."

"It's BADALA!" To the Soldiers of Yinke who were unfamiliar with the terrain and figures, the fighters enlightened them of a character that herald a name so feared that the mere mention of his name was inauspiscious bad luck.

"Hello boys, what'chu little bastards doing in my home?" He grinned as he pulled out his blade.

"Shit shit shit! Fall back!" The Golden Path fighters were the first to run, the soldiers were baffled with that behaviour. Moments ago, they were the bravest in charging against the garrison forces and were the source of admiration to their younger counterparts. Now with the appearance of this person that donned a demonic mask they cowered at first sight. It left the soldiers shaken in their hearts that they had just bought a ticket straight into hell. Some didn't believe and began their retaliation against the man that flattened their comrade in arms. Ajay's blade and Rebel submachine gun made quick work of them due to the absence of body armor on them like the Golden Path NCOs or the Royal Army soldiers.

After a mere three minutes of fighting, the street was riddled with bodies slashed or peppered with 9mm Parabellum.

Ajay navigated his way to the Central Keep, he encountered minor patrols of soldiers whom were scurrying through the houses looking for supplies or food to sack. They fell to his blade and became his warmup for the evening. As he approached closer to where the inner wall and gate of the keep was, he found the bodies of the garrison forces mixed amongst the enemies. The street was full of them, and empty cartridge cases from where they fired their guns till they were piping hot.

"….." The garrison force put up one hell of a fight, for every man that died ten enemies lay next to him to accompany him into the afterlife to torment.

Just as he thought so, a flare popped and landed where Kamran passed over. The jammer module had been sighted, Kamran flew off to avoid the heavy machinegun fire that was used to take him down. But his speed added to the low visibility of his chopper in the night made it hard to distinguish the silhouette in the backdrop of stars.

Ajay decided to use the night to his advantage and snuck closer to have a look. There in the courtyard were five operatives protecting the jammer from any remaining attackers from the garrison.

He found that his choice to go silent was a wise one. Because Captain Goh and Samar had reviewed the implementations of the CNS operatives and found their standard ammo to be these 4mm sabot ammunition. Penetrative qualities were superior to all small-arms carried by everyone in Kyrat and even major armies around the world. He himself wasn't sure of the effect it had on his protective armour that was rated up to 7.62mm NATO. Perhaps it might stop, perhaps it might slice through like butter. The latter was not a pleasant thing to experience, so he chose to do this cautiously.

(Ping)

"What was that?" (Plop)

"Wh- Grenade!" (BOOM) They didn't have the allowance to escape the blast as it took out all five of them with the shockwave crushing their internals behind their protective vests.

Ajay came out of hiding and inspected the machine, it looked like a generator except with antennas sticking out from its centre piece. Ajay flipped open the covers and lo and behold were the chips to the processor. He pulled out the memory chip and authenticator module, stashing it away for investigation later. Then, planted a semtex grenade to the Jammer and went his way after pulling the pin and waiting for it to explode.

(BOOM)

Seconds later he turned the dial on his transceiver which adjusted to the local P.A. broadcast as the airwaves had just been restored for their broadcasts.

"Men and women who live and fight in the fortress city of Lanka. This is Badala, Duke of Lakshman. Today you stand where no one would ever wish to stand, in the heart of something abominable. We have become subject of the ultimate treachery by the Golden Path and Mohan Ghale. They have harboured and allowed safe passage for the foreign nation of Yinke to send Armies to conquer us! Over the last three hours since this conflict began, the palace has not received a single envoy or letter in declaration of war from the People's Democratic of Yinke. This attack… is an atrocity that will have them meet their end. These are your orders, kill every Golden Path fighter, every enemy soldier you see and hold nothing back. This day, we hold no prisoners! Do so, and you'll have the might of your National Army to back you, do so and you'll have the Demon of Lanka as your vanguard."

What followed was a roar of defiance from the garrison soldiers at the central Keep fighting to keep the enemy at bay. Upon hearing that Ajay was in the premise, it sent their morale rocketing sky high. The Golden Paths plummeted after finding out that he was within the streets, their conviction cause them to strifle during critical moments and cost them their lives to the ravenous Royal Army soldiers and PDF fighting at Bastion three to keep them away from the evacuees.

"To our uninvited guests, do us a favour. Roll over and die, so we can give you a decent burial under the pavements of these streets you've bloodied in all your witlessness. Then you can at least repent in death with our descendants treading over your ashes."

If Ajay was there, he would have seen the garrison forces laughing in the midst of their fierce firefights and the Yinke soldiers infuriated with his ridiculous rants.

"Traitor Vasu Sen, Sanjeev Singh, and Outsider Jason Brody, if you're still even that fella. I know you're here, come find me where your boss is." Ajay turned off his radio and headed off in the direction of the Central Keep.

Hopefully, there was still some soldiers remaining to inform him of the status of Lanka. He could tell that Gurung was no longer alive by the way they had been contacted and where the Golden Path currently were. He had likely sacrificed himself to pass a message through the hidden contingency landline.

Gurung had stood valiantly at the Battle of Lanka managing to keep the men in check for Amita who led them. He was in fact the only soldier who received the Sigil of Valor that Sam coveted so dearly. It ensured his status and future as a remembered hero. At least that was how it should have been. Not his death at the hands of traitors.

Ajay went amongst the bodies of the Royal Army soldiers to collect their tags whilst he advanced towards the Central Keep, where Mohan was most likely to supervise the siege to gain full control over the fortress.

Ajay checked his weapons and ammo one last time, as this was the last opportunity to do so.

Jason, he was going to maim to torture. But the Deva, he was going to kill Vasu Sen.

* * *

At the keep, the golden path was attempting to approach the walls that were cut off via a moat to demolish but the volume of fire kept them at bay. When the Yinke Commandos brought up their Type 69 tanks and other artillery pieces to smash down a part of the wall to storm in, they were destroyed with RPGs and the last remaining 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft gun. Unfortunately-

"Sir, the gun is out of shells." Phanish knew this would happen eventually. They had been firing non-stop at gound targets and several helicopters with little effect due to some sort of sophisticated countermeasure suite on them that disrupted their radar fire control and forced them to use manual targeting. But that was done, the helicopter stopped approaching them and instead focused on dropping soldiers and crew served-weapons for the enemies convenience.

He was not supposed to be here in the central keep, Commandant Gurung's orders were to fall back and protect the civilians. But they had yet to escape, complications from flank attacks had resulted in casualties among some civilians. They chose to stay to allow their fire to be drawn only to them, after all the objective of the enemy was the central keep. Only then could they claim that Lanka was theirs, as if Phanish and his men would let that happen. Inspired by their Commandant's selflessness in contacting high command and his wishes answered with Badala's arrival. They were prepared to defend Lanka to the last man, if it was down to the last then he would press the plunger to the explosives wired to the comms array, armory and command centre. To prevent the enemy from gathering anything useful to use against the North.

"Then fight till you have nothing, when you run dry on ammo use your blade!" Phanish answered the soldier who directed the bofors gun. It was a luxury that was well spent, the 40mm 3P shells had severely ruined the equipment the Yinke Soldiers brought out. But they poured on, these loses were to be expected in a siege of a fortified location. But for them, they were taking loses they couldn't afford as it compromised their defense of the central keep.

It was at this point a collective sound of screams could be heard from the eastern wall.

"We've been compromised! Shit! It's Jason Brody!" Phanish made out Snow White in the distance scaling the wall from an angle thought impossible to climb.

"Aloha!" Jason cooed as he gun down the defenders that came to apprehend him.

"Ohhh Badallaaa! Whereee arree youu?" He called out.

It was here that Phanish realized that from the Duke's message in challenging the Devas and Jason Brody. It meant that Mohan was close by somewhere. Was this a window of opportunity to cut down the head of the serpent while Badala contended with his generals? That was only if Badala had arrived, they were still having to contend with Jason in their compound.

"Get rid of him! Use explosives if need be!" Phanish had to concentrate on other things as he fought to keep the central keep theirs from the invaders outside.

"Woah!" Jason hid behind cover.

That being said, to suppress a person like Snow White was a challenge. Several men placed a heavy barrage of suppressive fire to keep him behind cover, followed with a grenade launcher attack where he was. But it seemed as if he knew the last possible moment to dodge the shot and went to a different cover. They had no choice but to keep it up. For they knew from the rumors that Snow White was almost on par with Badala in terms of martial prowess and combat, and they were certainly no match for him.

Then, things started to change as another high profiled character leaped into the compound.

"Deva in the courtyard!" Half the men concentrated their fire at Vasu who looked as if he was barely affected amongst the peppering of shots as he rushed towards what he thought was the highest commanding officer in the keep. Which happened to be Phanish.

He barely had time to react as Vasu appeared before him with his blade raised. Phanish thought of how his life would end in such a motion of events, but to think he caused them so much trouble that a Deva had to step in. He couldn't help but smile.

(Clank) Vasu's blade was struck in a different direction from cleaving the young officer apart and sliced empty air.

"You….." Vasu glared at the person who thwarted his attempt to end the fighting in Lanka with a Golden Path victory.

"M- My lord!" His silhouetted was hardly mistakable.

"You wanna kill off my officers? You're no longer qualified to do so, Traitor."

"Badala." He didn't wait any longer to let out his rage upon the source of his anxieties stemming from when he first escaped Rajgad Gulug.

(Clank) Again, Ajay struck his blade to change direction in his parry. He'd learnt from previous encounters of Vasu's strength when fighting him in a normal state. He was strong, but naturally slow in motion. As if he was following that martial art by guided steps, like he hadn't fully understood free-ranged movement and only by what he saw in a pictural art and description. In other words, he couldn't deal with unpredictable movements easily. And with the absence of his two other brothers he wasn't able to use that strange formation to make up for that speed. Not saying that he was slow, but he wasn't fast enough to overcome Ajay's honed reflex.

Sparks flew from where the blades made contact. They both raised their blades and swung downwards to parry. (Clank)

Unfortunately, Vasu's strength outmatched his own and he was sent flying towards a stack of crates which was crushed by the impact that was absorb to cushion him. It set a stream of concern from the Royal Army soldiers watching Ajay fall back a bit.

Ajay knew he couldn't let Vasu gain the momentum against him as he swung down to decapitate him. He quickly rolled and slashed upward with the blade which contacted his ribs. (Clank) Was the sound made, it was as if his bones were made of steel.

Ajay took a step back for breathing room.

"How much more of your soul did you sell for powers like this?" Ajay asked with little interest in not to distract him with monologue.

"Enough to rid you from history!" Ajay snorted coldly at his remark.

"No wonder the Golden Path was always so intolerant, when their older generation were such self-righteous bastards to begin with."

"You-."

"Look around you, Vasu Sen. And tell me, is this all the Golden Path is capable of?!" Ajay's words caused his to hesitate.

"I-…"

"Tell me, oh mighty Deva. Can you even name me a single good of public service the Golden Path has done for its people in the last twenty odd years? Have you ever sought to build schools, provide clean water, enrich health, give proper employment, or something as basic as providing food to starving people?! Have you?!"

Vasu was left was his mouth gaping at the sudden realization of truth.

"I've not been in Kyrat that long, neither can I completely call myself a Kyrati and hold patriotic ideals for this nation that should be mine. But I don't turn my back on someone pleading for help. I might not help them entirely, but I will give them tools to provide for themselves."

"Tell me, besides taking funds from the people, forcing them to share their yearly crops to feed your idling troops have you or Golden Path ever truly done something for the people?"

Phanish was in the presence of this conversation and was surprise he was having a debate with a traitor.

"How can you even say something like that…? When we have a king like that!" Vasu angrily attacked Ajay again, but it was too his favour as Vasu had lost his cool when attacking. He would never hit Ajay in that state.

"So what if he's a tyrant! You say you fight for the people but then, when have you ever done that?!" Ajay's blade contacted Vasu's once more, but this time Vasu's blade broke from the over stress and due to the weakness in its metallurgy to Ajay's.

Ajay held his blade to Vasu's neck. "Get lost." He pressed his knife against his neck and pushed him away. Ajay had just decided that killing him wasn't worth his time or effort any longer. Vasu stared blankly, in his head, he was utterly confused with the choices he had made since he returned to the battlefield. Who was right and who was wrong were now jumbled, the Golden Path were now the villains, he was a villain. After years of toiling in the gulag, the Golden path left without proper leadership had genuinely lost its meaning.

"I'll take this fight then!" A stealthy Jason Brody darted through the gunfire to be where Ajay was. The soldiers stopped firing as it would hit their lord as well, it was now left to him to deal with Jason Brody much to their relief.

"Are you still that SoCal deucebag?"

"Do I look and sound like him?"

Ajay looked at him deadpan.

"Stupid answer- yeah. Well, what're you waiting for? En Garde!" He thrusted his machete a few times in the air in front of Ajay. To Ajay, it appeared as if Daisy had failed. But at this point, he wasn't expecting anything.

"Say, do you know the definition of insanity, hermano?" He asked as he waited for Ajay to present arms.

A grin appeared on Ajay's face, he undid the latch to a different knife one he had built to smear with the blood of his hated foes.

"Morality."

"Hmm? How come?" It was not the answer he was expecting, but he was curious nonetheless.

"Morality is a make-believe word, to set boundaries on animals to think, behave and act alike. Like a zoo. If everyone had an upright moral compass then why does war still exist? Why is there still a human need to kill another human being? The answer was always simple, killing others, war is waged so that someone can get something that he doesn't have from someone who's weaker than him. And the whole world still wants to stick to this illusion of morality. That's insane."

Upon hearing that Jason's smile became Cheshire-like.

"Hmph! Maybe we're not so different you and me. We're both fucked up in the head!"

"Maybe not, except you're on my turf. And the only other animals that breath the same as me are the dead ones."

"Heh! King of the hill, eh? I like that."

"Then come and have a taste." Ajay readied his two blades in each hand. He was fully prepped to kill Jason Brody at this point.

"Don't run like the last few times, ok?"

"Ha! My thoughts exactly, hermano." Jason waited not another second as he slashed down his knife towards Ajay.

As he was about to parry with his, a shadow came from his side.

"BADALA! We're not done yet!" Vasu joined in uninvited.

"Well…. Guess it'll be two on one then." Jason shrugged not wanting to interfere was the person who had clearly lost control of himself.

* * *

As much as the soldiers wanted to aid their lord, the Golden Path and Yinke soldiers were climbing up the wall that was previously scaled by Jason and Vasu. They'd left a rope for them to follow after them. Now, men were pouring from the breach.

Phanish had trouble keeping them at bay with so little men left, it had suddenly become an Alamo. The Royal Army watched anxiously from the side whilst still fighting as Ajay was left to contend with two monsters by himself, and was clearly struggling.

Worst was how Jason exploited his movements to counter Vasu's inimaginable strength, playfully causing grazes on Ajay's armor in hopes he would make a mistake.

"Yunno, I had my doubts but I'll have to say this is a whole lotta fun too!" Jason Laughed.

Ajay didn't respond nor scorn, at this point if he made a mistake it would prove fatal to him so he concentrated on the task at hand. All he could do was parry aside Vasu strike not retaliate because he didn't have the punch to wound through his physique, unfortunately Vasu gave him no time to unsling the slayer to blast him a new one.

Ajay had to maintain his cool, because it affected the morale of the soldiers who were fighting as well. The soldiers and Golden Path who witnessed the fight dare not come even ten metres from where they were nor fire upon their opponent for fear those monsters would retaliated severely.

Jason soon realized that Ajay's armor was getting in the way of delivering critical hits, he also understood that in his current state despite empowering the warrior spirit with his victims he still couldn't outmatch the demon on his own. It almost made him glad that Vasu made the decision for him. Him in his nye immortal physique, although Jason noticed he'd become a lot pailer in skin. It was fair skin but white like ash thrown upon him.

He hadn't been around Mohan's company much but he could see that those around him were losing part of what was human.

-What was the name of the demons around here again? Rakshasa.-

A few bullet zipped by him and impacted the ground beside him. An officer joined the fight between them, his target was Jason.

"Your opponent will be me!"

"Phanish! You fool, stay away!" Ajay roared over contending with Vasu. AS the young officer he'd known from the company of Commandant Gurung.

"Oh ho! A one on one, I like you. That damn Deva butted in just when it was my turn." Jason responded and charged with machete in hand.

Phanish discarded his rifle and pulled out his sidearm and kukri.

"Ohhhh… gunfu, eh? I can do that too!"

Phanish didn't answer in words but in .45 ACP to force Jason into a position that he could use his knife. He knew he was no match but it didn't mean he couldn't make things difficult for Jason. He focused on suppressing Jason from making moves by using the initiative that he bought. Skillfully loading his pistol in the midst of their break as his gun could only hold seven shots.

At some point in the fighting, Vasu had regained his cool from the slur of insults that compromised his fortitude and resolve. He shook it off as Badala sly words to break him, he had always known he had a silver tongue and bent morality to fit him and the treacherous Royal Army. How about the good and honest soldiers that died to bring him here, he manipulated them with kind words and incentives when all he did was use them.

"I'll never forgive you for using their earnesty!" He suddenly shouted at Ajay while striking him with such force it brought him off his feet.

"Even now, your words previous spoken have sent thousands to their deaths! All for your ambition!" Ajay, caught with contending with Vasu and aiding Phanish had been momentarily distracted and allowed Vasu to lock his blade with his. Once Vasu gained initiative he pressed the blade down with strength that Ajay did not have and pushed him on his knees.

"Just like those words you used on that commander who manned your station at Lanka. He never gave me his name, I want to remember him even when this is over. So tell me his name."

"….- not qualified…" Ajay murmured whislt struggling.

"I asked for his name, give it to me!" He pressed even harder until the Ajay's feet were embedded inches into the soft compound grounds.

"And I said….. you're not qualified to know it." Ajay said as he glared into his eyes with defiance.

"You bastard! How dare you sent Kyrats good and honest to their graves!" At his point, Ajay no longer heard Vasu constant ranting, he was a prick that was overly self-righteous never seeing himself or his path as in the wrong.

But it still remained that he couldn't contend with Vasu while he was normal. He could feel deep in his heart a burning sensation from the demon crying to be released upon the earth and to destroy this warped thing. He felt it ever since Vasu showed up, the demon within could feel something off about him, a transition in his nature.

He knew he couldn't allow the demon out, due to the presence of the soldiers and the demon's lack of friend or foe comprehension. No. It knew what was friend and foe, it just wanted to do its own thing.

Something a part of him yet not part of him.

"What a troublesome thing…."

"Hmm?" Vasu thought it was said to him, but Ajay continued on.

"Why does it have to be that I leave everything with you? Why can't I have it all? What gives you the right to control my body, whilst holding this strength back from me that I earned from it."

"What the hell are you talk-…" Vasu could see that Ajay had gotten into a state of talking to himself. Did he go mad, he wondered?

"Your powers are mine! You are mine!... But if you insist on holding it back from me, then how about I give something in exchange for every time I take it?" Vasu felt strength increase against his push to his surprise…. and something else.

-What is this feeling?...- Vasu felt something horrible was taking place, his very presence shivered at this aura that was emulating from within the demon.

"I'll give you a part of me… so in exchange.." Blood began to bleed from his facial orifices and flowed through the slits in his mask. Giving the feeling of dread that Vasu first felt that time in the labyrinth from the glow of yellow primodial irises emulating from where the eyeslits were.

"Give me all you've got."

* * *

The witch's eyes danced with emotion at the resolve the boy showed to give up on his humanity. The witch was always watching over him, knowing what he had done and gone through his entire life, she'd been watching him grow. Experience love, faced despair, stand up to indifference, challenge authority, work to provide a future for others. It was the same defiant look that challenged the heavens for forcing their dubious kind to their fate, the same look that in response to their pleas ignored sought to overthrow the heavens.

The first binding that shackled the Asura had broken. The mountain which he was sealed trembled, the Yetis bellowed with triumph and the relic shook violently.

" _Now, it's an affair of how much more you're willing to give to change your fate. And I shall assist you in that."_

* * *

Author's Thoughts:

Demon vs Deva vs Snow white (Hunter vs Marionette Doll of witch vs Illegal Alien)

"whoever wins, we lose."

(Parody to Alien vs Predator vs Terminator)


	80. Chapter 75 - Commence, Agni Initiate

Author's Notes:

Behind on work, going to studies now. Edit later.

* * *

The world surrounding him turned bright yellow, almost as if the sun had set and cast its last rays upon his immediate vicinity. The feeling of something rushing into his body, a burning hot sensation rushing through his bloodstream. It was a feeling he always had before blacking out and waking to the calamity that the demon wrought upon the place.

Except this time, he felt full control over his body. His vision seemed to improve dramatically to the point that night seemed like a bright sunny afternoon. Some primodial spectrum of sight. He felt the weight of his gear almost disappear off him and the kukri that Vasu used to push him to his knees he flung it in the air causing it to impale into concrete. Vasu threw a punch while he caught out of reflex, stunning the former with the sight of his strength being countered.

His clench crushed Vasu's knuckles until he the later lost the ability to use his left hand briefly until it recovered. It gave Ajay the advantage when Vasu went hand to hand with him in a fist fight with the absence of his blade. Little did Vasu know, that fist fights were Ajay's specialty, he learnt it too late. As whatever punches or kicks he dished out were countered and followed with a bruise from a punch or chop to a part of his body. He couldn't measure the pain he experienced with fighting Ajay on his own. Pain that echoed in his memory though his body healed, it caused a scar in his psyche.

(Bang) (Crunch) This was the third time his fist struck his jaw and sent some teeth flying out. Vasu swayed from left to right like an exhausted boxer for Ajay to deliver the finishing blow.

Ajay launched a kick to his gut which sent him flying into the wall and breaking it with his body molded into the concrete, shrapnel of broken concrete flew from where he impacted. The sudden shift in that balance of power caused the Golden Path fighters to worry, if Vasu and Jason failed then he would be upon them next.

In this moment, he turned towards Jason and proceeded to attack him. "Oh shit-." He felt a deadly crisis hang over him as he blocked out of reflex to a swing that would have decapitated him that instant. Instead, he escaped death at the cost of his hand. (Crack) "Arrgh! Damn…" And begun retreating but was cornered when Ajay disappeared from his view entire. He quickly scanned the surroundings to look for him but a blow struck him on the back and he fell face flat into the dirt. Apparently knocked out.

"Phanish, status." Ajay called out to the Captain who was sitting on the floor stunned. The visage of the blood tearing demon crushing the deva and snow white in such a brief time was all too new. A sight which Phanish would commit to memory long after he retired from the army.

"U-uh-…. Multiple casualties and depleted air defense munition! The ammo will hold out but we're experiencing shortage of men to protect every sector!"

"And the PDF?"

"Held up at Bastion three, I've kept a platoon of- Look out!" Ajay neatly dodged a swing from Vasu whilst bringing up his kukri pommel on the former's wrist, sending a sharp crack that resounded the compound."

"Aaaarrrrgghh!" He wailed before dropping to his knees the same way he did to Ajay just moments before. Ajay slammed his fist into Vasu's jaw to drop him, some teeth were shattered again. But knowing the devas, they'd recover from almost anything in an instant.

Ajay grabbed the nape of his neck and brought him towards him.

"Tell me, Vasu. Have you ever thought of dying?"

Vasu's response was a jab with a hidden blade towards the artery in Ajay's neck, now that their proximity was close. (Cling) A set of teeth clamped onto the tang of the knife and wrenched it from his grasp. He spat it away, and sent a solid punch to his temple. Vasu's head toppled and bounced against the harden floor, shattering the brick.

Now, he had captured himself two of the most wanted men in Kyrat. Yet Ajay was isolated from the authorities and facilities to incarcerate them.

"GOLDEN PATH!" Ajay roared to the top of his lungs. Suddenly, all of the offensive forces stopped their attack and looked in his direction. The Golden Path had successfully entered the premise of the central keep and even lowered the draw bridge to allow for their troops outside to enter.

"How much do you treasure your Deva to piss off?"

Ajay raised an unconscious Vasu by the hair of his head for all to see. IT was clear that he had overpowered the Deva and Jason Brody who was next to him lying on the floor next to him out cold.

"Badala you coward!"

"Demon spawn! Don't you dare!"

"Let him go!" The frantic fighters shouted to discourage him from killing him.

Ajay placed his kukri and ran it across Vasu's face causing a line of blood to appear. Although it instantly healed, but to the fighters he was disfiguring him.

"How many Devas do you have left? I haven't being keeping track. Vasu might become my number two kill to mount on a wall after this." He pressed the knife against Vasu's neck.

"You devil-." A random fighter shouted but was cut off by Ajay.

"I AM THE ONLY DEVIL HERE! So you'd better be reasonable with the next words that come out of your flapper or you'll find another reason to rethink your actions!" His words were for them to chose their next words wisely, but for them to shut up mostly.

They took a few steps back and waited for some higher authority to negotiate. And one such person appeared, one that Ajay was familiar and yet unfamiliar with. The Golden Path and Yinke Commando sea parted for their messiah. Walking forward gallantly and calm, it gave the fighters some hope in the dire situation that could cost them the strongest strategic asset to their force, a man worth a thousand.

"Badala, demon of the north, duke of Lakshman. The demon of Lanka. The titles go on and on, yet we've never met even once. Despite our line of work." Mohan spoke in a friendly way.

"And I to you. Although, you're wrong about having not met before, you just wouldn't remember. But then again, you hardly resemble any of the qualities of the former Mohan Ghale of Golden Path. You're just a hollow will of the former." The Golden Path and Royal Army soldiers were baffled with what he said. He claimed that Mohan wasn't Mohan?

"Is that your interpretation of me? I don't blame you. So much has happened since my absence, my only surprise is that the Golden Path endured for so long. It is a relief." Mohan cancelled out their anxiety by passing it off as his assumption only.

"Is it?"

"So what can I do to get back my general which you've take hostage."

"Not the response I expected, I would have pictured everyone that didn't belong here to get out." Mohan chuckled at his response.

"This fortress can no longer be called yours with the current situation."

"Then it'll belong to no one if that's the case." It meant that he would demolish it and everyone to prevent its use, Mohan understood that as well.

"Truly. But then, you'll be faced with the dire situation of having to repel our might and that of our younger brothers-in-arms at King's Bridge, which would be the last line of defense to the North."

"So I've heard, when did the People's Democratic of Yinke decide to butt into this civil war of ours?" Ajay said as he glared hostilily at the Yinke soldiers who backed off when his sharp eyes landed on them.

"When they adopted the ideals of the Shining Way, a derivative of our Golden Path Swara and Ved passed on to be our legacy in case Golden Path truly failed." Mohan figured it didn't matter at this point to reveal it.

-Shining Way? Sunnova-…..-

Ajay could picture the entire country of Yinke in the image of a governed Golden Path committee, and now backing up their older cousins. It wasn't just the rebel Golden Path they had to deal with but the entire country of Yinke. Mohan saw the emotions from his expression and smiled as he saw that Ajay understood the gravity of the situation.

But it was a custom for Ajay to shake his opponents with the most unbelievable things.

A grin appeared on his mouth and created a second crescent moon above the night sky.

"ahahahaha…..ahahaAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHA!" It wasn't maddened laughter to reside to one's fate, it was something more sinister. Like he was looking at pitiful sheep trying to stand up against a wolf.

"Thank you, Mohan."

"Thank you?" A frown appeared on his brows. The Yinke soldiers and Golden Path fighters were equally confused.

"Thank you for giving Kyrat a chance to expand its borders! You have no idea what a great service you've done for your country even though you're a traitor. And thank you, witless soldiers of Yinke! You've just given the Royal Army justification to march into your homeland. I promise you, that for every one of you, your sons and daughters, your wives and parents, your descendants will forever curse your names for bringing the calamity we are about to reign upon your land! Yinke will lose its sovereignty for as long as there is a Kyrati Kingdom to rule over it!" His declaration sent shockwaves through everyone. Royal Army, Golden Path and most of all the Yinke troops whom had a knot tied in their heart at the mention of such an audacious thing. Yet they couldn't shake in their hearts that they had done something truly unforgivable.

"You've gone mad." Mohan replied still calm but not entertained by the words he'd just said.

"Have I? Whatever, you want your brother back, right? I'll make things accommodative for you then. We'll have a ceasefire. Fall back and wait for two hours to pass, then you can continue on with the siege. That should give you enough time to rethink and withdraw if that option ever occurred to you. My word of advise, leave this fortress while you still have strength. But who am I kidding, my words are worth shit to you, so say your prayers while you still have a chance. Whatever areas you've fully secured are your boundaries, you can try your luck at taking more than you should but be warned that my men are rather on the edge today. You've killed a good amount of their comrades and you've also killed some civilians who were their families."

"What?"

"Families?"

"….. (Puke)"

Ajay looked at their baffled expressions and laughed sinisterly again.

"Truly, Golden Path. You cease to amaze me with your blockheadedness. You were lucky to attack early before the scheduled fuel-air bombing of Banapur that would have turned your town into ash." Ajay didn't mind since Mohan did the same in revealing a bit of intel. He evened it out by handing some critical information as well. But his intel was shocking to say the least. It caused them to tremble and some scorn, but mostly they couldn't erase the fear that Ajay had sown amongst them. He stated he was going to annihilate them, and their families from Kyrat. It was words he'd mentioned many times but never acted on, until now.

Ajay kicked the unconscious body of Vasu down the wall to where some men reached out to catch him.

"And what of Jason Brody, our friend?" He asked.

"What about him?" Ajay responded.

"Nevermind. Then its an agreement. We'll wait till the appointed time then." He wasn't sure why Mohan gave up on pursuing Jason's release. Mohan called for all forces to withdraw.

"By the way… when you said we've met before….. I did have the feeling we did." Mohan left him with a close call to identifying him.

Ajay snorted and looked at Jason who was held in a lock by two soldiers.

-So that's how much you mean to them.-

He waved for the two soldiers to escort him into the remaining prison for the time being. They gave him a tranquilizer shot to keep him dormant for as long as possible.

When the last of the enemy forces were out of sight, Ajay collapsed to his knee. The sight caused the remaining soldiers to run towards him in concern.

"Your Grace!"

(Cough) A stream of fresh blood poured out of his mouth through his mask.

He had long exceeded the tolerance level of this new ability to control the wild power in his body. His body couldn't naturally cope with such exerting forces he put it through after it had reverted.

Ajay thanked himself that he could at least hold out long enough to show a fearsome presence to the Golden Path to put pressure on them from invading any further.

Phanish placed his hand around his shoulder in an attempt to support him but Ajay pushed him aside gently to say it wasn't needed.

"I'm fine. What's the status of the evacuation?" That was still their primary concern.

"Seventy percent complete."

"Only seventy?"

"We had trouble initially when they attacked our evacuation trail from Bastion two. We rerouted them to go through bastion three were the PDF battalion has been stationed."

"Alright. Good job at keeping things in check."

"It's only natural, your grace." Ajay nodded in understanding.

"What are our orders, your grace?" The remaining fifty soldiers out of the one thousand five hundred troops stationed in Lanka looked to him expectantly and eager.

Ajay took a look around the battered fort of the central keep grounds and made an analysis in his head.

"We'll withdraw to Bastion three to make our stand."

"But your grace-."

'I know that the central keep is important, soldier. Don't forget who built this place."

"F-Forgive me, my lord." Phanish backed out.

He didn't have a choice, though he repelled Jason, Vasu and the full-on assault from their vanguard. His trait was a one-off at a price that he still couldn't find out what he'd actually lost for full control. With the number of soldiers left, it would be a very short Alamo that would end with a Golden Path victory over Lanka. In fact, they had already won three of the four bastions which were equivalent to three strongholds with internal support systems to go with it. They could replenish their ammo and supplies if they could breach the blast-proof doors to the armories which wouldn't be difficult with the equipment the Yinke Forces had.

"Withdraw your men, I need to get a few things from the armory here."

"Yes, sir! You heard him, let's move out!" Phanish called out to the platoon size strength remaining to get their wounded and any gear they could salvage for their stand at bastion three.

"Permission to speak, sir? Phanish stayed behind for a query.

"What is it? You've earned more than I could possibly compensate."

"Is- Is it true what your grace said… about going to Yinke I mean.-."

Ajay just smiled at him and patted his shoulder.

"Food for thought, not something to be dwelling on right now. You better get going, your men need you and so do the PDF."

Phanish saluted and left.

Ajay didn't dally and went towards the villa where he left the one-way transceiver directly to high command for that one thing he wanted them to do. The Central Keep Armory would have to be visited along the way.

He sprinted to his villa with the little time he had.

-I just hope that Puru and Daya-.- (Skid)

He came to a deadstop in front of his villa and stared at the steps towards the front door.

Lying on it were the bodies of his butler and housekeeper. Puru with Daya in his arms, riddled with holes from where they were made to stand as they were given a firing squad style execution. It was all too clear from the brass casing on the floor and what the two of them were trying to do.

Looters wanted to ransack his posh looking establishment but Puru and Daya stood between them. He told them that if things went to shit, their first priority should have been to evacuate, yet here they were defending their master's home to the death.

He walked over to their bodies and knelt next to them, placing his hand over their faces to close their eyes. All that he felt now was grief and hatred, as his lips bled from where he bit down hard.

"Idiots….. I told you to leave did I?" He said in a sullen tone.

* * *

There was little time left after he collected what he needed and visited the armory to take the item which would help in the narrow street-fighting, Kamran had airdropped the bike there as well. But this late in the fight it was of little use than assisting him in carrying the bulky item from the armory. The cranky armorer was grieviously wounded and lying at death's door, handed him the key to his prized item and asking him to swear he at least sent fifth Golden Path fighters his way into the afterlife before departing. Another soul out of the thousands he'd already failed to safeguard in what should have been the most secure facility in Kyrat next to the Royal Fortress.

By the time he arrived in Bastion Three, the PDF were scurrying about to make preparations for their stand.

"Your grace, bad news."

"Go on."

"The Golden Path have blockaded our exit and there are still over three thousand civilians we could not evacuate and are taking shelter in the barrack compounds."

It seemed that Golden Path were truly being pricks, not even allowing non-combatants to leave in this kind of situation. They had become impatient, Mohan had reeled them in from a total victory. But they themselves were unwilling to sacrifice the strongest Deva, Vasu for that victory. It was that kind of hesitating resolve that Ajay would make them pay dearly for.

He'd already made the call to High Command and Arjun to initiate his directive. It was now a matter of how quickly they could send them over. Although the armored battalions were on their way, it was a two-hour journey to arrive. But that was not what Ajay called them to bring over, but he was sure that when it came the Golden Path had only two options. Flee or die on the spot. He could already imagine Arjun complaining and having doubts about following through with his orders due to the nature of its completion and the time taken to get them ready.

Two-hours was their limit, he hoped they'd be here soon to end this.

"Understood, gather your men and the PDF battalions. I'd like to inform them of our current status. We'll talk within the presence of the evacuees to ease their tension just to kill two birds with one stone."

"Yes, my lord." Phanish went his way to gather his men and call in the PDF.

At this moment, Biraj of all people came to him.

"Hey, how was things?" Ajay asked in a friendly tone.

"How was things? Look around you!"

"….."

"Damnit! Why did it have to be today of all days?! I was just two days shy of passing out!" He slammed the wall of the warehouse next to him.

Ajay didn't really have words for the boy. He sympathized with him, he should not have been called out to serve in this kind of conflict or any kind at all.

"I'm sorry."

"Why're you the one apologizing?" He said back with a frown.

"I'm the one who-."

"It's our job as PDF. This was the risk we had to accept would happen one of these days. (Sigh) Forgive my earlier rantings, its just that-."

"Have you finished it?" Ajay asked.

"Only just hours ago. I was about to have a goodnight's rest too when this shit happened!" He took out the canvas rolled up from his jacket. Ajay unscrolled it and had a look.

"Well?" After a moment of looking at it, Biraj was eager for feedback.

"If I were a girl I'd fall for you instantly."

"Ehehe!" He blushed shyly.

"It's good, but I wonder…. If it's enough to break through Bhadra's stubbornness."

"That's not very assuring." He took back the picture. Ajay chuckled a bit.

"Nothing ever is with her. But that's the beauty about her, it's a quality everyone admires, perhaps even you."

"….."

"Why did you fall for her in the first place? It wasn't her looks was it?"

"Of course not! It was-… No. I mean yes! It was those piercing eyes that caught my soul at first. But then it was her attitude towards her life goals that I fell in love with."

"See, if you could just be a little more honest with yourself there's really little not to like about you." Ajay said smiling causing Biraj to scratch his head in embarrassment.

"I'll be rooting for you when we get back. But for now, I need you and you friends in the game for what's about to happen." Ajay said going back to the seriousness of the situation.

"And what's about to happen?" His expression became serious again.

"Golden Path and the YLA (Yinke Liberation Army) are going to attack this place with full force once they've organised. They're going to leave no survivors this time, they want this fortress badly. They've probably realized by now that they need the authenticator keys from each bastion to access the mainframes and all our logistic supplies from the central keep."

Biraj wasn't sure what he meant but it pointed out that the enemy wanted to take this place as well. Ajay was glad that their was such a security measure in place to prevent Lanka's facilities from falling in the wrong hands. Saras had truly outdone her peers when designing such a place.

"Get your platoon sorted out. And follow the rest to the barracks."

"Right." Biraj left with a contented smile on his face from the things that Ajay said about his prospects with Bhadra. He was really looking forward to his new future. He turned around for one more look to find Ajay discussing with Phanish.

Biraj reflected on the events that brought him here. What was his initial relations with Ajay and how it had turned out on its own. He had to admit, he was still a child for thinking of him as a rival for Bhadra. Yet it was as Ajay told him, he should have been more honest about his feelings.

-Ajay Ghale, I'll never forget what you've done for me for as long as I live.-

* * *

The assimilation of the central keep was underway with the joint forces of Golden Path and YLA task forces. The scouts reported Badala and the soldiers leave it so they assumed control as it was no longer in the Royal Army's control.

Vasu was placed in the care of the infirmary and in the hands of Vel who had yet to deploy. Vasu came back with wounds that even his physique was struggling to recover from, Badala not only broke his bones but when he cut him he tore through the arteries and veins. If it were a normal person, he would have died from shock. But this was Vasu, unyielding, dauntless, and fearless. As much as he loathed being around her, she promised Vasu would be back to normal after a brief rest. Then she would take his place in contending with the demon in the coming assault on the last bastion.

Mohan stood by the engineering team who were working on the door to the command centre that gave them exclusive power over the features of the fortress. Including the arsenal that was currently empty. Unfortunately, it had been separated from them by a blast resistant door that could probably resist a nuclear explosion or bunker buster bomb.

They fiddled with the console for a good hour already.

"What's the status now?" Mohan asked the chief engineer.

"It's some serious failsafe electronics, if damaged will forever isolate us from the command centre."

"Can it be opened?"

"Not even with our level of expertise, but…."

"But?"

"We've managed to identify a circuit to open it. It requires five keycards."

"Five keycards."

"Probably a safekeep of the Commanding officers of this fortress and one for the demon." His theory made sense, four cards for the four existing bastions to their commanding officers and one to the demon who reigned over Lanka.

"It was likely why Badala felt confident we would come to him to get the last key." Mohan chuckled as he understood the strategy behind his move and found that his negotiation for ceasefire had actually benefited Badala more than it did of them. They were still one step away from gaining full control, but time was of the essence. They needed to establish control before the Royal Army regiments arrived fully mobilized which could be any second, Badala had successfully delayed them this long. He was surprised that only a single helicopter had come to deliver the demon and not the heli-bourne regiments. Perhaps they were experiencing a logistical difficulty in sorties for their choppers.

"I suppose." The head engineer left it to his analysis, he was just a grunt.

As he had time to himself till the appointed time to the end of the ceasefire, he took the time to reflect on what Badala had said. What disturbed him the most was what Badala said to the Yinke comrades, that they would soon march into Yinke. Where did Badala get that sort of confidence that the Royal Army was capable of invading Yinke and contending with several regiments of professional soldiers, tens of thousands of home guard militia and their famous armored battalion, the Republican Guard which had state-of-the-art equipment as was described by Commander Namdak.

Even he felt something cataclysmic could occur. It was like Willis's warning that something was going on in the Uttar Region, something so secretive that the security was high and the Royal Army units would have no choice but to limit their attacks on Golden Path. Which explained why there was almost no attacks from Royal Army harassing their camps and why they'd made so much improvement unhindered. There was no point in thinking about it, he should seek the right people to help him find out.

"Call for Agent Huntley and Lynch over."

"Yes, brother. Um- what should I tell them you need?"

"There's tons of paper documentation in any of the bastion commander's offices. I want them to scurry around and tap the phonelines as well to track record on anything that might appear abnormal."

"Yes, brother. Right away." The head engineer dashed off to call them from dispatch.

Mohan looked in the direction of where the final bastion under Badala's control. He did have a feeling as if he'd met him somewhere, not including the time at the Battle of Lanka where he appeared tearing his brother in half. His mistress failed to give him an explanation on it other than his patron being the very icon of dread in Kyrat.

"An apostle of Yalung? The vengeful asura." His opponent had a demi-god backing him, it almost made him worried of the current circumstances. But his mistress told him that it had been sealed for eternity under the mountain. The only way for the seal to break is if its anger subsides, as if it would ever happen in its case.

Badala was on his own, he was his only defense against their organisations' Devas, him and two individuals who were masters in witchcraft that exceeded human boundaries. But then, there was Darshan, the last inheritor of the Demon Banisher Order. Herald in a bygone era for sealing the every Asura under the mountain. Where was he now? It too was his mistresses only concern to their plan being jeopardized.

"Yo, you rang."

"Lynch, where's Willis."

"He went to the frontlines, after your engineer told us the story he wanted to access their mainframe as soon as possible."

"….." Lynch gazed around and whistled.

"I have to say, this is pretty impressive." He said admiring the structure and layout of the fortress.

"And we were taught that fortresses were obsolete in the age of asymmetric warfare."

"And yet here it was, stopping our army, causing our logistics hell and damaging my mens' morale."

"That's because you lacked the one thing that made fortresses and trenches obsolete all the way back in the first world war."

Mohan cocked his head thinking and then realized what he meant. Why Lynch had asked Sanjeev to organise the destruction of the Air Defense batteries.

"I called in a favour with some pals of mine at Shahbaz. You better tell your boys to bring umbrellas 'cause its raining shrapnel and gravel."

* * *

The Command staff were busy dispatching orders to their secretaries and subordinates, Arjun was no different.

Then that dispatch from the comms centre came. And the entire room quieten to not a single word said. Arjun read the script and the codes being keyed in.

It was the message passed via transceiver by Badala. In its encoding was the authorization to launch the Agni initiative. It was read by Layak to the personnel in the centre before Arjun took it to confirm.

He knew that the situation wasn't looking good in Lanka, Kamran had sent a brief summary of his findings. But that was over an hour ago, things had changed. And Badala of all people was the one that called for it. He of all people knew of the effects it had. But it also meant that Lanka was at the verge of fall or worse.

"It's his authentication codes, so why delay?" One of his brigadiers asked anxiously.

"It isn't ready."

"It'll never be ready so long as you say it isn't. This is Badala who called for it, and you're going to withhold it now in the direst of situations because it can't operate at full capa-."

"Don't lecture me on what I already know! Don't forget who was the one who drafted it!" Arjun yelled at him to quiet him down.

"Then send in the orders."

"…." Despite the persuasion, Arjun was having doubts about enacting with the initiative.

Mostly because with the appearance of the YLA forces in Kyrat, and that he was unsure of it wasn't just Yinke that was on it. Perhaps it was an alliance of their neighbours, Papir Republic and the Kumsa Kingdom. Then he would have no cards left to show in the coming fight with Yinke.

"Arjun….. my boy is in Lanka." The Brigadier looked at him with pleading eyes. Arjun had met the young officer during his routine trip to Lanka. An exemplimary officer that showed courage and promise, qualities that would prove useful in their defense no doubt.

"Layak."

"Sir?" Arjun sighed, it had come to this point where it couldn't be kept a secret any longer.

"Send Commander Rohan the dispatch. Proceed with the Agni Initiative, be in Lanka by twenty and no less."

"Thank, Arjun." The brigadier thanked him.

"No worries. I just hope they reach there in time before Lanka is truly lost."

"Don't worry yourself, Arjun." The Brigadier patted him on the shoulder, his mood brightened considerably.

"My boy won't damage the Kul household name. And with Badala there, the Golden Path can only stare at the walls."

Arjun nodded in understanding. With good soldiers and officers and the demon there, it should not pose so much of a problem to hold them off.

"Sir, immediate dispatch from SADEC!"

The air defense department had something to report.

"What is it?"

"A single air target, IFF are US markings, radar blimp gave a signature about the size of a cargo plane."

"Where did it come from?"

"West, from the Pakistan border."

"Them again."

"They're not responding to our hails when they were out in the open. Unfortunately, they've gotten behind the mountains so none of our surface to air missile can target it again."

Arjun was confused, what was the cargo plane doing all the way out here. But what if it wasn't a cargo plane that was coming over.

"Send your findings to Rohan to dispatch the appropriate units to deal with it. Destroy it on sight."

"Yes, sir!" The Comms officer dialled in on his phone to inform Commander Rohan

The Golden Path had forced their hand in revealing the workings of over half a year. Worth Billions of dollars in spending and requisitioning of equipment from foreign suppliers by the tonnage. His daughter did him proud in building the site in less than three months to reach operational capacity and another two to get the support facilities up and running. How Badala was able to pay for most of the subsystems with money not from Pagan's pocket was beyond him. He did hear that he had several private enterprises and bank accounts in Switzerland to manage his funds. This was what Longinus told him over a cup of tea one day during their discussion about the arms flow from the Jackal his associate.

And now, it was time for Golden Path and the Himalayas to know why the Kyrati kingdom would reign over it and its neighbours.

Arjun had just declassified the S-program.

* * *

After enduring three days through the cold of the mountains. They'd finally reached the warmth or rather coolness of the lowlands. They were now in the Northern Lands, for the marines it was their second time here. Sergeant Grilles led them through the quickest route to their destinated location. Truth be told, they'd never been to that region. The last time it was in the Southern Areas that was now marked Lakshman by the local signboards. Dominic took with him only the stalker personnel and himself that represented the CNS operatives.

Their views towards the marines and they to them were considered neutral, no one was getting on eachothers nerves. Especially with the situation at present for both of them, in fact it was mutual disaster so they could understand one another. The marines broke off from their unit and the CNS operatives were nearly stranded in this area by the day one attack by Badala.

That man might not be a military genius but he knew the fragility of the human mind. His moves were always terror inducing, in the hopes to break his opponents' spirit and discourage him from making moves due to hesitance. Fortunately, Dominic was quite familiar with this tactic from previous excursions to Africa, there was only one other person that used it. The category L individual known as Jackal. He might not have seen him fight, but he saw the mess he made.

Badala's fighting could probably come close to what it would have been like, that's why it reminded him of the Jackal.

"We've reached, let's take those photos and GTFO." Dane told him.

"Right." They traversed down the mountain side they made camp so as not to alert anyone to their presence. To be caught here behind enemy lines was bad.

"You have that satellite phone ready?" Grilles asked.

Dominic took it out to show him.

"Keep it with you, Willis and Lynch will need to know about it as soon as possible."

"Since when were Jarheads now the CIAs pets."

"Since never, actually that's not true. We're always involved in black-ops, those damn white collars use lives to further their careers."

"So why work with them?"

"Because my superior tells me so, because those shits are the only ones with the authorization to act overseas. The list goes on."

The conversation was going nowhere so they stopped and proceeded on through the checkpoints on the GPS and avoided the patrols that passed every minute. Whatever was in there was something serious big and they didn't want snooping around. Thankfully with their therma-optic camo, they could sneak pass the armed guards and avoid their thermal cameras. Dominic was surprise that thermals were a troop implementation around the Royal Army. Whoever was funding it was really procuring serious hardware for the grunts.

They lay at the ridge to the site after the passing through multiple layers of barbwire and checkpoints. What lay before them when climbing the ridge and taking out their binoculars was a sight that made them totally reevaluate the Royal Army all together.

"Jesus Christ!"

"Oh fuck! The Golden Paths had it now."

Both Fredrick and Dominic confirmed the sight and took their photos without hesitation and packed their bags.

"Can you call Willis now?"

Dominic tampered with the phone.

"Negative, the mountains are interfering with the signal we'll need to get up and se-(siren blaring)"

Klaxxons went off from the checkpoint near them. Their cover was compromised.

"Shit!"

"But how?"

Grilles tapped the ridge and dug a bit with his hands to find disks under them on the ridge.

"Ground sensors. They know where we are so let's split!" They moved in an orderly fashion to get out of the area which had been flagged since they sat down. Kudos to whomever built this place with such scrutiny.

As they were running through the forest with the Royal Army guards hot on their trail with what appeared to be hooded warriors. Grilles was familiar with who they were and pushed them to keep going instead of fighting with the Royal Army Hunters. Their trail and scent had been locked on to and they would never let go of it once found.

Just then shadows roared over their heads but not after them. The silhoettes disappeared over the mountains with their noise trailing behind them.

"We're so fucked!" It was a sentiment for the second time, Dominic shared with Fredrick.


	81. Chapter 76 - Reign of the Skies

Author's Notes:

Extra long for your pleasure (Dirty joke)

* * *

Within an hour from his order, the PDF battalions and platoons of garrison troops left had finished their work on the fortifications and reported for Ajay's briefing where the civilians were gathered.

The masses that gathered within the courtyard of the barracks were chatting away with an air of uneasiness in their tones, but Ajay couldn't blame them. It was a gruelling experience to be pincered by rebels and government forces in a conflict that no one asked for. He was quite surprised that they weren't frantic as he thought they would be, but all the better.

Ajay took a few steps to the steps where all eyes landed on him and a silence matured from the crowd to whatever he had to say.

"It has fallen to us to defend Lanka, and we've made our preperations to the best of our abilities."

Ajay allowed them to absorb his words before continuing.

"What is Lanka? A fortress to oversea the lands, to reign over the people through military might? Or a place for citizens to seek safe sanctuary from beast, man and idealism?... Lanka is none of these!"

It made all who heard baffled as to what he meant, eager to hear his reason.

"This fortress represents the will of those that believed that Kyrat was worth protecting from threats, foreign and domestic. Lanka is a monument of the people's defiance against oppression!"

"It held back the united armies of Golden Path. It now holds against this joint task force by the same aggressors and our neighbours turned enemy, the state of Yinke. And who did all of this? Not me, not the soldiers that stood by the walls, but the people that had come to call it home."

There was much gasping as his words.

"Every brick that was carefully laid to every bit of sweat that fell from the brow was what kept my liege's soldiers safe from harm's way. For this I owe you a debt of gratitude I can't possibly repay. But now…. The Golden Path want it, because to them it means full control over Pacchim Valley and all that reside. This fortress weighed heavily on their minds and they want the same for the people that dare to rise against them in future. That is soon becoming a reality."

Some voiced their concerns.

"What do we do then, your grace?!"

"I don't know for what reason Mohan refused to allow non-combatants out of the fighting area. But know this, you are our first and only priority. You, it's people are not just citizens. But men and women who inhabit Lanka, the very icon that there can be more done in Kyrat then just fighting for traditions, faith and status quo!"

All remained silent at his claim, not even the babies made any sound. A wave of excitement passed over them.

"In a strategic sense, the destruction of Lanka makes more sense than surrendering it to the enemy. However, I will not allow Lanka to be reduced to rubble. Why? I've already told you. I know I'm being beyond selfish in what I'm about to ask of you…. Is there anyone amongst you, that opposes the Golden Path way? Is there anyone who would prevent this monument from toppling? Is there anyone amongst you who would take up arms against Golden Path, the symbol of oppression?"

"Me!"

"Me!"

"Aye!"

"Here!"

Immediately there was some response as men and women stood up from the crowd amongst the civilians. Soon there was almost every able body men and women who stood up. The PDF drew their kukris and bellowed warcries taught to them by their instructors.

"Forgive me, loyal subjects of his royal highness. As I call upon you to form militia at this time and hour. I'll make sure his highness hears of your commitment and honor."

Ajay drew out his kukri and prepared to shout a catchphrase battle cry that had once been exclusive to the men under Badala.

"Then sons and daughters of Kyrat who will today fall under my command, hear and learn of our creed!" The newly assembled militia was clueless as to what he was about to say. Only the PDF who had been trained and taught under him, the garrison soldiers whom had seen his fabled Unit 58 shout it before their battles knew. And prepared to say it for themselves this one time that Badala called upon them.

"Courage!" Ajay bellowed for the entire barracks to hear.

"""HONOUR!""" Was the return the PDF and garrison forces responded with.

"Loyalty!"

""""ETERNAL! ETERNAL! WAAAAAAHHH!"""

* * *

Willis had been waiting with the soldiers that assembled with him outside the perimeter of the last bastion in the Royal Army's control. They'd cornered and cut off all possible escape routes, the Field Commander told them that the civilians had all left so it was ok to go all out to destroy the forces inside.

Willis knew it was a lie, that Field Commander was just impatient and wanted to end this fight with as little conflict as possible. He stuck with the engineering team that worked on the blastdoor to the command centre which was locked out to them. What they needed was Badala's key to open it in order to gain access to the intel on their logistics and troop positions. There was also the arsenal that was a coveted prize to gaining control of Lanka. To produce their own ammunition and weapons, which organisation could say no to that. That Arsenal was likely built to allow Lanka to maintain its defense against prolonged sieges, now it would help them to aid them in their assault on the Royal Fortress. That is provided they gain the authenticator key from Badala. And they were sure as hell he would make them ply it from his cold dead hands.

"Who the hell built this place…?" He murmured both annoyed it caused them such problems and in admiration that someone built a defense system from intrusion such as theirs.

"I was around during the infiltration mission. They say it was designed by Major Saraswati Roka. The Rhinos daughter."

"Hmm!" It was the second time he'd heard or seen of a women officer in the Royal Army. The other time was with the Royal Guard Hunter that captured him and almost delivered him to Yuma.

"So what do we owe the pleasure of the infamous CIA officer Huntley in our company?"

"Just looking around for some files on a top secret program the Royal Army's been running for months codename S-program. And the pleasures all mine, gentlemen."

The team laughed. "Indeed." Said the Head engineer who held out a hand to shake, Willis returned it.

"Five minutes to end of ceasefire! Prep your equipment and stand by your fighting groups!" Called out the adjutant commander to relay their orders to attack.

They stood ready at the buildings just a hundred and fifty metres away from the walls of the last bastion. Apparently, the moat design was used throughout the fortress which also acted as a water system for cleaning of clothing and other items for the households in the fortress. Their only entrance was a metal gate which could be broken with satchel charges. But they had to get close to plant it.

Willis checked his watch briefly, only a minute to the assault. Their group was hidden behind the wall on the roof of a house while the rest were ready for a soviet-style charge towards the gate to use their grapple hooks or C4 to blow the gates.

-3….2…..1….-

(Whistle) A whistle was blown. That was the signal from the Commander to charge. There was a mighty roar that followed as the Golden Path fighters along with their bros from Yinke charged to last bastion walls. Willis observed from a distance over the walls with his head popped out.

At a hundred metres, to his surprise an all the assaulting forces, the gates creeked open slowly.

"What the f- (bbbrrrrrrrrrrrrrr)!" A sound of a like a cord being torn resounded through the area in a continuous stream. What came out of it was an entire row of warriors chopped down along with a few behind them due to the armor piercing nature of the 7.92mm B bullets, the corpses it penetrated had a distinct glow from where it pierced their flesh due to the incendiary compound. It was a rare type of cartridge in the inventory of any Kyrat armory, Golden Path or Royal Army alike. But it there was one weapon that fired it and was still being used to some limited extent in Kyrat nearly forty years since its introduction, it could only be-

"MG42!" Willis cried out to warn the soldiers and fighters alike. They weren't familiar with the weapon that tore up so many American sons and fathers on the beaches of Normandy. One had taken the life of Willis's grandfather, and it grew into his fascination for firearms at a young age.

He had seen it at Knob Creek Range during the machine gun festivals back home, he always imagined the impact of the weapon but was never close to understanding the true terror of that weapon his grandfather felt when he landed on those French beaches…. Until now.

And who was the one in possession of Hitler's Buzzsaw? It was none other than the fabled Demon that had taken his leg once before. Standing steadfast at the gate wide open, yet no one could pass through it because of the wall of lead he laid before them. No one was safe behind the walls or kelvar vests. That kraut high-powered ammo sliced through them like it hardly stopped it. But by now, his firepower was joined by the defenders spraying their automatic arms from the walls at the aggressors, them.

Badala wasn't just carrying the Buzzsaw to chop them down, his defensive equipment was also on him. There was a category of specialist trooper in the Royal Army and Guards once before called a Heavy. These were the toughest sons of bitches, who carried the meanest arms and heaviest armor. Until their highest authority forbade the use, probably because it wasn't cost effective. Yet Badala was making full use of it now.

"RPGs, bring up the RPGs and take that bastard out!" Willis advised them, knowing that nothing below .50cal could pierce his armour.

Some rocketeers came out of hiding and loaded their rockets to fire. Unfortunately, Badala's sharp eyes caught them and cut them down with a stream of lead.

"Goddamnit!" He didn't think he would need to tell them not to reveal themselves before loading and readying the rocket launchers.

By now, everyone was pinned or behind a wall hoping not to get hit by him.

Some who survived the hail of bullets and were wounded out in the open, Badala shot them with a stream of bullets each before visibly popping the smoking hot barrel to replace.

"Willis, is that you?" He called out.

"Come on, answer me at least so I can find you." As if he would reveal his location to get pulverized like his grandfather.

"Don't worry, I won't shoot you." Like it was any more assuring for him to say that. Some fighters took the opportunity when he was reloading the gun and switching the barrel to hit him. Not like it did anything with the kind of armour he wore. He proceeded to reward them with german 7.92mm bullets.

"Is this all you've got, Golden Path? Where was that zealousness a moment ago? Come, show me that the power of faith can overpower any obstacle!" He mocked them.

"Any minute now, you'll run out of ammo. Then what will you do?" Willis answered back.

"Well then, you'll be unlucky to have died in the least painful way." Was there ever an end to Badala's unyielding strength? Not even poor odds phased him one bit. And it gave the men under him courage.

It was at this moment, Willis heard a distant propeller noise in the distance. Instantly he knew what it was as he looked up to the breaking dawn sky.

A grin appeared on his face. "Times up, Badala. Your times over, whatever happens next, know that its nothing personal between you and I….. actually, no…. its every bit personal! Golden Path! Hit the deck!" He said before doing so himself, they acted on his warning quicker that previously and took cover.

The defenders up on the walls were baffled, but only Ajay knew what he was referring to. He didn't know why, but his eyes sharpness reached an unbelievable peak that he could see a hare in the distance like an eagle. He could also see what Willis saw in the distance of the night sky that was turning dawn soon because of the stretches of light over the mountain. Yet while Willis saw the silhouette, he saw the entire figure and even the designated markings upon the C-130 flying to circle them. Only that it wasn't the cargo derivative.

But an AC-130 gunship.

"Gunship! Ten o clock! Find shelter!" The men began to disperse but it was too late, as a stream of 25mm, 40mm and 105mm shells came raining down upon the bastion walls.

Willis watched the entire wall erupt with explosive shells and vaporising those unlucky enough to withdraw quick enough. The Golden Path warriors and Yinke Soldiers let out a cheer at the ordnance being poured upon their enemies. Even the demon took cover before blowing the gate to shut permanently. To them, it was the most beautiful thing they'd ever seen. Sending trails of light plumming bright mushroom clouds behind the walls of the bastion upon their enemies.

To Willis, it was the power of close air support, courtesy of the ever-bountiful Uncle Sam

* * *

In a situation as dire as this, Ajay had very little choice in dealing with an adversary he couldn't counter even with his strength. That was what Air power was like, to rain terror upon helpless infantry without air cover or air defense. And that was the situation they were in, all the 40mm Bofors guns were silenced thanks to Golden Path.

-So that was what you were planning.- He found it strange they didn't want to keep them to use against the helicopter fleets. So it was this, who else could call such a thing but Lynch.

Ajay was the only one calm in this situation to the frantic men and women running for cover or losing control of their bodies as the curled up into a ball. He knew that every second he wasted hundreds would fall prey to the turkey shoot that those gunnery officers targeting.

"Phanish! Pop your chaffs!" He said as he released some of his IR flares and threw them around the compound.

Phanish immediately understood his tactic. The gunship likely saw them through a thermal TV, so to hide their signatures, the use of infrared to clear a white patch were they were.

"Quick release your flares!" He relayed to his men and to the PDF.

"Light those fuel cans as well!" Biraj was observant enough to know what was happening and thought up his own way of adding to their countermeasures. The groups of men and women quickly ignited their flares and other incendiary devices and scattered it around the courtyards and on the buildings, they lit a shed and a house on fire to add to the IR spike.

Everyone contributed in some way before hiding underneath a building near heatsources to avoid detection. He wasn't sure of how effective it was against the gunships sensors, but soon it stopped firing due to the lack of targets visible. Ajay crept towards where Phanish was.

"Your grace."

"Here's the a keycard to the special weapons safe in this bastions armory. Box marked S-14 is what you're looking for. Bring it back here and carefully." Phanish nodded.

"Your grace, what does it contain?"

"Stingers." Phanish instantly knew what he was referring to.

"Its heavy, bring five men along with you." Ajay said before prepping his rifle.

"A-And where will you go, your grace?"

"Someone has to give Golden Path a different idea about approaching this place. Once you've found it, go to a high heat source and fire them at the gunship. It won't kill it, but it'll make it think twice about approaching, understood?"

"Yes, sir. But how do i-."

"You won't need instructions, just insert the coolant battery into the front foregrip, flip and line the target to your sight and wait for the beep." It was a simple explanation but good enough for the officer to understand. After all, didn't the nomadic Mujahideen use them almost immediately after retrieving them from their crates?

He was just glad that the civilians were safe in underground shelters underneath the houses and buildings. But if the gunship pommeled the ground too much it could cause a cave in and crush everyone under there.

Ajay decided he wouldn't just ruffle up the Golden Path but also mislead the gunship. He was sure that it was just called to lay fire on baddies, but there were no IFF tags on either of the forces for them to identify. No blinking strobes like in Call of Duty, and neither was there a ground observer relaying info. A mischievious grin appeared on his face as a plan concocted in his head.

Minutes later, the Golden Path were slowly traversing through the streets towards the wall and over it. It had seemed as if that American plane had turned the bastion on the otherside into a blazing hell. Some time ago, the screams and cries ended. They could only imagine what the plane had done to them.

(Pow) "Arghh! (Bababababaam) A soldier let loose a stream of bullets that hit some of the golden Path fighters before falling to the ground motionless.

"What the fuck?"

(Pow) "ARGHHH!" The same thing happened again with that victim spraying lead all over from his hand that had been impaled by an arrow to initiate a runaway trigger.

"Hey watch it!" (Pow) That mysterious strumming sound of the bow string releasing caused them internal anxiety. They knew who it was.

"Don't fire unl-uhddh!" A commander was killed with an arrow through his mouth from another direction. Then, a visible shadow sweeped pass some buildings and between them were some soldiers

"Rarrrrghhh!" At first it was a single fighter, then it was the whole gropup firing at first sight of the shadow that appeared between them but always with one end of the guns pointed at friendlies. They increased their own casualty rate on their own accord. Willis was puzzled by this behaviour, why was he toying with them in such a way when clearly, he could kill them in shorter time.

By now, they were actively firing everywhere at one another. One group closest to the walls fired upon the ground that was in the cover of the buildings still.

"Ceasefire! Ceasefire you dumb- (BOOM) (BOBOBOOM) (Brrrrrrrrrrrr) A hail of explosive shells came raining down as he intended.

But it was too late, even Willis was too slow to understand what Ajay's true intentions were.

"Shit! Ceasefire! He's misleading the gunship! Goddamnit!" Willis tapped onto his satellite phone to get in contact with Lynch to tell him to manage his gunship.

The gunship began to tear up the Golden Path much to their horror that the very weapons that was on their side was used against them. They felt horror in a single instance.

"Come on! Come on…." Willis hesitatingly keyed in the digits to his phone.

"Hello there." Called out a cold voice in the havoc being wrought upon the wrong people. (Bang)

"Arghhh! Damn it!" Ajay had just shot him in his one good leg. He walked over and tapped his hand to release the satellite phone currently dialling. "Gimme that-… thank you." Willis returned to wailing in pain from the bullet that struck his knee cap.

"Who were you calling? Was it Lynch?"

"You bastard- urghhh- you shot me in the leg!"

"Pipe down, you." Ajay pressed his foot against Willis's gunshot wound causing him to scream louder.

Some of the Golden Path engineers came to his aid only to be gun down by Ajay's slayer. The Head engineer was no exception, who fell to the ground next to Willis in two pieces. Willis finally shut up.

*(Pick up) What is it now, Willis?*

"Why hello there, who would've thought you would be the one picking up." Ajay said as friendly as can be over the devastation caused by the misled gunship.

*Badala.*

"Call off the gun- arrghh!" Ajay kicked Willis to shut his mouth but mostly to exasp him of air to talk.

"We really should exchange phone numbers, or I can call you from this one you picked up from."

*….. What do you want?*

"What do I want? You couldn't possibly comply would you?"

*…*

"So what's so special about Willis here that you need him alive and good. What kind of dirty little secret do you both have here behind closed mountains?"

*I'll leave it to your imagination-.*

"You'd better make it a reality or else finding it will be next to impossible with a bullet in his skull."

*….Well go on then, save me the trouble so I can get out of this filthy place you call a home back to Langley!*

Ajay laughed in response.

"You think its that simple? You might already know what Willis is like, a cold-war agent bounded by hysteria. Everyone's an enemy, including his own people. He had contingencies for almost everything, including his own death. He'll never let you get away with what you've done to him."

Lynch remained silent behind the phone for a while.

*Just what do you want?*

"Not much, just a clue as to what you're looking for here."

*Just that? Why the hell would you be interested in that?*

"Because whatever you guys are interested in, gets me curious about as well. What could possibly warrant the CIAs presence in Kyrat. A lonely place that is so isolated from the outside it couldn't possibly affect the geographics of the modern world outside. What's so important here that you and Willis first came here to breakdown the governance in Kyrat? To support the Nationalists… and the assassination of the Devi Bloodline."

It wasn't just Lynch who gasped at his words, but Willis who was on the ground as well. How could Ajay have possibly guessed that? He was someone they should never have crossed paths with, and now he was trying to extort them.

*You have no proof.*

"Au contraire, Paul. What you've been scurrying about to search that Willis hid files on is all the conclusive evidence I need to put CIA on a leash."

*We don't negotiate with terrorists-.*

"You will with me. I have your asshole, and a few days in Durgesh is enough to break him to fess up to put you down for good as the last resort!" Lynch believed every word Ajay told him, how could he not.

*Do you even realise who you're messing with, Badala? You're not just confronting me, not just the CIA but the very system that raised you from young when you first came to our soil!*

"Oh. Then I guess that just makes me an ungrateful citizen turned enemy of state then. And stop trying to buy time for your gunship to target me!" Lynch reeled away from his phone in shock as Badala figured out what he had been doing behind his phone.

It was at this moment that shooting stars with trails of smoke flew out from the courtyard of the bastion and towards the AC-130 which began their evasion along with a dispersal of flares in the shape of an angel to fool the missile which it did just by a hairs breadth.

But it wasn't over as a second missile flew from the courtyard to counter the gunship who had broken off contact to get out of the engagement range of the missiles.

"Stingers?" Willis said in shock.

"They're yours, or rather the US armys' you snitched from their depots." Ajay explained what he did with the shipment of stingers he brought in from the states.

"I wonder what National Security would say about two rogue agents that've gone out of their jurisdiction and out of control. What if a certain whistle blower told them about the sneaky shit that went down in Kyrat I wonder?" Ajay said suggestively.

*What do you want?! Damnit!*

"Here's what I want, listen carefully Lynch." (Beep) He pressed the hang up button on the phone stating his interest in what Lynch had to offer was worth next to nothing in his eyes.

Ajay drew out the SIM card and threw away the phone, then looked towards Willis who for once in his life actually feared a death by Badala.

"Now its just you and me-." It was as if all the good parts were taken from him at the most inconvenient of times. This time it appeared in the form of a deadly feeling wash over him and telling him to evade before it was too late. He followed his instincts like always before a violet thread sliced the air where he was. The wall that was behind him crumbled to the floor from where it was cut.

Ajay now understood the reason why his Badala-senses went crazy to that cloaked figure that landed where he once was next to Willis who was equally shocked. Golden Path had dispatched the only person next to the devas who was qualified to contend with the demon of Lanka.

They sent the Violet Witch of Tirtha.

* * *

A report came in one day to the Royal Fortress which he reviewed by chance with Arjun's supervision. The report pertained the recount of how a cloaked figure singlehandedly disarmed and chopped down three entire battalions worth of men who blockaded the Golden Path base in Tirtha. The Commander of that force retired due to the events that tramatized him. He was the only survivor only kept alive to report back the loss of those battalions. Her, assuming it was female due to the slender figure and porcelain like hands was like a demon on the battlefield that could not be killed. A thorough counter to the Northern Demon in the eyes of the fighters at Tirtha.

Her weapon of choice, glowing threads that flowed in midair and gave her an almost celestial fairy-like appearance despite her hood concealing her face. It was that rumor that spread she was either very beautiful or covering a disfigurement.

To Ajay, none of these mattered. It was clear what she was here for, and that was to kill him. His wits were about him when the second time she lashed out her threads at him he kicked some rubble towards her and the threads changed direction to cut up those slabs of rubble instead.

But it gave Ajay time to bring out his slayer and he pointed it at her with extreme prejudice. It was the first time his would-be assassin left the place she stood as she too felt the deadly crisis of what the double barrelled .700 Nitro slugs could do to her.

(Boom) He fired one round that impacted the wall from where it missed her by inches. She had somehow used those threads to tug her in and evade a slug that travelled at 930m/s due to its unique sabot nature. She had not expected the round to detonate with a fragmentation blast which she had been in close proximity too. She gave a soft cry in response to the fragments that embedded itself into her flesh. It almost confused Ajay to think that she was just a normal human when compared with her Deva counterparts which stopped resembling anything remotely human in their fragility.

Seeing Ajay preoccupied in a deadly duel with one of the Golden Paths trumps, Willis made his getaway, albeit in pain from the bullet in his good leg as he slowly hobbled out of the danger of Ajay and the AC-130 gunship that could come back at any moment when it was sure there were no more stingers being fired towards it.

In that meantime, the Golden Path and garrison forces returned to their fighting. And it was a fight that was anything but clean. They were fighting on ruined rubble and craters, there were some cases of melee involved but it was minor.

They were equally matched, or so some would like to think with Badala being occupied with the Violet Witch, Vel.

"I don't believe we've been introduced, the names Badala. Perhaps you've heard of me, perhaps you've not." Ajay began giving compliments to his newest opponent that gave him a different feeling from the Devas. She was at least thrice as deadly as Vasu and twice as the three Devas now two combined. It was only the slayer that kept her rethinking her approach which made Ajay begin to think that she actually was physically human in physique. Yet those movements with the threads were anything but human. It was like her name, a witch.

But the witch responded in a way that even he was taken off guard by.

"Soren?"

"Huh?... No. It can't be-. Why is it you?!" Ajay's voice became frantic, though he had only met her once, her acquaintance with him was something hard to forget. She had slowly pieced back part of his forgotten memories lost due to the trauma he underwent as a two-year-old.

The girl he knew as Ashna was in fact the Violet Witch of Tirtha, Vel.

"So you weren't the charge of Badala's household, you were Badala." Her voice and emotion was unphased, as if her encounter with him was as trivial as her breathing air. He was her target all along, she had a personal grudge with him that he didn't know of. He was the centre of her mistress's attention, always.

"Die." Three streams of thread flew toward him diagonally, he put his hand up in reflex to block and three lines were cut straight through his armoured gauntlet to cut into his flesh.

"Arrrgh….." He retreated back severals steps to gain breathing space but she closed in on him.

"What could she possibly see in such a reckless soul such as yourself!" She sent an arching thread that battered down towards him. Ajay dodged it with every muscle he could muster.

At this point, he was considering whether to call upon the power of the demon. But he was still unsure of the effects that it had. The demon had definitely taken something from him, but he didn't know what it was. It was what he dreaded, could it be? That the demon took the most precious thing of all to him?

His memories.

It caused a shadow to appear in Ajay's convictions. It was truly the scariest thing that had happened to him yet. To forget the cherished memories among all the pain and suffering was like taking the only comforts he had in this pain ridden and cruel world.

"Vel, I don't wanna hurt you so stay out of my way!"

"Really, that's funny. Because I intend to fully destroy you, in body and soul!" She then dug into her pouch and retrieve a paper talisman that caught fire and she ate. The next moment, Vel disappeared and reappeared behind him with her hand raised to give the finishing blow. (Boom) Ajay fired the second shot back handed by her disappeared again. Its not that she was invisible, but his eyes had difficulty tracking how fast she was going. Just what the hell did she do just now?

(Bang) Ajay flew like a kite that had its string cut and slammed into some concrete.

He coughed out flesh goblets of blood and struggled to get up. His slayer was a distance away from him and Vel stood between him and his gun.

A thread stabbed into his chest striking a sensitive nerve.

"AAAAAHHHHHHH!" It brought out the pain from where Karkadann's ivory horn struck him.

A thread passed by and swipped his mask off him revealing his face clear to her.

"See? Behind that façade, those masks of authority and fearlessness, you're nothing but a boy that longs for his mother." She said in the most icy of tones, contrary to what he'd recalled when talking to her.

"So….. was everything you said back then also a façade." Ajay asked with great difficulty to the large thread stuck in him.

And for the first time, he saw her hesitate.

"Don't lie to me, Ashna. And don't lie…urgh… to yourself." Her expression turned hostile once more.

"Don't lecture me! You couldn't possibly understand what it means to lie to yourself!"

She used the thread to fling him away and he landed a few feet away. Ajay remained with his back to the floor, he was losing strength to continue on.

"Do you have any last words?" She asked expecting her fight to be over,

"Please don't….." She snorted laughing.

"I can't believe it, the demon begging for his life? You've become far less and les-."

"Please don't make me turn someone I thought of as a great benefactor into my enemy." He completed his last sentence which was contrary to what she thought he said.

"You overestimate yourself." But Ajay seemed like he was struggling with something.

"It's not me you need to worry yourself over. Please don't do this. I don't think I can keep him back-…. Much-…" Ajay bent over on the ground wrestling a grounding pain from his heart.

At first it was a swelling feeling in his heart, but it turned into a pulsing that built-up rage. It was the demon again. But unlike that time with Vasu, which it had detested his presence due to some foul nature in him. For Vel's case, it wanted nothing other than to annihilate her existence from the earth. It smashed itself against the barriers in Ajay's mind trying to break free and assume control to destroy that abnormality that stalked the province of the mountains.

He was on his last legs, Ajay looked at her in pain but he mustered enough strength to say one last thing.

"Vel….. RUNN **NNNNN!"**

His cry distorted into an animalistic roar, the bellow of call of the demon who assumed control for this brief moment to crush the abnormality. His irises turned the familiar yellow primodial hue and his muscles bulged.

"Wha-(Bang)" She hadn't the time to comprehend what had just happened when a powerful wave struck her and sent her flying up in the air. She had felt the full blunt of that force he had just delivered, her threads had thankfully absorbed some of that energy but that was only a single blow. But worst of all, her threads caught fire with not a normal fire but a viscous black flame. She looked back at her target to find said black flame emulating from his body that stuck to his body like a miasma.

"Those flames…" Her heart pounced with dread as she recollected what her master had once said.

-Blackened flames of unquenchable fury, ignited by the inner desire to crush the bloodline of his betrayer.-

Her bloodline.

Vel understood why her mistress had always cautioned her of the consequences of approaching the first apostle of the vengeful Asura, Yalung. It was powers that even she could not stand up to on her own.

Vel bit her lip at her missed opportunity and turned to leave, but would the demon let her?

" **DEvi! TraiTor!"** (Bang) A kukri was swung to chop her head off and she sent her threads to block once again but not the brute force of the swing which sent her flying again. She slammed into a wall losing almost all of her strength to get up. The demon landed before her, picking her up by the jaw and lifting her off the ground. Vel thoroughly regretted what she'd done but it was too late, she'd stepped on the beast's foot and provoked something she didn't fully understand. Badala had tried to warn her but she stubbornly did things her way and would pay the price now. Worst of all, she had accelerated the changes in Ajay as her mistress initially planned when sending her here.

Just as she had lost all hope, a shadow flew towards them, its silhouette was slender. The demon backed away in time for a broken black metal sword to zip pass him and strike the concrete embedding it to the hilt like the 'sword in the stone'. Vel had taken this opportunity to flee from the field.

" _I may push you to assert your standing between the realms. However, I will not let you lose yourself."_

The ethereal voice called out from the surroundings without any pinpoint location. Then a series of chanting began that hurt to demon's ears from listening, like a mantra was being recited to an evil being. The demon was suffering greatly till it retreated to the safeties of Ajay's body awaiting another chance to reign supreme.

" _On the day we meet, you should have already understood that the price for change in always something you hold most dear. But then comes the second trial which would be greater in challenge than the first."_

Ajay dropped to the floor reverting back to normal but the strain had caused him to collapse and puke out clotted blood like a waterfall. His injuries had worsened to the point that it was difficult for him to walk.

" _This blade. If you can wield it, its yours. You'll need it for your trial to ascend beyond the human boundaries. I pray that your next meeting will be soon."_

After saying all it needed to say, the voice's presence vanished. Leaving the trinket it promised him. A black iron broken sword like the one wielded by the witch against Darshan. A weapon of a bygone era.

An Astra.

* * *

Ajay balanced his consciousness, that he had taken a few minutes since that attack from Vel and her mistress still unseen. The sun shone on his face but he felt hazy. The sound of conflict was still present but far away from the initial fighting ground he was in.

"What the hell was that?..."

Ajay had no idea what had just occurred during his fight with Ash- no, Vel. Didn't he control the demon with the price to pay? But then he sensed that during the demon's takeover it swelled with even more unfathomable power than it usually wielded. Did this power have a boundary?

"Huh?" His eyes landed upon an ancient sword embedded into the rubble next to him. Suddenly the images of what the ethereal voice told him were recollected. Ajay knew that voice anywhere.

It was the one that brought back Mohan in his dream. The truly frightening enemy he had to face, an enemy that was the stuff of legends. Who might not even be human. What defense did he have against that? Her chant had cancelled out the demon too.

-This place….- Kyrat was a place full of mysticism and lore, that it often confused a person to what was real and what was fake.

Ajay's eyes landed on the sword, the witch's words took root in his memory. The trials he would have to face, so why was she giving this to him? He could feel something was off about the blade, like it emited an aura of denial, an origin power that had once created and now destroyed all that it swiped. His hand landed on the hilt and he gave a tug like King Arthur, but the sword refused to pull from the concrete works.

"Am I not worthy?" He mused.

Ajay gave up on the sword, he had more important things to do like assisting the bastion. He wasn't sure of the outcome of the battle but knowing Mohan and the Devas, they would likely do anything to win.

Ajay got up and sprinted towards the bastion after picking up the slayer that had been discarded previously. His mask was a goner and his body was in worst shape than it had ever been before. But he couldn't stop now, not when they needed him in this fight.

There was a tinge of guilt that rested on him. The guilt that he would have to cross paths with that girl, Vel again, and more importantly. Her mistress. He would have to kill the person that helped him restore the most precious of memories to him.

"I truly deserve damnation…" Ajay left a trail of blood where he sprinted with difficulty towards the bastion where the fighting was.

* * *

In the absence of the demon, the Golden Path could do anything. It was always like that, because there was nothing they feared except a painful death by him. Sadly, they thought wrong when they encountered Jatayu Company. They had been held back by a mere militia and it infuriated them.

Somehow a rather, Biraj had effectively taken control of the entire Company as Nehal managed the logistic flow like she was best at doing. They had not been having the best of luck during their fight to defend bastion three. The Companies had reduced to only one-third strength and the garrison soldiers were the worst of all, being reduced to only Captain Phanish and three men. The Golden Path were still strong with their Yinke comrades who were exerting the most pressure from their combat experience.

The real worry was their own morale, they were just PDF and civilians who took arms to join the fight. Most of the civilians had been discouraged by the battle unfolding and returned to the shelter of refuge underground.

But the worst situation was that they had lost grounds in Bastion three to the point they were held up in the barracks.

"They're trying to pincher, kill them!" Biraj pointed towards the enemies out manuevering the building they had held fort in.

The sounds of screams from the enemys' side could be heard that grew louded.

"Its Badala!" The hearts of the PDF rose at the sound of hope, whilst the Golden Paths in dread.

Badala wasn't using any of his firearms but instead his knifes to cleave through the flesh of the fighters and soldiers alike. He had only passed through the gate to find bodies of the PDF he'd trained lying dead on the ground, and it infuriated him to the marrow.

"You've just gone a new low, Golden Path! Killing children?! Today… NONE OF YOU WILL DIE PEACEFULLY!" The PDF and Biraj had never seen him that way before. He was a complete berserker amongst the Golden Path that were trying to storm the barracks but were forced to fight him instead. What was most concerning was the state he was in when he returned.

There were red gashes all over his body and where he walked was a considerable amount of blood dripping. It looked as if he was on his last legs. He still wanted to fight in that ruined state, he made a promise to his people he would allow them to see tomorrow, so he would give everything he still had. The Golden Path saw a wounded Demon ready to fall at any moment, so they switched priorities towards slaying him.

The bullets impacted him to serious effect as his armour absorbed the bullets. But how long could it withstand? It might be durable and composed of dragonskin-like armor but it too had limits. The fabric was torn from all places, his face now no longer protected by the ruined mask was grazed where bullets flew pass and cut him.

Biraj could visualize it in a landscape picture already. Like a vengeful wargod that punished deceitful soldiers by the hundreds as he hacked them down with his blade through their bodies and their spirit.

But just then, they saw him get struck on the leg and flinch. A bullet had passed through his armour by some miraculous means and put him on one leg kneeling. The Golden Path saw this as an opportunity to catch or slowly carve him up and charged with their knives instead of their guns. A whole thousand of them.

"Today you die, demon!"

"For the Golden Path!"

"Death to the demon!"

They wanted to prove that the simple will of the 'people' was enough to conquer all.

"Shit! Jatayu, form up! Fix bayonets!" Biraj ordered and they complied, they knew what he wanted to do and the feeling was mutual.

"Jatayu, CHARGE!"

They left the sanctuary of the barracks and into the fray in assistance of their lord.

A loud banging noise resounded from the bodies impacting one another. As the entire bastion was ruffled into a mass melee. People were fighting with hands, blades and rifles clubs.

Ajay was the first to notice this, much to his horror.

"Get back you stupit cunts!" He shouted at the PDF in vain.

To his surprise as he fought to keep alive, the PDF fought to get to him through the sea of fighters despite their poor morale. They'd abandoned every sort of firearm in favour of knives and clubs due to that one chance they saw to end the conflict with the head of the demon without the need of a Deva to do it. As they cut through the lines to where Ajay was, they created a defensive circle around him to give him breathing space.

What they found was him completely battered. His armor filled with tears and blood soaked wounds, some from a fight they had previously not seen before. Who could do something like this? Only a Deva.

"I've got you!" Biraj lifted him up from the prone position he was in when he coughed out more blood than usual.

Even despite his seemingly grievious wounds and dangerous amounts of blood pouring from him, Ajay grabbed him firmly by the front collar.

"Who asked you to help me!"

"Jeez, your welcome would have been nice."

"Do you see what you've gotten them into?!" He pointed to his Company and the other PDF Companies that joined in.

"And what about you?!" Biraj shouted back to Ajay's amazement.

"What would happen if Golden Path succeeded in vanquishing the demon? Not just our lives would be in danger but everyone at home! I cannot turn my back on something like this, if not I'll never be able to face Bhadra again!... If need be, the Jatayu Company will sacrifice their lives for you to stand once more!" Ajay saw a ray of determination and courage in his eyes he'd not seen previously before. Who gave them this courage to waltz right out here to get to him?

"""WOOAAH!""" Jatayu Company gave out a collective warcry at his words that resounded the battlefield.

"Then you can all die with him!"

"Die, Demon-loving scum!"

The fighters roared back at them.

He did. He had brought them to certain death. As he watched more and more of the young militia fall to the ground amongst the hundreds of bodies that stacked so high the rubble floor was no longer visible.

"Fall back." Ajay got up from his knees and stood steady. (Whistle) He blew on the chain whistle.

"Withdraw!"

The whole lot of them withdrew step by step. Biraj and Phanish carried him by the arms back, Ajay watched as the Golden Path cut down the PDF one by one. But they still wouldn't retreat till he was in the safety of the barrack walls. It was pure agony for him to watch as the people he was suppose to protect were the ones doing the protecting and were dying.

-Because of me.-

Biraj and Phanish placed him against a a chair and begun to apply first aid to him. The fighting begun to sound more intense. Phanish took up his weapon and went to the door.

"I'm going to lead them. I'll leave him in your care. Your grace, may fortune be with you." Phanish said with a smile.

Ajay had never felt this helpless, not since the time when Sabal had organised a group to kill him at the Ghale Homestead. Whatever the witch had done, he could no longer feel the demon raging inside of him. He couldn't call upon it even in this desperate situation.

The fighting increased in sound till he could hear the shouting and yelling from behind the door. The women and children underneath him from the shelter entrance he was placed against whimpered and cried.

"Enough…" Ajay pushed his hand aside from applying a stitch.

"What are you-."

"I'm done sitting around."

"It that condition you're i-." Ajay placed his hand upon Biraj's shoulder.

"It's alright kid, your Company needs their demon to lead it. Stay here."

"I'm not gonn-."

"That's an order. Go against it an I'll hold you for treason if you survive! (Cough)." Ajay shouted with difficulty as he raised his battered body up.

He turned back to a flabbergasted Biraj, his wounds were so serious he thought Ajay would drop at any second. Yet he wanted to continue fighting, his fighting style may be unmatched, his prowess and strength might be demonic…..

But his willpower was unconquerable.

"I leave Bhadra in your care." Ajay gave his blessing before running out with his slayer cocked, there were only three shots left in his pocket, but he'd make full use of it.

Out in the open, the PDF had reduced considerably, Phanish was lying on the ground gravely injured and one Company was decimated to the last man. The Golden Path were surrounding them and attacking viciously.

A shadow burst out of the entrance of the barracks swept pass the golden path that broke through their lines causing a stream of gore to splatted onto their comrades just behind them. That black star was-.

"It's the Demon! Here's our chance! "

"Kill!"

"GOLDEN PATH! WHORESONS! I AM BADALA! I AM THE DEMON! AND I AM YOUR WORST NIGHTMARE!" Ajay held nothing back in his slaughter, without care for himself, without consequence of killing the fighters or soldiers. All that remained in his mind was the slaughter of his enemies. Golden Path, Yinke, the CIA. All were his enemies!

He wished that he could have done more for the PDF that were dying because he asked them to. He wished that with his death, he could allow them to escape. But the Golden Path were stubbornly cutting them off. In the midst of battle, Ajay found the culpit of these actions. He found the Field Commander relaying orders to his fighters from a distance. He charged towards that bastard that ordered his fighters to be so atrocious yet sat back doing nothing.

"Badala's coming!" An adjutant reported causing the command team to look up in shock to see him running through the hail of bullets and knives to cut him down just so he could kill them.

And they did what he expected of weasels, they ran.

(Boom) His third shot of .700 Nitro from his slayer struck and killed two members of his command team.

Ajay's hand reached out and clasped the Field Commander's collar from his nape as he ran with his tail between his legs. The visage of blood flowing from all possible parts of him made it seem more terrifying up close. He brought the kukri blade down and stabbed through his cranium sending brainjuice spewing all over and his eyes turned white.

Unfortunately, it did not discourage the Golden Path from continuing their assault, they were too absorbed in bloodlust. Ajay rejoined the PDF in a deadly struggle, but he did not stop fighting even for a second. Nehal had moved Phanish to the triage to get treatment which just left Ajay and the PDF now comprising of only fifty people. To his surprise, Biraj came back and rejoined his Company.

"What? You can't tell me what and what not to do." He said with mischief.

"You bloody fool….." But Ajay smiled at him wryly.

"Men and Women of Jatayu. If we fall here, I will forever remember you in the afterlife."

"""WOAHHH!""" The PDF responded.

The bloodly close quarter battle that took place in Bastion Three was unlike anything Kyrat had seen. Making the trenches of Somme look pale as men and women fought with shovels, knives, and fists in their brawl not to win but to kill their opponent in front of them. It made Namdak who was watching from a distance in the Central Keep appalled by what he saw. The Golden Path got anxious and began using their rifles like they should have and the PDF did so as well. The Golden Path were mostly focused on Ajay so it gave the PDF breathing room.

There was so much blood that caked the area that the ground permeated with its iron smell. Grips on weapons became difficult due to the slipperiness of the fluids splattered all over.

If there was anyone left to remember this fight, they would have recalled that this fight was hardly a battle, but a slaughter of men.

It was now that the droning of the AC-130 came back. But everyone else was too preoccupied to notice. It was already in an attack vector ready to fire, even though there were friendlies in the area. Ajay snorted over the loudness of the conflict. It was apparently running under executive orders from a cowardly Lynch, hoping to eliminate him.

"Willis, you sunnovabitch!"

"Damn CIA!"

The Golden Path screamed in vain.

The bird unleashed its deadly payload of autocannon and howitzer shells filled with High-Explosives upon the masses that detonated on the grounds and gobbled everyone, including him.

Ajay was sent flying from his initial position five metres away whilst spinning in the air. His sensationless body struck hard on the floor and rendered him completely immobile. He knew that everyone else was either killed or at death's door. He watched as Golden Path and PDF alike were chopped down by the spray of shells and shrapnel. His eyes caught Biraj lying nearby with blood foaming from his mouth. Ajay wrestled with his weakness and crawled through the heavy rain of shells towards Biraj.

"…..Hey…" His said softly.

"…..Hey…." Biraj responded.

"Don't die now, ok?... I won't let you miss your shot with Bhadra any day."

Biraj laughed in pain and more blood pouring from his gut that had been struck by a shell shrapnel.

"Don't worry, we'll get you patched….."

"Mmmm….. Ajay…"

Ajay pulled him over his shoulders as he struggled to stand.

"Ajay….. can you hear me?..."

"Mmm…."

"…. I need to give you something…."

"Sure…." Biraj was held in a piggyback by Ajay so he dug into his jacket and held it in front of him.

"….." Ajay retrieved from his hands what appeared to be the scrolled-up portrait now smeared with blood.

"For safekeeping….." He didn't want to stain or crush his gift to Bhadra so handed it to Ajay to hold. Talk about priorities.

"I know….." But he took responsibility for both him and the scrolled picture.

"Hey, Ajay…?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you….."

Ajay chuckled as he lifted Biraj's body and moved throught the rain of shells towards the triage centre in the barracks. Whether the shells hit him a second time or not didn't matter. The screams had died down till they were the only ones alive in the fight. Then the firing stopped, apparently to reload their guns in the plane. Ajay made the agonizing trip step by step towards the safety of the barracks under shelter. But now, the morning sun had risen and daunted over the smoking battlefield. The gunship no longer needed to rely upon its thermal cameras to see, he was clear in the open making a slow get away to the barracks.

He could even feel the gunsights trailing on him from thousands of metres above ground. The crosshairs aligned to his centre of mass. He knew that he would be killed at any second, but he chose to continue with what he was doing. He wanted to defiantly oppose to residing to his fate to a bunch of dickless bastards who killed hundreds at a push at a button by showing his back to them.

Any moment now- (BOOOOOM)

Ajay stopped dead in his tracks at the sound that he thought was the shot that ended his life. But it wasn't for him, it was the gunship that exploded and dropped to the earth in a fiery wreck. And out of the smoke.

Came shining swords glistening in the dawn sky, followed with a loud resounding roar that shook all manners of life awake from slumber to this unfamiliar sound.

These weren't swords, but Suhkoi Strike Fighters.

The flight of Su-30 jet fighters flew over the fortress and dropped their guided munitions upon the sites that had been overrun with Golden Path and YLA forces. They weren't the only aircraft that appear however, a pair of Su-25 jet and A-29 turboprop close air support aircraft loitered overhead performing strafes at fleeing enemies and performing the role that they were built for which was tankbusting. Destroying the battalion of tanks parked outside of Lanka from where they bombarded it.

This was a sight to behold for the Golden Path and YLA forces who looked up in horror to find and unfamiliar faction hosting impressive air support firing upon them and killing their men by the hundreds. The first thought they had, what their commanding officers had was to flee, Badala's words resounded in them as deeply as he had told them of his plan to invade Yinke. Only now, they realised the reality of the situation and the capacity for him to actually be true to his words.

After all, in any host warfare. He who had air superiority was king of the battlefield.

But their nightmare had not ended even as they fled into the forests, as over the forest canopies, out came Mi-28 Havoc attack helicopters that mowed them down where they stood with autocannons and unguided missiles.

So where did all of these aircraft suddenly appear in Kyrat from? The Indian Air Force? No. These aircraft were thoroughly painted and marked in the new insignia that belonged to the top-secret program that Ajay and Arjun had heavily funded and equipped to operate.

The S-program or as its preferred designation after declassification. The SkyGrasper Program was their attempted to bring to Kyrat, what had become the Royal Kyrati Air Force.

They had effectively become the first Himalayan nation to adopt an Air Force that had the ability to deter actual first world nation interventions upon them or any of their allied neighbours.

Ajay looked up and sighed in relief. To him it was merely an air display by the mercenary and Indian Pilots having free reign in the skies. Among them was most likely Pravindra, at home in his Su-30 which was similar to the airframe he piloted back home.

"Looks like the cavalry arrived not too late, ey Biraj?"

No response came.

"Biraj?... Oy, brat..." He intentionally said to agitate him into responding.

"Biraj… hey….. don't tell me you fai-." As Ajay placed him down to check on his vitals. His actions froze in place over the expression that Biraj had, or at least… his last expression.

It looked as if he was having a wonderful dream, one with Bhadra no doubt. Ajay slumped against the rubble and chuckled, then his chuckle loudened into laughing as if he heard a hilarious joke.

He finally understood what Biraj meant by thank you. "Thank you for promising to deliver it on my behalf." Was what he had meant to say.

Soon the armored troops that were long overdue to arrive to Lanka's aid found not a single garrison force left save for Nehal and Phanish, and a demon laughing alone by a dead body of a teenager in a cacophony of hysterically maddened laughter, with tears falling from his face.

And so ended, what became known in the Kyrati History Books as the greatest tragedy to ever occur in Modern Kyrati times.

"The Atrocity at Lanka, 16th March 2015."

* * *

Author's Notes:

S-Program. I can't believe i finally made it to show case it. I think i first brought it up in Chp 20, that's like fifty chapters away. Far out! So yeah, SkyGrasper Program is its full name i didn't want to use so i used the acronym for it so as not to reveal too much. I know most of you out there knew already, you are goddamn gifted!

You have no idea how much research it took me to realistically draft an airforce with the demographics that Kyrat had and what were the suitable options. I drafted like seven sheets of paper to work it all out. In future, i will post on my dramatis persona page to give you a clearer understanding of how i did it and what ever my workings and accountancies on it.


	82. Dramatis Persona (Read only from Chp 77)

**Character Impressions (Under Constant Update)**

I'd like to take the time to share what my thoughts were on this story and the characters, what they were thinking and in the case of the Original characters what made me choose them. May contain spoilers if you have not read till the indicated chapter below.

(Read only as of Chp 77)*

 **Ajay Ghale**

Imagine yourself, having destroy a dictator and standing army only to find out he was the closest thing to a father you ever had. The person you supported was a total dick that plunged the country into anarchy and like the asshole he was, shot and killed you. Enter Ajay Ghale (post FC4) dealing with PTSD.

I pictured Ajay as a tortured soul sitting in Ghale Homestead to live the rest of his days in solitude and contemplation of all the things he did and experienced.

In the new timeline, Ajay experiences new possibilities that were not afforded to him during his allegiance to the Golden Path or was not aware of this on their side.

 **As Badala-**

When Ajay dons the mask, he's the nightmare of the Golden Path fighters. Attacking them where they least expected. No one feels safe behind the lines knowing his fondness for striking them most audacious places under Golden Path control only to lose it to him. At first, the mask represented his expression of anger and resentment towards the Golden Path, but more specifically Sabal and the plotters. And also a means to conceal his identity as Ajay Ghale which had a tendency to attract Golden Path sympathy. But as time went by, Ajay donned the mask when he was in conflict. When wearing it, it gave him a sense of freedom to do as he pleased without fear or consequence. It could be said that the mask became his true face.

Intensely loyal to Pagan for reasons unknown.

 **As the Demon-**

The day he destroyed the relic, something within him changed. When he passed on to the new timeline, it stayed with him. The herculean power bestowed by the Relic of Yalung. The strength of the demon god. Beyond his own control, and something he deeply fears would wrought ruin upon his friends and family.

 **Pagan Min**

Not much needs to be said about him, incredibly tolerant of Ajay. Though the same can't be said for others. Loves Ishwari very much and Ajay being the child of his lover was no exception. Incredibly shrewd and cunning despite his flamboyant appearance and persona. Formerly known as Pagavel by his enemies and allies alike during his pre-royalty days.

 **Yuma Lau**

Was the one Pagan sends to do dirty jobs. Admires Pagan and loves him. Contrast to the original plot where she secluded herself into mysticism and ancient history in regards to Shangri-la, she found Maya instead and dedicated her time to raising her instead. Canon plot was that Durgesh Prison was exposed to a fictional strain known as Yatsu Gunbu (Cordyceps Sinensis) that caused the hallucinations up on the mountains for Yuma, Ajay and the prisoners. This was uncovered during her digging for relics pertaining Shangri-la again. Needless to say she hates Ajay because he's his mother's child.

Reconcilitation with Pagan through a common connection they shared through Bhadra helped heal her emotional wounds. Queen Consort to Pagan from Chp 41 onwards.

 **Noore Najjar**

Doctor working in an aid organisation, published article against the human rights violations involved in Kyrat by Pagan. Pagan invites her and blackmails her into doing the work she stood against to keep her family alive. (They're not) Ajay had a rather traumatic experience and was haunted by Noore's death several occasions after the end of the civil war. Aligned to Ajay and the Royal Army faction.

 **Royal Guards (Yuma)**

 **Maya Kadayat**

The first OC I introduced to the story. Begun as an orphaned child whom Yuma picked from the orphanage some time when Lakshmana had died and she unsuccessfully tried to comfort Pagan's loss leading to her own wandering. Maya's existence as her surrogate daughter helps take her mind off her own grief and disappointment. This was essential in my story as it diverted her attention away from artifacts.

On Maya herself, she is quite independent herself able to do many things due to the private tutor lessons Yuma paid for early in her education. Whatever comes out from Yuma's mouth is gospel to her ears, and she's the very person she looks up to for being strong.

Initially comes into friction in her first encounter of Ajay and doesn't like him added to the fact her mentor hates him as well. Over time she softens up, occasionally having arguments with him because that was the only sort of communication she was comfortable with talking to him.

She's aware Ajay doesn't deserve certain treatment her mentor gives him resulting in conflicting beliefs between what she believes and what her mentor says.

 **Bipin**

Maya's brother. Son of Paresh Kadayat. Nervous and timid at times. Always worried about Ajay's reckless behavior. Kind of like the butler to Ajay in this story. Scion to the Kadayat House and if it were around, its family head. Lieutenant in the newly formed Armored Regiment.

 **Prayan Hada Khati (Devoured)  
**

Somebody had to die amongst the hunters to make things happen. Husband of Elina and father to Alisha. Son-in-law to Bibek Khati, the caretaker of the orphanage.

 **Anish**

Was supposed to be the comic humor in the Royal Guard Hunters group. Highly obsessed with money. And prone to displays of prowess.

 **Darshan**

Middle aged man whose either smoking pot or drinking. A man shrouded in mystery whom Ajay is highly cautious of. Ajay believes he is a trump of Yuma placed to protect Maya or perhaps kill him. Ajay believes it is highly possible for him to do so as he has never revealed his full fighting potential to him.

Specialist Major is the rank he holds under Yuma's Guards. His prominence for defeating the Four Devas and making one defect were swept into the shadows by his Commander herself.

His ultimate goal in the life he lived was revenge against the Cursed Witch who stole his family from him and 'killed' him. He waited sixteen years for her to appear, and he would not let any get in his way. Not even Ajay.

The only successor of the Demon banishing order responsible for sealing Yalung a thousand years ago in the Himalayas.

 **Bishal**

Mascot of the hunters. A white Tiger cub of the man-eating Sky Tigress Ajay strangled. Flaunting attention from its owner Maya occasionally. Highly afraid of Ajay due to the trauma of being snatched by him when younger and for killing its mother. It can also smell the stench of death on Ajay giving it more reason to avoid him. Bishal represents the significance between Kalinag and the White tiger which is essential in the later story.

Descendant of the Sky Guardian of Shangri-La.

 **Sandesh**

The main antagonist of the Valley of the Yetis arc. Because Yuma didn't pursue the thangkas or become obsessed with finding ancient ruins, Sandesh and his expedition was never sent to the Himalayas and thus, never had contact with the Elixir. He therefore remained the sane Captain Sandesh of the Snow Guards and not Master Sandesh, leader of the Disciples of Yalung Cult.

Battalion Commander of Tiger Battalion in the newly formed Unit 58.

 **Wild Cards**

 **Solomon Khoo (Captured)**

Due to the mirroring weapons available to the Privateers in FC3 and the Royal Guard in FC4 I decided they could come from a single fictional character's sources.

Like Pagan and Yuma, he hails from Hong Kong. Was involved in human trafficking and was rather successful at it until he was chased by interpol. His product changed from kidnapped slaves to gun-running and he had been supplying both Pagan's soldiers and Hoyt's mercenaries in the past.

The turncoat arms dealer of Pagan joined Sabal and the Golden Path to attain exclusive privileges to Kyrat's natural resources, his decision was due to lessons learnt in the shift at Rook Island with the death of Hoyt by Jason Brody.

Member of the Khoo family of the Canton Triad families in Kyrat.

 **Willis Huntley**

The "Asshole", What more can be said about his attitude. His character is likened to a very cold war-era mindset where USA was at risk from third world countries turning to socialism. If you weren't America's ally you were with the soviets or were going to be a soviet forward base. Displaying the general insecurity that the CIA had in the 80s. Twenty years ago he made a mistake that lead to his stagnancy in position as a field agent in rook island. The cause of that mistake was Paul Lynch, a fellow agent that pushed the blame entirely on him, not counting the fact he had evidence that would ruin his life in Langley. Willis's involvement in Kyrat is entirely in the interest of the United States. In the previous timeline, the Golden Path with Ajay on their side was adequate at balancing power with Pagan. So he fucked him over after disposing of the embedded assets.

Living the one-legged dream in the Himalayas thanks to Ajay's demon.

 **Golden Path**

 **Mohan Ghale**

Perished at the doorstep of Ghale Homestead but brought back by his benefactor to serve her interests in opening Shangri-la. Instantly taking control of the Golden Path when appearing in the nick of time before Banapur's betrayal of Sabal to the Royal Army.

 **Sabal**

"Fryface" or "Rakshasa" affectionately by the Golden Path. Disfigured in a failed assassination on Pagan's life. Changing his behavior radically into something scarier and intimidating. He's more assertive to what he wants and will go through any lengths to get things done. This is why Solomon and Willis were welcomed into his company. Somehow still charismatic within the Golden Path, don't underestimate the power of half-good looks.

'died' with one-punch. But brought back to life through the power of the Cursed Witches magic, complete with facial restoration.

 **Amita**

The ultra-feminist. If she wasn't a freedom fighter she would have been the most kick ass women's right fighter in Kyrat. Can be a bitch at times, always frowning. Ajay says that if she smiled more she was a different person and quite attractive. Sees allies and followers as chess pieces which is a very bad habit of hers.

Commander of the Mukti Tigers paramilitary organisation, Commandant of Baghadur and Bastion three of Super Fortress Lanka.

Badala "Soren" occupies a special place in her heart.

 **Bhadra Rishal  
**

Subject to fate. Appointed next in line Tarun Matara, spiritual guru and leader to Kyrat. A figurehead Sabal had been trying to get from Amita for some time. After a successful extraction by Hurk and Ajay, she lived with the latter in his homestead on the hill.

Bhadra occupies a special place with both Pagan and Yuma, and is responsible for their improvement in their relation.

 **Kamala Malla (Murdered)  
**

A simple and honest girl in the Golden Path. Ajay threw the credit for killing Sugun Hamal to her resulting in her promotion to sector commander and a rising star in the Golden Path. Ajay holds special preference to her for being what the Golden Path should have been modeled after but was unfortunately not. Currently a Field Commander in Amita's remnant group after escaping from Banapur when the Coup was in effect.

Her death threw Ajay into deep hatred for the Golden Path, Sabal and Jason Brody that no redemption would ever allow him to forgive them. Resulting his Ajay's further indulgence of the demon.

 **Royal Army**

 **Arjun Roka**

General of the Royal Army and now ex-Royal Guard forces courtesy of Ajay and the death of Sugun Hamal. Responsible for the bulk of the Kyrati military. Loving father to caring daughter. Old friend of Mohal Ghale, whom he formed a betrothal between Ajay and Saras before their birth. Loyal to the appointment of King and not the person who holds the title but nonetheless loyal.

Though he respects, Ajay "Badala". He absolutely wants to avoid him as much as possible. Matters made worst by his daughters apparent connection to the young Lord.

 **Saraswati Roka**

Company Commander of 3rd Company Royal Army Engineering Regiment "Super-Builders". Brilliant strategist and tactician, manages on her own within High command military politics and always emerged victorious and was a rising star within the ranks. One of the few women to reach the inner conclave of the war council on her own. Ajay's fiancée. Likes him a lot, much to his displeasure.

Architect of Fortress Lanka.

 **Sugun Hamal**

Inheritor of the Royal Guard Chief position from his father. Conceit and incompetent are the words used to describe him by Arjun and Saraswati. Infatuated with Saraswati, determined to make her his bride. In this story, he was responsible for Ajay almost being killed by the Royal Guard Border Troops in the opening cinematic. By bribing the Border Guard to kill Ajay and frame it on the Golden Path. Pagan apparently arrived early and foiled the plan, but resulted in Ajay initial distrust of Pagan and his rampage in the original plot.

Killed by Ajay with an RPG to the helicopter he was sitting in when Pagan provoked him to take action against the Golden Path.

 **Paresh Kadayat**

A well known patriot who supported Pagan's rise to power like Arjun as they firmly believed in stability of the country over actual lineage. Murdered by Mohan's assassins and their family villa burnt to the ground. Maya and Bipin survived, entering the care of Bibek at the orphanage on the nameless hill. From Arjun's memory, Paresh never had a daughter.

 **Paul "De Pleur" Harmon (Former)  
**

Royal Army Chief Interrogator, worked in an American Intelligence agency in the past. Daughter-con. Sickest fuck of all the sick fucks in the City of Pain. Tortured and killed Noore's family. Currently torturing wife and her lover to death.

 **The Condotierri**

A mercenary force formerly under Solomon's payroll until he left them for dead to save a buck or two. This particular group broke off from the originally larger mercenary group and were all composed of comrades serving in the same place which was the Italian Paratroopers based in Florence. Sworn allegiance to Badala, thoroughly enjoying their employment with him and the incentives he gives them for the work they do.

 **Samson De Costa  
**

Dishonorably discharged from the Folgore for insubordination by his superior who ran from the battlefield to save his own hide. Samson earns the respect of his men for standing by them all the way.

 **Ricardo Allegretto  
**

The second-in-command of the group when Samson isn't present. Incredibly lazy, looking for ways to slack off.

 **Luca**

Communication specialist.

 **Antorio (KIA)**

Group marksman and scout sniper. Died in explosion while difusing C4 charges to machinery rigged by the marines.

 **Emilio**

 **Luigi**

 **Alberto**

Group sniper spotter, paired to Antorio until his demise. Hurk fills in the gap as his sniping partner.

 **Stella**

Described as the mother hen of the group and essential to their function as they depend on her heavily for emotional support.

 **Additional Characters**

 **Samar**

Royal Armorer of Pagan's Palace, talented gunsmith and gun-geek makes him click well with new buddy Longinus. Responsible for arming Ajay and providing protective armor and weapons to Pagan.

 **Longinus**

The crazed African gun-runner from UAC. Friends and short-term business partner with the Jackal apparently. Nice guy though a little hard to understand and talk to withou him mentioning guns are salvation. He should be shipped to the United States to preach the good word instead.

 **Mumu Chiffon**

Royal Tailor to Pagan, trained in Paris, France in Rational Garment Design leading to his obsession with practical designs. His works can be found in the uniform donned by the Royal Army and Guards. Mumu coordinates with Samar to invest bulletproof materials and tear-resistant clothing into Ajay's outfits, making them look practical as they are function, yet still fabulous. Taken a liking to Maya whom he invests his time and money on as his female model. The counterpart to Ajay's male line of clothing. He is quite renown within the Kyrati High society for the collection of clothing he's created.

 **Elina Khati  
**

Widow of Prayan. Mother to Alisha and Daughter to Bibek. Currently the supervisor in charge of the Arsenal, received on job training from Maya.

 **Alisha Khati  
**

Daughter of Prayan and Elina.

 **Bibek Khati  
**

The caretaker to the orphanage that took in a young Maya and Bipin after the Golden Path attacked their estate in a spiteful attack to destroy the Kadayat lineage that sided with Pagan during the take over.

Once the prominent General of the Royal Guards that saved the Kingdom many times over the then-Monarch's foolish actions. Known to the Hunic tribes for his diplomacy and the Sherpa for his graciousness. One of the last inheritors of the Royal Martial Art, comprising of several formidible forms.

 **The Goat (Murdered)**

Former clergyman to Chal Jama Monastery. Born in the Uttar region which allowed him travel to the north to become a Royal Guardsman. Formerly known as Dhami. While a man of the cloth, he experienced a terrible vision in regards to an imminent war coming to Kyrat. The cause of the bloodshed to come was the demon god Yalung and the Rakshasa and its hordes fighting. Misinterpreting the vision, he went on a killing rampage around Kyrat until he was killed in his hideout by Ajay for a different reason.

 **Hurk**

Loud and boisterous. While not bright or blessed with good looks he his surprisingly sociable and can get along with all wakes of people. Being subject of a cruel past he roams around seeking friendship in different places. Knows Ajay (Tatbro II), Jason (Tatbro I) and Jack. Innate talent for long range sniping found when his eyesight problem was rectified.

 **Rabi Ray Rana**

Radio DJ of the popular Radio Free Kyrat pirate broadcast. Had an uncle executed by Pagan, and build the radio channel from scratch to oppose him.

 **Chotu**

The cardboard box pet Rabi Ray frequently belittles on air. Though never seen in the game it is likely to be a Macaque Ape due to the eco-system found in Kyrat and the general size of the box.

 **Ashley Harmon**

Paul's pride and joy. Unwittingly wrote those fake letters to Noore who thought it was from her children due to the penmanship.

 **Raghu Hamal**

Father to Sugun and Jeevan. Former Chief of Royal Guard till Sugun's succession of his post.

 **Jeevan Hamal**

Despite his family name, he was never treated as a son of Raghu, but a substitute to Sugun whom was born of the first wife, should he have any unfortunate accident he stood in. Although he made a poor first impression to Ajay, he accepted the responsibility to train Jeevan to be a prominent Commander in the Royal army. Ajay sees more of himself in Jeevan than the latter could possibly know. He hopes that if he taught Jeevan how to overcome his future trials it would be a way of resolving some of Ajay's own personal issues over the course of his life. But also prevent another 'Ajay' from appearing in Kyrat.

 **Kaanan Hamal**

Half-sister to Jeevan Hamal, Ajay's protege. Deeply cares for her half-brother whom she regards as her only family left after the demise of their mother. Intensely protective of Jeevan.

 **Eric**

Pagan's perfect body double. Attends those events that the former does not feel like attending. If you saw the Kyrati rupee, it was him on it and not Pagan. Hails from Melbourne and studied in the Melbourne Acting Academy. Caucasian in decent with similar cheek bones to Pagan granting him the role. Deeply dedicated to the job as Pagan's double, and would order the executions of certain offenders as seen in FC4 before his untimely death by Ajay in the previous timeline.

Is apparently upset by Ajay's ability to instantly discern him from Pagan and is trying to rectify that.

...

 **Marines**

 **Cpt. David Goh**

Loyal soldier to the cause and his country, he took up black assignments because it was where his talents and cool-headedness were most needed. Strong believer of legal justice and integrity. He also possesses a clear conscience and strong morality for someone involved in his line of work that demands life-threatening choices all the time.

Dispatched by Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) to locate Agent Willis Huntley and put him back on the route to Russia while deviated from to accomplish the goals of a deactivated site which happened to be Kyrat. Due to Willis threatening to reveal a scandal of the now director of the operations in South-East Asia, Paul Lynch. David has no choice but to comply with Willis's demands, this is made even more complicated when Lynch denies him the support from JSOC. Because it would garner the eyes of the NSA towards him and they'd investigate his history. David cannot return without Willis or he risks being disavowed and treason which would be especially bad for the marines' under his commands families.

An uneasy temporary alliance with Ajay and the Royal Army to apprehend Willis to retrieve documents that might clear him and his units dishonor.

 **SSG Gregor Perkins**

David's right-hand man and good friend. Has a thing for foreign ladies (A parody of Full Metal Jacket, where the character "Joker" says he "Joined the marines to... travel exotic places, meet strange people, and kill them")

Despite the quirks about him, he is greatly dedicated to the teachings of the corps and camaraderie.

 **SSG Fredrick Grilles**

Seen with friction between him and Perkins due to conflicting beliefs and his known maverick-like behavior within the platoon. Attempted to leave Perkins for dead because he was getting irritated with him.

Turncoated to join Willis with some of the marines.

 **Stew**

Scout in Perkin's squad. Sticks close to his squad leader whom he trusts greatly.

...

 **Uninvolved made involved**

 **Jason Brody**

A.K.A "Snow White" by the pirates or sometimes the King of Rook Island. In this story he chose to spare his friends, leading to Citra's death at the hands of the Liberian Dennis. Jason returns to Southern California with his friends and brother then goes into seclusion to seek self-solitude in Austin, Texas.

 **The Demon Within-**

Ever since Jason left Rook Island, he tried to bottle up his lust for excitement and killing, this cause all his thoughts in these regards amalgamated into a personality within him. And it shaped itself into an avatar of what it represented in his memory, in the familiar form of his former enemy.

 **Liza Snow**

Initially stayed with Jason upon their return, but had enough of him and left to pursue her career in Hollywood. She went to seek her ex who offered the job back when they were in Bangkok but weren't able to. Over time they rekindled their relationship, while Steven became her agent as well.

Hinted reason for breaking up with Jason was due to his suppresed killing urges taking form as a nightmarish existence she experienced upon the island. In denial.

 **Daisy Lee**

Grant Brody's girlfriend until his unfortunate demise to Vaas in Rook Island. The most mature within the group, the only one other than Riley who is most concerned with Jason's wellbeing. Familiar to Kyrat's geography due to an acquaintance years ago.

 **Riley Brody**

Youngest of the Brody brothers. Has a license in piloting, can fly a helicopter as well.

 **Oliver Carswell**

Pot head, rich kid. Not much to say about a stoned fellow. In this story he is more sensible and composed than the rest, probably due to the substances.

 **Steven**

Studied in UCLA with Liza, ex-boyfriend of hers who offered her a job in Hollywood. Initially cynical about being trapped in Kyrat due to Liza's connection to Jason, Steven got sick of complaining after overcoming his internal conflict. Acts as the groups 2nd opinion to the executive choices Daisy makes on the group's behalf.

…..

 **Devas and Mythology**

 **Eight Devas**

Mohan Ghale did not fight the Royalists and Pagan alone. He was in the company of the Eight Devas, former Commanders in the original Royal Guard to the Devi Dynasty. Like the name implies, they were almost godly within their field of specialty.

 **Major Vasu Sen**

The most powerful and cunning of the Devas in military affairs. Like Mohan and three of his brothers had learnt the Royal Martial Art which was all but lost to only the oldest warrior families. Namely Ghale, Sen, Hamal and Khati which he was adopted by Former General Bibek Khati and was treated as his own son.

 **Captain Sanjeev Singh**

Imprisoned by Darshan sixteen years ago, one of the four combat specializing Devas.

 **Sgt Maj Bhishma Arya (Severed)**

Imprisoned for sixteen years with his brothers. One of the only five within the Golden Path who learnt the Royal Martial Art that made them peerless amongst their fellow officers. Severed at Lanka by Ajay in a blood rage.

 **1st LT Jaswant Rajput (KIA)**

Dead elder brother of Sabal whom he once looked up to. Mysteriously vanished into the North with the six only to be slain by Darshan. Avid zealot of tradition and described by his men as a maniac. The apple does not fall far from the tree, the apple being Sabal.

 **Dr Ved (MIA)**

Medical expert and most revered in his field of expertise.

 **Swara Lamsal (MIA)**

The only woman within the group. Prominent orator and teacher.

 **Vijaya "Gary" Acharya**

Before he was Gary, Personal attendant of Pagan. He was Vijaya, Deva of the Golden Path. A series of complex events led him to change allegiances.

 **Paresh Kadayat**

Double agent for Pagan until his actions were made aware of by the remaining Devas and killed at his ancestral mansion.

 **Unseen forces**

 **Cursed Witch**

A powerful force that has been on Kyrat longer than most have known. Responsible for Mohan's resurrection and the Devas change. Described by Mohan to be inhumanly beautiful under the veil and cloak she wore at all times. In possession of many lifesaving boons and artifacts such as the Samsara Mirror, the main component of Kalachakra that sent Ajay to another timeline.

Her purpose is to find and open Shangri-la using Mohan to achieve this quicker, hinted in her connection to Ajay's dreams was her ultimate desire to seek her brother out.

 **Vel**

Saved from death at a young age, she serves her master as an apostle of occult arts and as an assassin or protector at times.

 **Mythology**

 **Rakshasa**

The name given to categorize the demonkin and the Garuda-like demon overlord. The greater Rakshasa will have a major role to play in the story and has a name.

 **Kalinag**

The Kyrati warrior which successfully repelled the Rakshasa from Shangri-la with the help of the White Tiger. Repelled that is, but not destroyed.

 **White Tiger**

Inhabitant and Guardian Animal of Shangri-la, companion to Kalinag during his adventure.

 **Yalung**

The bloody-handed demon god ravages the lands of Kyra in an unquenchable rage and anger. Tradition offers up an goat to keep Yalung from awakening once more to wreck havoc upon Kyrat.

 **Relic Shrine of Yalung**

The collective conscious residing within the Hajura Amako Hatama mountain. Central intelligence behind the Yetis and to source of Ajay's inhuman power. Prison to Yalung which was built by Kyra.

* * *

 **Royal Army Formation**

Merging between the Royal Army who was the premier armed force of Kyrat with the Royal Guard private military arm. Half the original Royal Guard strength formed the Royal Kyrati Police Constably divided by Cantons. Estimated strength 25,000 men with 15,000 reserve. Comprising of several Combat Units mainly:

 **Infantry** \- five + (?) regiments (known)

 **QRF heli-borne (Air Dragoons)** \- two regiments attached to fleet of S-70 helicopters (Known units; 3rd and 5th Battalion)

 **QRF reconnaisance motorised patrol (Cuirassier)** \- one regiment

 **Armour (Hussars)** \- one Motorised Rifle regiment in two armored battalion strength

 **Border Guards** \- one regiment

 **Artillery (Fusilier)** \- one battery of soviet-era S-23 guns, various mortar groups

 **Engineers (Pioneers)** \- one + (?) regiment (known)

 **Supply** \- one brigade

 **Intelligence** \- (G2) Staff level, One asymmetric Warfare centre

 **Military Police (Provost)** \- Battalion strength of officers

 **Signals -** Communication dispatches

 **Recon -** Two Battalions and 25 Cadres of Hunters

 **Rivine Guard** \- Brown-water navy guarding the river system. Four Battalions

* * *

 **Duchess Yuma Lau's Royal Guards Formation**

Like the previous Royal Guard entity, they are the branch of Royal Guards that fall under Yuma's command and function as her private army. Hence retaining the title Royal Guard which was abolished from the main group that merged with the Royal Army. Estimated strength at 12,000 men. Comprising of known units:

 **Snow Guards** \- Two Alphine Infantry Regiments

 **Special Deep Strike Group (SDS Group)** \- Ten platoons.

 **Grenadiers -** Four Shock Troop Regiments

 **Palace/Fortress Guards** \- Three Companies in-charge of guarding Royal Palace, Royal Fortress, Durgesh Prison and S-Program site

 **Royal Guard Hunters -** 64 Cadres maintained.

* * *

 **SkyGrasper Program Branch (Royal Kyrati Air Force)  
**

Operating as a seperate entity from the Royal Army and Royal Guard. Program initialled upon the epilogue to the Meh Teh Airport Offensive. Then General Roka proposed the initiation of the program as its brainchild. Under sponsorship by Duchess Lau and Marquis Badala. To function as a standalone branch in the Kyrati Armed Forces. Currently under development at the S-program site at the mountain walls near the Royal Fortress. Purpose and function remains classified but to the patrons of the program and select few individuals. Buildings comprise of a tunnel network with associated bunkers and several acres of flat land where security is manned by a company of Fortress Guards from the Royal Guards. Located North of Utkarsh and West of the Royal Fortress. Currently assigned under program juristiction is the assorted force known as Unit 58.

Claimed by the inner echeleons to shorten the civil war with the Crown in favor. Known personnel are Officers from India and other allied Armed forces, codenamed "Mexicans".

 **As the Royal Kyrati Air Force (KAF)**

Hopes to operate Seven squadrons, currently operates one or two flights per organised squadron. Falling under them is the Airborne infantry, Unit 58 Brigade. The Airforce has a lifespan of ten years before relevence to the future battlefields render its equipment obsolete.

 **Air Formation (Expected)  
**

Flight: 4 Airframes

Squadron: 12-24 Airframes

Group: 4 Squadrons

 **Air Command**

HQ

 **1st Fighter Squadron (Air superiority)**

16 Su-30MKI (2 Spares)

 **2nd Strike Fighter Squadron (Light Strike Fighters)**

12 MiG-29K

 **3rd Fighter Squadron (Close Air Support)**

6 Su-25SM Frogfoot

6 A-29 Super Tucano

 **4th Fighter-Bomber Squadron (Bomber and Electronic-Warfare)**

12 A-4SU Super Skyhawk (6 Trainers)

4 Su-34 Bomber/EW

 **5th Reconnaissance Squadron (Observation and EWACS)**

1 G550 AEW (AWACS)

2 IAI Heron UAV

 **6th Transport Squadron (Cargo and Rescue)**

4 Il-76MD Heavy Lifter

2 An-12 Turboprop

 **Helicopter Fleet**

Helicopters would fall under Army Aviation and not Air Force due to their association

4 Mi28NE Havoc Attack Helicopter

15 AS332 Super Puma Troop Transport

30 S-70 Blackhawks (14 due to cannibalizing of parts)

 **Pilots and Navigation Officers**

With five short months since its conception, it was impossible to field Kyrati Pilots and Aviation officers right away. The first batch of flight formations for each category of Squadrons are manner and maintained by mercenary aviators of Lupus Caelum. Su-30MKI air superiority fighters of 1st Fighter Squadron are manner exclusively by IAF pilots loaned to them. Pilots for helicopters hail from the pilots' association that fly in the S-70 Blackhawk fleet.

 **Unit 58 'Jatayu' Para Commando Brigade  
**

A brigade size force of four thousand men and women from several branches of the Royal Guard and Royal Army, but also the paramilitary Mukti Tigers, the realigned 13th scouting group of the Golden Path and the ethnic Hunic warriors caste of the Northern Mountains. Comprising of five Battalions led by respective Commanders:

Tiger - Commander Indrajeet 'Indra'

Badger - Commander Loken Kaji

Leopard - Captain Sandesh

Bear - Major Nagesh

Eagle - Chieftain Yang Er Hu

 **Feasibility**

Commissioning an Air Force is no cake walk, it involves major capital, proper planning of airbase sites and understanding of geographics for air traffic, formation of airmen and a command structure. Facilities to support the end-user of the airframes and the aircraft themselves. With these in mind the following estimated figures represent the overall cost of commissioning and maintaining the fleet of aircraft for a lifespan of ten years till the next plan to replenish and replace the existing airframes. With the size and lack of experience in having air forces, Kyrat would be forced to rely of allies to provide their personnel with training. Because of that, it makes more sense to procure airframes similar to said country the pilots train it. This explains Kyrats Air Force mirroring the Indian Air Force in hardware to some extent because that is what their personnel are trained to operate.

Here are some figurative costs overall (In US currency):

Cost to purchase airframes: $US2.20 Billion  
Cost to helicopter fleet : $64.22 Million  
Building facilities: $100 million budget  
Aviation Munitions (Heli and Fixed wing): $594.03 Million for ten year supply.  
Training 1st Gen Pilots: $31.8 Million (Fuel and training cost)  
Pilot wages: $9.95 Million/Year (Indian airforce as reference)  
To maintain Air superiority and air support annually: $73.44 Million/year

Down payments: $3.073 Billion for airframes and startup for 2015

Estimated Airlift cost for Munitions and Airframe (Kyrat can't deliver by train 'cause it doesn't have one yet): $39.996 Million

Expected overall cost including soft statistics such as deliver service of airframe: $5 Billion

Yearly Upkeep fee (Maintaining airframe fleet, facilities and wages): $179.53 Million

What is a billion?  
Think a 1m^3 crate of hundred dollar bills and that's a $100 Million. Times it by 10 and you have a billion.

I made the fictional GDP of Kyrat based on its population and standard of living at $13 Billion which makes it 1.37% of annual GDP on Airforce spent. Not including the 3 billion down payment of starting it.

How to buy a military jet or mass order of a fleet?

As simple as ordering a ferrari in theory. You call up the right people to request a vehicle to your specifications based on a brochure you saw on the internet and tell them to fit it as such. Then you arrange for mode of payment and the contract that explains yours and the manufacturers rights and agree with the contract to sign and shake hands. Your order comes when it has been completed and is sent via shipping to your location.

That being said however, it is the approval from the manufacturer's state government that defines the sale of hardware to a foreign interest. That countries hardware export policies are the quintessential to ensuring a secure transation and not getting bludgeoned by the local authorities or interpol; in other words, if the country of the manufacturer is not cool with selling technology or military hardware abroad like Japan then you can forget about it.

Tax can be incurred to regulate control of sales and stamping of approval to leave the country. Bulk orders of more than one airframe is slightly different, they are purchased in knocked-down kits to transport via heavy airlifters which carry at least 100 tons per flight and can cost up to $400,000 for a flight to a landmass equivalent to Kyrat from Russia. Some manufacturers propose contracts to simplify orders but can change in price per airframe based off economy of said manufacturer's nation. Of course when you buy say for example 18 airframes of Su-30MKI from Russia you won't receive it immediately or all in one go.

You would receive them in what is call Tranches, by the portion like in half a year you might have five delivered out of the total order. You'd also pay for the total cost of all airframes by instalments based on the number you have received so far. So technically if say the 18 Su-30MKIs cost a total of $954 Million together, you wouldn't receive any more than five aircraft from three months since you signed the contract and you'd only be expected to pay for the airframes received which is $265 Million. This is a popular choice with Airforces as it allows some liberty to cancel or change their orders if the product does not satisfy them in anyway in the midst of their procurement. This is done without incurring heavy outside costs or lost funds to both the company and customer in the event circumstance demands changes to be made.

One other important factor to procurement is the manufacturers production capacity, some like Boeing churn out aircraft in the thousands a year while others like Sukhoi might only roll out under a hundred a year due to limited staff, limitations in facilities and economy. Another important factor to defining a purchase is the manufacturer's prioritization. Depending on the product purchased, the national interests always come first, producing similar products as their nation. Supplying or resupplying their nation's army will always come before export sales.

Can Ajay and Pagan actually afford it?

South american drug cartels make $64 Billion a year. Pagan ran the drug business for twenty years with a monopoly in the Central Asia. Hoyt dealt with drugs coming from Pagan as well at Rook Island. He would have to be at least under them in terms of annual collecters fee.  
Kyrat also had vast amounts of treasure he looted, that Golden Statue in the Royal Fortress is just some of it. There are also vaults of artifacts and jewels scattered about Kyrat with number designations. Remember the Blood Ruby mission? Kyrat had a ruby mine out of the many other natural resources that the british once mined via KEO mining corp. Adding Titanium and Aluminium Mines discovered at Lakshman.

* * *

 **Royal Kyrati Police Commission**

During the dissolution of the Royal Guard Organisation, half of its forces were divided to form the ranks of what would become the Police force over Kyrati. Units were divided in to maintain their individual Cantons. Estimated 5,000 Police Constables and employees.

* * *

 **Royal Army Arsenal**

Most of the weapons built and refurbished under Arsenals one and two. And weapons maintained within the Royal Army inventory.

 **Small-arms**

Firearm calibers: 9x19mm, .45 ACP, M43 7.62x39mm, SS109 5.56x45mm, 6.5x39mm, 7.62x51mm, 7.62x54Rmm, BMG 12.7x99mm, 12.7x108mm, 12 Gauge, .700 nitro

 **Pistols -** Kimber Warrior 1911, Glock 19

 **Submachine guns -** POF MP5, BZ-19 'Bizon', TDI Vector

 **Assault rifles -** AK-103/AKM, P416, Springfield M1A Battle rifle, ARP-1 (Leader T2 Mk.5 Copy), AY-16 (AR-15 Derivative), MH-15 Individual Combat Weapon (6.5mm Grendel mod. Kalashnikov)

 **Shotguns -** MP-133, SPAS-12, 1887

 **Precision Rifles -** Dragunov SVD, .50BMG M93 Black Arrow, Remington 700, GM6 Gepard Lynx

 **Machine Guns -** Ultimax 100 Mk.3 Automatic Rifle, MKG (M249 Para refurbished parts kits), PKM (7.62x54R mm)

 **Rocket Launchers -** RPG-7, M2 Carl Gustav, M79 Osa (MK-1018)

 **Melee Weapons -** M9 Bayonets, Type I Bayonets, Kukris

 **Special Weapons -** Autocross, grapple gun gauntlets, .700 Nitro, Recurved Bow, M79 Grenade Launcher, GM-94 40mm Grenade Launcher

 **Crew-served Weapons**

 **Mortars -** L16 81mm, M120 120mm, 60mm Handheld grenade launchers, QLZ-87 30mm grenade launcher, **  
**

**Heavy Machine Guns -** 12.7x108mm DShk HMG (Not .50 BMG like in M93 Black Arrow), NSV HMG

 **Vehicles**

 **5-Ton Trucks**

 **Jeep Technical**

 **Inflattable boat**

 **S-70 Blackhawks -** Utility, Direct Action Penetrator

 **Ratel 6x6 wheels IFV -** Command, 90mm Direct fire support, 20mm Rapid-fire, Artillery observer, Recovery, 82mm Mortar (All variants equipped with cage armour for RPG stand-off defense) **  
**

 **Patria AMV 8x8 wheels Multi-Role -** Command .50cal, 105mm Tank Destroyer, 120mm NEMO automatic mortar, BMP-3 turret 100mm link to 30mm cannon, Recovery

 **Artillery Systems**

 **180mm S-23 field gun** (Heavy artillery element) **  
**

* * *

 **The Valley of Death**

Simply addressed as the valley by Ajay and the residence that live there. Once a barren place where nothing grew, former hideout of the deceased Goat. Domain of the Second Vice-Lord of Kyrat, Marquis Badala. A newly built town establishes itself around the Arsenal, a factory facility for manufacturing arms and ammunition. Being the main supplier of jobs and market for spending within the region, it attracts interest from the local villages within the Valley as well as outside. The territory isn't subjected to taxes which makes it a popular settlement, the roads aren't guarded by Royal Army soldiers due to the PDF program.

The Valley is managed by the Town Council found in the town. A committee that was granted autonomy by Ajay to run and maintain the villages and town, the purpose was to nurture the Valley's most valuable resource in Ajay's opinion apart from the rare earth metal deposits in his territory. Dedicated manpower. Training personnel to take up vacant trades in the town through the vocation school and guaranteeing occupation. There are ten members on the Town Council at all times, who hold their appointments for four years each as Councillors, namely:

 **Sano Pahada Village** **representative**

 **Nadi Village** **representative** \- Elder Aadinath

 **Utkarsh Village representative**

 **Two more unnamed village representatives**

 **Merchants' Guild representative**

 **Sherpas Town Association representative**

 **Arsenal Workers' Union representative -** Alisha Khati

 **Town Welfare representative**

 **Hun Tribe representative -** Chief Yang Er Hu

All are granted appointment salaries and budgets for their associated responsibilities upkeeps. Encouraging adults of ages 18-30 to participate in the PDF program run by the Royal army exclusively for the valley.

 **People's Defense Force (PDF) **

Militia organisation established to protect the Valley territories in place of the Royal Army within Ajay's Domain. Royal Army provides basic military training and supplies the necessary equipment. Officially it is a paramilitary organisation like the independent Mukti Tigers but under the Command of a staff officer from the Royal Army with the rank of Colonel.

* * *

 **Kyrati Nobility and Caste  
**

On Caste

Like India and Nepal once had, the caste system was designed to segregate different establishments of life within a kingdom. If a person was Brahmin (Priest Lineage caste) he/she would only mix and marry amongst those of the same caste. Tentative to Pagan's demeanour of abolishing traditional systems, Kyrat would have likely stopped associating themselves with that system by new legislation. Though it doesn't mean the families or society have fully accepted it or acknowledged it yet. Now the likely sequence of events would lead to an invention of class system instead based on their former lineage. Giving birth to a Kyrati High Society.

The disparity found in the Royal Guard and the Royal Army showed this. It made more sense if the Kshatriya (Warrior Elite caste) were given exclusive rights to join the few but formidable Royal Guard which gave the sense of Imperial Knights from the European Kingdoms.

On Nobility

To make it easier for an english speaking audience and Pagan's roots as a British-Chinese (Hong Kong), the nobility would hold titles that were similar to european counterparts. A top down of the likely existing ranks and their holders:

 **King/Queen -** Pagan Min, -

 **Duke/Duchess -** Yuma Lau

 **Marquis/Marquess (Vice-Lords) -** Badala (Ajay Ghale), Noore Najjar

 **Earl/Countess -** Arjun Roka (by appointment as Military Marshal of Kyrat)

 **Viscount/Viscountess -** Sugun Hamal (By birthright as scion of the Chief of Royal Guards)

 **Baron/Baroness -** Paresh Kadayat (Posthumously)

 **Knights (Royal Guard) -** Maya Kadayat, Bipin Kadayat, Anish, Darshan, Saraswati Roka

* * *

 **The Kyrati Rupee**

Not much can be discerned from game as to the exact value of the "Pagan-rupee". The only instrument that can be used to quantify is the weapons available, but then again that is also subjected to the inflated supply of weapons available in Kyrat. An AK could perhaps cost as low as basic food.

The model I chose for it was the Nepali Rupee, as Kyrat is like a fictional Nepal both in culture and historic events.

Let's say you save a civ from a wild animal, the reward money is around 4500 rupees which in Nepali to US is US$42.07. A reasonable amount to have in one's pocket.

How about a signature weapon? The Bushman costs 440,000 Rupees which would be US$4113.53. The Bushman is a highly customized version of the real life equivalent of the POF P416 which has MSRP of around $2200-$2500 depending on model. The Bushman comes with silencer can, ACOG like optic and many unseen improvements overall with could add up to $2000. This further narrows down the likely cost of living in Kyrat to a meal that can cost 400-600 rupees which would be US$3.70–5.60.

The Ghale Homestead had an option to improve the house. The Buzzer Mini-copter cost around 400,000 rupees which is US$3739.58. Cheap for a vehicle.


	83. Chapter 77 - The Legacy of Jatayu

Author's Notes:

I've done up some of the notes explaining the logic behind the Air Force in Chapter: Dramatis Persona. If you're interested feel free to have a look to quench your curiousity. Logic in fiction has always been a fascination to me, like how Chris Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy adds some logic to Batmans fictional gear and gadgets.

* * *

Five Minutes Ago-

…

(Car horn blaring) "Move it you goddamn rookies!" The Armored Column had spent nearly twenty minutes on the narrow trail in the mountains on their way to King's Bridge. And just when things couldn't get worse, the 2nd Battalions' Lead 8x8 ICV gets its engine busted for reasons unknown.

The was a nonsensical rivalry going on between the 1st and 2nd Battalion Hussars. Mostly it had to do with their heritage, one was Kyrati and the other was Canton, members of the families that came in an exodus with Pagan to Kyrat two decades earlier. Even though none of them were alive to be offended by the other it was a matter of pride in their backgrounds that distinguished them.

Despite his rank as second-in-command, Bipin had struggled to get them to carry out even the simplest of tasks. It was clear that his appointment meant nothing to them in general, but they complied only to the very basic of orders so as not to get Court Martialled for insubordination.

"Come over and fix it then! Sei Pok Gaai…." The mechanic shouted back at the driver of the 1st Battalion Command Vehicle that was commanded by Anish.

Anish sat back relaxing as he watched them send shouts and insults at one another with distaste. He was more than familiar with these conversations. Bipin leaned against the Commander's cupola on his fire support vehicle where he was at.

"Anxious?" Anish asked, looking at Bipin passing looks at his watch every ten seconds.

"…. We have the time to quarrel while Golden Path are overrunning our fortress."

"You think they did it intentionally?" He jerked his head towards the lead vehicle.

"What. To delay so that Ajay would get surrounded and they'd come in like heroes?" Whispered Bipin.

"Or simple too late." Anish stared at him waiting for his response. But Bipin didn't seem willing to accept, Anish sighed and threw on his vehicle helmet. "Start up old Aahlaad, Japa." He told the driver to turn on the engine to his namesake vehicle.

"I have a simple solution to our problems."

"What is it?"

"You willing to foot the bill?"

"What bill?"

"Ishat! Load Sabot!" He told his gunner, to which the gunner pressed load sequence to the automated loader to place said round into the gun breach.

"What's my target?"

"The lead vehicle."

"He!" The gunner chuckled with a grin.

Seeing what Anish was about to do, Bipin called out to the lead vehicle crew men.

"Lead Vehicle! Bail out immediately!" At first, they had no idea what he meant, but seeing the gun of Anish's vehicle line up on theirs they ran in panic away.

"Fire!" (BOOM) The sabot round cut through the thin AFV armour and detonated some of the ammunition inside of its remote weapons station, turning the once mighty vehicle into a flaming wreck.

"You Bastard!"

"What the hell are you doing?!"

"Our Commander will hear of this!" The crewmen shouted at him but he ignored.

"Right, Japa. On ahead, full speed!"

"Aye, sir!" Japa put the pedal to the metal and shook the Ratel IFV named Aahlaad forwards into a charge. The crewmen of the late Patria jumped out of the way as his vehicle rammed it and pushed it down into the steep slopes. Beyond that, Anish remained unphased with what he'd done as he led the armoured convoy down the path. The vehicles behind follow almost immediately when the road was clear. Their path was clear again for them to proceed with aiding Lanka.

But the time they reached, it was already too late.

* * *

Since the beginning of the appearance of fast-movers over Pacchim Valley, there was a non-stop flight of Jets and turbopropeller planes flying to and from Sagarmatha Air Base. Their targets were the known Golden Path bases in Tirtha, off Sleeping Saints Training Camp, Vyatha and of course Banapur. Which was to be levelled as planned. These strikes were coordinated between on-site hunters' laser-designating the targets out in the field for fighter jet carrying JDAMs, napalm, fuel-air bombs and submunitions. There were occasional tremors throughout Pacchim Valley that made some oblivious folks run to the central civil office to report an earthquake only to see unfamiliar silhouettes of fast moving aircraft fly over.

On Kamran's return flight from the Royal Fortress, he had brought over Arjun, Maya, Colonel Raja, Brigadier Kul and Saras. Virtually all the members of the Commanding forces to personally see the end damages of the night raid on Lanka.

When they arrived overhead, looking down through the viewing ports was smoke billowing from every corner of Lanka, Bastions One to Four were all in similarly bad shape. The worse was Bastion Three, which had been reported to have been bombarded by and aerial attack from that AC-130U Spooky. Helicopter units were dispatched to look for survivors of the crash to interrogate.

They landed on the helipad in Bastion Three due to the flares that were popped there by the Hussars that arrived.

Alighting from the helicopter, the strench permeated the air so strong and thick that some of them couldn't help but vomit on the stop.

"The hell happened here…?" Were the mutual words that came out of Raja's mouth.

There were bloodstains and scorch marks all over the place, including shapes of where bodies had been but had disappeared, perhaps discarded or collected for cremation.

"Over there." General Kul pointed to the gathering of civilians and armor soldiers who had dismounted their vehicles. All staring at something over the other side of their human wall.

As they approached, the people at the back saw who they were and parted to make way for them.

What they saw was, Ajay. Moving to and from dragging bodies or some parts of it towards a ditch. He didn't throw them in, but carefully rested them in organised rows and columns. Before he went for another body, he pulled out their metal nametags to confirm their status with the office.

No one helped, not even the Hussar Battalion soldiers. They just watched with blank stares as he did all the work despite his visible bloodstains and injuries. He never mouthed a word of complaint nor a show of discomfort at what he was doing. He simply did it.

They noticed that all of the dead bodies were at a certain age group, then it hit them of who they were.

"PDF?"

"Yes, sir. All of them, including my men." A voice from the crowd answered. They turned to look, what they found was a bandaged soldier held up by a young girl who wore the patch of a golden bird.

"Captain Phanish….. 12th Infantry Company of the Garrison at Lanka." He struggled to salute with his bounded hand.

"At ease soldier, I'll forgive you even if you didn't salute. Can you tell me what happened here?" Arjun asked, Phanish nodded.

Phanish told him of the entire account from when the Golden Path and the Yinke Commando Group assailed the walls and assumed control of Bastion Four, then they attacked the other Bastions with the Central Keep as their main objective. It was thanks to the vigilance of the men and the contingency routine they followed through that they had delayed the Golden Path and YLA for so long and hindered their efforts. With a jammer in place, all radio communications were cut off. Commandant Gurung and Captain Kul went to fight their way through the Golden Path to get to the emergency landline. No one made it back.

General Kul collapsed to his knees weeping. He'd feared the worst and now it had come true, Arjun sympathised with his colleague and could not give any condolence besides his apology they were too late.

Phanish continued with how Badala appeared and rallied the forces with an understanding of who they were dealing with. He also destroyed the jammer allowing shortwave radio communication with the forces still available. He battled with Vasu and Jason Brody singlehandedly and used the former to negotiate for a temporary ceasefire to gain proper footing at Bastion three with their remaining forces. Jason Brody was incarcerated in Bastion threes prison but had escaped some time during the fighting.

He described the slaughter the gunship dealt out on them, how Badala had fooled it once into firing upon the Golden Path briefly. Phanish's use of the stingers had deterred it temporarily. Then at some point he returned extremely battered in a fight with someone or a group, they didn't know. A young militia named Biraj led the forces in Phanish's steed valiantly but at heavy casualties due to being outnumbered by Golden Path and Yinke soldiers' efforts.

Badala fought through the horde like a beast despite his condition. When the gunship came back, it fired upon everyone outside leaving no one alive save for Badala. Phanish was safely delivered from the fight by Nehal the leader of a PDF Company because he was in need of medical attention so they both survived like the civilians.

Phanish finished his account and gazed at Ajay still gathering bodies.

"Why is he the only one-?" Arjun asked and Phanish immediately answered knowing he would ask.

"Because he asked no one to touch them." The group now understood all that had happened and approached him.

"How long has this been going for?" Saras came over and asked anxiously, as what was on her mind was the still untreated injuries, the worst she'd ever seen on him save for the horn of Karkadann.

"About… over an hour."

Arjun grit his teeth at the sight of the bodies Ajay dragged, some weren't even complete. He'd go looking for every part before moving on to the next. To think that Ajay had gone through every body with the same amount of care, he didn't know whether to admire him or pity the boy. He realized why everyone here didn't leave. If they weren't allowed to help, they would at least stay through the entire process to show their respect. For the Royal Army, it was saluting the PDF for their bravery despite their position. And for the civilians, it was a sign of gratitude for having a tomorrow thanks to them.

They decided to do the same as they stood watching him, but Maya passed by them and entered the area, she helped pick up the other end of the body Ajay was carrying. The rest were shocked at what she decided to do instead of the rest, and more so with what she did after Ajay caught her hand and shouted.

"Don't touch them!" What she did then, surprised them all. As a fist struck him on the left cheek, Ajay fell to the ground. If that wasn't enough, she pounded him whilst on the floor.

"Maya!" Saras called out in shock. But Bipin got in the way and shook his head.

Maya continued to pummel him on the face that was already bleeding from the cuts.

"You damn arrogant fool! Why can't we give them a proper burial together?! Why is it only you! Is it because you're the only one feeling guilty?! That their lives only matter to you?! You bloody IDIOT!"

Maya pummelled him to a stop as she grasped him by the collar yelling as such. Ajay just looked at her in the eyes.

And like a dam that had let water through, tears rushed from his face so twisted with grief. It made the crowd feel as if a knife had stabbed them in the heart.

"Why…. Why wasn't it me again….why again…. Only me…." Maya soften her approach and brought him to her chest and embraced his head. Her face too had tears falling from it.

"Then why can't just be thank you? Thank you all for keeping my friend here safe and sound." She said in a gentle tone.

"uh-…..aaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGHH-!"

Ajay wrapped his hands around her waist but his face still buried in her bosom. He released a muffled by pained cry of a beast resounding within the Bastion, one that none of the people in the crowd had ever heard before. Arjun and the rest of the soldiers sighed at the sight. Truly, it was too much to handle even for someone as stoic as him. A few civilians sniffled at the scene, some mourned.

Saras released a wry but sadden smile, once again Maya had beaten her to it.

It was a sight to behold, a tragic one that melted their hearts upon the sight of the demon crying. The very same demon that had taunted his powerful enemies with dread and laughed at odds more terrible than slaughter itself. Grief was a very human emotion that they simply could not see a monster wear. Especially when he grieved not the lost of kinsman, but the young and brave he tried with everything to save yet was saved himself by them.

The Demon wept the passing of its friend and companion, the Jatayu.

* * *

The mountain tops were the most inhospitable place they'd ever been in. It was like there was a blizzard forever rolling in. They were forced to seek shelter in one of the many caves dotted around these mountains. Curiously, the caves had an unsual warmth to them which was a relief, perhaps it was due to isolation of heat energy or the presence of a geothermal deposit further in. The men took this moment to rest easy from the running that was involved. They had managed to lose those dangerous Hunter specialists and outrun those aircraft thanks to the harsh weather up top.

Recollecting the events that took place. The regiment, now only comprising of five hundred souls had covered the escape of fourteen thousand of their senior brethren towards their home through the passageway valley East to Yinke. They on the other hand had bombed that secret route to prevent the Royal Kyrati from advancing into Yinke, they led the Royal Army away as they took the more dangerous route back to Yinke. However, it was one that they were not so familiar with and with the lack of GPS coverage they were forced to rely on maps and compasses although they'd been going in circles a number of times.

-An Electro-magnetic interference?- He theorized.

They had successfully escaped the clutches of the Royal Army. But they thoroughly regretted what they had done, every bit of it. Through their witless action, they had placed their homeland in greater jeopardy than what was best for the country by finding the founding father and assisting him in this rebellion gone on too long. Instead, their presence forced the Kyrati Kingdom to unleash their hidden military might in the form of a modern air force. Namdak was forced to leave behind the tank battalion that had become sitting ducks to the close air support loitering about.

Even then, all manners of aircraft and even attack helicopters pursued and killed them to the last man. He recalled as they returned to Banapur to find the charcoalled corpses of the inhabitants left of the blackened buildings.

"Everything that Badala said had come true…." He murmured.

And now, that demon would likely heard over to the homeland to exact vengeance upon their people. They had to return as quickly as possible to report their findings on the Royal Kyrati Army, Air Force and the Demon himself. Namdak had received the account from his adjutant of how he witnessed the Deva Vasu shrew his way effortlessly through the horde of Royal Army soldiers by the hundred. And he himself watched as Vasu was grasped unconscious by Badala over the wall as he negotiated with Mohan, not that they gained anything. He freely gave back Vasu Sen as if he meant nothing. That was how terrifying that person was.

Even now, his words last left for the Yinke soldiers, thanking them for their actions that spun forth the end of Yinke resounded in all of them.

"This can't be happening.."

"Damnit! Was the founder a jinx-." Namdak grabbed the soldier that mentioned that by the collar.

"You are not permitted to speak ill of the founder. Your insult stems not just to him but to the state of ideals our country run in harmony thanks to."

"Fo-Forgive my transgression!" The trooper apologized.

"It's alright, I know you've been through a lot. As have the rest of you!" He assured them he cared.

"Then get us out of this frigid place, Commander." They laughed.

"I will, you don't have to worry about that. And we'll return to help out comrades in the coming fight. In Kyrat, they might have the advantage but they will be going to our Yinke. Our Home ground! And we'll help remind them that once we return." Namdak had successfully rousted the mens' morale and smile at their cheering.

Just then, a scout he sent earlier to investigate the deeper parts of the cavern came back.

"What did you find?"

"It seems your assumption was correct, sir. There was a geothermal deposit." Namdak chuckled as he noticed the scouts carrying buckets of hot water.

"How nice of you."

"It was the least we could do to cheer up the rest." The scout leader said.

"Alright, Thapa. You and your men performed quite bravely back at the passageway, you'll get to bathe first."

The Company commander scratched his head as the men did press him to go ahead.

"… Alright. But no peeking." They laughed again.

"No one wants to see your plumpless ass, Captain!" The laughing echoed louder.

"Sir, here's yours." The scout handed him a pail as well.

"Oh, thank you. Then I'll help myself."

He and the first batch undid their clothing without issues, the cave was well insulated against the icy cold much to their relief. They could even spend the night here if need be.

Namdak poured the hot water over his head, a warm sensation filled his freezing extermities and felt a little dizzy spell strike him due to the comfort.

"Hmm?"

(Sniff) (Sniff) Although, the waters had a strange pungence to it. Not sulfur like a hotspring but something else. He took a cup of water with his hands from the pail that was given to him and looked at the water carefully, but nothing seemed wrong with it as it looked clear as spring water. As he did, some of it spilt onto the icy floor and caused a rapid cooling of the water against ice and formed a mist.

But this mist was orange in colour.

"This hotspring must have a lot of impurities." He figured. The men seem to have the same idea as they were hardly going to complain against a hot shower in a blizzard.

Then as they were indulging in comforts not afforded to them even within the army. The most strange thing occurred as its echo resounded from outside of the cave in the wilderness followed by a strange hollow voice.

"ROOAAAAAAARRRRR!"

 **AWAKEN….**

 **AND WALK BESIDE US**

* * *

In the end, everyone else helped in bringing the bodies to the pit where they would cremate them and build a burial mound in the centre of the compound of Bastion Three. When the bodies were gathered and wrapped and balmed with special oils, Ajay threw the torch that set the pit ablazed. The civilians left to access the damage on their properties and file for claim and relief with the Governing office that was managed temporarily by Arjun till the appropriate personnel arrived. The soldiers cleared the streets of the bodies belonging to the Golden Path and Yinke Commando force, albeit not as gently as the bodies of their own comrades. They stacked them on trucks to be dumped in a mass grave that they would burn later. The weapons and unspent munitions were gathered and pictures were taken as evidence to what had gone down in Lanka and for the atrocities the Golden Path and YLA had commited. Arjun ordered the Military Police on site to investigate and gather proof to accuse the rightful parties of this massacre.

The only one not in a stable mood was General Kul with the loss of his son, he screamed out Vasu's name upon hearing the conclusion the investigators assessed from the deep stab wounds that crushed his organs and ribs from a powerful blow from a blade. How they knew it was him, was due to the knife left impaled in his body bearing the initials of Vasu on the hilt of the kukri given to him in decoration during his Royal Guard days. Arjun sighed, there was nothing he could do save remove Brigadier Kul from duty temporarily to have him calm down. Maya coordinated with the Mukti Tigers who came to provide relief aid for the civilians displaced by the devestation in Lanka.

Ajay sat by the burning pyre of bodies contemplating his thoughts and questioning whether he should be merciful or even more demonic.

"Which ones the right answer?"

"Whichever one you decide, I'll be there for you." Said Saras sitting next to him, she may not have been there to break his bottled-up emotions but she would at least be around to give her support. Maya and Saras promised to keep Biraj's passing away from Bhadra for the time being. She may find him annoying, but he was still a friend and a part of her journey in life. To hear that he died in the most painful way could cause the sensitive Bhadra to have clouded thoughts for a long time. Biraj's painting scroll was slung on Ajay's harness next to Kamala's urn. At this rate, he would collect memorundums off anyone that he knew well enough. It made him think of whether he should find a suitable spot to bury her ashes, perhaps when the everything was over. It was weird to say it but having her close in spirit gave him comfort, like the ashes he would one day give the scroll to Bhadra.

"So what happens now?" Saras asked.

What happens now? The Golden Path look up in horror to see bombs dropping upon them and their homes. Where would they go? Ajay knew where.

"Provided Pagan approves, which he will. Your father will organise a task force to bring Yinke to heel." He didn't say it lightly either, yet she found it almost unbelievable. That Kyrat was actually going to invade their neighbour, force them into submission and demand reparations for the atrocities and the failure to declare war in advance. Yinke had just asked for a war that it would regret, what was the other neighbouring states' view on this she wondered. The pride of the Kyrati Kingdom and its subjects weren't for anyone to step on however.

"Golden Path will seek refuge there. But for the first time, Kyrat is free of Civil War and yet… none of the fighting has stopped."

Saras realised it as well, with the departure of Golden Path seeking sanctuary in Yinke that would mean that Pacchim Valley was entirely theirs again. And yet, no one was in a festive mood.

"And you're going?"

"I am." Was his response, but Saras's was to take his lips and kiss him strongly. Only returning them when she wanted to say something.

"This isn't a rebellion any longer, its an actual war with another country on their homeground, Ajay. In this kind of war, anything can happen."

"Mmm, it can. But if I don't go, the expeditionary troops will be left vulnerable to attack from Mohan and the Devas. I can't leave them be knowing what they're capable of."

"…."

She understood, Saras was one of the few that knew about the unnatural power that the Devas wielded. It wasn't hard for her to understand when she was one of the only people to have been up close and personal with Yetis

She embraced Ajay as they gazed at the pyre like sitting by the fire which they had never done before.

"Say Ajay, what am I to you?" She got up the feeling to ask as there had been tremendous changes in their relation to one another without them saying anything to enforce it.

"I was wondering when you'd say that." Ajay chuckled warmly.

"So, what is it?"

"At one point, I was gonna say friends with benefit- ow!" She pinched him out of that insensitive remark.

"I said one point! Jeez…. And I was joking."

"So, what is it now then?" She said pouting.

Ajay looked back at the fires for a while thinking. She didn't stop him from doing so.

"Thinking back from when we first met. Back then, I saw everyone as a tool. But then Kamala's appearance changed that… Giving me a time to think that everyone was only human and that they were worth saving from this civil war. Coming back home, you were kinda annoying to begin with."

"Hmph!"

"Sorry, but I'm being honest here."

"Continue." She sighed as she hoped her mood would improve with the latter half of the story.

"I have no idea why a even let you go on that trip with me to that mountain. I guess some part of me wanted to confirm that everything I knew wasn't just a hallucination on my end. But now I realize what I did was a bloody stupid mistake!"

Ajay looked towards her.

"I put you at risk to something just for my own convenience, for that I can't tell you how sorry I am for doing that to you."

"Its ok-."

"No, it's not. When I woke up in that cave, when you weren't there, something in me died again. I don't-….. know why but you not being there was incredibly lonely again. And for me loneliness is hell." Saras placed her hand upon his to hold as he elaborated on his thoughts and feelings.

"When Kamala died, it was equally painful. The only person I cared about, the only person that made me give a damn about this place again was her, and they took her way from me. I wanted them all to die, but most of all. I wanted so much to bite the bullet as well."

She was there after all.

"Then you did something I never expected you'd do. You actually accepted this reality, somehow I felt happy I wasn't the only one in this world. But I was equally afraid, that this world would take you away like it almost did in the mountains." Ajay squeezed her hand tightly as if afraid she'd suddenly spirit away.

"You left to settle things with New Delhi, there at least you wouldn't be in danger of the monsters that lurked here for a time at least. Although, you brought back a pretty nasty parasite." Saras broke into a giggle.

"Way to spoil the mood!" She shared a laugh with him at least.

"And after your return was where I got the idea we were just having a physical relationship, for the sake of having one. Was I simply indulging your selfishness? I don't know." He said honestly, but she wasn't mad at him for his truth feelings. Although, it wasn't the end of it yet.

"After what happened last night, it made me rethink about how I've been treating myself. You see….. I've always held thoughts that I was inadequate to be a part of all this. This was a Kyrat based on what Kamala wished for, I hadn't any aspirations for this small and secluded place."

A worried look appeared on Saras's face. What he said reminded her of Noore's words on his ideals. That he never saw himself as a part of their being here. A part of having a future in Kyrat. To hear it from his mouth was a concerning fact as Noore's analysis proved accurate.

"Ajay….."

"But that's not what everyone else saw… is what I've come to realize. I'm a part of this place as much as everybody else. I should have been sharing my joys and my woes with all of you much sooner."

"What was it? What kept you back initially?"

"Something that I did that make me live in the remainder of my days in eternal purgatory, even so I deserved every bit of it. I'm too ashamed to say it, Saras. Please understand." She nodded reluctantly after seeing him plead with his eyes not to pursue that question.

"Thanks. Perhaps I'll tell it to you one day when all this is over. Although… there was one thing that I couldn't never quite understand, what you ever saw in a jerk like me, Saraswati Roka?" Ajay laughed a bit at himself.

"It's there alright, just because you can't see it doesn't mean it isn't there, Ajay. But since you're keeping something from me, I'll do the same." She said chuckling.

"Fair enough." Ajay smiled.

"….."

Ajay took the pause in their conversation to gaze deeply into her eyes as he placed a hand on her cheek. Saras became self-conscious about what he was doing.

"W-What?"

"What worries me now is what the future will bring. But really, what's the point in worrying over that. I should just do it first and hope for the best afterwards, don't you think so?"

-Yes. What I should have been doing was make the best of tomorrow there ever was. Isn't that right, Kamala?- He said to the urn on his harness.

"I guess. Yeah, do the damn best that you can!" She said encouragingly, to which Ajay smiled.

"Alright, then how about this….?" Ajay placed his other hand on Saras's making her baffled.

"Saraswati Roka, marry me."

* * *

Parachutes opened as the Antonovs released their passengers overhead from where Ajay and Maya were seated. The parachuters, the members of Unit 58 were in the midst of perfecting their air-jumps as was intended of them. Nearly a week had passed since the attack on Lanka, now everyone including Kyrats neighbour knew of the terrifying air force arsenal they'd built. Although it was still filled with certain imperfections, one of the most key problems were the absence of Kyrati-born pilots. But that was a given, piloting took years to fully qualify as a competent combat pilot, unfortunately they had no such time on their hands then. A batch of young officers had been sent to India to be tutored on how to fly their nearly identical aircrafts to the Indian Air Force. Because they didn't have the facilities to train their own, they required their airframes to be similar to Indias.

What occupied the seats of those airframes were Indian pilots loaned to them by New Delhi to fly the air superiority fighters, the similar Su-30s they flew back in India. The MiG-29Ks, A-4S, Su-25s were flown by a mixture of mercenary aviators on Ajay's payroll under a Private Military Contractor Group he listed in Switzerland thanks to Longinus, named Lupus Caelum LLC, the sky wolves. It even had a logo primarily based off Vajra with wings painted on it.

Whatever nationalities he had, you name it. UAE, France, Russia, India, Jordan, Egypt, United Kingdom. When he first posted for recruitment, the scrutiny of their examinations and tests were rigorous. They weren't expected to have any sort of criminal discharge from their native air forces, of course nobody was perfect and there were a few. But he needed to maintain check on these foreigners, because they were flying around in his multi-million dollar assets. And it was no surprise that at least thirty percent of them were intelligence agents reporting back to their respective countries. Curious about the little state that had not entered anyones radar till now. Pagan's spy ring was so impressive that they could list who worked for which national intelligence agency. Ajay didn't bother to question how they did it, because it always got the head spy to give his signature phrase "We have ways." Ajay knew how good they were from the previous timeline as well, they knew the CIAs presence in Kyrat for awhile and which of Yuma's Lieutenants were embedded assets too. The only reason they didn't go after Ajay was because Pagan had kept them on a tight leash.

He was initially surprised with the numbers that were available in the open market. Apparently, they were the victims to national budget cuts and laid-off pilots in armies that were downsizing their military might. Paul Ferenc joined in as one of the mercs since he was stationed here by Tel Aviv and wanted to earn a few bucks. Having been qualified to fly cargo planes from way back and now was his opportunity to do so again. Although he had all manners of stranged requests, especially the one where he asked to be posted as co-pilot to Michelle Dachss, also in the cargo squadron. They apparently had a history together in Longinus's native Africa and were one of the few survivors to an all-out war between defunct mercenary groups fighting for conflict diamonds.

Ajay's response was to have him ask her himself to bunk together, where his response was "Ah- come on, man! I'm asking you a favour here."

To own a favour from the Mossad agent, Ajay felt like he unconsciously licked his lips and reassigned him with Michelle. He had to deal with the latter though, complaining to him in her native tongue and threatening to leave the company despite the early withdrawl penalties. It was clear she didn't like him all that much as he did of her. In her words, he was a "Porc Chauvin". Ajay felt the pressure from her and reorganised the timetable so that she would only deal with Paul in certain shifts.

Returning back to the mercenary aviators, not everyone was familiar with the airframe they were given. i.e. The Emirates pilots flew American-built F-16 and none of the Russian-based fighters in their inventory. So he had to send them to a piloting course in India a few months prior, their previously established knowledge on fighter doctrines helped them curb this problem of relearning greatly and they were more than happy to learn new tricks as he gave them oversea bonuses.

The Indian pilots weren't bounded by contract as they were here out of an alliance Kyrat had with India. Giving them incentives could be viewed as bribery or laundering by their higher authorities so there were no monetary dealings with the IAF pilots, but they were given comfortable accommodations to stay it.

It was no surprise that word travelled throughout Kyrat of their presence as the first-generation airmen, becoming instant celebrities for repelling Golden Path from Kyrat which had been a feat not done for over twenty-years. But everyone knew who was the ones that truly weakened the Golden Paths strength, that was the defenders at Lanka and the ground-based Royal Army who had protected Kyrat for two decades.

Yet there were no parades being held like there should have. Because Kyrat was actively preparing for war. There were still pockets of resistance dotted about Pacchim valley but nothing Yuma's Royal Guard couldn't handle. Mohan wasn't in Kyrat any longer, but in Yinke as its 'Founding father'. Ajay laughed at the thought of him being some 'supreme leader' to a communist state.

"Twenty-seven jumps and counting. (Sigh) Didn't think you needed to do this many jumps to qualify as a paratrooper." Maya said exasperated with the amount of equipment they had to prepare as they dropped down thousands of feet from the air. The preparation was immense.

"You don't. But boss just wants them to have the chance to practice while they have the chance, no?" Ricardo knew better than anyone in regards to parachuting, he was after all in the Italian paratrooper brigades. Samson and the rest had a big part to play in making Unit 58 air-ready.

"Have you ever had enemies fire anti-air while you slowly descend from the sky?" Ajay asked as a light question. Ricardo turned pale, it was clear the operations he'd gone through were carefully planned and needn't go through that ordeal, partly also because they were mission in the middle east that didn't involve flying straight into non-hostile zones.

"You're not-."

"No. But that wouldn't stop a patriotic young man from firing his shotgun at a helpless soldier that would invade his country the second his boots touched the ground."

"…." It was a typical response when an invader came to rob you of your freedom and your countries sovereignty.

"So anyways, Mr Chiffon told me to tell you the uniforms and badges have been finished."

"Right, tell him to bring it to the assembly hall. And tell the Battalions to report there at 1700 hours." Ricardo nodded and prepared to move off with the chart that Ajay had signed for certain procurement of items.

"By the way, I heard Saraswati declined your proposal." He said with a cheeky grin. Ajay was a little shocked, how fast did word travel out?

"My, how fast word travels." He said sarcastically.

"She talked to Stella and Stella told me. Not laughing at you or anything, boss. Just rooting for you as always! In the end, you might end up like me." He showed them the newly acquired ring on his finger.

"Cheeky bastard, you intentionally showing off?"

"So, both of you-." Maya gasped. She referred to Ricardo and Stella.

"Was a small ceremony with our families in Florence, then a brief honeymoon in Venice." Ricardo bragged bubbly about it.

"Congrats to both of you then."

"Thanks. Right I'd better give it to Mr Chiffon then."

"Please, drive safely and be careful of any steep curbs or randomly flying .50 cal rounds." Ricardo flinched at Ajay's passive aggressive threat hidden behind caring words, his boss always had a way with words. He quicly left the scene so as not to be within his sights.

It was at this moment Maya turned to him.

"You proposed to Saras?"

"I did." He didn't bother hiding it.

Maya found it extremely weird that Saras had rejected him despite her constant longing to be with him.

"Did you dun goof?"

"No. It just wasn't the right time that's all." He said with a smile.

"Are you doing this to indulge in her selfishness?"

"I'm doing it for both of our selfishness. But, even so. She cares for me and you too much. Her reason for rejecting me…." Ajay knew she wanted to know as well.

"She only wanted to marry Ajay Ghale." He said smiling wryly.

"…"

It meant that it would only happen when he discarded that mask of Badala could he come to claim her hand. Ajay ruffled her hair gently, she let it grow out from her original short hair look, but was now tied into a bun.

"What the hell….."

"You might look more mature and all. But to me, you'll always be that bright and chipper girl."

"That hardly sounds like me." She said frowning as she pushed his hand off her head.

"Maybe to others, but your eyes never hide your excitement." Saying that made her self-conscious about showing her eyes to him. Ajay chuckled at her display.

"They never lie about how you feel. Not that you've ever had the need to hide your feelings about things, or that way you felt when I prevented them from moving the bodies. You were right, Maya. It was my arrogance, thinking that they died for me, because of me. Even so, I'm grateful to them. It felt as if a heavy burden just fell off my shoulders, and it was all thanks to you."

His words had a deep meaning, she reflected on them as well.

"Was proposing to Saras one of them?"

"It was, being around her has never been boring. But most of all, I feel as if perhaps I can love all over again. You're pretty special too yunno. You can't possibly imagine what a big influence you are on my life choices, you've always reminded me that in face of despair, there is always a way. And for that, you have no idea how much you mean to me."

"The hells with that logic…. If I meant that much then why are you chasing Saras instead of me?" Ajay chuckled in defeat.

"Yeah, what's with that logic, eh? Honestly, I don't know. I feel is if you're like a wall that's unassailable, a beacon to bright to touch. Like you were an angel sent down to give us pitiful sods meaning. I don't want to use the word but I lack the proper description for it. I can't help but want to venerate you."

"That makes…. No sense at all."

"It doesn't, right?... I'll never forget what you've done for me, Maya. If there was anything you ever needed, I'd get it. If helping you meant turning against the world, it's a price I'd happy pay."

Maya was left speechless, she knew that Ajay rarely told lies or didn't keep to his word. It gave her a complex feeling, one she was completely unfamiliar with. A burning sensation in her chest that felt like a knife had driven through it and remained there.

"Then I should charge my max worth out of you then." She smiled awkwardly.

"Oh dear, I think I may have incurred heavy toiling upon myself." Ajay laughed away.

"Hmph! You bet, but those words, you'd better not take them back. I'll be sure to work you like a horse when I need you." She said snickering away evilly.

Ajay got up from his seat and walked downstairs as the Brigade had assembled to fall out.

"I won't. Now, we'd better get going before Er Hu reaches, then we can perhaps extort him for more liquor."

"You're on." There was nothing like the taste of Hunnic Baijiu. A liquor that would become the state secret until many years when it was released to the public.

Ajay had left to organise the assembly to get them reequipped with their new standard gear as an airforce paratrooper unit. As Unit 58 now fell under the jurisdiction of the Air Force and not the Army.

"I'll be sure to work you…" She murmured to herself.

* * *

In the assembly hall, the men and women of Unit 58 had arrived five minutes earlier than appointed time and formed up. They noticed that in the front by the podium were tables lined up with boxes of newly made items Ajay intended to distribute to them.

"What do you think it is this time, something good?"

"Last time was the thermals and optical sights. What could be better than that?"

The five Commanders Er Hu, Sandesh, Loken, Nagesh and Indrajeet whispered to one another.

Ajay appeared next to a metro looking fellow, Captain Maya, the second-in-command of Unit 58 and Jeeval, the boy that would be their Commander. They had rather high hopes for him as their leader and had heard of his exploits as well. He didn't put the name, Demon's apprentice to shame when he killed Sabal whom had entered the tutelage of the Devas and had been proclaimed one as well. His prowess wasn't a question, but being a commander meant leading men, not just fighting in the front to inspire them. He promised he would work on it, he gave his oath. Although it was weird how it had been known that there was friction between Housa Hamal and Badala. Why did the Duke choose to take him under his wing? Did he not represent House Hamal then?

Er Hu was the only one that didn't really mind anything, he admired strength and Jeevan fit that quality rather well despite his slim appearance, there were hints of well toned muscles hidden from plain sight. In fact, he had led some fights with Golden Path before, and in the most recent case was when they were deployed to mop up the resistance after the main force of Golden Path fled the area. He was presented with a challenge, they had been tasked to investigate Chal Jama Monestary for evidence they had been working with Golden Path and had been in fact siphoning donation funds to support Golden Paths rebel actions.

Which he did as he led them to storm and unravel hidden weapon caches under the statues. Jeeval presented a smile to the Abbot before announcing his crimes against the state and the kingdom. Then executing him on the spot, but even his actions were considered pale in comparison with the Royal Guards. While he did kill the head abbot, he spared the monks and clergy as the head abbot accepted the responsibility of the organisation. When the Royal Guard found similar traces of Golden Path sympathy, they slaughtered everyone. Such was the way of Yuma, the Demoness of Durgesh now the Queen of Kyrat.

They say that behind every great man, was a woman. She would be the one that fit the bill with plus A-marks in every category.

"FORM!" At the command, he men stood at attention.

"At ease." Maya ordered. An order from Nagesh who was the current appointed Supervising Officer-to-Brigade (SOB) what the men joke as the 'Sonnovabitch' called the men to take an eased stance. By now, their former allegiances had all but vanished, it was now a memory of a time serving in the company of another Organisation. They were through and through, members of Unit 58.

"Today, on the 17th of March 2015 marks a very special day to us all. It is the day that upon declassification of the SkyGrasper Program to the public authorises the commission of the Royal Kyrati Air Forces very own special forces paratrooper unit. I guess we can say Happy Birthday, Unit 58! But that was the old name when we were but an experiment that was trying to prove itself worthy to stand amongst our friends in the Army as a military arm." Ajay then motioned to the man next to him.

"This is Mister Mumu Chiffon, the Royal Tailor to His Royal Highness King Min. Mr Chiffon personally had taken charge in helping us design the most critical element to our organisation. Which is the colours which we'll wear."

The men looked at each other for a bit, not sure what to make of it. What was this sissy in charge of?

"In fact, many of you especially the former Royal Guards are quite acquainted with his work. He was after all the gentlemen that designed your uniforms."

The odd man took a pose of pride that Ajay had announced his good work amongst so many individuals.

"Ohhhh- you flatter me, your Grace. In fact, when you gave me the call to commission a design for your troops I simply couldn't resist! It was an honour I just couldn't deserve yet was given to me, son of House Chiffon." Mumu announced from the podium like he won an emmy. Ajay chuckled lightly, he'd let Mumu have his fun for the while as the least he could do for all the work he had done. His armour had saved him many times over even thought they came back in the same order as 007 brought back his cars to a disgrunted Q.

"So with that being said, you can probably guess what Mr Chiffon has prepared for everyone."

It was their uniforms, the garment that represented all for one and one for all.

They were organised based on their Battalions to collect them to distribute. Everyone had four sets which made a grand total of sixteen thousand unison articles produced. It wasn't just the uniforms but matching combat harnesses that and camoflauge cloths for their helmets, bonnie hats. There was also a red beret for them to take, a symbol of their status as a Para Commando force.

"Grey and Navy Blue pixel camoflauge with a background colour of black and trim of yellow on the collar and cuffs. Just like you asked, and I couldn't agree more with your suggestion, Aj- oph! Your Grace." He quickly corrected himself. "I can imagine it already, an army that absolutely emminates fierceness." He said in excitement.

"You've outdone yourself again, Mr Chiffon. Congratulations." Ajay said to thank him.

"Not quite, your Grace."

"Oh?"

"I've not forgotten about you as well. You expect me to let you go out there in that atrocious salvation army hand-me-downs? Pft!" He said with a flip of his wrist to indicate it was inacceptable.

"(Clap) (Clap) Hurry up, Chang-san. Where was that enthusiasm you had in the workshop?" Chiffon called out a young man that tried with his might to pull a trunk that looked like it weighed a hundred kilos. Sighing, Maya went over and took over due to the time he took to pull it. When she did, it was like a light carry luggage on a plane. The young man named Chang-san dropped onto his knees and his hands to the floor in despair that a woman was stronger than him.

Ajay chuckled as Mumu shook his head. "My intern, hopeless in carrying those yarns of linen or rolls of silk. But a protégé at the needle work you'll have him to thank for doing that portion with your new armour. In another life, he could have been a fair-lady seamstress. Perhaps in that bygone era, her actual wish was to be a man- but whatever! That's ancient history. Now, onto the present."

Mumu unlocked the case since his intern wasn't going to do so. And lo and Behold was the third iteration of Badala's armour, affectionately named Vengeance Mark 3. Hopefully, one day he wouldn't need to see another iteration.

-Let this be the last.-

Ajay walked up to pick up the gauntlet from its rest on the trunk mount. Some soldiers were curious of what Ajay had gotten and looked from afar before Er Hu knocked them on the heads and told them to help the others in distribution for the right sizes. They had the luxury of tailors on sight to take down their measurements to taper or adjust the lengths for them on the stop if some didn't fit the pre-made sizes based on the sizes they gave to their officers who handed it to Ajay for commissioning their uniforms.

Ajay held the gauntlet and felt the fabric underneath.

"Same combination in layer composites, Aramid, Gore-tex, Nomex for your fire-proof, tear-proof, water resistance and stab-proofing. And for the main ballistic protection, a custom-made dragon-skin style plating made of harden ceramic with titanium lining in case of spalling. Give you a protection of about level four maybe…." That was equivalent to stopping armored piercing high-powered rounds just above 7.62x51mm NATO, perhaps an armor-piercing bullet from a Dragunov SVD sniper rifle.

"Maybe?" Chiffon was rarely unsure of his own work.

"It was mainly theoretical, my boy. The last time I procured that sniper rifle from darling Samar to try it on the plate, it crushed the outside portion and bent the titanium but made a dent on the back ceramics. You'd have a nasty pain from that protrusion."

"Doable, you've saved me from death. That pain is livable." Ajay justified it, he was honestly surprised that Mumu was aiming for the armor to be comfortable after shot. His standards were way too high.

"Just the sort of thing I wanted to here! Why can't you be a bit more gungho like his grace, Chang-san?" He went on to abuse his intern.

"But-."

"There are no buts in this line of work, how many times have I told you!" He reprimanded his intern, it appeared that Mumu was very strict with his tutelage of the young designer in rational garment design.

"Thanks for helping Mr Chiffon in building it Mr Chang-san." Ajay never forgot to thank the appropriate parties.

"Uh-.. no. It is an honour." He bowed, and Mumu puffed proudly.

Ajay went back to looking at the armour. It looked closer to what the mark 2 had been but with a little more 'beef' to it due to the enhanced protection. Mumu highlighted the hardpoints for attaching ammo, sidearms, knives, medical and combat syringes and grenades. The weight distribution had changed making it seem lighter as well.

"Thank you, Mr Chiffon."

"Always a pleasure. Ah! I just remembered-… this!" He brought a box out from the podium as he proceeded to cut the box open.

"What is it?" Maya asked curiously. Out of looking through her own attire being tailored to her dimensions.

"This was his grace's last order. Which I have to say, who drew it? I've never seen such a beautiful design?"

"It belonged to a dear friend of mine, he passed on at Lanka."

"My condolences, Golden Path has taken away yet another muse of expression." Mumu shook his head sadly, he meant it from the heart as a kindred member of the arts.

"It's alright, his spirit lives on in his creations." Mumu nodded in agreel to his words as he totally agreed with them.

What Ajay brought out was an insignia patch meant for the shoulder sleeve that members would wear to represent their unit.

"Is that-…?" Maya recognised it as Ajay had once shown her the insignia of Biraj's Company which she was thoroughly impressed with.

"Let's distribute it to the men." Ajay and Maya placed the box in front and caught the crowds' attention.

Nagesh ordered the men to line up to receive the one patch each from Ajay and May personally. It was for ceremony sake that the two Commanding officers present each man and women the insignia to welcome them into the family.

The men returned to their groups having a close look at the insignia and talking about the cool design.

The design was slightly different from the PDF Company's one. It was rounded but retained the hawking golden bird, but where the sword was originally under the swooping talons was a yellow-coloured barren willow tree. Only to Ajay, it wasn't a tree. But the symbol of Yalung and his coat of arms as the Duke of Lakshman. Underneath along the circumference of the insignia was a written motto in Latin like many English mottos.

"I'll assume that many of you are wondering about what all the figures in our insignia represent." Ajay spoke and everyone quieten down to hear him.

"The bird design belonged to a young friend of mine who enrolled in the recently decommissioned PDF 7th Company. He was…. An aspiring painter of sorts, it was both a hobby and he was hoping a way to win the heart of a young girl." Some of them chuckled at that puppy love that boy had.

"So naturally, his company asked him to make their insignia for them. And he made for them this golden bird, it was the mythical creature Jatayu." They were in whispered discussions as to the valiant bird they thought was an eagle but turned out to be that inauspicious bird that fell.

"Yeah. They had the same reaction, but his reasoning was this. "When Sita was taken by the Demon King who stood up to such a fearsome foe but the old and weary Jatayu, no longer the young and vibrant majestic beast it once was. It attacked the demon king with vicious attacks from its claw, each stroke gorging deeply into his flesh and wounding him to the point that had he not used life-saving boons to protect himself and shrew the bird. He would have been the one to fall. Eventually, it did ultimately fall but it had given the demon king wounds it would forever remember it by even after death."

"It is an auspicious symbol that I've adopted for this unit, what it means is that for everything that has a beginning will eventually have an end. These are the laws of natural which we will abide by and acknowledge. That being said, it now comes down to a the matter of how the end will be and how we choose to define it our closing. That's where the motto comes in."

"What's it say?" Er Hu asked on behalf over everyone.

"per cicatrices, meministi nos. In Latin as Ricardo Allegretto translated for me. And in English it says, 'By your scars, you remember us'."

There was a rise in the ranks of men as they begun to see the light of the powerful message it sent and to be sent to any potential opponents.

"It acknowledges that as a unit, and even as the most elite of units in service to the King. We have our limits and we know them by heart. But don't think that our limitations will bog us down from accomplishing our mission, or achieving success. Because if we don't, then neither will you. If you try to corner and hunt us to the last man, then be warned. As you will not come out unharmed, and you will forever regret the mistake of crossing paths with us."

This was the motto of their cause, their drive and what they do. Before their courage, there was honour, before that was their eternal loyalty to the king like the Jatayu to its family.

"For we are Unit 58 Brigade, 'Jatayu' Para Commandos. And by your scars… you will remember and fear us."


	84. Chapter 78 - Karma: Reap What You Sow

Preparations for war.

Easier said than done, over the last few days Ajay had been signing off the paperwork to authorise the use of equipment from the army and the use of certain doctrines to enforce their fighting parameters. And he did all of this from the Special Operations Command, his office and home to Jatayu and many of the other special forces groups under the Royal Army and Guard. On the side that faced the parade square grounds to the Jatayu Para Commando forces. If it were three weeks prior, Jeeval would be here as well. However, he had been attending the Royal Academy course to work his way into attaining a commission. He hadn't been a member of the Royal Army before, so his status to command and order the soldiers was a questionable one. Not that Ajay's non-military status was any different, but in his own case Arjun and Pagan could confer him a military title based on his nobility status.

His was 'The 1st Kshatriyan Lord of Armed Force'. As cheesy as it sounded, this was part of Pagan's plan for a system of nobles that took up the banner to led and inspire men and women to fight for their countries interests, like the late-Roman Empires' Imperial Knights. It was supposed to be a system used when Kyrat was in open war or faced military threat. A propaganda effort, there were to be eight elective positions in total with Ajay occupying the first that was unquestioned. The appointment allowed him to requisition executive control over any forces to his disposal, and he was only under Arjun who was Marshal of the Armed Forces.

Pagan had entrusted him with placings for three while he withheld the last four not tell him of who he planned to confer it on. Pagan wasn't as free as he used to be with the war looming just over their shoulders. He had the most important job of appearing on TV to tell the citizens of why they were going to war and what was the cause of that. There was also another job that only he could do, which was establish a plan to remove the most troublesome aspect of invading Yinke in retaliation.

And that was the People's Republic of China.

China and India's control of territories around the Himalayas was a truly shaky one with conflicts that you didn't hear on the news very often, but they played their chess-pieces very carefully. There borders overlapped because both parties claimed it was theirs. What they were about to do was going to shake their chessboard so badly it would incur the wrath of the dragon very likely. India didn't mind as Kyrat was giving them ground, however they could not get involved in the coming conflict for it could be made out as they planned it.

But Pagan understood the way of his fellow chinamen very well. And he was further adept to the political situations having learn about politics from Hong Kong and all its civil matters with the authorities. It was the edge he had over his more ignorant triad rivals, understanding the way of the judicial and political system worked. Because in the end of the day, the system comprised of career-oriented white collar executives that ran the country like a company and bent certain ground rulings for their own personal advancement. It was invigorating, to see that there was still spark in Pagan left. He was left with the assuring words from said person.

"Leave it to me, and be amazed. The last time I played Interpol against the triads. This time, I'll deny Beijing of its prize and get away with it." He said with a fearless smile as to what would be the greatest con yet by Pagavel.

It was left to Ajay to move at the pace that he instructed for the plan to go through. While it was easy to bring five thousand men to Yinke via air insertion, followed with airlifts of several hundred tons of equipment, the military response that Yinke gave was something to consider as well as the probability they call up their Chinese neighbours from the Tibetan Autonomous Region, the Western Theater Army.

Yinke was no slouch in terms of self-defense, adding the partisan forces and the Golden Path to back them it could turn badly if they didn't plan this out carefully. Intel was key to preparation and that was what they sought. It was a surprise when the Sherpa representative councillor from Lakshman came forward presenting him with maps and routes his fellow Sherpas had used when traversing through the East towards Nepal and Tibet via Yinke. Ajay also paid a hefty price for satellite images of the layout of Yinkes territories, its military installations as well as imagery in various spectrums that could penetrate the earth to see what else was hidden underground by partisan or YLA forces. It was the Yinkians' home territory, but Ajay would make it resemble a home to the Kyrati forces as much as he could. The intel was sent to Arjun and High Command to process and produce a strategy to counter the Yinke Liberation Army and quell the partisans in that area.

The Jatayu Para Commandos, previous called Unit 58 for convenience sake had been involved in heavy cross training with Army units who simulated a defensive force against the Jatayu invaders. It was a given that the Brigade would go, and go first to clear ground for the 2nd Hussars Battalion. Ajay had arranged for the 2nd Hussars to mobilize with them, it was partly to keep the Canton Families in check by depriving them of their so-called coup de tat army. Even Pagan was fairly certain they had something cooked up by now and would most likely choose the time when the demon was out hunting to kill and usurp the throne.

Ajay was curious as to which person among the families would have the crown on his head. Was it Sun Kwan or someone from the Min Family? He didn't know and didn't care. But he did need the presence of the 2nd Hussars more than the 1st due to their equipment superiority. Out of the four thousand Yinke commandos that entered Kyrat, about a hundred threw down arms and were taken to Durgesh to extract information before their disposal. The new Chief Interrogator whom Ajay was acquainted from assisting in softening up Paul was responsible for handing him the intel on the YLA.

YLA had no airforce, that was a given. What they did have was an impressive armored force courtesy of the People's Republic. On the highlight of things to be concern about in Yinke was a three Armored Battalion-size group called the Republican Guard, these Chinese trained-tankers had rather formidable kit at their disposal, including air defense capability against close air support fighters Ajay might use against them. At the forefront of their vanguard were Ukrainian T-80 series main battle tanks as was identified by Captain David and Sergeant Perkins from the satellite photos. Apparently from their description and knowledge, nothing presently in the Kyrati Armies ground arsenal was capable of destroying them head on, not the handheld RPGs, not the anti-tank munitions from the artillery, not even the 105mm-equipped Patria AMV tank destroyers.

That was the only edge the YLA had over them, there were several options available for Ajay to choose from to deal with them however. One was a high-altitude dropped guided bomb or carpet bombings to destroy them, unfortunately they didn't have bombs for days as they were to be used to destroy critical installations in Yinke, their command structure, radar assembly, and logistical bases. In a similar instance, the Israeli Spike Missiles cache was not sufficient in numbers to deal with them. Another was to silence their mobile anti-air batteries to allow for the skies to be clear as if Yinke would allow that knowing the impressive array at Kyrats disposal. They had to deal with around seventy similar vehicles and destroy them efficiently somehow. Doing that would break the morale of the YLA greatly. If they could force the Republican Guard into a rout, that was as good a victory as any.

This war was brought upon themselves when they shook hands with Golden Path, the Kyrati rebels and physically sent troops to intervene in their civil war. Soldiers and Civilian alike perished from the Golden Paths ever reckless attitude towards friend or foe distinction and the Yinke soldiers were no better in taking part in looting. Ajay's house attendants and friends, Puru and Daya were such victims of these actions.

Ajay piled the stack of papers for Nagesh to collect and distribute later, he had another destination to go to. In fact, he had planned to go earlier had the pressing issues of mustering the forces at Sagarmatha air base to deploy to Yinke had not reached his desk.

He took with him a cremation jar, not the one with him at all times but one that belonged to the Khati Household.

* * *

The winds blew especially strong on Ajay ascend towards the Khati household, as if the very nature of Sano Pahada accused him for the death of its son. It did little to make him feel better about bringing Biraj's ashes back to his home.

"You took longer than I expected, Ajay Ghale." To his surprise, who should be at the porch of the house but old Bibek in a figure of an aged old man contrary to the legends about this legendary general.

"I apologise, I don't really have any excuse for that."

"Well, I suppose it was better than not coming at all." Bibek smiled sadly. Ajay stood where he was, not taking a step further. He was literally returning a son's ashes to his father.

"Why have you come, son of Ghale?" Ajay was confused by what Bibek was asking, what else would he come here for?

"I'm not really sure what you were expecting of me, but I'm only here to apologise and return Biraj home." Bibek scanned him for a moment and the tenseness of his facial expression subsided.

"Alright, come on in then. It was rude of me to deny entry to an honoured guest and friend to begin with." Bibek took his walking stick and hobbled along towards the door.

A shadow passed by and struck him whilst he was walking behind Bibek.

"Child!" Bibek raised his voice at the child that threw his ball at Ajay whilst glaring at him with a hateful look. Ajay remembered him, he was the boy who played ball with Biraj when they first came to the doorsteps.

"Why are you letting him in… after what he did to Big Bro!?" The child shouted back unafraid of retaliation.

"Arnav… child…" Bibek shook his head.

The boy bit on his lip and turned around, he faced Ajay with a dampened face but an expression of pain and hatred.

"One day, I'll join the Royal Army… when I do…. God will give me justice."

Bibek was slightly shocked by the young boy's provocation, rather it was a vow. He was about to open his mouth when Ajay raised his hand in front of him.

"And I truly hope that you might be the one that does that. But remember one thing, Arnav Khati. That strength to kill me needs to come from yourself, don't expect an effortless way towards powers to slay a demon. Especially prayers to this regions' God. Do that and I'm sure we'll meet again."

The boy shook as Ajay handed him a reply that took his declaration with every serious vibe. He slightly trembled at his own actions.

"Look at you, one minute ago you were spurring threats from the comforts of your home. Now you're shivering at the prospects, if you're that afraid then Biraj had never meant that much to you to begin with." Ajay stepped in front of him, as the boy backed away.

"While it was I that led Biraj to his death, do be careful about how you use Biraj's death as an excuse to exert your own emotions. You're insulting the memory of someone that I've approved of." Very word was calm and collected, yet there was a certain iciness to the tone that caused the boy to fall on his back forgetting his rage entirely.

Bibek sighed from afar, Ajay seemed to gain control of his emotions once again when he realised he was threatening a ten-year-old.

Ajay raised his hand and placed it upon the boy's head gentle, contrary to what the boy thought as he flinched.

"You have my sincerest condolence to the passing of your brother. No value can be placed on a person's life nor can it be quantified. I can't do anything to compensate you enough, but I can assure you that there will never be an instance that someone would have to die as he did. When you grow up, perhaps you'll take my words to heart, perhaps not. But take heed, when a person dies he lives on in here…." Ajay pointed to his small chest.

"And here." Then to his forehead.

"That part of Biraj can never die, so long as you remember it." Arnav felt a wave of emotions brew up in him and unrestraintly hugged Ajay's waist because he wasn't tall enough.

"I miss him….."

Ajay stroked his head gently as he could. "So do I."

Arnav went off with a different look on his face, one filled with hope for a future. Bibek's wife Aasha took him away to give the two older men time to talk. Bibek led Ajay to the familiar living area.

"You never cease to surprise me, Ajay Ghale. Young Arnav has been most stubborn these few days, at first when you both encounter I had my worries, but you handled it….. in a different way from what I imagined. You've safed us from another vengeful fool." Bibek chuckled.

"It still remains that Biraj died because I ordered it. Once again, I owe you my sincerest apologies." Ajay bent over to bow.

"Get up, boy. Get up. Do you have his remains?" Ajay proceeded to remove the jar that contained his ashes from the hacksack over his shoulders.

Bibek took the jar from him and wiped the engravings marking Biraj's name and date of departure.

"Welcome home, my stubborn child." A tear dropped from one of his eyes.

Ajay left him to fiddle with the jar, Ajay had gotten the submissive monks to perform their rites for the mass grave at Lanka and for Biraj along with the guarantee that they swear allegiance to the king before their vow of celibacy. Since the recently deceased head abbot and Raju loved to do dealings with the Golden Path so much he made it a point that if the clergy wanted to partake in any sort of involvement with earthly concerns instead of their gods, then it had better be for Pagan. Or the Kyrati Kingdom will no longer tolerate the presence of Gods.

"The King has ordered the muster of troops to dispatch for the expedition to Yinke." Ajay decided to release a few kernels about what they were planning to do with Bibek.

"I should have thought so, the king's temperament isn't one to indulge other's insults of him or his subjects." Ajay raised an eyebrow, why did Bibek seem so familiar with Pagan's antics?

Bibek raised a cup of tea and gazed at the ripples inside.

"Causality, tit for tat, and eye for an eye. You've managed to do what was thought impossible for twenty-six long years. And yet here we stand at the verge of another."

"….."

"War never ends, there is no peace. Only ceasefires and truces to the next, because no one wants to reside to their fate of defeat. When you travel to Yinke, be sure to member that, less you bring the same calamity that Yinke had brought upon itself."

"Understood." Ajay nodded.

Bibek also explained that on Pagan's birthday, he had come up to the mountains out of curiosity. Ajay had nothing to say about it, it was Pagan's choice of moving around.

"I think my presence has sullied your households' mood further if I stay. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to rest him where he belonged." Ajay said as he stood up to leave.

"Curious, you are nothing like your father." That sentence made Ajay stop where he was.

"Forgive me for being suspicious of you, Ajay Ghale. I suspected there was a different reason for you coming here."

"What other reason could I possibly be here for?" Ajay was a bit annoyed by Bibek's insistence.

"To learn the Royal Martial Art that makes the Devas a deva."

Ajay and Bibek stared at one another for a while before Ajay gave his answer.

"You mean the one that Darshan incorporated into his fusion fighting style and Vasu who failed to even understand the concept that he moves like he read it from a book?" Ajay showed very little interest in learning which caught Bibek by surprise that he laughed heartily at his interpretation of the very martial art that established the Kyrati Kingdom to what it was today. Bibek looked at Ajay thoughtfully, the latter seemed to only have good intentions in coming to his household.

"It appears that you don't put the Royal Art in your eyes, truly. Among many, both of those you mentioned failed to get pass the second form and had therefore created improvised movements deriving out of the 'Spring' form. Personally I don't blame you, but if you could see for your own eyes what the final fourth stage could do, you would be amazed. To see a small child fight off an army of a hundred warriors all by herself." It was just as Ajay said, they failed to get pass one of many continuous forms that enhanced one's prowess to newer heights. Darshan created his fusion-Hunnic fighting style to form something equally incredible on his own. Vasu formed the Crane guard formation with his brothers. Also, what was this about a girl?

"Any notes on its founder?" Bibek shook his head.

"The founder is all but lost to us, it was believed to have been made by a young martial artist that occupied an important position in the ancient court."

Ajay was having doubts about this martial art based on a forgotten knowledge. Could it have actually been a copy of a martial art manual imported from China long ago? Ajay did see hints of fluid form from the two that used it on him and each other.

"Would you like a demonstration?"

"Sure, I guess." Ajay just let Bibek lead him on, as it seemed the old man was willing to show him some moves.

Bibek walked out to the courtyard with Ajay in tow. He placed his walking stick to the side and stood in the centre of the square.

"Now, Ajay Ghale. Come at me." He said with a wry grin.

Ajay was a bit surprised that Bibek was actually eager to show off some of his techniques, he chuckled at the old man's enthusiasm but stood before him in a boxing ready pose.

"Ajay Ghale meets the opponent."

"Bibek of the Khati household, 37th Generation inheritor of the Khati Royal Art scrolls meets on."

In Ajay's mind, he was trying to think of ways to lighten his moves so that he wouldn't bruise or potentially comatose the old man.

Little did he know, he was about to get an ass whooping by a shakey-legged senior.

* * *

It was Maya that came up the footsteps towards a very familiar place to her, one that had offered her and her brother the safeties of a shelter and place to call home once. She was here because Ajay had not returned to Sagarmatha Air Base or even the homestead for the last three days. His last known location he was headed in was this place. He did send a message telling her to manage without him, talk about how irresponsible he was with his work. It was exactly like the time he ran off into the snow one day and brought back an alpha wolf he named after the divine lightning of the hindu deities because of its lightning-like reflexes.

But upon reaching her destination all her fury was blown away witnessing Ajay slamming into the dirt from a strike from old Bibek.

"Curious, you're making the same mistakes as Darshan did." Bibek pondered on it.

At this time, they noticed Maya's arrival.

"Oh, hey."

"Oh? Hey? Is that all you have to say?"

Bibek and Ajay looked at each other.

"Well, mister Khati. It was fun learning but moms here."

"Say that again! I dare you!" She was hot on Ajay's tail as he ran to dodged her with the pillars of the courtyard.

The orphans and the Khati couple laughed at their gag, when she realised she had been played into taking part in Ajay's joke she stopped and sighed at being so childish.

As she looked up to gather her breath from the running around Ajay made her to she noticed that the previous shabbiness of the estate had somewhat vanished, leaving a neatly rebuilt estate with subtle hints of character left. The tiles were replaced, the wood painted and the cracked windows exchanged.

"What did you do?" For once she was stunned.

"The young one, helped out with a number of house work while he was staying over. He still insists on not being paid." Aasha shook her head.

"You expect I'd come and have a free meal?" Ajay posed the question to her.

"….."

"Arjun could do with some time without me to do policies without me scrutinizing it." Even the Saras's old man had to admit that Ajay was too troublesome for even him to coordinate with. Now especially of all times when he had the appointment of 1st Kshatriyan Lord. He had an idea of who he wanted to appoint as the last three if they were up for it.

Maya huffed an exasperated sigh, it was pointless telling Ajay what to do. He always had some sort of justification brewed up for whatever he was doing. Although, she'd calmed down significantly at home with the return of Bishal. Strangely, the big cat and canine seem to get along fine despite being kings of their respective animal kingdoms.

"Is there something you need of me?" She wouldn't come for no reason.

"The King wants to assemble all the parties for a debrief tomorrow, Layak couldn't contact you a few days prior."

"I see, so its time then." Ajay nodded and prepared to leave but turned towards Bibek and bowed his head.

"Everything you said, and everything you've taught me I'll remember. On behalf of the House of Ghale, I extend my gratitude to all who bear the name Khati with pride." Bibek nodded assured.

"I know this is too much to ask but…" Ajay understood what he wanted to say.

"I'll bring Vasu Sen back home to you."

"Can you? Will you let his actions slip by after all he's done?" Aasha asked worried.

"No. Not as the Duke of Kyrat, but as Ajay Ghale. I'll do my best to bring your foolish son home." Ajay said smiling before bowing and departing.

Maya didn't question him about what he had just said for sparing the life of Vasu and bringing him back after capturing him. They left the Khati household for the last time before what would become the first ever regional war between Himalayan nation against Himalayan Nation in over five hundred years.

Bibke looked to his anxious wife.

"Was the words out of his own mouth not assuring enough?" He sighed but chuckled.

"Our child, Vasu has always had high morals and strived to be the greatest general in Kyrat. His lateral talent was always the best next to young Darshan." Bibek understood his wife's worries now and laughed heartily.

"True, Vasu had always been such a reckless child. That is why he was unable to master the second form of the Royal Art. Darshan was too absolute in revenge against the demon that robbed him of his life and family that neither could he. But Ajay boy…. At first when he came to our doorstep he had similar eyes as the latter two, but now…. Perhaps he has gone beyond the pettiness of revenge and has learnt to forgive. He might not have fully mastered the Royal Art yet as I have showed him but he will eventually. His clearness of mind and understanding of karma will allow him to surpass the previous generation."

His wife understood now that Ajay was indeed special to her husband as a student. He was only here for three days to be tutored by Bibek, yet the latter was confident in his success.

"But will he truly surpass the best of the previous generation...?" It was a question that loomed in Bibek's thoughts.

Vasu and Darshan were more impressive than many of their era, yet they weren't the best among their peers. Only top ten at most, Bibek knew because all ten had been taught by him.

But there was only one that had understood the principle of the Royal Martial Art that he could comprehend pass the first form of 'Spring' out of the Four Seasons of Pandemonium. How far had he gotten since he last surpass the Spring form, Bibek didn't know.

But he knew Ajay Ghale would eventually face down with him. After all, he was alive and well among Golden Path.

And one of Ajay Ghale's greatest opponents.

* * *

After a week of travelling nearly five hundred kilometres, the convoy of Golden Path and its guide, a group of Namdak's adjutants that were ordered to lead them safe passage into Yinke and the two Devas whom called it their adopted home for sixteen years.

They had travelled out of the valley into a sparse open plain with mountains at the far end.

"That's where Pada Mo City is!" The soldiers gave an estatic cry of joy, the yahd finally returned home.

The convoy of fourteen thousand souls made camp at the base of the mountain valley they'd just come out of. Currently, Mohan shared his makeshift shack with the Devas who were discussing the next line of action once they had negotiated with the ruling parties of Yinke. If they would not oblige, Mohan was confident the people would definitely back their founding father's interests over their government.

"I wonder if Colonel Namdak made it through." Ved was a little worried about the officer whom had readily followed him back to Kyrat against the politburos' executive orders. He had sacrificed his career to bring back someone great to the country, the founding father of Shining Way.

 _-That poor fool probably travelled in the direction of 'that' mountain against your instruction. I wouldn't expect him to return whole.-_

His mistress had just communicated with him internally. Though she was not presently in the room where he was, she was aware of everything that was happening in her immediate vicinity.

"…." Mohan was silent but just smiled to assure his Deva.

"I'm sure he'd return safely, brother. If not, we will forever hold his courage in our hearts." Mohan said in confidence that Dr Ved laughed.

"You and your ways of the mouth. I wonder if your boy would pick up after you."

"I'm sure he would." Mohan said with a sad smile.

"Forgive me, that was uncalled for. I understand that he's currently in Pagan's hands."

"Fear not, for with Pagan he's actually safer than anywhere else. When we storm the Royal Palace I can find and reunite with him again. That bastard would have likely fed him with crap but it will be salvageable after all this."

Ved could not hide his concern, his son might have been in the grasp of Pagan for at least half a year already. Anything could happen.

(Knock) (Knock)

"Come in." After permission was given by Ved, two warriors escorted in two guests he would not have thought have come here.

"Yo. Got something interesting for you, boss." Exclaimed the ever-carefree Jason Brody. While it was the body of Jason, Mohan's comprehension of lore and utilization of magic and hexes allowed him to see his soul. And the image that projected hardly resembled the body, in appearance, eyes , race and even hairstyle which was in a ridiculous mohawk.

"And who have you here?" Mohan turned to his female friend.

"Really? You've not meet-… her names Daisy. And get this, this senorita thinks that she can bring that white boy back from your fiddly magic." Jason went over and whispered to him.

"So what has that got to do with me."

"Because you're the only one that can fix this condition." She stepped forward boldly and exclaimed before the two fighters' restraint her.

"At ease, brothers. I'd like to hear how more from this foreigner."

They released their restraint and walked out of the shack.

"So tell me, what is it you wish of me?"

"To give Jason back his body."

Mohan broke into a chuckle as he heard her ridiculous demand.

"Of course I wouldn't ask you to do it for free-. Hiiee!" A knife had suddenly pressed itself against her neck and Vasu loomed over her.

"I've had enough of your presence foreigner. And you, puppet. Scram!" He said to Jason.

Mohan placed his hand upon Vasu's.

"It's alright, this has been the most intriguing thing yet since Badala hid that Air Force from us for so long." Mohan was calm the entire way of the trip and even within the wall of Lanka when the bombs howled from being released off their sky carriages. Whatever was on his mind at the time, his calmness gave his people strength that he had not given up and was still determined to free Kyrat.

"So in exchange for granting back your lover-."

"He's not my lover and-…. I'd like you to source a body for him too."

"Awww-.. Daisy, you shouldn't have." Jason clasped his hands in a cutsy way as annoying as it was for the rest to see.

"Shut up!"

The only ones baffled were Ved and Swara.

"Both of you, let's give them time to discuss." Vasu understood they should not be around to see what Mohan could do…. Yet. Swara was more than happy to follow Vasu, while they had aged considerably from their younger days. They still held the memories of one another closely. Swara always had a certain affection for the stoic and steadfast Vasu. Ved sighed and followed them out, knowing things were kept from him for good reason. Sanjeev followed behind, knowing Mohan was more than capable of handling Jason should he turn on him suddenly, both with his magic and with his own prowess.

Once they had left, it was just Jason, Daisy and Mohan in the room. Seeing that it was just her and the two she spoke her end of what she had to offer.

"The location of your son and-….. the identity of Badala." She huffed a sigh as if it was even difficult to tell him. Mohan was more than familiar with certain parts on her that Jason and Sabal had indulged him over time.

A smile hung over his face as he broke into a laugh that had a tone of hypocrisy in it.

"So you'd betray a person's good will for you own gain." Daisy visibly flinched at the words he used because he was correct on every account, but she'd come this far. She should go all the way and deal with the consequences later.

"They say that the enemy of my enemy might be my friend. It's clear who's side you're one Miss Daisy. Never would I have thought that it would be a women that undid everything he turned out to be. But it makes me wonder, what was your relationship to Badala prior to coming here."

Daisy had to admit, Mohan was sharp. Even though she unconsciously gave many subtle hints, he managed to work out that they had an acquaintance. She remained silent as the response he expected from her to refute his words but none came.

"Hmph! Very well, Miss Daisy I can do as you request. So out with it then."

"No….. Only after you've reversed what was done."

"And if I don't?"

"Then you can forget about plying it from me even after torture."

Mohan laughed.

"Oh no, Miss Daisy. I wouldn't want to do that. I want you alive there to watch as I break the demon and tell him of your betrayal. Hahaha! Consider it as a request of mine."

"I refuse."

"No? I was wrong about you, you appear strong willed, but deep down you're just a filthy little whore!" Mohan laughed shamelessly at her. Daisy had no choice but to grit her teeth, every word was like a dagger in her conscience. She never expected that her regret would be this great but now it was too late to turn back.

"But alright, we'll have it your way." He reached out with his hand.

"Once you've made this deal, you cannot go back on your word."

"That was what I was about to say to you." She said calmly.

"Ha! What we'll do is a soul binding pact, if you go back on your word you will perish and be dragged straight into Naraka."

"What?" She was baffled by that place he mentioned.

"Hell." Upon clarifying, Daisy understood that this man who Ajay had denied as his real father was genuinely not. The things he could to were like nothing she had seen before.

"Deal?" He said once more with an outstretched hand.

"Deal." As she caught the hand a feeling rushed through her veins and it felt as if a shackle had binded around her heart. She knew at that moment what he meant by soul binding pact, if she chose to back out last minute her soul was doomed.

"Let's get you sorted then." He turned to Jason who smiled ever bashfully. Mohan sighed but with a smile.

He had him seated at a desk while he worked on Jason's tatau, on the formation he reworked from the spell Citra placed. Daisy waited patiently for him to finish, whilst he was working Jason had his eyes closed as if in a trance. She knew that Mohan was really doing something.

Then after a while of sorting through Jason with a combination of drawings and chantings with paper talismans. Mohan sat back and Jason opened his eyes once more. He looked around in surprise and his eyes landed on Daisy once more.

"Daisy?" Immediately she got off her seat and grasped Jason by the arms. "Is it really you?"

"What do you mean? Is it me? Course it's me! And why can't I remember-…. I was at Rajah Gulag with-."

"Ahem. I've done what you've asked, now its your turn." Mohan straightened her out. Being reminded of the soul binding pact she made with Mohan and the terrible thing she'd done that would place Ajay in danger due to their understanding of who he was, actually. Was he really in danger? If he was the son of Mohan wouldn't the Golden Path have convictions about fighting him? She wondered if this info was really harmful to Ajay in any way.

"(Sigh) Right….. The location of your son, I can't exactly pinpoint but he'd be on his way to you soon." Mohan frowned visibly as he felt her words had an ominous meaning instead of 'Ajay was free and was heading his way to reunite' kind of way.

"And Badala's identity?"

Daisy withheld her voice as she seemed to have an internal conviction that was causing her to short out in her thoughts. But she tightened her hands and straightened her eyes.

"I'd like to make another request."

"This late?"

"Please, it'll assure me."

"What is it then?"

"Don't harm him."

"Who….Badala?" She nodded.

"And let us be on our way."

"You have nothing to worry about me stopping you from leaving. I promise both of you safe passage any time you're ready to go."

"Didn't you say you wanted me to watch you torture him?"

"I've changed my mind." She shuddered at his whims but he had promised them a safe exit and that Ajay would not be harmed in any way. So-

"Badala….. and Ajay, your son…..(Sigh) Are one in the same person."

The pupils of Mohan widen with the greatest disbelief he'd ever encountered before as he got up and faced away from them. Daisy could feel the bind around her heart loosen and disappear, the deal was complete and so were her dealings here.

"Come on, Jason. We need t-(BANG)."

The hinges of the door burst open and the door flund with such force that it shattered against the opposite wall. An undescribable aura of frightening fury permeated the room. And standing at where the door was, a silhouette that Daisy could not recognise but to the other two they could. The cursed witch had come.

The master of Mohan swished her delicate hand sending an oppressive vaccuum that drew Daisy's body towards her under a second.

"Gurrgh!?"

Her white snowy hand wrapped around her throat like a vice around a nut.

" _Harlot!"_ Her words carried a chill that sent instant icicles forming at Daisy's spine set shivering at this unknown dangerous person.

" _I've watched you since you appeared, to think that after all the things he'd done for you. You repay his kindness with catastrophe."_

Daisy's eyes turned to Mohan to abide by his agreement to allow them to go and persuade this woman who had an insanely strong grip despite her physique. She could tell that this person with enormous strength and that unknown suction power was a woman. She could tell that because 'Hell hath no fury like a woman's scorn.' But all she could see was Mohan, laughing maniacally upon the revelation.

"So that's what it was! That's what you meant by having met before… My son!- AhahahahaHAHAHAHAAHHAHA!" And let out an insane grin, without a hint of anger or confusion. His current emotions were far from that. To think that his son had fooled the entire Golden Path into thinking he was the hand of Pagan. To have a combat prowess, intellect, and charisma that could rivalled and outmatched his brothers and sisters.

He expected nothing less of one who bore his blood as Ghale and a sion of Kalinag.

"Moh- guur- an!" Daisy called out to him struggling as she was losing her breath.

Mohan slowly regained himself and turned to her.

"My mistress, if you would?" He said gazing deeply at her. And after a while-

" _Hmmph!"_ (Thump) She flung Daisy casually into the wall who coughed out violently to regain her breath but also coughed out blood from the pain she felt from slamming the wall, it was like falling vertically from a building.

"You knew that Badala was my son, did you not?" He explained calmly.

"…" She gave no answer but he was convinced that she did and she was watching him this entire time, she had something special planned for him.

"I have a proposal that will allow us to bring him over and satisfy both our interests."

"… _. You wish to use that damnable harlot."_ She said with a regained composure.

"Precisely."

"What!? This isn't what-….. you gave us your word!" She said with unease that Mohan would break it.

"Correction, my first agreement by soul binding pact was releasing the soul of Jason Brody from his own body. Your second unreasonable request was to let you both go. Both, that is. So is your young friend willing to go?"

"What are you say?!" Daisy got up and went to a dazzed Jason and shook him.

"We have to leave now, Jason! Just trust me on this for once, don't lose yourself like you did the last time!" Jason was shaken about by her two hands but he placed his on her's gently with a warm smile.

"Alright, I trust you. But before we go, can you answer me one question?" He asked.

"Can it be later?" But she noticed his expression become serious.

Considering the time and place it wasn't the best place to explain all that happened, if that was what he wanted to ask but she would give him a summary if so.

"Fine, what is it?"

"Don't you think I deserve an emmy?" His gentle face twisted into a devious grin and one that laughed at her naiviety.

"…..Huh?"

"What do you think? Mohan, buddy?"

"I think you've broken her heart, that's what." He said laughing.

Daisy backed into a corner. "No…. No! Why? You gave your word! You even did that pact thing! You lied!"

"I've not lied to even a single word you said, Miss Daisy."

"What?" She was too shocked to say anything else.

"I did free the bindings to Jason Brody's soul allowing him full control of his body. And I have also allowed the other soul to take a body of his chosing, Jason's body."

"Then why is he still-."

"Because hermano was weak, my poor Daisy!" Jason said as he placed a hand on her cheek to face him.

Daisy's heart fell straight into the earths core and blood left her body almost instantly. She had been deceived in the worst possible way, Mohan had been true to her words, every word. But he also did more than that, he ensured the other souls reign over Jason's body. His second agreement was a trap, Jason was no way in his current state going to leave where he felt most at home to.

(Whack) Jason struck her on the back of her head to knock her out.

"Night Night Daisy!" He said before laughing insanely.

She could feel her consciousness darkening little by little. But before she did, a voice entered her head.

"Right! Let's bring Ajay- was it? Yeah! Let's bring that badass to the darkside!" Jason said in his excitement, the prospect of having Ajay around entertained him, especially after he knew of how Ajay was deep down. Just like him.

-You will be my bait for him, and once you have completed your task. Then you have the liberty to take your own life, and I'd advise that you do it quick. My mistress's kind are the type that despised treachery to the core that they would never allow you a painless death. Food for thought.- Mohan had somehow telepathically transmitted to her a dreadful message for her eventual fate.

She had now realised that she had compromised Ajay to forces even greater than she had imagined. Ajay led thousands, would that mean that she had also endangered more lives than just his. She was too late to regret what she'd done, she regretted not listening to her deeper conscience that was telling her from the start, that Jason was truly beyond saving. But that just wasn't her way of doing things. Now she had forfeited her own life whilst putting Ajay at greater risk and danger.

-Oh-God! This isn't happening- NoNoNoNoNoNOOO! What've I done! WHAT'VE I DONE!... Stupid! Stupid Girl!- She cursed herself.

No one save the witch could hear her internal shrieks who snorted pleasantly at her despair.

Two men carried her motionless body away to be locked up somewhere before their plan to trap Ajay was completed and prepared.

-Ajay… I'm so sorry…. Please-…. Forgive me…..- Daisy had finally reached the final point of consciousness when she heard a second voice.

 _-He will never forgive you.-_

* * *

Author's Notes:

Just a reminder, this is purely fanfiction. It does not portray the countries and people the way as i describe them to be in any way.


	85. Chapter 79 - The Ants March Two By Two

Author's Notes:

Looking back, i believe i'm the Farcry fanfict with the highest word count at present. It both makes me proud and worried. That the quality of my story, grammar and writing is dropping.

Looking at the chapter number also it isn't good either, when i originally started i pictured around sixty chapters. But as new input and ideas entered it extended to what it is right now at nearly 80 chapters. Looks like i'm gonna finish the story at plus hundred chapters guys.

* * *

To those that had never been to Yinke, they wouldn't never know what heaven was like above the clouds. To the people that call it home, Yinke comprised heavily of highlands, rock gravel soil with limited forests and wildlife. Yet the view was the most amazing. The name Yinke derives from the Chinese word for wandering scholar, for there had once been a secluded scriptures academy in the area when the province still had no name to it. Their purpose was to study and make the pilgrimage to the Ancient Chinese city of Chang'an for their imperial examinations. That was where Yinke's heritage originated from and why their apparent closeness to the modern China existed still.

When the PRC annexed Tibet they had spread to wide and too thin, therefore could not continue on for fear of a retaliation from India. So Yinke was left to its lonesome, instead they came to the communist party seeking aid and assistance in cultivating themselves into a nation. They sent engineers and crop specialists to enhance their industry and agriculture. When they needed arms to protect themselves, the People's Republic dispatched their Western Threater Army to provide military advisors and arms as was expected of a communist brother at the time.

Yinke had experienced a time of prosperity when it had adopted the Communist ideology, however not everything was perfect within the three cities. All it took for something perfect to lose perfection was a blemish, and that blemish had a name.

His name was Tenzin.

And he was the President-turn despot of The People's Democratic of Yinke from the Vgru clan now in exile. Tenzin ruled with an iron fist and sentenced the honest and hardworking to hard labour, whilst living in luxury in his personal mansion on the highest peak served by virgin girls on a daily basis. The people cried out for mercy to anyone that would provide such a thing, in response two saviours came professing an ideology of the Golden Path, a patriarchal society that idolized a man to come before them.

These people were foreigners from the violent warlike Kingdom of Kyrat, they were the Great Teachers Swara Lamsal and Doctor Ved. They were once the subjects of a great man they preached of, his generals. He had passed on, but his teachings remained and that was what they were here for, seeking a worthy successor to the Golden Path legacy.

Thousands gathered under the dry grass hovel to hear their teachings and what a great man this father was to his country. Fighting a foreign tyrant much like Tenzin and even accepting the former crooks that had abandoned their wickedness to seek a righteous path. Soon, these thousands became tens of thousands and a cry for restoration of natural order resounded the mountains.

The brave warriors and soldiers that had listened to their teachings understood what needed to be done. They turned on their leader and stormed parliament forcing the despot to abdicate his seat to the people once more. So, with no appointed leader, who would lead Yinke? When the Great Teachers were asked to take up the reigns they declined as their reason was they were not natural born of Yinke and so therefore could not address the interests of the country. Instead, a politburo party was appointed to manage the statecraft and one member elected by the people to be the president. But before all members, in the highest appointment of their new order would always be their founding father, Mohan Ghale.

"What a load of bull." Ajay snorted as he tossed the book labelled 'A Shining Yinke' into the back of the Sherpa caravan.

"Was it not to your liking, Badala?" The Sherpa asked him.

"It was an overglorified piece of garbage meant to sway the minds of little kids that just learnt how to read." It had a strong element of propaganda effort like Hitler's Mein Kampf or Mao Zedong's Little Red Book, there was probably a copy in every Yinke household kept as close as a bible.

The Sherpa laughed agreeing. "Yeah, a bit too strongly worded for my taste. But an eye opener to the world around us."

But it still didn't erase the fact that Devas Swara and Ved had established a state government based on the ideology of Golden Path effectively making Yinke there's. Beijing probably didn't care who ran the party so long as their ties were the same and they received the same amount of exports in coal and they had military access when things became tight with India over their Himalayan border issues.

Kyrats global signature was about to spike because of four reasons. One was the kingdom effectively free from civil war and was progressing economically. Two was their foreign relations with three big players in the UN council, one of which was a security council member. And the third was the disparity in armaments it had with its immediate neighbours, even the larger Nepal. And the last was that by invading Yinke, they would incur the wrath of the dragon. The PLA would intervene, there was no question about that. It was simply justified as liberating an ally from an invasion. However, Ajay and Pagan were about to show that with all that power and military might, Beijing could do nothing but stand and watch. The plan was already in effect, Pagan took off in his private jet to begin his mission at the same time that Ajay left to provide forward element reconnaissance and understanding of the social circles in Yinke. He also had a letter to give to the governing committee of Yinke.

Kyrat had the backing of two nations. One was China's rival for the Himalayas, the other was their comrade for many years. He had never seen how the Chinese fought and neither did he want to find out. Although history had a way of describing their military exploits over the course of their conception as a Communist country. China had one fatal weakness, which was its egotistical pride. Them being the oldest union of states to form an empire in existence, they were founders of many techniques and concepts still used today. Naturally, that pride was a given, but both its government and people had a problem with leeway, it simply wasn't in their vocabulary. Because of that, Western governments always had difficulties understanding the dragon. But for Ajay, he would use it against them for their own gain. It wasn't hard to sway a governing body, it was all about 'what's in it for me?' mentality. From there, everything works out. Even they aren't that stubborn.

It was three days since he was smuggled into Yinke along with the Hunter Cadres who remained out of sight at all times. It was during a broadcast by Pagan to address that atrocity at Lanka and their intentions to bring the appropriate parties that had fled to Yinke to justice that a humble Sherpa came forward to the Lakshman council office through the Sherpas' town association representative council member.

What she offered was a complete map of Yinke, their cities, villages and even sightings of military installations.

"You don't know how big a gratitude the crown owes you, Akita."

"It was the least our clan could offer in return for the wonderful things you've done for our people." She smiled from the front of the carriage.

Ajay guessed this was his reward for the good karma he sowed with the Sherpa. He gave them free passage into Lakshman when it was still called Valley of Death. He also included a seat in the Town Council to represent their interests in the town which was becoming a city. Lakshman was a safe refuge and comfortable place for them to rest from their long nomadic voyages around the Himalayas. This woman named Akita had been a regular traveller to the countries that surrounded this region. The Kumsa Kingdom, Papir Republic, People's Democratic of Yinke and the Kyrati Kingdom. She'd been to all of them, it started with her parents taking her around their usual routes. Now it was just her and baby Maya, the child she named after the lady of Lakshman that everybody knew. The child sitting on Ajay's lap throughout the journey.

"I think she likes you a lot. Say Papa, Maya."

"Woah there! Don't take things too far now." Akita chuckled behind the reins.

Ajay placed baby Maya on the quilts and blankets of the basket before sitting next to Akita in the front.

Up ahead was an established town and at the top of the peak, a lone building the size of hotel Budapest.

"That's the Parlimentiary building were all the big self-important men look over the rest of the country. I've always found it strange, weren't they supposed to be a communist country?" The concept confused her when there was an obvious disparity in wealth despite their system.

"It's just the way people are, in some cases all animals are equal becomes all are equal, but some are more equal than others." Ajay recalled an English film called Animal Farm, it had tones of the failures of a communist system. Not because the system was imperfect, all systems, Democracy, Communism, Monarchy were flawless. It was the human element of it that was flawed with a simple trait that could bog down a countries development, greed.

"Pft! I guess all parliament members are pigs then." She giggled away.

"Mmm."

They travelled further into the town and reached the market place and had a quick meal there. After that, Ajay went to the caravan, shook hands and waved to the other caravan members goodbye before returning Akita's carriage. He pulled out the bag containing his armour and weapons in concealment, Yinke had a no-firearms law in place so he had to be careful in bringing them. His slayer was taken-down, while his bow was thankfully foldable. A Customized HK45 Pistol given to him by Samar from the Royal Armory, acted as his hand-carry concealed weapon. His kukri wasn't much of a problem as he could justify it, the slayer and the bow for hunting purposes to some extent, although he hid the unusual bow as its unfamiliar look could draw suspicion.

"I guess this is it then." Akita returned and lifted the sheets to the carriage.

"It is, although you'll definitely see us back in Kyrat the next time you visit."

"Ha! By then this little one would already be able to walk." Ajay walked over after digging in his bag.

His took her hand and placed in it what he'd been holding, as his hand left to reveal what it was, Akita gasped at the contents.

"This-…"

Two Ruby stones the size of dies were in her hand.

"Ones for Maya when she grows up, the other ones for the very entertaining and gracious host." He said with a smile.

Akita quickly recovered and went over and pecked him on the cheek.

"Thank you, Badala. I hope that the next time both of us meet you, you wouldn't shoo us away."

"I can hardly forget either of you, I'm sure Maya will grow to be as beautiful as her name sake." Akita laughed heartily.

"Take care."

"And may fortune be with both of you." Ajay replied before turning to leave. Perhaps he'd meet them again, perhaps not. Only time would tell.

Ajay went to an isolated part of the alleyway, he sat and waited. Not long after waiting, five silhouettes dropped from the rooftops and landed on their feet like nimble cats.

"Orders, my lord."

"Assess the civilian population here, study the town layout and what you can of the garrison forces present."

"Already done, milord. There is a barracks just West of the town at the base of the hill to their government building on top. Strength is about a hundred, they patrol even less times than our own troops." The hunter leader reported.

"That's because they've never been in a war like ours, perhaps the higher authorities have kept the public in the dark about their task force that ventured into Kyrat."

The Hunters were quiet, they had been dispatched to protect and support Ajay from the dark by the Huntress Matriarch, the spiritual leader of all hunters under the Royal Army.

"Any signs of Golden Path?"

"None that we can locate, it is especially difficult here." Hearing the hunters of all people say they'd lsot Golden Paths scent was not a good sign.

"Mmm? Why?"

"This land is simply-….. barren. There are no natural spirits here and the natural predators are so scarce, limited to mere wolves, dhole and occasional herds of sambar. We have problems finding natural trails that would expose themselves." This was an interesting insight from their very tune-in association with natural. Though he knew that they weren't kidding.

The ground had barely any soil yet not too rocky that it made travelling difficult, which explained the good ground for operating their armored units. Unfortunately, the vegetation was almost negligible. So for those that used the forest to their advantage wouldn't find themselves at home here. If there was a fight, it was strictly long-ranged where the YLA Armored forces thrived. Perhaps they could use the town as cover, then force their response forces to fight in urban grounds. Something that his brigade was more familiar with.

"Transmit your findings to high command, then meet me at the base of that hill later."

The Lead Hunter nodded and bird whistled to his companions who climbed the buildings and disappeared out of sight.

Ajay returned to the busy street. He enjoyed the sights and sounds of this place while it still had pea-

"A thief! GUARDS! Get that street rat!"

* * *

Sagarmatha Air Base, home to IAF pilots and the mercenary aviators of Lupus Caelum, the company built by Longinus and Ajay under trust in Switzerland. Today, their temporary home was occupied with Three Regiments prepping to load up on the 6th Squadrons heavy airlift transports. A mixture of Il-76MDs and turboprop An-12 airframes. Most were temporarily loaned from Uzbekistan and India for the following Campaign into enemy territory. But sufficient in delivering the expeditionary army to Yinke. The supreme commander of the force had been appointed by Pagan was Lieutenant-Colonel Saraswati Roka who Ajay conferred for formalities-sake as the 3rd Kshatriyan Lord.

They would roll out the moment Ajay had done what he needed to do in Yinke, advance scouting and delivering that hand-written letter from Pagan to their governing body. Then Kyrat would mobilize to crush Golden Path and force Yinke into submission. The People's Democratic of Yinke owed more than monetary and written compensations to the Kyrati Kingdom.

As they were loading men, weapons and supplies onboard, the television replayed Pagan's address to the Kingdom to assure them of the situation and of what they intended to do. To face invasion from a neighbour was a frightening prospect to the people who first caught wind of this rumor now supported with facts. Evidence was being broadcasted on the television sets all over, this included a confession from numerous prisoners of war. Since it was clearly an act of war from Yinke.

And for once, the people were so enraged with the idea that Golden Path had invited outsiders to fight by them and terrorize their relatives in Lanka that a spike in civilian-military collaboration took place hours after Pagan aired on the news channel.

Saras watched from the balcony of the control tower as the army loaded itself up to ship out. Every man that boarded had volunteered for that tour out of Kyrat, not because it was a rare opportunity to see sights outside Kyrat. But because their enemy had to face their burning wrath.

Amongst the members of the expeditionary command team were Colonel Raja and Maya of the Royal Guard and herself. Brigadier Kul had fervently demanded to join but was denied not by Arjun, but by Ajay. He knew it was painful for the father to lose his only son when all they did was serve the kingdom to their utmost, but he would not allow the Kul household to fall because of a vendetta. So Ajay promised the Brigadier the heads of those responsible, he promised to bring Vasu back to punish though he would live. Not to ease his pain or give him solace, but to uphold the Brigadier's family honour.

Brigadier Kul trusted in Ajay to be true to his words, and swore to protect Kyrat from any further intrusion. The Yinke Commando Regiments' intrusion would be the last foreign invader while he stood. He gave up his appointment as a Division Commander to be the Commandant of Lanka till death. Standing like a watchful guardian over the territories of Kyrat. In years to come he would be known as 'Sentinel' Kul by the history class excursions done by the schools to visit the city central of Lanka.

From afar, the Jatayu Commandos were loading up on the heavy airlifters for their paradrop into hostile territory to open up a landing zone for the armor and logistics to syphon in after them. She and the command team would only follow right after.

None of these were on Saras's mind, however.

All she'd been thinking about was what Ajay had said to her at Lanka a week ago. Everytime she recalled those two words, her heart palpitated rapidly non-stop. Back when he said it to her, she thought she had fallen asleep and was having a pleasant dream.

But it was a fantasy made reality. Somehow all the death in Lanka had made him weary of the fighting. He understood that whether he was around or not after everything, there would always be people who looked up to him or depended on him to make it through. He might not have the desire to rule Kyrat like the King had planned but he would at least have a place here to call home by earning it.

She was just thankful she could maintain a cool face and think things through before replying. Her answer was she only wished to marry Ajay Ghale. From that, he could tell that she would only agree if he put down the mask and mantle of demon. With the regional war looming with no sign of how long it would actually take even though it was thoroughly planned to be a quick takeover, nothing would usually go as planned.

Saras fiddled with the jewel hairpin that Ajay had given her some time ago.

"And the ants go marching two by two….."

Saras turned to the doorway to find Noore had finally arrived.

"You're here early."

"Well, I just had to see you off at least. Ashley's been quite the little helper so I could make time to come early. Who knows how long it'll be before you and Ajay come back."

"Hopefully not too long."

"Yeah."

"So what can I do for you?" She had come to this arranged point instead of seeing her off at the airfield, Noore obviously understood it was for something else.

"Can we talk?"

"Sure, might as well." Noore joined her beside the railings of the balcony on the control tower.

"So….."

Noore initiated the conversation.

"I heard that Ajay proposed to you."

"…"

"You did the right thing, girl! Make him look forward to something when all this is done."

Noore said carefree whilst patting her on the back, despite her usual seriousness. But Saras's mood didn't seem to change.

"(Sigh) And here I thought that the conflict would end with the Golden Path surrendering. Instead…. We have this mess." There were no victory parades upon the closing of the twenty-six year long civil war. Only a declaration to continue another in a foreign land. But at least they weren't fighting Kyratis? They sure as hell would lose some.

"You wanna ask why he wouldn't put down the mask, right?" Noore was the most perceptive in drawing that personality out of Ajay.

"Why? Hasn't he done enough, if Golden Path do come back then we would be ready."

"This was never about Golden Path. From what Pagan tells me, its more. What they're about to do will redefinite the workings of the Himalayan countries in our region."

"By invading Yinke?"

"Yinke is a very big part of this plan, Pagan made me swear not to say but if things go accordingly, Kyrat might never face a situation that would warrant a civil war ever again."

"It still doesn't answer why though."

"No, it doesn't." Noore nodded in agreement.

After a while of silence Saras asked.

"What is Ajay's greatest shame?" She recalled the one thing that Ajay wouldn't reveal to anyone, but perhaps the same could not be said for Noore. She'd seen how they'd collarabated with one another all the time, like two peas in a pod working non-stop to achieve something no one seemed to understand.

"Curious, darling?"

"It's something none of us know, yet it seemed to have a very big impact on how he behaves. What could possibly make him care so much that he of all people would cry over the death of so kid that died on the street?"

Noore thought about it for a while whether she wanted to say it, she even lit a cigarette to calm her nerves.

"You couldn't possibly imagine the bloodshed he's gone through. Honestly, to call him demon is a relatively kind. He's seen what the end of the tunnel looks like and ran fast enough to escape it. All this….." She motioned to her surroundings.

"Wouldn't even make up for what he thinks he had done."

"What was it?" Saras looked to Noore with pleading eyes, with the desire to know. Noore sighed, it was clear that Saras was having serious thoughts about being with him, yet wasn't sure if she could handle the emotional baggage he would likely bring with him. She puffed away at her stick.

"I won't tell you, you need to hear it from him personally." Upon hearing she was denied that, Saras chuckled in defeat.

"It's not as bad as you think, and certainly not something that many would beat themselves over."

"Then why is he like this?"

"He's just too good natured, dear. You of all people should know that, he mask was to hide that nature so that he would be taken seriously instead of being a naïve fool. After all, you'd follow someone who would force you rather than suggest doing something." Noore said with a smile. Hearing this, Saras sighed.

"I feel like an idiot for asking this from you."

"No worries, dear. Every once in a while we need someone else to confirm our fears. So I guess this is farewell till next time then, huh?" Noore held out her hand for a handshake.

"…. Noore."

"Hmm?" Noore had a feeling that Saras had more she wanted to say than just confirming her standing point with someone else. So she was all ears to her good friends request, Saras was after all one of those friends she deeply trusted.

"Anything else you want to share, darling? Go on and don't be shy. I'm all ears to you." Saras nodded in acknowledgement and started with-

"Can you keep a secret?"

* * *

The civilians scattered in all directions afraid of what they'd seen. In the wake of where it had occurred were seven police officers lying on the ground groaning fr om the cracked ribs, wrists and fingers. The culprit of all this was none other than Ajay.

"Damn it! Lemme go! Help! Help! He's gonna sell me into slavery!" The street kid yells to the crowd, but no one took action. For just a minute ago, he was caught stealing cash from one of the stall vendor's pockets. It was like cries of 'the boy who cried wolf'. Whist trying to lose his law-enforcing pursuers, he threw the bag towards Ajay and cheekily said "Here's todays cut, boss!" Before attempting to flee further, but of course Ajay wasn't going to let him get away and grabbed his shirt and heard him in the air.

When the cops came to apprehend that thief, they had heard his rant earlier and suspected Ajay of being the organiser of several of the reported pickpocketing and petty theft cases around the areas. Not even giving Ajay a chance to explain himself, they drew their makarovs to force him to submit. Ajay sighed, because this jinx had just gotten him into trouble he tried so hard to avoid, if he went back to their station, there was no way they wouldn't check his items and find a set of armor and a ridiculously formidable gun for hunting anything other than the local wildlife. Plus, he was armed with a modern automatic pistol that wasn't available in these parts. Samar insisted that he carry it due to prolong combat conditions requiring the very best to reduce fatigue, which he reluctantly obliged even if it was easier to lug around that the all-steel 1911. He would do his best not to get caught, but unfortunately luck wasn't on his side.

After hanging the kid on a pole, Ajay swiftly disabled the police with his titanium coated-ceramic gauntlets, the only part of his armor that was actively on him. It was here that for the first time, he applied the use of the Royal Martial Art, Four Seasons of Pandemonium upon his very first unfriendly targets. Barely three seconds had passed when the three officers that had come were already on the ground groaning over pains. Five more had appeared out of the requests from the civilians in distress, he took less time to dispatch them with his hands and legs.

For the first time, Ajay realised what a cinch it was to deal with multiple adversaries that it wasn't even exhilarating at all. No wonder Bibek, Vasu, and Darshan were almost unstoppable in hand-to-hand. The Royal Martial Art was what allowed Kyrat to thrive and repel invaders many times over to form the first key stones to the Kyrati Kingdom. It explained why Bibek Khati could force negotiation with the Huns, why Vasu and the rest were herald as Devas and why Darshan was as dangerous as he was.

The crowd watched with gaping mouths as Ajay grabbed the kid by the collar and ran off into the alleyway. The kid too was wearing the same shocked look, they simply hadn't seen anything so graceful take down multiple opponents at once. Ajay could see a big gape in the times that Yinke and Kyrat lived in. The Civil War had honed and tempered the peoples' understanding of certain elements to fighting and warfare. In Yinke, it was virtually non-existent. Perhaps the government had done superbly at suppressing any symptoms of rebellion and had in turn removed the thoughts of conflict all together.

Ajay was now picturing their reaction they would have with parachutes opening over them and bullets raining all around. There would be pure anarchy and worse, when the governing forces were suppressed. Ajay and the Kyrati forces would have a difficult time coordinating peace with the civilians. What he needed was inside help.

"Alright! Time out! I'm sorry, mister!... Just- please let me down now…" The kid said frantically squirming about in Ajay's arm as he ran further into a quiet part of the city which seemed to have the appearance of a slum.

It was only when they were a safe distance from the scene did Ajay have thoughts of putting him down.

"First off, I'd like you to promise not to run. Because if you do I will shoot you."

"Yeah! I promise, ok?" Having heard it from his own mouth, Ajay put him down.

"Can I have my money back?" He requested.

"What money?" Ajay shamelessly tucked the bag of cash into his pockets just as he had filed a claim for it. At that moment, the kid pouted but understood that the fellow in front of him wasn't a fool easily tricked.

"(Sigh) Fine! Whatever, I'm goin-(Click)." The boy stopped in his tracks when he heard the familiar sound of a handgun firing hammer cock under the cloak that Ajay donned.

"Seems you're not very good at following instructions." The boy's hands immediately entered a surrender pose.

"Jeez, what do you want?!..." He whinged.

"I'm looking for someone to take me around town. Of course, it won't be for free." Ajay dangled the money bag in front of him. Immediately, the boy's expression turned 190.

"Why didn't you say that earlier, of course I'll-." As he reached out to grasp the bag Ajay lifted it out of reach.

"Let me correct myself, I didn't mean this surface place, I meant the underground." The boy's expression turned into a frown, naturally he grew suspicious of Ajay's intent of going there.

"Do that and I'll add in this to your payment." Ajay took out one of his trinket rubies and dropped it into the money bag pouch. It was only a few seconds that it was out in the open, yet the boy instantly caught sight of the uncut stone and all its imperfections made brilliant. The boy's hand unconsciously reached out once more.

"Deal?" Ajay asked as he dodged with superior reflexes to his grab.

"Deal! Deal! Is it real, by the way?- Nevermind, I'll check it out first!" The boy shook hands with Ajay and received the bag but not the stone.

"Hey!" For not getting what he wanted it was rather upset.

"Start working your way towards it, kid." Its not that Ajay never had a period in his life he wasn't any different from that boy. So these things were child's play to him, the only question was if the rest of the underworld thought the same way.

Where there was a city there was also an underworld that dealt with contraband smuggling or other behind the walls kind of deals going on regularly. Sometimes the city law enforcement hunted them down, sometimes they let them be because they weren't well-equip enough to deal with the situation. When that happened, there was often cases of corruption, dirty cops demanding protection fees to keep whatever operation going whilst they kept a blind eye and cover for them in the event of an investigation. Typically, if there was a pretty large slum, the possiblility of it existing was high because of the idling manpower available for various runner jobs. In Brooklyn, Mama Tinashe wielded similar power as an influential person of that district. NYPD would always be careful around her area and always respect her presence even if it involved a case in her territory.

"So what's your name mister?"

"Soren. You?"

"Shikhar."

Ajay took note as he followed Shikhar quietly as he led him towards the more rundown part of the slums. He checked and chambered a round in his handgun.

He had a feeling he would need it.

* * *

It was as if the word Communism was just a word and not a way of life in Yinke at all here in the North-East district of the Pada Mo City.

Where Shikhar brought him was to a sleezy end of a street with prowling hookers, more specifically a well-bullt building contrary to the surrounding yet matched the picture of the area. Because said building was a bordello.

"Is this your definition of underworld? Clearly you haven't grown any hair between those legs of yours." Ajay sighed as he had been taken a fool by a brat.

"I'm serious! Look, just follow me in-."

"Like they'd let a brat your age in, ha! Maybe as an employee perhaps. Who knows, everyone has a favorite type."

"Man, you've vulgar….." Shikhar was astonished at the way of his tongue, but it sounded almost as if he were brought up in the same kind of shithole as him.

"Just where are you from?"

"Less questions more answers. Why did you bring me here?"

"There are few who could call themselves the kings of the underground as you describe. She would be the top on that list. The woman you wanna see is in that building. Her name-…. I dunno but she's the proprietress of this joint and has her roots deep in places you're better off not knowing." Ajay felt this kid was hopeless in giving details he wanted.

"Come on." Ajay walked toward the heavily guarded entrance.

"What? You want me to go too?!"

"Do you want to earn your keep?" A ruby stone was fiddled around in Ajay's fingertips for Shikhar to see.

"Tsh! Fine!" The boy angrily stomped forward, but his footsteps became quieter and meeker as he reached the front.

"Hello boys. Could you do me a favour?" Ajay said to the two beefcakes keeping a vigilant pose at the door to the colourful bordello.

"What is it? If you don't have cash then screw off!" One gestured rudely like he was interrupted from doing something important. Like standing in idle required absolute focus.

"Now that's no way to treat a customer. Whatever happened to quality service, buddy?" Ajay said with a sly grin that agitated that man.

"I'm only gonna give you five seconds to beat it, or it'll be you getting the beating!" He began to crack his knuckles.

"I don't like your attitude. I'm loaded and you give me this kind of treatment when all i want is to ask a few questions about you charming little joint. Bring the manager here, would you?" Ajay smiled to the other guy who wanted to laugh at what a fool Ajay was making himself out to be.

"And what should I tell her?"

"That she'd better start searching for a new partner for you-…" Veins popped out of the first suited guard who bellowed in rage.

"That's it! You're dead!" He flung his fist with decent velocity it could take all the teeth out of Ajay's mouth. That man stood against Ajay in a dimension ratio of 5:3 which said a lot about how big he was to Ajay.

To the crowd of customers and courtesans by the balcony above, it was a show worth watching. One particular courtesan watched from her office with intrigue in her doe-like eyes. Shikhar covered his face with his palm to the mess that was about to happen, he knew who would be on the ground in the end of the day.

With his left hand, he tapped the trajectory of the man's fist aside to miss his face by an inch whilst his right hand waved and struck his cheek with the back part of his right hand.

The man was flung off his feet and struck the dirt floor motionless.

Up top, the bordello occupants were silent to the reverse of what they'd expected.

"Ops, did I use too much force on you?"

* * *

Author's Thoughts:

Just Ajay delivering the Bitch slaps for Bitch hoes that deserve a slappin'.


	86. Chapter 80 - The Invasion of Yinke

Author's Notes:

Nothing to say. Enjoy. (Havok plays Red Alert - Hell March)

* * *

The man in the front was a renown boxer for the inter-region boxing tournament representing the country. His most notable trait was his ability to stand up and take dishings till his opponents losed their strength. It was common knowledge to all of the customers, courtesans and his buddy that stood their with a gaping mouth to see him on the floor. And what happened for him to end up like that? A casual fling of Ajay's wrist struck him against his check and toppled him to the ground, yet there was a sonic boom-like sound from when the back of his hand smacked his face.

So when he said "did I use too much force on you?" Everyone's minds tumbled into confusion at the sight.

By now, five guards from inside had come out with their compact assault rifles at the ready.

"Stop! Please bring our esteemed guest up to my office so I may entertain him." Said a calm but authoritative voice from the top of the balcony from an unseen individual.

Ajay was guessing it was the proprietress and walked in. Determined not to be left behind Shikhar followed closely, none of the guards got in his way. But their weapons were trailing on him for security measures as he showed he wasn't all he showed to be.

A courtesan appeared before him and bowed, leading the way for him and his guide up to their owner's office. A lot of faces looked his way, both guests and employees. His physique didn't match his charming boyish face but to most his eyes gave it away. It was sharp with a brooding look. Some of the guests were old veteran soldiers and they could see the blood swirling in those two orbs. He was the real deal, its just that no many could see it unless they had lived in that world for a long time.

Ajay was led up three flights of stairs, the courtesan apologized for the inconvenience, though Ajay waved it was nothing.

Finally, they reached the end of the corridor where more guard had gathered, all equally well armed as the first. Ajay found it to be a bit overkill for the type of establishment they were in, it was clear that there was more going on in this brothel than meets the eye.

At the end of the corridor was a well dressed man in the same dresscode as the guards and bouncers. But there was a different air to him, was this the head of security here?

"Stop there for me. Right, I'll need you to drop all you gun and kit, buddy."

"All of them?" Ajay asked in a playful manner.

One of the guards close by motioned with his rifle for Ajay to place them on the table in front of them.

"Security measures, sir. Please understand if you want to meet the boss…"

His response was surprisingly meek for his standing and the numbers to back him up. Ajay was sure that even if their big watch dog outside who was knocked out cold wouldn't rattle them to this extent of pointing firearms at him like they had encountered a feasible threat. Shikhar and the escort courtesan were both anxious for him to comply, they had also never seen the guards like this.

"(Sigh) Fair enough." Ajay responded and dropped his duffle forward with a loud plop from the weight of the gear that sent them in shock as he carried it like a simple backpack.

The first thing on the table was his handgun with its magazines and suppressor. They saw the unfamiliar german firearm and were having suspicions about who he was. But Ajay had yet to fully surprise them as he took out the foldable compound bow that had deceivingly fit in his duffle, it was a curious weapon to being with but one that served Ajay well in covert operations.

"This…" The head guard barely had time to be shocked as Ajay dung and brought out the large double barrelled currently in takedown form. From the diameter of the breech, they could tell it was an elephant gun, so what was with this weirdo's arsenal? The last was pieces of armour that they'd never seen before.

"I can feel those unpleasant thoughts, think of something else in my presence." His cold voice straightens them out instinctively, that included young Shikhar.

The head guard was right to worry about him, though strange, his weaponry was more than enough to dispatch all of them severalfold yet it didn't ease the feeling he had about Ajay.

"Oh yeah, almost forgot." Ajay drew out his kukri and dropped it on the table, but its sharpness allowed it to pierce the table to its hilt.

"Wouldn't want to accidentally cut myself, would I." He said with a smile that was deceivingly bright but felt more disturbing with what they knew he could do. The guard tucked the gear into a cloth bag and brought it through the door to another guard waiting inside. Ajay found this weird since the check was to keep him away from his weapons they clearly didn't understand the meaning of security measures even if their boss was intrigued with what he had.

"Let him in already. How much longer do you want to make me wait for him?" She finally replied.

"Yes, madam." The guard opened the door to the office and motioned for Ajay to enter.

"Wait here, kid."

"Uh- ok!" Shikhar was more than willing to stay as the prospect of meaning one of the underworld bosses was terrifying especially when he was the one that brought Ajay here to wreck this much trouble.

Ajay walked in casually as the guard closed the door behind him and cocked his gun.

"If you're that frighten just wait outside." The elegantly-dressed woman in her thirties told her guard.

"But, madam-."

"Get out!" The guard made himself scarce the moment she opened her mouth.

"Please, sit." She offered a chair on the opposite side of a coffee table she sat at. On the table was his gear she had rummaged through earlier with curiousity, Ajay just sat to initiate their talk.

"Please to meet your acquaintance, sir. To our daily patrons and associates I go by the name Velvet, proprietress of the Seven Winter Orchids.

"Mine will be Soren then." Ajay shook the delicate out-reached hand.

"But you can call me by my birth name, Jagriti."

"That's fine by me." Her lashes danced about expecting Ajay to do the same, he felt he was missing something on numerous occasions from her hinting but didn't really care.

What she was expecting was him to give his as well out of mutual understanding, but to Ajay the name Soren, Badala and his own birthname were simply names not deeds to the soul.

She returned to looking through his kit and stumbled onto his handgun which she played around with.

"So what can I do for this esteemed guest to quell his rage after my insult from my careless employee."

"There was no insult, if anything I'm sorry for hurting him." Jagriti chuckled as she recalled how he had done so effortlessly.

"I hope that he would improve his attitude in future. At least you were around to put context for him, now off with these minor details. You certainly came here for something other than playing around with my girls. No?"

"Tell me, Velvet."

"Jagriti." She corrected.

"Thanks, but I liked your pen name better." Jagriti looked surprise for a second but laughed, it was rare that anyone after being allowed to use her first name would prefer to use that alias.

"Am I entertaining you or are you?"

"How about we entertain each other instead?"

"Oh? And how do you suppose we should do that?" She cooed.

"…. How would you imagine this country would fall, Velvet?"

Jagriti was surprised once more by what he had said and thought a bit about it and laughed.

"When more girls and boys come to my joint seeking work." Ajay nodded.

"So what if one day a foreign army marched here, destroying all the military installations, butchering the parliament members-."

"Then I pray that they butcher all of them! Those old bastards deserve it!" She had an emotional outburst and cut in. She suddenly remembered her etiquette and was about to apologise when she say a crescent like grin from his previously calm face. Her response had pleased him in some way. Jagriti had a dreadful feeling that something was coming and he was here to give advance warning whilst picking sides to collaborate with.

"Since you've heard that from me, I'll take it as one leg in the pool. You're either with me on this or you're not."

"And what might that be?"

"I need your help in getting the right people to keep law and order in this city when the military garrisons get occupied."

She could have sworn he said to enact martial law upon the civilians in this city. Her next emotion was full of uncontrollable laughter.

"You want me, a courtesan and a member of the Grey Lotus society who compose of nothing but gangs and crooks to maintain law and order? Ahahaha!... Clearly, you don't understand what a police force is for."

"No. I have a clear understanding, and I'm pretty sure from my previous encounter, the cops are useless in doing that job."

"So you would turn to the us instead?"

"Let's not deny that if I can't get the civil authorities to keep check and look out for rebel sympathies, then I'll just turn to the flipside of the coin."

The more he spoke the more unnerving Jagriti felt.

"Why are you here?"

"I'm here because, Yinke owes us and explanation for starting a war with us without declaration. I'm here because they are about to reap what they sow. And I'm also here to hunt my countries rebels that have come taking refuge here."

"So why turn to me?" That was what she was most confused about.

"To most people, the underworld exists as a reflection to what is good and orderly. You all might just be the equivalent in power but with a different name and motto. You have spy rings to monitor intel, thugs to keep businesses in order, armed hitmen to dispatched unwanted presences. If the cards are played right, you could very well be the second force that maintains law and order of a city."

Jagriti was shocked that he saw things this way, did he originate from a similar background? His strength seemed to indicate so and when he provoked the guard to get an audience it seemed more of a possibility.

"And what if I choose not to agree with you." Jagriti wanted to test waters with him on how far was her limit.

"Then you are beyond my help, and there's a high chance you'll suffer the same fate as that party police authorities will have so that this city wouldn't have even the slightest hint of rebelling." Jagriti's wrist was unconsciously shaking.

"But I'd prefer if this was done as a business transaction rather than I press gang your cooperation, I'll also guarantee I'll make it worth your while." Out from Ajay's pocket came a bag which he placed in front of her.

Jagriti reached out and picked it up, she opened it to find a sparkling goblet of rubies inside. Her eyes glittered to the small wealth before her that could set her for life several times over.

"Consider that the initial payment for consideration of my offer."

"Soren."

"Yes?"

"Why are you here, what is about to happen and why are you doing this?" She had so many questions she wanted answered but would he give answers to all of her queries?

"Like I said. Yinke owes my kingdom for its atrocities, I'll have them pay by blood, money and pride. But I don't want its people to be involve or god save them they'll surely died worthless deaths. If you have even the slightest care for your fellow countrymen not because of a system of governance but by love for the people that live in the same land as you do. You might consider taking your chances with us."

Jagriti looked shaken at the prospects that Ajay gave.

"How long till… you know-?" She believed every word he said even though she should be shooing him out for crazy rantings. Somehow, deep down she felt it would happen sooner or later with the way the government worked all this while.

"When I say they should." He replied with absolute confidence. Jagriti was now convinced that Ajay was more than he seemed, he wasn't an envoy or scout but could very well be a general of the invaders. It was very contrasting to how young he was and his knowledge of the criminal underworld.

Jagriti thought about it hard as Ajay could see her expression remain in a grave thinking posture. What she was about to decide would ultimately amount to treason from the governing forces should they win, yet she felt that wasn't the slightest possibility of happening with him around.

"I'll need you to do something else for me as well. While you're at it."

"What's that?"

"Help me find Tenzin."

* * *

Tenzin, the former leader of the country a decade ago. To many including the authorities he was a tyrannical leader brought down and justice delivered. Yet, evidence of some of the good he had done for the country still existed, the infrastructure, the education system, agriculture and all his many achievements were forgotten or overwritten as achievements done by the present politburo.

"Tenzin? He was killed in the raid on the parliament and establishment of the current government."

"So I've heard, and when he died the forests cried out in joy and the morning birds sung." He joked about what he read in that book on Akita's carriage.

"Even if he isn't alive, find his legacy."

"Why would you need a tyrant?"

"Come now, do you really believe that crap they churned out into that book too?"

"….." Though she was young when it happened she herself was clear that it had not been the case.

"Then with all of that propaganda, what makes you so sure that Tenzin is the right choice for this country?"

"History is written by the victor, the pious become sinners, the loyal turn treacherous. The fact that they've tried so hard to blemish his work to look as heinous as possible shows contradiction. Besides, I have someone who met him once before and told me that he was a legitimate leader."

Though no one was aware, it was Pagan that had told him that. Tenzin had come to Kyrat on a trip to verbally condemn Pagan's actions of drug running and allowance of human traffickers to circulate in his own region. The man had a genuinely good character but he took no action against Pagan because of boundary jurisdiction and because Pagan was head of state. That was Tenzin's limitation, he was law abiding so would not act beyond the law. Though not much word was heard from him or Yinke again, Ajay was convinced that that same limitation was his undoing that allowed this current government to take power as he had probably disallowed police force upon the armed-citizens. Giving Swara and Ved the chance to actively overthrown him.

His family members were exiled in the mountains, but what of him?

There were no records of a public execution or even a picture of his death. He simply vanished.

Pagan had brought him up once more as Tenzin was very likely the key to gaining control of Yinke and getting a consensus to armistice between Yinke and Kyrat on their terms. To put it in the grimmest perspective, they wanted Tenzin as the new puppet provisional governance. It was clear from Pagan's description Tenzin knew this as well if he were alive, but he would have no choice if he wanted his countrymen to continue living their ignorant lives. Tenzin would be the clearest amongst his more ignorant counterparts of how terrifying Kyrat was, if predators didn't eat you it would be other men.

If not, the partisans and soldiers will continue to fighting. And the Royal Kyrati forces would continue to slaughter, they didn't cross five hundred kilometres of landmass for nothing. But Ajay knew the limits of the expeditionary army and how it couldn't maintain its fight for very long, the air superiority could hold for even less. They needed to enter shock and awe-style and bring the might of Yinke to heel, then present an alternative in the form of Tenzin. From there, it was his problem dealing with the rebel sympathies, Kyrat would supply him with the resources to attend and deal with them as well as quell unrest with the help of the underworld. Assuming they were in on it.

If that could happen, then Golden Path and Shining Way effectively become catagorized as terrorist groups rather than popular resistance groups. Giving a very different view on how they were treated and how authorities took action.

Jagriti didn't need an explanation to this as she got a clear idea of what was coming. Ajay had so happened to give her a chance to maintain her influence and power whilst standing to gain more through the opportunity to gain his trust.

"I've said all I needed. Oh! And if you bring this up with the authorities, well. My hunters will dispose of everyone of you if need be." Not mentioning their numbers or position made it more dreadful, that he was confident they could dispatch all of them.

Ajay got up and placed his gear into the bag with the exception of that HK45 in her hands.

"You like it? Consider it a parting gift." He knocked on the wooden door for the guard to open it and let him out. The guard checked to see that his mistress was still alright after having been alone in that room with him for some time.

"Soren." Jagriti called out once more.

"One final question and we'll have ourselves a deal."

"What will it be then?"

"Why of all people did you approach me out of all the four underworld bosses I'm not the weakest but I surely aren't the strongest."

"Oh, is that so? I just came here, the little man following me pointed me to you for some reason. But if you have trouble getting a consensus with the other faction leaders then point me their direction and names so that they cease being an issue." Jagriti was shocked, that she had been spared and chosen merely by luck, but glad she was that it had been her.

"But after having this conversation with you, I've been assured that you were the right person to go to. If you want to ask why, well….. I knew a strong-willed woman like you once." For the last time, Ajay left her to do more important things like directing the expedition to their destination.

Jagriti rested her back against the armchair, she looked down the inner balcony to the courtyard inside the bordello where the scrawny boy had been in the company of some of her courtesans, fooling around. But it was thanks to that one boy's advice that she and her organisation along with everyone of her employees had avoided catastrophne.

"Madam?" The head security guard came forward.

"Call in the council members, we need to have an emergency meeting. And tell all of our assets to pull out. Begin stockpiling resources and gathering intel as soon as possible."

"Madam?" The head guard was astonished by his employer's franticness.

"War is coming to Yinke and it will happen not soon but now!"

* * *

As Ajay walked down to the central courtyard for the guests to flirt and play with the courtesans, he found Shikhar on a couch surrounded by beautiful courtesans. Giggling away with a dirty expression that hardly resembled a kid. The courtesans were quite taken to the kid for his cute boyish looks and played games with him with delight.

As Ajay stood before them, Shikhar's figure straightened unconsciously like an employee caught fooling around when he was supposed to work.

"Maybe I should sell you to Velvet so you can make a living at what you do best. How about it ladies, wanna work alongside this little ladykiller and hope he grows up into a handsome devil loving his big sisters for raising him?" The idea made the women turn red and giggle with delight as they played around with his face more than before. Shikhar was not as pleased now that Ajay had suggested his employment as a man-whore.

"Boss! C-come on! I was j-just fooling around, that's all."

Shikhar chased after Ajay who was already leaving, the girls gave him a peck on the cheek each before he left. And laughed as he scurried after Ajay.

"Next place, I want you to help find me a way into Parliament."

"What?!" Shikhar was especially scared since by now Ajay would definitely be on police scopes, but now he wanted to go directly to where they were.

"Do you not want this?" He flicked out the Ruby now in two stones from previously.

"(Sigh) Alright."

He led Ajay off again into town.

"By the way, what did you talk about?"

"The less you know, but after this just remember to find a place to stay safe."

"Can't I just go home?"

"If that doesn't involve you running around to do 'work' then yeah. If need be, I'll pay for your food expense as well." As he said that, he tossed over one of the Rubies to him.

"Ok, is there something you wanna tell me?"

"If I could, I'd have to kill you."

"You some kind of spy?" Shikhar laughed half-convinced Ajay really was one.

Ajay neither denied nor acknowledged. He scruffled the boy's hair on his head.

"If anything, I hope that you can find the strength to break out of your own fate. Because there are things your country has done that has doomed plenty of its own citizens over nothing."

It became clear to the boy that he had messed with someone he shouldn't have, an outsider with an agenda and operation to destabilize the place he called home. But what could he do? If he reported to the authorities they would take him for a kid sprouting fantasies and Ajay would be true to his word and dispose of him. No one would care about him and worse, no one would help feed his brother and sisters or allow them to continue to go to school. It was so strange, work was easy to get but the pay would forever remain unsatisfactory. Healthcare was abysmal. Education was the real way in moving up in life, Shikhar had unfortunately lived in the wrong time and chose to care for his siblings in the most risky but rewarding way possible. He joined the street gangs to coordinate pickpockets, while he gave the majority of the earnings to the gang leader, he received a cut that was better than him working twelve hour shifts at the coal mine or a fabric factory which would also be detrimental to his health. He always wondered where that money from exporting those raw materials went, even if he had difficulties in arithmetic he wasn't stupid enough not to know that someone was pocketing their hardwork and handing them scraps.

Was what this man bringing going to plunge the country into something worse that it was now?

"There you are, you little rascal!" A group of men cornered off Shikhar, his exits and way of escape.

"And you are?" Ajay asked. But they seem to ignore him and grab the boy by the collar and distributed some beatings.

"That's what you get for handing your cut late!"

"Excuse me." Ajay tapped the leading thug.

"Argh. What! Can't you see we're busy, fuck off!"

"That's my guide you're tampering with."

"Oi Oi, what's this?" One of the thugs popped out the Ruby stone that Ajay gave as half-payment for his services.

"Where'd you get this? Out with it!"

They struck him two more times.

"….. Him." He pointed towards Ajay, he had no choice in the matter, whether Ajay would take revenge with his life or not, at least these bastards would get what was coming to them too.

The thugs turned towards Ajay with gleaming eyes.

"Really, say mister. I'm currently out of cash and I need to pay my bills on time, mind lending me some?" He said with his hand out reached, the rest of his goons laughed.

"Are you his boss?" Ajay inquired.

"Ha! You could say that."

"Is there anyone above you?"

"Just Boss Ricky."

"Then what are you waiting for?"

"Huh?"

"Take me to him, so I can file a complaint against you." The thugs broke out into laughter, the leader was no exception. But the idea of this man delivering himself to the boss full of those precious stones was excellent if he was willing to walk there himself. Plus, it would entertain the boss a bit.

"Alright, sir. Then please follow us this way."

They went along with him and Shikhar in their grasps back to their headquarters hidden away from plain sight. Little did they know, that they'd brought an absolute calamity to their homegrounds.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, after ten minutes from arriving. The headquarters was a bloodly wreck with mangled corpses lying all over with the smell of blood, shit and urine permeating the warehouse where they shit themselves to death from the knife that sliced through their flesh. All fifty of their gang members

Their boss Ricky was shivering behind a stack of crates of contraband merchandise after witnessing the carnage before him. That jinx had brought in an unmeasurable catastrophne upon them, his brother who brought him died with his head rolling towards him. The boss of the thugs fell back on his pot-belly stomach against the couch as the person walked towards him.

The flat end of the kukri pressed against his face, smeared with thick blood. "Hiee!" He squeeled like a pig about to be butchered.

"How much do you quote your pig life?" He responded in a cold tone. The boss couldn't believe his luck considering that he had stated his intention to chop him up and sell his body parts to organ transplant sources. He began scurrying through his cabinets and safes to bring the money forward. Shikhar collected it all in a bag and was amazed with the wealth he brought forth, Ajay snorted as he was convinced that there was far more than what was available to him here.

"So what will you tell the authorities about you bros?" Ajay asked after he had collected a full cloth bag enough for Shikhar to lug over his shoulders like santa claus.

"That t-they got into a blood feud and fought to death."

"So how were you the only one to survive then?" Ajay said with a grin.

"Ah-."

"We'll need it to look a little more convincing, don't we?" The boss looked pale as Ajay raised his gun.

(Bang) "Arrrghhhhh! Damn the go-…..arrghhh!" He shot his leg with a pistol lying on the floor from a thug who had previously tried but had little time to use as Ajay employed the Royal Art to dispatch all of them with kukri in hand. He was beginning to feel that this martial art created overdependence which was detrimental to him and the Devas combat prowess, that was why Vasu made no improvements over the years.

"I have a feeling we'll meet again, chief. I'll expect a nice welcome gift when the time comes, eh?" Ajay gave his threatening grin that sent shivers down the gang bosses spine, he was simply not use to others pressing their authority over him in the most tyrannical way without a second thought for human life.

Ajay threw a towel to Shikhar to wipe his face with.

"Take me to the parliamentiary building and we'll call it quits."

Shikhar had been on the roughest trip of his life in one day. Nearly dying in one of the most dangerous transactions he'd ever been in, he swore he was done with this kind of work. It would be legit or nothing from now on. He saw from the cruelty of his swings that took the lives of the thugs he was in trouble with. It took lives like he was harvesting wheat and knew that this sort of life was not something he wanted for him or for his siblings.

At some point, a group of dangerous looking hooded men joined up with them. All armed with bows and arrows much to Shikhar's surprise considering the modern implementations of guns. But he had a feeling that these archaic weapons were the ones that gave them a greater edge than normal firearms.

They seemed to treat Soren with utmost respect like he was a general of sorts to them or something more.

It was as if Soren knew him almost his entire life, knowing every trick and thought that he did, why was that? Shikhar didn't question it because it led to more questions left unanswered. Instead, he brought them to the cliffside of where the parliament building was up on top of the mountainside, he brought them on the other side where he usually foraged for herbs to sell to the market.

Shikhar brought them into view of the security compound that surrounded the parliamentary building.

"Have you been here before?" Ajay asked.

"The soldiers are really edgy about people passing that perimeter just before, I cross it quietly to get to the mushrooms that grow around here."

"Alright, here." Ajay passed him the last Ruby, dropping it into his dirt filled hands.

"And here you go." Shakhir passed him the bag of funds from the pickpocket ring taken from boss Ricky but Ajay held out his hand.

"Keep it."

"Are you serious?! There's like a hundred thousand in here!"

"Use it to get what you need for your family members and yourself from the markets down below. And take refuge after that." Ajay said as he stroked the boy's head gently.

Shakhir put down his arm in shock that he had been given this windfall so casually by a stranger he barely knew for three hours. It was the kindest anyone had been to him all these years, yet it was time to say goodbye.

"Just who are you, Soren?" To which Ajay smiled.

"As of today, I and a thousand others will be the end of this stagnancy that has brewed in Yinke. I'm here to make them pay for the atrocities they've witlessly committed in my nation of Kyrat. If there is a god in this place, I hope he doesn't put people like you in our way. Sending them to their deaths. None of you deserve this, but your government must go. Hopefully, the next leader of your people will be more caring, I hope I've placed my cards right on him."

Kyrat. Shakhir had just barely heard of it, it was the birthplace of the Great Teachers Lamsal and Ved. The ones that had an external influence on the current politburo government. What was a place like Kyrat like? To have breed great orators like the Great Teachers or fierce warriors like Soren and these assassins. Shakhir started to have a better picture of what was coming. War. And Yinke stood to lose to monsters like these without the slightest doubt.

Shakhir nodded in obedience, he would listen to what Ajay had told him.

"Word of advice, Shakhir."

"Yes?"

"That bag of money, uses as much of the cash as possible and spend it all by today."

"Why is that?"

"Because in an hours time, those bank notes will be worthless."

* * *

It was a wonder of how he could have waltzed right through the lax security so quickly, even though their was currently a social gathering going on at the wide five metre wide balcony of the parliamentiary building.

A young finely dressed young man walked up and fit right in with the crowd that gathered here without the slightest of issues. He did however get passing glances from the women, very rarely did a charming fellow such as himself would appear at this gathering. Only old or middle aged men who were of great power in the party or military men. Even the youngest that had appeared in the last was around his advance thirties. So many of the daughters of highly influenctial men were quite eager to have conversation to him.

"Dear, have you heard about that young man before?" A wife of the Major-General to the Yinke Liberation Army got his attention to inquire about the young man.

The General turned to look.

"No, perhaps he's a foreign dignitary. You want me to go check him out?" His wife nodded and followed him to where the young man was.

As they came into view, they found him surrounded by young women they recognised from different families. Apparently, he was engaged in a light conversation. The girls laughed with him, that being said his bearing didn't show any signs of lecherous air or essence of a womanizer about him. He was engaging in a clean conversation, it was just that he was a charming lad with good features and one rarely seen around here.

"Go find our daughter, perhaps something might happen. Who knows?" The General said after having a good impression of the young man. His wife chuckled and understood what his intentions were and went off to find their child.

Seeing a high-profile individual such as the General of the Commandos come forth, the girls left quietly one after another.

"Am I interrupting anything?" He asked politely.

"No, please have a seat." The young man stood and motioned him to the empty seat, but by now all the girls had left after the General gave a look to each of them to buzz off.

"You just seemed like a nice chap to occupy sometime with here. Never seen you before too, forgive me for not introducing myself. I am-.

"Major-General Karna Dawa of the Yinkian Army, Commander of the Commando Brigades. It is indeed a pleasure to meet you." The General laughed heartily that the young man knew of him so well.

"Good! Good, and what might yours be good sir?"

"Soren, just Soren. I'm here representing my company, Kyrati Central Exports."

"Oh, a Kyrati businessman. Forgive me for saying in advance but wasn't Kyrat stirred in some decades long civil war still actively running?"

"That's quite alright, my dear General. That civil war has just ended with the crown as the victor." He said with a smile.

"I see, that's probably where you come in. Hoping to share prosperity with our country, you're more than welcome! Still, its rare, and one as young and successful as you should appear."

"You flatter me General." He said scratching his head

"I've never been to Kyrat myself, although you should know that two of our most esteemed leaders are in fact Kyrat-born."

"I think they're to be arriving soon to celebrate with us."

The young man cocked his head and smiled especially wide upon hearing they, the great teachers were coming to this party. Perhaps a certain someone would also be coming along with them.

"It will be a rare privilege to even for someone born in Yinke. I suggest you get yourself acquainted, perhaps you'd get a chance to meet and talk to them. I know I will."

"I'm not sure I'll get the chance to, dear General. Not someone as low-profile as me, haha!" He said awkwardly.

"Nonsense, I'll help you get that opportunity." The General declared.

"Really? You'd do that for a stranger like me?" He said with a brightened look.

"Well…. Not with a stranger-." It was at this time that his wife returned just in time with his lovely nineteen-year-old daughter.

"But perhaps if you're a friend to us of sorts, if you know what I mean." The young man and General laughed together before the young man stood up.

"Pleasure to finally meet madam Dawa and your lovely daughter." He said with a friendly smile, their daughter blushed and turned away. Making the General and his wife laugh contently.

His wife intentionally made her daughter sit beside the young man. From there, the talked about their love life. How the general met his wife and got together and had their daughter. The young man also had quite an extensive love life himself. Being raised abroad in America, dating a foreigner for long as six years before tragedy struck. His life was filled with hard stones, so the General couldn't help but admire him for coming this far. When he had loved again, war had taken another from him. Both his wife and daughter were in the point of sympathizing with him.

"So Soren, are you married yet?" She went straight to the point.

"Haha! No, but I'm working towards it slowly. I do have a betrothal with someone."

"And do you love her?" The wife was getting blunter.

"Dear-." The General was getting uncomfortable with her pushing too far.

"I do, though she makes me work for it quite hard." The young man chuckled in defeat.

It was at this point; the wife could see an opportunity for inserting her daughter into the picture. She made a look to her, "I'll help you but the rest is up to you. Steal this man from that Kyrati skank."

The daughter nervously and reluctantly agreed. But wasn't sure of herself whether capable.

"My, we've talked so long. And the President has arrived, I believe he wanted me to discuss soemthing with him. If you excuse me." The General got up unhesitantly and walked to a bearded man with an aged look.

"I'll accompany you, dear." The wife did the same thing. She winked at her daughter covertly as she left them together alone. Her daughter reached out in helplessness but she had left the scene in an instant.

"Rigsang was it?"

"Uh- yes, Mister Soren."

"Soren will do. So what does the daughter of a general do in her spare time?"

"Nothing in particular." She instantly regretted opening her mouth out of reflex and giving a very poor portrayal of herself.

"Really, it must be difficult maintaining that image of an elegant daughter of a general for your father's sake. Colour me impressed." He said with a genuine smile.

"T-Thank you."

"Your welcome, no-, your really deserve it."

"Forgive me for asking, but were you from a well known family?"

"Well-known….. you could say that, we've had our share of fame and infamy to boast and hung our heads over. But in the end of the day, the family name is just a name."

"Even before the ancestors of those prominent names came about, they were as normal as can be. Its what they decided to do in life that changed their fates of who they were. Naturally, their descendants flourished from their fame and wealth not that its wrong. But it kind of makes you forget that you are just the same like anybody else. The states taught me this as well as the state of my family." She seemed to take every word the young man told her like a lecturer teaching an eager student.

He looked to her deeply and said. "If you're got anything planned for yourself but aren't sure whether to take it because of you families or anyone by yourself's sake….. there're a lot of things I've regretted not doing over the years for a long time. Ever telling the doctor to go through with his operation on my mom, letting Kamala drift so far from me,….. Lanka….." He begun to murmur the last part as he reminscied all that he'd been through.

"So if you have a hobby or something you want to pursue in life go for it…. If your parents don't initially agree don't be dishearten. Not every parent understands their child's hopes and dreams, only you can decide what becomes of it."

She gave a profound look at the young man as he gave her an encouragement to pursue whatever she wanted to do in life.

"Look at me rant on….. I've not been a very good conversational partner. Haha!"

"No, thank you Soren. It's what I've always wanted to hear from someone, that I could look at what I want to do with pride and no one could judge me for it other than myself."

"And what do you want to do?"

"I wanted to teach." The young man smiled meaningfully.

"That's an excellent dream, its not that hard to achieve either. I'd might even add that there'll become a demand for educators like yourself with what's about to happen soon."

"Happen… soon?"

"The Great Teachers have arrived!" Someone at the door announced and the crowd applauded.

"It was nice having this chat with you, Miss Dawa." The young man made his departure clear, she knew that her father had set him to meet with them as well.

"Rigsang, please."

"Very well, Rigsang. Thank you for listening to me as well." The young man got up from his seat, kissed her outreached hand and headed towards where the General was alongside the President standing to greet Devas, Swara and Dr Ved.

"What is about to happen…" She thought about it for a while, what could possibly happen that would shake up the fabric of things. That would even shift her parents' stubborn refusal to do what she wanted and pressed her for an arranged marriage with some of the older men.

For some reason, her heart was beating fast with excitement. Not because she was interested in that young man despite his charm. But because his convincing words spoke of something greatly shifting that it would breakdown the order of things that the adults had build out of this government. And she felt that the young man, Soren could very well be the source of it.

* * *

It was like meeting with the pope and his female counterpart sitting side by side, that was Ved and Swara Lamsal.

Behind them was their fellow Deva, Sanjeev who had come as a representative to seek asylum for the Golden Path on behalf of Mohan. Eager to meet with the president of Yinke but unfortunately was engaged with some young fellow. So he waited, his brother and sister were busy greeting the other guests so had no time to bring him straight there.

Having not much to do he scanned around the room and balcony at the many guests. Until his eyes rested on the young man that was conversing quite close with the person he wanted to talk to immediately. The more time he wasted the more time the Royal Army would be upon them since they were not given full acknowledgement of safe passage yet to enter Yinke.

The young man he noticed, was rather perculiar. Behind those garbs of formal dressing there was evidence of trained muscles, but most of all was the glint in his eyes was strangely familiar. And disturbingly so.

They laughed once more at his joke told by the young man.

"Soren, did anybody tell you, you were a real crowd pleaser? You've got a real talent for these sorts of functions!" The president said to him.

"Thank you very much, Mister President. I aim to please."

"How about I give you an opportunity to introduce yourself to everyone, it'll really help you in our nation's interests."

"Really?" The young man said brightly.

"Of course. Karna, get the Great Teachers to have a break now, will you?"

"Yes, sir."

"Oh, if we're gonna do it like that. I have a slideshow I have on a thumbdrive I'd like to show everyone. Don't worry, at the end of the day, I'll make all your troubles worth it." The president nodded and sent men to get a projector and computer running on the wall. Which they did in under five minutes.

(Ding)(Ding)(Ding)

All the heads turned towards the table of the president and a silence matured.

"My friends and fellow associates, today is a celebratory day. Today marks the sixteenth anniversary of our Shining Way sovereignty assured." The crowd applauded.

"And who better to spend that time with then our mentors, Great Teacher Ved and Lamsal."

The crowd cheered for them with a wild applause and shouts.

"But our prosperity should not just be domestically grown. The secret to a growing prosperity is for Yinke to open trade with its neighbours, but most of all share the beliefs that binds us all."

The crowd applauded.

"So I have with me an example of how we may already begin this plan. Please give a warm welcome to our very welcomed guest, Soren from Kyrati Central Exports and as the namesake describes he hails from the Kyrati Kingdom."

While the audience was ohing and ahing, the faces of the Devas turned rigid. They were aware of the situation in Kyrat better than anyone. Did Pagan send this young man to be an emissary to discuss peace and trade rights with Yinke despite their attack? Ved especially felt the need to warn them, as Namdak had officially gone out for a mountain training, but he had really taken the Commandos to Kyrat to storm Lanka. Sweat fell from his brow, Sanjeev was cautious and Swara frowned. Just what was Pagan and the demon planning? They would let the young man make it clear to them.

The young man stood on the stage, as his eyes passed the Devas he gave them a quick look of disdain proving that their worst fears were confirmed. But they remained silent to analyze the situation.

"Hello, friends from Yinke. To be honest, this is my first time to your country and I'd have to say that its mountains and beautiful landscape truly have no equal. But that's not what I've come to show you today. Instead I've come to give you a peek at what has been happening in Kyrat recently and it will be to your benefit, I assure you." He said with a wide smile.

The projectors were laid out and the computer on for him to plug the USB into the external drive port.

The screen darkened for a minute and then the slideshow begun.

But what they'd expected was nothing like what appeared on the slideshow.

What they bore witness to was pictures of bodies, civilians and soldiers, old and young, burning buildings, bloodied steps and walls.

The faces of the crowd were filled with horror at the sight.

"This my dear friends, is Lanka. A fortress city of ours, that had been attacked by a force of around four thousand five hundred soldiers. But those soldiers aren't of Kyrati origin-."

He switched the slide to a video clip and played it.

In the video, on the other side of a dark room was a bloody beaten soldier in the uniform of the Yinkian Liberation Army.

"They're yours."

* * *

There was was a lot of sounds of disbelief but the video played and revealed the soldier confessing his name, rank, and unit to the interrogator. The purpose of his intrusion onto Kyrat and the numbers that accompanied him in this expedition.

The General's face turned into horror, a unit had gone out of its jurisdiction to cross into another country and commited all these atrocities.

He finally confessed to the evidence brought before him, the ransacking of a house and executing two civilians by the names of Daya and Puru. The crowd was appalled but the next thing took them by surprise.

*(Bang)* They jumped at the sound of a shot from the interrogator who killed him on tape.

Then, if that wasn't enough, the screen split into ten different videos with ten different soldiers doing the same thing.

Then the slideshow of the mass graves and the destroyed properties were shown again.

"Enough! You are you to turn off that-." The hearts of the Devas turned frantic, they had been the cause of all this?

"Shut up, Sanjeev!" The young man roared. The fierceness of his roar shook their hearts as they remained silent before him. Sanjeev was too surprise with him recognising him at first glance, but wasn't too surprising, his face was on the posters of most wanted in Kyrat.

"Mister president, I also have a letter from his Royal Highness addressed to you." He held out the letter for him. The president, though shocked by the events gathered his thoughts and snatched the letter to read it. The crowd watched anxiously for a response.

The president's shaking hand became more visible but he didn't read aloud for he was too shocked.

So Ajay read out the contents to the crowd instead.

"Dear Head of State to the People's Democratic of Yinke. We Pagan Min, King of Royal Kyrat and Liege to the Royal Kyrat Armed forces. Do hereby accept your Declaration of War against the Kingdom of Kyrat….."

"Wait! There must be some mist-." The President pleaded with emotion but Ajay continued with a louder voice,

"Your Declaration of war by the atrocity committed at the fortress city of Lanka, 2312 civilian casualties of war, 2220 soldiers killed in action, 4532 lives in total loss…. has been duly-noted! That as of 23rd March 2015, we the Kyrati Kingdom and the People's Democratic of Yinke are to engage in war. All individuals responsible, governing bodies and representatives, commanding officers in affiliation to the mobilizing of the 13th Yinke Commando Regiment shall not have given due clemency to a tribunal and/nor summary trial due to their violations of Geneva Convention Common Articles 3 and of Hagues Convention for not submitting a written declaration of war with twenty-four hours of cool-off.

All members of such case and/or found to be related to these acts and association with the Terrorist organisation known as Golden Path will be treated as War criminals and are to be hunted with extreme prejudice.

We Pagan Min of Royal Kyrat, do hereby authorise the mobilization of thou Royal Kyrati Army, Royal Kyrati Air Force, Royal Guards and of 1st Kshatriyan Lord, Badala as their supreme commander to acted out our will in dispensing justice and executive decision over the outcome of the war between our nations strong and powerful. We Pagan Min of Royal Kyrat wish you the very best that may the winner take all.

Given at the Royal Palace of Uttar, 24th March 2015."

If there was a max to how white as sheets the crowd was to him reading out the content of the declaration, then the whole room should have been a white room. The president dropped to his knees, overwhelmed by the situation.

The General stared daggers at the young man whom he thought could trust but had turnout was now an enemy of their nation.

"Oh, and I lied about my name." The young man said breaking their silence.

"Soren is just an alias I've used more than once. The name that my fellow Kyratis call me by is Badala, Duke of Lakshman and to his Royal Highness King Min!" As if it wasn't shocking enough. The young man declared himself the general of the invading force come to take revenge for their atrocity they were ignorant of. But the evidence was shown to them in a substantial amount that they couldn't even deny it in their hearts.

Yet this man who was that supreme commander, Badala had boldly come up to them to declare their status of war.

"G-guards! Arrest that man!" General Dawa yelled as he was one of the men inclined to receive no mercy as the Commanding officer of the force that had attacked Kyrat.

But no response came.

"Guards! Guards!- Goddamnit! Where the hell are they?!" He rushed to the doors to get the four he was familiar with. When he opened it, two bodies fell upon him ridden with blood and arrows to their back.

The crowd screamed in terror but quickly huddled together as shadows in the form of unfamiliar hooded men surrounded them.

They were pushed and shoved to the edge of the balcony area were they were cornered off.

"Guards have been dispatched my lord." One of the hooded men reported to Badala.

"Great, keep a watch of them. I have a few things I want to say to-."

"BADALA!" Ajay didn't need to guess who that was. A kukri held in the ready by the man behind the Great Teachers who were flabbergasted by the events happening and their apparent guilt of the situation they'd caused.

"Hello again, coward!" He said to provoke Sanjeev Singh.

"You bastard! Even up till here! Why must you give chase?! Why must you destroy our dream?! Why can't you just die?!" He charged recklessly before Ajay whom popped out a kukri of his own. The hunters backed away and secured the frantic officials and last two Devas against the balcony to make sure they didn't try anything funny. Among them was Rigsang, watching the young man whom had opened her eyes against doubt was actually such an outstanding person.

Ajay cased his blazer aside for ease of movement and immediately clashed with Sanjeev, without the use of his inner demon. It wasn't worth the use, Sanjeev barely even understood the workings of the Royal Martial Art.

(Clang) Sanjeev was only able to get off one hit before he noticed a deep cut in his arm.

And Ajay begun to rain a sequence of slashes upon him in a very familiar dreadful fashion to certain individuals he'd fought against.

"That form!- No!- Impossible! Darshan couldn't have!"

"Who ever said it was Darshan that taught me?" (Clang) He calmly deflected Sanjeev's strike in a way to defuse the power of his strike down to a reasonable level.

The crowd watched as those two monsters fought each other in a deadly duel. And noticed Sanjeev taking more hits that a normal man would survive, with his wounds healing. Some rubbed their eyes to ensure they weren't seeing things but they couldn't confirm it. Either way, it didn't look like that man stood a chance against Badala.

"Damn you, demon!" He roared.

"There's almost no sport in fighting you now, you're as hopeless as Bhishma."

"RAARRGHHH! SHUT UP!" Sanjeev roared in a madden struggle against Ajay for speaking ill of his brother.

"Brother! Do not let his words sway-." Ved tried to warn him but he had let go of his conscious thoughts for a wild berserk against his hated enemy.

As he fought a losing battle with Ajay, he noticed for a single moment that the demon had a window left open at took it. Despite his brother's shouts to back away he went for it, and fell for the ruse.

Ajay grasped his hand and swipped his kurki downwards cutting off his arm.

"Ah- Arghhhh!" Ajay took the kukri from Sanjeev's cutoff hand and placed them against bothsides of his head like a scissors.

At that moment, Sanjeev knew he was in the palm of the demon.

"Wait! My lord! Please, spare my brother! I'll submit!" Ved came forward on his knees, the sight caused the heads of the Yinkians to spin. The Great Teacher was kneeing and pleading before this demonic character.

Ajay turned to Ved.

"Dr. Ved, while I would very much like to spare him and throw him in a dungeon worst that before like you-…"

Ved looked anxious as to what he was about to say.

"Kill all members of Golden Path, and those associated with the atrocity. Those were the orders of my king!"

"Please! I beg of you!" He kowtowed to Ajay numerous times. Seeing their great teacher humble himself, the crowd did the same.

"Seems that most of you have forgotten that you fall in the category of war criminal that Kyrat shall not forgive, but I'll give this chance to Sanjeev if he takes it."

"Former Captain Sanjeev Singh of the Royal Guard, your crimes include treason against the crown and the participation of active rebellion against the King despite his mercy in pardoning your involvement at the 1998 offensive. Renounce your brothers, and Golden Path and you may be considered for a life sentence with parlor."

"Renounce Golden Path… Renounce Mohan….NEVER!" He screamed with his last breath.

"BROTHER!"

(Slice)

Sanjeev's head flew off his shoulders and landed on the floor. A dead expression with open eyes remained on his head as Ajay grasped it and placed it in a bag.

"And will I and Swara be next!?"

Ajay turned his attention to them and snorted belittlingly.

"Why? Both of you are no longer worthy of being called Kyratis." He said in a cold tone. Ved shook and vomited blood at Ajay's words that caused the most damage.

"Ved!" Swara went to grab him from falling.

The crowd wanted to do the same but several of the more violent members with army uniforms on them had fallen to the poison arrows of the hooded assassins.

"What good is there in holding us?" The president opened his mouth after he had finally recovered his wits and senses.

"You are surrounded by an entire nation! The armed forces will come to arrest you!" General Dawa shouted at him.

"Don't worry about us, General. Your armed forces have a lot more problems to deal with. Ah! Here they come." Ajay looked out of the balcony were dots had appeared over the mountains and streams of smoke followed towards the populated sites and military installations.

(BOOM) (BOOM) (BOBOBOBOOM) Countless echoes of explosions occurred after a series of orange-yellow mushroom clouds appeared in the distance.

Then, a roaring sound appeared closer as a flight of fighter bombers flew over them. The eyes of the President and especially the general widened to the sight of jet aircraft bombing almost all of the military sites out and near Pada Mo city. Then a few minutes later a droning-sound of a few squadrons of large cargo planes flew out of the clouds above and released their cargo in the form of hundreds of parachutes each plane.

The General plopped to his knees and looked with horrified eyes. What he was witnessing was nothing like anything he'd ever seen. He was witnessing an airborne invasion by the Kyrati Army, the jets had already made his feet tremble as he knew of the laws in a conventional battlefield. He had expected the Kyrati Army to appear a day or two after Ajay's declaration at the Western border and not almost immediately after Ajay had submitted their copy of the declaration of war which they had done right compared to Yinke.

"Badala! You-…."

"Sorry, it's Lord Badala to you. General!" He corrected the weakening General.

"You…you!-…" He stuttered non-stop.

"I haven't forgotten who's unit Colonel Namdak's commandos fell under, Karna. There are worst way to die that by knife or bullet in an instant."

"What! Let me go!" Two hunters grappled him.

"You will have a taste of it over the course of the remainder of your life."

"W-Wait! I can explain! Their actions were not under my jurisdiction!"

Ajay turned away.

"Badala! BADALA!" He screamed pathetically as he was dragged away. It made the crowd lose heart in an instant, their turn for punishment would surely come next.

"My lord! What do you intend to do with us then!?" The president asked anxious as the general was about to experience a terrible fate.

"Don't worry, most of you won't need to suffer like him, I still have to keep him alive to be held responsible. But for you ladies and gentlemen…."

Ajay walked up to the balcony and faced the burning city.

"I want you to watch as your sovereignty slowly by the end of the day, burns to ashes."

* * *

Author's Thoughts:

Ever played World in Conflict and saw the opening with the soviets paradropping on Seattle? That's what i was picturing right here.

(Judge Ghale): "Your crimes consist of multiple homicide. How do you plead?"

(Thug Singh): "Puutt!" (Spits on Judge Ghale)

(Thrown out of a window)


	87. Chapter 81 - April Fools

∀nʇɥoɹ,s Noʇǝs:

Ⅎᴉuɐllʎ poᴉuƃ ɐɹɯoɹ ʌs ɐɹɯoɹ˙ Ǝuɾoʎ ʇɥǝ ɔɥɐdʇǝɹ˙

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∀ ɯᴉunʇǝ ɐƃo' ʇɥǝɹǝ ʍɐs dǝɐɔǝɟnluǝss sʇᴉɹɹᴉuƃ ɐqonʇ ʇɥǝ ɐᴉɹ˙

┴ɥǝ ɔᴉʇᴉzǝus ʍɥo ʍǝɹǝ so nsǝp ʇo ʇɥǝ ƃǝuʇlǝ qɹǝǝzǝ snppǝulʎ ɥɐp ɐ pǝǝd ʍǝllᴉuƃ oɟ nuǝɐsǝ ʍɥǝu ʇɥɐʇ ʍᴉup ʇɥɐʇ ɹǝɯɐᴉuǝp ɔousʇɐuʇ ɥɐp qǝɔoɯǝ pǝɐp˙

Mɥɐʇ ɟolloʍǝp uǝxʇ ʍǝɹǝ ʇɥǝ ʇɹǝɯoɹs ɐup ɐ pǝlɐʎ oɟ qooɯs ᴉu ʇɥǝ pᴉsʇɐuɔǝ˙ Soɯǝ ɔonlp ʇǝll' oʇɥǝɹs ʍǝɹǝ ʇoo ᴉƃuoɹɐuʇ ʇo ʍɥɐʇ ʍɐs ƃoᴉuƃ ou ʇo ʞuoʍ˙

qnʇ ʇo ʇɥǝ ɯᴉlᴉʇɐɹʎ ᴉusʇɐllɐʇᴉous' dɐɹʇᴉɔnlɐɹlʎ ʇɥǝ ⅄˥∀ Hǝɐpbnɐɹʇǝɹs' ʇɥǝ ɹɐpɐɹ ɐssǝɯqlʎ' ʇɥǝ ɐᴉɹ-pǝɟǝusǝ ᴉusʇɐllɐʇᴉous' ʇɥǝ snddlʎ pǝdoʇs ɐup ʇɥǝ qɐɹɹɐɔʞs ʍǝɹǝ ʇɥǝ ouǝs ʇɥɐʇ snɟɟǝɹǝp ɐ ɔɹnǝlʇʎ ʇɥǝʎ uǝʌǝɹ pǝsǝɹʌǝp˙

┴ɥǝ ᴉuɥɐqᴉʇɐuʇs ɐup odǝɹɐʇoɹs oɟ sɐᴉp dlɐɔǝs ɥɐp snɟɟǝɹǝp ʇɥǝ ɟɐʇǝ oɟ ʇɥǝɹɯoqɐɹᴉɔ ǝxdlosᴉʌǝs' ɟɹɐƃɯǝuʇɐʇᴉou ɐup sǝɔoupɐɹʎ ǝxdlosᴉous ɟɹoɯ ʇɥǝᴉɹ ɯnuᴉʇᴉou ɔɐɔɥǝs˙ ┴ɥǝ ɔɐnsǝ oɟ ʇɥɐʇ ᴉusʇɐuʇ pǝsʇɹnɔʇᴉou ʍɐs ˥ndns Ɔɐǝlnɯ˙ ┴ɥǝ Ɔoɯɯɐup sʇɹnɔʇnɹǝ oɟ ʇɥǝ ⅄˥∀ ᴉɯɯǝpᴉɐʇǝlʎ ɟǝll ʇɥɹǝǝ ɹɐuʞs' ɯɐʞᴉuƃ ʇɥǝ ɥᴉƃɥǝsʇ ɔoɯɯɐupᴉuƃ dɹǝsǝuɔǝ ɐ Wɐɾoɹ-פǝuǝɹɐl˙ ┴ɥɐʇ qǝᴉuƃ פǝuǝɹɐl ʞɐɹuɐ pɐʍɐ' ʇɥǝ oɟɟᴉɔǝɹ ɔnɹɹǝuʇlʎ qǝᴉuƃ ʇoɹʇnɹǝp ɟoɹ ᴉuɟoɹɯɐʇᴉou ou ʇɹood ɟoɹɯɐʇᴉous˙

┴ɥǝ sʞʎ ʍolʌǝs ʇɥɐʇ sʍood oʌǝɹ ʇɥǝ uoʍ-qɐʇʇlǝɟᴉǝlp ⅄ᴉuʞǝ˙ ∀ʌᴉɐʇᴉou ɯǝɹɔǝuɐɹᴉǝs dɐᴉp qʎ ∀ɾɐʎ ʇo ɟlʎ ʇɥǝ ǝxʇǝusᴉʌǝ ɟlǝǝʇ oɟ ɟᴉƃɥʇǝɹs ɐup qoɯqǝɹs ʍɥᴉlǝ ʇɥǝ ɐᴉɹ sndǝɹᴉoɹᴉʇʎ ɟᴉƃɥʇǝɹs ʍǝɹǝ ɯɐuuǝp ǝxɔlnsᴉʌǝlʎ qʎ ʇɥǝ I∀Ⅎ dᴉloʇ ʇɥɐʇ ɥɐp qǝǝu ʞǝdʇ ᴉu ɹǝsǝɹʌǝ ɐƃɐᴉusʇ ɐᴉɹ ᴉuʇɹnsᴉou qʎ Ԁ˥∀∀Ⅎ˙ ┴ɥǝ ∀-ㄣS Sndǝɹ Sʞʎɥɐʍʞs ɟlǝʍ oʌǝɹ ʇɥǝᴉɹ pǝsᴉƃuɐʇǝp ʇɐɹƃǝʇs ɐup pɹoddǝp ʇɥǝᴉɹ פԀS-ƃnᴉpǝp ɯnuᴉʇᴉou ndou ʇɥǝɯ ɐup ʇnɹuǝp ʇo lǝɐʌǝ ʇɥǝ ɐᴉɹsdɐɔǝ ɟoɹ ʇɥǝ uǝxʇ dɥɐsǝ oɟ ɐʇʇɐɔʞ˙

˥ǝss ʇɥɐu Ɛ0 sǝɔoups ɟɹoɯ ʍɥǝu ʇɥǝ qoɯqᴉuƃs sʇɐɹʇǝp' ɐ ɟloɔʞ oɟ ɯᴉlᴉʇɐɹʎ ɔɐɹƃo dlɐuǝs pǝsɔǝupǝp ɟɹoɯ ʇɥǝ ɔlonps ɐup pɹoddǝp oʌǝɹ ɟonɹ ʇɥonsɐup solpᴉǝɹs ɟɹoɯ ɐ ɯᴉxʇnɹǝ oɟ ɹnssᴉɐu-oɹᴉƃᴉuɐʇᴉuƃ Il-ㄥ9Wp ɐup ∀u-Ɩᄅ dlɐuǝs˙

┴ɥǝ sʞᴉǝs qǝɔɐɯǝ ɔoʌǝɹǝp ʍᴉʇɥ ɔᴉɹɔnlɐɹ poʇs ɐup ɟɹoɯ ʇɥǝɹǝ ᴉʇ qǝɔɐɯǝ ɔlǝɐɹ ʍɥɐʇ ʍɐs ɥɐddǝuᴉuƃ˙

⅄ᴉuʞǝ ʍɐs qǝᴉuƃ ᴉuʌɐpǝp˙

Ou ʇɥǝᴉɹ ɹǝǝlᴉuƃ ɯᴉups' ʇo lɐnuɔɥ ɐu ɐᴉɹqoɹuǝ oɟɟǝusᴉʌǝ' ᴉʇ ɔonlp oulʎ qǝ pouǝ qʎ ɐ sndǝɹdoʍǝɹ lᴉʞǝ Iupᴉɐ oɹ Ɔɥᴉuɐ˙ ˥ᴉʇʇlǝ pᴉp ʇɥǝʎ ʞuoʍ ʇɥɐʇ ᴉʇ ʍɐs ᴉu ɟɐɔʇ ʇɥǝᴉɹ uǝᴉƃɥqonɹ ʍɥoɯ ɥɐp ɐ uǝnʇɹɐl ɹǝlɐʇᴉou ʍᴉʇɥ' ʞʎɹɐʇ˙ Mɥǝu ʇɥǝ dlɐuǝs ɥɐp pɹoddǝp ʇɥǝᴉɹ dɐssǝuƃǝɹs' ʇɥǝ ɟᴉɹsʇ ʍɐʌǝ oɟ ɐʇʇɐɔʞǝɹs ᴉu ʇɥǝ ɟoɹɯ oɟ ʇɥǝ ſɐʇɐʎn dɐɹɐ ɔoɯɯɐupos' ʇɥǝʎ ɹǝʇnɹuǝp ʇo loɐp nd ʇɥǝ loƃᴉsʇᴉɔs ʇɥɐʇ ʍonlp ɥǝld ʇɥǝɯ dɹolouƃ ʇɥǝᴉɹ sʇɐʎ ᴉu ɥosʇᴉlǝ ʇǝɹɹᴉʇoɹʎ ɐup ʇo ɟǝɹɹʎ ʇɥǝ ᄅup Hnssɐɹs oʌǝɹ ʍᴉʇɥ ʇɥǝᴉɹ ɐɹɯoɹǝp qɐʇʇɐlᴉou ʇo ɔonuʇǝɹ ʇɥǝ ɹǝdnqlᴉɔɐu פnɐɹps ɐup oʇɥǝɹ ɐɹɯoɹǝp nuᴉʇs ʇɥɐʇ ʍonlp ɥɐʌǝ lᴉʞǝlʎ qǝǝu ɐlǝɹʇǝp ʇo ʇɥǝ sᴉlǝuɔǝ ɟɹoɯ ʇɥǝᴉɹ ɔoɯɯɐup ɐup ʇɥǝ ʇɹǝɯoɹs oɟ ǝxdlosᴉous˙

┴o ʇɥǝ ſɐʇɐʎns, snɹdɹᴉsǝ ʇɥǝ ɐnʇɥoɹᴉʇᴉǝs ɥɐp oɟɟǝɹǝp lᴉʇʇlǝ ɹǝsᴉsʇɐuɔǝ ʇɥɐu ǝxdǝɔʇǝp' ᴉɯɯǝpᴉɐʇǝlʎ ʇɥɹoʍᴉuƃ poʍu ʇɥǝᴉɹ ɐɹɯs' qoʇɥ ƃɐɹɹᴉsou solpᴉǝɹ ɐup dolᴉɔǝ ɐlᴉʞǝ˙ Iʇ ʍɐs ɾnsʇ ɐs ∀ɾɐʎ ɥɐp ɟoɹǝsǝǝu' ᴉu ʇɥǝ ɟɐɔǝ oɟ dossᴉqlǝ oqlᴉʌᴉou' uo ouǝ ʍɐs ƃouuɐ pᴉǝ ɟoɹ ɐuoʇɥǝɹ ᴉɟ ʇɥǝɹǝ ʍɐs lǝuᴉǝuɔǝ ƃᴉʌǝu ʇo ʇɥǝɯ˙ ┴ɥosǝ ʇɥɐʇ pᴉp ʍǝɹǝ ɔnʇ poʍu sʍᴉɟʇlʎ ʍᴉʇɥ ɐu ᴉɯdɹǝssᴉʌǝ ɟᴉɹᴉuƃ ɯɐunǝʌǝɹ ǝɯdloʎǝp qʎ ʇɥǝ qɐʇʇlǝ-ɥɐɹpǝuǝp dɐɹɐ ɔoɯɯɐupos˙

∀s dǝɹ oɹpǝɹs ɹǝlɐʎǝp qʎ ∀ɾɐʎ ʍɐs ʇo lǝɐʌǝ ʇɥǝ ɔᴉʌᴉlᴉɐus ɐlouǝ qnʇ ʞǝǝd ɐ ɔlosǝ ǝʎǝ ou ʇɥǝɯ' onʇ ɟɹoɯ ʇɥǝ sʇɹǝǝʇs ɔɐɯǝ ɐɹɯǝp ʇɥnƃs ʍɥo ɥɐp ɹɐᴉsǝp ʇɥǝᴉɹ ʍǝɐdous ɐup pǝɔlɐɹǝp ʇɥǝɯsǝlʌǝs ɐllʎ˙ ┴ɥǝʎ ɥɐp qǝǝu qɹonƃɥʇ onʇ ʇo ɯɐᴉuʇɐᴉu ɯɐɹʇᴉɐl lɐʍ ou ʇɥǝᴉɹ qǝɥɐlɟ' ∀ɾɐʎ ɥɐp ɐlso ɯɐpǝ ʇɥᴉs ɔlǝɐɹ ᴉu ɥᴉs ʇɹɐusɯᴉssᴉou qǝɟoɹǝ ᴉuɟᴉlᴉʇɹɐʇᴉou ᴉuʇo ʇɥǝ dɐɹlᴉɐɯǝuʇᴉɐɹʎ qnᴉlpᴉuƃ˙ ┴ɥǝ sɥoɔʞ ɐup ɐʍǝ odǝɹɐʇᴉou ɥɐp ɔoɯǝ ᴉuʇo ǝɟɟǝɔʇ˙ Sǝǝᴉuƃ ʇɥɐʇ ʇɥǝɹǝ ʍɐs ɐ ƃɹond oɟ dǝodlǝ ʇɥǝɹǝ ʇo dɹoʇǝɔʇ ʇɥǝɯ ɟɹoɯ ʇɥǝsǝ ɟoɹǝᴉƃu ɐƃƃɹǝssoɹs' ʇɥǝ ɔᴉʌᴉlᴉɐus dnʇ ʇɥǝᴉɹ ʇɹnsʇ ᴉu ʇɥǝᴉɹ ɔonuʇɹʎɯǝu ʇo sʇɐup qǝʇʍǝǝu ʇɥǝɯ ᴉu ʇɥǝ ǝʌǝuʇ ʇɥǝʎ ƃo ʍᴉlp˙ Oɟ ɔonɹsǝ' ʇɥǝɹǝ ʍǝɹǝ soɯǝ ʇɥɐʇ ʇɥonƃɥʇ oʇɥǝɹʍᴉsǝ qnʇ ʇɥǝʎ ʍǝɹǝ ɐ sɯɐll ɯᴉuoɹᴉʇʎ oɟ sǝlɟ-ǝuʇᴉɹǝp qǝlᴉǝʌǝɹs ʍɥo ʍonlpu,ʇ ɹɐᴉsǝ ɐɹɯs ɐƃɐᴉusʇ dɹoɟǝssᴉouɐl ʞᴉllǝɹs˙

Noʇ ɐs ᴉɟ ʇɥǝ ʞʎɹɐʇᴉs ʍonlp ǝʌǝɹ ʇɥᴉuʞ oɟ poᴉuƃ so˙ ┴ɥǝ ʍoɯɐu ʍɥo ɯǝʇ ʍᴉʇɥ Wɐʎɐ ɐup ſǝǝʌɐl uoʍ-lᴉǝnʇǝuɐuʇ ʍɐs uɐɯǝp ſɐƃɹᴉʇᴉ' sɥǝ ɥɐp ɐddɐɹǝuʇlʎ ɯɐpǝ ɐ pǝɐl ʍᴉʇɥ ∀ɾɐʎ ʇo ɐssᴉsʇ ᴉu snqɾnƃɐʇᴉuƃ ʇɥǝ ɔᴉʇʎ ɐup dɹoʌᴉpᴉuƃ snddoɹʇ ᴉu ɔɐsǝ oɟ sʎɯdʇoɯs oɟ ɹǝqǝllᴉou ɟɹoɯ ƃnuƃɥo ɔᴉʇᴉzǝus ʇɹʎᴉuƃ ʇo qǝ sǝlɟ-ɹᴉƃɥʇǝons˙ ∀ʇ ɟᴉɹsʇ' ʇɥǝ nupǝɹʍoɹlp ɔonuɔᴉl ʍǝɹǝu,ʇ ʌǝɹʎ ɔouʌᴉuɔǝp qʎ ſɐƃɹᴉʇᴉ,s ɔlɐᴉɯ' qnʇ ʍᴉʇɥ ʇɥǝ uǝʍs ɐup lɐʇǝ ɹǝdoɹʇ qʎ ɐ dɐlǝ-ɟɐɔǝp qoss ɹᴉɔʞʎ oɟ ʇɥǝ sɯnƃƃlᴉuƃ odǝɹɐʇᴉous˙ Iʇ qǝɔɐɯǝ ɔlǝɐɹ ʇɥɐʇ ʇɥǝʎ ʍǝɹǝ ʇo qǝ ʍᴉʇɥ ʇɥǝɯ oɹ ɐƃɐᴉusʇ ʇɥǝɯ˙ ┴ɥǝʎ ǝlǝɔʇǝp ſɐƃɹᴉʇᴉ ɐs ʇɥǝᴉɹ ɹǝdɹǝsǝuʇɐʇᴉʌǝ oɟ ʇɥǝᴉɹ ᴉuʇǝɹǝsʇs ɐup sɥǝ ɔooɹpᴉuɐʇǝp ʍᴉʇɥ Wɐʎɐ ʇo loɔɐʇǝ ɐup pǝsʇɹoʎ ʇɥǝ pǝus oɟ dɐɹʇᴉsɐus poʇʇǝp ɐqonʇ ʇɥǝ ɔᴉʇʎ˙

┴ɥǝ ɟᴉɹsʇ dɥɐsǝ oɟ Odǝɹɐʇᴉou ⅄ɐƃuɐ ɥɐp qǝǝu ɔoɯdlǝʇǝp˙

Λǝp sʇoop ʍɐʇɔɥᴉuƃ ᴉu ɥoɹɹoɹ ɐs ɥᴉs ɐpodʇᴉʌǝ ɥoɯǝ ʍɐs losʇ ʇo ʇɥǝɯ qʎ ʇɥǝ ʌǝɹʎ ɟoɹɔǝ ɥǝ ʇɹᴉǝp ʇo pǝsʇɹoʎ˙ Hǝ ɟǝlʇ lᴉʞǝ lɐnƃɥᴉuƃ ɐʇ ʇɥǝ ʍɥolǝ ɟɐɹɔǝ ɥǝ ɥɐp ʍoɹʞǝp ndou' uoʇ ʞuoʍᴉuƃ ʇɥɐʇ ʞʎɹɐʇ ʍɐs uo louƃǝɹ ʇɥǝ sɐɯǝ ɐs ʍɥǝu ɥǝ lɐsʇ lǝɟʇ˙ ┴ɥǝ ɯɐᴉu pᴉɟɟǝɹǝuɔǝ ʍɐs ʇɥᴉs pǝɯou-lᴉʞǝ oddouǝuʇ ʇɥɐʇ ɥɐp ɹᴉʌɐllǝp ɥᴉs pǝʌɐs qɹoʇɥǝɹs ɐup onʇɯɐʇɔɥǝp ʇɥǝɯ ɐll ɐʇ ouɔǝ˙ Ԁɐƃɐu,s ɯosʇ doʍǝɹɟnl ʇɹnɯd ᴉu ʇɥǝ ɟoɹɯ oɟ ɐ ʎonuƃ ɯɐu ʇɥɐʇ ʍoɹǝ ʇɥǝ pǝɯou ɯɐsʞ oɟ ⅄ɐlnuƃ ɐup ɐu ǝɯqlǝɯ oɟ ʇɥǝ pǝɯou ƃop ndou ɥᴉs sɥonlpǝɹ qɐpƃǝ˙

∀ɾɐʎ dɐssǝp ɐ solpᴉǝɹ ʇɥǝ ɥǝɐp oɟ Sɐuɾǝǝʌ ʇo pᴉsdlɐʎ ou ʇɥǝ ɟlɐƃ dolǝ ɐʇ ʇɥǝ ʇoʍu ɔǝuʇɹǝ' ʞuoʍᴉuƃ ʇɥɐʇ soouǝɹ oɹ lɐʇǝɹ ɐ sɔonʇ ʍonlp sdoʇ ᴉʇ ɟɹoɯ ɐɟɐɹ ʍᴉʇɥ qᴉuoɔnlɐɹs˙

,,Mɥɐʇ ʍᴉll ʎon po ʍᴉʇɥ ns¿,, Sʍɐɹɐ ɐsʞǝp ɐs ʇɥǝ Ɩsʇ ʞsɥɐʇɹᴉʎɐu ˥oɹp ɥɐp ɾnsʇ lǝʇ ʇɥǝɯ ʍɐʇɔɥ ɟɹoɯ ʇɥǝ qɐlɔouʎ nuɹǝsʇɹɐᴉuʇ˙

,,˥ᴉʞǝ I sɐᴉp' ʍɐʇɔɥ˙,, ∀ɾɐʎ sɐᴉp ɐs ɥǝ pouuǝp ʇɥǝ ɟᴉuɐl dᴉǝɔǝ oɟ ɥᴉs uǝʍ ɐɹɯoɹ' ʇɥǝ ɯɐsʞ˙ ∀ʇ ʇɥᴉs doᴉuʇ' ʇɥǝ ɔɐdʇnɹǝp ɔɹoʍp sɥnppǝɹǝp ɐʇ ʇɥǝ sᴉƃɥʇ oɟ snɔɥ ɐ ʇǝɹɹᴉɟʎᴉuƃ ɯoʇᴉɟ' Λǝp nupǝɹsʇoop ᴉu ɐu ᴉusʇɐuʇ ɥoʍ ɥᴉs פolpǝu Ԁɐʇɥ qɹǝʇɥɹǝu ɔonlpu,ʇ ɥǝld qnʇ ɹnu ɐʇ ʇɥǝ sᴉƃɥʇ oɟ ᴉʇ˙ Mɥoǝʌǝɹ qɐpɐlɐ ʍɐs' ɥǝ ʍɐs ɐ ɯɐsʇǝɹ oɟ ɯɐuᴉdnlɐʇᴉuƃ ɯᴉups˙ Ɔɐnsᴉuƃ ɥᴉs ǝuǝɯᴉǝs ʇo ɟǝɐɹ ɐup ɐup ɐllᴉǝs ʇo ɹǝʌǝɹǝ ɥᴉs ǝxᴉsʇǝuɔǝ' ɥǝ ʍɐs lᴉʞǝ Woɥɐu ǝxɔǝdʇ ʍᴉʇɥonʇ ʇɥǝ dǝɹsouɐ oɟ qǝuǝʌolǝuɔǝ qnʇ ʌǝuƃǝɐuɔǝ˙

,,┴ʍo pǝʌɐs oɟ פolpǝu Ԁɐʇɥ' ɐup ʎon,ɹǝ ɾnsʇ ƃouuɐ lǝʇ ns lᴉʌǝ¿,, pɹ Λǝp ʍɐs ɔouɟnsǝp˙

,,∀ll I sǝǝ ɐɹǝ ʇʍo dolᴉʇᴉɔɐl lǝɐpǝɹs oɟ ⅄ᴉuʞǝ ɔnɹɹǝuʇlʎ ᴉu ɯʎ ƃɹɐsd˙ ∀s I,ʌǝ sɐᴉp qǝɟoɹǝ' pɹ Λǝp˙ Ⅎɹoɯ ʇɥǝ ɯoɯǝuʇ ʎon ɔɐɯǝ qɐɔʞ ʍᴉʇɥ ʇɥɐʇ ɹǝƃᴉɯǝuʇ oɟ ɔoɯɯɐupos ʇo ɐᴉp Woɥɐu ʎon losʇ ʎonɹ bnɐlᴉɟᴉɔɐʇᴉous ʇo qǝ ɐ ʞʎɹɐʇᴉ˙,,

)qzzzzzzzzz( ,,∀∀∀∀∀∀∀HHHHHH¡,, ┴ɥǝ sonup oɟ פǝuǝɹɐl pɐʍɐ qǝᴉuƃ ʇoɹʇnɹǝp ᴉu soɯǝ ɹooɯ uǝɐɹqʎ ʇɥǝ ɟnuɔʇᴉou ɹooɯ ɔonlp qǝ ɥǝɐɹp ɔlǝɐɹlʎ qʎ ʇɥǝ ɔɹoʍp ɐup qʎ Sʍɐɹɐ ɐup Λǝp˙ Wosʇ ʇǝɹɹᴉɟᴉǝp oɟ ɐll ʍɐs ʞɐɹuɐ,s ʍᴉɟǝ' ʇɥǝᴉɹ pɐnƃɥʇǝɹ ɥɐp ɔoɯdlǝx ɟǝǝlᴉuƃs ɐqonʇ ʇɥǝ sᴉʇnɐʇᴉou˙

,,…˙˙ Mɥɐʇ I ɥɐp pouǝ ʍɐs ʍɹouƃ' qnʇ uǝǝp ʎon ɔoɯǝ qɐɔʞ ʇo ǝxɐɔʇ ʌǝuƃǝɐuɔǝ ndou ɯʎ dǝodlǝ¿¡,,

,,Mɥo ǝʌǝɹ sɐᴉp I ʍɐs ǝxɐɔʇᴉuƃ ᴉʇ ɐƃɐᴉusʇ ʎonɹ dǝodlǝ' nulǝss ,ʎonɹ, dǝodlǝ ɐlso ᴉuɔlnpǝs ʇɥǝ ɔᴉʌᴉlᴉɐus ʍɥo I,ʌǝ ǝxɔlnpǝp ɟɹoɯ ʇɥǝ ǝbnɐʇᴉou˙ qǝ ɥouǝsʇ uoʍ' pɹ Λǝp˙ qǝɟoɹǝ ʇɥɐʇ slᴉpǝsɥoʍ pᴉp ʎon ʞuoʍ ʇɥɐʇ Nɐɯpɐʞ,s ɯǝu pᴉp ɐuʎ oɟ ʇɥɐʇ' po ʎon ǝʌǝu ʞuoʍ ʍɥɐʇ ʞᴉup oɟ sɥᴉʇ ʇɥǝ dǝodlǝ ʎon ɔɐll qɹoʇɥǝɹs ɐup sᴉsʇǝɹ ɥɐʌǝ qǝǝu dnllᴉuƃ oɟɟ ɟoɹ ʇɥǝ lɐsʇ sᴉxʇǝǝu ʎǝɐɹs ʍɥᴉlǝ ʎon ɐup Sʍɐɹɐ ɥɐʌǝ qǝǝu ɐʍɐʎ¿¡,, ∀ɾɐʎ sɥonʇǝp ɐuƃɹᴉlʎ ɐʇ ɥᴉɯ' ɥᴉs ʌoᴉɔǝ sɥooʞ ʇɥǝ ʍɐlls oɟ ʇɥǝ ɟnuɔʇᴉou ɹooɯ ʇɥǝʎ ʍǝɹǝ qǝᴉuƃ ɥǝlp˙

,,┴o ʎon ɐup ʎonɹ qɹoʇɥǝɹs' ˥ɐuʞɐ ʍɐs ʇɥǝ ɔɹoʍu ɾǝʍǝl ʇɥɐʇ pǝɟᴉuǝp ɹnlǝ oʌǝɹ ʞʎɹɐʇ˙ qnʇ ʇo ɯǝ' ᴉʇ ʍɐs ɯʎ ɥoɯǝ ɐup ɥoɯǝ ʇo ɟᴉɟʇǝǝu ʇɥonsɐup oʇɥǝɹs¡ ∀up ʍɥɐʇ ʍǝɹǝ ʎonɹ ɹnlǝs oɟ ǝuƃɐƃǝɯǝuʇ ʎon pǝɔᴉpǝp qǝɟoɹǝ ǝuʇǝɹᴉuƃ¿ ʞᴉll ɐll ou sᴉƃɥʇ¿¡ ⅄on ɔonlpu,ʇ dossᴉqlʎ ᴉɯɐƃᴉuǝ ɥoʍ ɯɐuʎ oɟ ɯʎ ɟɹᴉǝups ʎon ɐup ʎonɹ ʍᴉʇlǝss qnuɔɥ oɟ sǝlɟ-ɹᴉƃɥʇǝons ɾnuʞᴉǝs ɥɐʌǝ ʞᴉllǝp˙,, Hǝ sɐᴉp ᴉu ɐ ʌᴉɔᴉons ʇouǝ˙ pɹ Λǝp ɹǝɯɐᴉuǝp sᴉlǝuʇ' ɥǝ ʞuǝʍ ɥǝ ʍɐs uoʍ qǝʎoup ʇɐlʞᴉuƃ ʇǝɹɯs ʍᴉʇɥ qɐpɐlɐ˙

,,Hɐʌǝ ʎon ǝʌǝɹ ʍɐʇɔɥǝp ʎonuƃ ɯǝu ɐup ʍoɯǝu ʍɥo ʎon ʇɹɐᴉuǝp ʇo dɹoʇǝɔʇ ʇɥǝɯsǝlʌǝs ƃǝʇ ɔɥoddǝp nd ᴉu ʇɥǝ ɯᴉpsʇ oɟ sɐpᴉsʇᴉɔ ɔɹᴉǝs oɟ solpᴉǝɹs' ɔɹɐzǝp ɟɐuɐʇᴉɔs ʍɥo qɐqqlǝ ɐqonʇ ɯɐᴉuʇɐᴉuᴉuƃ ʇɹɐpᴉʇᴉous ʍɥᴉlsʇ qɹǝɐʞᴉuƃ ɔoʌǝuɐuʇs ɐs ʇɥǝʎ ʞᴉll ɐup ɹɐusɐɔʞ ɥoɯǝs' qɐsʇɐɹps ʇɥɐʇ lǝʇ ɟoɹǝᴉƃu ᴉuʇǝllᴉƃǝuɔǝ ɐƃǝuɔᴉǝs ʍɹonƃɥʇ ɹnᴉu ndou onɹ ɔonuʇɹʎ ɟoɹ ʇɥǝᴉɹ oʍu sǝlɟᴉsɥ ᴉuʇǝɹǝsʇs¿ Hɐʌǝ ʎon ǝʌǝɹ qǝǝu ɹᴉƃɥʇ ʍɥǝɹǝ ᴉʇ ɐll oɔɔnɹɹǝp ɐup ɟonƃɥʇ ʍᴉʇɥ ǝʌǝɹʎ ɯnsɔlǝ ʇo dɹoʇǝɔʇ ʇɥǝɯ oulʎ ʇo ɟɐᴉl ɐup ʍoɹsǝ… qǝ ʇɥǝ oulʎ ouǝ lǝɟʇ ɐlᴉʌǝ¿¡ H∀ΛƎ ⅄O∩¡¿,, Λǝp ɔollɐdsǝp ou ɥᴉs ʞuǝǝs' ɥǝɐɹᴉuƃ ʇɥǝ ɥoɹɹᴉqlǝ ǝxdǝɹᴉǝuɔǝ ∀ɾɐʎ ɥɐp ƃouǝ ʇɥɹonƃɥ ɐup ᴉɯɐƃᴉuǝp ᴉɟ ɥǝ ʍǝɹǝ ᴉu ɥᴉs sɥoǝs˙ Iʇ ʍɐs ɐ uᴉƃɥʇɯɐɹǝ¡

,,I,ɯ oulʎ ɥǝɹǝ ɟoɹ ouǝ ʇɥᴉuƃ˙ ┴o ɥnuʇ פolpǝu Ԁɐʇɥ ɐup ʞᴉll ǝʌǝɹ lɐsʇ ouǝ oɟ ʇɥǝ ⅄ᴉuʞᴉɐu solpᴉǝɹs˙ Iɟ ɐuʎ ɔᴉʌᴉlᴉɐus ʇɐʞǝ nd ɐɹɯs pǝsdᴉʇǝ ɯʎ ʍɐɹuᴉuƃ ʇɥǝu ʇɥǝʎ sɥɐll sɥɐɹǝ ʇɥǝ sɐɯǝ ɟɐʇǝ ɐs ʇɥǝ oʇɥǝɹs qǝɟoɹǝ ʇɥǝɯ˙,, ∀ɾɐʎ ɹǝɯᴉupǝp ɥᴉɯ˙

,,┴ɥǝ solpᴉǝɹs ɥǝɹǝ ɥɐʌǝ pouǝ uoʇɥᴉuƃ ʍɹouƃ¡,, Sʍɐɹɐ sɥonʇǝp ɟɹoɯ ɥǝɹ dlɐɔǝ˙

,,∀up uǝᴉʇɥǝɹ pᴉp ɯʎ dǝodlǝ ɐʇ ˥ɐuʞɐ˙ I,ɯ ɾnsʇ lǝʇʇᴉuƃ ʎon ʞuoʍ ɥoʍ ʇɥɐʇ ɟǝǝls ɹᴉƃɥʇ uoʍ˙,,

,,…┴ɥǝu ʍɥʎ ɥɐʌǝu,ʇ I qǝǝu ʇɥǝ ouǝ ʇo ɹǝɔǝᴉʌǝ dnuᴉsɥɯǝuʇ¿,, Λǝp ɐsʞǝp ou ɥᴉs ʞuǝǝs' ɥᴉs ǝʎǝs ɹǝppǝu ɟɹoɯ ƃɹᴉǝɟ ɐup pǝsdɐᴉɹ ʇo ʇɥǝ ɟoɹɔǝ ɥǝ ʞuǝʍ ɥǝ sɥonlpu,ʇ ɥɐʌǝ ɯǝssǝp ʍᴉʇɥ˙ פɹᴉǝɟ ʇɥɐʇ פolpǝu Ԁɐʇɥ ʍɐs uo louƃǝɹ ʇɥǝ dɹoʇǝɔʇoɹs oɟ ʇɥǝ dǝodlǝ qnʇ ɐu ɐɹɯǝp ƃɐuƃ oɟ ʇɥnƃs' ɥoʍ ɔonlp Woɥɐu lǝʇ ʇɥᴉs ɥɐddǝu¿

∀ɾɐʎ ɥɐp ɹǝƃɐᴉuǝp ɔoɯdosnɹǝ ɐɟʇǝɹ ɥǝ lǝʇ loosǝ ɥᴉs qoᴉlᴉuƃ ɹɐƃǝ ndou ɐu ᴉƃuoɹɐuʇ ɟool ʇɥɐʇ ɹɐu ou ʇɥǝ ɟᴉɹsʇ sᴉƃɥʇ oɟ ʇɹonqlǝ' ᴉƃuoɹɐuʇ ʇo ʍɥɐʇ ʍɐs ʇɥǝ pɐɯɐƃǝs ᴉuɔnɹɹǝp qʎ ɥᴉs ɐɔʇᴉous˙ Sʍɐɹ ɥɐp ʇɥǝ sɐɯǝ ɟǝǝlᴉuƃs ɐs Λǝp' pǝʌǝsʇɐʇᴉou˙

,,Mɥo sɐᴉp ʎon ʍǝɹǝu,ʇ˙,,

,,Mɥɐʇ¿,,

,,⅄onɹ dnuᴉsɥɯǝuʇ ᴉs ʇo ʍɐʇɔɥ˙ ∀up ouɔǝ ʍǝ,ɹǝ pouǝ ʍᴉʇɥ ʇɥǝ ⅄ᴉuʞᴉɐu ∀ɹɯᴉǝs' ʍᴉʇɥ פolpǝu Ԁɐʇɥ ɐup ʍᴉʇɥ ʇɥɐʇ ɥolloʍ ʍᴉll oɟ Woɥɐu˙ Oulʎ ʇɥǝu'…˙˙,,

,,⅄on ɥɐʌǝ ɯʎ dǝɹɯᴉssᴉou ʇo pᴉǝ˙,,  
Iʇ ʍɐs ǝɐɹlʎ ᴉu ʇɥǝ ɯoɹuᴉuƃ' ʇɥǝᴉɹ ɟᴉɹsʇ uᴉƃɥʇ ɥɐp dɐssǝp ᴉu ⅄ᴉuʞǝ ʍᴉʇɥonʇ ɐ ɥᴉʇɔɥ˙ Ⅎɹoɯ ʇɥǝ ɹǝɔouuɐᴉssɐuɔǝ ɹǝdoɹʇs qʎ ʇɥǝ sɔonʇs ɐup ɹǝɯɐᴉuᴉuƃ ɥnuʇǝɹ ɔɐpɹǝs' ʇɥǝ ⅄ᴉuʞǝ ɟoɹɔǝs sʇɐʇᴉouǝp ɐʇ ʇɥǝ qoɹpǝɹs ɐup oʇɥǝɹ ɹǝƃᴉous ʍǝɹǝ oulʎ ɾnsʇ snsdǝɔʇǝp ʇɥǝ ɐqsǝuɔǝ oɟ ʇɥǝᴉɹ Hǝɐpbnɐɹʇǝɹ,s pɐᴉlʎ ɥɐᴉls ɐup ʍǝɹǝ sǝupᴉuƃ ʇɹoods ɐʇ ɐqonʇ qɐʇʇɐlᴉou sʇɹǝuƃʇɥ ɟɹoɯ ǝɐɔɥ oɟ ʇɥǝ sᴉx ɔɐɯds ᴉu ʇɥǝ ɔonuʇɹʎ˙ Wɐʞᴉuƃ nd ɐqonʇ ɐ ɹǝƃᴉɯǝuʇ oɟ ɯᴉxǝp ɟoɹɔǝs˙ Sʇᴉll uo sᴉƃu oɟ ʇɥǝ ɹǝdnqlᴉɔɐu פnɐɹp ʍɥo ʍǝɹǝ snddosǝp ʇo qǝ sʇɐʇᴉouǝp ᴉu ʇɥǝ Ɔᴉʇʎ ᴉʇsǝlɟ' ɐlʇɥonƃɥ ᴉuʇǝɹɹoƃɐʇᴉous ou ƃɐɹɹᴉsou solpᴉǝɹs ɐup sǝɐɹɔɥᴉuƃ ʇɥɹonƃɥ ʍɥɐʇǝʌǝɹ ʍɐs lǝɟʇ oɟ ʇɥǝ ɥǝɐpbnɐɹʇǝɹs ᴉupᴉɔɐʇǝp ʇɥɐʇ ʇɥǝʎ ɥɐddǝuǝp ʇo qǝ onʇ ou ɐu ǝxǝɹɔᴉsǝ uǝɐɹ ʇɥǝ ┴ᴉqǝʇɐu qoɹpǝɹ ʍᴉʇɥ soɯǝ oɟ ʇɥǝ Ɔɥᴉuǝsǝ ʇɹoods˙ ˥ᴉʞǝlʎ' ʇɥǝʎ ʍonlp ɥɐʌǝ qǝǝu ᴉuɟoɹɯǝp oɟ ʇɥǝ sᴉlǝuɔǝ ᴉu ʇɥǝᴉɹ ɔoɯɯɐup ɐup ɹnsɥǝp qɐɔʞ ʇo ᴉuʌǝsʇᴉƃɐʇǝ˙

∀lʇɥonƃɥ ᴉʇ ʍɐs ƃoop uǝʍs ɟoɹ ∀ɾɐʎ ɐup ʇɥǝ ʞʎɹɐʇᴉs ɐs ɐll ɟoɹɔǝs ʍǝɹǝ ɐɔɔonuʇǝp ɟoɹ ou ʇɥǝ ƃɹonup ɐup ʇɥǝᴉɹ snddlᴉǝs ɥɐp qǝǝu ɟnllʎ ʇɐʞǝu sʇoɔʞ ɐup ʍǝɹǝ ᴉu ʇɥǝ ɯᴉpsʇ oɟ nuɐssǝɯqlᴉuƃ˙

┴ɥǝ ɥᴉƃɥʍɐʎ ʇɥɐʇ ʍɐs uoʍ nsǝp ɐs ɐu nudɹǝdɐɹǝp ɹnuʍɐʎ ɟoɹ ʇɥǝ ɔɐɹƃo dlɐuǝs ɐup ɔlosǝ ɐᴉɹ snddoɹʇ ɔɹɐɟʇ ɯɐuuǝp qʎ ˥ndns Ɔɐǝlnɯ˙ Wɐᴉulʎ ʇɥǝ sbnɐpɹou oɟ ʇnɹqodɹodǝllǝɹ ∀-ᄅ6 Sndǝɹ ʇnɔɐuos ɐup Sn-ᄅϛSW Ⅎɹoƃɟooʇ ƃɹonup ɐʇʇɐɔʞ dlɐuǝs˙ ┴ɥǝɹǝ ʍɐs ɐlso ɐu ɐppᴉʇᴉou oɟ ɥǝlᴉɔodʇǝɹs ʍᴉʇɥ ʇɥǝɯ' ʇɥǝ S-ㄥ0 qlɐɔʞɥɐʍʞ ʇɹɐusdoɹʇs ɐup ʇɥǝ Wᴉ-ᄅ8 Hɐʌoɔ ɐʇʇɐɔʞ ɥǝlᴉɔodʇǝɹ ƃnusɥᴉds˙

┴ɥǝɹǝ ʍɐs ɐ ʇoʇɐl oɟ 98Ɛϛ ʞʎɹɐʇᴉ dǝɹsouuǝl ᴉu Ԁɐpɐ Wo Ɔᴉʇʎ' ʇɥɐʇ ɔoɯdɹᴉsǝp oɟ ʇɥǝ ſɐʇɐʎn Ԁɐɹɐ Ɔoɯɯɐupo qɹᴉƃɐpǝ' ʇɥǝ ᄅup Hnssɐɹs ∀nʇouoɯons ∀ɹɯoɹǝp qɐʇʇɐlᴉou' ┴ʍo ∀ɹʇᴉllǝɹʎ qɐʇʇǝɹᴉǝs' ouǝ ɐᴉɹ pǝɟǝuɔǝ sbnɐpɹou' ┴ɥǝ ɥǝlᴉɔodʇǝɹ ɐup ƃɹonup ɐʇʇɐɔʞ ɐᴉɹɔɹɐɟʇ sbnɐpɹous˙ pɐʌᴉp,s ɟoɹɔǝ ɹǝɔouuɐᴉssɐuɔǝ ɯɐɹᴉuǝs ʍǝɹǝ ɥǝɹǝ ɐs ɐu ɐpʌᴉsoɹʎ dɹǝsǝuɔǝ pnǝ ʇo ɥɐʌᴉuƃ uo lǝƃɐl dɹoʇǝɔʇᴉou ᴉu ǝuƃɐƃᴉuƃ ᴉu ʍɐɹ ɐs ʇɥǝᴉɹ ɐllǝƃᴉɐuɔǝ ʍɐs ʍᴉʇɥ ʇɥǝ ∩S Ɔoɯɯɐupǝɹ-ᴉu-Ɔɥᴉǝɟ ʍɥᴉɔɥ ʍɐs ʇɥǝ ∩uᴉʇǝp Sʇɐʇǝs Ԁɹǝsᴉpǝuʇ˙ Hnɹʞ ʍɐs uo ǝxɔǝdʇᴉou ʇo ʇɥᴉs' ɥǝ ɥɐp ɔɥosǝu ʇo ʇɐʞǝ dɐɹʇ ᴉu ʇɥǝ ʍɐɹ ɐs ɐ ʞʎɹɐʇᴉ˙ pǝɟǝupᴉuƃ ʇɥǝ ᴉuʇǝɹǝsʇs oɟ ɥᴉs uǝʍ ɐpodʇᴉʌǝ ɥoɯǝ' ∀ɾɐʎ pᴉpu,ʇ ɹǝɟnʇǝ ɥᴉɯ' ɥᴉs solpᴉǝɹs ɯᴉƃɥʇ uǝǝp ʇɥǝ dɹǝsǝuɔǝ oɟ ʇɥǝ lǝƃǝupɐɹʎ suᴉdǝɹ ,Wᴉzɐɹn,˙ ∀ll oɟ ʇɥǝɯ ɟǝll nupǝɹ ʇɥǝ nuᴉʇ ɔɐllǝp Ɩsʇ Ǝxdǝpᴉʇᴉouɐɹʎ pᴉʌᴉsᴉou oɹ ʍɥɐʇ ʇɥǝ ɟolʞs ɐʇ ɥoɯǝ ʍǝɹǝ pnqqᴉuƃ ,פɐɹnpɐ ˥ǝƃᴉou, pnǝ ʇo ʇɥǝᴉɹ ɯᴉsnupǝɹsʇɐupᴉuƃ oɟ ʇɥǝ ſɐʇɐʎns, sᴉƃᴉl ǝɯqlǝɯ ʇɥɐʇ ɯɐʇɔɥǝp ʇɥǝ oʇɥǝɹ ɔǝlǝsʇᴉɐl qᴉɹp˙

qnʇ פɐɹnpɐ ˥ǝƃᴉou ᴉʇ qǝɔɐɯǝ ɟoɹ uɐɯᴉuƃ sɐʞǝ˙

,,Sʇᴉll uo sᴉƃu oɟ ┴ǝuzᴉu' ʎon snɹǝ ɥǝ ɥɐpu,ʇ lǝɟʇ ʇɥǝ ɔonuʇɹʎ¿,, Wɐʎɐ ɔouɟᴉɹɯǝp ʍᴉʇɥ ɥᴉɯ ɐƃɐᴉu˙

,,פᴉʌǝu ɥᴉs dǝɹsouɐlᴉʇʎ ɐup dɐʇɹᴉoʇᴉsɯ ɥǝ ʍonlpu,ʇ lǝɐʌǝ ǝʌǝu ᴉɟ ɥǝ ʍɐsu,ʇ ʍɐuʇǝp qʎ ʇɥǝ dǝodlǝ˙ qnʇ ᴉɟ ɥǝ pᴉp' ʇɥǝu ᴉʇ ɯɐʞǝs ʌǝɹʎ lᴉʇʇlǝ sǝusǝ ɟoɹ ns ʇo ɥolp ʇɥᴉs ɔᴉʇʎ ɐuʎ louƃǝɹ˙ Mǝ,ll ɾnsʇ sǝʇʇlǝ ʍᴉʇɥ ʇɥᴉs ɔnɹɹǝuʇ ƃoʌǝɹuɯǝuʇ sᴉƃuᴉuƃ ɐu ɐɹɯᴉsʇᴉɔǝ ʇɥǝu˙,,

,,Mɥɐʇ,s so ᴉɯdoɹʇɐuʇ ɐqonʇ ┴ǝuzᴉu¿,, ┴ɥǝ ouǝ ʇɥᴉuƃ ʇɥɐʇ qnƃƃǝp Wɐʎɐ ʇɥǝ ǝuʇᴉɹǝ ʇɹᴉd˙

,,…˙,, Sɐɹɐs' ſǝǝʌɐl' ɹɐɾɐ' ɐup ſɐƃɹᴉʇᴉ ʍǝɹǝ uo ǝxɔǝdʇᴉou˙

┴ɥǝʎ ɐll looʞǝp ɐʇ ɥᴉɯ ʍᴉʇɥ ǝɐƃǝɹuǝss ɟɹoɯ ɥᴉɯ ʇo sdᴉll ʇɥǝ qǝɐus˙

,,┴ɥᴉs ᴉs ǝuʇᴉɹǝlʎ qɐsǝp ou ʇɥǝ ʞᴉuƃ,s ɯɐsʇǝɹ dlɐu' po ʍǝ ɐƃɹǝǝ¿,,

,,⅄ǝs˙,,

,,⅄ǝɐɥ' I ƃnǝss˙,,

,,Mɐsu,ʇ ʇɥᴉs ʇɥɐʇ ʞᴉuƃ ʍɥo ʍɐs ʌǝɹʎ ʍǝᴉɹp¿,, ſɐƃɹᴉʇᴉ ɐsʞǝp Wɐʎɐ ʍɥoɯ sɥǝ ɥɐp qǝǝu ɔooɹpᴉuɐʇᴉuƃ ᴉu snddɹǝssᴉuƃ ɹǝqǝl sʎɯdɐʇɥᴉǝs ɐup dɹoʌᴉpᴉuƃ ʇɥǝ ɔᴉʌᴉlᴉɐus ʍᴉʇɥ ɹǝƃnlɐɹ ɹɐʇᴉous oɟ ɟoop ɐup oʇɥǝɹ uǝɔǝssᴉʇᴉǝs ᴉu ɥodǝs ʇo ʍᴉu ʇɥǝ ɔᴉʇᴉǝs dǝodlǝ oʌǝɹ ʇɥɐʇ ʇɥǝʎ ɥɐp uo ᴉuʇǝuʇᴉou ʇo ɥɐɹɯ ʇɥǝɯ˙

,,Λǝlʌǝʇ' ɹɐɾɐ' Nɐƃǝsɥ' Sɐɯnǝl' ƃᴉʌǝ ns ɐ ɯoɯǝuʇ˙,, ∀ɾɐʎ ʇolp ɥᴉs snqoɹpᴉuɐʇǝs ɐup ſɐƃɹᴉʇᴉ ʇo ɐlloʍ ɥᴉɯ ʇo sdǝɐʞ ʍᴉʇɥ ɥᴉs ɔlosǝɹ ɐpʌᴉsoɹs ᴉu ʇɥᴉs ʇɥǝɐʇɹǝ˙ Sɥǝ pᴉp uoʇ ʇɐʞǝ oɟɟǝusǝ ɐs ∀ɾɐʎ ɥɐp dɹoʌǝp ʇɥɐʇ ɥǝ ɥɐp oulʎ ᴉll ᴉuʇǝuʇᴉous ʇoʍɐɹps ʇɥǝᴉɹ Nɐʇᴉouɐl ∀ɹɯʎ ɐup ʇɥǝ ʎǝʇ ʇo ɹǝʌǝɐl ʇɥǝɯsǝlʌǝs פolpǝu Ԁɐʇɥ ʇǝɹɹoɹᴉsʇ ƃɹonds˙

Ouɔǝ ʇɥǝʎ ɥɐp lǝɟʇ ɐup ɔlosǝp ʇɥǝ pooɹ qǝɥᴉup ʇɥǝɯ' ∀ɾɐʎ sʇoop uǝɐɹǝɹ ʇo ʇɥǝ pǝsʞ ʍᴉʇɥ ʇɥǝ ɯɐd ɔɥɐɹʇ nuɟolpǝp ɟoɹ ʇɥǝɯ ʇo sǝǝ˙

Oulʎ ʇɥᴉs ɯɐd ʍɐsu,ʇ oɟ ɾnsʇ ⅄ᴉuʞǝ' qnʇ ʇɥǝ ǝuʇᴉɹǝ loɔɐl Hᴉɯɐlɐʎɐu ɹǝƃᴉou ɔoɯdlǝʇǝ ʍᴉʇɥ ʇɥǝ ɟonɹ uɐʇᴉous' Ԁɐdᴉɹ' ʞnɯsɐ' ⅄ᴉuʞǝ ɐup ʞʎɹɐʇ˙ ┴ɥǝʎ sʇnpᴉǝp ʇɥǝ ɯɐd ɐup ʇɥǝu ſǝǝʌɐl sʇɐɹʇǝp oɟɟ ʍᴉʇɥ ɥᴉs ᴉubnᴉɹʎ˙

,,┴ǝɐɔɥǝɹ' ʍɥʎ pᴉpu,ʇ ʎon ƃᴉʌǝ ʇɥǝ oɹpǝɹ ʇo ɐʇʇɐɔʞ ʇɥǝᴉɹ ǝxʇǝɹuɐl ɔɐɯds¿ I,ɯ snɹǝ ʇɥǝɹǝ ʍɐsu,ʇ ɐ lᴉɯᴉʇ ʇo ʇɥǝ ƃnᴉpǝp qoɯqs ɐʌɐᴉlɐqlǝ ʇo ˥ndns Ɔɐǝlnɯ ɐup ʇɥǝ ∀ᴉɹ Ⅎoɹɔǝ˙,, ∀ɾɐʎ ʍɐs ɐ lᴉʇʇlǝ ƃlɐp ɥǝ uoʇᴉɔǝp ʇɥɐʇ qnʇ ɥɐp ɥodǝp ɥǝ ʍonlp ɥɐʌǝ sǝǝu ʇɥǝ ɹǝɐsou ɐs ʍǝll˙

,,Qnᴉʇǝ ɹᴉƃɥʇ' ʇɥǝʎ ʍǝɹǝ lǝɟʇ ɐlouǝ ᴉuʇǝuʇᴉouɐllʎ˙,,

,,Mɥʎ¿,,

,,qǝɔɐnsǝ pǝdǝupᴉuƃ ou ʇɥǝ ⅄ᴉuʞᴉɐu ∀ɹɯʎ,s ɔɐdɐɔᴉʇʎ ʇo ɥɐuplǝ ʇɥǝ ᴉuʌɐsᴉou' qǝᴉɾᴉuƃ ɔɐu,ʇ ᴉuʇǝɹʌǝuǝ˙,, Sɐɹɐs ɐusʍǝɹǝp ʍᴉʇɥ pᴉsʇᴉuɔʇᴉou' ∀ɾɐʎ uoppǝp ʇo ɔouɟᴉɹɯ˙

,,So ʎon lǝʇ ʇɥǝɯ ɯnsʇǝɹ ʇo ɯonuʇ ɐu ɐssɐnlʇ ou ʇɥǝ ɔᴉʇʎ˙,, Wɐʎɐ ɔouɟᴉɹɯǝp Hᴉƃɥ Ɔoɯɯɐup ɐup Ԁɐƃɐu,s ᴉuʇǝuʇᴉous˙

,,Qnᴉʇǝ ɹᴉƃɥʇ' ʇɥᴉuʞ oɟ ᴉʇ ʇɥᴉs ʍɐʎ˙ Iʇ,ll ƃᴉʌǝ onɹ ɯǝu ɐ ɹǝɐl ʇɐsʇǝ oɟ ʍɐɹ ʇɥǝʎ,ʌǝ qǝǝu pʎᴉuƃ ʇo ɥɐʌǝ sᴉuɔǝ ʇɥǝʎ ɐʇʇɐɔʞǝp ˥ɐuʞɐ˙ Iʇ,ll lǝʇ ns ʍoɹʞ onʇ ɐll ʇɥǝ qnƃs ɐup ɔouɔǝdʇs lǝɟʇ nudɹoʌǝu˙ ⅄onɹ qɹoʇɥǝɹ ɐup Sɐɯ ʍonlp dɹoqɐqlʎ ƃǝʇ ʇɥǝ ɯosʇ ǝxdǝɹᴉǝuɔǝ pǝɐlᴉuƃ ʍᴉʇɥ ʇɥǝᴉɹ ∀ɹɯoɹǝp nuᴉʇs ɐup dǝɹɥɐds ǝʌǝu ʇɥᴉs ɟɐqlǝp ɹǝdnqlᴉɔɐu פnɐɹp˙,,

,,┴ɥɐʇ lɐsʇ dɐɹʇ ʍɐs uoʇ ɐ sᴉuƃlǝ qᴉʇ ɟnuuʎ˙,, Sɥǝ sɐᴉp ᴉu ɹǝƃɐɹps ʇo ɥǝɹ qɹoʇɥǝɹ,s sɐɟǝʇʎ˙

,,Oɥ sʇod qɐqʎᴉuƃ ɥᴉɯ' ɥǝ,s ɐ ƃɹoʍu ɯɐu˙ Wɐʎɐ˙ ┴ɥɐʇ ɐsᴉpǝ' I ɥɐʌǝ ɟnll ɔouɟᴉpǝuɔǝ ᴉu ɥᴉɯ pǝɐlᴉuƃ ʍᴉʇɥ ʇɥǝ ɹǝdnqlᴉɔɐu פnɐɹps ᴉɟ ʇɥǝʎ ɯǝǝʇ˙,,

Wɐʎɐ dnɟɟǝp nusɐʇᴉsɟᴉǝp˙

,,Ouɔǝ ʍǝ pǝɐl ʍᴉʇɥ ʇɥǝᴉɹ ɯnsʇǝɹǝp ɐɹɯʎ' ᴉʇ,ll qǝ ɐ ɯɐpǝ pɐsɥ ʇo ʇɥǝ ⅄ᴉuʞǝ-ʇᴉqǝʇɐu qoɹpǝɹ ʍɥǝɹǝ ʇɥǝʎ,ll lᴉʞǝlʎ ɟlǝǝ˙,,

,,┴o sǝɔnɹǝ ɐup pǝʇǝɹ ʇɥǝ Ԁ˥∀¿,, Sɐɹɐs ɐsʞǝp˙

,,⅄ǝs' ɐlʇɥonƃɥ onɹ dɹǝsǝuɔǝ ʍᴉll po lᴉʇʇlǝ ʇo pǝʇǝɹ ʇɥǝɯ qnʇ ʍǝ ɔɐu ɐʇ lǝɐsʇ ʞǝǝd ʇɥǝɯ qɐɔʞ louƃ ǝuonƃɥ…˙,,

,,Ⅎoɹ ʍɥɐʇ¿ Mǝ,ʌǝ ᴉuɔnɹɹǝp ʇɥǝ ʍɹɐʇɥ oɟ ɐ sndǝɹdoʍǝɹ ʍᴉʇɥ uo oɟɟᴉɔᴉɐl qɐɔʞnd˙ ∩ulǝss ʎon,ɹǝ sɐʎᴉuƃ Iupᴉɐ ɥɐs dlǝpƃǝp ʇo ᴉuʇǝɹʌǝuǝ˙,, Wɐʎɐ sɐᴉp ᴉu ɐ dɹɐƃɯɐʇᴉɔ ʍɐʎ qnʇ sɥǝ ʍɐsu,ʇ ʍɹouƃ ǝᴉʇɥǝɹ˙

,,No' ᴉʇ,ll qǝ soɯǝʇɥᴉuƃ qǝʇʇǝɹ˙,,

,,ſǝǝz' ʍɥɐʇ ᴉs ᴉʇ¿,,

qnʇ ∀ɾɐʎ,s ɯonʇɥ ʍɐs loɔʞǝp ʇᴉƃɥʇ˙ Hǝ ɥɐp qǝǝu sʍoɹu qʎ Ԁɐƃɐu uoʇ ʇo ɹǝʌǝɐl ᴉʇ ǝʌǝu ʇo ɥᴉs ɯosʇ ʇɹnsʇǝp ɟɹᴉǝups˙ ┴ɥᴉs ʍɐs sʇɹᴉɔʇlʎ oulʎ qǝʇʍǝǝu Ԁɐƃɐu' ⅄nɯɐ' Nooɹǝ' פɐɹʎ ɐup ɥᴉɯ

,,pᴉpu,ʇ ⅄nɯɐ ʇǝll ʎon¿,, Hǝ ʇɥonƃɥʇ sɥǝ ʍonlp qoʇɥǝɹ ʇo ʇǝll Wɐʎɐ ɐʇ lǝɐsʇ ƃᴉʌǝu ɥǝɹ sʇɐʇns ɐs ɐu ɐpodʇᴉʌǝ pɐnƃɥʇǝɹ qnʇ ᴉʇ ɐddɐɹǝuʇlʎ pᴉpu,ʇ sǝǝɯ ʇo qǝ ʇɥǝ ɔɐsǝ' dɹoqɐqlʎ ʇo dɹoʇǝɔʇ ɥǝɹ˙

,,Ɔɐu,ʇ ʎon¿,, qnʇ ∀ɾɐʎ,s ɯonʇɥ ɔlosǝp ɐƃɐᴉu˙

,,So ɥᴉs ɹoʎɐl Hᴉƃɥuǝss ɥɐs ɐ sʇɹɐʇǝƃʎ ʇo pǝʇǝɹɹᴉuƃ ʇɥǝ Ɔɥᴉuǝsǝ ɔoɯdlǝʇǝlʎ¿,, ∀ɾɐʎ uoppǝp ʇo ſǝǝʌɐl˙

Iʇ ʍɐs ɐlɯosʇ nuɥǝɐɹp oɟ ɟoɹ Ԁɐƃɐu ʇo ɔoupnɔʇ ɐ ɯᴉlᴉʇɐɹʎ sʇɹɐʇǝƃʎ' dǝɹɥɐds ᴉʇ ʍɐs qǝɔɐnsǝ uouǝ oɟ ʇɥǝɯ ʍǝɹǝ qoɹu ʍɥǝu Ԁɐƃɐu ɐɔɥᴉǝʌǝp ʇɥǝ ɟǝɐʇ oɟ ʇɐʞᴉuƃ ʇɥǝ ʇɥɹouǝ ɐup qǝɐʇᴉuƃ ʇɥǝ Nɐʇᴉouɐlᴉsʇs sᴉuƃlǝɥɐupǝplʎ ʍᴉʇɥ ʍᴉʇs ɐup ɯᴉup ƃɐɯǝs˙

qnʇ ʇo sǝǝ ʇɥɐʇ ∀ɾɐʎ ɥɐp ʍɥolǝɥǝɐɹʇǝplʎ ʇɹnsʇǝp ᴉu ʇɥǝ ʍoɹp oɟ ʇɥǝ ʞᴉuƃ ʇɥǝʎ ɔonlpu,ʇ ɥǝld qnʇ ʇɹnsʇ ᴉu ∀ɾɐʎ,s oʍu qǝlᴉǝɟ ʇɥɐʇ ʍɥɐʇ ɥǝ sɐᴉp ʍonlp qǝ ɯɐpǝ ʇɹnǝ˙

,,Noʇ ɐ ʌǝɹʎ ɔouʌᴉuɔᴉuƃ dlɐu' ᴉsu,ʇ ᴉʇ¿,, ∀ɾɐʎ lɐnƃɥǝp uǝɹʌonslʎ˙

,,po ʎon qǝlᴉǝʌǝ ᴉʇ,ll ʍoɹʞ¿,, Sɐɹɐs ɐsʞǝp˙

Iu ɥᴉs ɯᴉup' ɥǝ,p ƃouǝ ʇɥɹonƃɥ ᴉʇ ɯɐuʎ ʇᴉɯǝs˙ ┴ɥǝɹǝ ʍǝɹǝ sǝʌǝɹɐl ʌɐɹᴉɐqlǝs ʇo ʍɐʇɔɥ onʇ ɟoɹ˙ Ouǝ ʍɐs ʇɥǝ dɹǝpᴉɔʇɐqᴉlᴉʇʎ oɟ ʇɥǝ ⅄ᴉuʞᴉɐu ɟoɹɔǝs uoʍ ʇɥɐʇ ʇɥǝᴉɹ ɥᴉƃɥǝsʇ-ɹɐuʞᴉuƃ oɟɟᴉɔǝɹs ʍǝɹǝ sᴉx Ɔolouǝls ʍɥoɯ ɔoɯɯɐupɐuʇǝp ʇɥǝ ɔɐɯds onʇsᴉpǝ ɐup ʇɥǝᴉɹ ǝlᴉʇǝ ɐɹɯoɹǝp ɟoɹɔǝ˙ Hǝ pᴉp ᴉupǝǝp ʇɹnsʇ qᴉdᴉu ʍɐs ɯoɹǝ ʇɥɐu ɔɐdɐqlǝ oɟ ɥɐuplᴉuƃ ʇɥɐʇ' ɥǝ ɥɐp qǝǝu ʇnʇoɹǝp ᴉu ɐɹɯoɹǝp sʇɹɐʇǝƃᴉǝs ɐʇ ʇɥǝ Iupᴉɐu Wᴉlᴉʇɐɹʎ ∀ɔɐpǝɯʎ ɐup ɥɐp ɹǝɐp ʇɥɹonƃɥ ɔodᴉǝs ɾonɹuɐls oɟ ɐɹɯoɹǝp oɟɟᴉɔǝɹs' ᴉuɔlnpᴉuƃ ʇɥɐʇ oɟ ʇɥǝ ɹǝuoʍu ƃǝuǝɹɐl Isɹɐǝl ┴ɐl ʍɥo ɟonƃɥʇ ʇɥǝ ɐɹɐq sʇɐʇǝs ɐʇ snǝz˙

┴ʍo ʍɐs פolpǝu Ԁɐʇɥ' ʞuoʍᴉuƃ Woɥɐu ɐup ɥᴉs ɐɟɟᴉlᴉɐʇᴉou ʍᴉʇɥ ⅄ᴉuʞǝs ᴉpǝoloƃᴉɔɐl poɔʇɹᴉuǝ ɥǝ ʍonlp ǝxdǝɔʇ ʇɥǝ lɐʇʇǝɹ ʇo ɐddǝɐɹ lᴉʞǝ ɐ sɐᴉuʇ ʇo ʇɥǝ ⅄ᴉuʞᴉɐus ɐup sɐʌǝ ʇɥǝɯ˙ Hǝ ɥɐp ɐu nuɥǝɐlʇɥʎ ɯǝssᴉɐɥ ɔoɯdlǝx ʇɥɐʇ ɥǝ pᴉp˙

┴ɥǝ lɐsʇ ʍɐs Ɔɥᴉuɐ,s Ԁǝodlǝ,s ˥ᴉqǝɹɐʇᴉou ∀ɹɯʎ,s ɐqᴉlᴉʇʎ ʇo ɹǝsdoup ʇo ɐ ɹǝbnǝsʇ ɟoɹ ᴉuʇǝɹʌǝuʇᴉou sɥonlp ʇɥǝ ⅄ᴉuʞᴉɐu ɯᴉlᴉʇɐɹʎ oɟɟᴉɔǝɹs pǝǝɯ ᴉʇ ᴉɯdossᴉqlǝ ʇo ɟᴉƃɥʇ ʇɥǝɯ ɐʇ ʇɥǝᴉɹ opps˙ ┴ᴉqǝʇ ʍɐs ɐu ɐnʇouoɯons ɹǝƃᴉou snɹɹonupǝp qʎ ɯonuʇɐᴉus so ᴉʇ ʍonlp lᴉɯᴉʇ ʇɥǝ ʇʎdǝs oɟ ɟoɹɔǝs ʇɥǝ Ɔɥᴉuǝsǝ ɔonlp sǝup ɐʇ ʇɥǝ bnᴉɔʞǝsʇ dossᴉqlǝ ʇᴉɯǝ˙ qnʇ ɥǝ ʞuǝʍ ʇɥǝʎ ʍonlpu,ʇ pᴉsɐddoᴉuʇ' ᴉʇ ʍɐs ɐ ɯɐʇʇǝɹ oɟ ɥoʍ ɟɐsʇ ʇɥǝ ɹoʎɐl ∀ɹɯʎ ɔɐu ɔoɹuǝɹ ʇɥǝ ɹonʇᴉuƃ ɟoɹɔǝs ɐʇ ʇɥǝ ⅄ᴉuʞǝ-┴ᴉqǝʇ qoɹpǝɹ ɐup sʇɐup ᴉu ʇɥǝ Ԁ˥∀s ʍɐʎ ʇo ⅄ᴉuʞǝ˙ Ⅎɹoɯ ʇɥǝɹǝ' ʇɥǝ ɹnlǝs oɟ ǝuƃɐƃǝɯǝuʇ qǝɔoɯǝ pᴉɟɟǝɹǝuʇ˙ Iʇ ʍɐs ɐ ɯɐʇʇǝɹ oɟ ʍɥo sɥoʇ ɟᴉɹsʇ' ʇɥǝʎ ʍonlp ɟoɹʇᴉɟʎ ou oddosᴉʇǝ sᴉpǝs ʍɐᴉʇᴉuƃ ɟoɹ soɯǝouǝ ʇo ɔoɔʞ nd ɐup sɥooʇ oɹ ɐɔɔᴉpǝuʇɐllʎ ɔɹoss ʇɥɐʇ ʇɥᴉu qoɹpǝɹ lᴉuǝ˙ ┴ɥǝu ᴉʇ ʍɐs nd ʇo Ԁɐƃɐu ou ɥoʍ bnᴉɔʞlʎ ɥǝ ɔonlp ɹǝsolʌǝ ɥᴉs dɐɹʇ˙

Ⅎᴉʌǝ pɐʎs' ʇɥɐʇ ʍɐs ʇɥǝ ɯᴉuᴉɯnɯ ʇɥɐʇ Ԁɐƃɐu ʇolp ɥᴉɯ ʇo ɥolp ɟɹoɯ ʇɥǝ pɐʎ ɥǝ ᴉuʌɐpǝp ⅄ᴉuʞǝ˙ Hǝ ɐlso uǝǝpǝp ɐ ɹǝdɹǝsǝuʇɐʇᴉʌǝ oɟ ⅄ᴉuʞǝ ʇo qǝ ɟloʍu qɐɔʞ ʇo ʞʎɹɐʇ ʇo sdǝɐʞ ʍᴉʇɥ˙ Ԁɐƃɐu,s ɟᴉɹsʇ ɔɥoᴉɔǝ ʍɐs ┴ǝuzᴉu' qnʇ ᴉɟ ɥǝ ɔɥosǝ uoʇ ʇo ɐddǝɐɹ ʇɥǝu ʇɥǝ ɔnɹɹǝuʇ dɹǝsᴉpǝuʇ ʍɥo ʍɐs ɹǝɐpᴉuƃ ∀ɾɐʎ,s ʇǝɹɯs ʇo ǝup ʇɥǝ ʍɐɹ ʍonlp po˙ ∀lʇɥonƃɥ' ɥǝ ponqʇǝp ʇɥɐʇ ʇɥǝ dɹǝsᴉpǝuʇ ʍonlp ɐƃɹǝǝ ʇo ɥᴉs ɔoupᴉʇᴉous so ɹǝɐpᴉlʎ ᴉɟ ɥǝ pᴉpu,ʇ ɔɐnsǝ ɐ qᴉʇ ɯoɹǝ ʇǝɹɹoɹ ʍɥᴉɔɥ ɥǝ ʍonlpu,ʇ ɟoɹ ʇɥǝ sɐʞǝ oɟ ɔᴉʌᴉlᴉɐu ɹǝlɐʇᴉous˙

Hᴉs pǝɯɐups ʍǝɹǝ ɐ sᴉƃuᴉɟᴉɔɐuʇ pǝɯᴉlᴉʇɐɹᴉzɐʇᴉou oɟ ⅄ᴉuʞǝ,s dɹǝɯᴉǝɹ ɐɹɯǝp ɟoɹɔǝ' ɐ pǝqʇ oɟ $80 qᴉllᴉou ᴉuɔlnpᴉuƃ ʇɥǝ pɐɯɐƃǝs ɐup ƃɹᴉǝʌɐuɔǝ dɐʎ ʇo ʇɥǝ ɟɐɯᴉlᴉǝs ɐʇ ˥ɐuʞɐ ɐup ʇɥǝ pɹɐɟʇᴉuƃ oɟ ɐ ʇɥonsɐup ʎonuƃ ɯǝu ɐup ʍoɯǝu ɐs ɐ dɐɹʇ oɟ ʇɥǝ ʞʎɹɐʇᴉ ɟoɹɔǝs˙ ʞuoʍᴉuƃ ɥᴉɯ ɟɹoɯ ʇɥǝ dɐɹʇʎ ʎǝsʇǝɹpɐʎ' ∀ɾɐʎ ɥᴉƃɥlʎ ponqʇǝp ɥǝ ʍonlp ɐƃɹǝǝ ʇo ʇɥǝ sǝɔoup ɔoupᴉʇᴉou˙ qnʇ ʇɥɐʇ ʍɐs ɥᴉs ʇǝɹɯ ɟoɹ ʇɥǝɯ ʇo ʞǝǝd ʇɥǝᴉɹ soʌǝɹǝᴉƃuʇʎ˙

,,Ⅎᴉʌǝ pɐʎs…,, ∀ɾɐʎ ɯnɹɯnɹǝp' qnʇ sɯᴉlǝp ʍᴉpǝlʎ ou ɥᴉs ǝup˙ Ԁɐƃɐu ʍɐs ǝxdǝɔʇᴉuƃ ɐu ǝuoɹɯons ɐɯonuʇ ɟɹoɯ ɥᴉɯ ʇɥɐʇ ɟǝʍ ᴉu ɥᴉs ɹǝʇᴉunǝ ɔonlp dnll oɟɟ' ∀ɾɐʎ ƃnǝssǝp ʇɥɐʇ פɐɹʎ ʍɐs ɔɐdɐqlǝ oɟ poᴉuƃ so qnʇ lɐɔʞǝp ʇɥǝ ɯᴉlᴉʇɐɹʎ ɐnʇɥoɹᴉʇʎ ʍɥᴉɔɥ ʍonlp qǝ ɥᴉs ɥɐupᴉɔɐd ɐup uoʇ ʍɥɐʇ ∀ɾɐʎ lɐɔʞǝp ᴉu˙

,,I pou,ʇ ɹǝɐllʎ ʞuoʍ˙ qnʇ I,ʌǝ ɐlʍɐʎs ʍɐuʇǝp ʇo sǝǝ ʍɥɐʇ ʍɐs ᴉʇ lᴉʞǝ ʇo ʍoɹʞ nupǝɹ Ԁɐƃɐʌǝl˙,, Hǝ sɐᴉp ʍᴉʇɥ ɐ ɟǝɐɹlǝss ƃɹᴉu˙ ┴ɥǝʎ ɐll ɹǝɔoƃuᴉsǝp ʇɥǝ ƃɹᴉu˙

Hǝ sɥoʍǝp ᴉʇ ᴉu ʇɥǝ qɐʇʇlǝ oɟ ɹɐʇn פɐpɥᴉ' ᴉu ʇɥǝ Wǝɥ ┴ǝɥ Oɟɟǝusᴉʌǝ' ʇɥǝ Nǝʍ ⅄ǝɐɹ pᴉsƃɹɐɔǝ' ┴ɥǝ qɐʇʇlǝ ɐup ∀ʇɹoɔᴉʇʎ oɟ ˥ɐuʞɐ˙ Ou ɐll oɔɔɐsᴉous' ɥǝ ʍɐs ʌɐsʇlʎ onʇunɯqǝɹǝp˙

qnʇ ʇɥɐʇ ʍɐs ʇɥǝ ǝxɔᴉʇᴉuƃ dɐɹʇ˙ Mɥǝu ɥǝ oʌǝɹdoʍǝɹǝp oʌǝɹʍɥǝlɯᴉuƃ opps ʍᴉʇɥ sɥǝɐɹ qɹnʇǝ ɟoɹɔǝ˙

Snɔɥ ʍɐs ʇɥǝ ʍɐʎ oɟ ʇɥǝ ʌǝuƃǝɟnl ∀snɹɐ˙

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pɐʎ ʇʍo oɟ Iuʌɐsᴉou' 00ᄅㄥHɹS –

qᴉdᴉu sɐʇ ƃɐzᴉuƃ nd ᴉuʇo ʇɥǝ sʞʎ ɟɹoɯ ʇɥǝ ɔoɯɯɐupǝɹ,s ɔndolɐ oɟ ɥᴉs ʇɐuʞ pǝsʇɹoʎǝɹ' ɥǝ ɥɐp qǝǝu ʍɐᴉʇᴉuƃ ɟoɹ Sɐɯnǝl ʇo ɹǝʇnɹu ɟɹoɯ ʇɥǝ ɯǝǝʇᴉuƃ˙ ∀dɐɹʇ ɟɹoɯ ɥᴉs oʍu ʌǝɥᴉɔlǝ ɔɹǝʍ ɯǝɯqǝɹs' ɔoɯɯnuᴉɔɐʇᴉuƃ ʍᴉʇɥ ʇɥǝ oʇɥǝɹ ɔoɯdɐuᴉǝs ɐup ǝʌǝu dlɐʇoous ʍǝɹǝ ɐ ɥɐsslǝ˙ ┴ɥǝʎ ᴉuʇǝuʇᴉouɐllʎ ɯɐpǝ ʇɥᴉuƃs pᴉɟɟᴉɔnlʇ ɟoɹ ɥᴉɯ ɐlouƃ ɥᴉs ɾonɹuǝʎ sᴉuɔǝ ɾoᴉuᴉuƃ ʇɥǝ nuᴉʇ ʇʍo ɯouʇɥs ɐƃo˙ Iʇ ɟǝlʇ lᴉʞǝ pɐʎ ouǝ ᴉu ʇɥǝ ɐɔɐpǝɯʎ ɐll oʌǝɹ ɐƃɐᴉu˙

pǝsdᴉʇǝ ɥᴉs ɹɐuʞ ɐs Ɔɐdʇɐᴉu ɥǝ ʍɐs dlɐɔǝp ʇo ɯɐu ʇɥǝ ᴉupǝdǝupǝuʇ ʇɐuʞ pǝsʇɹoʎǝɹ dlɐʇoou ᴉusʇǝɐp oɟ ɐ ɔoɯdɐuʎ oɟ ɥᴉs oʍu oɹ ǝʌǝu qǝ dɐɹʇ oɟ ʇɥǝ ɔoɯɯɐup ʇǝɐɯ ʍᴉʇɥ Sɐɯnǝl˙ Ǝʌǝu so' ɥǝ ʍɐs uoʇ ɐʇ ɐll ndsǝʇ ɐs ɥǝ ɥɐp ƃoʇʇǝu ɐlouƃ ʍǝll ʍᴉʇɥ ɾnsʇ ɥᴉs dlɐʇoou ᴉu ɔouʇɹɐsʇ ʍᴉʇɥ ʇɥǝ oʇɥǝɹ ɔoɯdɐuᴉǝs oɹ ɔoɯɯɐup ƃɹond˙ Hᴉs ɯǝu nupǝɹsʇoop ɥᴉs ɔoɯdǝʇǝuɔǝ ɐup pǝdǝupǝp ou ɥᴉɯ ʇo ƃǝʇ onʇ oɟ ʇᴉƃɥʇ sdoʇs˙ Hᴉs dlɐʇoou' ㄥʇɥ ,,Nᴉƃɥʇ Hɐnuʇǝɹs,, ┴ɐuʞ pǝsʇɹoʎǝɹ Ԁlɐʇoou oɟ ᄅup Hnssɐɹs ʍɐs oʌǝɹɐll ǝbnᴉddǝp ʍᴉʇɥ ʇɥǝ qɐʇʇɐlᴉous, qᴉƃƃǝsʇ ƃnu' ʇɥǝ Ɩ0ϛɯɯ ┴ɐuʞ pǝsʇɹoʎǝɹs˙ Hᴉs ɔnɹɹǝuʇ sʇɹǝuƃʇɥ ʍɐs ɐqonʇ ɟᴉʌǝ ʌǝɥᴉɔlǝs ʍᴉʇɥ ʇʍo sdɐɹǝs ɥɐuƃᴉuƃ qɐɔʞ ʍᴉʇɥ ʇɥǝ loƃᴉsʇᴉɔs ɔoɯdɐuʎ ᴉu Ԁɐpɐ Wo ɔᴉʇʎ˙

,,Sᴉɹ' ʇɥǝ Ɔoɯɯɐupǝɹ ᴉs qɐɔʞ˙,, ∀ʇ lǝɐsʇ uoʇ ǝʌǝɹʎouǝ ʇɥonƃɥʇ ʇɥǝ sɐɯǝ ʍɐʎ ɐs ɐ ɯɐɾoɹᴉʇʎ oɟ ʇɥǝᴉɹ dǝǝɹs˙ Wǝuƃ ʞᴉʇ' ɥᴉs sǝɹƃǝɐuʇ ɯɐɾoɹ ʍɐs ɐ ƃoop ɟɹᴉǝup ɐup pnʇᴉɟnl solpᴉǝɹ ʇɥɐʇ looʞǝp dɐss qɐɔʞƃɹonups ɐup oɹᴉƃᴉus˙

,,∀lɹᴉƃɥʇ' ʇɥɐuʞs Ɔɥᴉǝɟ˙ ┴ǝll ʇɥǝ ɯǝu ʍǝ,ll qǝ ɯoʌᴉuƃ onʇ soou so ʇɐʞǝ ɐ dᴉss' pɹᴉuʞ nd oɹ ǝɐʇ nd ʍɥᴉlǝ ʎon ɥɐʌǝ ʇɥǝ ɔɥɐuɔǝ˙ Mǝ,ll qǝ sʇɐʎᴉuƃ qnʇʇouǝp nd louƃǝɹ ʇɥɐu nsnɐl˙,,

,,∀ʎǝ' sᴉɹ˙ ſon Sɐu' lǝuƃ uǝoᴉ ɯǝuƃ¡ )פoop ɯoɹuᴉuƃ' dɹǝʇʇʎ lɐpᴉǝs¡( פǝʇ ʎonɹ sɥᴉʇ dɐɔʞǝp' ʍǝ ɹoll ᴉu ɟᴉʌǝ¡,, Sǝɹƃǝɐuʇ Wɐɾoɹ Wǝuƃ ʞᴉʇ ɔɐllǝp onʇ ʇo ʇɥǝ lɐzᴉuƃ ɯǝɯqǝɹs oɟ ɥᴉs ɐnʇouoɯons dlɐʇoou˙

qᴉdᴉu lǝɟʇ ʇɥǝɯ ʇo ʍoɹʞ ou ʇɥǝᴉɹ ʇɥᴉuƃs ɐs ɥǝ ɯɐpǝ ɥᴉs ʍɐʎ ʇo ʇɥǝ Ɔoɯɯɐup ┴ǝuʇ uǝɐɹ ʇɥǝ ɟoɹǝsʇ˙ ∀ ɥǝlᴉɔodʇǝɹ ɟlǝʍ oʌǝɹ ɥᴉɯ ɟɹoɯ Ԁɐpɐ Wo Ɔᴉʇʎ' ƃnǝssᴉuƃ ᴉʇ ʍɐs Sɐɯnǝl ʍɥo ɥɐp ɹǝʇnɹuǝp ɟɹoɯ pᴉsɔnssᴉuƃ sʇɹɐʇǝƃʎ ɐup oɹpǝɹs ɟɹoɯ ∀ɾɐʎ˙ Mɥǝu ɥǝ ɹǝɐɔɥǝp ʇɥǝ ʇǝuʇ' ɐs ǝxdǝɔʇǝp ʇɥǝ ɟᴉʌǝ ɔoɯdɐuʎ oɟɟᴉɔǝɹs ƃɐʌǝ ɥᴉɯ ɐ ɔolp sɥonlpǝɹ uoʇ ǝʌǝu ƃɹǝǝʇᴉuƃ ɥᴉɯ pǝsdᴉʇǝ ʇɥǝᴉɹ loʍǝɹ ɹɐuʞ˙ ┴o ʇɥǝɯ' ɥǝ ʍɐs uǝʌǝɹ ɐu ǝbnɐl˙ ┴ɥᴉs ʍɐs ɐ ɔouʇɹɐsʇ ʇo Hɐu Ⅎǝuƃ,s ɥɐʇǝɟnl ƃlɐɹǝs' ɟoɹ ɟɐᴉɹ ɹǝɐsou ʇoo˙ Hǝ ʍɐs ɐssoɔᴉɐʇǝp ʍᴉʇɥ qɐpɐlɐ˙ qnʇ ʇɥɐʇ ɔolp ɐʇʇᴉʇnpǝ ǝupǝp ʍᴉʇɥ Sɐɯnǝl,s ɹǝʇnɹu˙

,,ɹooɯ¡,, ┴ɥǝ oɟɟᴉɔǝɹs ɐup NƆOs sʇoop ɐʇ ɐʇʇǝuʇᴉou ɐʇ ˥ᴉǝnʇǝuɐuʇ-Ɔolouǝl Sɐɯnǝl Wᴉu,s ɹǝʇnɹu˙

,,∀ʇ ǝɐsǝ˙,, Sɥǝ sɐᴉp ɐʇ ʇɥǝ ʍɐʌǝ oɟ ɥǝɹǝ ɥɐup˙

┴ɥǝʎ ƃɐʇɥǝɹǝp ɐɹonup ʇɥǝ ʇɐqlǝ ʇo pᴉsɔnss ɟnɹʇɥǝɹ ou ʇɥǝ qɐʇʇlǝ ɐɥǝɐp˙

Sɥǝ dlɐɔǝp onʇ ɐ dlɐsʇᴉɔ sɥǝǝʇ oʌǝɹlɐddᴉuƃ ʇɥǝᴉɹ ɯɐd ʍɥᴉɔɥ dɹǝsǝuʇǝp ʇɥǝᴉɹ oɹpǝɹs ɐup ɯoʌǝɯǝuʇ' ǝxdlɐᴉuᴉuƃ ʇɥǝᴉɹ sʇɹɐʇǝƃʎ ᴉu ɐ ɟǝʍ sɥoɹʇ ɯᴉunʇǝs˙ ┴ɥonƃɥ ɯosʇ ʍǝɹǝ ɹǝlnɔʇɐuʇ ʇo ʍoɹʞ ɐlouƃ ʍᴉʇɥ ʇɥǝ pǝɯou' ʇɥǝʎ ɔonlpu,ʇ ɥǝld qnʇ qǝ ᴉɯdɹǝssǝp ʍᴉʇɥ ʇɥǝ sʇɹɐʇǝƃʎ ʇɥɐʇ ʍɐs dlɐuuǝp˙ ┴ɥǝ pǝɯou ɥɐp ǝʌǝu ɐuʇᴉɔᴉdɐʇǝp ʇɥǝ ɯoʌǝɯǝuʇs ʍɥᴉɔɥ ʇɥǝ pǝɟǝusǝ ɟoɹɔǝs ʍonlp ʇɐʞǝ ʍɥǝu ʇɥǝᴉɹ ɔoɯɯɐup sʇɹnɔʇnɹǝ ɟɐᴉlǝp ʇo ɹǝdoɹʇ˙ Oɹ dǝɹɥɐds ᴉʇ ʍɐs ⅄nɯɐ,s dɹoʇéƃé oɹ Wɐɹsɥɐl ɹoʞɐ,s pɐnƃɥʇǝɹ˙

,,∩∀Λs ɥɐʌǝ sdoʇʇǝp ɐ ɯɐssᴉʌǝ ɔouʌoʎ ɐddɹoɐɔɥᴉuƃ onɹ ƃnɐɹp sǝɔʇoɹ' ʇɥǝᴉɹ pǝsʇᴉuɐʇᴉou ᴉs ʇɥǝ ɔᴉʇʎ˙,, ┴ɥǝ ƃɹond oɟ oɟɟᴉɔǝɹs ʍǝɹǝ ǝxɔᴉʇǝp' ʇɥǝʎ,p ɟᴉuɐllʎ ƃɐᴉu soɯǝ ɐɔʇᴉou ɐɟʇǝɹ ɐ louƃ ʇᴉɯǝ oɟ qǝᴉuƃ lǝɟʇ sʇɐƃuɐuʇ ou sʇɐupqʎ ɹnuuᴉuƃ ǝxǝɹɔᴉsǝ ɐɟʇǝɹ ǝxǝɹɔᴉsǝ˙ Hoʍ pᴉɟɟᴉɔnlʇ ɔonlp ʇɥǝʎ qǝ¿ Noʇ ɐs pᴉɟɟᴉɔnlʇ ɐs פolpǝu Ԁɐʇɥ sᴉuɔǝ ʇɥǝᴉɹ sdǝɔᴉɐl ɟoɹɔǝs ʍǝɹǝ ɥǝlp qɐɔʞ qʎ qɐpɐlɐ ʍᴉʇɥ oulʎ ɐ qɐʇʇɐlᴉou oɟ ƃɐɹɹᴉsou solpᴉǝɹs ɐup ԀpℲ˙

,,Mɥɐʇ,s ʇɥǝ sʇɹǝuƃʇɥ' sᴉɹ¿,,

,,∀ɹonup ʇʍo ʇɥonsɐup' ʇɥǝɹɯɐl ǝxɥɐnsʇ ɹǝɐpᴉuƃs ɐup sᴉlɥonǝʇʇǝ sɔɐus ᴉupᴉɔɐʇǝ ┴ʎdǝ 96 ɐup ʇʎdǝ 9ᄅ ˥ᴉƃɥʇ ┴ɐuʞs ɐɯouƃ ʇɥǝᴉɹ ɐɹsǝuɐl ɐlouƃ ʍᴉʇɥ ɐ ɯᴉxʇnɹǝ oɟ qWԀs ɐup q┴ɹs˙,, Iʇ ʍɐs ɐ ɟnll-ou ɯǝɔɥɐuᴉzǝp ɟoɹɔǝ˙

,,po ʍǝ ɥɐʌǝ ɟᴉɹǝ snddoɹʇ¿,,

,,∀u ɐɹʇᴉllǝɹʎ qɐʇʇǝɹʎ ɥɐs qǝǝu ɹǝsǝɹʌǝp ɟoɹ ns ɐs ʍǝll ɐs ʇɥǝ ɔlosǝ ɐᴉɹ snddoɹʇ ᴉɟ ʍǝ ǝuɔonuʇǝɹ ɥǝɐʌʎ ɐɹɯoɹ˙,,

Iʇ ɐs ɯoɹǝ ʇɥɐu ǝuonƃɥ ɟᴉɹǝdoʍǝɹ ʇo oqᴉlᴉʇǝɹɐʇǝp ɐuʎ ɟoɹɔǝ onʇ oɟ ǝxᴉsʇǝuɔǝ˙

,,∀up ʇɥǝ ɹǝdnqlᴉɔɐu פnɐɹp¿,, qᴉdᴉu ɐsʞǝp ʇo ʍɥᴉɔɥ ʇɥǝʎ ƃɐʌǝ ʍǝᴉɹp ƃlɐɹǝs˙

,,No ʍoɹp oɹ sᴉƃu oɟ ʇɥǝɯ ʎǝʇ' Hᴉs ƃɹɐɔǝ ɐlso sɐᴉp ʎon ʍonlp qǝ ɐqlǝ ʇo ɯɐuɐƃǝ ᴉʇ ᴉɟ ʎon ǝuɔonuʇǝɹ ʇɥǝɯ˙,, Sɥǝ sɐᴉp ʍᴉʇɥ ɐ sɯᴉlǝ˙

,,Hɯdɥ¡ Mɥʎ ɐɹǝ ʍǝ ǝʌǝu ɥɐʌᴉuƃ ʇɥᴉs ɔouʌǝɹsɐʇᴉou¿ Iɟ ʎon,ɹǝ so ɹnɟɟlǝp nd qʎ ʇɥᴉs so-ɔɐllǝp ƃɹond oɟ ǝlᴉʇǝs ʇɥǝu ƃo ɟᴉƃɥʇ ʇɥǝɯ ʎonɹsǝlɟ˙ Sᴉuɔǝ ʎon,ɹǝ ʇɥǝ oulʎ ouǝ ʇɥɐʇ ɥǝ ʇɥᴉuʞs ᴉs ɔɐdɐqlǝ oɟ ɥɐuplᴉuƃ ᴉʇ dɹodǝɹlʎ˙,, Hɐu Ⅎǝuƃ pǝɔlɐɹǝp˙

,,∀s ᴉʇ sʇɐups' ,Ɩsʇ ˥ᴉǝnʇǝuɐuʇ, Snu˙ Mǝ ɥɐʌǝ uo ɐʌɐᴉlɐqlǝ oɹpuɐuɔǝ ʇo pǝɐl ʍᴉʇɥ ʇɥǝᴉɹ ʍoɹʞɥoɹsǝ ɐɹɯoɹ ɥǝɐp-ou˙ Iɟ ʇɥǝʎ ɔɐʇɔɥ ns qʎ snɹdɹᴉsǝ ʇɥǝʎ,ll po ɯoɹǝ ʇɥɐu ɥnɹʇ ns ɐup ʍǝ dnʇ ʇɥᴉs odǝɹɐʇᴉou ɐʇ ɹᴉsʞ ɟɹoɯ ʇɥǝᴉɹ lɐɔʞ oɟ onɹ ɐɹɯoɹ ʇo dɹoʌᴉpǝ ɥᴉƃɥ ƃɹonup ɯoqᴉlᴉʇʎ ɐup snddoɹʇ˙,, qᴉdᴉu ɹǝɯᴉupǝp ɥᴉɯ ɥᴉs ɹɐuʞ ɐup ʍɥo ɥǝ ʍɐs ʇɐlʞᴉuƃ ʇo' uoʇ ɐs ᴉɟ ʇɥǝʎ ǝʌǝɹ ʇooʞ ᴉʇ ʇo ɥǝɐɹʇ˙ Hǝ ɥɐp ɐlɹǝɐpʎ ƃᴉʌǝu nd ƃǝʇʇᴉuƃ ʇɥǝɯ ʇo ɹǝsdǝɔʇ ɥᴉɯ' qnʇ ɥǝ uǝǝpǝp ʇɥǝɯ ʇo ʍoɹʞ ʍᴉʇɥ ɥᴉɯ ɐʇ lǝɐsʇ˙

Hǝ ʇnɹuǝp qɐɔʞ ʇo Sɐɯ˙

,,Is ʇɥǝɹǝ ɐuʎ ᴉuʇǝllᴉƃǝuɔǝ ou ʇɥǝᴉɹ ┴-80s¿,, Hǝ ᴉusᴉsʇǝp ou dnɹsnᴉuƃ ʇɥǝ ɹǝdnqlᴉɔɐu פnɐɹp ɐs ɐ ʇɥɹǝɐʇ˙ qǝɔɐnsǝ ʇɥǝʎ ɥɐp ǝbnᴉdɯǝuʇ ʇɥɐʇ ʍɐs ɐqoʌǝ ʇɥǝ ɹǝsʇ oɟ ʇɥǝ ɐɹɯǝp ɟoɹɔǝs qnʇ ɐlso qǝɔɐnsǝ ʇɥǝʎ ɥɐp ɹǝɔǝᴉʌǝp ʇɹɐᴉuᴉuƃ ɟɹoɯ Ԁ˥∀ ɐɹɯoɹǝp ɟoɹɔǝs' ʇɥǝ sɐɯǝ ʍɐʎ qᴉdᴉu lǝɐɹuǝp ɟɹoɯ ʇɥǝ Iupᴉɐu ∀ɹɯoɹǝp ɟoɹɔǝs˙ qoʇɥ ɥɐp ɐ ɔɹǝpᴉqlǝ ɐɹɯoɹ qɐɔʞƃɹonup ɐup ɐʇ ouǝ ʇᴉɯǝ ᴉʇ ʍɐs ʇɥǝ ɔoɹǝ oɟ ʇɥǝᴉɹ ƃɹonup sʇɹɐʇǝƃʎ˙ qnʇ nulᴉʞǝ ʇɥǝ ʞʎɹɐʇᴉs' ʇɥǝ ⅄ᴉuʞᴉɐus ɥɐp qoʇɥ ʇɥǝᴉɹ ɔoɯɯɐupǝɹ ɐup ɯǝu ʇɹɐᴉu ɐlouƃsᴉpǝ ʇɥǝɯ oʌǝɹsǝɐs' so ʇɥǝʎ ʞuǝʍ ǝɐɔɥ oʇɥǝɹ lᴉʞǝ ʇɥǝ qɐɔʞ oʇ ʇɥǝᴉɹ ɥɐup ǝxdɹǝssᴉuƃ sndǝɹᴉoɹ ɔooɹpᴉuɐʇᴉou qǝʇʍǝǝu ʇɥǝ ɹɐuʞs˙

,,Hnɯdɥ¡,, Hɐu Ⅎǝuƃ suoɹʇǝp˙

,,∀ɔʇnɐllʎ ʎǝs' qɐpɐlɐ ɐsʞǝp ɯǝ ʇo ɥɐup ʎon ʇɥǝ ǝuʇᴉɹǝ possᴉǝɹ ou ʇɥǝᴉɹ lɐʇǝsʇ ɟᴉupᴉuƃs ou ʇɥǝ ɹǝdnqlᴉɔɐu פnɐɹp˙,, qᴉdᴉu ʇooʞ onʇ ʇɥǝ poɔnɯǝuʇs ɟɹoɯ ʇɥǝ sǝɐlǝp ǝuʌǝlodǝ ɐup ɹǝɐp ʇɥǝ ɥǝɐplᴉuǝs˙ Hᴉs ɟɐɔǝ ʇnɹuǝp ƃɹᴉɯɯǝɹ ʇɥɐʇ ɯoɯǝuʇ˙

,,Mɥɐʇ¿ pᴉp ʇɥǝᴉɹ ɐɹɯoɹ sɔɐɹǝ ʎon ɐlɹǝɐpʎ¿,, Hɐu Ⅎǝuƃ ʇɐnuʇǝp˙

,,Hɐu Ⅎǝuƃ' sɥnʇ nd¡,, Sɐɯ ɹoɐɹǝp˙

,,Oʞ¡ Oʞ¡ No uǝǝp ʇo ƃǝʇ ou ɯʎ ɔɐsǝ' I,ll qǝ ɥǝɐpǝp qɐɔʞ ʇo ɯʎ ɔoɯdɐuʎ uoʍ ʇo qǝ ɹǝɐpʎ˙,, Hǝ bnᴉɔʞlʎ snqɯᴉʇʇǝp ɐup lǝɟʇ uoʇ ǝʌǝu ʍɐuʇᴉuƃ ʇo ʇɐʞǝ ɥǝɐʇ ɟɹoɯ Sɐɯnǝllǝ˙

┴ɥǝ oʇɥǝɹ oɟɟᴉɔǝɹs sɐlnʇǝp ɐup lǝɟʇ ʍɥᴉlǝ qᴉdᴉu sʇɐʎǝp ʇo ᴉubnᴉɹǝ ɟnɹʇɥǝɹ˙

,,So ʍɥɐʇ,s ᴉʇ sɐʎ¿,, Sɐɯ ɔonlp uoʇ ǝɹɐsǝ ʇɥǝ ponqʇ ᴉu ɥǝɹ ɥǝɐɹʇ ʇɥɐʇ ǝʌǝu qᴉdᴉu ʍɥo ʍɐs ɔool ɥǝɐpǝp pnɹᴉuƃ ʇɥǝᴉɹ pᴉsɔnssǝp sʇɹɐʇǝƃʎ ɐƃɐᴉusʇ Ɩsʇ qɐʇʇɐlᴉou ɔoɯɯɐupǝɹ ʞnqǝɹ ɐup ∀uᴉsɥ pnɹᴉuƃ ʇɥǝᴉɹ ɔɹoss-oddosᴉuƃ ɟoɹɔǝ ʇɹɐᴉuᴉuƃ˙ Sɥǝ lɐnƃɥǝp sɐplʎ ʍɥǝu ʇɥǝʎ ʍou ʇɥǝ louƃ sʇɹǝɐɯ oɟ ɔoɯdǝʇᴉʇᴉʌǝuǝss pnǝ ʇo ɐ sʇɹɐʇǝƃʎ ᴉɟ lnɹᴉuƃ ᴉu ʞnqǝɹ ᴉuʇo ɐ ɔlᴉɟɟsᴉpǝ ɟoɹ ʇɥǝᴉɹ ɟoɹɔǝs ʇo ɐɯqnsɥ ɐup ,ʞᴉll, ʇɥǝ Ɔoɯɯɐup dlɐʇoou˙ ┴ɥǝʎ ɔɥǝǝɹǝp ɟoɹ ɐ ɯnɔɥ-ɐʍɐᴉʇǝp ʌᴉɔʇoɹʎ' ʎǝʇ ʇɥǝɹǝ ʍɐs uoʇ ǝʌǝu ɐ sonl ɐɯouƃ ʇɥǝɯ ʇɥɐʇ ɔouƃɹɐʇnlɐʇǝp qᴉdᴉu ɟoɹ dɹoʌᴉpᴉuƃ ʇɥǝɯ ʇɥɐʇ sʇɹɐʇǝƃʎ˙ Iʇ ɯɐpǝ ɥǝɹ sᴉƃɥ ʍᴉʇɥ ɹǝƃɹǝʇ ɐʇ ɥoʍ ɔouɔǝᴉʇ ʇɥǝ Ɔɐuʇous ʍǝɹǝ' ʇɥǝɹǝ ʍɐs uo ʍɐʎ ʇɥǝᴉɹ ɟǝlloʍ ɔɐuʇouǝsǝ ᴉu Houƃ ʞouƃ ʍǝɹǝ ʇɥᴉs ɯnɔɥ oɟ qɐsʇɐɹps˙ So ɥoʍ pᴉp ʇɥǝʎ ʇnɹu onʇ lᴉʞǝ ɹoʇʇǝu ǝƃƃs¿ Iʇ ɯnsʇ ɥɐʌǝ qǝǝu ʇɥɐʇ lᴉɟǝsʇʎlǝ oɟ ƃɹoʍᴉuƃ ʍᴉʇɥ ɐ sᴉlʌǝɹsdoou ʇɥɐʇ ʍɐs ɐɟɟǝɔʇᴉuƃ ʇɥǝᴉɹ qɹɐᴉus˙ Iʇ ɥɐp ʇo qǝ ʇɥɐʇ ɔɐsǝ qɐsǝ ou ʍɥɐʇ ʍǝɹǝ ɥǝɹs ɐup qᴉdᴉu,s ɔɥᴉlpɥoop ɐup ndqɹᴉuƃᴉuƃ˙ ∀lʇɥonƃɥ qᴉdᴉu ɥɐp snɟɟǝɹǝp ʍoɹsǝ' ɥǝ uǝʌǝɹ ouɔǝ ɔoɯdlɐᴉuǝp ɐqonʇ ʇɥǝ sᴉʇnɐʇᴉou' sɥǝ ʍɐs ƃlɐp ɥǝ ʍɐs ɥǝɹ ʇo ɥǝld ɥǝɹ ʇɥɹonƃɥ ʇɥᴉs˙

Mɥo ʞuoʍs' dǝɹɥɐds ʍᴉʇɥ ɥᴉɯ ʇɥǝ ɹoɐp ʇo ɐʇʇɐᴉuᴉuƃ ʇɥǝ Sᴉƃᴉl oɟ Λɐloɹ ʍonlpu,ʇ qǝ ɟɐɹ' ǝsdǝɔᴉɐllʎ uoʍ ʇɥɐʇ ᴉʇ ʍɐs ʍɐɹ ʇᴉɯǝ˙

,,Noʇ ƃoop' ᴉʇs ɐqonʇ ʇɥǝᴉɹ ɯopǝl oɟ ʇɐuʞ˙,,

,,poǝs ᴉʇ ɯɐʞǝ ɐ pᴉɟɟǝɹǝuɔǝ¿,,

,,Sᴉƃuᴉɟᴉɔɐuʇlʎ˙ ┴-80s ɥɐp qǝǝu ɟɐqlǝp ɟoɹ qǝᴉuƃ lǝss ʇɥɐu ʇɥǝʎ,p oɹᴉƃᴉuɐllʎ qǝǝu ʇɥonƃɥʇ onʇ ʇo qǝ' qnʇ ɯosʇ ʌɐɹᴉɐuʇs ɥɐʌǝ ɔoɹɹǝɔʇǝp ʇɥɐʇ ᴉssnǝ ɐup ᴉɯdɹoʌǝ oʌǝɹ ᴉʇ˙ ┴ɥǝʎ,ɹǝ odǝɹɐʇǝp ɯosʇlʎ qʎ ɟoɹɯǝɹ-soʌᴉǝʇ sʇɐʇǝs˙ ┴o ʇɥᴉuʞ ʇɥǝʎ,ɹǝ ɐll ʇɥǝ ʍɐʎ onʇ ɥǝɹǝ' ʍɐs ᴉʇ ʇɹnlʎ ʇɥǝ ∩ʞɹɐᴉuᴉɐus ʇɥɐʇ snddlᴉǝp ʇɥǝɯ ʇɥǝsǝ ʌǝɥᴉɔlǝs ʇɥɹonƃɥ Ɔɥᴉuɐ¿ Oɹ ᴉs ᴉʇ soɯǝouǝ ǝlsǝ ʍǝ ɥodǝ ᴉʇ ᴉsu,ʇ¿,, qᴉdᴉu ᴉɯdlᴉǝp ʇɥǝ ʌǝɹʎ snddlᴉǝɹ oɟ ɐᴉɹɟɹɐɯǝs ʇo ʇɥǝᴉɹ ɔonuʇɹʎ ɯᴉƃɥʇ qǝ snddlʎᴉuƃ qoʇɥ sᴉpǝs ᴉu ʇɥǝᴉɹ ɥɐʇɹǝp ɟoɹ ouǝ ɐuoʇɥǝɹ˙

,,pou,ʇ ɹǝɐp ʇo ɥǝɐʌᴉlʎ ᴉuʇo ʇɥǝ dolᴉʇᴉɔɐl ɐsdǝɔʇ oɟ ʇɥᴉuƃs' ᴉʇ poǝsu,ʇ snᴉʇ ɐ ɯopǝl solpᴉǝɹ lᴉʞǝ ʎon˙ I ɥodǝ ʎon,ll looʞ onʇ ɟoɹ ɯǝ ᴉu ʇɥǝ ɟᴉǝlp ʇɥǝu' qᴉdᴉu˙,, Sɥǝ sɐᴉp ʍᴉʇɥ ɐ sɯᴉlǝ qǝɟoɹǝ ʇnɹuᴉuƃ ʇo lǝɐʌǝ˙

,,Sɐɯ˙,,

,,⅄ǝs¿,, Sɥǝ ʇnɹuǝp ɐɹonup ʍɥǝu ɥǝ ɔɐllǝp ɟoɹ ɥǝɹ˙

,,Mǝ ʞuoʍ ʍɥǝɹǝ ʇɥǝʎ ɐɹǝ ɐup ʍɥɐʇ ʇɥǝʎ looʞ lᴉʞǝ' qnʇ ʍǝ pou,ʇ ʞuoʍ ʇɥǝ ɔoɯdǝʇǝuɔǝ oɟ ʇɥǝᴉɹ ɔoɯɯɐupǝɹs˙ ┴ɥǝ ɟɐɔʇ ʇɥɐʇ ɐ ɟoɹɔǝ ɾnsʇ ɹnsɥǝs qɐɔʞ ʍᴉʇɥonʇ ɔɐnʇᴉou ʍoɹɹᴉǝs ɯǝ˙ ∀ɹǝ ʎon snɹǝ Iuʇǝl oulʎ ɹǝdoɹʇs ʇɥǝɯ ɹǝʇnɹuᴉuƃ ɐup uoʇ ɐ ɟǝʍ nuᴉʇs loᴉʇǝɹᴉuƃ ɐqonʇ oɹ sʇɹɐuƃǝ oɔɔnɹɐuɔǝs ɐɹonup ʇɥǝ ɥᴉlls¿,, qᴉdᴉu ǝxdɹǝssǝp ɥᴉs ʍoɹɹᴉǝs˙

,,Noʇ ʇɥɐʇ I pnƃ nd ɟɹoɯ ʇɥǝ ᴉuʇǝl' qnʇ ɥɐʌǝ ɐ qᴉʇ oɟ ɟɐᴉʇɥ ᴉu ɯǝ' qnppʎ˙ I,ɯ uoʇ soɯǝ sndǝɹᴉoɹ ʇɥɐʇ lǝʇs ɥᴉs sndǝɹᴉoɹ po ǝʌǝɹʎʇɥᴉuƃ˙,, Sɥǝ sɐᴉp qǝɟoɹǝ ʇnɹuᴉuƃ ou ɥǝɹ ɔonɹsǝ ʇoʍɐɹps ɥǝɹ ɔoɯɯɐup Ԁlɐʇoou ʇo pᴉɹǝɔʇ ʇɥǝ ɐʇʇɐɔʞ ou ʇɥǝ ɹǝʇnɹuᴉuƃ ɟoɹɔǝs˙

Ⅎᴉʌǝ ɯᴉunʇǝs lɐʇǝɹ' qᴉdᴉu ɹǝʇnɹuǝp ʇo ɥᴉs dlɐʇoou ʇo ɥɐʌǝ ʇɥǝ Sǝɹƃǝɐuʇ Wɐɾoɹ ʍɐᴉʇᴉuƃ ɟoɹ ɥᴉɯ˙

,,Sᴉɹ˙,,

,,┴ǝll ʇɥǝ ɯǝu ʇo odʇᴉɯᴉsǝ loɐp ɟoɹ Sɐqoʇs' ɔlosǝ ɹɐuƃǝ ɐʇ lǝss ʇɥɐu ɐ ɥnupɹǝp˙,, Wǝuƃ ʞᴉʇ ʍɐs sɥoɔʞǝp qʎ ʍɥɐʇ ɥǝ sɐᴉp' ʇɥɐʇ ɯǝɐuʇ ʇɥǝʎ ʍǝɹǝ ɟɐɔᴉuƃ ǝɐɔɥ oʇɥǝɹ ɐʇ doᴉuʇ qlɐuʞ˙

,,Sᴉɹ¿,, Wǝuƃ ʞᴉʇ uoʇᴉɔǝp ɐ ʌǝɹʎ sǝɹᴉons ǝxdɹǝssᴉou ou ɥᴉs ɔoɯɯɐupᴉuƃ oɟɟᴉɔǝɹ,s ɟɐɔǝ' ouǝ ɥǝ ɹɐɹǝlʎ ʍoɹǝ ɐs ɐ ɔɥɐɹɯᴉuƃ ɐup ɥouǝsʇ ɟǝlloʍ ʇo ʇɐlʞ ʍᴉʇɥ˙

,,Iɟ ɯʎ ƃnʇ ʇǝlls ɯǝ ɔoɹɹǝɔʇlʎ' ᴉɟ I ʍǝɹǝ ɐ pǝɟǝupᴉuƃ ɟoɹɔǝ ɹǝdǝllᴉuƃ ɐu ᴉuʌɐpᴉuƃ ɐɹɯoɹǝp ɟoɹɔǝ-…˙,,

qᴉdᴉu looʞǝp ʇoʍɐɹps ʇɥǝ ɯonuʇɐᴉus ʍɥǝɹǝ ɐ ʌɐllǝʎ lɐʎ qǝʎoup' ʇɥǝ ǝuǝɯʎ ʍɐs ɹǝdoɹʇǝp ʇo qǝ ɐddǝɐɹᴉuƃ onʇ oɟ ᴉʇ ɐup ʇɥǝʎ ʍonlp qǝ ɥǝɐpᴉuƃ ʇɥǝɯ ʇo ɐɯqnsɥ ʇɥǝɯ˙ qnʇ ɥoʍ ɔonlp ʇɥǝ ɥoɯǝ ʇǝɐɯ uoʇ ʞuoʍ ʇɥǝᴉɹ oʍu ɥoɯǝ ʇǝɹɹᴉʇoɹʎ˙

,,…˙ ┴ɥǝu ɯʎ ǝuǝɯʎ ʍonlp qǝ ᴉu ɟoɹ ɐ qᴉƃ snɹdɹᴉsǝ ʍɥǝu ʇɥǝʎ ʇɥonƃɥʇ I ʍɐs ɟɹɐuʇᴉɔɐllʎ ƃǝʇʇᴉuƃ qɐɔʞ˙,,

* * *

┴ɥǝʎ ɯoʌǝp onʇ ʍᴉʇɥᴉu ɟᴉɟʇǝǝu ɯᴉunʇǝs oɟ Sɐɯ,s ɔɐll ʇo ɯoʌǝ ʇo ʇɥǝ pǝsᴉƃuɐʇǝp ɐɹǝɐ ʇo ǝuƃɐƃǝ ɐup pǝsʇɹoʎ ʇɥǝ ɹǝsdousǝ ɟoɹɔǝs˙

∀s dǝɹ oɹpǝɹs' ʇɥǝ ᄅup Hnssɐɹs ʍǝɹǝ ʇo sǝǝʞ ɐup pǝsʇɹoʎ ʇɥǝɯ˙ ∀up ɟɹoɯ ʇɥǝᴉɹ ǝɐɹlᴉǝɹ dlɐuuᴉuƃ' ʇɥǝʎ ʍǝɹǝ ǝxdǝɔʇǝp ʇo ǝuƃɐƃǝ ʇɥǝɯ ɐʇ ɐ ɟoɹʞ ᴉu ʇɥǝ ʌɐllǝʎ ʇɥɐʇ sdlᴉʇ ɟᴉʌǝ ʍɐʎs ʇoʍɐɹps ʇɥǝ ɹǝsʇ oɟ ʇɥǝ qoɹpǝɹ ɔɐɯds' ʇɥᴉs ʍɐs ʇo qǝ ʇɥǝᴉɹ ɐɹǝɐ oɟ ɐɯqnsɥ ɾnsʇ ɐɟʇǝɹ˙ ┴ɥǝʎ ʍonlp sdɹǝɐp onʇ ɐup ɐɯqnsɥ ʇɥǝɯ ɟɹoɯ ʇɥǝ ɯonuʇɐᴉusᴉpǝs˙ Mɥᴉlǝ ʇɥǝᴉɹ ʌǝɥᴉɔlǝs ʍǝɹǝu,ʇ ɯonuʇɐᴉu ƃoɐʇs ʇɥǝɯsǝlʌǝs' ʇɥǝʎ ʍǝɹǝ slᴉƃɥʇlʎ qǝʇʇǝɹ oɟɟ ʇɥɐu ʇɥǝ ɥǝɐʌʎ lnɯqǝɹᴉuƃ ʇɐuʞs ᴉu ʇɥǝ ⅄ᴉuʞᴉɐu ∀ɹɯʎs, ɐɹsǝuɐl ʍɥᴉɔɥ ʍonlp qɹǝɐʞ ʇɥǝ soɟʇ ɯonuʇɐᴉu ƃɹonup nupǝɹ ʇɥǝᴉɹ ʇɹɐɔʞs ɐup ɔɐnsǝ ʇɥǝɯ ʇo ɟɐll ʇo ʇɥǝᴉɹ pǝɐʇɥs˙

qᴉdᴉu ɹǝƃnlɐɹlʎ ɔɥǝɔʞǝp ʇɥǝ snɹɹonupᴉuƃ ɥᴉlls ʍᴉʇɥ ɥᴉs qᴉuoɔnlɐɹs' ʍɥᴉlǝ ᴉʇ ʍɐs ɐ ƃɹǝɐʇ dlɐɔǝ ʇo ɐɯqnsɥ˙ ┴ɥǝʎ ʍǝɹǝ ǝxdosǝp nuʇᴉl ʇɥǝʎ ɹǝɐɔɥǝp' qnʇ ᴉuʇǝl snƃƃǝsʇǝp ʇɥǝʎ ʍonlpu,ʇ ɹǝɐɔɥ ʇᴉll ʇɥǝ ɐɟʇǝɹuoou˙ Snƃƃǝsʇǝp' ʇɥɐʇ ᴉs˙ ┴ɥǝ dɹoqlǝɯ ʍᴉʇɥ ʇǝɔɥuoloƃʎ ʍɐs ʇɥɐʇ ʇɥǝɹǝ ʍonlp ɐlʍɐʎs qǝ ɐu oʌǝɹ pǝdǝupǝuɔǝ ou ǝlǝɔʇɹouᴉɔs ʇo po ɯᴉuoɹ ʇɐsʞs ɟoɹ ʎon˙ ┴ɥᴉs ʍɐs ǝsdǝɔᴉɐllʎ ʇɥǝ dɹoqlǝɯ ʍᴉʇɥ ɥᴉs ɯǝu ɐʇ ouǝ doᴉuʇ' ɹǝlʎᴉuƃ ou ʇɥǝ soɟʇʍɐɹǝ ʇo ʇɹᴉɐuƃnlɐʇǝ ɐ ɟᴉɹᴉuƃ solnʇᴉou ɟoɹ ʇɥǝ ƃnus ʇo ʇɥǝ ʇɐɹƃǝʇ˙ ┴ɥɐʇ ʍɐs ɐ sǝɹᴉons pɹɐʍqɐɔʞ ʇɥǝʎ ɥɐp ʇo ∀uᴉsɥ,s ɔoɯdɐuʎ ou ɯnlʇᴉdlǝ oɔɔɐsᴉous˙ qᴉdᴉu ᴉuʌǝsʇǝp ɐ loʇ oɟ ʇᴉɯǝ ʇo ɹǝɯǝpʎ ʇɥɐʇ' qǝɔɐnsǝ ᴉɟ ʇɥǝ ǝlǝɔʇɹouᴉɔs ǝʌǝɹ ɟɐᴉlǝp ʇɥǝʎ ʍonlp qǝ sǝɹᴉonslʎ ᴉɯdɐɹʇǝp˙

Hǝ dnʇ ʇɥǝɯ ʇɥɹonƃɥ ɐ ɹᴉƃonɹons ʇɹɐᴉuᴉuƃ ʇo ɟᴉɹǝ ʍᴉʇɥ ɐ ɔɹɐuʞ ɐup ɯɐunɐl ɔouʇɹols' ʇo ɯouᴉʇoɹ ʇɥǝ ʇɥǝɹɯɐl qlooɯ oɟ ʇɥǝᴉɹ ǝuƃᴉuǝs ɐƃɐᴉusʇ ɐuʇᴉ-ʇɐuʞ ɯᴉssᴉlǝs ɐup ʇɥǝ nsǝ oɟ ɔɐɯoɟlɐnƃǝ ʇo ʌᴉsᴉqlʎ ɥᴉpǝ ʇɥǝᴉɹ sᴉlɥonǝʇʇǝ˙ ∀ll ʇɥǝ ɐuʇᴉ-ʇɐuʞ ɥnuʇᴉuƃ ʇǝɔɥuᴉbnǝs ɥǝ,p lǝɐɹuʇ ɟɹoɯ ʇɥǝ Iupᴉɐu ɐɹɯoɹǝp oɟɟᴉɔǝɹ ɐʇ Wɐɥɐɹɐsɥʇɹɐ˙ Hᴉs ʇɹɐᴉuᴉuƃ dɐᴉp oɟɟ ʍᴉʇɥ ʇɥǝ uɐʇnɹɐl ɔoɯdǝʇǝuɔǝ oɟ ʇɥǝɯ pǝlᴉʌǝɹᴉuƃ ɐ ɹonup ɐɔɔnɹɐʇǝlʎ ʇoʍɐɹps ɐ ʇɐɹƃǝʇ Ɩ˙ϛʞɯ ɐʍɐʎ ɐup pǝɐp ɔǝuʇɹǝ˙ Hǝ ɐlso ɥɐp ∀uᴉsɥ ʇǝɐɔɥ ʇɥǝɯ ɥoʍ ʇo ɟᴉɹǝ ou ʇɥǝ ɯoʌǝ ɯɐunɐllʎ ɐup looʞ ɟoɹ ʇɐuʞ ʍǝɐʞsdoʇs˙ ┴ɥǝ ɹǝsnlʇ oɟ ʇɥᴉs ʍɐs ɥᴉs dlɐʇoou ɹǝƃnlɐɹlʎ ᴉusdǝɔʇᴉuƃ ʇɥǝᴉɹ ǝbnᴉdɯǝuʇ ɟɹoɯ ǝuƃᴉuǝ ʇo ƃnu qɐɹɹǝl ɟoɹ ʇɥǝ slᴉƃɥʇǝsʇ ǝɹɹoɹ oɹ ɟlɐʍ ʇo ɔlǝɐɹ oɹ ɹǝdlɐɔǝ˙ ┴ɥǝʎ ɟɹǝbnǝuʇlʎ ɹǝɐp nd ou pᴉɟɟǝɹǝuʇ ɐɹɯoɹǝp ʌǝɥᴉɔlǝs ou ʇɥǝ ᴉuʇǝɹuǝʇ ou ʇɥǝᴉɹ sdɐɹǝ ʇᴉɯǝ ʇo lǝɐɹu ʇɥǝᴉɹ ɔɥɐɹɐɔʇǝɹᴉsʇᴉɔs' ʇɥǝᴉɹ sʇɹǝuƃʇɥ ɐup ʍǝɐʞuǝssǝs ʇo ǝxdloᴉʇ˙ ┴ɥɐʇ ʍɐs ɥoʍ ɥᴉs dlɐʇoou sloʍlʎ ʍɐɹɯǝp ʇo ɥᴉɯ' ʇɥɹonƃɥ nupǝɹsʇɐupᴉuƃ ɥᴉɯ ɐup ʍoɹʞᴉuƃ ɥɐɹp ʍᴉʇɥ ɥᴉɯ˙ Hǝ pᴉpu,ʇ ɯᴉup sdousoɹᴉuƃ ʇɥǝᴉɹ pɹᴉuʞs ɐʇ ʇɥǝ qɐɹ pnɹᴉuƃ ʇɥǝ louƃ ʍǝǝʞǝups˙

┴ɥǝ Nᴉƃɥʇ Hɐnuʇǝɹs ʍonlp qǝ ʇɥǝ sʍᴉɟʇ ɐup ʇǝɹɹᴉqlǝ sʍoɹp oɟ ʇɥǝ ᄅup Hnssɐɹs' ʇo pǝɔɐdᴉʇɐʇǝ ʇɥǝᴉɹ ǝuǝɯᴉǝs ʍᴉʇɥ˙

,,Sʇᴉll qnƃƃǝɹǝp' sᴉɹ¿,, Wǝuƃ ʞᴉʇ ʍɐʇɔɥǝp ʇɥǝ ɐuxᴉonsuǝss ᴉu ɥᴉs oɟɟᴉɔǝɹ˙

qᴉdᴉu dɹǝssǝp ɥᴉs ɔouʇɹol ɹɐpᴉo ʇo ʇɥǝ ɔoɯɯɐup ɟɹǝbnǝuɔʎ˙

,,Ɔɐʇɐdɥɹɐɔʇ Zǝʇɐ ʇo Ɔɐʇɐdɥɹɐɔʇ ∀ɔʇnɐl' I,ɯ ƃoᴉuƃ pɐɹʞ ɟoɹ ɐ ɟǝʍ˙ Wɐᴉuʇɐᴉuᴉuƃ ɹɐpᴉo sᴉlǝuɔǝ' ɥoʍ ɔodʎ' oʌǝɹ˙,,

*Ɔɐʇɐdɥɹɐɔʇ Zǝʇɐ' I ɹǝɐp ʎon˙ ɹǝdoɹʇ ᴉu ɥɐlɟ ɥonɹ oɹ ndou ɟᴉɹsʇ ǝuɔonuʇǝɹ˙ Hɐddʎ ɥnuʇᴉuƃ' onʇ˙* Sɐɯnǝllǝ ƃɐʌǝ ɥǝɹ dǝɹɯᴉssᴉou ɟoɹ ɥᴉɯ ʇo lǝɐʌǝ˙

*pou,ʇ ɹnu onʇ ou ns uoʍ' Ɔɐdʇɐᴉu˙* ɹǝdlᴉǝp ɐ ʌoᴉɔǝ ɟnll oɟ ɯɐlᴉɔᴉons ᴉuʇǝuʇ˙

*Ɔɐʇɐdɥɹɐɔʇ ∀ɔʇnɐl ʇo Ɔɐʇɐdɥɹɐɔʇ פɐɯɯɐ˙ Sʇɐʎ oɟɟ ʇɥǝ ɔoɯɯɐup ɔɥɐuuǝl ᴉɟ ʎon ɥɐʌǝ uoʇɥᴉuƃ nsǝɟnl ʇo ɔouʇɹᴉqnʇǝ˙ Onʇ¡* Sɐɯ ʍɐɹuǝp Hɐu Ⅎǝuƃ ʍɥo ʍɐs ʇɐʞᴉuƃ doᴉuʇ ʇoʍɐɹps ʇɥǝᴉɹ pǝsʇᴉuɐʇᴉou˙

∀up so' ʇɥǝ Nᴉƃɥʇ Hɐnuʇǝɹs ᴉuɔɹǝɐsǝp ʇɥǝᴉɹ sdǝǝp' dɐssᴉuƃ ʇɥǝ ɔouʌoʎ ɐup ɥǝɐpᴉuƃ ᴉu ʇɥǝ pᴉɹǝɔʇᴉou oɟ ʇɥǝ ɯonuʇɐᴉus ʇo ʇɥǝ lǝɟʇ˙ Soɯǝ oɟ ʇɥǝ oɟɟᴉɔǝɹs ɟɹoɯ ʇɥǝ pᴉɟɟǝɹǝuʇ ɔoɯdɐuᴉǝs suoɹʇǝp ʍɥᴉlǝ oʇɥǝɹs sᴉlǝuʇlʎ ɐddɹoʌǝp oɟ ɥᴉs ᴉuᴉʇᴉɐʇᴉʌǝ˙ qǝɔɐnsǝ ᴉu ʇɥǝ ᄅup Hnssɐɹs' ᴉʇ ʍɐs ʇɐqoo ʇo sᴉpǝ ʍᴉʇɥ onʇsᴉpǝɹs lǝss ʇɥǝʎ qǝɔoɯǝ onʇɔɐsʇs ʇɥǝɯsǝlʌǝs˙

∀ ɥɐlɟ ɥonɹ ɥɐp dɐssǝp ʍᴉʇɥ ʇɥǝ ɟoɹɯɐʇᴉou ɹǝɐɔɥᴉuƃ ʇɥǝ dlɐɔǝ ʇɥǝʎ ɔɐll ʇɥǝ qɐusɥnɹ,s ɥɐup˙ ┴ɥɐʇ so' qǝɔɐnsǝ oɟ ʇɥǝ ɟᴉʌǝ pᴉɟɟǝɹǝuʇ ʌɐllǝʎs ᴉʇ ǝxdɐups ɟɹoɯ ʇɥǝ ʌɐllǝʎ ʇɥǝʎ ɔɐɯǝ ɟɹoɯ ʇɥɐʇ ɹǝdɹǝsǝuʇǝp ʇɥǝ ʍɹᴉsʇ ɐup ɟoɹǝɐɹɯ˙ Hoʍ ɔnɹᴉons' ʇɥɐʇ ouɔǝ ndou ɐ ʇᴉɯǝ ɐll ʇɥǝ ɟonɹ uɐʇᴉous ʍoɹsɥᴉddǝp ʇɥǝ sɐɯǝ ƃop ouɔǝ qǝɟoɹǝ ʇɥǝʎ ɐpodʇǝp pᴉɟɟǝɹǝuʇ ᴉpǝoloƃᴉǝs ʇo snᴉʇ ʇɥǝᴉɹ soɔᴉɐl ɐup ƃǝoƃɹɐdɥᴉɔɐl uǝǝps˙ ┴ɥǝ ʇǝɯdlǝ ɹnᴉus ɐɹonup Ԁɐpɐ Wo ɔᴉʇʎ sɥoʍǝp ǝʌᴉpǝuɔǝ oɟ ʇɥᴉs' nuɟoɹʇnuɐʇǝlʎ uouǝ oɟ ʇɥǝ ɯǝu oɹ ʍoɯɐu ᴉu ᄅup Hnssɐɹs ʍǝɹǝ pǝʌoʇǝǝs' uoʇ ǝʌǝu qᴉdᴉu˙ ∀ʇ lǝɐsʇ ʇɥɐʇ ʍɐs ɐ ɔoɯɯou ƃɹonup ʇɥǝᴉɹ sɥɐɹǝp˙

Sɐɯnǝllǝ ɹǝɯɐᴉuǝp ᴉu ʇɥǝ ndsǝɐʇǝp dosᴉʇᴉou oɟ ɥǝɹ ɔoɯɯɐup ʌǝɥᴉɔlǝ ɐssǝssᴉuƃ ʇɥǝ ƃɹonups ʇɥǝʎ ɔonlp nsǝ˙ ┴ɥǝʎ ɔonlp sǝʇ nd ɐʇ ǝɐɔɥ ɟᴉuƃǝɹ oɟ ʇɥǝ ɯonuʇɐᴉus ɐup sᴉɯnlʇɐuǝonslʎ ɐʇʇɐɔʞ oɹ ɹǝᴉuɟoɹɔǝ ʇɥǝᴉɹ ɟǝlloʍ ɔoɯdɐuᴉǝs ᴉu ʇɥǝ ǝʌǝuʇ ʇɥǝʎ ʍǝɹǝ ɟᴉƃɥʇᴉuƃ ʇoo ᴉuʇǝusǝlʎ˙ ┴ɥǝ ƃɹonup ʍɥᴉɔɥ ʇɥǝʎ sʇoop ʍɐs ʇɥǝ ɔǝuʇɹǝ dlɐᴉu oɟ ʇɥǝ ,dɐlɯ, ɐup ʍɐs ʇo qǝ ʇɥǝ ʞᴉllzouǝ˙ ┴ɥǝ ouɔǝ dlɐɔǝ ʇɥɐʇ uo ouǝ sɥonlp qǝ lǝss ʇɥǝʎ ɥɐp ɐ pǝɐʇɥʍᴉsɥ ʇo qǝ snɹɹonupǝp ɐup pᴉǝ˙

Sɐɯnǝllǝ dɹǝssǝp ɥǝɹ ɹɐpᴉo ou ʇɥǝ ɔoɯɯɐup ɔɥɐuuǝl˙

,,∀ll nuᴉʇs' ɥɐlʇ˙ ┴ɐʞǝ ʎonɹ ɹǝsdǝɔʇᴉʌǝ dlɐɔǝs ɐu ɐʍɐᴉʇ ɟnɹʇɥǝɹ ᴉusʇɹnɔʇᴉou˙,,

*Ɔɐʇɐdɥɹɐɔʇ ∀ldɥɐ ɔodᴉǝs' oʌǝɹ˙*

*ɹoƃǝɹ' pǝlʇɐ ɹǝɐps ʎon' oʌǝɹ˙*

Sǝʌǝɹɐl oʇɥǝɹ ɔoɯdɐuᴉǝs ɹǝdoɹʇǝp ɐup nupǝɹsʇoop˙

*פɐɯɯɐ ɥǝɹǝ' ʍᴉll ɔoɯdlʎ' oʌǝɹ˙* Hɐu Ⅎǝuƃ sɐᴉp ʍᴉʇɥ ɐ lɐzʎ ɐusʍǝɹ˙

,,Oɟ ɔonɹsǝ ʎon ʍᴉll' pɐɯu ᴉʇ¡ ┴ɐʞǝ ʇɥɐʇ sɥᴉʇ onʇ oɟ ʎonɹ ɥǝɐp qǝɟoɹǝ I sʇnɟɟ ᴉʇ soɯǝʍɥǝɹǝ ǝlsǝ¡,, Sɥǝ ɹnqqǝp ɥǝɹ ɥǝɐp ɐs ʇɥǝ ɥǝᴉɹ ʇo ʇɥǝ Snu ɟɐɯᴉlʎ ʍɐs ƃᴉʌᴉuƃ ɥǝɹ ɐ ɥɐɹpǝɹ ʇᴉɯǝ ʇɥɐʇ ɐuʎ ʇo pǝɐl ʍᴉʇɥ' ǝʌǝu pnɹᴉuƃ ɐ ʍɐɹ˙ Sɥǝ ɾnsʇ ɔonlpu,ʇ qǝlᴉǝʌǝ ɥoʍ sʇnɔʞ nd ɥǝ ʍɐs˙

,,פɐɯɯɐ' ɐusʍǝɹ¡,,

*…˙ פɐɯɯɐ ɹǝɐps ʎon' oʌǝɹ˙*

,,pou,ʇ sɔɹǝʍ ʍᴉʇɥ ɯǝ' Hɐu פǝuƃ˙ Oɹ I,ll ɯɐʞǝ lᴉɟǝ ɯᴉsǝɹɐqlǝ ɟoɹ ʎon lɐʇǝɹ˙,, Sɥǝ ʍɐɹuǝp ɥᴉɯ' qnʇ ɹǝɔǝᴉʌǝp uo ɹǝdlʎ˙ Sɥǝ ʍoupǝɹǝp ʍɥǝɹǝ pᴉp ɟᴉʌǝ ʎǝɐɹs oɟ ɯᴉlᴉʇɐɹʎ ʇɹɐᴉuᴉuƃ ƃo ʇo' ɥǝ ɐɔʇǝp lᴉʞǝ ɥǝ oʍuǝp ʇɥǝ ᄅup Hnssɐɹs˙ Ԁɐɹʇlʎ qǝɔɐnsǝ Snu ʞʍɐu pouɐʇǝp ʇɥǝ ɯosʇ ʇo sdousoɹᴉuƃ ʇɥǝ ɔoɯɯᴉssᴉouᴉuƃ oɟ ʇɥǝ ᄅup Hnssɐɹs˙

,,Ɔɐʇɐdɥɹɐɔʇ Zǝʇɐ' ɹǝdoɹʇ˙ Oʌǝɹ˙,, qnʇ ɐs sɥǝ ɔɐllǝp onʇ' uo ɹǝdlʎ ɔɐɯǝ ᴉu ɟoɹ ɐ dɐɹʇᴉɔnlɐɹ ɐɯonuʇ oɟ lǝǝʍɐʎ ʇᴉɯǝ˙

,,Zǝʇɐ' po ʎon ɹǝɐp¿ Iʇ,s ʇɥǝ ɐddoᴉuʇǝp ɟɐll ᴉu ʇᴉɯǝ' ɹǝdoɹʇ˙ Oʌǝɹ˙,, Oulʎ sʇɐʇᴉɔ ʍɐs ɥǝɹ ɐusʍǝɹ ɟɹoɯ Zǝʇɐ ʍɥo ɥɐp ʞǝdʇ ɹɐpᴉo sᴉlǝuɔǝ pǝsdᴉʇǝ ɥǝɹ ᴉusʇɹnɔʇᴉou ʇo ɔɐll ᴉu˙ Sɥǝ ʍɐs ɥɐʌᴉuƃ ɐ ʍoɹɹʎsoɯǝ ɟǝǝlᴉuƃ ʇɥɐʇ soɯǝʇɥᴉuƃ ɥɐp ɥɐddǝuǝp oɹ ʍɐs ɐqonʇ ʇo ɥɐddǝu˙

*Sᴉɹ' ǝʌǝɹʎʇɥᴉuƃ ɐlɹᴉƃɥʇ¿* Hǝɹ ɐpɾnʇɐuʇ' ʍɥo lǝp ɥǝɹ ɔoɯɯɐup ƃɹond ǝlǝɯǝuʇs ɟoɹ ɥǝɹ ɐs sɥǝ ɔooɹpᴉuɐʇǝp ʇɥǝ ɹǝsʇs, ɯoʌǝɯǝuʇs ɐup ʇɐɔʇᴉɔs ᴉubnᴉɹǝp ɟɹoɯ ʇɥǝ ɹɐpᴉo oɟ ʇɥǝ ʌǝɥᴉɔlǝ uǝxʇ ʇo ɥǝɹ˙

,,Soɯǝʇɥᴉuƃ,s nd ʍᴉʇɥ Zǝʇɐ' ʞǝǝd ɐ looʞonʇ˙,,

*Ԁǝɹɥɐds ʇɥǝʎ,p ǝuɔonuʇǝɹǝp ɐu ɐpʌɐuɔǝ sɔonʇ ɐup ʍǝɹǝ ᴉu ʇɥǝ dɹoɔǝss oɟ pǝsʇɹoʎᴉuƃ ʇɥǝɯ ʇo ʞᴉll ʇɥǝᴉɹ ɹǝdoɹʇ oɟ onɹ dɹǝsǝuɔǝ ɥǝɹǝ˙* Hǝɹ ɐpɾnʇɐuʇ ʍɐs ɹɐʇɥǝɹ odʇᴉɯᴉsʇᴉɔ ᴉu ɥᴉs ʌᴉǝʍs ʇoʍɐɹps qᴉdᴉu,s ʍoɹʞ' sɥǝ ʍɐs ƃlɐp ʇɥɐʇ ɐʇ lǝɐsʇ ɥǝ ɔonlp sǝǝ ʇɥɐʇ qᴉdᴉu ʍɐs uoʇɥᴉuƃ qnʇ ɥɐɹpʍoɹʞᴉuƃ ɐup ǝɐɹuǝsʇʎ˙

,,I ɥodǝ so˙,,

*Houǝsʇlʎ' po ʎon ɹǝɐllʎ ʇɥᴉuʞ ʇɥɐʇ ʞʎɹɐʇᴉ losǝɹ ʍonlp ʍɐuʇ ʇo sʇɐʎ ʇo ɟᴉƃɥʇ¿* Sɥǝ pᴉpu,ʇ ʞuoʍ ɥolp Hɐu Ⅎǝuƃ ɥɐp ʇɥǝ ʞǝʎs ʇo ɥǝɹ ɟɹǝbnǝuɔʎ ʍᴉʇɥ ɥǝɹ ɔoɯɯɐup ƃɹond' qnʇ ɥǝ,p ʌᴉolɐʇǝp ʇɥǝ ɹɐpᴉo ɔɥɐᴉu oɟ ɔoɯɯɐup˙

,,˥ᴉʇʇlǝ qɐsʇɐɹp˙ פǝʇ ʎonɹ ɐss onʇ oɟ ɯʎ ɔɥɐuuǝl oɹ I ʍᴉll ɥɐʌǝ ʎon ɔonɹʇ ɯɐɹʇᴉɐllǝp ɟoɹ ᴉusnqoɹpᴉuɐʇᴉou¡,, Sɥǝ sɔoɹuǝp ɐʇ ɥᴉɯ oʌǝɹ ʇɥǝ ɹɐpᴉo sǝʇ' sɥǝ ɥɐʇǝp ʇɥɐʇ ɥǝɹ ɔoɯɯɐup ʇǝɐɯ ɥɐp ʇo ɥǝɐɹ ʇɥɐʇ sᴉpǝ oɟ ɥǝɹ ʍɥǝu ʇɥǝʎ ʍǝɹǝ ƃoop snqoɹpᴉuɐʇǝs ʇɥɐʇ pᴉpu,ʇ uǝǝp ɥǝɹ ʇo ɹǝɯᴉup˙

*ɹᴉƃɥʇ ɹᴉƃɥʇ˙ I ʍɐs ɾnsʇ ɔɥǝɔʞᴉuƃ ᴉɟ ʎon ʍǝɹǝ sʇᴉll ƃɐɯǝ ɟoɹ ɐ ɟᴉƃɥʇ so I ɥɐp ʎonɹ snqoɹpᴉuɐʇǝ ɥɐup ɯǝ ʇɥǝ ɔopǝs˙ ∀ lᴉʇʇlǝ ᴉusnɹɐuɔǝ ʇo ʞuoʍ ʇɥɐʇ ʎon ʍonlpu,ʇ ɾnsʇ ɹnu oɟɟ ʍɥǝu ʇɥᴉuƃs ʍǝuʇ sonɹ˙*

,,Hɐu פǝuƃ…˙˙ Iɟ ʎon po uoʇ sʇǝd qɐɔʞ ɐup ʇnɔʞ ʇɥɐʇ ʇɐᴉl qǝʇʍǝǝu ʎonɹ lǝƃs' I ʍᴉll qɹᴉuƃ ʎon qɐɔʞ ʇo ʎonɹ ɟɐʇɥǝɹ ᴉu ɐ qopʎ qɐƃ˙,, Sɥǝ sɐᴉp ᴉu ɐ ɔɥᴉllᴉuƃ ʇouǝ ʇɥɐʇ ɔɐnƃɥʇ ǝʌǝu Hɐu Ⅎǝuƃ qʎ snɹdɹᴉsǝ˙

*פɐɯɯɐ ɹollᴉuƃ' onʇ¡*

,,Iʇ,s oʌǝɹ' uoʇ onʇ¡ Ⅎnɔʞ¡ Mɥǝɹǝ pᴉp ʎon lǝɐɹu ɹɐpᴉo ɔɐllsᴉƃus¿¡,, Sɥǝ sɥonʇǝp ɐuƃɹᴉlʎ ᴉuʇo ʇɥǝ ɹɐpᴉo ɟoɹ ɥᴉs ᴉuʇǝuʇᴉouɐllʎ ɔɹnsɐpǝ ʇo dᴉss ɥǝɹ oɟɟ˙

Sɥǝ ʇnɹuǝp ʇo ɥǝɹ ɐpɾnʇɐuʇ ʍɥo ɥɐp odǝuǝp ɥᴉs ɥɐʇɔɥ˙

,,Sᴉn Mǝᴉ' ɹǝlᴉǝʌǝ פɐɯɯɐ Ɔoɯdɐuʎ oɟ ᴉʇs ɔoɯɯɐupǝɹ˙ ∀up qɹᴉuƃ ɐ sǝɔʇᴉou ʇo ʇɐʞǝ ɥᴉɯ qɐɔʞ ʇo ʇɥǝ ɔᴉʇʎ˙,,

,,∀ʎǝ' sᴉ-)qOOW(,, qǝɟoɹǝ ɥǝ ɥɐp ɐ ɔɥɐuɔǝ ʇo ɟᴉuᴉsɥ' ɐu ǝxdlosᴉou ɹoɔʞǝp ʇɥǝ dlɐᴉus ɐup ʇɥǝ pᴉɹʇ ʞᴉɔʞǝp nd ɟɹoɯ ɐu ɐɹǝɐ uǝxʇ ʇo ɐ ƃɹond oɟ pᴉsɯonuʇǝp solpᴉǝɹs˙ ┴ɥǝ ɹɐpᴉns oɟ ʇɥǝ ɟɹɐƃɯǝuʇɐʇᴉou ʞᴉllǝp ʇʍo ɯǝu˙

,,ƆON┴∀Ɔ┴ ℲɹON┴¡,, Ouǝ oɟ ʇɥǝ solpᴉǝɹs sɥonʇǝp ɐʇ ʇɥǝ ʇod oɟ ɥᴉs ʌoᴉɔǝ˙

,,∀ll nuᴉʇs ɯonuʇ nd ɐup pᴉsdǝɹsǝ˙ Ⅎoɹƃǝʇ ɐqonʇ ɐɯqnsɥ' pou,ʇ lǝʇ ʇɥǝɯ ɥᴉupǝɹ ʎon¡,, Sɥǝ sɐᴉp ᴉuʇo ɥǝɹ odǝu ɔɥɐuuǝl˙

*pǝlʇɐ ɔodᴉǝs˙*

*∀ldɥɐ ɔodᴉǝs˙*

*qǝʇɐ ɔodᴉǝs˙*

*Ǝdᴉlsou ɔodᴉǝs¡*

*┴ɥǝʇɐ ɐɔʞuoʍlǝpƃǝs¡*

*פ-פɐɯɯɐ ɐɔʞuoʍlǝpƃǝs¡*

┴ɥǝ ɔoɯdɐuᴉǝs qǝƃɐu ʇɥǝᴉɹ pᴉsdǝɹsᴉou ʇo ɐlloʍ ɟoɹ ɹooɯ ʇo ɯɐunǝʌǝɹ' ɯoqᴉlᴉʇʎ ʍɐs ʞǝʎ ʇo ʇɥǝᴉɹ snɹʌᴉʌɐl sᴉuɔǝ ʇɥǝ ⅄ᴉuʞᴉɐu ɐɹɯoɹ dossǝssǝp ʍǝɐdous ʍᴉʇɥ ƃɹǝɐʇǝɹ dǝuǝʇɹɐʇᴉʌǝ doʍǝɹ ʇɥɐu ɐnʇoɔɐuuous oɹ ɥǝɐʌʎ ɯɐɔɥᴉuǝ ƃnus ʍɥᴉɔɥ ʍɐs ʇɥǝ Ԁɐʇɹᴉɐ ∀WΛs dɹoʇǝɔʇᴉʌǝ lᴉɯᴉʇ˙

No soouǝɹ pᴉp ʇɥǝ ɟᴉɹsʇ ɹonup ɥᴉʇ ɐup sɔoɹǝp ɐ ɟlnʞǝ ʞᴉll pᴉp sǝʌǝɹɐl oʇɥǝɹ ɹonups ɟlʎ ʇoʍɐɹps ʇɥǝɯ ɟɹoɯ sɯoʞǝ dnɟɟs ɔoɯᴉuƃ ɟɹoɯ ʇɥǝ ǝuʇɹɐuɔǝ oɟ ʇɥǝ ɯonuʇɐᴉu ʌɐllǝʎs˙ ∀up ɐʇ ʇɥɐʇ pᴉsʇɐuɔǝ' ʍɥʎ pᴉpu,ʇ ʇɥǝʎ sǝǝ ʇɥǝɯ ɔoɯᴉuƃ¿ ┴ɥǝʎ pᴉpu,ʇ ɐɔɔonuʇ ɟoɹ ouǝ ʇɥᴉuƃ' slodǝs˙

┴ɥǝʎ ɥɐp ɐssnɯǝp ʇɥɐʇ ʇɥǝ ʍɥolǝ ɹoɐp ʍɐs ɐ ɟlɐʇ ƃɹonup ǝɐsʎ ʇo sǝǝ ɐup ʇɹɐʌǝɹsǝ˙ qnʇ ʇɥǝʎ ɥɐpu,ʇ dɥʎsᴉɔɐllʎ qǝǝu ʇɥǝɹǝ ʇo ʞuoʍ ᴉʇ ʍɐs ʇɥɐʇ ʍɐʎ˙

┴ɥǝɹǝ ʍǝɹǝ ǝuǝɯᴉǝs ɔoɯᴉuƃ ɟɹoɯ ʇɥɹǝǝ pᴉɟɟǝɹǝuʇ pᴉɹǝɔʇᴉous' ɐʇ ʇɥǝ sdǝɐɹɥǝɐp ʍǝɹǝ ʇɥǝ ɥǝɐʌᴉǝsʇ ɐup ɯosʇ dɹoʇǝɔʇǝp ɐɹɯoɹǝp nuᴉʇs˙ ┴ʎdǝ 96 ɯɐᴉu qɐʇʇlǝ ʇɐuʞs' ʇɥǝ ʍoɹʞɥoɹsǝ oɟ ʇɥǝ ⅄ᴉuʞᴉɐu ∀ɹɯoɹǝp pᴉʌᴉsᴉou˙ ┴ɐʞᴉuƃ ʇɥǝ qɹnuʇ oɟ ʇɥǝ ɹǝʇnɹu ɟᴉɹǝ ɟɹoɯ ʇɥǝ snɹdɹᴉsǝp ʞʎɹɐʇᴉ ɟoɹɔǝs˙

*פɐɯɯɐ' ɹǝbnǝsʇᴉuƃ ɟᴉɹǝ snddoɹʇ ɟoɹ ɯʎ loɔɐʇᴉou¡ Oʌǝɹ¡* Hɐu Ⅎǝuƃ sonupǝp ʍoɹɹᴉǝp oʌǝɹ ɥᴉs ɔɥɐuuǝl ʍᴉʇɥ ʇɥǝ ʇᴉpǝ ʍoɹsǝuᴉuƃ ou ɥᴉs ǝup˙

,,Ɔɐʇɐdɥɹɐɔʇ פɐɯɯɐ' ʎon ʍᴉll ɥolp qɐɔʞ ʇɥǝ ǝuǝɯʎ ɐup ʎonɹ ʇouƃnǝ˙ Oɹ pǝɐʇɥ ʍᴉll qǝ ʇɥǝ lǝɐsʇ oɟ ʎonɹ ʍoɹɹᴉǝs˙,, qnʇ ʇɥonƃɥ sɥǝ sɐᴉp ʇɥɐʇ' sɥǝ oɹpǝɹǝp ┴ɥǝʇɐ ʍɥo ʍɐs ᴉu ɹǝsǝɹʌǝ ʇo snddoɹʇ פɐɯɯɐ Ɔoɯdɐuʎ˙

Ⅎoɹ ɐ ɯǝɹǝ ɟonɹ ɯᴉunʇǝs' ᴉʇ ɟǝlʇ lᴉʞǝ ɐu ɥonɹ ɥɐp dɐssǝp ɟɹoɯ ɥoʍ bnᴉɔʞlʎ ʇɥǝ Hnssɐɹs ɹǝoɹƃɐuᴉsǝp ʇo ɟᴉƃɥʇ˙ Soou' ʇɥǝ ɯǝu ɐup ʇɥǝᴉɹ ɔoɯɯɐupǝɹs ɹǝƃɐᴉuǝp ʇɥǝᴉɹ ɔouɟᴉpǝuɔǝ ɐup uo louƃǝɹ ɹǝbnᴉɹǝp ɥǝɹ ƃnᴉpɐuɔǝ oɹ ɔɐll ɟoɹ ɟᴉɹǝ snddoɹʇ˙ ┴ɥǝ ɐɹʇᴉllǝɹʎ sǝǝɯǝp ʇo qǝ ou ɥolp ɟoɹ soɯǝ ɹǝɐsou' ɐup ʇɥǝ ƃɹonup ɐʇʇɐɔʞ ɐᴉɹɔɹɐɟʇ ʍǝɹǝ sɔɹɐɯqlᴉuƃ ɟɹoɯ ʇɥǝᴉɹ ʇǝɯdoɹɐɹʎ ɐᴉɹqɐsǝ˙

∀s ǝʌǝɹʎʇɥᴉuƃ sǝǝɯǝp ʇo qǝ nupǝɹ ɔouʇɹol' ɐ ɟlɐsɥ oɟ lᴉƃɥʇ zᴉddǝp dɐss Sɐɯ ɐup sʇɹnɔʞ ouǝ oɟ ɥǝɹ ɔoɯɯɐup ʇǝɐɯs, ʌǝɥᴉɔlǝs˙ ┴ɥǝ ʌǝɥᴉɔlǝ ǝxdlopǝp ɟɹoɯ ʇɥǝ dǝuǝʇɹɐʇᴉou ʇɥɐʇ sʇɹnɔʞ ᴉʇs ɐɯɯnuᴉʇᴉou sʇoɹɐƃǝ' ouǝ oɟ ʇɥǝ qnɹuᴉuƃ ɔɹǝʍɯǝɯqǝɹs ɔlᴉɯqǝp onʇ qǝɟoɹǝ pʎᴉuƃ ʍᴉʇɥ dɐᴉuɟnl sɔɹǝɐɯs˙

Sɥǝ ʞuǝʍ ʍɥɐʇ ᴉʇ ʍɐs' ɐ sɐqoʇ ɹonup ɟɹoɯ ɐ ʇɐuʞ˙ qnʇ ᴉʇ ʍɐsu,ʇ ʇɥɐʇ ɟɐɔʇ ouǝ oɟ ɥǝɹ ʌǝɥᴉɔlǝs ʍɐs pǝsʇɹoʎǝp˙

Iʇ ʍɐs ᴉʇs oɹᴉƃᴉu˙

∀s sɥǝ ʇnɹuǝp ɐɹonup ʇoʍɐɹps ʇɥǝ ʌɐllǝʎ ᴉu ʍɥᴉɔɥ ʇɥǝʎ ɐɹɹᴉʌǝp' sɥǝ sɐʍ ᴉu ʇɥǝ ʍɐʞǝ oɟ ɐ pnsʇ sʇoɹɯ ɐ ʍɥolǝ ɹoʍ oɟ ɯɐᴉu qɐʇʇlǝ ʇɐuʞs ᴉu ʍǝpƃǝp ɟoɹɯɐʇᴉous ɔoɯᴉuƃ ᴉu ʇo ǝuɔlosǝ ɐɹonup ʇɥǝɯ ɟɹoɯ ɔnʇʇᴉuƃ oɟɟ ʇɥǝᴉɹ ǝxᴉʇ˙ ┴ɥǝ Ɔoɯɯɐup dlɐʇoou ʍɐs ǝxdosǝp ǝuʇᴉɹǝlʎ ʇo ʇɥǝ ouslɐnƃɥʇ oɟ qɐɹɹɐƃǝs ʇɥɐʇ ɥɐp ɐ qᴉʇ ɯoɹǝ ɐɔɔnɹɐɔʎ ʇɥɐu ʇɥǝ ┴ʎdǝ 96s ʇɥɐʇ ʍǝɹǝ ɟᴉɹᴉuƃ ɐʇ ʇɥǝ ɹǝsʇ oɟ ʇɥǝ ɟᴉƃɥʇᴉuƃ ɔoɯdɐuᴉǝs˙

Sɐɯ ʇooʞ ɥǝɹ qᴉuoɔnlɐɹs ʇo sǝǝ ʍɥᴉlǝ ʇɥǝ ɐpɾnʇɐuʇ oɹpǝɹǝp ɐ ɔoɯdlǝʇǝ pǝɟǝusᴉʌǝ ɯɐunǝʌǝɹ oɟ ʇɥǝ dlɐʇoou ʇo ƃǝʇ onʇ oɟ ɥɐɹɯs ʍɐʎ ɐup ɔɐllǝp ɟoɹ ʇɥǝ ɹǝsǝɹʌǝ ɔoɯdɐuʎ Ǝdᴉlsou ʇo snddoɹʇ ʇɥǝᴉɹ ɹǝloɔɐʇᴉou˙

Sɥǝ dǝǝɹǝp ʇɥɹonƃɥ ʇɥǝ qᴉuoɔnlɐɹs ɐup looʞǝp ɐʇ ʇɥǝ ɹoʍ oɟ ʇɐuʞs ʇɥɐʇ ɔouʌǝɹƃǝp ɔouɟᴉpǝuʇlʎ˙ ∀up ᴉʇ ʍɐs ɐs sɥǝ ɥɐp ɟoɹǝsǝǝu˙ Sɥǝ ɹǝɔoƃuᴉzǝp ʇɥǝ sᴉlɥonǝʇʇǝ oɟ ʇɥǝ ʇɐuʞs ɟɹoɯ ʇɥǝ dᴉɔʇnɹǝs ɐup sʞǝʇɔɥǝs ou qᴉdᴉu,s ɹǝsǝɐɹɔɥ ɟᴉlǝs qǝɟoɹǝ ʇɥǝʎ ɟlǝʍ ʇo ⅄ᴉuʞǝ˙

┴ɥǝʎ ʍǝɹǝ ┴-80s' ʇɥǝ ɹǝdnqlᴉɔɐu פnɐɹp ʍɐs ɥǝɹǝ' ɐup ʇɥǝʎ lǝp ʇɥǝ ɟoɹɔǝs ɐpʌɐuɔǝ ʇo Ԁɐpɐ Wo Ɔᴉʇʎ ʍᴉʇɥ ɟnll ɐʍɐɹǝuǝss oɟ ʇɥǝ sᴉʇnɐʇᴉou˙ Sɐɯ ɐup ɐ ɟǝʍ oʇɥǝɹs ʍǝɹǝ qǝƃᴉuuᴉuƃ ʇo ɟǝǝl lᴉʞǝ ɟools ʇo ʇɥᴉuʞ ʇɥɐʇ ɥǝɐʌʎ ʇɐuʞs ʍǝɹǝ ᴉuɟǝɹᴉoɹ ʇo ʇɥǝᴉɹ ɔɹoss-ɔonuʇɹʎ dɹoʍǝss oɟ ʇɥǝᴉɹ ʍɥǝǝlǝp ʌǝɥᴉɔlǝs˙ ┴ɥᴉs ʍɐs ⅄ᴉuʞǝ' ʇɥǝᴉɹ ɥoɯǝ˙ Ⅎɐɯᴉlᴉɐɹ ƃɹonups ʍǝɹǝ ɐlʍɐʎs ǝɐsᴉǝɹ ʇo uɐʌᴉƃɐʇǝ ʇɥɐʇ ʍᴉʇɥ ɐ פԀS˙

∀ ɹǝsǝɹʌǝp ʇɐuʞ pǝsʇɹoʎǝɹ dlɐʇoou ɟᴉɹǝp qɐɔʞ ɐʇ ʇɥǝ ɹǝdnqlᴉɔɐu פnɐɹp ɟɹoɯ ʇɥǝᴉɹ sʇɐʇᴉouɐɹʎ dosᴉʇᴉou ɐʇ ʇɥǝ ɹǝɐɹ oɟ ʇɥǝ ɟoɹɔǝs˙ ┴ɥǝ ┴nuƃsʇǝu-ɔɐɹqᴉpǝ ɐlloʎ dɹoɾǝɔʇᴉlǝs ɟlǝʍ ɯɐɹʞǝp qʎ ᴉʇs ʇɹɐɔǝɹ ʇoʍɐɹps ouǝ oɟ ʇɥǝ ɯɐuʎ ʇɐuʞs ʍᴉʇɥ ƃɹǝɐʇlʎ ǝuɥɐuɔǝp ɐɔɔnɹɐɔʎ oɟ ɐ ɔoɯdnʇǝɹᴉzǝp qɐllᴉsʇᴉɔ ɔoɯdnʇǝɹ˙

qnʇ ɔouʇɹɐɹʎ ʇo ʇɥǝᴉɹ ʌᴉsnɐlᴉzɐʇᴉou oɟ ɐ qnɹuᴉuƃ ʇɐuʞ' ʇɥǝ sɐqoʇ ɹonup ɹᴉɔoɔɥǝʇ oɟɟ ʇɥǝ ɟɹouʇ ʇnɹɹǝʇ ɐup ɥnll ɯɐuʇlǝs oɟ ʇɥǝsǝ ƃɹǝɐʇlʎ sndǝɹᴉoɹ ʇɐuʞs˙ Wɐuʎ oɟ ʇɥǝ solpᴉǝɹs ʍɥo sɐʍ ʇɥɐʇ ʇnɹuǝp dɐlǝ ɐʇ ʇɥǝ sᴉƃɥʇ oɟ ɐu ǝuǝɯʎ ʇɥǝʎ ɔonlpu,ʇ ʞᴉll ʍᴉʇɥ ɐ sᴉuƃlǝ ɥᴉʇ˙

┴ɥǝu' ᴉʇ ʍɐs ʇɥǝ ɹǝdnqlᴉɔɐu פnɐɹps, ʇnɹu' sɯoʞǝ dlnɯs odǝuǝp onʇ ɟɹoɯ ʇɥǝᴉɹ ƃnu qɐɹɹǝls ɐup pǝlᴉʌǝɹǝp ɟᴉu-sʇɐqᴉlᴉzǝp Hᴉƃɥ-Ǝxdlosᴉʌǝ ∀uʇᴉ ┴ɐuʞ ɹonups ʇoʍɐɹps ʇɥǝ ʇɥᴉu ɐɹɯoɹ oɟ ʇɥǝ ʌǝɥᴉɔlǝs ᴉu ʇɥǝᴉɹ dossǝssᴉou˙ Soɯǝ ɯᴉssǝp qnʇ pᴉp ǝbnɐllʎ pǝsʇɹnɔʇᴉʌǝ pɐɯɐƃǝ ʇo ʇɥǝ nudɹoʇǝɔʇǝp ᴉuɟɐuʇɹʎ' ʍɥᴉlǝ soɯǝ ɥᴉʇ ʇɥǝᴉɹ ɯɐɹʞs ou ʇɥǝ ʌǝɥᴉɔlǝs ɐup ɔɐnsǝp ɐ ɯɐssᴉʌǝ ǝxdlosᴉou ɟolloʍǝp ʍᴉʇɥ ʇɥǝ ʇnɹɹǝʇ qǝᴉuƃ qloʍ ɔlǝɐu oɟɟ ʇɥǝ qnɹuᴉuƃ ʍɹǝɔʞ oɟ ʇɥǝ dɐʇɹᴉɐ ʌǝɥᴉɔlǝs˙

Iʇ pᴉp ɐ ɔɹᴉʇᴉɔɐl qloʍ ʇo ʇɥǝ ɯoɹɐlǝ oɟ ʇɥǝ ᄅup Hnssɐɹs ʍɥoɯ ɥɐp ʇɥǝᴉɹ ǝsɔɐdǝ ɹonʇǝ ɔnʇ oɟɟ ɟɹoɯ ʇɥǝɯ ɐup ɟɐɔǝp ɐ ɟoɹɔǝ ʇɥɐʇ ɔonlpu,ʇ qǝ pǝɐlʇ ʍᴉʇɥ ǝɐsᴉlʎ˙ ┴ɥǝ qᴉɹps ɥɐp ʎǝʇ ʇo ɐɹɹᴉʌǝ ɐup ʇɥǝ ɐɹʇᴉllǝɹʎ ʍɐs qǝᴉuƃ pǝlɐʎǝp˙ ┴ɥǝ Ɔɐuʇous ᴉu ʇɥǝ Hnssɐɹs ʍǝɹǝ uoʍ ʇɐsʇᴉuƃ ʇɥǝ ɟnlluǝss oɟ ʍɐɹ' qnʇ ouǝ ʇɥǝ ɹǝɔǝᴉʌᴉuƃ ǝup˙ Iɟ ʇɥᴉs pɹɐƃƃǝp onʇ' ʇɥǝʎ ʍonlp qǝ ɐuuᴉɥᴉlɐʇǝp˙

Sɐɯ qᴉʇ ɥǝɹ loʍǝɹ lᴉd' ʇɥǝʎ ɥɐp qǝǝu ᴉuʇǝuʇᴉouɐllʎ onʇɯɐunǝʌǝɹǝp qʎ ʇɥǝ ǝuǝɯʎ ʍᴉʇɥ lᴉʇʇlǝ ʇo uo ɐlʇǝɹuɐʇᴉʌǝ ʇɥɐu ʇo ɟᴉƃɥʇ˙ Sɥǝ ɔɐllǝp onʇ ʇo ʇɥǝ Ɔoɯdɐuᴉǝs ʇo ʞuoʍ ᴉɟ ʇɥǝɹǝ ʍɐs ɐ ʍǝɐʞǝuǝp dɐɹʇ oɟ ʇɥǝ ǝuɔᴉɹɔlǝɯǝuʇ ɟoɹ ʇɥǝɯ ʇo qɹǝɐʞ onʇ oɟ' qnʇ ᴉu ʌɐᴉu˙ ┴ɥǝ ⅄ᴉuʞᴉɐus ʍǝɹǝ pǝɐp sǝʇ ou ʇɥǝɯ pʎᴉuƃ ɥǝɹǝ ɟoɹ ʇɹǝsdɐssᴉuƃ ou ʇɥǝᴉɹ soᴉl' ʇɥonƃɥʇ ʇɥǝʎ ʍǝɹǝ nuɐʍɐɹǝ oɟ ʇɥǝ sʇɐʇns oɟ Ԁɐpɐ Wo ɔᴉʇʎ' ʇɥǝʎ ɔonlp qǝʇ ᴉʇ pᴉpu,ʇ looʞ ƃoop ʇɥǝɹǝ˙ ┴ɥǝʎ ᴉuʇǝupǝp ʇo ɯɐʞǝ ʇɥǝᴉɹ ʍɐʎ ʇɥǝɹǝ bnᴉɔʞlʎ ɐup ʍᴉʇɥ ʇɥǝ ǝlǝɯǝuʇ oɟ snɹdɹᴉsǝ ou ʇɥǝᴉɹ sᴉpǝ' ɟoɹ ʇɥɐʇ ʇo ɥɐddǝu ʇɥonƃɥ…˙

┴ɥᴉs qɐʇʇɐlᴉou uǝǝpǝp ʇo dǝɹᴉsɥ˙

Sɐɯ ɔonlp ɟǝǝl ʇɥǝ pǝsdɐᴉɹ oɟ ʇɥᴉs sʇɹɐʇǝƃʎ sǝʇ ᴉu ou ɥǝɹ dsʎɔɥǝ' ᴉɯdɐᴉɹᴉuƃ ɥǝɹ ɐqᴉlᴉʇʎ ʇo ɹǝlɐʎ ɔoɯɯɐups˙ Sɥǝ ɥɐp nupǝɹǝsʇᴉɯɐʇǝp ʇɥǝ ɔoɯdǝʇǝuɔǝ oɟ ʇɥǝ ⅄ᴉuʞᴉɐu Ɔoɯɯɐupǝɹ ɐup ɥǝɹ ɯǝu ʍǝɹǝ dɐʎᴉuƃ pǝɐɹlʎ˙ Mɐs ʇɥᴉs ʇo qǝ ʇɥǝᴉɹ ∀lɐɯo-)qOOW( )qOqOqOqOOW(

Sɥǝ ɐup ʇɥǝ ɔoɯɯɐup ʇǝɐɯ ʍɐʇɔɥǝp ɐs ʇɥǝ dɹǝʌᴉonslʎ ɟǝɐɹsoɯǝ ɹoʍ oɟ qɐʇʇlǝ ʇɐuʞs ɟɹoɯ ʇɥǝ ɹǝdnqlᴉɔɐu פnɐɹp ɥɐp sǝʌǝu oɟ ʇɥǝᴉɹ ʇɐuʞs qloʍu ʇo qᴉʇs ʍᴉʇɥ ʇɥǝᴉɹ sǝʌǝɹɐl ʇou ɥǝɐʌʎ ʇnɹɹǝʇs ɟlʎᴉuƃ ᴉu ʇɥǝ ɐᴉɹ˙ ┴ɥǝ ɹǝdnqlᴉɔɐu פnɐɹp ɥɐlʇǝp ɐll ɯoʌǝɯǝuʇ ɐup sɔɐuuǝp ʇɥǝ ɐɹǝɐ ɟoɹ ɐʇʇɐɔʞǝɹs' ʍɥǝu ʇʍo ɯoɹǝ ʇɐuʞs ƃoʇ ɥᴉʇ ɐup ǝxdlopǝp˙ ┴ɥǝ ɯᴉƃɥʇ oɟ ʇɥǝ ɹǝdnqlᴉɔɐu פnɐɹps, Iuʌnluǝɹɐqlǝ ┴-80 ɟlǝǝʇ ʍɐs qloʍu ɐʍɐʎ ʍᴉʇɥ ɐu ɐddɐɹǝuʇ losǝ oɟ ʇɐuʞs ʍoɹʇɥ ɐ dlɐʇoou oɟ ɐɹɯoɹ˙

,,Mɥɐʇ ʇɥǝ ɥǝll¿¡,, Hǝɹ ɐpɾnʇɐuʇ sdoʞǝ ʇɥosǝ ʍoɹps ɟoɹ ɥǝɹ˙

┴ɥǝ ⅄ᴉuʞᴉɐu Ǝlᴉʇǝ ɔonlpu,ʇ sǝǝɯ ʇo ɟᴉup ʇɥǝᴉɹ ɥᴉppǝu ɐʇʇɐɔʞǝɹs ɐs ɟɐɹ ɐs ʇɥǝʎ looʞǝp' qnʇ Sɐɯnǝllǝ ɔɐnƃɥʇ uoʇᴉɔǝ oɟ ƃlᴉuʇs oɟ ɟlʎᴉuƃ sɐqoʇs sʇɹᴉʞᴉuƃ ʇɥǝ ┴-80s ǝxdosǝp ᴉu ʇɥǝ ɹǝɐɹ ɔoɯᴉuƃ ɐll ʇɥǝ ʍɐʎ ɟɹoɯ qǝɥᴉup ɐʇ ʇɥǝᴉɹ oɹᴉƃᴉu doᴉuʇ nd ou ʇɥǝ ɯonuʇɐᴉu˙

┴ɥǝ pǝɐʇɥ oɟ sǝʌǝɹɐl oɟ ʇɥǝᴉɹ ʇɐuʞs ɐup ʇɥǝ ɥɐlʇᴉuƃ oɟ ʇɥǝᴉɹ ɐpʌɐuɔǝ ǝuɔonɹɐƃǝp ʇɥǝ solpᴉǝɹs ʇo ɟᴉƃɥʇ ʍᴉʇɥ ɐ sʇɐupᴉuƃ ɔɥɐuɔǝ˙

*)Sʇɐʇᴉɔ(-ʇɐdɥɹɐɔʇ Zǝʇɐ ʇo ɐll ɟoɹɔǝs' ʇɥǝ Nᴉƃɥʇ Hɐnuʇǝɹs ɥɐʌǝ ʎonɹ qɐɔʞ˙*

* * *

Author's Notes:

＼(＾O＾)／

＼(＾O＾)／

 **HAPPY APRIL FOOLS!**

＼(＾O＾)／

Chapter 81 will be posted in an hour from now. 1.00am UTC +10:30


	88. Chapter 81 - Hussars vs Rep Guard

Author's Notes:

Hope you enjoyed my april fools. I don't think you did, learn to be more open and acceptible of others apparent lack of consideration and etiquette. Sooner a later others will realise how much of a dick that fella is and gang up with you against that douche. Such is the way of the civilised world that we live in, don't get flustered over others. Let them do the flustering, you deserve better.

It has been brought to my attention of inquiry by Omegas where i source these names for everyone. Some were the names styled from my Nepali pen-pal, while others were from the net. I'm slightly fluent in Chinese so i can translate some Chinese and convert them to the Cantonese dialect with a little help from the computer and double check that they sound right.

As for the name Tenzin, its a pretty common name in the himalayas. And in FC4, the name of the rare Dhole. But i found it boring for Ajay to capture or kill the sacred guardians so i put this Tenzin as a human. And it matches my mythical plot since the sacred guardians of the sealing talisman to the cage of Yalung derive from the Demon Banishing patriarchs, so that would make Tenzin an descendant of that ancient bloodline. Whereas the rest would have taken the form of or possessed animals they represented and had changed their nature in the process. Food for thought.

* * *

A minute ago, there was peacefulness stirring about the air.

The citizens who were so used to the gentle breeze suddenly had a deep welling of unease when that wind that remained constant had become dead.

What followed next were the tremors and a delay of booms in the distance. Some could tell, others were too ignorant to what was going on to know.

But to the military installations, particularly the YLA Headquarters, the radar assembly, the air-defense installations, the supply depots and the barracks were the ones that suffered a cruelty they never deserved.

The inhabitants and operators of said places had suffered the fate of thermobaric explosives, fragmentation and secondary explosions from their munition caches. The cause of that instant destruction was Lupus Caelum. The Command structure of the YLA immediately fell three ranks, making the highest commanding presence a Major-General. That being General Karna Dawa, the officer currently being tortured for information on troop formations.

The sky wolves that swoop over the now-battlefield Yinke. Aviation mercenaries paid by Ajay to fly the extensive fleet of fighters and bombers while the air superiority fighters were manned exclusively by the IAF pilot that had been kept in reserve against air intrusion by PLAAF. The A-4S Super Skyhawks flew over their designated targets and dropped their GPS-guided munition upon them and turned to leave the airspace for the next phase of attack.

Less than 30 seconds from when the bombings started, a flock of military cargo planes descended from the clouds and dropped over four thousand soldiers from a mixture of Russian-originating Il-76MD and An-12 planes.

The skies became covered with circular dots and from there it became clear what was happening.

Yinke was being invaded.

On their reeling minds, to launch an airborne offensive, it could only be done by a superpower like India or China. Little did they know that it was in fact their neighbour whom had a neutral relation with, Kyrat. When the planes had dropped their passengers, the first wave of attackers in the form of the Jatayu para commandos, they returned to load up the logistics that would help them prolong their stay in hostile territory and to ferry the 2nd Hussars over with their armored battalion to counter the Republican Guards and other armored units that would have likely been alerted to the silence from their command and the tremors of explosions.

To the Jatayus' surprise the authorities had offered little resistance than expected, immediately throwing down their arms, both garrison soldier and police alike. It was just as Ajay had foreseen, in the face of possible oblivion, no one was gonna die for another if there was lenience given to them. Those that did were cut down swiftly with an impressive firing manuever employed by the battle-hardened para commandos.

As per orders relayed by Ajay was to leave the civilians alone but keep a close eye on them, out from the streets came armed thugs who had raised their weapons and declared themselves ally. They had been brought out to maintain martial law on their behalf, Ajay had also made this clear in his transmission before infilitration into the parliamentiary building. The shock and awe operation had come into effect. Seeing that there was a group of people there to protect them from these foreign aggressors, the civilians put their trust in their countrymen to stand between them in the event they go wild. Of course, there were some that thought otherwise but they were a small minority of self-entired believers who wouldn't raise arms against professional killers.

Not as if the Kyratis would ever think of doing so. The woman who met with Maya and Jeeval now-lieutenant was named Jagriti, she had apparently made a deal with Ajay to assist in subjugating the city and providing support in case of symptoms of rebellion from gungho citizens trying to be self-righteous. At first, the underworld council weren't very convinced by Jagriti's claim, but with the news and late report by a pale-faced Boss Ricky of the smuggling operations. It became clear that they were to be with them or against them. They elected Jagriti as their representative of their interests and she coordinated with Maya to locate and destroy the dens of partisans dotted about the city.

The first phase of Operation Yagna had been completed.

Ved stood watching in horror as his adoptive home was lost to them by the very force he tried to destroy. He felt like laughing at the whole farce he had worked upon, not knowing that Kyrat was no longer the same as when he last left. The main difference was this demon-like opponent that had rivalled his Devas brothers and outmatched them all at once. Pagan's most powerful trump in the form of a young man that wore the demon mask of Yalung and an emblem of the demon god upon his shoulder badge.

Ajay passed a soldier the head of Sanjeev to display on the flag pole at the town centre, knowing that sooner or later a scout would spot it from afar with Binoculars.

"What will you do with us?" Swara asked as the 1st Kshatriyan Lord had just let them watch from the balcony unrestraint.

"Like I said, watch." Ajay said as he donned the final piece of his new armor, the mask. At this point, the captured crowd shuddered at the sight of such a terrifying motif, Ved understood in an instant how his Golden Path brethren couldn't help but run at the sight of it. Whoever Badala was, he was a master of manipulating minds. Causing his enemies to fear and and allies to revere his existence, he was like Mohan except without the persona of benevolence but vengeance.

"Two Devas of Golden Path, and you're just gonna let us live?" Dr Ved was confused.

"All I see are two political leaders of Yinke currently in my grasp. As I've said before, Dr Ved. From the moment you came back with that regiment of commandos to aid Mohan you lost your qualifications to be a Kyrati."

(Bzzzzzzzzz) "AAAAAAAHHHHHH!" The sound of General Dawa being tortured in some room nearby the function room could be heard clearly by the crowd and by Swara and Ved. Most terrified of all was Karna's wife, their daughter had complex feelings about the situation.

"….. What I had done was wrong, but need you come back to exact vengeance upon my people?!" He admitted.

"Who ever said I was exacting it against your people, unless 'your' people also includes the civilians who I've excluded from the equation. Be honest now, Dr Ved. Before that slideshow did you know that Namdak's men did any of that, do you even know what kind of shit the people you call brothers and sister have been pulling off for the last sixteen years while you and Swara have been away?!" Ajay shouted angrily at him, his voice shook the walls of the function room they were being held.

"To you and your brothers, Lanka was the crown jewel that defined rule over Kyrat. But to me, it was my home and home to fifteen thousand others! And what were your rules of engagement you decided before entering? Kill all on sight?! You couldn't possibly imagine how many of my friends you and your witless bunch of self-righteous junkies have killed." He said in a vicious tone. Dr Ved remained silent, he knew he was now beyond talking terms with Badala.

"Have you ever watched young men and women who you trained to protect themselves get chopped up in the midst of sadistic cries of soldiers, crazed fanatics who babble about maintaining traditions whilst breaking covenants as they kill and ransack homes, bastards that let foreign intelligence agencies wrought ruin upon our country for their own selfish interests? Have you ever been right where it all occurred and fought with every muscle to protect them only to fail and worse… be the only one left alive?! HAVE YOU!?" Ved collapsed on his knees, hearing the horrible experience Ajay had gone through and imagined if he were in his shoes. It was a nightmare!

"I'm only here for one thing. To hunt Golden Path and kill ever last one of the Yinkian soldiers. If any civilians take up arms despite my warning then they shall share the same fate as the others before them." Ajay reminded him.

"The soldiers here have done nothing wrong!" Swara shouted from her place.

"And neither did my people at Lanka. I'm just letting you know how that feels right now."

"…Then why haven't I been the one to receive punishment?" Ved asked on his knees, his eyes redden from grief and despair to the force he knew he shouldn't have messed with. Grief that Golden Path was no longer the protectors of the people but an armed gang of thugs, how could Mohan let this happen?

Ajay had regained composure after he let loose his boiling rage upon an ignorant fool that ran on the first sight of trouble, ignorant to what was the damages incurred by his actions. Swar had the same feelings as Ved, devestation.

"Who said you weren't."

"What?"

"Your punishment is to watch. And once we're done with the Yinkian Armies, with Golden Path and with that hollow will of Mohan. Only then,….."

"You have my permission to die."

* * *

It was early in the morning, their first night had passed in Yinke without a hitch. From the reconnaissance reports by the scouts and remaining hunter cadres, the Yinke forces stationed at the borders and other regions were only just suspected the absence of their Headquarter's daily hails and were sending troops at about battalion strength from each of the six camps in the country. Making up about a regiment of mixed forces. Still no sign of the Republican Guard who were supposed to be stationed in the City itself, although interrogations on garrison soldiers and searching through whatever was left of the headquarters indicated that they happened to be out on an exercise near the Tibetan border with some of the Chinese troops. Likely, they would have been informed of the silence in their command and rushed back to investigate.

Although it was good news for Ajay and the Kyratis as all forces were accounted for on the ground and their supplies had been fully taken stock and were in the midst of unassembling.

The highway that was now used as an unprepared runway for the cargo planes and close air support craft manned by Lupus Caelum. Mainly the squadron of turbopropeller A-29 Super tucanos and Su-25SM Frogfoot ground attack planes. There was also an addition of helicopters with them, the S-70 blackhawk transports and the Mi-28 Havoc attack helicopter gunships.

There was a total of 6835 Kyrati personnel in Pada Mo City, that comprised of the Jatayu Para Commando Brigade, the 2nd Hussars Autonomous Armored Battalion, Two Artillery batteries, one air defence squadron, The helicopter and ground attack aircraft squadrons. David's force reconnaissance marines were here as an advisory presence due to having no legal protection in engaging in war as their allegiance was with the US Commander-in-Chief which was the United States President. Hurk was no exception to this, he had chosen to take part in the war as a Kyrati. Defending the interests of his new adoptive home, Ajay didn't refute him, his soldiers might need the presence of the legendary sniper 'Mizaru'. All of them fell under the unit called 1st Expeditionary Division or what the folks at home were dubbing 'Garuda Legion' due to their misunderstanding of the Jatayus' sigil emblem that matched the other celestial bird.

But Garuda Legion it became for naming sake.

"Still no sign of Tenzin, you sure he hadn't left the country?" Maya confirmed with him again.

"Given his personality and patriotism he wouldn't leave even if he wasn't wanted by the people. But if he did, then it makes very little sense for us to hold this city any longer. We'll just settle with this current government signing an armistice then."

"What's so important about Tenzin?" The one thing that bugged Maya the entire trip.

"…." Saras, Jeeval, Raja, and Jagriti were no exception.

They all looked at him with eagerness from him to spill the beans.

"This is entirely based on the King's master plan, do we agree?"

"Yes."

"Yeah, I guess."

"Wasn't this that King who was very weird?" Jagriti asked Maya whom she had been coordinating in suppressing rebel sympathies and providing the civilians with regular rations of food and other necessities in hopes to win the cities people over that they had no intention to harm them.

"Velvet, Raja, Nagesh, Samuel, give us a moment." Ajay told his subordinates and Jagriti to allow him to speak with his closer advisors in this theatre. She did not take offense as Ajay had proved that he had only ill intentions towards their National Army and the yet to reveal themselves Golden Path terrorist groups.

Once they had left and closed the door behind them, Ajay stood nearer to the desk with the map chart unfolded for them to see.

Only this map wasn't of just Yinke, but the entire local Himalayan region complete with the four nations, Papir, Kumsa, Yinke and Kyrat. They studied the map and then Jeeval started off with his inquiry.

"Teacher, why didn't you give the order to attack their external camps? I'm sure there wasn't a limit to the guided bombs available to Lupus Caelum and the Air Force." Ajay was a little glad he noticed that but had hoped he would have seen the reason as well.

"Quite right, they were left alone intentionally."

"Why?"

"Because depending on the Yinkian Army's capacity to handle the invasion, Beijing can't intervene." Saras answered with distinction, Ajay nodded to confirm.

"So you let them muster to mount an assault on the city." Maya confirmed High Command and Pagan's intentions.

"Quite right, think of it this way. It'll give our men a real taste of war they've been dying to have since they attacked Lanka. It'll let us work out all the bugs and concepts left unproven. Your brother and Sam would probably get the most experience dealing with their Armored units and perhaps even this fabled Republican Guard."

"That last part was not a single bit funny." She said in regards to her brother's safety.

"Oh stop babying him, he's a grown man. Maya. That aside, I have full confidence in him dealing with the Republican Guards if they meet."

Maya puffed unsatisfied.

"Once we deal with their mustered army, it'll be a made dash to the Yinke-tibetan border where they'll likely flee."

"To secure and deter the PLA?" Saras asked.

"Yes, although our presence will do little to deter them but we can at least keep them back long enough…."

"For what? We've incurred the wrath of a superpower with no official backup. Unless you're saying India has pledged to intervene." Maya said in a pragmatic way but she wasn't wrong either.

"No, it'll be something better." Something better, what could possibly keep China back other than a superpower?

"Jeez, what is it?"

But Ajay's mouth was locked tight. He had been sworn by Pagan not to reveal it even to his most trusted friends. This was strictly only between Pagan, Yuma, Noore, Gary and him

"Didn't Yuma tell you?" He thought she would bother to tell Maya at least given her status as an adoptive daughter but it apparently didn't seem to be the case, probably to protect her.

"Can't you?" But Ajay's mouth closed again.

"So his Royal Highness has a strategy to deterring the Chinese completely?" Ajay nodded to Jeeval.

It was almost unheard of for Pagan to conduct a military strategy, perhaps it was because none of them were born when Pagan achieved the feat of taking the throne and beating the Nationalists singlehandedly with wits and mind games.

But to see that Ajay had wholeheartedly trusted in the word of the King they couldn't help but trust in Ajay's own belief that what he said would be made true.

"Not a very convincing plan, isn't it?" Ajay laughed nervously.

"Do you believe it'll work?" Saras asked.

In his mind, he'd gone through it many times. There were several variables to watch out for. One was the predictability of the Yinkian forces now that their highest-ranking officers were six Colonels whom commandanted the camps outside and their elite armored force. He did indeed trust Bipin was more than capable of handling that, he had been tutored in armored strategies at the Indian Military Academy and had read through copies journals of armored officers, including that of the renown general Israel Tal who fought the arab states at suez.

Two was Golden Path, knowing Mohan and his affiliation with Yinkes ideological doctrine he would expect the latter to appear like a saint to the Yinkians and save them. He had an unhealthy messiah complex that he did.

The last was China's People's Liberation Army's ability to respond to a request for intervention should the Yinkian military officers deem it impossible to fight them at their odds. Tibet was an autonomous region surrounded by mountains so it would limit the types of forces the Chinese could send at the quickest possible time. But he knew they wouldn't disappoint, it was a matter of how fast the Royal Army can corner the routing forces at the Yinke-Tibet border and stand in the PLAs way to Yinke. From there, the rules of engagement become different. It was a matter of who shot first, they would fortify on opposite sides waiting for someone to cock up and shoot or accidentally cross that thin border line. Then it was up to Pagan on how quickly he could resolve his part.

Five days, that was the minimum that Pagan told him to hold from the day he invaded Yinke. He also needed a representative of Yinke to be flown back to Kyrat to speak with. Pagan's first choice was Tenzin, but if he chose not to appear then the current president who was reading Ajay's terms to end the war would do. Although, he doubted that the president would agree to his conditions so readily if he didn't cause a bit more terror which he wouldn't for the sake of civilian relations.

His demands were a significant demilitarization of Yinke's premier armed force, a debt of $80 Billion including the damages and grievance pay to the families at Lanka and the drafting of a thousand young men and women as a part of the Kyrati forces. Knowing him from the party yesterday, Ajay highly doubted he would agree to the second condition. But that was his term for them to keep their sovereignty.

"Five days…" Ajay murmured, but smiled widely on his end. Pagan was expecting an enormous amount from him that few in his retinue could pull off, Ajay guessed that Gary was capable of doing so but lacked the military authority which would be his handicap and not what Ajay lacked in.

"I don't really know. But I've always wanted to see what was it like to work under Pagavel." He said with a fearless grin. They all recognised the grin.

He showed it in the Battle of Ratu Gadhi, in the Meh Teh Offensive, the New Year Disgrace, The Battle and Atrocity of Lanka. On all occasions, he was vastly outnumbered.

But that was the exciting part. When he overpowered overwhelming odds with shear brute force.

Such was the way of the vengeful Asura.

* * *

Day two of Invasion, 0027HRS –

Bipin sat gazing up into the sky from the commander's cupola of his tank destroyer, he had been waiting for Samuel to return from the meeting. Apart from his own vehicle crew members, communicating with the other companies and even platoons were a hassle. They intentionally made things difficult for him along his journey since joining the unit two months ago. It felt like day one in the academy all over again.

Despite his rank as Captain he was placed to man the independent tank destroyer platoon instead of a company of his own or even be part of the command team with Samuel. Even so, he was not at all upset as he had gotten along well with just his platoon in contrast with the other companies or command group. His men understood his competence and depended on him to get out of tight spots. His platoon, 7th "Night Haunters" Tank Destroyer Platoon of 2nd Hussars was overall equipped with the battalions' biggest gun, the 105mm Tank destroyers. His current strength was about five vehicles with two spares hanging back with the logistics company in Pada Mo city.

"Sir, the Commander is back." At least not everyone thought the same way as a majority of their peers. Meng Kit, his sergeant major was a good friend and dutiful soldier that looked pass backgrounds and origins.

"Alright, thanks Chief. Tell the men we'll be moving out soon so take a piss, drink up or eat up while you have the chance. We'll be staying buttoned up longer than usual."

"Aye, sir. Jou San, leng neoi meng! (Good morning, pretty ladies!) Get your shit packed, we roll in five!" Sergeant Major Meng Kit called out to the lazing members of his autonomous platoon.

Bipin left them to work on their things as he made his way to the Command Tent near the forest. A helicopter flew over him from Pada Mo City, guessing it was Samuel who had returned from discussing strategy and orders from Ajay. When he reached the tent, as expected the five company officers gave him a cold shoulder not even greeting him despite their lower rank. To them, he was never an equal. This was a contrast to Han Feng's hateful glares, for fair reason too. He was associated with Badala. But that cold attitude ended with Samuel's return.

"Room!" The officers and NCOs stood at attention at Lieutenant-Colonel Samuel Min's return.

"At ease." She said at the wave of here hand.

They gathered around the table to discuss further on the battle ahead.

She placed out a plastic sheet overlapping their map which presented their orders and movement, explaining their strategy in a few short minutes. Though most were reluctant to work along with the demon, they couldn't help but be impressed with the strategy that was planned. The demon had even anticipated the movements which the defense forces would take when their command structure failed to report. Or perhaps it was Yuma's protégé or Marshal Roka's daughter.

"UAVs have spotted a massive convoy approaching our guard sector, their destination is the city." The group of officers were excited, they'd finally gain some action after a long time of being left stagnant on standby running exercise after exercise. How difficult could they be? Not as difficult as Golden Path since their special forces were held back by Badala with only a battalion of garrison soldiers and PDF.

"What's the strength, sir?"

"Around two thousand, thermal exhaust readings and silhouette scans indicate Type 69 and type 62 Light Tanks among their arsenal along with a mixture of BMPs and BTRs." It was a full-on mechanized force.

"Do we have fire support?"

"An artillery battery has been reserved for us as well as the close air support if we encounter heavy armor."

It as more than enough firepower to obiliterated any force out of existence.

"And the Republican Guard?" Bipin asked to which they gave weird glares.

"No word or sign of them yet, His grace also said you would be able to manage it if you encounter them." She said with a smile.

"Hmph! Why are we even having this conversation? If you're so ruffled up by this so-called group of elites then go fight them yourself. Since you're the only one that he thinks is capable of handling it properly." Han Feng declared.

"As it stands, '1st Lieutenant' Sun. We have no available ordnance to deal with their workhorse armor head-on. If they catch us by surprise they'll do more than hurt us and we put this operation at risk from their lack of our armor to provide high ground mobility and support." Bipin reminded him his rank and who he was talking to, not as if they ever took it to heart. He had already given up getting them to respect him, but he needed them to work with him at least.

He turned back to Sam.

"Is there any intelligence on their T-80s?" He insisted on pursuing the Republican Guard as a threat. Because they had equipment that was above the rest of the armed forces but also because they had received training from PLA armored forces, the same way Bipin learned from the Indian Armored forces. Both had a credible armor background and at one time it was the core of their ground strategy. But unlike the Kyratis, the Yinkians had both their commander and men train alongside them overseas, so they knew each other like the back ot their hand expressing superior coordination between the ranks.

"Humph!" Han Feng snorted.

"Actually yes, Badala asked me to hand you the entire dossier on their latest findings on the Republican Guard." Bipin took out the documents from the sealed envelope and read the headlines. His face turned grimmer that moment.

"What? Did their armor scare you already?" Han Feng taunted.

"Han Feng, shut up!" Sam roared.

"Ok! Ok! No need to get on my case, I'll be headed back to my company now to be ready." He quickly submitted and left not even wanting to take heat from Samuelle.

The other officers saluted and left while Bipin stayed to inquire further.

"So what's it say?" Sam could not erase the doubt in her heart that even Bipin who was cool headed during their discussed strategy against 1st Battalion commander Kuber and Anish during their cross-opposing force training. She laughed sadly when they won the long stream of competitiveness due to a strategy if luring in Kuber into a cliffside for their forces to ambush and 'kill' the Command platoon. They cheered for a much-awaited victory, yet there was not even a soul among them that congratulated Bipin for providing them that strategy. It made her sigh with regret at how conceit the Cantons were, there was no way their fellow cantonese in Hong Kong were this much of bastards. So how did they turn out like rotten eggs? It must have been that lifestyle of growing with a silverspoon that was affecting their brains. It had to be that case base on what were hers and Bipin's childhood and upbringing. Although Bipin had suffered worse, he never once complained about the situation, she was glad he was her to help her through this.

Who knows, perhaps with him the road to attaining the Sigil of Valor wouldn't be far, especially now that it was war time.

"Not good, its about their model of tank."

"Does it make a difference?"

"Significantly. T-80s had been fabled for being less than they'd originally been thought out to be, but most variants have corrected that issue and improve over it. They're operated mostly by former-soviet states. To think they're all the way out here, was it truly the Ukrainians that supplied them these vehicles through China? Or is it someone else we hope it isn't?" Bipin implied the very supplier of airframes to their country might be supplying both sides in their hatred for one another.

"Don't read to heavily into the political aspect of things, it doesn't suit a model soldier like you. I hope you'll look out for me in the field then, Bipin." She said with a smile before turning to leave.

"Sam."

"Yes?" She turned around when he called for her.

"We know where they are and what they look like, but we don't know the competence of their commanders. The fact that a force just rushes back without caution worries me. Are you sure Intel only reports them returning and not a few units loitering about or strange occurances around the hills?" Bipin expressed his worries.

"Not that I dug up from the intel, but have a bit of faith in me, buddy. I'm not some superior that lets his superior do everything." She said before turning on her course towards her command Platoon to direct the attack on the returning forces.

Five minutes later, Bipin returned to his platoon to have the Sergeant Major waiting for him.

"Sir."

"Tell the men to optimise load for Sabots, close range at less than a hundred." Meng Kit was shocked by what he said, that meant they were facing each other at point blank.

"Sir?" Meng Kit noticed a very serious expression on his commanding officer's face, one he rarely wore as a charming and honest fellow to talk with.

"If my gut tells me correctly, if I were a defending force repelling an invading armored force-…."

Bipin looked towards the mountains where a valley lay beyond, the enemy was reported to be appearing out of it and they would be heading them to ambush them. But how could the home team not know their own home territory.

"…. Then my enemy would be in for a big surprise when they thought I was frantically getting back."

* * *

They moved out within fifteen minutes of Sam's call to move to the designated area to engage and destroy the response forces.

As per orders, the 2nd Hussars were to seek and destroy them. And from their earlier planning, they were expected to engage them at a fork in the valley that split five ways towards the rest of the border camps, this was to be their area of ambush just after. They would spread out and ambush them from the mountainsides. While their vehicles weren't mountain goats themselves, they were slightly better off than the heavy lumbering tanks in the Yinkian Armys' arsenal which would break the soft mountain ground under their tracks and cause them to fall to their deaths.

Bipin regularly checked the surrounding hills with his binoculars, while it was a great place to ambush. They were exposed until they reached, but intel suggested they wouldn't reach till the afternoon. Suggested, that is. The problem with technology was that there would always be an over-dependence on electronics to do minor tasks for you. This was especially the problem with his men at one point, relying on the fire control software to triangulate a firing solution for the guns to the target. That was a serious drawback they had to Anish's company on multiple occasions. Bipin invested a lot of time to remedy that, because if the electronics ever failed they would be seriously impaired.

He put them through a rigourous training to fire with a crank and manual controls, to monitor the thermal bloom of their engines against anti-tank missiles and the use of camoflauge to visibly hide their silhouette. All the anti-tank hunting techniques he'd learnt from the Indian armored officer at Maharashtra. His training paid off with the natural competence of them delivering a round accurately towards a target 1.5km away and dead centre. He also had Anish teach them how to fire on the move manually and look for tank weakspots. The result of this was his platoon regularly inspecting their equipment from engine to gun barrel for the slightest error or flaw to clear or replace. They frequently read up on different armored vehicles on the internet on their spare time to learn their characteristics, their strength and weaknesses to exploit. That was how his platoon slowly warmed to him, through understanding him and working hard with him. He didn't mind sponsoring their drinks at the bar during the long weekends.

The Night Haunters would be the swift and terrible sword of the 2nd Hussars, to decapitate their enemies with.

"Still buggered, sir?" Meng Kit watched the anxiousness in his officer.

Bipin pressed his control radio to the command frequency.

"Cataphract Zeta to Cataphract Actual, I'm going dark for a few. Maintaining radio silence, how copy, over."

*Cataphract Zeta, I read you. Report in half hour or upon first encounter. Happy hunting, out.* Samuelle gave her permission for him to leave.

*Don't run out on us now, Captain.* Replied a voice full of malicious intent.

*Cataphract Actual to Cataphract Gamma. Stay off the command channel if you have nothing useful to contribute. Out!* Sam warned Han Feng who was taking point towards their destination.

And so, the Night Haunters increased their speed, passing the convoy and heading in the direction of the mountains to the left. Some of the officers from the different companies snorted while others silently approved of his initiative. Because in the 2nd Hussars, it was taboo to side with outsiders less they become outcasts themselves.

A half hour had passed with the formation reaching the place they call Banshur's hand. That was so, because of the five different valleys it expands from the valley they came from that represented the wrist and forearm. How curious, that once upon a time all the four nations worshipped the same god once before they adopted different ideologies to suit their social and geographical needs. The temple ruins around Pada Mo city showed evidence of this, unfortunately none of the men or woman in 2nd Hussars were devotees, not even Bipin. At least that was a common ground their shared.

Samuelle remained in the upseated position of her command vehicle assessing the grounds they could use. They could set up at each finger of the mountains and simultaneously attack or reinforce their fellow companies in the event they were fighting too intensely. The ground which they stood was the centre plain of the 'palm' and was to be the killzone. The once place that no one should be less they had a deathwish to be surrounded and die.

Samuelle pressed her radio on the command channel.

"All units, halt. Take your respective places an await further instruction."

*Cataphract Alpha copies, over.*

*Roger, Delta reads you, over.*

Several other companies reported and understood.

*Gamma here, will comply, over.* Han Feng said with a lazy answer.

"Of course you will, damn it! Take that shit out of your head before I stuff it somewhere else!" She rubbed her head as the heir to the Sun family was giving her a harder time that any to deal with, even during a war. She just couldn't believe how stuck up he was.

"Gamma, answer!"

*…. Gamma reads you, over.*

"Don't screw with me, Han Geng. Or I'll make life miserable for you later." She warned him, but received no reply. She wondered where did five years of military training go to, he acted like he owned the 2nd Hussars. Partly because Sun Kwan donated the most to sponsoring the commissioning of the 2nd Hussars.

"Cataphract Zeta, report. Over." But as she called out, no reply came in for a particular amount of leeway time.

"Zeta, do you read? It's the appointed fall in time, report. Over." Only static was her answer from Zeta who had kept radio silence despite her instruction to call in. She was having a worrysome feeling that something had happened or was about to happen.

*Sir, everything alright?* Her adjutant, who led her command group elements for her as she coordinated the rests' movements and tactics inquired from the radio of the vehicle next to her.

"Something's up with Zeta, keep a lookout."

*Perhaps they'd encountered an advance scout and were in the process of destroying them to kill their report of our presence here.* Her adjutant was rather optimistic in his views towards Bipin's work, she was glad that at least he could see that Bipin was nothing but hardworking and earnesty.

"I hope so."

*Honestly, do you really think that Kyrati loser would want to stay to fight?* She didn't know hold Han Feng had the keys to her frequency with her command group, but he'd violated the radio chain of command.

"Little bastard. Get your ass out of my channel or I will have you court martialled for insubordination!" She scorned at him over the radio set, she hated that her command team had to hear that side of her when they were good subordinates that didn't need her to remind.

*Right Right. I was just checking if you were still game for a fight so I had your subordinate hand me the codes. A little insurance to know that you wouldn't just run off when things went sour.*

"Han Geng….. If you do not step back and tuck that tail between your legs, I will bring you back to your father in a body bag." She said in a chilling tone that caught even Han Feng by surprise.

*Gamma rolling, out!*

"It's over, not out! Fuck! Where did you learn radio callsigns?!" She shouted angrily into the radio for his intentionally crusade to piss her off.

She turned to her adjutant who had opened his hatch.

"Siu Wei, relieve Gamma Company of its commander. And bring a section to take him back to the city."

"Aye, si-(BOOM)" Before he had a chance to finish, an explosion rocked the plains and the dirt kicked up from an area next to a group of dismounted soldiers. The radius of the fragmentation killed two men.

"CONTACT FRONT!" One of the soldiers shouted at the top of his voice.

"All units mount up and disperse. Forget about ambush, don't let them hinder you!" She said into her open channel.

*Delta copies.*

*Alpha copies.*

*Beta copies.*

*Epilson copies!*

*Theta acknowledges!*

*G-Gamma acknowledges!*

The companies began their dispersion to allow for room to manuever, mobility was key to their survival since the Yinkian armor possessed weapons with greater penetrative power than autocannons or heavy machine guns which was the Patria AMVs protective limit.

No sooner did the first round hit and scored a fluke kill did several other rounds fly towards them from smoke puffs coming from the entrance of the mountain valleys. And at that distance, why didn't they see them coming? They didn't account for one thing, slopes.

They had assumed that the whole road was a flat ground easy to see and traverse. But they hadn't physically been there to know it was that way.

There were enemies coming from three different directions, at the spearhead were the heaviest and most protected armored units. Type 69 main battle tanks, the workhorse of the Yinkian Armored Division. Were taking the brunt of the return fire from the surprised Kyrati forces.

*Gamma, requesting fire support for my location! Over!* Han Feng sounded worried over his channel with the tide worsening on his end.

"Cataphract Gamma, you will hold back the enemy and your tongue. Or death will be the least of your worries." But though she said that, she ordered Theta who was in reserve to support Gamma Company.

For a mere four minutes, it felt like an hour had passed from how quickly the Hussars reorganised to fight. Soon, the men and their commanders regained their confidence and no longer required her guidance or call for fire support. The artillery seemed to be on hold for some reason, and the ground attack aircraft were scrambling from their temporary airbase.

As everything seemed to be under control, a flash of light zipped pass Sam and struck one of her command teams' vehicles. The vehicle exploded from the penetration that struck its ammunition storage, one of the burning crewmembers climbed out before dying with painful screams.

She knew what it was, a sabot round from a tank. But it wasn't that fact one of her vehicles was destroyed.

It was its directional origin.

As she turned around towards the valley in which they arrived, she saw in the wake of a dust storm a whole row of main battle tanks in wedged formations coming in to enclose around them from cutting off their exit. The Command platoon was exposed entirely to the onslaught of barrages that had a bit more accuracy than the Type 69s that were firing at the rest of the fighting companies.

Sam took her binoculars to see while the adjutant ordered a complete defensive manuever of the platoon to get out of harms way and called for the reserve company Epilson to support their relocation.

She peered through the binoculars and looked at the row of tanks that converged confidently. And it was as she had foreseen. She recognized the silhouette of the tanks from the pictures and sketches on Bipin's research files before they flew to Yinke.

They were T-80s, the Republican Guard was here, and they led the forces advance to Pada Mo City with full awareness of the situation. Sam and a few others were beginning to feel like fools to think that heavy tanks were inferior to their cross-country prowess of their high-mobility wheeled vehicles. This was Yinke, their home. Familiar grounds were always easier to navigate that with a GPS.

A reserved tank destroyer platoon fired back at the Republican Guard from their stationary position at the rear of the forces. The Tungsten-carbide alloy projectiles flew marked visually by its tracer towards one of the many tanks with the greatly enhanced accuracy of a computerized ballistic computer.

But contrary to their visualization of a burning tank, the sabot round ricocheted off the front turret and hull glacis of these greatly superior tanks. Many of the soldiers who saw that turned pale at the sight of an enemy they couldn't kill with a single hit.

Then, it was the Republican Guards' turn, smoke plums opened out from their gun barrels and delivered fin-stabilized High-Explosive Anti Tank rounds towards the thin armor of the vehicles in their possession. Some missed but did equally destructive damage to the unprotected infantry, while some hit their marks on the vehicles and caused a massive explosion followed with the turret being blow clean off the burning wreck of the patria vehicles.

It did a critical blow to the morale of the 2nd Hussars whom had their escape route cut off from them and faced a force that couldn't be dealt with easily. The birds had yet to arrive and the artillery was being delayed. The Cantons in the Hussars were now tasting the fullness of war, but on the receiving end. If this dragged out, they would be annihilated.

Sam bit her lower lip, they had been intentionally outmanuevered by the enemy with little to no alternative than to fight. She called out to the Companies to know if there was a weakened part of the encirclement for them to break out of, but in vain. The Yinkians were dead set on them dying here for trespassing on their soil, thought they were unaware of the status of Pada Mo city, they could bet it didn't look good there. They intended to make their way there quickly and with the element of surprise on their side, for that to happen though….

This Battalion needed to perish.

Sam could feel the despair of this strategy set in on her psyche, impairing her ability to relay commands. She had underestimated the competence of the Yinkian Commander and her men were paying dearly. Was this to be their Alamo-(BOOM) (BOBOBOBOOM)

She and the command team watched as the previously fearsome row of battle tanks from the Republican Guard had seven of their tanks blown to bits with their several ton heavy turrets flying in the air. The Republican Guard halted all movement and scanned the area for attackers, when two more tanks got hit and exploded. The might of the Republican Guards' Invulnerable T-80 fleet was blown away with an apparent lose of tanks worth a platoon of armor.

"What the hell?!" Her adjutant spoke those words for her.

The Yinkian Elite couldn't seem to find their hidden attackers as far as they looked, but Samuelle caught notice of glints of flying sabots striking the T-80s exposed in the rear. It was coming all the way from behind at their origin point up on the mountain. The unknown attackers had delivered the same karmic justice to the Republican Guards as they had done to the 2nd Hussars.

The death of several of their tanks and the halting of their advance encouraged the soldiers to fight with a standing chance. Just as everything seem to get stable, the open channel fizzed.

*(Static)-taphract Zeta to all forces, the Night Haunters have your back.*

* * *

Author's Notes:

We finally get some armor vs armor battles going on. Time to show that side characters aren't pushovers. GO! GO! Team Bipin!

Author's Thoughts:

(Bane Ghale): "Once Yinke is ashes... you have my permission to die." (Spoken through a crab breathing mask)


	89. Chapter 81(f) - Rise of Night Haunters

Author's Notes:

The short that i had promised but was delayed for a while, so sorry.

I nearly wanted to call this chapter Boys und Panzer. Lol. How funny would that have been. Still, i don't get that anime slightly, how could shells penetrate their vehicles and they still survive with little flags popping out. In real life, they would have been turned to ash. That's anime for you. First there were girls with airplane legs, girls that took the embodiment of firearms, then the biggest hit in the west in the form of shipgirls.

* * *

A week before the Atrocity of Lanka-

There was nothing like the powerful humming of the 500-horsepower supercharged engine to calm his nerves. It was as his armour supervisor in Maharashtra had told him during his course, the vehicle is a part of you. Its sensors are your sight, its guns are your sword and arrows, the wheels are your limbs. When the vehicle is hit or parts become damaged, feel its pain, understand your pain.

Bipin took his lessons to heart at he commanded not just the vehicle he was in but eight other vehicles that formed the 7th Autonomous Tank Destroyer Platoon. The styled name was still pending, but it would soon come around to them eventually. There was an adventure out there waiting to christen them.

(Boom)

The vehicle rocked from sending a practice sabot round towards its intended target some one and a half kilometres away.

"Hit. Three feet to the right, nope. That's a probable ricochet." Bipin gave his final mark on the result on the target.

"What?! Aw- Pok Gai!" His gunner complained.

"Try harder next time, it looks like Sabre will be representing the tournament for us after all." He patted the commander of the vehicle named Maledict. Currently he was undergoing a trial to see who would represent their battalion as the tank destroyer marksman in the individual vehicle evaluation. He had sat in all five vehicle commanders' vehicles to assess their performance overall with a series of difficult challenges ranging from field repairs, firing on the move, quick reaction targets, and finally long range. Sabre's crew had lived up to his expectations in his test and were now going to represent them.

Bipin alighted the vehicle with his pen and his assessment slip on a clipboard heading in the direction of Camp Sigma's officer mess, where Sam was expecting him.

"Master Sergeant, please take care of the rest." He told his Platoon Sergeant as he took his leave.

"Shall I take them for a jog first, sir?"

"I'll leave it to you, Meng Kit. After this you can take the lads for a drink." Bipin said before going on his way. MSG Meng Kit smiled and shook his head, the veteran sergeant found him to be very lenient on his soldiers despite all the rigourous exercises and training he put them through which wasn't on the battalion iternary. Bipin was a rare breed of officer even in outside armies, he started his career as a private soldier to section commander then received a commission for his thesis which had made the entire concept of Kyrati Armour possible in the first place. Although, no one had yet given him the credit he deserved. Meng Kit found that to be rather unfair, but he admired Bipin's eagerness to do good without expecting reward. Meng Kit would follow him wherever he went that was for sure.

The Master Sergeant was left to deal with the platoon while he was on his way to deliver his report to Samuelle and Fang Siu Wei, her adjutant.

"(Sigh)." As he came up to the entrance of the mess hall, he sighed once more. Now came the gauntlet of icy stares and belittling words.

"What do we have here?"

"You sure you're in the right place, dai goh?"

"Ha! Don't try to mix into a place you don't belong, outsider."

It appeared as if his rank had no meaning as even Lieutenants were doing the same as his equivalent peers. Today seemed to be entirely occupied by the officers of the 2nd Hussars.

Bipin concentrated on his task at hand and brushed all the unsavoury remarks aside.

"Tsh!" Seeing that he wasn't antagonised by their remarks they too ignored him to return to their drinking and casual talk.

He was convinced that if Ajay were here, they wouldn't even dare look up. They'd perhaps smile when he beat one of their comrades just on a whim. Although Ajay wasn't like that unless someone pushed him, it was the way of the world. The strong and influential were allowed to bully the meek at no expense. However, Bipin made it clear he wasn't weak but that still didn't stop them being disgruntled with his presence. Samuelle still needed him for strategy and armoured tactics that none of them were educated in. They had all been crack infantry reassigned into the battalion, some were heli-bourne, others were QRF and one or two were from Yuma's Guard special forces group, SDSG. The closest equivalent in equipment and tactics to the Russian GRU or British SAS whom had training overseas, unfortunately, they wouldn't have much use of their skills operating in vehicles but would be more ideal as embarking infantry that escorted the mechanised units on foot or acted as scouts.

He arrived at the table where Siu Wei was discussing with Sam on their winning strategy to beating 1st Hussars at the Spring Armour Tournament. Sitting together with them were the five Company Commanders, their groups named after the Greek Alphabet. Bipin's was Zeta, he didn't know if it was intentional but he wasn't picky either. The radio callsign for them was Caraphract.

Han Feng was also among them representing Gamma.

"Bipin, have a seat. Now that you're here we can start."

"Sir. Here are the assessments on who I'm picking for tomorrow."

Sam took the clipboard and scanned through the papers, her eyes widen as she saw the boundaries of his assessment.

"A kilometre and a half shot without FCS?!" Even she was shocked by the demands he placed on his unit as were her adjutant and the Alpha Company leader, Fang Wei. The Adjutant's cousin.

Samuelle's eyes brightened and her lips broke into a smile.

"With this I think we can do it." She declared to the group.

The group of officers had their attention now with her declaration and looked towards the table from where Sam was.

"For this at least the Individual Vehicle Evaluation will be covered for, It'll be up to your men now, Bipin."

"Sabre won't disappoint, Sir." A smile had planted itself on her face since his report entered her hands. Her previously worried face was due to the upcoming Spring Armour Tournament.

A public viewing competition where high-value guests and high command officials observed their performance and rewarded them appropriately for showing their competence. But this time, it was a different affair for 2nd Hussars. She had been receiving complaints from her sponsors and the high command committee on her groups' sub-par performance compared to the 1st Hussars run by Kuber. She had no way to refute their claim even, because they had been crosstraining with 1st Battalion at least seven times. All amounting to a total loss.

There were some talks of scrapping their battalion and distributing them to other units as support equipment or merging the two battalions to save on cost. Their only hope of proving to them otherwise was the Spring Armour Tournament, that was their condition to keep her command.

She hadn't told any of her officers yet so they wouldn't feel the pressure of jeopardy they were in, only Bipin knew because Ajay had told him directly what was the reality of their situation if they didn't grow up and readapt to the new doctrines quick enough. 1st Battalion had already set the benchmark despite their exceptional performance and the board wouldn't accept for less of them. Bipin had to step in to change that, he didn't care a least bit about how the officers or the men felt about him. 2nd Hussars was his brainchild as 1st Battalion was Anish's. He wouldn't let it crumble to ashes over stupid disparities of class or culture.

Unfortunately, none of the Canton soldiers or officers shared his views save for his own platoon whom he had worked extremely hard to gain their respect.

The Tournament was split into three areas of evaluation. Individual vehicle assessment, to test the best vehicle crew in a situational course. The second was the Company-level coordination, a mixture of movements, sudden instances and assessing how quickly they respond and act as a Company. That one, Samuel already gave up on. Knowing who Kuber would send for that evaluation, it was likely 1st Lieutenant Anish. Her entire battalion knew who he was and the amount of grievances they had with him surmounted any other with the exception of Bipin whom they still wanted out of their unit.

In short, Anish had kicked their asses so many times during the crosstraining exercises their bottoms were red and bleeding. He had a common approach of ambushing large groups from a hidden emplacement and causing anarchy to erupt from the ranks. They never saw him unless he wanted them to, and it was the opposite of their code of chivalry conduct where they expected to go one on one with a foe or at least head-on.

Samuelle proposed their plan for the final assessment which was the Mock Battle, it was to attain the best out of three, if they could score two it was a total victory. But if they somehow tied in the end of it, it wasn't the end of the story. Because when that happened, the panel of judges comprising of four people would vote who was the winner based on their performance and coordination of soldiers.

Throughout the discussion, Bipin remained the silent one, not because he hadn't anything to contribute. But because his suggestion would be instantly shudded and would not be taken seriously even if Sam ordered it.

At the end of the discussion, after all had returned to their barracks or depot. Bipin walked over to where Samuelle was seated.

"Come, Bip. Tell me what are our odds." She said with contentment, but Bipin was about to disappoint her with what he had to inform.

"You're falling into Kuber's hands." He said in an emotionless manner. Since his return from Maharashtra it had always been that way. He had hit a revelation there that changed the entire way he thought. That being said, he was still surprised by pranks that Ajay or Maya did to him.

"What?" Her expression turned pale in an instant.

"Kuber knows our strengths and weaknesses, as if he'd let us play by our rules."

"…." She begun to think her plans were entirely naïve now that Bipin had pointed that out. Bipin assured her on her confidence once again.

"Your plans aren't wrong, its just the placement that could be remedied in the middle. Here's my prediction….." Samuelle listened closely as he was about to tell her the reason, even leaning extremely close that she forgot about personal boundary. It gave Bipin a weird feeling of her that he couldn't put a finger on despite their long friendship together.

"The first assessment we'll earn a tie, the second will be an atrocious defeat. The last need not be mentioned, either way we will lose or gain a tie. But with their impressive show of calmness under fire and our lack of calmness, it just shows the disparity in quality to the spectators."

"Then that means-….."

"They'll not only beat us at the game, but win the crowds appraisal. His grace has already warned me that the bean counters plan to merge the two battalions under Kuber's control, he will take the entire fleet into his arsenal and likely get a promotion as a bonus out of it."

"This-…."

"Terrible, doesn't even begin to explain it. I've done all I can to ensure that the first contest remains a tie."

"Are you saying Anish can perform better than your best crew?"

"I've known him since we were with Badala. If there's money involved he'll give his 120%, I heard the cash prize was five thousand a head."

Sam didn't know what to think, he was a moneybag alright from the sound of it. Bipin sounded confident he would threaten their units integrity with that drive alone.

"He has his reasons thought." Sam cocked her head, what could that be, family?

"Anish had been through rough times, perhaps even rougher than myself and Maya. His family had faced a difficult time due to collateral from the Nationalist rebellion. They were always in the mode of worrying about their next meal. One his siblings ever perished so that he could eat in her place, from then he swore never to go hungry again." Samuelle felt her heart tighten at the cruel past that this opponent of there's went through, she couldn't help but sympathize though he was their probable cause of the dissolution of the 2nd Hussars.

"Since then, he's developed a habit of hoarding money because of that, he has a whole vault full of spoils of war and salary bonuses. But when it came to celebratory meals with friends, he would spare no expense to him or his peers." Bipin said with a sadden smile as he recalled what Anish told him long ago.

"So are you suggesting we submit after hearing his sob story?" It was more of a question for herself than for Bipin, but she said it outloud to inquire why he even brought it up to shake her resolve.

"No. I was telling you his achille's heel."

"What? It sounded more like his drive."

"That it was, but its also his flaw."

"Are you suggesting we bribe him backdoor?" Bipin shook his head.

"Even he has pride, seeing us get crushed whilst earning his keep is a reward unto another reward. For only a brief period, Anish will make a mistake and that's to become complacent in our apparent defeat. But we will have one opportunity to beat him in the Company-group competition." Sam's eyes widen.

"What?! Beat Anish in the 2nd Game!?" It was not her who said it, but Major Fang and Captain Fang Wei whom eavesdropped.

Samuelle and Bipin stared at them as they realized what they had done and scratched their heads in embarrassment. Unfortunately, they had heard everything else previously also.

"Speak the truth, Captain. You said win the 2nd Game, correct?"

"I did." He confirmed.

"We do not need that, all we need is to win the Mock Battle which-."

"Which we will surely lose like we've always done." Bipin interrupted and completed her sentence in a way she didn't expect. Lose the mock battle? Even after all that planning?

"I must ask why, Captain." Fang Wei who was the commander of Alpha inquired.

"The same reason as it's always been. 1st Hussars as tankers, we are nothing but warriors in armoured vehicles. 1st Battalion has been more armoured missions alone than any of the men in ours have been when they were still infantry. They have the advantage of two months training and proving ahead of us, and they've understood the concept through their battles with Golden Path and the CIA sponsored CNS operatives. While all we've done is mock battles and training routines."

""….."" The Fang members couldn't refute his reasoning, no matter how much they refuse to admit 1st Hussars was better. Bipin was slightly impressed that the Fang relatives weren't as stubborn as their younger counterparts.

"Kuber knows we'll definitely go with this strategy because it is easier. But when have battles been easy? I can beat our opponent while in know his traits but I can't assist you if we're going against the entire battalion. That's why…. We need to end this with the second game."

The three officers looked at Bipin deeply, feeling as if he'd dragged them further and further into the abyss which was the reality of the situation from a rational point of view.

But knowing that he knew the outcome, he would also know a counter to this plan. Though reluctant to ask, Fang Siu Wei took the initiative.

"What do you propose?"

* * *

The observation booth was much like what you would see in an army open house vehicle demo vicinity. With a row after row of chairs rising up. And like the event, was open to the public. It became news to the immediate region where it was held near Utkarsh Town. Over two thousand came to the stands to watch the display of armoured might in Kyrat that had not been showcased before, unless you'd been on the receiving end of their ordnance.

Anish took this opportunity to market out his merchandise in the form of the Badala doll he had patented and manufactured on his off time at the cotton factory. Other entreprenuering businesses also took the opportunity of a mass crowd in one area to sell their snacks and drinks to occupy those hungry and thirsty mouths. They made an equally handsome profit from that.

Sitting at the highest observation deck where the invigilators watch the game for any foul play were Ajay and Sun Kwan. Seated together to have a drink, if they shared a common interest it was that 2nd Hussars was not to be dissolved. Sun Kwan's reasons were quite clear, Ajay's were simply looking out for a friend.

As the game progressed, it had been as Bipin earlier predicted. The first game ended in a tie, Anish himself had competed against his best crew Sabre but had tied nonetheless much to 2nd Hussars relief. And to Anish's disbelief that those cantons had actually put him at odds, he took the 2nd Hussars even more seriously in the next quadrant.

"Fang Wei, huh? I hope he teaches them what ten years of combat experience will do." Sun Kwan casually commented as he was oblivious to the odds they were actually facing. Ajay was no better in discriminating as he didn't have understanding of armour doctrines but that didn't mean he could feel the tension from the 2nd Hussars whom desperately tried their best to win.

"…."

"Care to make a bet to past time?" He challenged Ajay even while they were here on common interests, they were still silent foes.

"Can you afford a million?" Ajay asked not at all phased, to Sun Kwan's shock that he had a million lying around. He wasn't so clear on Ajay's assets and assumed he was simply using the allowance that Pagan gave him. His only possessions were after all a house on a hill he shared with three women.

If he knew that Ajay had a vault where he kept the hidden treasures of Kyrat, a swiss bank account and vault carrying gold bullion, and stocks and investments in renewable energy, Sun Kwan's mouth would drop. Because Ajay's actual wealth was close to half the entire cantons collected assets and more than the Sun Family itself. Although those investments were made by Maya on her freetime and Longinus who had created and siphoned money to those swiss accounts during his trip.

Of course, he never really indulged in the wealth myself but used it to invest in Noore's hospital, pay the upkeep of the arsenals, keep the town and its civil services running, wire to online accounts the salaries of the mercenary aviators in Lupus Caelum LLC and equip his Unit 58 with additional gear. Each were no small sum, and would only grow with their development, so money would become a pressing issue in the future.

"Two mill says they loses this quadrant."

"Aren't most of them your family? You're saying you don't even have confidence for them to win in the Company round?" Ajay said in an almost mocking manner, Sun Kwan hid his inner anger with a bright smile.

"I've been hearing talk of the Commander in the 1st Hussars being quite respectable and proficient, I just want to lend my support for the sproutling. What will be yours?"

Ajay snorted internally, he was a shameless bastard that didn't like losing.

*Let the 2nd Quadrant begin!* Said over the P.A. by a spokesperson. Ajay looked down at the group gathered in the 2nd Hussars waiting area and noticed a rather familiar person who didn't belong to that company but was in it anyway. A smile appeared on his face.

"Two million and one dollar." Sun Kwan scorned inwardly but didn't show it to Ajay.

"What's with that dollar?" He said with fake laughter.

"Think of it as charity I'm giving after you lose."

"And what will your stake be then?"

"That 2nd Hussars wins this match."

* * *

Anish was in a poor mood from the last game, he thought he would win but those cantons had cockblocked him to making this an easy victory.

*1st Hussars, 20 points. 2nd Hussars, 20 points.* The overall P.A announced on their open channel.

"What the hell?!" His crew shared the same thoughts as the 2nd Hussars were playing level with them in this game as well.

"Madarchod! We can't lose this one or Kuber and the rest will be in for a world of hurt."

Anish opened the hatch to his moving vehicle as the company was headed in the direction of the next firing area, across of him were 2nd Hussars moving at superior crosscountry speeds. The firing area was separated by a ridge and a series of curves and slopes. It was a test of how quickly they could acquire the targets out to ranges of excess 2km.

Anish buttoned up his vehicle.

-It's now down to our shooting skills from here on out.-

Anish's company comprised of 90mm gun tank destroyers, whilst Alpha only had two borrowed from Bipin's platoon. The rest of the vehicles seem to comprise of troop carriers to assist in the dismounting troop evaluations, that was where Anish's company suffered due to having room for only five in each of their vehicles because of the optimisation.

"Ishat, be ready for my directives." He told his gunner as he prepared his provisions for hunter-killer mode on the targets just over the ridge.

Anish made a quick look toward the 2nd Hussars shooting area, but found that only the troop carriers had gone over the slope. The rest stayed where they were. It confused the hell out of him but he quickly shoved it aside, this was a battle against time. This was the last assessment to the end of theis company level quadrant.

He sighted the targets for his gunner. "three targets at ranges 500, 1000 and 800 respectively. Engage in orders of closest to furthest."

"Engaging, away!" (Boom)

Anish left the rest of the platton commanders to deal with their share of targets. Right now it was just him and his share to deal with.

The mechanical loader shoved the rounds with the quickest possible consistent speed thanks to some modifications.

"First and Second targets good hit!"

"Roger, Third target reacquiring." His gunner acknowledged.

But then as Anish scanned the grounds, he found a pop up target.

"Ishat, I'm hijacking for a while." He took over the controls to engage the sudden appearing target which was worth more than the stationary ones.

"Away!" (Boom)

"Pop up target hit, you can have it back now, Ishat." He flipped the switch to return the controls back to his gunner's station.

At the end of the thirty second engagement of non-stop firing at the targets that presented itself, the siren finally blared.

*All units cease and await results.* The P.A announced.

Anish climbed out of the vehicle to observe his group targets, all were hit with equal precision despite being representatives for trucks and light armoured vehicles on a convoy route.

*The results have been quantified.* The P.A announced five minutes later while Anish took a smoke break and happened to chance upon the 2nd Hussars side where he dropped his cigarette.

Because over the ridge were just their troop carriers mounted with .50 cal machineguns, not sufficient in dealing with the range of the targets and the mass damage like the 90mm shells they pounded into the targets.

*The winner for this quadrant is…. 2nd Hussars!*

"What the fuck!?" He said standing up from his position.

"Madarchod! Did we lose?" His crew were flabbergasted.

*2nd Hussars win was by use of concealment whilst delivering heavy damage upon their enemy.* The P.A justified their win. Anish still couldn't belief it and jumped off his vehicle to approach them.

But as he reached behind their ridge where most of their vehicles were he stopped in his tracks and understood why.

"Mortars."

2nd Hussars did attack the enemy after all, but not with direct attack, rather indirect fire. And the mortars in their possession could hit further away than any direct weapon system could. The rules of the quadrant were to engage the targets at the quickest possible timing.

Alpha had set up their mortars at the base of the ridge and had the troop carriers range and spot for them the targets. This all happened while Anish was still having his company climb the hill in coordination.

The hatch of the command vehicle popped open and out came the source of his difficulties, Alpha had not been commanded by Fang Wei but by Bipin. This should have been impossible as Bipin's treatment in the 2nd Hussars was infamous yet here he was among the men of Alpha company patting his back from a good job. Before they had left, Fang Wei had informed his company of the stakes and that they were to follow Bipin's command or the consequences would be heavy.

Anish sighed and ended up chuckling in defeat. He realised that he had made a serious mistake. Because he was in the tank destroyer company he resorted to only the specific tactics and strategies of how engagements were done by tank destroyers. His approach was limited, whereas Bipin had taken a mixture of vehicles to perform and fulfil each task to the best of their ability.

He had thoroughly lost against Bipin in the 2nd quadrant of command and coordination of a company.

The 2nd Hussars cheered as did the crowd who had no specific favorites yet.

Sun Kwan's face turned ugly at the sight of the 2nd Hussars winning and grief that he'd lost quite a sum to Ajay.

"I hope you'll be able to pay up soon, Lord Kwan." Ajay said in a light manner as he took his leave. Not noticing that Sun Kwan had slammed the table when he had left.

Even though there was still one game left till the end, the 2nd hussars celebrated like it was a win. It had been the first time they'd won against the 1st hussars with their own strength, all that Bipin really did was direct them.

While they celebrated, Bipin left their company and returned to the observation area reserved for the officers whom were also celebrating.

"Aren't you feeling content?" Called out a familiar voice.

"Ajay…."

"You're too much of a silent hero, Bipin. If this keeps going on, you'll be forgotten without anyone remembering your achievements. What would your sister think."

"My honor, my pride and joy is serving alongside men and women who share my belief in peace and prosperity of Kyrat." Ajay sighed at his lack of ambitions.

"You're a good soldier, Bipin. Probably one of the rarest kinds of officers out there, like Arjun. But even he understands the basics of politics. If you don't grasp even the slightest of the rewards or reap good faith in you, it'll be taken as arrogance. And you'll have a harder time at working with your peers."

"… Sometimes I feel that it was better for me as a trooper than a leader of men."

"You share the same idea as me, Bip. But we aren't alone in this game, Arjun and High Command placed that commission on your shoulders because they felt there was more to you than just a good soldier." Bipin took in what Ajay told him without retorting.

"Just something to keep in mind, if nothing else you're doing fine. Huh! You even earned me two mill off Sun Kwan. Don't worry, I've saved a cut for you as well, don't want your sister hounding me over that." Ajay said chuckling as he got ready to leave.

"I'll leave you to celebrate with your battalion then, shall I?"

"Ajay."

"Yeah?"

"Nothing… thank you." He said before leaving on his way.

Ajay watched the back of him as he left, he sighed at the sight. In truth, he didn't want Bipin to be a good soldier with outstanding morales and ethics. He'd seen many that tried to fit in that image before and they all had one thing in common.

They became meat for the meatgrinder, in the twenty-year long farce that should have ended so long ago.

"There are no honest men left at the end of war." He mused.

The mock battle was conducted in the night where both battalions fought with no clear definition of a winner. The 2nd Hussars who had been fired up by the victory they attained in the 2nd Quadrant fought with greater meaning and put the 1st Battalion at odds in their fight. The crowd watched in amazement at their dedication. Though they were fighting with means of the MILES laser equipment and paintball they fought like it was an actual war happening in their neighbourhood. When the battle ended, the crowd of now five thousand applauded them.

The tournament ended in a draw as Bipin had expected, the mock battle had been a fierce fight that neither of the parties came out clean in. In the end, high command reevaluated the 2nd Hussars' performance to be nominally better than it had previously been and on par with the 1st Hussars in such a short training time. Sam, Bipin and the men got to keep the unit. The pride of the cantons and more importantly the 2nd Hussars had been preserved.

Although, Bipin had not been recognised for his part in the fight. The crowd and the 1st Hussars, his rivals remembered him better than any other. Anish coined for him a name for his platoon which reflected the anarchy he wrought on Kuber's companies.

The name he gave was the "Night Haunters". Be it day or night, their style of combat was solely like a knife shrouded in the shadow of the dark. The High Command committee took notice as well and all were in consensus of agreement.

That this was only the beginning of Bipin and the Night Haunters' rise to prominence. Little did they know of the events that would led Kyrat out of its borders to fight for the autonomy of their Himalayan regions.

When that day came, he would show to the world the might of Kyrati Armour.

* * *

Author's Notes:

This short chapter was delayed because i redid it after the first attempt did not satisfy me. I'd rather have good plot and writing than a fast delivery.


	90. Chapter 82 - The Conditions of Peace

Author's Notes:

Still working on Chapter 81(f) short. Will come tomorrow after finishing my assignment due Monday. On the brightside, mid semester break is here! Yippee!

* * *

The previously dire odds the 2nd Battalion faced an instant powersihft with the spearhead of the Republican Guard grinded into a halt with the lost of a platoon sized force. A hidden ambush had been responsible for this intervention.

"Caraphract Zeta to all forces proceed through the opening I give to return. Caraphract Theta shall take point with Epilson maintaining the rearguard for Actual to exit safely. Respond, over."

*Who the fuck do you think you are ordering us around?*

*Caraphract Theta acknowledges, we'll push through. Where's the opening?* The Commander of Theta didn't argue like Han Feng did as it seemed that Bipin had better control over the situation than anyone of them did.

*Roger, Epilson will cover the rear then, over.* Hearing that one had agreed, the Captain of Epilson agreed too and reorganised his men to form a protective rear.

As for the opening they wanted, it was hard to see. 7th Autonomous platoon wasn't attacking from a single place up on the mountains, but several. This was to keep the Enemy at the battalions' rear locked down searching for the asymmetric threat.

The reason why Bipin's force of tank destroyers could destroy the T-80s was due to their attacks on the flanks and rear of their tanks. They also had the height advantage which allowed their guns to punch through the tanks relatively thin armour on their top which was rated to protect against artillery but not full-power tank gun rounds. Bipin's intel on the tank schematics also allowed him to understand their armor weaknesses.

From a distant location, a certain commander watched the battle shift against his mens' favour. Someone had broken out of his deadlock meant to crush this reconnaissance force. Although he was surprised with the quality of armour that was brought to invade his country, this was definitely not a neighbour.

"Caraphract Actual, request override over artillery and air support assets. How copy? Over."

*What is your assessment of the situation, Zeta?*

"The situation is fubar for all of you. Three understrengthed battalions are pincering you for the Republican Guards to deliver the finishing blow. They intend to wipe you out before the Expedition knows about our disappearance." Bipin dutifully informed."

*Granted. Make them count, Zeta.*

"Yes, sir."

A transmission went through for the codes to have assess to the fire support which Bipin's radio operator informed him through the local channel.

Although, neither the Yinkians nor the Kyratis knew Bipin's actual location, he was in fact not on the mountains but in the valley off the initial entry point from whence they came from which led back to base as well. It was there that Bipin had stumbled upon the ambush the YLA had carefully prepared for them and had been sprung perfectly. He didn't inform them as he wasn't sure what were the other tricks they had that could compromise his own groups safety and what was the state of the enemies' comprehension of their radio binary codes.

A distance sound of sub-sonic planes came in for an attack run upon the armoured units much to their shock to see jets lining them in their sights. It was a quick but shaking affair for the Yinke soldiers on ground, if the officers weren't there to keep them in check they would have considered routing.

(Brrrrrrrrrrrr)

A distinct sound of a motor chainsaw echoed from when the Su-25s made their attack run. What followed was a strafe of dirt and mini-explosions from 30mm Depleted-uranium rounds impacting the ground and catching some vehicles in the path. These vehicles exploded with a force that shook their accompanying infantry and subjecting the neighbour armour to heavy rattling.

But the cannon wasn't the only weapon in the ground attack aircrafts arsenal. They released a combination of unguided rockets and guided anit-tank missiles upon the heavy armour.

The Yinkian soldiers spread out to minimize the chance of them being hit and helplessly killed. From their dispersion, the Kyrati forces were able to cut a part through the compromise they made. And this was all achieved with just two planes. It caused a significant fear to grow not just in the Yinkian soldiers' hearts, but if their commanders as well.

The Yinkian commander wasn't one to wait, he quickly responded with bringing up their local air defense units from the reserve to cover them.

The two Russian pilots of Lupus Caelum were quick to spot air-aircraft batteries in the form of familiar Russian ZU-23 triple A mounted on trucks. Affectionately codenamed "Zeus", it had been downing aircraft even way before their time in the Russian Air force. They quickly buggered out and just in the nick of time, as the sky became laced with 23mm armored piercing incendiary. Both parties watched as the planes danced in the air whilst firing flares to avoid the streams of AA tracer fire and guided missiles, both with hope that they survive or perish by each army respectively. Some scored hits on their airframe, but it wasn't enough to take the planes out of commission. It wasn't "Russia's A-10"* for nothing.

Not a second too soon, the howling of heavy ordnance came whistling toward them. The Yinkians backed away thinking it was meant for them. But instead what came was an airburst of thick smoke that concealed the convoy of the retreating battalion. Followed with a creeping barrage of high explosive heading their way to keep the Yinkians from pursuing them. But the YLA forces were ordered to cease their pursuit.

And it was with just fifteen minutes, that the 2nd Hussars had successfully made a tactical withdraw for better terrain. But effectively losing guile, the Yinkians would no doubt report their findings to the military camps on the outskirts.

The Yinkian Commander of the Republican Guard, the one that organised the ambush sighed at the failure to attain strategic element of surprise when attacking Pada Mo City. But he had already taken note several important findings from this engagement despite not knowing who was it that invaded yet.

The aggressor had possessed a quality mechanised force that had slipped pass their border stations likely via airlift. They were in possession of an impressive array of fire support in the form of artillery batteries and air support which was the main concern for his armoured forces who had taken a serious beating despite possession the tactical advantage. The enemy possessed a significant pool of resources at their disposal, this mere reconnaissance battalion had access to this array of firepower said a lot about their enemy. Last but not least, was the sudden change of power he had noticed earlier on. Someone had turned the previously incompetent forces in for an effective withdrawl, saving the lifes of his men and their quality of fighting power.

"You're awfully happy. Did you find something good, sir?" His subordinate inquired about his wry smile that even he did not notice was on his face.

"The enemy has a good commander but poor leader of armoured units. He does however possess a rather exceptional officer in his retinue."

"That should be good for us, no?" If the commander had to depend on a junior officer to dictate his armys' movement instead of himself, he was in for a serious handicap of commanding his forces.

"That'll depend on this officers' competence at keeping us from the objective."

"You seem rather happy about all this, despite the odds weren't facing. Artillery, air support, mechanized forces. That is probably still only the cream of the top." The Yinkian Commander chuckled heartily at the pragmatism of his young intern.

"You have much to learn, young one. You should see it in a different light. Although the enemy is formidable, he has already played all of his available playing cards to preserve his forces. He will have no more surprises save for his own wits, but he is also playing in someone else's backyard."

"….."

The Yinkian Commander was rather confident in his abilities, if not he wouldn't have been recommended several times to come out of retirement to train and command the republican guard to full potential. He was sure that this mechanised force was the most powerful asset in the invaders' arsenal that had been sent here. If not, they wouldn't have operated alone to suppress their response to HQ going dark.

"The next time we meet, which shouldn't be long. We'll show him one of ours."

* * *

Ajay emerged filled with gore as he had singlehandedly suppressed a nest of insurgents in a warehouse. Some of the Yinkians whom lived in the area came to see the cordoned off part of the street by the newest enforcers of Pada Mo City. Armed thugs from the seedier parts of the city. Where were the police and military forces in all of this? The military imprisoned and made to build a POW camp. The police units who had been confiscated of their firearms were made to patrol the streets with minimal non-lethal weapons to add to the public order.

The newest occupant of the parliamentiary building whom the Kyratis call the 1st Kshatriyan Lord Badala had supposedly ordered the police to assist in maintaining order or join the soliders in the POW camps. Judicial laws were still upholded, there was only martial law in effect to keep too much traffic from moving around.

All in all, the people of Yinke expected worse. But the invading forces were kept in check by their lord who had publically announced the reason for his arrival on foreign soil at the main public square. There, fifty thousand souls bore witness to the same slideshow that was presented to the parliamentiary members. Either with disbelieve or appal, Ajay didn't care for their opinions. He was an oppressor and he would exercise his power of oppression on those that stood in his way.

In the strangest of ironies, though restricted of their liberal rights and limited in movement in and out of the city. The people were host to numerous forms of amenities provided by the Kyrati Royal Army. These came in the form of daily rations with benefits for redeeming, healthcare like dental and medical attention. Once an old lady come down with a fever that would end her life if untreated, her relatives sought to bring her to the doctor that was out of town but were refused exit by the Kyrati soldiers and thugs alike. Although, the accompanying soldiers took her instead to the military airbase to be air-evacuated to Kyrati General.

This simple act of kindness had sparked a different opinion about the occupying forces. Where their own soldiers had once been quite inapproachable and often harassed the public for no good reason other than they were bored. Foreigners were treating them with better humanity than their own government.

Ajay thanked his lucky stars that the current government had not been up to the task of providing proper welfare for its people but only a select group of people, their people. His bloodied appearance out of the warehouse showed that the commander of the invaders wasn't just a strategist, but it was also an example of how merciless he was upon those that physically opposed him. The Yinkians parted for him to leave the area, wearing complex expressions.

He returned to the parliamentary building that had been their headquarters for about five days already. Being that it was previously also Tenzin's supposed ancestral estate and had become the abode of the current president. There was more than enough room to house almost all of the command party but only four people stayed there. Because they didn't want the officers to get too comfy in their stay in Yinke.

Each stayed in a room of their own, Saras didn't even bunk with Ajay like she usually would. Presently, she was maintaining a professional distance from Ajay to focus on the task at hand. They were in enemy territory and running on limited resources that Ajay had shared with the populace. But neither of them refuted his action, it was better than having the people rise up and further deplete their supplies through raids and theft.

Ajay couldn't imagine how much he'd spent to do this, probably not as much as the expense for airlifting an army into Yinke.

The fourth inhabitant was Jagriti whom had by a strange request asked to be allowed to stay in the mansion. He noticed her moving around almost as if it were familiar to her. And he begun to have some suspicions on her.

"Three days to the deadline, I'm hoping Pagan gets it done by then." Ajay murmured to himself as he entered the mansion. Was he capable of really achieving that idea which he had conjured up some time ago? Would the other parties agree to it, Pagan wasn't a very accommodative man to begin with?

If they failed, then the expedition would return emptyhanded, not what the bean counters wanted to hear as the expense for sending them there and bringing them back was in the Billions. It would severely impair the economy back home as well and the distrust from its local neighbour woud increase due to their boldness in invade Yinke. Kumsa and Papir republic would then begin an arms race with them over this chain that Kyrat started. That was the consequence for failure.

But he had already dipped one foot into the pool, so there was no going back. He would swim all the way to the other end, even if it meant turning the pool blood-red.

On another sidenote, the Golden Path were no where to be found. The same could be said for Lynch and the CNS operatives, they'd just spirited away in the same fashion when they'd lost all ground in Kyrat. Unfortunately, the hunting of the rebels would have to wait if they didn't reveal themselves.

Their biggest concern was China's response, now that the YLA would most likely establish grounds that there was an invasion in progress. Perhaps the PLA had a force already mobilized in Tibet on standby to react as soon as possible.

Ajay happened to encounter Raja along the way to the showers.

"My lord, 2nd Hussars have encountered the enemy." He held out a clipboard that held the relay of comm chatter just moments ago.

"….." They had walked into an ambush by the hidden Republican Guard. It appeared that they weren't just an elite unit in name.

"What other assets do they require?"

"Just more artillery and air support, milord. Shall I send in some battalions to aid them?"

"No. Samuel and Bipin will take care of it, I don't want to deprive them of the chance to earn their marks. But have the QRF on high alert just in case." Colonel Raja nodded.

"Has Velvet found Tenzin yet?"

"No, milord. But permit me to speak freely….. is it really necessary to have him as the new governing body?"

"…."

"We have the complete government in our grasp, just have them sign an armistice and we should be done."

"Do you think Beijing would allow that? Do you think the people of Yinke would accept being subjugated? Would you?" Raja shuddered at the mention of one of Asias premier superpowers.

"This isn't about our own justice, Raja. This is about the good of all the Himalayas, we have only ourselves to depend upon and its been that way for countless generations. But what if it didn't have to always be that way."

Raja looked up with a light of excitement in his eyes, he had no idea what his lord had planned but it was something that would stop the mighty PLA in its tracks. How could he not be enthusiastic?

"Wars can be won swift, but any war would still leave a mark upon the winning party. It's a matter of how we win this war. These were the words of our king. So put your trust in them." Ajay said as he tapped his shoulder before moving on to his room. Those words had some impact on Raja so he stopped pursuing Ajay on the topic.

Upon returning to the room that had been occupied by him, a simple furnished room it was. As usual, Ajay never required much in aesthetic value. It baffled the building staff whom could remain to maintain the order of the parliamentiary building, the most powerful individual was living in the most spartan of rooms.

Upon his tidied bed were some towels and a set of local attires made ready by one of the many mansion attendants.

His gear came off with his webbing with a heavy clunk that rattled the wooden decking.

Then, came the shower. It was only a few days and already the floor around the drain was coloured red from all of his exploits.

"(Sigh)." He let the water wash away the day of stress and pain. In this moment of comfort he reflected upon all that happened since his "Death". He doubted that the Ajay from before would ever reckon they would be invading another country.

In truth, he was utterly frightened of the prospect of going out into another country to fight an inter-regional war. Pagan's words and plan were just as dubious on how well it would work, he'd been out of action for nearly twenty years. But if the façade that Ajay put up fell, it would severely dishearten the Kyrati soldiers and citizens. This was about restoring the countries honor that couldn't simply be trampled upon and be left with empty complaints which the Yinkian Government would never acknowledge.

And here he was, with Kyrat's young and bold. Sending them to the frontlines to tackle against a veteran foe with little combat experience themselves. All of the combat hardened soldiers save for the Jatayu remained in Kyrat to lick their wounds from the fight against the fleeing Golden Path and to hunt down the last of the stragglers. Noore was working on setting up the newly acquired medical electronics and equipment for the recently near-complete Kyrati General Hospital. He heard that Yuma had been supervising the railroad project back home against Pagan's request. It seemed she didn't like being held down even if it was because of her child, the coming little prince or princess. Ajay's successor for the throne that should not have been his nor Mohan's to keep.

There were no heirs to the Devi bloodline left, so the Min Dynasty would finally begin. And Ajay would protect their reign as a scion of Ghale, like his family should have done with the Devi dynasty.

But now, he wasn't alone in his struggles. He had very caring friends at his side, Hurk, Bhadra, Noore, Jeeval, Samson, Maya…. And then there was Saraswati. Thoughts on how he'd accepted her loomed about every time he looked at her, and she knew that as well. It became awkward when they had to face each other that Maya often laughed at their expense. Like a bunch of shy newly-weds. He'd never been married before, at most was his long-term relation with Daisy whom he still worried about while she was in their grasps. But the switch wasn't turned on, Paul reported it hadn't been activated either. So it meant she was still working on it, or did she die without him noticing.

"Tsh….."

At that moment, he found himself disgusted at the fact that he didn't care for her. After all she'd done for him over the years-….. years?... what did she do for him? Ajay found his heart palpitate rapidly as he tried to recall the memories he had with Daisy years ago. But-.

"Nothing….(Bang)" He slammed the shower tiles with his fist and created an inch deep cavity.

His eyes widen with disbelief and sorrow at the same time. It was very clear what had happened. The Demon had robbed him of his memories, but not just any as his instincts told him.

It stole his most treasured memories.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" Ajay bellowed in frustration as he bashed the already breaking tiles. A hand or a leg would have been fine for him. But why did he just have to lose something more irreplaceable?

It was that evening, Ajay learned the price of his sacrifice. And what was the liken outcome if he continued to pursue to destroy the Golden Path in body and soul.

* * *

The place they found to settle was a securely forested area, one of the rarest terrains in the plain and barrens ridden Yinke. It was a place the 2nd Hussars took comfort in despite it being the most dangerous place to be in back in Kyrat during the civil war. Caraphract Epilson, who had received the least damage took sentry detail to give them heads up on when and where the YLA forces were.

Bipin and his platoon took the time to treat the wounded, despite that not being their speciality. It was a time when the medics were on short supply and were only attending to the very serious cases. About two hours had passed, when Bipin took a break and ordered his men to do the same to conserve energy to fight.

The place he approached was the Command tent, set up to house the command platoon and the company commanders. He entered witnessing them arguing over the next plan of action. On one end was Han Feng and a few wishing to withdraw and let the air force commandos deal with them. The other group that shared the opinion that it was their responsibility to hold back or die fighting the Republican Guard was led by Fang Wei of Alpha Company who led the only group of veterans.

They stopped arguing upon his arrival, and looked at him with a different light all together.

"Where the fuck were you whilst we were getting our asses kicked, huh?! I bet you were just watching!" Han Feng grabbed him by the collar but his hand was later restraint by his opposition Fang Wei and his cousin Fang Siu Wei.

"I was." Bipin admitted to watching them get beaten, the officers looked at him in surprise as what Han Feng said turned out to be true.

"I watched as you cluelessly walked into a trap without first questioning the nature of the terrain or lack of natural disturbances. And you still think you're qualified to look at me with scorn."

"You in-." But Bipin didn't stop there.

"Its not as if had I called you to inform you of the situation, you'd change your views about the fight or outcome. Besides, whilst everyone was busy fighting, did anyone get a glimpse of the enemy commander?"

"You saw him?" The Delta Company captain asked in surprise.

"He was in the direction of where Gamma should have been to deter their portion, observing the battlefield and studying our tactics."

"If you saw him why didn't you shot?" Han Feng reasoned.

"What difference would that make? He isn't the only commander competent enough to manage their forces. If I had relocated to take the shot all of you would have perished, effectively making my shift worthless."

"""….."""

"Thank, Captain Kadayat. You really saved us there." Fang Wei was the first to admit it when the whole tent quieten down.

"Yeah, I guess you Kyratis aren't so bad after all."

"We'll repay this debt soon, I guarantee it!"

Soon, the rest followed in their praise and thanks for keeping them alive under the pressure of the battlefield.

"But now, we face a serious problem."

"We've used up our turn to attack and if we did defeat them, we wouldn't be able to continue on to the six Encampments." Samuelle responded with the overview of their situation. Bipin and the rest nodded in understanding.

"As for my stand, we will not let them slip from our grasps. This was our job, we will not let the Lord Badala's paratroopers clean up our mess. But as it stands, I'm fresh out of what to do with them so I'm open to any suggestions."

"I have one." Bipin raised his hand.

"Oh please, do tell us." Han Feng said with sarcasm.

"I will, but first. Why are you still here?"

"?" It wasn't just Han Feng but all the others that were baffled.

"What?"

"Didn't you just fervently request of a withdraw? In that case, it would be for the best that you and anyone else who wants to leave, just leave. You'd impair us with your incompetence." This was the first time Bipin had openly insulted a member of the cantons, and not just any but the Heir of the Sun Family.

"Are you looking down on me?!"

"No." Bipin shook his head. "You're already below my expectations, Sun Han Feng. So I'm giving you two choices now." Bipin said as he walked up to him in an intimidating manner.

"You can run with your tail neatly tucked or you can follow my lead into certain death and if we succeed will behold numerous glories. The choice is yours." It was here that Bipin made his stand with the men in his battalion. They had never been host to any sort of force by Bipin during their training together, yet now he was exhibiting the same type of aura as the demon. Fang Wei could testify to that having fought alongside Badala a number of times before.

"You do not own me!" Han Feng roared. "Hmph!... I'll stay but I won't have you order me around."

"Then you're no good to me." He said pressing an intimidating Desert Eagle that Samson had given him from Longinus's collection of rare firearms. It was as if Bipin had become a different person all together, almost as if he were the demon himself. All of the officers were shocked with the ruthlessness he was displaying, that included Han Feng especially as he stared down the .50 Action Express barrel.

"Do you realize what you're doing, serf?" He said in a low but icy tone not to be outdone by Bipin's own intimidative orders.

"You had all the time to play around whilst we were in Kyrat, but we're now at war. If you do not comply, then I shall take that as action against the interest of the expedition and of my lord." He said with a cold look in his eyes, as he pressed the barrel harder against Han Feng's forehead.

"I-…" Han Feng was too shocked by his continued pursuit of him that the looming barrel became nervewrecking, he began to swear. No one since the demon had physically threatened him, in fact not even the demon openly threatened him.

"Bipin that's enough! Withdraw now." Sam ordered but contrary to her expectations, he refused to retrack.

"Am I to assume that all of you will do the same as the 1st Lieutenant? I'll be a bit more lenient to you since you haven't purposely interfered. You may leave this battlefield, I don't need losers sticking around to impede me. The enemy is converging on to the city, that is the 2nd Hussars responsibility, so I will not relinquish a single step. However, you all are different. You are relatives to the King, I'm not responsible for your upbringing nor how you act on the field. But if you stand I my way then even affiliation won't do you any good at covering your stupidity." While it could be said he looked down on everyone of them, none of them refuted him. Because he was right to a certain extent. All this time they had been under the assumption that a mechanized force was simply soldiers on wheels, where it fell down to the soldiers individual prowess that gave them the edge. However the Yinkian Armoured Units showed them that the spirit and coordination of the crewmen in a vehicle was what reflected their overall effectiveness, they were fools because the 1st Battalion had reminded them that everytime they beat them in the mock battles which they passed as simply a scenario and wouldn't happen in war, but now this was war and they were failing miserably.

Leaving it to the Jatayu was a strategically better option while they replenished, even if it meant they would never win the respect of High Command for a long while. But then…

"You won't stay here alone, Captain Kadayat. Alpha will remain." Fang Wei spoke up and changed the entire mood. Fang Wei stared at Bipin who returned his gaze with a calm emotionless look.

He pulled back the Desert Eagle and holstered it.

"You can pack your bags and follow the rest to the city. .50AE cartridges don't come by easily, the thought of wasting one on your hollow head ticks me off." He said with scorn at Han Feng.

"We're not leaving either, Captain Kadayat." Major Fang Siu Wei spoke on behalf of the officers that looked at him with a different light from before. With a bit of fear and respect together, most still remember it was his actions that saved them from the trap that the Yinkians rigged.

"What will you do then, sir?" He turned to Sam who was left stunned by the sudden changes in all of their attitudes.

"For the time being, all of us will comply with your orders, help us overcome this obstacle to our, the 2nd Hussars glory."

"Yes, sir. Captain Bipin Kadayat of the 2nd Hussars complies." He said with a salute and sharp tone.

"Do you have a plan to get us out of this mess, answer me then Gamma and I will comply as well." Han Feng said not to be left out as the only one that would return.

At that moment, Bipin released a vicious smile reminiscent of the demon.

"I do have just one, it'll require some sacrifice. But if all turns out as planned-….."

Bipin walked to the map and reshuffled the flag pieces into the formation he intended them to take.

"Any survivor will forever remember the 2nd Hussars for trampling over the military pride of Yinke."

* * *

It was high in the mountains were the Vgru Clan abode was that was Jagriti's objective. She had taken the trip alone this time without escorts, but the trip didn't worry her at all. Every stone, every path was no stranger to her as she'd traversed this route many times over and over.

"Jagriti's back!" A relative called out to point at the silhouette of the beautiful thirty-something woman who had returned to the Clan after so long.

The relatives of hers gathered around her as she passed them a basket foods and rations that were given out by the Kyrati Army.

"It's been a while since your last visit, girl. How is everything back there?"

"Yinke has been invaded." She said with calmness in her voice. But what followed was the silence from the forty over relatives young and old.

Jagriti smiled at them.

"Don't worry, this army of invaders aren't what you'd imagine. Look, the stuff here are what they've been handing out to people on a daily basis." Her basket held many of the necessity items that were being distributed by the Royal Kyrati Army. Much like relief aid care packages, her relatives had complex expressions but weren't foolish enough not to receive free help.

"It still doesn't change the fact that they are outsiders." Came a strong-willed voice from up above.

And older man in his fifties came down the steps with a dignified look.

"Father."

"Jagriti. Come meet me in the main hall." He said with a sigh before walking in that direction.

"…." Jagriti handed them the basket to go and allocate who gets what.

It had been over a year since she'd visited this place, yet there was always a feeling of nostalgia about it. The place where the government under the ideology of Shining Way had forced them into exile. Where everyday was a quest to search for their next meal. Jagriti was only fourteen when it happened, it grew into bitter hatred for the government forces, the politburo for condemning them. Everyone of the cabinet members had once been her father's subordinates, Tenzin's coworkers towards Yinke's future.

One minute, she was the crown jewel of the country who represented the youth, the next she and her family members were sent into the cold wilderness without even bare necessities. It was a transition for her, but she wasn't one to give up. Heading back to the city to earn a living for the family, however her family name prevented her from getting a decent job anywhere. She happened to notice some of her father's former employees galavanting about with great show of wealth despite the situation outsider. A fire burned deep in the young Jagriti's heart.

"One day I'll pluck them from their throne and cast them into the streets!" She swore to herself.

Because she couldn't find legitimate work she looked for alternatives to power and influence. And that one chance encounter with the traitor gave her a better idea than any other. Those in power always needed to express it in a certain way to their colleagues or peers, so she would give an outlet to them.

It came in the form of the bordello she now owned, Seven Winter Orchids. Entertainment, indulgence of pleasure and a taste of power and others faunting over you. All these could be offered to them as a guest to at an expense. Her start up wasn't easy, it involved smuggling operation after operation. Drugs, money laundering, extortion, even trafficking. When word reached her father, whom was morally upright, he was appalled. To see her degrade herself to the point that he considered disowning her, it was the regular monthly supplies that came to their place of exile that allowed the family to live on and him to stay his hand.

Eventually she built up enough credentials, money, influence and reputation to build her way to revenge. If even one of the traitors appeared in her shop she wouldn't hesitate to slit their throat. But none came, the streets around were getting worse by the years. Very soon, kids were roaming the streets. It hurt her to see them roam with deaden eyes like that so she took them in and clothed them, some grew to become proper adults, while some added to her list of courtesans because of their unrivalled beauty and etiquette. She never refused any children looking for work or shelter in her abode

Seeing that there was some good in her actions, her father too softened toward her approach despite her status as one of the four criminal bosses of Pada Mo City. His righteousness wouldn't allow it, he had once before compared her to the wickedness he'd seen in the Nobility of Kyrati.

A place ridden with civil war, ideals and death in every form. Whereas in Yinke there was just limbo as its sin. Perhaps indifference of the government to its people was another.

But because of her charity, she'd become farther from her objective than ever. Things worsened with the local economic situation as she lost customers as well. Day after day she watched from her window balcony at the ancestral mansion that was once theirs being desecrated with their filthy footsteps. Lights shone out from their regular seasonal parties that lasted all day all night long, no one challenged their behaviour for fear of the army bearing down on them, even the crime bosses weren't that stupid, in fact they made a living out of the squalor conditions to have cheap and affordable manpower or just sellable merchandise in the form of young boys or girls.

Whatever street rat that wasn't found by her roaming courtesans ended up in cages for Boss Ricky to sell. Although his current operation was indefinitely suspended by that one man who changed the fate of Yinke in one day.

That man was Badala, the Lord and General of the Kyrati Army that now roamed the streets with vigilance. It was only two weeks ago that their civil war had ended, yet here they were with such an impressive arsenal that made one wonder what the civil war in Kyrat was like that the City garrison couldn't even match in a mere hour engagement with their paratroopers.

Jagriti had the pleasure of walking up the steps of the house that was once her families after sixteen long years. And in the balcony, lo and behold were the traitors and those two troublemakers that wrought anarchy to her house years ago. All of them bore looks of despair and anxiousness for their awaited punishment. When she entered, none of them recognised her to which she scorned.

But it remained that what she had been working to achieve in sixteen year was done in less than a day by him.

"Kneel before our ancestors." He took out a pair of josssticks for the ancestral tablets before them.

Jagriti smiled, it had been a while since she'd done so. The fact that he had said their ancestors meant he still acknowledge her as his daughter. She did so with a calm and pleasant feeling before sitting down at the table where he made a pot of tea.

"Tell me all that's happened." Jagriti nodded, she begun with her encounter with Badala incognito seeking her help, what he told and spoke with her. Then came the takeover of Pada Mo City under an hour. The things he and the invasion forces had done to the soldiers, authorities and the parliamentary members in contrast to the common people. She did not leave out the impressive array of weapons they had to bear and had seen for herself.

Her father's face remained calm, but there was a light of worry and shock in his eyes that couldn't be hidden away from her. She'd seen it in so many men and womens' eyes in bed before.

"So he wants me to lead his puppet government. I decline." Tenzin said stubbornly.

"I think you should reconsider." Jagriti said calmly.

"Why should I? It's about what he wants not what I or the people want."

"He didn't wait or search for you for a week for nothing. At any time he could have forced those traitors into a conditional surrender but he didn't."

"You said he was recommended by his king to find me, correct?" Jagriti nodded.

"And is his king still Pagan Min?" Jagriti wore a complex expression that gave away the answer, she wasn't sure what that had to do with him refusing.

"This Badala isn't the voice of Kyrat, his merely a representative of its interests or I should say ulterior motives."

"Badala doesn't have ulterior motives, I've seen it in his eyes, father. He was genuinely here because of his people and because of what those traitors allowed." She said standing up for him.

"Not ulterior motives? Hmph! You weren't old enough to know but I've been to Kyrat many years ago. Tyrant doesn't even begin to describe him, he's a monster on the throne! A sadistic, cruel deviant that misleds the people of Kyrat into serving his own interests at their expense."

It was the first that Jagriti heard of this and had doubts about what she'd experienced.

"No."

"No?"

"I'm sure as can be, Badala and the Kyratis have no poor intentions for either of our interests at heart." She had a hint of determination in her eyes, it baffled her father why she was so sure about this invader. And invader was an invader no matter the difference. They wouldn't invade for no reason without benefit, so what was it that the Kyrati Army sought here?

"Have you not listened to me? He is but a pawn to their King!" He said loudly as he rubbed his head in frustration, he felt as if she'd discarded all his teachings on politics away for her own feelings.

"Maybe that has changed! But what would you know? You've spent a decade in this damnable place walloping in self-pity when our family needed you more than ever. I hold you and your self-righteousness responsible for mother's death!" Jagriti burst out in anger suddenly.

"I'm sorry." She quickly apologized. But her father sat quietly wearing a sadden smile.

"Perhaps you're right, I was too stubborn to even admit it. Haha….. I'm sorry for not being there when you were doing something about our situation that should have been my responsibility." Jagrit looked at him like she'd just made a victim out of him, her expression showed doubts about continuing to press her father further.

"Could you ever forgive this old fool for not asking for it sooner?"

Jagriti held his hand and her eyes shined.

"Always. But right now, your people need you to make a decision on their behalf. Its always been that way, father." She knew that she wasn't the only child of Tenzin, Yinkes people were too.

"(Sigh)… alright, I will go and speak with him. Not for anyone elses sake, but for you my dear." He said with a heart warming smile.

"And you sure took your time too." Came a voice from the entrance of their ancestral hall.

"Who goes there?" Tenzin said with his wits about him to the unfamiliar silhouette at the front.

"Badala?" When Jagriti mentioned his name, Tenzin turned a look at him. What he saw was a person that didn't fit her description or his expectations. A boy younger than even his daughter was the general of the Kyrati Army?

"This is Badala?" He murmured.

"You're certainly not what I expected of Pagan's description but I think the feeling is mutual. I am Badala, Duke of Lakshman and 1st Kshatriyan Lord to his Royal Highness King Min." Ajay took a graceful bow despite the bulk of his full battle equipment.

"At your service, sir."

* * *

Author's Notes:

As you've probably guessed after reading through all of my chapters, i'm a huge military geek. But unlike most people that compare equipment and dick fight which is superior I look at the respective armies that adopt certain combat effective doctrines than the abilities of their weapons, vehicles or technology. Every army has their different requirements or challenges they employ their tactics and gear differently to meet their particular battlefield. I.e. Germany employs a highly sophisticated mechanised force, Australia puts premium on their infantry, USA on their air dominance.

*A-10 for idiots

*A-10 Warthog ground attack aircraft;*

A subsonic tankhunting aircraft with armor to resist most light anti-air fire. With its ability to loiter the battlefield for longer periods and launch from a short unprepared runway, it can support troops at the quickest possible timing and with the longest endurance. Laddened with a wide array of bombs, anti-tank missiles, unguided rocket pods and one big ass gun that was supposedly what the plane was built around.

(Brrrrrrrr) is the sound you would hear when it fires, if you were an allied soldier, if you were its enemy you'd already be dead. What most certainly hit you was a 7-barrelled 30mm gatling gun loaded with a special DU sabot round designed to chew up tank armour and bunk alike.

Overkill? Maybe, but is one hell of a terrifying sound to hear if it were meant for you. I would probably "Nope" my way to cover ASAP, unless I had a stinger or triple A defense.

It makes one wonder why no other nations have taken to the idea of close air support airframes like the US air force have and developed one. Perhaps the closest equivalent would be the Russian Su-25 that was designed in the same way but unlike its American counterpart sacrifices the power of an awe-inspiring gatling gun for the ability to go supersonic speeds. This allows it to leave and reach the battlefield faster. Simplistic controls allow it to double as a pilot trainer with good safety features.


	91. Chapter 83 - Yinkians, surrender or die!

Author's Notes:

Regular chapter release since its been that many days since the last. Going for early morning coffee tomorrow with bro, so won't be doing editing till tomorrow afternoon. Do forgive me if there's a few grammars or spelling mistakes that inconvenience you.

* * *

No matter how mighty he portrayed himself to the public, there were ethics to follow. Ajay remained on the outside border of the ancestral hall, the margin he would not cross no matter if he were the overlord occupying Yinke or not.

"Come and have a seat, sir." Tenzin said with a light smile, noticing his consideration he had given.

Ajay unslung his combat gear and placed it in a bunch by the door before entering. By now, the relatives had gathered on the outside of the hall as they witnessed an outsider enter their small settlement without interacting with them or them having even notice him previously. It was as if he'd spirited himself right next to the doorstep of the ancestral hall.

Although his gear was lying unattended, not even the boldest of greedy relatives dared to touch them. Sitting by it was a wolf with a shineless black pelt but a white streak across its collar.

"Sit down." He motioned to Ajay who remained standing but took it once he was given the permission.

"Here." Next was a cup poured for him at the table of three, he took the cup graciously and took a drink.

"Jagriti tells me that the twenty year long civil war had just ended." He said whilst tending to his tea set maintanence.

"With a crown victory it seems." He ended with a neutral tone.

"The Civil war ended, but not with a victory on either side." The crown won nothing, but for the first time in a long while there was peace in Kyrat from conflict.

"And so now you want to finish your grievances with the opposition elsewhere, like my home." Making it sound like he was exerting his strength on others as a substitute.

"This whole operation was an excuse." Ajay said boldly and without hiding any intentions, Tenzin frowned visibly.

"Hearing it from you directly was the least satisfactory thing of the day."

"But you'll still need to hear it, because it has already begun. And if you don't take the reigns now, Yinke will forever lose its opportunity to be truly independent of need."

"Is this what your king Pagan, ordered of you?"

"So what if it is?"

Jagriti could tell their conversation was heated even without raising their voices, it was just very blunt between them.

"Aren't you going to tell me how much he's changed over the last decade?"

"Hardly, Pagan hasn't changed since I took office, nor when his life begun to sort out. He's still the same tyrant you know and recognise." Jagriti was initially confused with what Ajay was doing agreeing to her father openly defacing the king's name. But she soon noticed an almost unnoticeable smile under her father's façade.

"And what then does Pagan want with a pitiful exile whom he'd proven right after all?"

"When we came to Yinke, his condition and only condition for the army to mobilize for its pursuit of Golden Path was you."

"Doesn't answer my question. Why?"

"You seem to have something he doesn't as a leader that he wants for all of us."

"Us?"

"My lips stay sealed from that point on, its there that you have to decide whether to get with the game….. or don't do anything at all."

Tenzin visibly frowned, he knew Ajay was mocking him for his idling status.

"All you want is the best for Yinke, and only the best of what it deserves. Both me and the king respect that."

"Do you, now?"

"We do, but being that there are limits not to be pushed you can't blame us for sending troops to subjugate the Yinkian politburo and its untamed military might that committed atrocities in Kyrat and were still hoping to get away with it by virtue of borders now can you."

"Atrocity?" It was at this moment, Tenzin looked baffled.

"Would you believe it if I told you without evidence, that Yinkian commandos the size of a regiment physically aided our rebels in attacking a city, torching homes, butchering women and children, young and old, ransacked properties and murdered my soldiers?" Even though he said without evidence he took out an envelope and tossed it on the table in front of Tenzin who hesitantly reached out and undid the bind.

He removed a stack of photos, and already the first one was appalling to the extent his hand shook.

"No….." He slipped through one after another, as his eye grew wider and wider with every photo.

It had been the first time Jagriti had seen them as well, she covered her mouth as she gasped and almost came to a point of wanting to puke.

At the end, he reached the last picture. Which greeted him was a haunting memory, inside was a picture of the mass grave Ajay had dug out and laid the bodies in.

The photo fell out of his hand as he'd lost the strength to keep it held tight between his fingers.

"This…."

"These were just the combatants graves, the civilians' ones I did not attend."

"You didn't attend even though you're their lord?" He said almost angrily and even stood from his chair.

"father-."

"No! You can't be serious to let me know that you had not even attended to your people-."

"I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that from you, Tenzin Vgru!" Ajay's tone shook the hall causing the relatives and Tenzin as well to shudder.

"You don't get to judge me for not attending the civilian ceremony, when I returned to Lanka almost immediately when they sent their distress call! You don't get to judge me for keeping the lines intact with what remained of the defense force with mere PDF, children, who had never fired a shot in anger! And at the very height of the conflict, end up the only one that wasn't killed like it was someone's idea of a sick joke! When I dug every pile of dirt! Carried every corpse into their grave! Cremated them! Bury them! All!... 4532 of them! Commandant Gurung, Captain Kul, Dawa, Puru,….. Biraj!" Fury was not sufficient to describe the expression that Ajay wore. But he had unexpectedly calmed down himself.

"You might question why I'm really here, well I've come for only one reason and that reason only. I've come to put a stop to this, I've had enough of my friends dying in my arms."

Tenzin stood up and bowed apologetically.

"Forgive me, Badala!"

"What's done is done, you were hardly involved either." Ajay sighed and waved his hand casually.

Tenzin now understood that Badala had every reason to be here, though not a rational one as it was purely about retribution. It was not the path that Badala chose, he had instead restraint himself to the point that he used the king's words to remind him of the higher goal. Could Tenzin himself do that in the same situation? That was what he pondered for a long while.

"Say I join? What will you do about Beijing?"

"I'm sorry, what's this got to do with-." Jagriti was out of focus when her father mentioned China, but the two of them didn't stop to answer her.

"Pagan gave me a deadline, eight days to take full control over Yinke. And two days before, you need to meet with him. We're currently one day before that deadline. Should you decline to take up the task, I'll have the president sign the armistice and that will be all. There is no reason for Kyrat to be here again, because Yinke doesn't want what's best for our region, only itself."

"What happens after these eight days?"

"The end of all wars in the Himalayas. Present and Future."

"Naïve, there will always be wars."

"But not on our sovereign soils though."

"Since when did Pagan become the master of politics, he's nothing but a crook that took the throne from that incompetent royalty." Tenzin stood up angered for the kind of dream they brew up that would cause bloodshed.

"And I'm just a demon wearing human skin, whispering sweet promises of peace whilst intending for conflict so bloody, no one will ever forget."

"…" He knew it was Ajay being sarcastic but couldn't tell if he actually meant it as well.

"It's all a matter of perspective, you should now that better than anyone. For the last sixteen years, this countries administration ran under the lie that you were the very force that rotted the nations integrity. And worse of all, you've done nothing about it."

(Crash) Tenzin swipped the tea cups off the table, leading to a waste of a perfectly good set.

"What do you expect me to do?! Everyone I've ever trusted had turned their back on me! Now you're asking me to deal with the devil, I will not sell my soul!"

"Even if its for the best of your people? Perhaps those traitors were right after all, you put your own pride before your own people. You don't deserve to lead them again." Ajay stood up and turned to leave.

"Badala! Stop right there!" Ajay did so, but only turn back his head.

"It seems that Pagan was wrong about you, the Tenzin he knew had died ages ago. I'm sorry to have ruined your mood. Have yourself a good evening, Patriarch Vgru." He picked up his weapons and unhesitantly walked back to the city.

He was at the outskirts when Jagriti chased after him.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be."

"Not for the outcome, but for not informing you of my affiliation with my father."

"I didn't ask, so you didn't tell. Either way, he's not the man my king has been looking for anymore. (Sigh)."

"Badala."

"I wonder where the kid is now." Jagriti knew who he was referring to, the boy that had introduced him to her a week ago before disappearing into the shadows.

"My life wasn't so different from him once, perhaps he was better off for having siblings who depended on him."

"Pagan described Tenzin to be a father figure to Yinke, doing what was best for it, giving it what it needed and not what it wanted. But I can't imagine that, I never had someone early in my life that I could look to as a father. So I don't know what Pagan wants." Jagriti felt a bit of pity for him despite his status and respect he wielded.

Then he stared at her in a strange way.

"W-What is it?"

"But I did have a mother though, perhaps I can give that to Yinke instead."

Jagriti laughed in a fake sarcastic way.

"You want me to be the maternal figure instead to Yinke? Haven't you forgotten what I've been doing for a living?"

"I don't see why you should sell yourself short here. You have an understanding of politics rivalling your father, you've had experience through the underworld dealings, and your record is at least cleaner than your fathers. Are you up for it?"

"I-…." She didn't think he was being serious at that point, but he had just offered her the same as what her father had rejected. The power to rule Yinke.

Her drive to seek revenge upon the traitors had passed with their judgement passed, so now she had nothing to drive her forward. Could this be the opportunity into something new?

"First off, do you love this country?"

"Yes."

"Quick, that's good. And what is it you love about Yinke so?" It became a questionnaire with him which he used to assess her determination over.

"I don't love the land, nor the ethics of its people. But I love the determination in the eyes of those young children I see when they enter my care. A hope that things would turn for the better in that outcome." Ajay suddenly felt a rise in her confidence to speak and orate. She had self-empowered herself for the role as matriarch of Yinke.

"Badala, help me make Yinke better."

Ajay faced her and took out an engraved knife one that Pagan had given to him for safekeeping and a token of the crown's authority.

"Touch it and swear on the Royal Kukri, the symbol of Kyrats monarchal power. That you will do everything that is best for the interests of Yinke and Kyrat as a union."

Jagriti was once again hesitant that Ajay had taken the steps to ensure it was a legitimate action on her part. The moment she touched that blade and swore, it would be a life solely for Yinke. Her hand reached out to touch it and had almost done so when-.

"STOP!" Turning back to where the settlement was, Tenzin came rushing towards them from the slopes.

"Oh, Tenzin. Fancy seeing you here."

"Badala, you shameless bastard!"

"What does that matter to you?" Ajay said with a smile on his face, mimicking a shameless one like he claimed. Jagriti couldn't help but giggle.

"Don't you dare manipulate my daughter!"

"It is nothing of that sort." He blatantly lied.

"Arghh! Jeez!... You had this all planned out! How dare you guilt trip me!"

"Guilt trip you?" Ajay looked at him deadpan.

"Don't deny it!"

"Sure chief, whatever."

"Damn! Damn! Damn! You- …You shameless bastard!-…. FINE! I'll do it! Leave my family out of this!" He stomped on the ground in a fit of anger. Tenzin pushed his daughter who couldn't believe it aside to place his hand on the kukri. It had been as Ajay had planned. Tenzin's moral compass was his undoing, just like sixteen years ago. For once, he was glad Pagan informed him beforehand or he would have just given up.

"I, Tenzin Vgru. Pledge with all my power to work for the prosperity and safety of Yinke and the interests of my home and our ally, the Kingdom of Kyrat under the reign of His Royal Highness King Pagan Min!"

He removed his hand.

"There! I've said it! Happy?"

"You're an idiot." Ajay said. He now understood why Pagan wanted Tenzin despite his over the top moral highground. He was easily led by morals, that was why he failed to quell the rebellion.

"Shameless!-…. Truly shameless! No wonder he sent you!"

"Pft!" Jagriti broke into a laugh at the silly behaviour of her father.

Tenzin looked upset, he had been conned by Ajay into working for an unsavoury person.

Ajay had finally achieved his primary objective, without him doing anything at all. What Pagan wanted from Tenzin in the first place was his moral code to draft for him a document that was fair for the parties involved.

"Welcome aboard then, President Vgru." Ajay reached out with his hand and a smile.

Looking at the events that happened in convincing him, Tenzin sighed and smiled wryly.

"I look forward to working for the betterment of our nations."

Tenzin clasped his hand and shook meaningfully.

"So now what will you do?"

As he asked this question he heard a droning sound of propellers. And for a second the sound ceased, followed with a burst of wind to his face as a unique helicopter piloted by one Kamran with the Royal Marking could be seen.

"Now, its time you talk to my boss."

* * *

The Yinkian Commander of the Republican Guard, one of the seven colonels left to command the bulk of the Yinke Liberation Army quietly sat in his command tank pondering the plan of attack in Pada Mo City. Assuming the recon force was smart, they'd rejoin their other units to resupply then move as a group. What they would have to deal with was unknown to them, only that they had to be cautious of the Enemies use of local artillery and air support assets. Those were the major concern for him for his limited forces. He was now operating at eighty-five percent strength, which should be enough to at least besiege the city to allow the rest time to arrive.

Quite shocking to him was his signallers inability to report back to his colleagues on the things he'd encountered. Someone had jammed their transmissions with either a ground asset or a plane with a jamming pod.

Already, several fast movers had flown directly over his army which sent fear in his men. But their objective seemed to be somewhere else, specifically were the six encampments were. Furthermore, there was a few airdrops conducted in the direction that the battalion fled, it was a no brainer that it was supplies for them. Yet, the Yinkian Commander could not shudder the thought that the army they were facing was superior to theirs in terms of not just equipment, but training and size. This was a genuine invasion by a serious power.

He needed to assess the situation at Pada Mo City as soon as- (BOOM) A tremor rattled the inside of his command vehicle.

"Shit!"

"An Airstrike?!"

His crew were recently on edge due to the air dominance that stripped them of their prowess and ability to fight back. It was a new feeling the Yinkian army wasn't used to, as they had previously been the most formidable force in Yinke.

The Commander popped his hatch and looked out to investigate.

(BOOM) Immediately, another vehicle this time a BMP troop carrier got hit and was smoking, the crew and passengers came out in flames screaming. There was nothing he could do for them as they slowly died, it created an atmosphere that terrorised his men on the radios.

"Hill! Two o clock! Light'em up!" His intern adjutant ordered the battalion to blaze the hill. Under ten seconds, the fleet of T-80s fired their 125mm smoothbore tank guns at the hill till it rocked the earth. The troop transports with their autocannons and low pressure infantry guns did the same.

"Ceasefire! Ceasefire! Don't let them mislead you! Spread out into defensive circle, 2nd Battalion move forward to the opposite hill." The Commander ordered.

*Sir, that place is-.*

"Empty, I know. But that's what they wanted you to think." The adjutant understood the strategy after his mentor explained and went about applying the proper responses to deal with an ambush from the opposite side.

Although, the ambush came not as attackers but a stream of flying missiles that flew down and struck a tank each. Five tanks had been hit while three troop carriers and the self-propelled anti-aircraft gun battery were destroyed.

Both him and the adjutant knew what they were. Heavy Anti-Tank Guided Missiles, or ATGMs, a serious crew-served missile launch system that was used to directly combat tanks and confirm a guaranteed hit and kill. The trade off was that they were extremely heavy and unwieldy to infantry and often were mounted on vehicles to act as improvised tank destroyers. They could attack from very far distances that even the tanks couldn't hit very well at or depending on angle which made them a serious threat to their armoured forces that had almost no room to manuever in the valley.

*ATGMs! All units, deploy smoke!* The adjutant acted on impulse and ordered a smokescreen to be deployed.

"No!- DON'T!" The Commander sensed something wrong and called it off, but it was too late. Their tanks collectively fired their smoke dischargers and blanketed their entire field with smoke. They were in a valley, one of the worst places to deploy tanks and now they were isolated from one another by sight.

The adjutant realised his folly too late and regreted very well having send the whole group into jeopardy. AS the smoke covered their surroundings, a deadly silence overcame them, eyes looked observantly out of their viewports and periscopes for any sign of movement. The Commander gave the order to button up so there shouldn't be anyone out of their vehicles.

(BOOM) An 8x8 wheeled BTR-80 got hit by a trail of RPGs.

(BOOM) (BOOM) Then, it was followed with another two vehicles bursting into flames, all troop carriers. Because the infantry was inside, the attackers got a double bonus of killing the crew and passengers.

"Madarchod!" The Commander cursed as he watched what was likely the battalion retaliating against them in equal measure. He also noticed the enemy was solely attacking troop transports and their mechanized infantry. To the true tankers, this was a sign of relief for their crew. But for the Commander, it was a different story.

No matter where one brought heavy vehicles or sophisticated hardware into the picture, they still needed infantry to walk up the hill to plant the flag, or in his case at least a battalion to storm and clear out the city of hostiles. The enemy commander was making sure that even if he reached Pada Mo City, he could not deploy the appropriate forces to subjugate the enemy encampments. And if he went in with tanks alone into the city, it was a suicide run. Where the occupants could launch surprise RPG or molotol attacks on his tanks and they wouldn't be able to react fast enough. This was proven with Hezbollah attacks on Israeli armor or the infamous losses Russia sustained against the RPG-armed Chechnyan rebels against their T-80s. The same T-80 variants that they were currently using.

The Yinkian commander could imagine the smile on the enemy strategist's face that he'd trapped him with a choice to sacrifice his armour or his infantry. If he chose armour, taking the city himself was next to impossible. If he chose the mechanised infantry, it'll leave them vulnerable to attacks from more of these enemies who clearly had appropriate firepower to deal with light-skinned vehicles.

"Tsh!... All armour contingents!-….. protect the infantry battalions, this is an executive order! Do it ASAP!" He chose the infantry, yet the tankers didn't blame his choice. He'd led them through victory for so long, if it meant their lives then it was a fair price to pay.

"Men….. forgive me…"

"All infantry, disembark. The smoke clears in thirty seconds, find those anti-tank teams and kill them!" The Commander ordered.

The infantry briskly exited their vehicles and formed around their troop carriers as improvised protection from firearms. But they stayed a fair distance from their tanks. This was because of the Explosive reactive tiles mounted all over its chassis, a standoff protection against anti-tank missiles and RPGs.

The smoke finally cleared, but instead of meeting foes whom had previously RPG attacked them, they were greeted with a fierce attack from a groups of company-size fractions attacking them from all round in an attempt to pincer them. But their attacks weren't on the infantry, but the tanks that formed a defensive circle around them. And they were attacking a very specific area, which was the tracks.

Tracers from tank shells impacted some of his tanks from an undisclosed location up on the mountains, the same tank destroyer force no doubt. The infantry immediately moved to repel the enemy, but as they did so the tanks that were beside them experienced a penetrating shot that struck their reactive armor causing it to burst and in the process, kill the soldiers. It happened more than five instances when the soldiers tried to apprehend them but ended up trapped by their own tanks that formed a wall around them.

It was here that the Commander understood now that they had been forced into a halt and made into a bunched up stationary target.

A whistling sound came closer to them and they could almost not pick it out from the sounds of war about. But it was there and the commander knew the cause of it. And was made to watch in horror as it unfolded without any way of him countering.

(Pop) (Pop) (BOBOBOBOBOOM) (BOBOBOBOBOBOOM)

A rain of death came down upon his now unprotected infantry battalions he'd earlier ordered to leave. And it came down in the form of a very familiar ordnance in Kyrat that both Royal Army and Golden Path could attest to its area of effect ability. 120mm cluster bombs fell from their munitions and delivered the submunitions towards their targets. It didn't matter if the spread was big, as a matter a fact, it was better. Because the Yinkian forces had been closed up together by their own doing and now were prime targets for their mortar teams who fired a cluster munition round once every six seconds from three Patria AMVs with NEMO mortar systems.

The Yinkian Commander watched in horror as his actions led to the death of over four hundred soldiers in a single instant. The crewmen and tankers were just as shocked.

*Sir! Orders!* His adjutant shouted over the radio frantically. *Sir!*

*Sir! Permission to retreat, sir!* One of his company leaders suggested.

After that one opened his mouth the rest were obliged to agree. Unfortunately, they couldn't go anywhere with the tanks that were now detracked which amounted to nearly all of their tanks despite their intact status save for a few from his command team.

"This your Commander, Colonel Dema speaking. All tankers, company one to five, abandon MBTs and proceed with the IFVs to withdraw back. This responsibility is mine and mine alone. May fortune be with you, gentlemen."

The Yinkian armoured forces including the Republican Guard immediately left their tanks and hitched a ride with the BMP and BTR troop carriers. His adjutant came over with worry in his eyes.

"Take the men through the mountain pass which you bombarded earlier, that should be a clear route back to the rest of the Army."

"I'm staying here with you, sir."

"(Sigh). I appreciate the thought, but there will be many fights ahead. Go. I will surrender to allow them to take me back so I may examine the state of the city. So go."

The adjutant looked reluctant even thought he stated it as if it was his plan. But he resided to respect his superior's decision, after saluting crisply he joined the convoy that headed out as a single Company stood its ground to the overwhelming fire of the enemy forces.

When he was a fair distance away, the Commander took up his radio and switched to an open channel.

"This is Colonel Dema of the Republican Guard of Yinke! Invading forces, you've trespassed on soil you should not have tainted. The 1st Republican Guard shall not move a single step from here until you ply our frozen corpses from this ground! No Retreat! NO SURRENDER!" The soldiers in his company who heard it roared with vigour.

*Now I understand what he meant….. There are no honest men left in peace.* Came a reply on the open channel.

* * *

The Commander had no reason at all to do what he was about to do, however that voice and words held a deep sentiment that almost made him feel pity for himself and the situation he'd been brought into. The thoughts of no surrender and no retreat, vanished from his head. His enemy wasn't as unreasonable as to prevent him from escaping, nor surrendering if he wished it.

"Ceasefire! Ceasefire!" The commander ordered from his troops and at the same time the enemy ceased firing as well.

Then, a young officer walked out from the foliage that had protected the anti-tank teams and enemy soldiers which had suppressed their forces into that enclosure.

He pressed his throat mic and his lips matched the words that came next on the radio open channel.

*Can I convince you into an unconditional surrender then?*

"Sir…." The commander's radio specialist looked at his commander with expectation, would he answer?

"… Identify yourself, invader!"

*… Captain Bipin Kadayat of the 2nd Hussars Motorized Battalion, Royal Kyrati Army.*

"Kyrat?!" The commander said outloud in disbelief. His thoughts were shared by his men, many knew that Kyrat was not just the birthplace of the great teachers but also a place filled with war and unending conflict. Their impression of Kyrat didn't match the army standards of these invaders that possessed both airpower and an outstanding motorized force.

The commander popped the hatch of his vehicle to his crewmens' shock. "Sir! What are you doing?!"

"Sir, come back!"

The Commander walked pass the encirclement of abandoned armour towards the empty gap where the young officer stood. At the same instance he walked forward, another officer came forward to stand by the young officer's side. That person had an impossibly slender figure for a man, the commander had seen enough women trying to trick their way into the army. But unfortunately, the government wouldn't recruit girls into military vocations due to the teachings of the shining way they held sacred to the governing ideals. Apparently, this one was different.

"And you are?" He asked as he stood in front of them and looked at the woman in drag.

"Lieutenant-Colonel Samuel Min, Commander of the 2nd Hussars."

"So it was you then. The author of all this."

The woman kept mum, so it meant it wasn't her but the young officer instead.

"You?" He asked as he looked at him. At first, he couldn't believe someone as young and junior as him could possess such unnatural talent in armoured tactics and strategy alone. Believe it or not, he'd just defeated three battalions, one of which was a full tank battalion with only one mechanised battalion.

But then, he noticed the glint in his eyes and understood from there.

-This boy had been through battle more than once, ney. He's already a veteran.- The Commander thought.

"As I've said, Colonel Dema of the Republican Guard, Yinke Liberation Army. To what do we owe the pleasure of Kyrat knocking at out doorstep?"

"This war was started when one 7th Commando Regiment invaded Kyrat and killed soldier and civilian alike amounting to 4532 souls."

-Namdak's unit?!-

The Commander was familiar with who that was, that raving idealist of the Shining Way demonimation. Too close to the Great Teachers for comfort and was supposedly in the mountains doing alphine training.

"Yinke did not start a war." He refused to believe a word he said.

"And yet, Kyrat has given a written answer to the Politburo whom we hold in the City."

"I say again, Yinke did not start a war with Kyrat."

"Its already too late, you should have kept a better management over your mountain lunatics. Because our lord doesn't take kindly to people that hurt or kill his own."

"Lord? If I remember correctly, it was a King Min, correct."

"This operation has been overseed by 1st Lord Badala."

"Is that your supreme commander? Then I request parley."

"If you tell your men to drop their arms and come quietly, I can guarantee fair treatment for them and an audience with Lord Badala. Does that sound like an option?" The woman in drag told him.

The Commander looked back at his men whom were half out of their vehicle hatches looking in anticipation.

"Oh! It looks like Gamma did its bit." The Young officer named Bipin faced the mountain which the Commander's forces withdrew in. And to the surprise of the remaining forces, they were chained and forced to walk in a row. Escorting them was a company-size force mounted on their vehicles of European origin.

The Commander laughed in self-pity, it appeared that they had a force waiting to ambush his withdrawing forces at that hill as well. He had previously assumed no one was there because there wasn't any response, but it appear that they had been hiding behind the hill on the otherside. To think that this strategist had thought that far and was even confident of their victory over them said a lot about his prowess.

"Han Geng, good work!" The woman complimented.

Another young officer on the lead vehicle puffed proudly and turned to Bipin.

"And you?" As if, expecting a compliment from him as well.

"You took your fucking time, now they're useless as leverage!" Instead received a reprimanding.

"Sei Pok Gai! I knew you were a bastard!"

"Well done, anyway." He added.

"Too late. Apologies are not accepted."

"Whatever, piss off. Daddy's having a very important talk." The officer Bipin said to the Chinese officer on the vehicle.

"What! You!-…" The Chinese officer burst into a fit of rage but was held back by his men. While the Yinkians came back with glum faces, the Kyratis bellowed in victory.

"So are you going to threaten me with their lives then?"

"That depends on how much of a hassle you prove to be." Bipin responded.

"….."

"So what will it be then, Colonel? Till the death, or a new era of prosperity for Yinke and Kyrat."

The Commander was confused by what he meant.

"Prosperity? In this situation?"

"You won't see it if you and your men die here. But then what do my words mean to you? Absolutely worth nothing."

The Commander was left thinking, if they were left to die here, the same could be said for their men who had been captured as well. Except they would die horrible from torture and interrogation, unless the conditions that were applied with his willing surrender were in place.

"Very well. Men, lower your weapons." He said on his throat mic, to which they reluctantly lowered their weapons. The Kyrati forces moved in to disarm them one by one, no one went against their commander's orders. It showed to the Kyratis how respected this senior officer was, although he was around his sixties which he would have been retired if he were serving the Royal Army.

"Then you've have my word that no harm will come to your men." The woman named Samuel told him.

They were being processed along the way for about an hour or so, a convoy of five-ton trucks came to pick them up and bring them to the camps as prisoners of war. The Commander sighed but at the same time was relieved that these soldiers seemed to respect and abide by their word. He had seen worst among the Yinkian Army ranks that was for sure, sometimes he questioned why a revolt hadn't happened in years to oppose a corrupt government. Instead the force that would clear them were invaders in the form of their neighbour Kyrat.

As they loaded up the surrendered soldiers and packed the abandoned and captured equipment including the tanks back. The officer named Bipin held out a radio which he switched to a loud broadcast. A familiar trumpet music resounded in the background, everyone recognised what it was.

It was the national broadcast.

It seemed that it was expected as officer Bipin had tuned it to a P.A allowing all the soldiers to hear.

*A message from your leaders and family.*

*My friends and family, this is a time of change for Yinke.*

"That's President Bhuti!" One of the soldiers shouted in surprise.

*We have incurred the wrath of our neighbours by the treacherous force of brigands led by Colonel Namdak of the Yinke Liberation Army whom had invaded Kyrat with four thousand soldiers and had brought forth an uncalled-for massacre. The result of these actions has led to the Kyrat Army that has now occupied our great city for over five days from the top to the lowest reaches of Pada Mo City. The supreme commander of the Kyrati forces, 1st Lord Badala has treated everyone with dignity and humanity despite the atrocities at his home. Today, we the politburo hereby sign an armistice ensuring the end of this war at the condition that all forces stand down, militia and military.

These conditions entrail the disarmament of our premier army, the Yinke Liberation Army until a mutual agreement has been resolved. The debt of Three thousand Crores over a period of ten years for the damage and grievances caused by our renegades and our failure to prevent this from happening, As the responsible party for this tragedy and our inability to prevent this invasion and total loss of Yinke to the Kyrati expeditionary force, we the politburo will step down in favour of the new leader of Yinke, Tenzin Vgru.* The whole of Yinke that was listening were in shock, the government were openly announcing the man they deposed be reinstated back in his position despite their claim of his tyranny.

*This-…. I cannot…* The president spoke in the background a refusal to someone about something that was in the script. But after some discussion he returned.

*My friends and family. We, the politburo, have not been entirely truthful to you. The reason we-….ok! I'll say it!... Everything we've claimed to have done for the people, bring prosperity to Yinke, banish a tyrant! That was all a lie!*

"What?!" The Yinkian soldiers were astounded, more so then when their national leaders had just declared a defeat of Yinke on open broadcast.

*What else do you want me to say?!* The president sounded frantic over the other side of the microphone.

*Fine!... We lied about Tenzin Vgru! We fabricated everything to incriminate him! We had been lured in by the temptations of the great Teachers and forced a true patriot out of the seat for our own gain!- What else do you-(Bang)* For anyone that was listening and wasn't used to a gunshot, that was what had happened.

Someone had executed the President. The audience were flabbergasted, the highest power of authority had been casually killed off despite his many security measures at the parliamentary building, but since they had been force to read out the broadcast of their surrender of the politburo to the Kyrati Kingdom it made sense he was in the hands of the Kyrati forces

Then, the sound of someone picking up the microphone could be heard.

*This is 1st Kshatriyan Lord Badala of the Royal Kyrati Army. To all Yinkian military forces, you are required by the terms of the armistice to step down, lay down your arms in the presence of our disarmament officials. Failure to comply will result in your immediate arrest and summary trial.

People of Yinke. Though this seems as a dark time as any, know that if you are a true Yinkian then no harm shall come to you unless you oppose us. However, if you were in cahoots with this band of crooks which had occupied the parliament and army headquarters for sixteen years unchallenged, we will find you. As I hold you equally responsible for the atrocity in my homeland. You will get everything you deserve. As for the Brave Yinkians we have yet to meet. You have every right to fight back and retaliate against me, and I have every right to make all of you martyrs in your country.

That is your choice.

But this country will change for the better in due time, we will ensure that it happens because Yinke deserves better than being a mere sideline vassal to the People's Republic of China. But instead as an ally in our struggles to let the world know the names of our nations strong and proud. This you have our word.

I've said all there is to say regarding what's to come, the choice is yours. Oppose us or befriend us. Those that oppose will be herald as rebels and the orders are to be apprehended for trial.

And Golden Path, if you're listening. Devas Lamsal and Ved are in our possession, they will understand the consequence of betraying their homeland. And you wouldn't need to bury Deva Sanjeev, I've already saved you the trouble. Deva Vasu and Mohan. We've come in search of you too.*

...

He said it in a chilling intimidating voice. The mic was turned off right after and the music to end the session played out.

Officer Bipin turned off the radio as well.

"So what will it be, Colonel? Are you an advocate of justice or a person of pragmatism? Will you fight us and die, or join us in the fight against human indifference."


	92. Chapter 84 - The Four Nations Treaty

Author's Notes:

Looking back at my work in RaK, there're things i wished i had done and not done. Coming all the way to Chapter 84 and in the six hundred thousand word count it has made me realised my work has become a huge clutter that has not existed in the Farcry page of Fanfict ever. If we were to gauge where i am till completion of the story i'd say around sixty percent complete. There were about five phases and we're currently in the third working to finish it to proceed to phase four. Perhaps i should do a revamping of the whole story, I'll let you guys decide.

* * *

It was an unfamiliar feeling, to be suspended off ground over a thousand metres. But Tenzin and Jagriti became witnesses to a hidden majesty of their mountainous homeland that perhaps no other Yinkian did. Ajay had remained in Yinke to proceed with the armistice with the defeated government and to rework his credentials. Tenzin wasn't sure how Badala was going to clear his name, but knowing him it had to be full of surprises.

"Can I trouble you for any further refreshments, sir? Miss?" A flight attendant on board the spacious helicopter attended to their comfort the entire trip. Currently, she was handing them hot towels to refreshen up.

"No thanks. I'm all good."

"Same here."

*This is your pilot Flight Lieutenant Kamran speaking. We'll be in on our destination shortly, E.T.A is 10 minutes.*

"Where is here?" He asked over the microphone that was provided.

*Had Badala not informed you? We are currently over the Capital of the Papir Republic.*

-Papir Republic!? Don't tell me Kyrat also-…..-

As they flew closer to their destination over the mountains like all the other cities were behind, they came upon a bustling city much like that of Kathamandu. There were no signs of hostile takeover like in Pada Mo City where the concentration of soldiers could be seen from air. So it was clear that hadn't been the case, it still begged to answer why they were here. A few seconds later, they entered the proximity of a helipad on a higher building than the rest and landed. Awaiting them down on the ground floor were Republic Army soldiers of Papir, donning honor guard uniforms. An officer representing them escorted them into a vehicle and brought them VIP-style to the Parliamentary building of the Papir Republic, Garud Durbar.

A Grand Palace with roots back to the late fifteen-hundreds and once the home to the Papir Nobility with distant relation to the former ancient lowland kingdom that had been deposed long ago. The land of Papir now existed as a Republic now and forever more. There, they passed through the many security guards along the way, pass the checkpoint and inside the building itself.

As the approached a library area, Tenzin and Jagriti heard distinct laughing from several individuals. In the corner by a warm and cosy fire were three men, one of which Tenzin could hardly mistake since the last time he saw him years ago.

"Pagan."

Said person turned around with a smile so great I failed to hide the pleasure of things going to plan for him. He laughed heartily to himself as he approached Tenzin and Jagriti.

"Hello, people's champion."

"Hello, tyrant. Seems your conscience has aged you a bit more than I could imagine." Pagan laughed at his extremely blunt but poor insult.

"It seems my boy managed to find the real deal after all. That poor excuse for an insult, it could only be you, and it seems you've grown some white hairs yourself!" Pagan reached out to get a handshake but Tenzin remained where he was stationary. Pagan chuckled and turned to Jagriti.

"But I don't think I know who you are. Are you perhaps his plu- no, forgive me. Those eyes….. you're his daughter, aren't you."

Jagriti had long broken from the spell of bewilderment and somehow restored her sense of etiquette she'd learnt so long ago in the mansion to be a lady.

"Pleasure to meet his Royal Highness, I am Jagriti Vgru, the daughter of Tenzin Vgru of Yinke." She said whilst performing a curtsy.

Pagan smiled at her politeness and good introduction, he returned with a bow.

"Likewise, my dear. Pagan Min, King of Kyrat. Etiquette amongst youngsters is all but lost nowadays, so good to see the rare exceptional few." He said with a smile.

Pagan looked back at Tenzin who was showing reluctance by being difficult.

"Come have a seat, you old dog. You too, my dear. You've already been dragged four hundred miles away from home, so you'd might as well listen to what we have to say."

Pagan almost immediately returned to his colleagues he'd previously chatted with, Tenzin deeply sighed but followed with Jagriti close behind.

"Gentlemen, I'd like to introduce you to the guest star of the evening and his lovely daughter. Tenzin and Jagriti- was it?-Yes. Jagriti Vgru."

Standing from their sofas was a bearded middle-age man with his hair resembling a lion's mane but with a certain neatness to it. Next to him, a young lad with a good set of eyes and a pleasant smile wearing a heavily jewel embroided traditional garb.

"Kumsa Manendra, Crown Prince to the Kumsa throne. Pleasure to finally meet the legendary Tenzin." The young man said as he held out his hand. Tenzin was at least polite enough to accept it.

"The pleasure is all mine, your highness. What is the status of your father, the King?"

"Retiring to serenity, happy to see his grandchildren at last I'm glad to say." The Prince said with a smile.

"Congrats to his highness then. If we have the opportunity, allow this old man to bestow a blessing when we have a chance to visit the Kingdom." The Prince nodded. Jagriti was a little surprised, that young prince looked only in his late teens around eighteen perhaps, and was already having heirs. It made her have a sudden complex about her age.

"And regards to you to, My Lady Jagriti." He gentlemanly kissed her hand. Internally, Jagriti was fighting the urge to laugh and snicker. The boy was already a ladykiller at his age.

Meanwhile, her father had gotten the attention of the other gentlemen next to the prince. They both stared at each other deeply in the eyes though. Tenzin was the first to speak in an aged tone.

"Dhir….. it's been a while." Tenzin seemed to recognise the bearded man. Because the man was the host of their venue, the President of the Papir Republic. Once a friend and associate from long ago while they were both men of power for their respective countries. Often affectionately called "Singha" which meant Lion, both for his appearance and personality.

The middle-aged man clasped his outreached hand while wearing a sad smile.

"My condolences on your predicament and your wife. I had hope-."

"It's fine, matters of the past. We're here for something else… are we not, Pagan."

"Indeed we are. While my boy cleans up the mess your successors left behind, we have been left with a very important task to handle. And quickly, it needs to be." Pagan added.

"China?" Tenzin had already had a brief summary of what was to come from Ajay now that they had declared the armistice.

"China. The dragon of Asia. Powerful, wise and arrogance that outweighs any. It's a mystical place home to many cultures and ethics that has rooted itself deeply into our modern world. Being Chinese myself, I have a bit of understanding of how their bueraucracy and politics work. Its present system comes in the form of a collective interest of some twenty primary members and seven that form the standing committee. Supposedly, nothing can go wrong in that system. I wonder what will be their final judgement upon Yinke after their economic interests have been thawed by my left hand." He said with a fearless smile to the expense of Tenzin's calm. But he had calmed down a lot after seeing people he had trusted in the past with him. One was the Papirese President, the other though he didn't know personally was still the chosen heir to the King of Kumsa. These people he had more faith in than Pagan unfortunately.

"Your adopted son has been quite the talk among my military officials. To be herald as a Demon, it must have been bloody times just a while ago." The Papirese President Dhir commented.

"You have no idea." Pagan said with a wry smile.

"He's also a shameless conman!" Pagan laughed at Tenzin's honesty as if his insults had no effect on him at all.

"Ha! That's only because you're as stubborn as a Rhino, old dog! By the way, I have a general like that too, stubborn Rhino I mean."

"Ahem." Gary cleared his throat.

"Thank you, Gary. Nearly veered off track, right. Back to where we were. China. Big Problem, the solution? Direct opposition or submission. Because they're sure as hell not going to stop with Yinke after this, unless any of you have a direct hotline to UN to complain to."

They sat back in the sofa as the butler and maids brought forth tea and confectionaries.

"Thank you."

"Thanks."

"Mm."

They took a moment to relax and drink up.

Pagan put down his teacup elegantly and started off.

"Now. The question we need to ask ourselves is… how long do we think our sovereignties will last?"

Tenzin stood up in shock but what Pagan said, almost offended by what he said, but remembered he was also talking about himself.

"As long as my descendants don't become impotent I suppose." The Crown prince cracked a joke whilst chuckling himself.

"Let's certainly hope not. Or it'll be really inconvenient to lose a friend and a baffle." Pagan and the Prince shared a laugh, Tenzin was not in the same understanding as them so didn't get it.

"Perhaps as long as the idea of governing the nation with democracy or communism is not yet obsolete." President Dhir gave an intelligent guess.

"Very close. Although that's assuming if the country survives the trials of a changing world first." Pagan said pleased that they were getting in the same page.

"When man throws his life in the hands of god." Tenzin gave his answer to Pagan's question, it made the rest of the people in the room with the exception of Pagan shocked beyond belief. This came from a once faithful believer of the local region devotion to Banashur.

Pagan's response was very different, it was a smile like none seen before. He laughed insanely whilst clapping his hands. It appeared that after his time in exile, Tenzin had finally understood the nature of man that he didn't fully accept in the past. The old Tenzin only believed that man was only capable of doing good in the world. But now, he knew that it was only a small minority amidst the hordes of dishonest and conceit.

"When man throws his life in the hands of god, eh? If this had been the old you, perhaps he'd give you a fierce debate to convert you back. But a good answer nonetheless. Personally, I put no stock in religion. But if there is a god, why would he help you if he's done such a magnificent job at creating us? He should just sit back and watch us run around to entertain him." Although it sounded very twisted from Pagan's mouth. There was some truth to it, God was not obligated to caring for its creations, that was their responsibility.

"So how do we survive in this cruel world? Together, of course."

"""…."""

"And that's the agenda of today, gentlemen." He waved Gary to begin. Said attendant to the King came over with two helpers to bring over a projector. They plugged in the sockets and hung up the backing canvas for the light to project on.

When the screen turned on and the slideshow powerpoint file was clicked. An emblem stood out before them.

The emblem contained four pillars that held up the mountains. It was noble and majestic for a sigil and it explained its function for a higher purpose.

"(Clears throat) Ladies and Gentlemen. We are here not out of desperation but our collected desire, our ambition for our nations to thrive beyond our own expiration. Friends…. Colleagues….. I give you the answer to all these concerns…"

He clipped the slide to change to the heading of his presentation.

"I give you….. The Himavana Pillar Alliance treaty."

* * *

The air was filled with the smell of burnt casings, charred fresh and greenery. It had been that way since the fighting broke out between the Royal Kyrati Army and the Yinke Liberation Army units that refused to disarm. Specifically, what was left of the some of the encampments after two days of straight unhindered bombing. Lupus Caelum had bombed out two camps to make as an example of what they could do to the rest. Four camps immediately threw down their arms and surrendered without question, it wasn't worth wasting the lives of their troops over this without even fighting back.

But two camps had chosen to instead flee into the mountains to perhaps begin a resistance, and at this very moment Ajay and the Jatayu were keeping them from living to fight another day. This line of actions was all to familiar to the Kyratis. In fact, it was fair to say that counter-insurgency was what the Royal Army thrived in due to having twenty-five years of combat experience in asymmetric warfare. This was all child's play to them.

It was around six early in the morning when the sun was coming up, the Yinkians had travelled through the mountains all night and were looking forward to their next break. Only, they never got one, because the next minute the air was filled with the droning of helicopters and close air support aircraft loitering about. The Kyratis had come to hunt them down. One camp had chosen to stay to allow the other to flee, and that was what was happening right now.

(Boom) (BOOOM)

The air was filled with the constant sound of someone or something firing its gun. But it was the Yinkians that were on the receiving end. Screams were also present at the beginning but with the swiftness of how the Jatayu dispatched them, they hardly had time to scream or wail in pain. It was only a short ten minutes since this firefight started and yet they could see a huge disparity between them and the Kyratis could be seen even though they held the advantage of more men at about six thousand in strength. But when units that were actual combatants among the many logistic troops were few and they had not fully kitted up for the sake of making the travel convenient.

The disparity was clear. It wasn't just the air support in the form of the many troop carrying-Blackhawk helicopters, but Havoc gunships and Su-25 frogfoot attack airplanes. There was also an individual arms disparity between them, like in the beginning stages of the Kyrati civil war between the modern M16-armed Nationalists and Second world war-era armed Royalists. The Yinkians were armed with a combination of bolt actions, semi-auto rifles and submachine guns, very rarely an AK assault rifle was seen. The Kyratis on the other hand were equipped with MH-15 assault rifles a domestic combination of a modern AK variant with a chambering for 6.5mm Grendel ammo.

In experience pool, the Jatayu had been exposed to combat nearly their entire careers, whilst the Yinkians comprised of conscripts and regulars that hadn't any combat experience at all. This was their first, and most certainly their last. They were now cursing their superior officer for refusing to step down like the other four camps had and had even let the other camp go first to the Yinke-Tibet border.

But most of all, they dreaded the moment that demon entered the battlefield. That masked monster had run straight through gunfire and chopped them down their officers one by one. Currently, he stepped onto the highest point holding the head of their highest authority.

"The colonel is dead!"

"Ceasefire! Ceasefire! Damnit! Throw down your arms!" The last remaining officer had more sense than his more stubborn superior to the turn of events.

"Get on the floor now!" The paratroopers confiscated their weapons and rounded them in a group circle.

In under twenty minutes, all one thousand survivors of the assault were rounded up, dirty and shaken by the conflict that had occurred only minutes ago. The conscripts had a real taste of war and were already attested to be advocates against it should they live to see the next sunrise.

"…." Ajay surveyed the battlefield and the new prisoners of war. Hurk had come out of cover to meet with the soldiers who commented on their victory. He too had contributed by killing the radio specialists amongst the enemy ranks to cause further disorder. But the next time they were engaged with the enemy, their foes won't be as green as this.

For all likely intents and purposes, the last camp was likely headed in the direction of the Yinke-Tibet border. But Ajay had the feeling that they would also chance upon the offer of assistance from a certain group of outsiders, outsiders Ajay and the Royal Army had come to hunt.

They would come together like kindred spirits seeking out their way of life. Shining Way and Golden Path, together. In a quest to rid the demon from the lands, and standing at the height of power on their end was the fabled Mohan, founding father, great leader. He was none of these in reality, just a hollow last will of the real one that died alone in the Homestead, just like the demon was to Ajay. He was the hollow will of vengeance to Ajay Ghale and not the real one.

"Casualty report. Seven dead, forty wounded. My lord." Sandesh informed him.

"Good job, take a few and start questioning them about the terrain ahead and their likeliness of encounters with Golden Path seeking their aid over the last few days. Cross check with G2 for satellite imagery." Sandesh saluted and left. He had been placed in charge of the frontline force of Jatayu whist the appointed officer in charge, Nagesh remained to oversee the works at Pada Mo City. Maya remained there too to brief and dispatch the several accompanying Infantry regiments that had been flown here as well after the securing of the City.

The four Battalion commanders came before him, awaiting his orders.

"Call in the MPs, leave two companies to watch them then continue onwards to the mountains. Expect immediate hostile fire, shot to kill."

""Yes, sir!"" The other three left, with Chief Yang remaining.

"What is it, Er Hu?"

"Are you really ok with this?"

"With what?"

"When we met, you were merely talking about putting aside differences, then it was about ending the civil war. Now….. we're five hundred miles away from home in this land that even my ancestors had little to no interaction with."

"Are you unsatisfied with our excursion? This is a little surprising to here from the unmatched Huns."

"I'm a warrior not a soldier, sir. Remember that."

"And warriors muse over the battlefield is it?"

"In a romantic sense, yes. We do this so that there will not be another time we raise our hands the moment we be offended or vengeful."

"Er Hu, this isn't about revenge."

'Isn't it? How could you not wish you would come here and not burn them for slaughtering your friends in Lanka?" He asked with folded arms. It was as he'd said before, he was a warrior, not a soldier. So he wanted to remain treated that way. Closure was the best way of retaining his trust as a warrior companion.

A silence matured between Ajay and Er Hu.

"In hindsight of the real plans for coming here to Yinke, yes…. I wish to kill all of them. I want them to regret their way of life for causing the death of my people, my friends. You have no idea how deep my rage runs, Er Hu. But this has played out in a similar as many times before. I know the end result of retribution. But even if it's a price I'd willingly take to wrought havoc on Yinke, I won't." Er Hu became assured that his lord was still in the rational mind of thought.

"Good. I was just checking, I was afraid my son-in-law would become a monster!" He said laughing.

"Who would that be?" Ajay asked monotone.

"Who else!"

"Sorry…. but I'm already engaged." When those words left his mouth, it wasn't just Er Hu who stood with his mouth open, but the entire formation of Jatayu waiting to ship out.

"W-… What?!"

* * *

Ajay left them flabbergasted as he made his way towards the landed choppers to be taken back to the city. He had a lot to take care of now that four regiments had come over to join the Garuda Legion. Their purpose here wasn't much to do with assisting the Jatayu, Hussars, single regiment of Grenadiers or even the air force elements. They were here to add to the deterent factor against the PRC. Gary had already briefed him on the situation from the shadows. People's Republics' intelligence bureau had activated sleeper cells within Yinke and Pada Mo City to assess and disrupt their efforts to secure Yinke. Right now, the central committee in Beijing was discussing the plan of action the nation would take against Kyrat. From Arjun's description of their conventional offensive strategy would be something similar to what they had done in Yinke. Except with greater resources to bring forth. They would maintain air superiority fighters indefinitely over the course of the theatre of operation. It would seem like Pravindra and his fellow Indian Pilots would finally see action, but not against their natural enemy but rival for the Himalayan borders which had been another air groups' job to handle.

He wasn't going up against single-engine F-16 equipped Pakistanis like before but similar Sukhoi airframe equipped Chinese Pilots. He didn't want to admit it but he had to assume the worst possible outcome, that China would take advantage of the invasion as a pretext to 'liberate' the Yinkians. Yinke had a substantial coal reserve which they had initially exported to China's voracious economy, it was enough reason for them to intervene.

The helicopters landed in the makeshift airbase outside of Pada Mo city, where Lupus Caelum was based. He was expecting a report on their status from the Wing Commander Khalid al Mohammed. His employee for the Company.

He noticed a lengthy line of POWs being dismounted from the trucks to be relocated to the POW camp a distance from the City and Airbase. But Maya suggested they alight from the airport and walk the entire length to the POW camp under escort. He could see that it was a physcological mind game she tried to put on the defeated soldiers so they knew from the activity of the airbase the magnitiude of their oppressors. Hopefully be discouraged to escape or fight back while in the prison camps.

And it was working quite well. Most of them walked with pale faces as they looked towards the vast arsenal of helicopters and fighter airplanes, some had even had the taste of their payloads in the battlefield.

Then, he noticed a commotion from the POWs as they saw Bipin and Sam escort a certain officer towards them.

"Oh my god, is that Colonel Dema?!"

"It can't be…. The Republican guard lost?!..."

"Or did he surrender?"

The POWs were conversing heavily to what was the meaning of their greatest soldier in cuffs meant for the outcome of the war.

"Quiet! Knock it off and get back in line!" The escort guards told them to shut up with shoves of their rifles.

Ajay walked up to meet them.

"My lord-." Samuelle was cut halfway with a raised hand.

"Let's not talk here in front of the men." Ajay said before heading towards a tent in the airbase, the three of them quickly and quietly followed.

"…" The Yinkian Commander understood that was trying to avoid having the POWs become confused and think of things that could threaten both the Kyrati guards and themselves.

The supply personnel allocated a tent for them to discuss after clearing the place. They sat facing one another, Ajay removed the mask as it was improper for him to have it whilst indoors having a conversation giving the Yinkian commander the chance to size him.

But all he could see were his cold eyes looking upon him.

Bipin whispered the details of the agreement he had with the enemy commander to have him lay down his arms.

"Good job, Bip. You too, Samuel." He said to both of them, Sam nodded appreciatively.

Ajay looked upon the Yinkian commander known as Dema, the veteran Commander of the Yinkian Republican Guard.

"I need not say this, but I will just for formalities sake. You and your men will be treated according to the Third Geneva Convention. You will be clothed when its cold, fed when you're hungry. But if you cross the line and rebel I will do more than just kill you. That is where the fair treatment ends."

"Did you kill the head of state?"

"You mean former head of state?"

"The people will not recognise your puppet leader."

"He's not my puppet, in fact he's the furtherest thing from it. Can you imagine, if you said that to him in person? Tenzin Vgru, a puppet of the Kyrati Kingdom. It doesn't suit his style, I'm pretty sure if it ever came to that he'd rather shoot himself." At first, he thought it was just a coincidence of name but he asked again for clarification.

"Did-….Did you just say….. Tenzin Vgru?"

"He was a bitch to find and a goddamn hassle to recruit! One of the most ridiculous moral warriors out there. Not even the Marshal is that stubborn." Ajay said shaking his head whilst chuckling away. The Yinkian Commander seemed preoccupied in his own world, the name had shaken him to the core.

"I-…. I thought they'd killed him…." He murmured.

"Are you telling me you wanna have a go too?"

"No! Nothing of that sort! You might not believe it if I told you but… I believed Tenzin is was the right leader for our homeland all the way."

"Then why are you the Commander to the politburos' guard dogs?"

The Yinkian Commander remained quiet for a while, his presence in the highest honor guard contradicted his words. He couldn't blame the young lord for seeing otherwise.

"It has been my greatest shame till this point. I was but a junior officer when my battalion commander ordered my group to storm the Vgru Mansion and seize their assets and his family. He ordered me to kill them, but I didn't…. instead I took them to the mountains and claimed that I killed them. But for Tenzin himself, my colleagues reported him dead, shot in the ditch somewhere." The Yinkian Commander admitted with a lowered head, the first person he disclosed his bottled-up secret to knowing that they were finally safe.

Ajay frowned slightly at his account.

"Dead. Did you collect his body?"

"I'm not sure they did, they didn't parade his corpse around the city and neither did they give him a burial."

For some reason, Ajay didn't feel he was lying, yet it didn't match the events with Jagriti and Tenzin at the settlement. Although he felt no ill intent from Tenzin, there was a strange feeling being around him. His hunters had been having a weird feeling as well in proximity when they covered Ajay from the shadows, the chief hunter reported this to him before leaving to hunt the sleepers. Specifically, the light that came from his eyes, behind that flame of determination was something else hidden in the deepest parts of he dare say soul. As it was said that the eyes were the windows to them. It wasn't just him, but his direct offspring Jagriti as well. He had no word to define it but…..

Sometimes he felt that the abnormal beasts of Kyrat gave the same glint in their eyes.

Vajra was no exception. He could feel now more so than before that there was a uniqueness to those rare animals to the rest of the kingdoms. Was this something to do with him burrowing further into the demon's innate abilities?

Ajay decided to put that aside for a while.

"So are you pro-Tenzin or against?"

"Tenzin is a legitimate leader." He said firmly.

"Good response, you're either truthful or you're a Chinese Sleeper agent."

Somehow the Yinkian Commander didn't find that funny at all, in fact he was sweating for a minute to think he was suspected of being a latent infiltrator.

"I'll tell you what, Colonel Dema. Instead of disarming with the rest of your fellow units. I'll let you reactivate the Republican Guards." The words that came out of Ajay were a shock to the other three in the tent.

"My lord! I'm heavily against this! His unit is a danger to our operation and I have had grievous casualties to his mens actions!" Samuel was the first to make her complaint.

"I know. And so has he. Could you imagine that same unit fighting alongside you?" Sam stepped back in disbelief, Bipin didn't seem that surprised at all. He was used to this sort of wild and unpredictable behaviour.

"Colonel Dema, we have a common enemy that's coming like it or not. And they'll stop at nothing while they have this opportunity to enter with international jurisdiction."

"Who are these enemies?"

"The People's Liberation Army."

"China?!"

"Yes, Colonel. You should be well aware of the trade that your previous governments have had with China."

"But they didn't intervene the last time!"

"That was then, they hadn't enough credentials to move in especially if it was a civil war, an internal strife and not an invasion like right now. But their economic situation has evolved, it needs a vast amount of Yinkes most commoditive resource to fuel its economy and cheapen its cities utilities. But most of all, the PLA hasn't mobilised since the Korean War. They've reequipped, trained and prepared for a moment like this to happen in over sixty years….. and their dying to stretch their legs." All points were the most logical solution.

"And you still chose to invade us knowing this?!"

"Even if Kyrat didn't move in, Yinke would've toppled apart with that lacklustre excuse of a politburo. And the ever 'Benevolent' Chinese will come providing economic aid and relief, who do you think they'll want to be under when unrest breaks throughout the Cities of Yinke? "Say, why don't we declare ourselves a province of China, maybe we could get the same treatment."." Ajay mimicked an average citizen's voice as he quoted a likely thought they would have.

"…."

"Besides, we're here not just to hunt your corrupted officials and our rebels for revenge. But to include Yinke into a grand scheme of ours, that takes priority over everything else."

"What is it?" If curiosity at his age was still permitted he was very curious.

"That depends on how far you're with us and your guaranteed allegiance to Tenzin and provisionally to me."

The Yinkian Commander thought about it hard.

"Think it through, I'm not going to say that you won't face your own forces and colleagues in battle later on. You get one chance to convince them to switch, if not I'd expect you to terminate them with extreme prejudice." The Yinkian Commander Dema wore a heavy face of worry from the moment he entered the tent and Ajay told him these things.

"How will you deter the PLA?" It was the most pressing concern for the Yinkian Commander. The Yinke Liberation army was in no state to take on the PLA for prolonged periods and neither were the formidable Kyrati expeditionary forces.

"If you agree I'll let you in on it, but the general strategy of deterring them, well… I have four regiments head to the Yinke-Tibet Border to block them for a while at least."

"What will you do about their airpower? I'm certain they have more than what you've shown to us."

"As do I, I have a few friends that'll cover the air superiority aspect for us. All we have to deal with is the PLA Ground Forces."

The word friend was said with confidence and casualness at the same time, The Yinkian Commander Dema shuddered to think who these "Friends" were. Could it actually be India and/or Pakistan? The later seemed unlikely with their close relation. But Kyrat lay near the borders of India and it was no surprise they had a fair volume of trade between countries. If it were, then having China's rival at their side was a little bit of relief. It made sense since taking Yinke was expanding the rights China had in the Himalayas which would be a threat to Indian National Security.

"I have a condition."

"Really now."

"If you can agree to it then you'll have the Republican Guard as your ally if anything." If the rest of the Kyrati officers heard this conversation going on behind the flaps of the tent, their heads would spin for hours.

"If its about resupplying consider it covered as well. "Colonel Min" will sort out your resupplying." Sam's eyes widen as Ajay had just given her a field promotion out of the blue.

"Will that be alright?" He turned to Sam who nodded her head.

"It's actually close to that. I want those armour assets you've confiscated back." Once a tanker, always a tanker. The Republican Guard were an elite armoured unit or nothing.

Ajay smiled widely at the conditions "I was about to do that anyway. I didn't think you'll be able to fight on foot like the rest. Anything else?" He was being generous by offering addition help for the Yinkian Commander whom only had the reinstatement of the Republican Guard at his disposal in mind.

"… Promise you will do no further harm upon the Yinkians."

"Colonel Dema, even if I didn't promise you. I have nothing against the people of Yinke, but if they raise their hand against my soldiers, you cannot blame me for wanting to kill them."

"…"

"But I promise as an oath to you, Colonel. Perhaps you have a different approach in dealing with rebel sympathy. On that, I'll leave to you to handle shall i?" Dema nodded.

"Fair enough, then as the Commander of the Yinkian Republican Guard and fourth councillor of the defense committee, I pledge my allegiance to Tenzin Vgru, head of state and to 1st Lord Badala of Kyrat." Ajay smiled in satisfaction.

"My men are yours and so is my resolve."


	93. Chapter 85 - The Necessary Evils

Author's Notes:

Decided to continue on, this far in its not worth stopping momentum or it'll cease forever. As i said. sixty-plus percent complete and in the third phase of the story. Fourth will cover the long awaited magical aspect and supernatural clawing its way out from the depths.

* * *

It was as if a powerful gust had blown away a maelstrom to give clear blue sky. This was the reality for those that heard of the major plan for the Himalayan territories once members of the ancient lowlands kingdom.

To put the People's Republic of China's actions into reassessment. Because it was no longer an invasion from Kyrat but a series of radical reforms by the Yinke government with the assistance of the Kyrati Army. More specifically, it was a treaty of union by the four nations that inhabited the unheard-of lowlands of the Himalayas. It would reshuffle the die to change the outcome and given perspective.

China would no longer be seen as "rescuing" a neighbour, but forcibly invading a member of a union and was therefore liable to face all four countries at once. Thereby putting its actions in question to the global peers. But it would only work when the treaty was put into affect, meaning that all four nations, Yinke, Kumsa, Papir Republic and Kyrat had to come to mutual consensus and sign. It needed to be done before the PLA "officially" crossed the Yinkian border for it to have validity to their claim that China had overstepped its boundaries. India would be more than prepared to "assist" its neighbours in military might or political backing should the outcome turn for worse and the Chinese Central committee overrided the militaries practical decision to pull back with executive power. The Himalayas was a tricky situation they'd been playing since their Indo-Sino wars began.

Ajay put down the phone after Gary informed him the latest developments to the treaty being drafted and signed. The Himavana Pillar Alliance, the name Pagan coined for the Military-Political bloc established between the four nations including Kyrat. In definition, it was an agreement of states, united for joint actions to address common political, economic and military tasks. Much like the European NATO and EU but under a single denomination for all said factors.

He explained part of this to the Yinkian Commander Dema as per agreement. He acknowledged Dema wasn't taking the easy route in maintaining the sovereignty of Yinke with the looming threat. But Dema seemed to think it wasn't for him either, it took real balls to dare to fight a superpower so that both their countries had a better tomorrow than now. In any case, Dema was with him all the way on this.

He clarified the story Dema told him with Jagriti, although she couldn't recall his name she and her family did get delivered to safety with the help of an Army Major. He was supposed to assume it was Dema, although the highest-ranking officer had been swayed, the same might not be said for his troops whom he was in the process of informing the outcome of the situation in a warehouse allocated to them.

Ajay had Tenzin's extended family escorted back to the parliamentary building which was once the Vgru Mansion, now theirs again. They wore estatic faces when they'd been delivered home for the first time in sixteen years, overwhelmed with joy that some of the older generation began to cry.

That was an hour ago. It was now afternoon and the Prisoners who were once the Republican Guard were gathered in formation in front of Ajay, Maya and Samuelle. Maya had heard about what he planned to do with the Yinkians' once strongest ground force, to repurpose them in deterring the Chinese and eliminating the rebels. There was no sight like your own army turned against you, it sent a clear message that they were now rebels, that one camp of at least a brigade's worth of men.

In front of the Yinkians and Ajay and gang were stacks of crates, inside of them were the weapons and kit freshly produced off the production lines of the Arsenals back home. The Yinkians had taken a look at the equipment they were to be receiving a while ago and were more than impressed and confused.

Dema got them to stand at attention whilst he reported to Ajay. The sight of him collaborating with the enemy caused the men to have heavy thoughts about what had happened. Either way, they kept their mouths shut and didn't leak out their emotions.

"Contingent! At Ease!" Dema ordered as they stood at ease.

"I am Badala, 1st Lord of the Royal Kyrati Army. Your Commander has made a deal with me, that is why all of you are here instead of working in the camps with your fellow soldiers. I've received an account from my Commander of the Hussars on your engagement, they're nothing short of impressed with the way you conduct yourselves in the battlefield. Why you are all here is because of these unique traits. And so, situation has brought us under the same flag for the time being."

They began to whisper amongst themselves about whether there was a secret bribery deal going on between Ajay and their Commander turncoating. But their officers shut them up as it was not a reality given their Commander's steadfast and righteous ways.

"It's clear you don't like me, I can feel that hate bleeding out of your bodies. In fact, I'm willing to bet that some of you will persuade Colonel Dema to change his mind about the situation. But you should know as well, that I'm nothing short of having all of you die in the most horrific manner. By gorging my blade into all of you on the spot, so the feelings are mutual. If you do turn on my forces which I look forward to you doing so, because I need examples to be made of to the rest of your army for rebelling." Ajay said with a devilish grin.

Being the first time they'd seen him, a chilling feeling overwhelmed all of them as if a monster was with them.

"Your targets comprise of three types of foes. The renegade YLA forces of camp Lalu who refuse the agreement of the armistice, the Golden Path terrorists whom came under affiliation to Golden Path Devas Lamsal and Ved, and our newest addition to the battlefield, the People's Liberation Army, Western Theater Forces of Chengdu."

The soldiers turned pale upon hearing the words, they knew who it was better than anyone. After all, they had been trained by their PLA armoured corps in armoured warfare since Yinkian Armour's conception.

"Things have been set in motion already, so there's no turning back from this. The PLA are not here to assist our army in fighting the Kyrati Army. They're here to take our sovereignty away from us." Dema spoke up on behalf of Ajay.

"Permission to speak, sir."

"Go on, then."

"What proof does that masked bastard have that PLA will do that?" The young officer who said that was Dema's adjutant. Still new to the program, he failed to sense the sudden change in the environment. It turned icy cold, but it wasn't Ajay who was emanating this aura but the soldiers of the Kyrati Army.

(Poow) A fist struck his face causing the adjutant to fall on the floor. "Oww! Hey that- (Click)."

It was a quick move, but a shock to the Yinkian soldiers. But an even bigger shock to Ajay and Maya specifically. As it was Bipin that pushed his Magnum handgun against the adjutant's head, his eyes had a cold look void of any emotion.

"Bipin!" Maya called out surprised.

"Say that one more time in front of all of us. I dare you." As the adjutant was about to open his mouth, Bipin pressed harder and said. "Do note that whatever you say wrongly I won't just kill you but send five more your way."

The adjutant was loss of words, as his mouth began to clatter and eyes shook.

Colonel Dema now understood that it was this man that had outwitted him in the field yesterday. He was both forgiving yet ruthless at the same time, qualities that made a balanced commander. Although his ruthlessness was starting to get overplayed.

Then suddenly the atmosphere changed when Ajay slapped Bipin's head hard from the back. (Pak) Bipin broke his cold stare as he looked at Ajay with a very sore head.

"I don't need another cold-calculating machine. Don't do things I didn't ask for."

"…. Forgive me. I'll take my leave then." Bipin holstered his handgun and left, Maya followed him out to check on his mental condition. He had changed considerably since his arrival to Yinke, more so that his return from Maharashtra. Bipin was starting to take his job too seriously. Ajay was equally worried about his mental state, he hoped that his sister would be able to attend to that while they had time.

Meanwhile the Yinkian soldiers who watched this little act happen reevaluated Ajay in his ability to reel in the scary strategist who was responsible for their defeat. Dema was no stranger to the symptoms that the young officer was going through but appreciated the fact that he was still learning and had a long way to learn to become an outstanding officer.

"Anyone else have something to say?" Ajay asked on behalf of Dema. The mass of soldiers remained quiet the whole way.

"You sure? This'll be the last time you get to ask. From then this moment onwards, if anyone quits on us I won't just have you sent back to the camps." One person raised his hand, all eyes landed on him.

"Yes?"

"What will become of our home after all of this?" At least someone amongst them had the sense to ask a reasonable question.

"Gentlemen, you are about to embark in the most important event in the history of Yinke. Your home is about to achieve prominence that it hadn't before, but your former allies want none of that. Because you threaten the very stability of their luxuries. Now the die is cast and you have but one simple choice to make. Surrender everything or gain everything and more."

They discussed for a while with an increased vigour and seemed to have resolve in their eyes now. Although it wasn't for everyone's case but at least the vast majority agreed.

"Anything else?... No?... Then without further ado, welcome to the Garuda Legion!"

* * *

The sirens continued to blare at Sagarmatha Air Base even after the pilots reported to their Airframes. The technicians and mechanics hurried around to load and check the fighters before take off.

The QRF alert had been given by the forward Airborne early warning system in the Kyrati forward base at Pada Mo City. Airborne targets were spotted over the Yinkian skies.

"Happy hunting, sirs." The specialist saluted to Pravindra as he saluted back whilst retracting the canopy over his cockpit. The pressure valves sealed and created a vacuumed space.

"All set?"

"I'm done, what about yourself, hotshot?" His Weapons System Officer inquired in a light manner.

"Why do you think I'm asking you? Now hurry up and do an electronics check. I've gonna support my beloved as soon as possible." Pravi was already turning on the engines that let out a powerful hum and adjusted his pre-flight calibrations.

His co-pilot chuckled whilst doing as he asked. Pravi begun moving off toward the runway, his fellow squadron mates had already taken off making him one of the last.

"Um… Prav?" His co-pilot called out a few minutes later after tapping through the display on his seat.

"Yeah?" He acknowledged as they were already at the start of the runway.

"Why am I reading only guns and two Fox Two missiles loaded?"

"Oh that, full load just causes too much drag so I told the wrenchs to take minimal."

"Prav, listen to me very carefully. Take this bird back while we still have time to load the rest- waahhh!" (Rooooooaaaawww)

But Pravi was no longer listening as he'd punched the throttle to take them into the air. After a few seconds of climb, Pravi turned around.

"Yeah, what was that you just said?"

"You prick. If Commander Singh catches you, we're screwed! Remember, who's the weapons officer here!" His co-pilot sighed while Pravi still dared to laugh heartily.

"Relax, he won't bite when we've got actual targets today! If we do get caught, you can just blame me and I'll take the punishment."

"(Sigh). I hope you know what you're doing."

"I do, Arun. Today, we're not facing turbans."

"So I've heard, that crazy lord's prepping to fight China. Any comments on that, sir?"

"Does it matter who we're fighting? All we need to do is just win."

"Jeez, you're a real handful Kumar." His co-pilot complained.

"And why haven't you trust me yet? We've been through hell and back at Kargil, I've kept you alive with your pair intact till now."

"That's because I'm the one reminding you!" He retorted in anger, he'd been the one signing the reports and accounting for their munitions and clocking of hours whilst this idiot slept all day. And when he wasn't, he was staring at that picture of that hotty. Said picture didn't seem like it was a consented shot, but Arun kept mum.

Arun had been with Pravindra since boot, he was not at all happy with the events that occurred a month ago when Pravi pulled that shit and went AWOL to chase a skirt. Said skirt belonged to that Kyrati Ground Force Officer, then-Major Saraswati Roka, named likely in honour of the goddess herself she was a real beauty that was rarely found anywhere. Arun silently rooted for Pravi, although he wasn't sure what kind of competition he was up against. From his accountings, she was dangerously close to that crazy lord who was challenging a superpower to a fist fight and somehow this idiot seemed to think nothing was happening between them. He couldn't imagine how New Delhi would clean up that mess, he didn't even want to think at all, just serve and get pulled out when the higher authorities order their return to their base back home.

As Pravi's fighter joined up with the rest of their flight the radio clicked on.

*A prefect time than any for you to show up, Eagle 1-3. Alright, I'll begin the air brief. 1241 Hrs, AWACS picked bogeys flying Mach 1 passed the Tibetan border to the Yinkian City of Pada Mo. Wing Com. Rohan thinks it's a reconnaissance patrol, our orders are to hail them and scare'em off. Rule of engagement are the same, fire only when fired upon. Radar lock doesn't count as firing, so be careful lads. The Chinese are itching for reasons to fight and our intervention may very well start the flame to the conflict that brews.*

*Eagle 1-4 here, how many bogeys.*

*Three tones with silhouettes for interceptors, so it means they can fight back. Stay sharp at all times. And Eagle 1-3, don't leave the formation.* His flight commander told him as they flew following the GPS towards the targets marked for them.

"You heard the commander, right?"

"Relax, I did." Pravi let the auto-pilot run as he lay back, his co-pilot sighed once more.

They had about thirty minutes to where the targets were last spotted penetrating the defensive perimeter. Likely flying low-altitude to avoid radar defection and return fire from SAMs after finding out they were spotted by Early warning.

Pravi closed his eyes and snoozed off whilst imagining a day off with Saraswati. His co-pilot double checked the aircrafts' systems and weaponry after his fool of a pilot took only a full drum of 30mm rounds and just two infrared missiles as back up.

At around twenty minutes into the air, his co-pilot woke him.

"Prav, the mountains are playing hell with the instruments. Switch to back to manual."

When it came to flying, there was none more serious than him. Pravi obediently disabled the auto-pilot and surveyed the surroundings.

On his liquid display panel, the radar was fizzing such that even his own wingmen were becoming difficult to detect.

*Eagle 1-1 to all aircraft, maintain high alert. The weather is playing on our instruments so we'll be blind from one another from this point on. Keep formation unless under emergencies only.* Commander Singh told them in the local channel.

"Arun, are the weapons armed?"

"What is it, Prav? Don't jinx this."

"It's just a feeling, but I hope I'm wrong. What's our current location here?"

"Point 2153 on the map. Why?"

"Nothing, just taking the terrain into reference."

When it was not combat, there was a lot of monotonous flying in the air despite being the fastest airframes to be produced. In contrast to a dog fight which lasted only single-digit minutes. As they flew Pravindra spotted something in the distance near the clouds to their left.

"Silhouettes spotted at one o clock. Two kilometres."

*Roger, I see them. Maintain level on my starboard as I proceed.* The Commander told Pravi as he flew in the direction of the targets.

*Eagle 1-2, I've got a visual. Three targets, are these our recce guys?*

*I hope so, tallying….. No IFF tone. These aren't registered flights. Eagles 1-4, apprehend with 1-3 as your wingman. Eagle 1-2 and 1-5 will hold with me in the reserve in case they try anything funny.*

*Eagle 1-4, roger.*

"Eagle 1-3 hears you loud and clear."

They begun to break from the formation to meet up with the trespassers.

*Eagle 1-4 to 1-3, maintain a distance and don't rain on my parade like the last time.* His wingman gave him a warning.

"Seriously, Cobra. Why can't you trust me?" Pravi said in a light laughing manner.

*Don't even get me started, hotshot. Just keep this as uniform as possible.*

Pravindra snorted and murmured to himself. "Uniform was what got the rest killed…"

They came up on the left of the wandering unknown aircraft formation that was flying close to the blanket of clouds and from the appearance it seemed to be Sukhoi fighters with PLAAF markings. J-11 fighters.

*Unidentified Chinese fighters, you are in violation of Yinkian airspace. Proceed out heading 3-1-0 due east, immediately. We will escort you out of the area.*

After his wingman's hail, the fighters refused to respond although their pilots were looking directly at their aircraft from inside the glass canopies. Likely keeping an eye on them.

*PLAAF fighters, do you copy. Turn heading 3-1-0, you are violating local airspace. Proceed out of your current vector or we will use deadly force.*

After his colleague's warning the fighters seemed to break away from their grouping but dispersed instead of turning in formation.

"Somethings not right. Arun, keep an eye on the radar on the numbers."

"Ok. Seems like the same three though. Huh?"

"What?"

"Nothing, I though I just saw the three have dots overlap. I think it was just me."

"Eagle 1-3 to Eagle 1-1, somethings up."

*Agreed, stay with you current wingman and locate the-*(Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr)

As he was listening to Commander Singh's orders a stream of tracers flew pass him and struck his wingman in the left-wing fuselage.

*Madarchod!* They heard someone curse, it was probably Eagle 1-4 as his wing was bleeding fuel.

*I'm hit, left wing (Static).* His wingman's aircraft was smoking but maintaining course.

The formation of fighters broke off and flew in separate directions.

*Eagle 1-3 and 1-5! Pursue those bastards! Weapons free, shot to kill!* Commander Singh gave the all clear.

"It's game time."

"He's directly on our six, Prav. Get him!" Pravi turned to bird around to engage the aircraft that fired at his wingman. Pravi pushed the afterburner to increase his speed to take the Chinese Sukhoi at an optimal angle.

*Eagle 1-4, I don't know if I can continue! Permission to bugger out.*

*Granted, Eagle 1-2 take him back. It'll be just me, 1-3 and 1-5, three bogeys shouldn't be hard. One each, do you hear? Eagle 1-3 and 1-5?*

*Eagle 1-5, roger!*

"Eagle 1-3, roger!"

*Eagle 1-2, acknowledged.* Eagle 1-2 flew escorting the damaged Eagle 1-4 out of the battlefield.

*Eagle 1-5 take the one on the right, the left goes to 1-3. I'll support you as wingman and maintain eye contact on the third one.* Eagles 1-1 and 1-5 chased one of the fighters on the right while Pravi had the liberty to contend with a single fighter himself. Commander Singh knew he was more than capable of contending with one.

He begun to chase the fighter that banked left and entered an attacking angle. "Arun, gimme a lock on this guy." He told his co-pilot to target the fighter in front of him he was chasing, the monotonous beeping of a radar lock resounded from his helmet as the crosshairs lined up on his target.

The Chinese bogey began dumping flares to fool the missile before Pravi launched it.

"Woah. I've go electrical interference. Prav, he's got a jamming pod!" His co-pilot dutifully informed him on the situation.

"I'm going closer, switch to guns." As he continued his pursuit, the Chinese Sukhoi tried its best to shake him off but wherever it turned, Pravi knew where he would go before hand. His instincts were so good that the Chinese bogey begun to get frantic as he lined up a consistent zero angle upon his jet.

"Guns. Firing!" (Brrrrrrrrrrrr)

Upon depressing his trigger, a hail of 30mm semi-armor piercing incendiary bullets flew in the Chinese bandit's flight path and the fighter flew right into the hailstorm. The shots shredded through the thin armored plating and ignited the fuel, causing the bandit to explode into a fiery ball of burnt steel. The pilot barely had time to eject and was killed.

"Wooo! One Chinese barbeque, served!"

"That was a terrible pun." His co-pilot commented.

"Eagle 1-3, bandit neutralized converging on the last one."

*Eagle 1-1 copies, good work kid. We're nearly finished up on- huh?*

On Pravi's radar, the appeared four targets where the last one was. "Prav? We've go three new bandits!"

*Eagle 1-1 to 1-3, it seems there are six bandits not three, I say again. Six bandits in total, five remaining.*

How were half of that flight able to hide their signatures. Pravindra knew, it wasn't a coincidence or faultiness of equipment when Arun detected an overlap of tones. They were there, but flying one over the other, thereby tricking their perception into thinking there were only three.

If these Sukhois they were currently piloting had AESA 3D radar that was currently being fitted to all the Indian fighters back home perhaps this wouldn't have appeared so. Then again, it was relatively new tech that hadn't worked all the bugs yet and so wasn't fitted to all fighters yet. Or could it have been that interference back at that point that caused their avionics to malfunction. Now that Commander Singh had misinterpreted the situation and sent two fighters back leaving the three of them against five, their odds weren't so good.

*Shit! Eagle 1-3, buy me time. While Astra kills this guy.* Commander Singh told him to hold out till they could support him.

*Fuck! This guy's a slippery one, I think he's Pravindra's Chinese counterpart." Eagle 1-5 still had the stomach to joke about that one fighter they'd chased the entire length while Pravi was already on the third bandit, but Pravindra laughed in response.

To him. More fighters? Meant more kills.

Two Chinese Sukhois begun to tail Pravindra from behind.

(Beeeeeeeeeeep) The tone of a radar lock went berserk as the Chinese fighter had just placed him in his crosshairs whilst he hesitated for a moment. Pravi's face colour changed for the worst.

"Oh shit."

* * *

The helicopters flew nap of the earth with a ceiling of under a thousand feet from the ground, currently a battalion of Jatayu were sitting patiently in the passenger compartments ready to be delivered to their destination.

And that was the border city of Xue Lu in Yinke. It was now a rush against time.

The PLA had begun their attack to wrestle for air superiority. Ajay had just gotten off the phone with the AWACS station informing him of the development in the air. A flight of the 1st Fighter squadron had taken to the skies to deter a flight of reconnassaince jets, only it wasn't just for recon and there were more bogeys than previously established. Wing Commander Rohan was planning to scramble two more flights of Su-30s to act as backup and to secure the skies for the Groung forces. As from what they've processed, the PLA were previously unaware of Kyrat's full capabilities and had sent a flight strike fighters to bomb their forward airbase in Pada Mo. They had to assume Chinese intelligence had satellite imagery of the entire country as well as spies which Pagan's spy ring were dutifully dispatching one after another. When that strike group were hailed by the flight of their advanced Sukhois, they panicked and fought back. Unwittedly starting the flames of war between China and the Himalayas.

But from a strategic pretext, it could still be classified as a miscommunication in air traffic and conflict of orders and misconceptions. That was why they had to rush their ground forces to secure the Border City before the PLA soldiers of the Tibetan Military District mobilized fully. Because from that dogfight currently in process it was clear what Beijing's intentions were.

Ajay put down the radio from his forward contact with the four infantry regiments that had set out to reach the border.

"Grenadiers 1st, 11th, 26th and 31st have problems entering the border City of Xue Lu on their own. They've been hampered by the remnants of camp Lalu and Golden Path." He informed Maya and the expeditionary command staff who were with him in the helicopter on their way to said border city Xue Lu.

"So they've finally shown themselves."

"At the most inconvenient times as well."

"How long will the Hussars take to reach?"

"Three hours without stop, that's assuming their trip is uninterrupted by any insurgent activities."

"Hopefully, the Republican Guard will help keep the trip short along the way." Ajay mentioned. Although his staff were not as convinced as he was, they were still enemies in their eyes, rebels in fact. But it was all a matter of naming sense. In the long run, having armoured forces to cover the infantry was a luxury they could afford to bring but it would take awhile longer till they reach. Both forces Hussars and Republican Guard only had a fraction of what they originally had and their equipment was in a bad state, requiring refits soon if possible. They'd done all they could before setting off in advance. That was why Ajay brought a battalion of men from the Jatayu to accompany him in assisting the Grenadiers assault on the city. He was sure that it wasn't just the Remnant Yinkian soldiers and Golden Path he had to deal with but the collaborators amongst the populous in the Border City. If he was right, Xue Lu City was ready to join China at a moment's notice. To escape the reality of their country losing sovereignty, but in actuality, they were turning to the very force that was the one about to do that.

"Rules of Engagement stay the same, do not fire unless fired upon. If they're rebels or Golden Path, kill all and spare no one." Ajay said in a ruthless manner, but his staff were rather understanding of the situation themselves. Time was of the essence and they couldn't waste time on playing nice with the locals there as a priority.

Ajay picked the radio to contact the commander of the battalion he brought along. "Badala to Tiger actual."

*Sir?*

"We need to hold back the Chinese for as long as possible without actually engaging them directly."

*What do you have in mind, sir?*

"… There was a reason I chose you amongst the five battalions, Sandesh. But I'm still not sure if it was the right thing to do. But….. If I were to order you and your men to slaughter all of the inhabitants at Xue Lu city would you do it?" The radio on the otherside remained silent for a long while.

*What would that achieve and why me, sir?*

"Perhaps not everyone in the city are as guilty as the perpetrators that helped the remnants and Golden Path maintain their defense around the city. But they did sit by and let it happen, even so they might not be guilty of what I plan to do. The PLA will be here any minute."

Ajay took his silence for acknowledgement.

"I know this is selfish of me to ask this of you, to make you bear a sin so great you might never forgive yourself for the years to come. But… if Yinkes sovereignty is to be preserved. If Kyrat is to leave this bottleneck of inferiority to superpowers like China… then sacrifices need to be made. For that sacrifice, I chose every living soul in Xue Lu!"

*Whatever your order, me and my men will bear this sin with you gladly.* It was the simplest of words, yet one with the strongest of meanings from Sandesh.

In the previous timeline of Ajay, Sandesh had played a huge part in the reason of why he was here today and not dead in Ghale Homestead like his father before him. Sandesh or Master Sandesh of the awakened as he was called, was the most loyal soldier to Yuma. Albeit the most dedicated as well, he ventured where no other snow guard had dared to go for a crazed Yuma's expedition for the Kalinag scrolls and samples of the miasmic "elixir". Sandesh had cleared what remained of the populous in the Lost Valley before setting up shop so that no plying eyes would know of their activities. This was why Ajay chose Sandesh and only him and his snow guard warriors. Because they were the only ones with the will to do what the rest of the Brigade couldn't with their conscience and moral restricting them.

"Thank you, Sandesh. Unfortunately, I cannot apologise for what I'm forcing upon you and your men."

*Don't, sir. It doesn't suit you. We came here with the mindset of revenge and unstable thoughts, it would be fair to say we shouldn't have been allowed to come here in the first place but we're here.*

"…. I'll meet you and the rest, boots on the ground then."

*We're looking forward to it, sir. Over.* Thought his voice sounded uneasy, Ajay was a little glad he was slightly reluctant at heart to carry out Ajay's atrocity with him.

The city came into view down below as the helicopters came flying over the mountains down to drop the mixture of the men that formed a battalion to carry out Ajay's dirty work. Maya had been heavily against his decision, but handed him the list of men whom had a strong grudge against Yinke. He was manipulating their anger to achieve his goal, and he would never forgive himself for as long as he lived for putting them through this ordeal. In a sense, he didn't just sacrifice the city inhabitants, but the battalions' humanity as well.

Small-arms fire was redirected from the ground at the four infantry regiments Ajay had sent earlier towards the helicopters especially the Mi-28 Havoc attack choppers that accompanied them as the most pressing threat.

The helicopter hovered over ground as the lines fell down and the soldiers rappelled down to the ground. Ajay placed the mask upon his face, a cold feeling washed over his senses as his mind steeled itself for the task at hand. From here on out, he would chuck moral aside and do what needed to be done. The Jatayu under Sandesh were already beginning their fight against the mixture of Golden Path, Yinkian rebel soldiers and the armed civilians in Xue Lu City. Up ahead through the smoke of the burning houses lit up by the attack helicopters previously, a group of soldiers and fighters mixed together spotted him coming through with wide saucers for eyes.

The Yinkians saw an unfamiliar target that gave an unending feeling of danger, but the Golden Path fighter were frozen solid to the ground at the sight of the one person they dreaded more than any. The reason they'd fled all the way to Yinke, why their families had either perished or disowned them leaving them with nothing. Fellow warriors dying one after another around them.

Even after the "Change" they'd undergone with Mohan's benefactor, somehow they felt that it would do little in front of him.

Ajay looked upon the enemy in front of him, he saw young men and women amongst them part of the militia arm in Xue Lu as well. He sighed internally, but had already cased the die.

He had made Sandesh and his battalion commit an atrocity at this very moment, it was only fair that he cooperated by doing the same. The demon shook violently within the mental cage that kept it at bay, a burning desire to slaughter all before him. A similar feeling and stench that reeked upon the Devas could be felt upon the Golden Path warriors exclusively. Ajay laughed to himself at the irony of the Golden Path mentality.

-It seems that Golden Path has truly lost itself as much as their leaders.- The entire cohort of fighters had sold their soul to the devil that Mohan invited in exchange for raw power.

He knew now why his forces had been incurring heavy casualties and their failure to capture Xue Lu City now. The fact that they were still alive and on the offensive told of how good they were already.

But now that he was here, he would use the same power of belief against the Golden Path. HE would also call upon the power of the Demon God to aid him.

"I wonder what you'll take away from me this time…." Ajay lamented to the demon as he offered it a portion of his most precious valuable.

He gripped the handle of his heavyweight tungsten-carbide kukri tightly as fresh blood poured from his orifices once more through the eyeslits of his mask, giving the terrible visage of a demon weeping bloodly tears.

"Golden Path… You've forced my hand in this. You've made my pay a terrible price for you meddling." Ajay said to them as he walked towards the shaking Golden Path fighters who edged back to the surprise of their Yinkian colleagues. The dreaded yellow tint emacuated from his irises once brown.

"May Yama* have pity upon your wretched corpses in hell when I'm done with you!"

* * *

Author's Notes:

Yama -The Hindu god of the underworld, equivalent to Hades.


	94. Chapter 86 - Man against Immortal

Xue Lu City had become a chavalcade of wanton destruction and chaos, the city on the plateau was in flames. The stench of death lingered everywhere so thickly that it threatened to gag anyone of air in the very centre of the firefights. One of such hotspots was where the demon was, mincing rebel soldier and Golden Path alike. Ajay had collectively decided the damnation of every living soul in Xue Lu, young to old, men, women, elderly and children. After his one year career as a demon, it made no sense that he had carried that name for so long without a bit of atrocious villainy. Even when his heart was against it, he knew that if this place wasn't secured quick enough the PLA would gain a legitimate foothold in Yinke and that would spell catastrophe for not just Yinke, but his homeland as well.

So despite his guilty conscience that weight down his blade, Ajay gripped his kukri tightly and brought it down with the force of not just the demon, but the weight of responsibility of his people weighting on his shoulders. The result was a swing that even without the effects of the demon would cleave through a Devas tainted flesh. That was the power of belief that Golden Path should have utilized, but were too conceit to wield it.

"What the hell?! How is this possible?!"

"Monster!"

The Golden Path fighters in this City were unlike anything previously fought off before by the Royal Kyrati Army. They had now distributed the altering of bodies on a mass scale, now every fighter was just as solid and almost invulnerable to harm as the Devas.

"So childish." (Slash)

"Buueeeghhh!" Two Golden Path warriors were torn apart together with strikes from his dense metal kukri.

The sight of him slicing through flesh that could stop small-arms fire sent shivered down the fighters' spines. Now they understood why the Devas had failed to challenge Badala for so long, he was in a league of his own.

A true demon in spirit and in flesh.

The disheartened Golden Path were the first to retreat as they'd always done, Ajay snorted at their conceitness. He refused to allow them to escape his grasp, not even one.

After the bloodbath in the street he was in stacked with bodies till the pavement was hidden, Ajay walked towards the area where the command element of the Battalion was directing the rest of the Jatayu and where Sandesh was. The Commander of the selected mixed Battalion chosen by Ajay to led this atrocity of their own, the only stain on the Demon of Lanka's reputation.

"Sandesh."

"Sir, encountered the enemy. They seem to possess an untampered will and some sort of body armor that can resist small-arms."

"…"

"I fear that American Contractor Group have rooted deeply into their logistical needs."

"It's not body armor nor anything close to indomitable will, Sandesh." The lack of answer expressed Sandesh's surprise.

"It's a combat drug, a concoction called "Untouchable". For a day, no pain can be felt but the price is too gruesome to explain." Ajay justified their seeming invincibility with the similar in-description Invincibility syringe he had used on occasion, although the real one was nothing close to what the Golden Path fighters had presently.

And entire army of Deva-like fighters, close at least. They lacked two qualities that limited grasping the full potential of this power that was granted to them. They often fought with gun rather than knife and their will was not tempered enough like the Devas or a few field commanders in their ranks. Perhaps only the later two could bring out the full potential but Ajay had yet to spot any signs of leadership. Especially that of Deva Vasu Sen, he wasn't sure about the outcome of Jason Brody through.

"I see…." It was difficult for Sandesh to process this given what he'd received on intel from his men.

"Fifty cal and above, grenades and high-powered weapons will still do the trick. Aim for the head. Just because they can't feel pain doesn't make their bodies invulnerable." It was difficult for soldiers to do that but they were presently at close ranges in the confines of a city where the instances of point-blank reactive shots were a common thing.

"Understood, sir. We'll proceed with the plans in capturing for the town centre." Sandesh said with confidence. A little more difficulty wasn't going to slow down the Jatayu commandos.

"And Sandesh…."

"Yes, sir."

"I'm sorry to have forced this upon you."

"(Sigh)….. One of these days we were bound to get our hands dirty. I knew that when I first joined Mistress Lau's snow guard. When she reassigned us to Unit 58, I knew that it would become a reality sooner than later. Amongst the demon's company there was no room for hesitation or sympathy. Yet when we met you, it was nothing like any of us had initially thought. We've worked under Competent commanders before, but you were really something else, sir." Sandesh gave a sad but worriless smile.

"Flattery won't get you anywhere, Sandesh." Sandesh let out a chuckle or two.

"Contact 3 and 10 o clock!" His forward platoon point man reported.

But as two new opponents came around the street and stood in front of him. He had to end his little chit chat with Sandesh. "Looks like the Commanders of Golden Path have grown impatient. See you at the town centre in a bit then." Ajay gave them the light suggestion to leave.

"Roger, sir. Give them hell." Sandesh motioned to his men to pack up and relocate to a safer area.

The three of them walked closer to one another, each from a street of their own towards the centre of a junction.

"Vel the violet witch…. And Deva Vasu Sen."

"Demon."

"Badala….."

"Both Mohan and that mistress of yours have been quite busy recently. But never would I have thought that you would permit your brothers and sisters to proceed with damning their souls for powers like yours. If it was just you and your late brothers then it made sense, because they were your responsibility, but now… huh! I wonder who's the real demon here." Ajay chuckled.

"It is nobody else but you, and now you slaughter the inhabitants of this city at a whim. You're a monster in both prowess and mind!"

"I don't deny, this'll be my sin among many others. But don't forget who made things difficult for me in the first place, don't forget who pushed me time and time again to do what I do best. You have only yourselves to blame for the predicament you've landed yourselves in. If anyone was more at fault for the destruction of this city in ruins, it'll be your indifference to the safety of the Yinkian people here. But instead you've involved them in your scheme- no. Forgive me. Mohan and your mistress's scheme, you're too dull witted to have plans for you own."

"You-…!"

"Then let me ask you instead, Vasu. Where do you picture yourself after all of this, when Pagan's head is mounted on a pike up the steps of the Royal Palace for all to see. What will the last Devas do for once in his life?" It was at this precise moment that Vasu's eyes widen in shock and his hand was shaking after reaching an understanding of what Ajay told him.

"I'll tell you what will happen to you even if you do nothing, Vasu. Allow me to predict what'll happen." Vasu was both reluctant to hear yet eager to know his fate, caught in conflicting emotions.

"Here's something a certain someone told me long ago. "The best heroes are the dead ones." Even if you do nothing, no one will ever want to walk alongside a freak like you, eventually they will fear you and in their fear turn to whispering voices. Everyone will revert back to praying to their useless god that has done almost nothing for the last thousand years. Wasting away what little potential they had to be beyond dependence on others and the spiritual. And you were the contributor to this all."

"….. Let's get on with it then." Vasu was initially shocked but steeled himself for a fight after all.

"And you?" Ajay turned to the beautiful girl who helped him recall a beautiful memory. In his current state he had long abandon sympathy for her even if he owed her. She could tell by his tone he would potentially kill her if she got in the way.

"….. I will not get in between your fight with Vasu Sen." She said as she sat against the rubble.

"What?!" Vasu was nothing short of disbelief. "You came along to help me, so help me kill him!"

"Don't distort my words, Vasu Sen. I've come under orders of the mistress to observe, not engage the target of interest, Badala." Ajay was one to be surprised as well. But considering her little rogue behaviour in Lanka had nearly cost her life had it not been for her mistress's divine intervention. She had obviously been told not to engage this time.

Somehow, her appearance had suppressed the demon from making another move against Vel on its own like it did last time. He could feel the pressure being held at bay whilst he was still wielding the power of the demon now.

Ajay almost lost control of himself of laughter at Vel's declaration not to intervene, leaving Vasu to fight Ajay alone.

"So there you have it, Vasu. If you can't even fight me on your own, come quietly and turn yourself in. I still have a promise to keep with old man Bibek."

"…What?..."

"Once a son always a son, even you are slow to understand that for a great general like yourself. Hurry up and decide."

"I-….. Why-….. Why does he still care?!"

"Huh!" Ajay snorted and converged upon Vasu. On reflex, he brought his knife up to bear. But the force had struck him and sent him flying to the wall of the house, he impacted to walls and burst straight through them before being stopped by the third.

Ajay disappeared nearly fifty metres away from the original place he stood and a shadow appeared directly before Vasu and grasped his hand and throat, with the same overbearing force as before.

"Hurrgh!"

"I couldn't care the slightest bit."

* * *

This was perhaps the first ever aerial dogfight to take place between Kyrat and a foreign power, the sky was filled with smoke from the proximity fuse of the missiles and 30mm rounds detonating in mid-air.

Pravindra was exposed to the prowess of air combat, some of China's best had to offer. Frankly, he was enjoying it a lot more than against his Pakistani rivals. The PLAAF pilots were both aggressive in their attacks and highly coordinated in their flight formations. Yet they chose to fire upon flight group callsign Eagle.

Perhaps a young and anxious pilot among them was too eager to test his skills and went against his superior's orders. Whatever the case, it was already too late to change back. Eagle 1-4 had sustained damage from a gun run and Rules of Engagement dictated that they were now within legal boundary to fire back. The Indians' weren't going to let them get away with that act.

(Beeeeeeeeeeeep) "Deploying CM!" Said Arun, his co-pilot. A stream of flares popped out of the back end of the Su-30 they flew in to disrupt the incoming heat-seekers coming from the one Chinese Fighter and his wingman.

Two had engaged Pravindra, one was being pursued by Eagles 1-1 and 1-5, while the last two had chosen to outmanuever Eagle 1-1 who was at the tail of Eagle 1-5 struggling to get a shot at that one Fighter who they'd chased the entire way. It went to show that the bandit they chased was no slouch, perhaps it was the flight commander himself or herself.

(Brrrrrrr) The pursuing bandit switched to the gun approach on Pravi who hit the afterburner to increase speed whilst performing a rolling scissor with the enemy bogeys. The bogey attempted to chase after him in his high-g manuever but was seriously lagging behind.

And that was when Pravi noticed it.

"Eagle 1-3 to Eagles 1-1 and 1-5. Their airframes can't handle beyond 7g's recommend high-g manuevers to shake'em."

*Eagle 1-1 acknowledges.*

*You say they can't go pass 7 then what about this guy?* Eagle 1-5 complained.

*Eyes sharp, Eagle 1-5. This ones an abnormal airframe and pilot.* Commander Singh informed them.

Pravindra began a high-altitude climb with his pursuers.

"I wonder what else they're limited at."

"Prav, we're bleeding speed! What're you doing?" His co-pilot noticed his intentional action of slowing the aircraft.

"Giving way." As he said so, the pursuing fighters were on a course to almost pass him.

"Hang on!" He killed the engine and swung the plane 90 degrees towards the path of the incoming fighter who were too close to engage and too quick to manuever away from Pravi's gun path.

(Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr)

His 30mm cannon shredded the cockpit of the first plane while the second ejected safely before the rounds impacted his airframe.

"Yeah!"

"Yeah! Two kills! Keep that up and we'll get an Air Medal." His co-pilot could no longer hide his enthusiasm.

"Fighter ten o clock! Banking right!" He made a hard turn as the incoming fighter disengaged from harassing his teammates to apprehending him after seeing the situation worsen on the PLAAF side of the combat.

The situation was clearer once they fought with one another. So the Indians' felt more confident in fighting off their aggressors.

"Let's see what you've got." Prav mused as he followed the enemy Sukhoi by its tail.

The radar lock appeared upon the pursued fighter.

"Eagle 1-3. Fox Two." Pravi called out the firing callsign as he launched a heat-seeker at the enemy whilst in high-g's.

The bogey countered with flares just in time as the missile explodes just a few metres from his airframe but damaged the rear end section of his plane and causing smoke to bellow from the back.

Seeing his odds worsen, the fighter left the battlefield on his way back to the airstrip in Tibet.

"Wo! And Bogey 4 runs away!"

"Tsk tsk tsk! Shameful." His co-pilot joined in for a near end of battle victory parade in their two-man cockpit.

*Eagle 1-5! Going down! I'm bailing!* Came on the local comms as the Sukhoi of Eagle 1-5 ejected its pilots out as their aircraft burst into flames falling down into the mountains.

*Eagle 1-1 to 1-3. This sucker is almost too good. Help me- shit!* That one enemy bogey was beginning to show more than just competence as it had broken out of the pursuit by Eagles 1-1 and 1-5 and had neutralised 1-5 and was going on to 1-1.

"Eagle 1-1, I'll back you up." Pravi said coolly, but was hiding his excitement after chancing upon an opponent that could potentially give a run for his money.

*Correction, it's not a J-11. Break. Radar frame pattern analysis confirms it's a J-16. From the last encounters over the Tibet-India border by our air force.* Commander Singh's co-pilot informed him of the more advance nature of the craft they were dealing with. The Commander himself was engaged in a heavy evasion manuever to break free from the bandit's chase of his rear-end.

But it wasn't just the plane that was exceptional. The pilot was a natural instinctive pilot, like Pravindra. Using the power of his airframe and talent, messed together created a formidable fighting ability.

Pravi began chasing the tail end of the enemy J-16 whilst it was chasing his Commander in turn.

*Shit. Eagle 1-3, he almost has me in attack angle.*

"Eagle 1-1, working- urgh- on it." Pravi began to fight the enormous g's placed on him from the tight turns. The enemy bandit almost never lost energy from its motion making it difficult to handle, yet was able to avoid Pravi's missile lock, he couldn't use guns for fear of hitting Eagle 1-1 as well.

"Fuck this. Eagle 1-1, bank right and bleed energy on my mark. Three…. Two….. one… go!" Commander Singh hit hard right and pulled up to force the bogey to overshoot him pass by.

The radar beeped as a clear line of sight allowed the Pravi to gun it down. "Fox two!" He called out as the last missile in his arsenal flew towards his enemy.

But contrary to his imagination of a burning fire ball, the bandit bleed speed to perform a very precise barrel roll to avoid the missile.

"Miss. That's the last missile and your guns nearly empty." Co-pilot Arun reminded him and also scolding him for ordering the current loadout without his consent.

"Don't have to remind me! I'm going after him, he's got no energy left anyway." It was as he said, a fighter without energy was in serious danger to an opponent's missile or gun as it had not enough speed to evade.

Pravindra pursued the bandit as it made a heading for Pada Mo city stubbornly. Both Commander Singh and Pravi particularly were surprised by the pilot's behaviour. It was utterly suicidal and reckless. As he gave chase to the slower bandit, the J-16 began to eject its munitions and fuel tanks to reduce its dead load and improve its dogfighting capability with nothing to hold it back.

It was a trade off that Pravindra employed himself as it was usually his fellow flight officers that did the ground bombing while he was escort, so it was just Air to air missiles and standard loading of gun munitions for him. He was purely focused on dogfights.

Pravi begun to realise that the bandit had been fighting all this while with full load against two fighters, it spoke much about his prowess as one of China's finest.

As he was about to fire his gun at the bandit, its nose was raised as it passed by him and he ended up the one in front. A radar lock had just commenced as the infrared warning sensor went off bells and whistles.

"Shit."

*Eagle 1-1, I'll be attacking. Bring him up for me.*

"Roger." Commander Singh had flown to the far left ahead of them.

He knew what his commander wanted, they would perform a Thach Weave manuever where he'd lure the enemy in for a kill for the Commander.

The bandit knew what they were doing but had little choice but to destroy Pravi as soon as possible. Which meant that if he could outlast the bandit's gun and missile fire long enough for Commander Singh to dispatch him, they would have complete dominance of the skies for a limited time.

"Arun, keep a look out for me where he is."

"I'm tracking! He's on your left side!" The co-pilot watched out for the bandit tailing him.

(Brrrrrrrrrr) (Brrrrrrrrrrrrr)

The bandit fired rapid session to try to get a lucky hit on Pravi as he was manuevering in a highly stressful but rewarding manuever. He had minor radar locks that immediately disengaged due to the limits of the bandits radar scanning radius.

(Brrrrrrrrr) He began to just stick to the gun. 30 mils rained pass Pravindra, but with the high angles it flew all arcs except where Pravi was.

"Madarchod! Is he trying to empty his drum into us?!" Arun commented rather anxiously and became even more frantic as Pravindra's maniacal laughs were added into the picture.

"He's getting desperate."

*Eagle 1-1 here. I nearly have a good shot on him, keep up what you're doing!*

"Burning air!" Pravi increased speed as he performed a difficult turn towards the direction Commander Singh was.

*Nearly!-*

(Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr) (Crack) The shots whizzed dangerously close to his airframe and one had grazed his glass canopy.

"Shit! That was too close!"

"Any time now, sir!"

*Any- I've got lock! Good tone back!- Firing! Fox Two!*

The missile streaked overhead and struck the left wing of the bandit. And as a result, the pilot was forced to eject. Pravi shouted in victory after an aerial battle had ended in their win seemed like hours but was only ten minutes.

*Good work, Eagle 1-3. If you weren't such a troublemaker, you'd make a brilliant career pilot.*

"Thank you, sir. But keeping my wings is all I need."

"What about me? Can I get a transfer away from this crazy idiot?" His co-pilot retorted.

It was at this point of their moment of joy was cut off with the beeps of new entries into their local airspace.

*Two flights of five bogeys, make that ten in total closing in from the East.*

"Arrhhh- you've got to be kidding me!"

*This isn't looking good, what are your reserves?*

"Fifty-plus rounds of 30 mils left, all missiles spent."

*Two fox twos. And a full drum.* The discussed inventory.

"What are your thoughts, sir?" There was a long pause till Commander Singh spoke.

*Rohan would have dispatched the other flights if AWACS has picked up these bogeys as well. We hold till reinforcements arrive to relieve us.*

"So you want us to hold until help arrives with likely ETA of twenty, for a dogfight that could possibly last less than ten minutes. With might I add, limited munitions for half the bogeys that'll be in the air. Two against ten."

The comms remained silent for a second.

*You can head back if you want.*

A smile that spoke of insanity crept upon his face.

"Heh!"

There was no place he'd rather be than here.

* * *

It would have been a cakewalk to dispatch the now wounded Vasu, his abilities had now outweighed that of Vasu thanks to the understanding of Four Seasons of Pandemonium or what was more commonly referred to as the Royal Martial Art. It was to Vasu's shock that he was using it to a similar capacity as him if not better.

That being said, Ajay had still not comprehended the second form, he didn't have the time or patience to understand it. Especially at this time, so he learnt the basics to counter the Devas if they ever used that abominable formation on him in numbers.

Seeing him in that hampered state, some warriors disengaged from the battle to aid him and were cut down in a similar fashion. Their lives only extended his own by seconds. But it was all in Ajay's favour, if they were fighting him instead of Sandesh's men then he stood to gain ground against the ticking clock.

(Boom) Everytime the double-barrelled slayer fired, a fighter died.

It became ingrained into their system that it wasn't a normal weapon but a Deva slayer.

It had become the more popular ways of dying in contrast to the blunt heavy kukri or the spinning grapple wire he used as a chain weapon to slice off body parts. There almost became no difference between Ajay holding back the demon and letting it control him, the only difference was him holding the off switch.

The Deva tried to knife him whilst the fighters gave him a window, but instead of dodge Ajay took the knife that pierced his hand. He grabbed hold of Vasu and flung him hard onto the concrete and threw a satchel charge at the stunned fighters.

(Boom) it didn't matter if they were invulnerable to small arms or not. They were now but chucks or raw flesh lying around. His further engagements with the Devas and Jeeval's encounter with sabal had taught him that they still felt pain and could die from shock, if a significant damage was done to them they would also die. So hence, they weren't unkillable, just very persistent not to die.

In this moment that Vasu was recovering from the heavy throw, Ajay went over to pull out the iron rods from the destroyed concrete wall.

(Stab) "Yerrrgggh!" (Stab)

Ajay slammed the rods through Vasu's hands, effectively "crucifying him" to the floor. He bent the ends with raw strength so that he couldn't easily ply free. Vasu was far from dying here.

"WHY!-….. WHY DO YOU DO THIS TO ME ALWAYS!?" Ajay kicked him in the gut to silence him as he lay defeated and humiliated.

"Because you're so stupid you can't even think for yourself. I don't kill you because of Bibek, but you're to much of a fool to stop. You have only yourself to blame for humiliating yourself! But that's not even the stupid part. You know I let you live because of that yet you don't even want to prioritize Bibek's wishes over your stupid pride. That man is the only reason you were kept alive for sixteen years in the Gulag, you ungrateful bastard!" Ajay kicked him in the face from where he lay immobile.

"Lay there till my forces get rid of these rebels." He turned to leave Vasu in his misery.

But as he was about to leave, Vel landed in front of him to block his way.

"I won't say again. Get lost!"

"I will, unfortunately Vasu Sen will not be back here when you return." She stated her intentions to bring him away whilst he was gone.

"…." Ajay reached into his pocket and took out the flute and threw it over to her. Vel caught the flute gracefully and instantly recognised it as the flute that her mistress had spoke much about. A genuine treasure thought lost to the ages.

"This-…"

"My payment in exchange for Vasu's life. I'm sure you already knew what it does. You can have it, consider ourselves even. My karma with you ends here."

Vel looked at him with a complexed expression hidden behind the hood. She nodded and walked over to Vasu, raising her hand towards him. A string flew out from her robe and struck him.

"Arrghhh!"

"Consider yourself free of the mistress's binds. You will no longer possess the gifts that our mistress had bestowed upon you. The same way he ends Karma with myself. I end your Karma to the Mistress, in my authority as her right hand." The cloth from his shirt burned away revealing a series of symbols engraved upon his chest like a formation or talisman of some sort. The string appeared to be glowing as the tattoos too were glowing, and then it started to fade away from his chest leaving it clean of any marks.

It didn't need a theorist or exorcist to tell him what had happened. Vasu had been excommunicated from his gifts rendering him into a flesh and blood human.

Vel turned to walk away as well but stopped and looked his way with eyes that seemed sad as it was content.

"My mistress was right about you."

"Right about what?"

"You were not like the others. Perhaps you might be the one to break the seal freeing my mistress's dearest."

"'cuse me?"

"I have a message from my mistress to you." She took out a scroll and unravelled it, instantly an ethereal voice begun to speak from it.

" _Hear me oh Scion of Kalinag, Descendant of Devi. All this while as we fight each other, the author of all our sufferings. Of your own hellish purgatory in a world where Ajay Ghale was no longer require and my own when my beloved brother was taken from me. The true enemy grows stronger with every soul shrew brings him a little closer to true divine ascension. He brought you here as his unwitting apostle, do not let him lead you astray down the wrong path less you fall as so many have before you. Find the way to Shangri-La and all will be made clear to you. I promise."_

"What?-..." This was the first time someone else had understood his origin, even without him telling them. Never would he have thought her mistress was this powerful that she knew almost everything about him, it was as if he was completely readable. "Hey-."

Vel didn't answer him as she rolled up the scroll and left dashing off into the wilderness with unprecedented speeds. "Good luck, Ajay Ghale."

Ajay watched helplessly as his answer to a question he wanted answered now more than ever had been denied from him. But it wasn't the only thing that happened. His body collapsed on itself and he found himself in a kneel coughing out goblets of blood. The end of his bargain come to the end of its time limit that his body could handle.

Ajay laughed in a saddened reside.

"What did you take from me this time?"

* * *

There was not even a minute for him to rest and think about what Vel's mistress had unveiled onto him. Even if he were to take it with a pinch of salt that she was telling the truth, it didn't align to what was in his interest. It still remained that she sought Mohan's original ideal to take over Kyrat to unravel the secrets to Shangri-La.

"The Kalinag scrolls….." It was the item that instantly appeared in his mind at the mention of Shangri-la. That thangka that took him on a mental journey into the epic of Kalinag as if he were really there and really him. If there was one thing that Ajay was convinced was true, was the existence of Shangri-la. An entity as powerful as her acknowledged the existence, so it had to be real. But that was the least of his worries, she knew of his identity as Ajay Ghale since the beginning, then it was fair to say that Mohan did too.

"Fuck."

Ajay put that aside for the time being to focus on the task at hand.

"Raaawwgh-(Boom)." Ajay blasted to smithereens a Golden Path officer who charged him. He collapsed into a blood mess as his fighters and accompanying soldiers routed. The Jatayu came to finish them off. While they didn't all have weapons that were ideal for killing Devas, they did have grenades, .50 cal Zastava M93 snipers and Russian Kord heavy machine guns on a platoon level to dispatch the Golden Path "Immortals" as they were being coined for their resilience to conventional small-arms. That didn't deter the Jatayu from a fight.

It seemed that they were taking this immortality too far with little regard for the wielding it properly. The jatayu taught them the lesson that it took more than highly resilent bodies to excel in the battlefield. It was needless to say that the Arsenal carried by the Mi-28 Havocs and even the transport helicopters mounted with Samars 12.7mm three barrelled mini gun were more than equipped to vaporise them.

That being said, there was a slight problem. They were on limited ammo, while there was a lot of Golden Path. At least a brigade worth mixed amongst the populace and remnant soldiers of former Camp Lalu.

The four regiments of infantry that Ajay had sent earlier had sustained heavy casualties from the Golden Paths involvement. He dreaded the next time they encountered them and how would they defeat them with this very serious factor they were implementing throughout the Golden Path.

His encounter with just a mere platoon worth of fighters and Vasu had already had already put him at the shortest possible time of calling upon the demon. And there was still at least two regiments left that were blocking his way to stand at the border to ward off the invoming PLA forces. He knew they would welcome the Chinese Army with open arms because the alternative was certain death at the hands of the demon and the Kyrati Army.

Ajay looked at his watch.

"Sir."

"Satellite imagery puts them in ETA by three o clock. They arrive in 30 minutes."

Sandesh checked his watch, but it said two o clock, one whole hour before. "But sir-."

"I know what it says, and the satellite doesn't lie. But are you really convinced they'd be satisfied with just coming as we expected?"

"…"

Ajay struck a broken beam of the burnt down house overlooking the battlefield below. They could see the border fences from where they were yet they were so far away from it. At least ten thousand armed individuals were in their way.

"Has Vasu been taken care of?"

"The MPs have taken him back via helicopter."

"Good."

"Sir, I don't mean to be rude but-."

"It's a favour I owe to Bibek Khati." There was no one that hadn't heard of the legendary General Khati. Sandesh was no exception to this list.

"I see. At least, the Golden Path will no longer depend on his might again." Ajay chuckled at the comment.

"It was his master that betrayed him for a trinket." As he said it laughing it had also enforced a belief in himself that their mistress had discarded Vasu as easily as paper, what was to say she in all her "kindness" wouldn't do the same to him. There was one thing he couldn't tolerate more than anything, betrayal. He was prepared to do the worst then suffer from it again, that was the only selfishness he held for himself.

(BOOM) (BOOM) (BOOM) A volley of cannons resounded the ridge where the soldiers and rebels alike fought a bloodly battle to take the City was up upon the plateau.

The rebel soldiers turned to see the silhouettes of familiar armored forces belonging to the Republican Guard. Their hearts instantly soared with delight, only for a moment through.

As the volley struck them instead of the Kyrati Army regiments with their backs to the armored force.

"What the hell!"

"Oh-no-…. Do tell me…."

"Traitors! The Republican Guard have turncoated!" When these words travelled to the ears of the remnant yinkian forces their hearts that had gained potential energy from height dropped rapidly from the energy gained initially. They had become completely disheartened. It meant only one thing, they were the last to oppose the Kyratis occupation. They were the rebels now.

But the matters didn't end there, as accompanying there were the 2nd Hussars.

It was a sight to behold as the tanks and support vehicles begun to bombard the exposed soldiers and fighters alike with heavy ordnance.

Ajay picked up the radio.

"To all allied forces. This is Badala. All forces are rebels who've consorted with the PLA to sell out the sovereignty of Yinke. If even a single man, woman or child grants the PLA ground force access through the border when they come. Yinke can be considered lost. I know I'm asking you to commit an evil that in light of a greater cause, to sacrifice few innocents for an entire country. It disgusts me to chose this approach that my enemies that stand with those rebels have employed throughout the course of the Kyrati Civil War. No one but us however shall remember for as long as we live, because in the end it is the Victor that writes history! And I will be damned if I let this atrocity be held accountable by anyone but me.

The terrorist organisation Golden Path has distributed a narcotic compound used as a combat drug granting immunity to pain. Dispatch with heavy ordnance exclusively. Today, no Golden Path terrorist leaves here alive!" He said over the open channel.

The infantry regiments were encouraged by the newest reinforcement of Kyrati and Yinkian armour, not forgetting the presence of 1st Lord Badala, the demon of Lanka. They charged with renewed vigour against the disheartened defenders of the city.

Ajay went down to lead the spearhead through the ruins of the city. His internal injuries from his employ of the demon, he kept hidden as he stepped forwards.

"Jatayu! On me!"

"""RRAAARGH!""" They bellowed a warcry as they charged with wild abandon towards the routing enemy, though there were still some stubborn stragglers.

Sam ordered an artillery creeping barrage from Pada Mo to cut off their escape towards the border as it moved closer towards them with every barrage. She also called in the close air support aircraft assets whom had been granted clearance to fly due to the balance in air superiority performed by the 1st Fighter Squadron.

With the appearance of heavy fire supporting elements, the Golden Path had lost their individual invulnerability to the heavy weapons. The thought of them dying had frightened them more than ever. So the last remaining commanders ordered. "Brothers, sisters. We'll live to fight another day. We will take revenge for our junior brothers-in-arms in due time."

"What?!"

"You're leaving us?!"

"C-Cowards!"

The ranks of the Golden Path, Remnant rebel soldiers and militia broke into anarchy at the trigger words of the highest-ranking officer of the Golden Path that exhibited the desire for Golden path forces to turn tail and run to leave the City to its fate.

Taking advantage of the infighting, Ajay led a spearhead as he rushed straight through the rank of enemies to reach the Commander exclusively for his head.

"The Demon! It's the Demon!"

"Dear god-….."

The pupils of the field commander widen at the sight of the fear inducing demon running towards him with his eyes locked on him. The discord he'd made a mistake in causing had left him open to an attack. None of the baffers of Yinkians would protect him over their own lives save his own troops that had been spread too far and wide to aid each of the fighting groups as part of his plan to divide their strength had now backfired upon him.

"Why!?... How?!"

His leg shook as his body turned on a dime and ran as fast as he could, it was not what he signed up for. How could he have known the Royal Kyrati Army would be so vicious, to ignore the human shields of civilians he'd rallied to protect his troops end up slaughtered in the same way as his men. This was something they'd not done until now and how Golden Path had always exploited that weakness in Kyrat. They were just man, while his fighters were now near-immortal. Just what did they have that made them overcome flesh of steel and strength of a rhino.

"Its what you fellas have been using all this while." As if his thoughts were being read, Badala had appeared before him and answered his question with a raised Kukri to his still running body.

(Slash) The kukri came down and struck his cranium and cracked the skull all the way down to his nose. The field commander's eyes turned white before all energy left his body. It seemed that the "gift" of strength was not enough to restore the internals like with the Devas or Sabal in particular who possessed a willpower almost legendary to their peers. The field commander was none of these and so had perished the instant the blade parted his brain.

"Its called the power of belief."

The Golden Path saw the end of their struggle imminent and ran for the mountains to the north. Despair filled the eyes of some soldiers and militia alike as they sat doing nothing and awaited slaughter by the Kyrati and Yinkian forces.

The last remaining city garrison forces and civilians made a retreat to the borders to Tibet as the Yinkian and Kyrati Armies closed in to rid them of their pain. All two hundred remaining souls left, wearing haggard expressions filled with despair and pain.

On the otherside of the fence were the Chinese border fences and their guards who looked in horror to the entire episode of violence that had occurred just five hundred metres from their side of the fence. They readied their weapons so in the event that army crossed their border and awaited the PLA western army to arrive.

And then, a sigh of relief came to the border captain who received a radio reply as well as an early sighting of forces rolling over the ridge on their side.

The PLA western theatre forces had finally arrived.

* * *

Author's Notes:

Men fight for reasons they don't fully understand. That is why War is always a tragedy to both the loser and the winner in the end. I hoped to portray this in the most inethical and discouraging way through this chapter.

In the end, nobody wins.


	95. Chapter 87 - The Conman of the Himavanas

Author's Note:

*Beware of horrible inhumane bloodshed up ahead!*

* * *

A sandstorm was the result of many tracks and wheels kicking up the dirt on the desert plains of the Tibetan border region. An artificial element created as a part of the army rolling in over the ridge that defined the Tibetan borders.

The PLA western forces had come in full force. The Yinke Republican Guards were the first to recognise those tight formations. It was the group that had been responsible for giving Yinke its armoured edge against Kyrat's aerial might for a time. The formations five times their size of Dema's group were rolling towards them in variety of advanced vehicles not seen by the outside world before.

Modern Chinese Main Battle Tanks accompanied by armoured troop carriers formed the spearhead of their movement towards the border boundaries.

The Yinkians were caught in conflicting thoughts as this happened. But the Kyratis were all about the focus, killing every single man, woman, old and young that ran towards the fences shaking it and begging the Yinkian border guards to let them through. The Chinese border Captain on the Tibetan side was hesitant to let them through when they arrived. Even before the visible might of his countries army, the world's largest militarized force. Surely those Yinkian and Kyrati soldiers should have known that this was the end to their reign of tyrant. Yet the Kyratis in particular discarded their guns and took up their kukris to slash and hack them down one after another all the while roaring with a terrifying volume.

"""Kill!... Kill!... Kill!"""

The armoured division on its way begun to hear it even over the loud collective rumble of their vehicle tracks. It was as if hell had broken loose from Xue Lu City and the Kyrati soldiers were the denizens of hell feasting upon the former inhabitants of the City.

The PLA armoured division was now seven hundred metres from the Yinkian border and two hundred from their own fences. A five hundred metre Demilitarized zone lay between the Yinkian and Tibetan border.

Finally, fifty soldiers and civilians broke through the Yinkian fences and rushed towards the Tibetan border like their lives depended on it.

The faces of the Kyratis turned pale, if even one went to the Tibetan Border to testify it was all Beijing needed to justify its international intervention.

But things weren't to go as they planned, Ajay swore he would make bring Yinke back on its own feet and become great again on its own strength. He promised to keep the Chinese at bay less Kyrat suffer a complete catastrophe. He agreed to Pagan's gamble that he would risk everything for more that just peace in Kyrat, even his compassion and sympathy.

A black shadow leaped over the Yinkian border fences and dashed with an unbelievable speed. His weapons, firearms and knives were all discarded as he rushed towards his first victim and tore him in two.

The first of fifty others let out a bloodcurling scream before dying in the most painful way.

"Help! Help us!"

"Do something!"

The Yinkians screamed towards the border guards who were watching in horror as a blackcladded demon ripped humans with just his barehands. In accordance to the demilitarization doctrine, they were only to engage an individual in possession of a weapon.

The demon threw a punch that caused an old man's skull to explode as he was the slowest of all. Then proceeded to gut tear the guts out of a woman. Everytime it killed someone, it was by no means painless. The demon was killing them in the quickest possible fashion to its suiting.

A child had his head wrought and fell to the dirt motionless, he had been the only one to die in the quickest painless possible way.

"Hai zi ye sha le….." (Even a child…) The border captain was so appalled by what he saw that he looked away because if he continued to look it would give him nightmares for as long as he lived. He covered his ears so that he would not hear the pleeing either.

The Yinkians and Kyratis watched as their lord had personally committed multiple genocide in front of the PLA ground forces in the most horrific manner. Though they knew it was wrong, they had no say in what he had done for them. He chose to sacrifice a cities people for the entire country, they didn't even want to think about when Tenzin found out.

The PLA forces knew the drill well enough, though it pained them to watch. If none of them made it to the border to testify, they could forget about crossing. This was the reality during the Korean War when a certain American general forced the Korean People's Army to route pass the Yalu River, China's border to North Korea. The result was a horde of one million Chinese soldiers to reinforce the KPA and led to the preservation of North Korea and the division of the Greater Korean peninsula till this day.

Soon, a trail of bodies could be seen all the way towards the Tibetan border fences.

(Bang) (Bang) (Bang)

One soldier on the fences fired at the demon, his conscience outweighted his guilt and did what he thought was right even if it put his country in a bad position.

His shots blew up the dirt on the floor as it wasn't centred properly at the lightning-quick demon. His friends were inspired to do the same, if he were to receive punishment then so should they-

(Boom)

At least that was the idea. His head exploded from a .50 cal round passing through it and delivering raw energy into his soft tissue head, fired by none other than Hurk who had accompanied the Armoured units to keep a check upon Commander Dema during their temporary alliance.

The Chinese soldiers next to their dead friend were terrified, if they moved against him they would be killed as well. Hurk wasn't in the Demilitarized zone and his actions held justification, although his reason was far from it.

It was at the hundred-metre mark that only four people survived by that time. But the demon was not far from them as they ran for life. The Chinese soldiers begun to undo the locks as quickly as possible to allow them through unhindered.

The demon shrew another. And went on to the last two, a man and a woman.

At the sixty metre mark he struck the man's neck and forced him to collapse as he moved on to the woman now fifty metres away to freedom and the doom of Yinke.

But as he moved to converge on the last target, a hand clasped his leg preventing him from moving. The man used every bit of his final moment to allow the woman, probably his wife through.

"Again then!" The demon roared with blood flowing from his orifices and delivered a kick that tore the man's head of its shoulders into the air before landing on the ground fifty metres away.

Then the demon vanished into a shadow towards the last survivor. The woman was now twenty metres from the gates. All the soldiers looked at her with hope that she would make it through on her own.

That hope was dashed when the demon appeared before her in a flash between her and the border soldiers. The woman got onto her knees shaking.

"Please….. Please! If not me then at least…." A baby's wails could be heard from behind the robes she wore.

The demon stood before her motionless, only looking down at her holding the child tightly in her arms.

"Rang ta qu ba!" (Just let her go!)

"Ni yi jing ti chu le ni'n de guan dian! Wo men fa shi bu bao chi ta!" (You've already made your point, we'll swear not to grant her assess!)

"Muqin he hai zi dou bu rang ma?" (Even a mother and child, you would spare?!)

The Chinese border guards shouted in vain. Ajay remained where he was looking over the mother and child who dare not move an inch.

"Ni zhe ge yao gaui! Wo kan ni shifou gan wu fan dui wo men quan jun dui!" (You damn demon! I'll see if you dare try to oppose our entire army!)

"What is your name?" He ignored the Chinese border soldiers' worthless rantings and asked the woman.

"D-Dechen, m-my lord." She replied shivering in tears. The demon cocked its head as he found something strange about her choice of words. But then he asked.

"Why did you run?" He asked in a cold manner.

"B-Because-.. because yo-your men were- were-…."

"No. I didn't mean just now. I meant from the very beginning. Why did you run to the borders all the way from Pada Mo?" The woman looked up shocked as couldn't believe he knew that she'd escaped from Pada Mo during its peaceful occupation.

"I-….I-."

"I know who goes in and out of the Capital at all times." He reached out and took the baby from her hands which she didn't resist.

"Shhhhh… there there." He cradled the baby softly as the woman looked at him in fear.

"Is this even your child, or did you happen to pick it up somewhere in this chaos? Agent Dechen."

Her pupils widened as he had broken her cover as a Chinese sleeper agent. Out from the back of her robe came a handgun that was pointed out with killing intent. Ajay's palm pushed away the gun and he delivered a jab to her throat.

She fell to her knees chocking on her own blood before falling to the ground dead. The soldiers on both sides were confused at first but suddenly came to the revelation when the gun was produced.

It was relatively far, but he could see in the midst of the armoured division was a two-star general who frowned deeply. It was clear that she was to report to him directly, at least that was the plan.

Ajay examined the corpse and found a satchel bag full of intel, pictures and topographic maps of the region. She'd gathered all that the PLA needed to traverse Yinke with ease.

As Ajay held the child, it became to giggle with delight as it reached out for the horns on his mask. Completely oblivious to the blood stains all over his armour. Ajay couldn't help but chuckle as he cradled her about in his arms lovingly, a sharp contrast to all the bloody slaughter he'd just committed. It rendered the Chinese soldiers flabbergasted at the sight.

It was a simple action that the baby girl had done to touch his wretched heart out of all the terrible things he'd done.

The child had accepted his true face.

* * *

It was five minutes since Ajay's vicious acts had been seen by nearly twenty thousand souls on both sides. An agreement was made to have a talk between the highest authorities on their disputes. The Chinese soldiers wanted to collect Dechen's body but Ajay stood between them and let his soldiers take the corpse to bury. He claimed it was to allow her to be buried in her homeland, but it was also to deny them finding usable evidence on her body she may have hidden in case she failed her mission.

It became known knowledge amonge the Yinkians, Kyratis and PLA soldiers. To think that someone like that was hidden to such a degree. If he really decided to be lenient, she might have taken advantage to rush to safety. Although the Chinese were denying she was their agent it was clear from the documents in her bag that it was. Although, Ajay wasn't sure if the child was really hers or one she picked up to use as a cover and cause sympathy for her case. The child had a different scent to hers.

The child was bright and energetic as she chuckled away while Ajay played with her. It was a very conflicting sight to both sides.

On the Tibetan border, the same Chinese general came with a few members of his staff forward to make their claim. The general was somewhere in his late fifties with white hair and a clean-shaven face with an expression of character. Ajay also saw a face of cunning. On the Yinkian border, Maya, Saras, Sam, Raja, Sandesh and Dema represented the coalition forces of Yinkians and Kyratis.

"Zhong guo ren min jie fang jun, Zhao Ren Jie Jiang Jun. Wo de jun shi ren yuan." The General waved to the men beside him who were his retinue.

"People's Liberation Army, General Zhao Ren Jie. The men next to him are his staff members." Samuel, being fluent in Cantonese dialect and the main language itself translated for them.

"Lieutenant-Colonel Roka, 3rd Lord of the Royal Kyrati Army."

"Colonel Dema, Republican Guard of Yinke."

The three represented the highest authorities in the armies. Samuelle translated for Major-General Zhao.

"Di san zhu? Shen me fei hua!" One of his staff couldn't control his mouth and spoke out of turn as he mocked Saras's title.

"Ni gei wo bi zui!" The General snapped at his staff member to shut up, they didn't need a translation for that.

"Wo xu yao qiu ni jie shi ning shi fou qin ru Yinke."

"I require an explanation to your intrusion of the state of Yinke."

"No explanation is required to be given to you, general." Ajay said from where he was playing around with the baby.

The general looked at Ajay with a complex expression, what his staff initially thought was that he was some sort of special trooper or assassin. But from the moment their gazes met, he knew there was more to Ajay that meets the eye.

"Ze wei peng you, ma fan ni gei ning de ming zi." (Good sir, may I trouble you for your name.) He said in a calm and not at all threatened tone.

"Badala, Duke of Lakshman and to his Royal Highness King Min of Kyrat. 1st Kshatriyan Lord of the Royal Kyrati Army." He passed the child over to Saras who was initially surprised he did so but accepted the child who seemed to enjoy the embrace that Saras gave her.

"Instead, I should be asking you, what is the PLA ground forces doing at the edge of the Yinkian borders of our allies?"

"ning de meng guo?" (Your allies?)

"That's right."

"Na, wo hai xu yao ge jie shi." (I still need you to explain.)

"Perhaps I'll phrase it differently to you, general. Let me give you an assessment of what you are about to do when you cross this thin red line."

"Hao ba, wo zai ting." (Ok, I'm listening.)

"First off, the Kyrati Army is in Yinke on a joint task force operation for the radical reforms that have been taking place in Yinke under the legitimate leadership of President Tenzin Vgru. We have him to testify for our marshalling of the territories as well as quelling of insurgent and rebel activities. This includes the jurisdiction to search the lands for known terrorist groups and sympathists. Your crossing will be taken as an undeclared act of war." Ajay gave his piece of info he needed.

"Hao ba, na ni jiu-."

"You can quit with the façade, General. If a staff officer at your level and in the frontlines didn't know at least one of the basic foreign languages in the station he was posted or English at the very least then he must've been a military political exile."

"….. Or simply holding back to test waters." The General answered in perfect English to Ajay's groups' surprise.

"UK?"

"Cambridge. '88." The general replied with a smile, it taught the rest not to judge a book by its cover.

"To answer your previous question, Badala of Kyrat. We are here because of indications that our ally Yinke had been attacked by a foreign power. We have an armoured division and full fire support assets that you cannot challenge, I suggest you stand down while we take over marshalling Yinke for the best interest of both Yinke, Kyrat and us."

"Your suggestion is noted, but you see general. We have a regional responsibility that can't be ignored. In the same instant Yinke would do the same for us as well." The General laughed.

"If that were the case, then we are here for the same thing."

But that was when Ajay laughed even louder.

"Really now, that's funny. Because your country's record for helping Yinke out the last time they had an internal strife sixteen years ago I think Beijing closed one eye."

"A mistake Beijing is willing to correct now." He smiled saying.

"This isn't a chance game, general. You don't get a second shot after failing once. President Vgru has made that clear to us."

"Then let us assist you then." The General was persistent.

"No need."

"I was wondering at first, but now that you mention it to me. Wasn't Kyrat that little kingdom that was run by brigands?" He said in a light but vicious manner.

If there had been very loyal Kyratis around they would have placed a gun into his mouth, but thankfully the group with Ajay was level headed enough to know he was just being intentional.

"The civil war only just ended with a crown victory."

"Then it should instead fall to us to safeguard Yinke."

"I'm sorry, are you saying Kyrat isn't capable of handling its foreign affairs just because we came out of civil unrest?"

"No. I wouldn't dare think that!"

"Good. Simple story short, us as Yinke's neighbour and ally are sufficient."

"Although I must question your methods on a personal level, Badala of Kyrat."

"That's 1st Lord to you."

"Is it?"

"Yeah, I kinda forgot. You're a commie, all animals are equal. Some more equal than others. Right?" Ajay said with a grin. Knowing he had studied in England before, he should have watched the show even if he was reluctant to watch it slander Communism. The General's eyebrows twitched ever so quickly, the same could not be said for his staff who looked like they wanted to ground Ajay into the floor with their tank treads.

"Be that as it may, I'm an authority just under the Marshal of Kyrat. But you wouldn't know and I don't expect you to, so you can just stick to calling me Badala for your "Special needs" case. Not Badala of Kyrat, just Badala."

It was like a silent spat between them with venomous words going on and debating their legitimacy in Yinke. Ajay knew that from the General's call for a truce, the general was likely stalling for time. Little did the General know, he was doing the exact same thing. Only Saras, Maya and Dema were aware of this. To the rest, it was clear that the PLA were delaying to await more forces to arrive. To think that a division of soldiers was just the advance element.

"Now that we've talked a little bit about why we are here, I think you owe me an explanation on your reckless pilots." Ajay began.

The PLA staff seemed to have been worried by that factor as they'd come to revelation that their Air force had failed to secure air dominance over Yinke.

"So that flight of fighters was yours." General Zhao now understood that they'd completely underestimated the potential of the Himalayan countries not even members of the UN. Not even Nepal or Bhutan had this kind of firepower.

"I have an entire wealth of evidence on their blackboxes that your strike fighters attacked my pilots. Where they were headed, I do not care. But if you invade Yinkian Airspace which was our responsibility, you'd better talk with us first before launching any sort of mission over Yinke."

"I believe we've come to a misunderstanding. First of all, the Airforce is not under my jurisdiction like yourself Badala. Second, it was a miscommunication that's all."

"And you know this for a fact? Are you psychic or something? Whatever. I'm sure it was, my pilots speak three languages whilst yours probably only speaks Chinese and "Shoot first, ask later"." He said sarcastically.

The General's eyebrow twitched again, to the staff members. They'd never seen a person mock him more than Ajay was and him forcing to choke down on it.

"In any case, we will investigate the matter in full." The General said.

"With what? Declarations from your own pilots that they swear it was not their fault that dogfight started?"

"No, sir." He said with a smile.

"Jeez! Stop pulling me around!" Two PLA soldiers lugged a pilot each towards the Demilitarized zone they were all in.

"Oh! Hi beloved!"

Ajay covered his eyes with his hand as he sighed exasperatively, the same could be said for Saras who was in a worse headache than him.

"You familiar with him?" The General asked even if he already knew.

"No. Take him to whatever secret mountain prison you have and torture him till he starts squacking." Ajay said instead.

"Badala come on!"

"This is the second time, you've made me clean up your shit. Perhaps some time in a Tibetan prison will do you good."

"Why are you being so cruel?! You should be giving me a commendation, I shot down eight fighters before going down myself!"

"And where of all places did you decide to bail out?"

Pravindra kept quiet from that moment on, his co-pilot nudged him in an "I told you so" way

The Chinese looked at him with a hostility that said they wanted to tear his skin off and poke hot iron on his exposed flesh. For possibly killing eight pilots.

"So, you do know him."

"(Sigh)…. He and that other fella are part of my formation."

"I could make a deal to return them to you."

"Why? Are you threatening me with their lives?"

"Why would you think that?'

"It's not what I think, but rather your men."

It was his entire army that stared at Pravi and his co-pilot daggers. Ever since they fell down via parachute into the Tibetan region they'd been kicked by random soldiers along the way for their discontent. The Chinese were really expressive for their emotions.

"…."

"Tell you what, allow my divis-."

"Denied." Ajay instantly shunned his idea of inviting the PLA division into Yinke. The General instantly chuckled as Ajay had chosen the territory over his pilots.

Ajay knew he couldn't let them fall into the Chinese hands, they possessed highly-classified intel on Kyrat and India, China's rival in the Himalayas. Although they were assumed to be Kyrati pilots for the time being which was convenient because if they declared themselves as Indians, Pravi and his co-pilot were out of Ajay's hands.

Maya walked forward and handed Ajay a tablet PC showing him the current report on the damage assessment on the city and the dogfight that took place a few minutes ago. Ajay smiled and nodded to her in thanks. Ajay turned back to the general with a bashful smile.

"But I am willing to let this air intrusion incident slide." Ajay told him. The General almost wanted to laugh again.

"And why do you think I would release them back after they'd admitted to damaging property of the state and landed in our autonomous region where Chinese Legal jurisdiction still applies?"

"Well you did hear what my pilot said, right? From a recent report, my five-aircraft flight group apprehended a six-bogey flight group followed by a squadron of fighters. Two of the flight returned leaving three of my pilots to deal with the rest. Three of them, beat an entire squadron of Chinas elite pilots." Ajay said it intentionally slow for the General to understand his meaning. For the first time, the General showed a grim expression.

"I mean, what would the world think about the quality of the PLA air force pilots that lost tremendously to a small insignificant nation that only just started its airforce-."

"Ni bu yao tai guo fen! Badala!" (Don't go too far!) The General shouted in his direction.

"I'm just saying, general. But then again, you did say that this wasn't in your jurisdiction to handle because you weren't airforce."

The General stared arrows at Ajay after the moment he'd been the one to lose his cool first. It had been as Pagan said, pride was China's weakness. Exploit it such that they would never allow their embarrassment to be known to the world.

After a while of mumbling to himself he turned to his staff members.

"Ba na liang ming fei xing yuan qu, quai!" (Quickly. Let those two pilots go!)

"Jiang jun! Ni zai kai wan xiao ba! Ta men liang ming yi ding shi yin du kong jun, jue bu ke neng shi ze xie shan ye man ren de-." (General! You've got to be kidding! This two are definitely indian airforce, they definitely can't possibly belong to these mountain barbarians-)

A swift unforeseeable shadow passed the General towards the staff officer that had said that and clasped him by the neck raising him up in the air and throttling him. The General looked back and forth to see that Ajay had left his former place to grab his officer.

"Guurrghh…" The man begun to rapidly choke. And the staff officers were too shock to react as they'd seen him moments ago tear up those fleeing refugees into pieces with his barehands.

Ajay glared coldly at the officer he was choking.

"If there were to be a war between China and us, it'll be over unsubtle remarks like that." He whispered into the officer's ear.

"Badala! Stop! Let us get back to the matter at hand!" The General was rather nervous considering it was just an officer of his. He wondered…

"Is this your son, General?"

"How di-…. Yes, it is." The General informed him obediently.

"Your only son?"

"… Yes."

"You're a very loyal soldier then, General. To bring your only successor to a hotzone with all likeliness that none of you will survive in."

"Please!-…. Put down my son!"

"If there is a war between us, you'll be sure that I'll let you stay alive when it ends. Then I'll let you experience a life of hellish torture for the rest of your mortal life." Ajay said softly to the younger officer before throwing him backwards into the hands of the rest of the stunned staff. And walked back to his position besides the Kyratis and Dema.

"I'm very sorry that my son spoke out of turn." It sounded like it was only for formalities sake.

"Is he your son now or your subordinate, don't get that mixed up. Were you planning to show him what war is? Whatever, its not like I give a damn anyway."

The General turned back to his staff and nodded. The staff went into action as they shoved Pravi and his co-pilot forward and kicked them over to Ajay's side.

"Ow! That was on purpose!" Pravi complained.

"Yeah that's right, China fuck! Walk away!" The co-pilot jeer the two dissatisfied gaurds that brought them forward.

"Both of you, get out of my sight." Ajay said in a neutral tone that still held some authority over them.

""Yes, sir!"" And they quickly dashed over to where the rest of the officers on the Yinkian border were.

"Beloved!" Except Pravi, who dashed over to get a hug from Saras. But instead got a roundhouse kick from her to the face. "Opff! Ow! Ow!" Pravi landed on the floor to the side as she stepped upon him. While she was still wearing a smile on her face, it failed to hide the aura of disappointment. Pravi had cost them in a possible scandal of the air with China which they could have renegotiated airspace boundaries with China on.

The Co-pilot and the rest shook their heads. The Chinese were astounded at first but then started to laugh. Thinking it was his wife or something and that he was a pen-pecked husband. She was even harsher than the guards previously so it gave a sense of relief to the PLA soldiers that he got what he deserved. The baby in her arms giggled the entire way at Pravindra's expense.

His face had become swollen at the end as his co-pilot carried him off. The PLA soldiers suddenly found themselves sympathizing for him. Though she was rather beautiful, she was also not very forgiving and was beginning to scare them with her ruthlessness, imagining themselves in the Indian Pilot's place.

But it was around this time that a heavy rumbling could be heard from a distance, behind the PLA armoured division appeared smoke puffs twice the size of before. The General grinned as he looked to Ajay with disdain.

"It seems you've delayed too long without reaching a referendum. Now, this is beyond my jurisdiction. This threatre of operation is now in the hands of the threatre Commander's hands, and he abides by only the committees final say. You should have accepted my proposal but you let it go to waste….. so disappointing. Maybe you should start praying." His façade broke as he had been assured with an additional division of soldiers had arrived with none other than the Commander of the Western Forces present amongst the army. His job was done, delaying the Kyratis and Yinkians long enough.

The faces of the Kyratis and especially Dema's turned white as a sheet. What Ajay had told him turned out to be true. Two divisions were enough to occupy Yinke twice over. The Kyratis had only seen a similar mass of soldiers at the battle of lanka so they were enlightened on how a conventional army looked in these numbers.

But contrary to the General's impression of Ajay's final expression, Ajay laughed. It wasn't the kind of sad residing laughter at despair. But one that looked at him with ridicule at his naivety.

"What!" The General couldn't control as he continued to laugh at his expense.

"Did you really think I didn't know you were waiting? Once Beijings' made a decision it doesn't back out easily. I was more than prepared for that."

"What? Then you should know it is futile to resist!"

"If that were just Yinke vs China then yes. However, you aren't just invading Yinke. And what will take place in a few minutes your Commanding officer will have no choice but to withdraw everyone." Ajay said to him in a serious expression.

"You must be joking. What could possibly stand up to Zhong Guo?! We are the premier armed force in Asia, a permanent security member of UN, you are just an insignificant state that does not even have recognition! You-."

(Mobile phone ring)

"Hang on, I need to take this." Ajay cut him off to pick up his smart phone. "Yep? Uh-huh."

It was then that his smile became wide as the Cheshire cats. Maya and the rest saw it and instantly knew what had occurred.

Victory.

"You sure took your time… you wanna see what's happening?... Ok.- Alright, I'll send you a few photos or a video or something. Will that suffice?... yeah. Ok. Yeah- bye." He went through a long casual talk with someone on the phone.

"Sorry about that, king you see." He said with the same casualness in tone.

"Where were we?" He asked innocently.

"You-…. God damn frog in the well! yǒu yǎn bù shí tài shān*?! (Failing to recognize Mount Tai*)" The General was infuriated that he'd just taken a random phone call in the midst of a crisis for him and interrupted him for it. It was worse than taking him for a fool.

"Oh yeah, that…. But you know what, General? When a big guy pushes around a little guy, he's called a bully. There's no possible way for that little guy to beat the big guy, because if not he wouldn't have been in that predicament in the first place."

"What are you saying?" Was he enforcing what he said to him? The General wondered.

"But what about a group of little guys. What if the big guy isn't pushing around a loner but a group per se, or in this instance a member of a military-political bloc?"

* * *

"…. What?!"

"Major-General Zhao of the PLA ground force. On my authority as the newly-appointed Commandant of the Joint Military Coalition to the Himavana Pillar Alliance Treaty between the four nations of Kyrat, Kumsa, Papir Republic and Yinke. I ask that you kindly withdraw your forces immediately or we, all four membered states will accept the People's Republic of China's mobilization of troops to Yinke as an act of war and follow the procedures to act against you. We have friends in the Himalayas that will back us in this fight and the international committee will question Beijings' actions starting from now. I look forward to testifying against your country in the UN security assembly." Ajay said with an almost treacherous smile.

The General looked stunned for a moment as if all his colour had faded from his exterior but after a moment to think, he laughed his heart out. "Hahahaha… Himavana- what?...ahahahhaha….. alliance?..." But instead of getting angry, Ajay laughed with him even louder as if he was laughing that he truly didn't understand the reality of the situation like a fool.

"Fei hua! Zhe shi hou hai gan ba zhe ge pi gu cong ni de pi gu la chu lai! (What nonsense! You still dare to pull shit out of your ass at this time!) He said infuriated and troubled in his heart that Ajay didn't show signs of fear at the prospects, could it be-…..

But Ajay grinned all the way.

"I'm not bluffing you, General. While your boss has yet to arrive, it still falls to you to decide the beginning outcome of this situation. You have the trigger to the beginning of the Sino-Himavana War which I will guarantee you will be the downfall of the PLA. I swear it upon you that I'll make it a reality, China will forever be a laughingstock to the world from here on out. And you and your family will forever be dishonoured as China's greatest shame." Ajay had even coined up a name for the records of what the name of the conflict would be written down in history as. An expression of worry now occupied the General's once conceit face.

At this time, a commotion happened on the Yinkian border side as well. The Kyrati and Yinkian soldiers cheered loudly. For out of the mountains to the right of the city, another from the valleys which the Armoured forces came from and over the plains came one more. Producing sandclouds similar to that which the PLA pulled off. Not one sandcloud, but the three of them, who were they? Not another Kyrati Army division, Kyrat didn't have unlimited resources to send massive armies as and when they liked. These armies hailed from somewhere else.

It was the Kumsan Army, the Papir Republican Army and the rest of the Yinke Liberation Army. The Four nations had come to back them up.

The General's face turned into horror then ugly at the sight of the forces coming to aid the Kyratis and Yinkians against the PLA. It was as Ajay had said, he wouldn't leave them with a good start for China. And he sure as hell was going to take heavy losses from just the army alone, as a squadron of fighters from what remained of the 1st squadron flew overhead accompanying a squadron of subsonic A-4SU fighter-bombers, laden with munition and loitering about ready to drop at a moment notice. Since they had no air superiority protecting them thanks to 1st Fighter Squadrons' outstanding performance, they would be exposed to air attacks.

"Jiang jun….." A staff member with a radio handset walked over and whispered to him. His face completely constricted.

"…. My Commanding officer has told me to withdraw now. Himavana Pillar Alliance was it?" When the words came out of the forced smiling face of General Zhao, Ajay's mouth widened into a wicked grin. Beijing had received the letter from Pagan signed by every leader of the treaties leaders and was now reassessing their options. Because in the end of the day, no matter how powerful China was. To be a part of the world, it had to play by everybodies rules. In this case, the mandates of UN. And if the PLA were to mobilize then they were fighting four nations at once, questions will be asked if China was intending to expand its territory into the entire Himalayas. Clearly, it was going beyond its legal boundaries. And so it was very clear to Ajay and gang...

They had won.

"AhahahahahHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Ajay made no attempted to hide his obnoxious laughter at the sight of the staff member organising the division to withdraw with the just arrived second division. All of the Chinese soldiers heard the laughter resound as they left and remembered it as the biggest humiliation that the mighty PLA had received. To walk away from a challenge to a mere Himalayan state. It was a humiliation they had to bite down and endure.

Ajay pressed the talk key on the open channel for everyone to hear his laughter. Soon, for apparent reasons, the four armies added to the laughter until the entire mountain range echoed with mocking laughter at the People's Liberation Army.

"Wo sha le ni! Kan ni hai gan xiao!" (I'll kill you! Then we'll see if you dare laugh some more!) The young officer who was Zhao's brat grabbed a gun and ran towards Ajay.

"Bu yao!" (Don't!) The General called out.

Ajay dashed forwards with that same inhuman speed and grasped the officer's hands and flung him to the ground. Ajay arm locked him to the ground whilst he drew the bayonet from the officer's webbing and placed it on the back of his neck.

"Urrhhh…." The officer moaned in pain as he'd only just recovered from the fall and was now in Ajay's grasp.

"Remember what I said before? That if there is a war between us, you'll be sure that I'll let you stay alive when it ends. Then I'll let you experience a life of hellish torture for the rest of your mortal life."

"Badala…" The General looked more than helpless as he reached out.

"General, you get to decide now, which is more important. Risk saving you foolish son's life and risk the integrity of your nation's security. Or…. Leave him to his fate."

If it was before, the General would have shouted furiously, but when it came to his son…. There was nothing more precious, except-…

"Please….. I beg of you, Lord Badala. Please let my foolish boy go!" He went on his knees begging.

"Seems like your father chose nation over son. What do you think junior?" Ajay said chuckling away.

Being told this, the son stared at his father with burning eyes, he'd chosen the country over his own flesh and blood, something he couldn't accept. Now he'd humiliated himself and the family.

"Reckless." Ajay said after seeing the look in the officer's eyes.

"You're a hopeless son for a father like him." Ajay got off the officer who was surprised he was let go but then Ajay threw his bayonet to his feet.

"Take off a finger, and we'll call it quits."

The officer looked at him confused, Ajay knew he understood but translated roughly on his own without Sam to help him.

"Qie diao shou zhi….. ran hou wo men ba zhe jian shi qing suan le." The officer looked at him wide-eyed then down to his fingers and to the knife.

"Ten." Ajay began a countdown.

"Nine…. Eight…"

"Badala! I'll do it in his place-!" General Zhao shouted.

"Five!..." He shortened the count.

Zhao's son remained where he was motionless in shock.

"Four!"

"Three….. Two…. One. Time's up." But the son didn't do anything as he stared in horror at the knife, traumatized. But Ajay neither took action against him, he instead laughed.

Ajay went over to pick up the General as he laughed.

"I'm just pulling your leg, buddy. Hahaha! No need to get so upset. Your son just needs a bit of courage that's all." He patted the General on the back hardly that he almost felt as if a bone might break.

The General understood what Ajay had done for him and faked his laughter as sincerely as possible to play by Ajay's tune.

"Yes, haha- just a prank. No need to get so rifled up over! We'll be on our way then." The General didn't hesitate to pull his unfilial son away. Ajay had just shown to the father and son each other and their true natures.

By doing so, he'd sown discord among the ranks of PLA frontline soldiers and leadership the next time an incident like this occurred. They'd think twice about their situation before planning an attack.

General Zhao quickly left with his staff out of the demilitarized zone to the jeep awaiting them on the Tibetan border to drive back to their garrison. The General wanted to get away from Ajay as quickly as possible as well.

For there had been no greater conman in his life than that man who laughed at the PLA.

"Jinx….. he's a treacherous conman!" The General's last words in English were spoken so that his men wouldn't understand him. To think that from the moment he sought a delegation to stall, the 1st Lord was also doing the same thing, but played it such that he was a naïve young fool who knew next to nothing about politics and was just a muscle head from his frightening slaughter of the fleeing civilians. Looking back at what he knew about the 1st Lord Badala, the General began to shudder.

The reports indicated that Yinke was invaded by a paratrooper brigade and a masked demon, which was none other than him. Pada Mo City was lost under an hour, with the highest leaderships in his possession or killed. He had used him to delay as well, for that treaty to be written. And had conned him out of that wealth of knowledge the Indian pilots likely held. He killed his insider agent just as she was about to reach the border, knowing who she was. He initialled a public mockery of his division and the PLA as a whole, Zhao's own men would not look at him with favour anymore knowing he let their pride get blemish.

Badala was a jinx to the People's Liberation Army forces. He'd damaged their unity, troop camaraderie, psychologically scarring him and his son and got to walk away from all that scot-free.

General Zhao vowed that from today onwards, he would not want anything to do with the Himalayas ever again.

* * *

Author's Notes:

I don't particularly hate China. Neither do I hate the US even for its sixty decades of icky CIA-shit and stunts under pretext of order and stability. I'm sure everyone's done it to one another at least once with good sincere intentions for their country. Its just the way the world is now. Still better than a certain president who can't even tell where ISIS is between Syria and Iraq then orders the launch of tomahawks at Afghanistan for no reason.

It is in fact the reason I used the PLA in this story to project the image of the odds they were against. The People's Liberation Army divides itself into Threater Commands that are responsible for the defense of each region in the continent that territory is facing. Five armies, FIVE! PLA comprises of five armies, Australia only has one, extremely small for a landmass as big as ours. China could literally fight in Central Asia, South-east Asia, Russia, North-East Asia and the pacific at the same time!

*Failing to recognize Mount Tai - A Chinese idiom that means to be ignorant or arrogant; to fail to recognize someone or something of great status


	96. Chapter 88 - After all, I'm only human

Author's Notes:

School term returns on monday with a whole week work load, no time again. Holidays are to end. It was fun while it lasted, at least there's ANZAC day in between to rest.

 **(Edited 23/4 at 0900Hrs)**

* * *

The men of the armies that witness the withdrawl of the People's Liberation Army after what had just happened would never forget what they'd seen for the rest of their lives.

To have mobilized for war after such preparation, only to be sent back with mere words. It cased a very different light upon the reality they'd lived till now. They knew that from this moment on, the lands of which were occupied by the four pillar nations of the Himavanas would never be the same again.

This was an especially emotional time for the Yinkians as it marked the end of their struggles. The Yinkian War had truly ended and a new chapter was about to begin for its people.

However, the same could not be said for one city.

The price for their sovereignty was the inhabitants of Xue Lu City being misled by the rebels into holding a resistance against the Yinke Liberation Army and the Royal Kyrati Army. Because of that, they granted the assistance of the Golden Path terrorists the use of their supplies and route. It was enough evidence to legally use against the city for aiding a dangerous terrorist group. With the apparent resistance, they put up in the most dire of times when the four regiments were supposed to secure the border zone were instead tangoing with the mixture of Golden Path, rebel Yinkian soldiers and the city militia.

Ajay was forced to make a gruesome decision that would cause his reputation as a just individual to waiver. If he was to engage his men in slaughter, then he would take responsiblility by being the one at the forefront of that bloodshed. He knew in his heart better than anyone else.

He was not a good person.

Tenzin might never forgive him for this massacre as much as he couldn't forgive himself for severing human compassion for a cold-blooded decision. He had control over the fate of fifteen million lives out of Kyrat and Yinke combined and he wasn't going to jeopardize their lives to the People's Republic's political flexing of military might on his people or that of the Yinkians.

That was why Ajay didn't stinge on giving a proper burial for the deceased inhabitants and bodybags to ship his soldiers home to be cremated. A mass burial site for all that died in the city was erected on the highest point of the plateau which the barren city stood. It was a reminder of the cost to Yinkian and Himavana Alliance nations alike of the choice they made so that everyone else could enjoy a new era of prosperity together.

The soldiers of each army cheered at the end of the conflict and begun to mingle amongst one another celebrating and singing folk songs under the cold moonlight. The Jatayu were no exception as Ajay had explicitly ordered their enjoyment with the airdrop of Shangri-lager flown in for them all.

Hopefully the good vibes and mood would wash away the guilt that some of the men might still have lingering about. He knew he was, he had just been promoted from being the Demon of lanka to the Demon of the Himalayas.

"The monster that all Himalayans fear, with the Dragon of China being no exception." Ajay murmured as he snorted at the rumors that were going around of his reputation. They had no idea of the feeling, to command the dead of fifteen thousand people as easily as a flick of the wrist.

Ajay took a swig of the whisky bottle before pouring the rest onto the grave stone of those that he'd wronged.

"Even if I go to hell, I won't apologize to you….." He spoke to the collective spirits of the burial mound, his voice held a weight of dominance that crushed down upon the discarnate souls that still lingered about.

"No because I've failed you, but because you brought this upon yourself." He'd even given them advanced warning not to get in his way or a terrible fate awaited them. The four Yinkian camps were smart enough to listen to his words and went to marshal the rest of the cities from harbouring ill will towards the Kyrati Army. Now that the success of the operation had been revealed, the people of Yinke held complex reservations about the Kyratis whom they had been forced to reevaluate.

He walked down to the helicopter depot to meet with the rest on leaving this empty city to the allied forces to reorganises as a garrison fort to any future intrusion from the PLA as if that would ever happen.

"I'm amazed, no one looks appalled by the state of the city." A woman's voice called out to him from the shadows.

"…."

"Except maybe you." She was wrong, after all the only one to visit the grave after the construction was him.

"…. Because it was convenient to forget the bad things for the good. Even after everything we've done, people are still going to question my ethics sooner or later."

"You had no choice."

"Everyone has a choice, I took the bloodiest route to victory to avoid further casualties and risk to Pagan's gamble." Ajay began to laugh after saying that as he found something funny.

"-ahahahaha… I kill so that bloodshed may be avoided…..hahahahaha-." He stated the hypocrisy in his own words and thoughts.

"….. Ajay."

"There's nobody by that name here."

Saras came to place her hands upon his cheeks. "Look at me."

"You'll always be and forever more, the man I cherish and love, there is no other I want to spend the rest of my life with." Ajay's eyes flickered showing conviction at Saras's declaration as he had doubts about dragging her about in his bloodied path.

"Where you live, I will live. Where you die, I will die." She said to him without a shed of hesitation and that worried him even more than before. It meant that at any time he fell she would take her own life.

"I don't want you following me down there."

"Too bad, I'll do so anyway!"

"Shit! Goddamnit, Saras!" He had a fit at her stubbornness.

She held his hands. "So promise me you'll stay alive and well. We'll get through this whole journey together. This is a team effort after all."

Ajay was more than familiar with her selfish attitude at forcing her opinions on others till they accepted. But the thought of her dying was more agonizing than any other he'd felt. He already had a preview of that when he thought the Relic of Yalung consumed her and went into a self-destructive rampage. And from that boiling rage, the demon within him was born. The unlikely ally yet troublesome in nature who had been the power he wielded against Mohan and the Devas now at the count of two with the capture of three.

Yet, Ajay felt as if this was only the beginning of what Golden Path will present as a threat to them. Just this afternoon, that brigade comprised of entirely superhuman traits similar but inferior to the Devas. Every Golden Path fighter was now a monster, he was lucky still in the sense that they were rookies and had not fully tapped into these strengths well enough with the time at hand. But it was getting worse by the minute. It was safe to assume that whoever joined Golden Path, be he Kyrati or not would be bestowed with unholy powers of near-invulnerability that only an anti-material rifle could kill. They were thousands, he was just one. And he had a limit to how much more he could engage before there was truly nothing left of Ajay Ghale left, it that was the case….

"(Sigh)…." Ajay sighed with resign. "That's just so like you." He said chuckling sadly.

"You'd better believe it!" She said with affirmation.

"Ajay Ghale is going to regret being with such a troublesome woman." He said in third person.

"Too late, he's already signed over his heart to this insatiable beauty."

"Hearing you call yourself and insatiable beauty is kind of weird coming from you."

"I don't care, I only act this way when I'm around the one I love." She latched her arms around him in an embrace.

Ajay accepted the embrace, as if the only thing he wanted to return to from every battle was her arms.

"I love you, Saraswati Roka."

Saras's lips quivered as she expected him to take them which he did. In was a moment they forgot about the surroundings and cared only for each other.

Not even noticing the shadow of someone leaning against the nearby wall out of sight, who clenched her hand over her chest as if experiencing the most painful heartbreak. Even if she refused to accept it.

* * *

The buzzing of the chopper blades was surprisingly softer than usual. Most likely modifications Kamran had done to reduce acoustic signature, although he wasn't sure what kind of secret modifications he'd done. It wouldn't make the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs nor make it so stealth Bin Laden would never see it coming.

It did however make their flight quite comfortable, all twelve and a half of them.

Seven officers that represented the Garuda Legion, Maya, Raja, Samuelle and her retinue which included Bipin and that little Sun bastard. Pravindra and his co-pilot Arun who had been asked to come along to be commended by Pagan himself. Two lords represented by Ajay and Saras as the 1st and 3rd Lords. Asked to represent the Yinkian Military as the highest-ranking officer of the remaining four Colonels manning the last camps in Yinke was Dema of Republican Guard. Nagesh and Officer Mohammed had been left to oversea the Garuda Legion forces in their absence.

The half slot was taken by the child Ajay had brought along, since nobody questioned him on his choice the baby girl was belted in the seat near the window. She looked out with excitement and wonder in her little eyes, it was a curious sight as Ajay was more than familiar with babies infamiliarity with sudden pressure differences at their height which caused their eyes to get stuffed up. The one-year-old baby didn't seem to have any such problems. Ajay only brought her for one reason, he hoped to give her to a family who would love her as their own. Yinke wasn't in the state to adopt and Ajay had the opportunity to improve her fate in the slightly well to do Papir Republic which they were headed for. It was the least he could do.

Although, he wasn't sure if her parents who definitely weren't the two agents running across the border had picked her up from Xue Lu or along the way from Pada Mo. It was highly probable it was the former given the situation at hand. If so, then he owed her more than she knew. He was already prepared to set her for life with secret bank accounts when she grew older. Although, money wouldn't bring back her true family members, it was disgusting how he was substituting her parents.

Even so, he knew it was his responsibility to look out for her from now on. Live with him, Ajay had no such luxury as to raise her as a daughter. Would she want a father who was known as a demon, would she be seen as some sort of animal by her peers? Ajay didn't want her to even experience that. However, he did give one thing, which was her new name.

"….. When you looked upon me, you didn't shudder in fear like others would. I don't know why a child like you could ever be so cheerful in such a dire strait. But I promise you as long as I'm nearby, you will never experience hardship ever again. I'll call you Nanda, for the joyfulness you hold and shared with me."

The group looked thoughtfully upon baby Nanda as they flew to their destination unknown. Upon returning to Pada Mo City they were chanced upon by Pagan's Palace Guard who demanded they depart by Kamran's helicopter to meet Pagan. So they did just that.

"Do you mind telling us where we are?" Ajay asked as Kamran had failed to tell them on board.

"We've in the Papir Republic heading for Garud Durbar, the seat of power in the Republic."

"Garud Durbar…." Dema murmured.

"You know this place?"

"On a presidential delegation between President Vgru and then-Foreign Minister Dhir. That was a long time ago when I was still an officer cadet and acting military liason for several VIPs."

"…." Dema had a long and outstanding career in the Yinkian Military that Ajay could not take out of consideration. But like Arjun, his job earnesty prevented him from moving further up the ranks. So he remained at Colonel till his retirement, when he should have at least been a Chief of the armoured forces. Now, Dema stood a chance to become the Chief of armed forces if Yinke was still allowed to maintain its army.

It was possible with the looming threat of China, the Yinkian military would be allowed to keep its prized armour division. Using Ajay's contact with the Russian associate he could acquire ex-soviet armour and recondition them to zero condition and modernized before being distributed to the Yinke Armour. Armour was Yinkes pride and joy, now that they were friends this was an opportunity to earn their respect.

The helicopter hovered over a grand palace in the midst of the city and a fenced compound, supposedly the centre jewel of the city. A memoir of the Papir Monarchy whom lost to the revolution two hundred years ago and was declared a republic. Rumors were that it was instigated by the British East Indies Company for access through the Himalayas as an alternative through Kyrat. But that was ancient history, the Republic was now two hundred and thirty years of continued governance. Papir Republic enjoyed a prosperity that most of its other neighbours did not, Kyrat was in fact the worst of all. Yet there was an apparent twist of fate when Ajay reformed it and made it the in possession of the most powerful military force and the only one in possession of an Airforce to protect the skies in the region.

It was one of the bargaining chips that Pagan could make his stand with the lords of the three other states and their cabinet staff. The political power through military might, deterrence.

As they landed and when Kamran opened the door for them after turning off the engine, they were presented with two rows of Honour Guard awaiting them.

An officer in the same uniform came forward.

"Lord Badala?"

"Yes?"

"Greetings and on behalf of the Republic, welcome to the state of Papir. I'm Captain Agarwal of the Honour Guard Contingent in the Republican Army."

"Hello there."

"May I confirm that everyone of your companions that are here have been identified by your Royal Highness Min?"

"Sure, we're in no rush."

"Lieutenant-Colonel Saraswati Roka."

"Here."

"Colonel Raja, Lieutenant-Colonel Samuel Min-."

"Colonel Samuel Min." Ajay corrected on her behalf.

"Ah, forgive me for the outdated info. Colonel Samuel Min."

"Present."

"Major Fang Siu Wei, Captain Bipin Kadayat, 1st Lieutenant Sun Han Feng." The three of them raised their hands.

"Princess Maya-."

"What?!" Maya was most shocked and embarrassed.

"Pft!- Hahahahahaha!-…" Ajay lost control and laughed at her expense. "Princess?-Ahahahaahaha! Opf!" She kicked him in the shin hard.

"Major! Maya Kadayat!" She said with force.

"Um- yes! Of course, Ma'am!"

"Who was it that wrote Princess?" Bipin asked curiously.

"Forgive me but isn't the Major an immediate relative to your King?" That solved the whole problem, who would have thought that Pagan would include her as his step-daughter through Yuma's adoption.

"Better start practicing saying Daddy in front of Pagan.-." A cold icy glare materialized for her and was directed solely at him.

"Speak of it again in front of me and I'll have all of the hunters chase you to the ends of the earth-."

"Let's move on, shall we?" Ajay quickly changed the subject after his joke failed to please the crowd.

"Uh- Yes-… Flight Lieutenants Kumar and Arun here?"

"Yeah!"

"Present!" The two raised their hands excitedly.

"I have to say, you're the talk of everyone here, gentlemen."

"Ha! Hear that, badala? Instant fame!" The honour guards were confused with the relationship between the ace pilot and the Kyrati Lord such that they were on informal terms.

"Cool off, hotshot. Being captured by the Chinese has hyped your system." Ajay said composed as his partner said the same to restrain him.

"That's all I hav-." The Captain's list had ended but there was one last person he hadn't included.

"You've left out one person, althought he isn't representing Kyrat but Yinkes contribution to this operation." Ajay motioned to Dema.

"I see…"

"This is Colonel Dema, Commander of the Yinkian Republican Guard. Please include him in whatever iternary you have planned."

"Of course, sir. We'll ensure he has a seat next to you. Now if you'll follow me to the waiting room, the President and your King are currently in an engagement."

"Sure."

The officer led the way for them into the palace. Upon entry, it could be seen that indoors was just as extravagant as the outside which was lavished with water features. They walked through the grand hallways of Garud Durbar, the Garuda Palace. Hints of western culture were evident in the column designs and baroque-style architecture. You almost wouldn't believe this was still the Himalayas and not a European conference hall, like Chateau de Versailles. Indicating the extravagance of the late Papirese Monarchy centuries ago.

Their waiting area was a library lounge with a fireplace going to warm the inhabitants to the cold muggy weather in the state of Papir. To kill time, each of them shared a short story of themselves.

Most of them were the same boring cliché stories of career soldiers or obnoxious love at first sight stories with the exception of Bipin, Maya, Dema and Ajay especially. Nobody except Ajay's friends knew that only a year ago Ajay was a mechanic in Brooklyn trying to earn a living. Not what they expected of the Kyrati Duke, the left hand of the King. They had the feeling he was the illegitimate son of Pagan, but Ajay assured them it wasn't the case. In fact, it was a sharp contrast to their expectations. He chuckled to himself thinking of the disastrous conflict of thoughts they'd have upon disseminating he was the son of the Arch-Traitor Mohan. Precisely why he felt no reason to tell it till now, one of these days it would have to be revealed but probably when Mohan was no longer around to cause further anarchy.

"I grew up with dad hanging around me which was annoying."

"Maybe if you weren't such a screwup he would have to cover you for every mistake." Bipin said with a snort, Ajay was beginning to find Bipin to have matured too rapidly in thoughts. He was concerned that his friend would lose his qualities of compassion and earnesty. He wasn't alone in that line of thought.

"You!-."

"Am I wrong? What about that time you sexually assaulted Hamal's daughter?"

Han Feng was about to burst colours and attack him when Ajay stopped him with his next words to Bipin.

"Sometimes things are better left unsaid."

"You mean covered up so he can preserve face."

"So that bygones can be bygones and these petty little things called animosity can end!" Ajay roared to Bipin's disbelief.

Han Feng was most surprise that Ajay, whom was his family had enmity towards stood up for him at the expense of his friendship. It made him question the reason for the Cantons aggression against the Kyrati Lord.

"Bipin, remember this. All of you, remember this well. It's not how quickly we win, it's how we win that matters most. When we go to war, we've already lost. So what comes at the end is the lowest collateral."

"I'll take note." Bipin resided.

"Good, you've done me more than proud over the course of the week. We wouldn't have gotten in contact with Colonel Dema without you, remember that."

"Mm." Bipin nodded.

Ajay walked to a glass cabinet that was by the fireplace mantle piece and retrieved a dozen glasses, then took out a flask from his harness. The air surrounding them was filled with a familiar fragrance that only Maya and Ajay were familiar with.

He poured the liquid evenly into the cups and handed it to each person before taking up his own.

"We've been through a gruelling ordeal that no other has gone through, on that we can be proud. We did it for revenge, we did it for belief, some did it because it was simply what everyone else was doing, but even so they stuck with us the whole way and for that they deserve respect. This eight-day war with ourselves needs to be a reminder to all of us never to allow war to stalk upon our nations." Everyone looked thoughtfully to Ajay as they held their cups.

"To us who survived and those that have passed." Ajay toasted with a raised cup.

"Here here!" Dema answered with earnesty on their behalf as they took a swing of the warming Baijiu.

"Mmmm!" Dema was impressed with the aroma of flavours.

"Woo! What is this stuff?" Pravi was instantly taken too, Ajay looked to him and smiled.

"It's Kyrat's deepest trait secret."

* * *

As the Honour Guard Captain led them through to the ballroom and opened the doors for them, they became host to a resounding applause from the crowd gathered there in the ballroom. There at the end of the room at the high point were the four heads of state and a red carpet that led to them. Ajay and the other eleven were made to walk the gauntlet of renown towards their leaders to bask in the glory.

No doubt one of Pagan's ideas, knowing his love for extravagant things and showmanship.

Pravi was the most natural in attending to the crowds' desire for him to raise himself up to the praise and glory, however the rest were just awkward. This was clearly the first time they'd been through this sort of condition, Ajay simply couldn't get use to it even after his many appearances for his promotion to Duke and Lord of the Armed forces conferring of title ceremony.

As they reached the end of the red carpet directly in front of the heads of state who were one level higher thanks to an elevated step, Pagan stepped forward and the crowd quietened down.

"Today we stand in a new era for us all, the beginning chapter of our nations' rise to prominence. It has not been an easy path to take, but the men and women that sweat blood and tears to make it happen have made us proud. Before us are a dozen such men and women who represent the apex of that achievement. I give you the host to the Garuda Legion, the first response force of the Himavana Alliance. My son, Badala." The crowd cheered with joy and excitement because the man that became a legend during their time had appeared before them. The man that repelled the superpower with words alone.

"Come up and share a few words, my boy!" Pagan beckoned him as he passed him the mic.

Ajay sighed as he hadn't prepared anything. When he got up to the podium which Pagan spoke from and looked upon, what beholded itself was thousands of expectant faces, innocent of the truth that occurred in Yinke. Ajay remained silent as he looked around for a while, the crowd was very tolerant with him. Cameras and microphones were pointed at him, broadcasting the feed live to the homes and shops of the people throughout the four nations to hear the ceremony to congratulate the hero that deterred China.

"I'd like to address two things with you today. The first would be the support that all of you have given to the Armed forces, Yinkian, Papirese, Kumsan and Kyrati. The military is there to protect and will always strive to do that for its people. I would also like to acknowledge the struggle that the people of Yinke had to endure during those eight-days of occupation that ended in an armistice. Today I'd like to renounce the conditional terms applied upon the state of Yinke, if there was more I could do I would."

There was a lot of gasping from the Yinkian dignitaries including Tenzin and Dema. Pagan frowned, as it was a lot of money they'd implicated on their war debt.

"To the people of Kyrat, I apologize if you thought that the terms were a means of punishing Yinke for their previous injustice by the hands of their renegade commander Namdak. There are things I've seen in Yinke that have been happening over the last sixteen years that had led to its decline, and the ones responsible for that decline was us."

The crowd was silent to his speech that was being broadcasted to the radio and television around the region.

"Yinke had been rotted from the inside by an ideology known as Shining Way, and the prepetrators of this hostile societal doctrine was none other than Swara Lamsal and Dr Ved. The missing Golden Path Terrorist who hold the title of Deva, they now lie in Durgesh to serve the rest of their sentence. Yinke was to be centre of Golden Paths succession, our rebels and we've let them escape to cause trouble elsewhere. We had no right to seek revenge upon them from the beginning, but we did. There are no words to express the condolences and apologies for the havoc we've wrought upon Yinke, including the massacre of civilians at the border city."

To admit to a mistake they'd made took spirit, to admit to a crime that could be covered up took an admirable heart. Tenzin looked upon Ajay with confusion, he'd planned to confront him on the news he'd heard about Xue Lu behind the scenes, never would he have thought he would say it to everyone like he admitted to a crime. At first, Pagan was shocked but he figured Ajay had something planned up, if not he wouldn't reveal this info.

"So I won't apologize. I'll only act in the best interest of the region as a whole as I would for Kyrat, on this I swear. Which comes to my second agenda today, what we should hope to achieve as a union of states. For the Himavanas."

Everyone paid close attention, including the leaders. It was the moment that Ajay would speak his intentions as the Commandant of the Himavana Pillar Alliance collective armed forces. Perhaps a joint military spending, the bean counters and country leaders thought, given his role. But they did not expect what was to come next.

"There is a phrase in Latin that a foreign colleague of mine taught me and I will quote for today's agenda as an example." Ajay adjusted himself for a very long speech.

"Si vis pacem, para bellum." Some heard of it, some hadn't.

"Which roughly translates to, "If you want peace, prepare for war". And that is where I want to make my point. In order for peace, we must prep for war?" Ajay questioned to the crowd.

"Shouldn't peace be attained through soughting peace and war by seeking war? When did it ever become one for the other? When did peace become sought through violence? I point this out because I have the answer to this maxim, this duality of man. War only encourages war, not promote peace. I know that for a fact after waging war domestically and abroad. And it only continues because no one would be willing to submit to the other for eternity, and neither would I. To be forced to end the way of life you and your preceeding generations have lavished and enjoyed living in be deprived from you. It's an injustice that no one should have to face yet we face it every step of the way."

"And why does this happen? Because we cannot tolerate the other's way of life? Because we think we're better than them and should therefore enforce our beliefs upon them so they know what's good for them? But the truth is quite simple, all of our ways are the best for each and everyone of us. We're equal in humanity yet not equal in the fate we were born to, that is why we live in the way we do for countless generations. But what if we could? What if every man and woman could enjoy the same benefits as the other and the same woes to overcome whilst holding on to their own personal individuality. These are some of the things we must strive for as party united as one. What you do for the group should transition as good for you as does the good that the other does for the group become good for you and him."

"We've done this as members of our community, citizens to our states. So why can't we do this together as a union?" The crowd of thousands remained quiet to his words as they absorbed it with excitement in their eyes.

"If and only if we can achieve all of these, then others will look to us as a sign of true peace and prosperity. They would look to the Himavana Pillar states as a possibility of the political ideals of Monarchy, Democracy, Socialism and Communism all working with one another and for one another. But if we do achieve this social-political harmony, will we truly be rid of war? I don't know the outcome of our actions. What I'm more concerned about is what will the foreign agendas think and do against this idea. But if I'm to take up arms for the sake of protecting the four pillar states, I'd rather take up arms with you beside me. If the world turns against us for breaking the taboo of differences, I want no other than a Himavana Alliance man or woman to fight alongside with! We've already angered the sleeping dragon of Asia and the United States of America so far away from here, yet always closeby. They have created an unreconcilable enmity with Kyrat from its rogue actions of its intelligence agency, the CIA. This includes the orchestrated murder of the Devi Bloodline. They don't want another player in their chessboard as big as ours, but I only have one answer to their desire."

Ajay still continued as his open slander of the CIA, accusing them of murdering the Devi bloodline and causing havoc in Kyrat was overlooked with his thoughts on the bigger picture. The crowd followed him in his statements.

"Himavana Pillar Alliance will hold because it has four nations to hold as solid foundations, Alliance will survive even if there's only one state left. If you can't accept our rise, then too bad! We exist and you can do nothing about it but watch! Watch us rise to prominence!" He said with his voice loudening for effect.

The crowd broke into a massive collective cheer for joy and resounding applause to Ajay's speech. His idea was to set in stone with the citizens of the four nations what they hoped to achieve as a union of states, not subjugating one another, nor overlording eachother but working side by side as true-friends and brothers. This way, no state would have ulterior motives because the basis of the union was not dead set. But now Ajay had made it clear.

All for one and one for all, was the simpler way of saying it. Kyrat will do everything to make life better for everyone and everyone will do the same for Kyrat. It was entirely naïve but even so, that was how ideals were born, from naïve dreams. He hoped his speech would encourage the people and give them something to look to with pride in future when they looked back. Now it was up to them and only time would tell of their actions prove on the money.

Ajay already knew what was going to happen. There was no way to hide the actions of the Alliance had done. Such a huge military movement by China that had been deterred. All eyes were on the Himavana Pillar Alliance. Some wanted no such thing to exist and hoped that it would be crushed before it grew. Others saw it as a growing opportunity for striking deals while market was relatively new and unventured.

Ajay stood off the podium and the crowd was still cheering his name. But it gave the people who were watching back home a sense that their small and insignificant region would not remain silent any longer. The mountains roared that it wanted to be recognised by the world, but would the world let these mountains exist upon it? Only hope existed in its inhabitants' eyes and spirit.

He looked to Pagan who looked back thoughtfully and chuckled, Ajay had truly exceeded his expectations. He saw more of Ishwari's spirit overlap Ajay, the symbol of unity and a peaceful approach to things. But unlike Ishwari who was solely opposed to the violent means, Ajay knew when to get his hands dirty when no one wanted to. There was no other that could do the job like him. Merciless upon his foes, merciful upon his people.

A true Asura of the Himalayas.

* * *

The award ceremony took place a few moments later after the awe-inspiring speech Ajay gave to give clear direction of where the people should be headed in their quest to make their nations great together. The most important thing was that Ajay had shared their plans with the people after all it was all of them together that made the Himavanas Alliance work, not their representatives in the form of their leaders.

Pravindra and his co-pilot were awarded the Air Medal for their courage under fire and their outstanding triumph over unequal odds. At least he wasn't rude enough to tick Pagan off, that was Ajay's main concern. Be that as it may, Pagan still could execute people he didn't like.

Maya, Saras, Raja and Han Feng received the Distinguished Service Cross for their wartime efforts.

Dema had received a Kyrati Distinguished Service Order, an award higher than the previous one to recognise his contribution to the conflict on his part.

Sam watched the rest receive their medals and wondered what one she and Bipin would receive as it was clear that they'd been called here to be awarded. But instead of just Pagan awarding, Ajay stepped in to hand out the next one to each person personally. And in his hand, was a medal she didn't think she really deserved yet was in his hands as he approached. The Sigil of Valour, the highest Kyrati order medal given only during times of war. Pagan had pinned one on Bipin while Ajay did his on Samuelle's uniform. Ajay winked at her as he placed the pin on, indicating his hand in enabling her to get the recognition she wanted to be granted her freedom from the family.

At the end of the award ceremony as intended, refreshments were served and the corwd mingled with one another. The group spread out as groups of admirers gathered around them, particularly Pravindra and specifically women clamoured around him and his partner Arun. Although neither of them were opposed to the idea.

For Ajay's case, not many approached him out of respect and fear that they were inadequate in talking to him. A group of army chiefs from the Republic and Kumsan army took this opportunity to talk about how they were interested in re-arming their obsolete army equipment and hoped that he would assist them as he had radically modernized the Royal army into the Royal Kyrati Army. He pulled in Maya into the conversation claiming the secret was the woman next to him, and they clamoured around her for tips and details.

They all had a common agenda, which was modernizing their troop implementations to match the Kyrati Army's. It became apparent to Ajay the disparity of armaments in each of their arsenals. The worst of the four armies was Kumsa, having no wars or uprisings led to little need to improve their weapons and so their main troop armaments came in the form of bolt-actions, still effective in this era by virtue of its high-powered nature in long distance mountain engagements, but dated for the present. The Republican army was slightly better with British 1950's era weapons from when the British Empire withdrew from their country. L1A1 self-loading rifles and Bren Guns were their infantry bread and butter. Yinkes Army comprised of Comm-bloc weapons from the 1960s, lots of submachineguns as their main troop armament with limited AK-47s and other Soviet weapons that were used then in their inventory. Their only impressive hardware was the Ex-Soviet T-80s and accompanying troop carriers bought by the Chinese from Ukraine to reverse-engineer then given to Yinke to form an armoured unit. Lastly was Kyrat with the most impressive array of weapons, M-16 and AK derivatives with common calibre of 5.56mm NATO and 6.5mm Grendel for their paratrooper force. They also had optics and thermal scopes to significantly improve troop awareness of their surroundings in all weather all conditions. Body armour and custom pixel camoflauge designed by Chiffon for every trooper.

The respective armies saw these troop implementations and told their commanders they had got to get themselves some of those weapons and gear. Fortunately for them, Ajay assured them of Kyrats capacity to fulfil their rearmament needs, thanks to three brand-spanking new Arsenals producing weapons, ammo, crew served weapons and their respective munitions. He also had a factory to produce uniforms, combat harnesses and packs with respective camoflauges. Either way it was beneficial for both parties. The demand for military hardware encouraged more jobs in his industrial and defense industry sectors. They were delighted to hear that and were estatic when he proposed to have an Arsenal of their own built in their territory of chosing as a sign of good faith. It was also beneficial to the Alliance in the long run as it meant there was commonality in their logistic, thereby simplifying the ability to supply one another if all their weapon parts, munition, and other equipment were the same. Training had a bonus due to the same equipment and armaments learnt using.

The leaders of the nations were discussing a similar matter besides joint defense spending, such as commissioning the railway track to run through their countries as well. A big job considering how many mountains lay between each of them. It would require drilling equipment comparable to the one that did the English Channel train tunnel which could be a project that could potentially take decades. A subsititute alternative was building and upgrading their airfields to airports, paved and bitumen roads were the first step to linking their nations in infrastructure.

The economists were already discussing what the trade commodities would be bought and sold by each nation to another. Kyrat had its military hardware and rare earth metals, Yinke had coal and limestone, Kumsa was relatively humid, permitting many agricultural crops to be grown there including rice. Papir Republic was lush with forests that could potentially provide tons of timber for construction, it was also a place where many luxury items were produced for the consume market. Most of the Kyrati high society bought wares from long voyage travels by their caravans that made the road trip there.

Military leaders were also discussing security over the borders from armed robbers, wild animals and most recently shared in responsibility was the hunting of the terrorist organisation Golden Path. Troop cross-training was also another hot topic, all faces turned to Kyrat the most seasoned in warfare and had the infrastructure to train officers and specialised troops. Layak was around to arrange for selected infantry companies to be flown to Kyrat for training. Ajay had arranged for Dema's intern and a few other officers and specialists to accompany some of Kyrats officers and men in the Hussars to be trained in Israel by the best armoured force in the world.

"Busy?" A particular old man came to meet him accompanied by his daughter, Jagriti.

"I would hardly call it busy, just answering inquiries on where I can supply three armies with hardware. I know I should be happy for Kyrats economy but I don't know if my industry can handle the strain."

"Can I talk to you in private?" Ajay nodded and followed Tenzin off into a quieter place at a balcony of the palace.

When they'd reached, Tenzin was the first to speak.

"I know I said private, I swear I did." He looked suspiciously at the woman beside him and the child in his arms.

"No secrets can be kept from the wife, as for the child, she would barely comprehend anything we say." Saras smiled brightly at Ajay's words. Jagriti who was beside Tenzin blinked in surprise, he was married to Saraswati? She'd only gotten to know Saras briefly but they enjoyed each other's company, yet their union was never mentioned. Jagriti smiled sadly but accepted it.

"….." Tenzin couldn't really fault him on that, but what he really wanted was the convenience to shout at Ajay but with the baby around he was scared to frighten her. Had Ajay done this intentionally?

"You want to approach me on Xue Lu, no?"

"So you know the topic I wish to approach then."

"Father-." Jagriti tried to dissuade Tenzin from asking.

"No! I want to hear it from him directly!"

"What you want isn't an explanation, what you want is to hear me say I'm sorry. That is something I cannot give even if I know they didn't deserve it."

"What?!- You!-…You!-…."

"I don't have a moral compass as strict as you, Tenzin. So my standard most certainly don't align with yours. Killing off the entire population of Xue Lu was the last thing I wanted but in order for me to be here and you to reprimand me while you stayed in Papir while I did the deed. Some blood had to be shed."

"You-…. You are just incorrigible!"

"Better than being idle."

"Oaf!" He grabbed Ajay's combat harness without regard for the child who began to cry. He began to hesitate before throwing him back.

"You brought that child on purpose. Shameless bastard- you!"

"Shameless, maybe. But I didn't have anyone here I could trust to take care of Nanda, I've taken everything away from her. So its only natural I give her everything I can give her in return."

Tenzin was surprised, he thought the child was his but it was in fact one he took from the destruction of Xue Lu.

"Shameless scoundrel! Give me the child!"

He reached out to snatch the baby from his arms, but a hand latched around his wrist and locked it in place rigidly. Tenzin stared in shock as Ajay glared at him with a hostile flame in his eyes.

"Don't think I won't kill you over what's right and wrong in your eyes." He verbally threatened him to his utter disbelief, to bring him all the way here and make him arrange the treaty and throw away all that over a child. To distrupt their karma over the child's wellbeing. After calming his thoughts to think about this Tenzin found that his concern for the child was genuine and not out of arrogance or pity. Ajay would destroy everything in his way to get the best for the child Nanda.

When his hand showed visible sign of giving up on taking away the child Ajay released it back to him.

"(Sigh)… You're a troublesome lad, you are. Evil enough to manipulate human emotions….. but you don't always do it for selfish desires like Pagan. I've been quite a fool not to see that, this child is probably even more aware than I am. Deep down you do care for everyone." He said scratching his head awkwardly as he admitted it. Even after all he'd done and Yinke who actually deserved it, he manipulated the use of the clauses against Yinke to win the hearts of the people by showing his great magnanimity through relieving a huge debt and restriction of their arms. He also portrayed Yinke as not deserving the retribution they gave to relieve the Kyrati people's anger. This was why Pagan was more than happy to have let go of a few billion dollars when he stood to earn billions each year.

"I was wrong about you as well."

"Mmm?"

"It seems you're not as stubborn as Arjun."

"Pft!" Saras was the first to start a chain of giggling to laughter as he used her father, the stubborn Rhino as an example.

The four of them laughed heartily, more so with Tenzin who understood that not everything was about what was right and what was wrong with no leeway. Baby Nanda giggled cutely too because of the cheerful atmosphere. Everyone was imperfect, Ajay was too. That was why he wasn't capable of miracles that Tenzin imagined of him, it put his heart to rest…

That the demon was also human inside.

* * *

Author's Notes:

Time to indulge into the supernatural shit i bit more.

As for my decision on revamping, i will follow Rebel29's suggestion as it makes pretty perfect sense. finish then edit. The story started from that to begin with, it reminds me that most of you have been on this journey with me since the beginning. I will not name you folks but i know who you are, thanks for your support throughout these two years.

I strive to make FC4 gain the credit it deserves in the Farcry Fanfict page as a good story.


	97. Chapter 89 - The Deva becomes Kshatriyan

Author's Notes:

Concerning an anonymous review Quote: "How supernatural is this story going to get? Is this going to turn into shadow warrior or bioshock?"

I don't know shadow warrior, but i certainly know bioshock, both the rapture one and the columbia (Infinite) one. That game is more science fiction than supernatural. But if you were to categorize Ajay's time jump as supernatural and not science fiction then yes. As for how supernatural, you need only wait and see.

* * *

The quiet unknown valley rung with explosions mixed in with inhuman screams of the entity being chased by one man.

The entity, taking the form of a seductive woman to lure travellers to its quarters to consume had invited this quiet man into its house to spend the night. When the time was right, it pounced upon him only strike thin air. At first, it thought it was a mere luck that he'd dodged. But then the man unleashed an array of powerful talismans and seals.

It could only be one of them, a demon banisher. The acolytes to the master of the underworld and to the cycle of reincarnation. The brethren thought long vanished from the earth to seal away that demon under the mountains. Since then, evil spirits were not afraid to roam the lands to prey upon people although they stayed clear of the lost valley. But the condition was that people needed to acknowledge their existence, it wasn't hard when the inhabitants were believers in a heaven and earth, there was also the existence of demons, spirits and discarnate souls.

A few flying swords impaled into the creature's limbs as it floated away in a hurry to get away from the dreaded exorcist. It strained itself to fly up into the night sky where the swords could no longer reach it. And it almost escaped out of his grasps hand he not finished the incantation and shouted the word that put it out of its misery.

"Seal!"

" _Naaaaahhhhh!"_ The entity wailed.

Like gravity suddenly affecting its physics, the materialized evil spirit slammed into the ground.

The demon hunter walked towards the severely weakened possessed spirit.

(Ancient Archaic Tongue Rant)

The man chanted the mantra to stabilize his inner chakra before reciting the incantation as he pulled out a talisman to bind the evil spirit to his will.

"And neither should your kind." He answered the creature's denial of the demon banishers' existence.

Darshan threateningly raised his fingers towards the damaged entity, it could feel the powers of destruction churning into his fingers. But could not get free due to the sealing power of the talismans that had been snuck onto its body. It watched helplessly as Darshan ended its existence in a single word.

"Incinerate!"

The entity burst into flames at the command, screaming its last agonizing wails as its existence was being wiped out of the earth. The fire extinguished as if it wasn't there to begin with and what came out of it was a ruby stone. Darshan had synthesized its life force into a physical object that empowered his items and abilities. It was what gave his wooden swords the ability to slice through the beings from another realm and fight for prolonged periods against foes by absorbing the essence. Darshan looked towards the mountains where a strong presence failed to hide itself from his enhanced perception. He'd repeated these processes for over sixteen years of gathering and cleansing the mountains of the evil taint, sixteen years' worth of resources had been collected. And the question he asked himself all the time….

… Was it enough to fight a being like her on his own?

"Or do I need his help is this…..?"

* * *

Today, Ajay woke up to a different view from before. A foggy surrounding blanketed the roofs of the houses of the Capital of Papir, the City of Bhagawan ka Nivas. And beyond it was the misty mountain range filled with lush forests that populated eighty percent of the Papir Republics' territorial boundary. It was why the state of Papir never experienced hunger when the forest provided many foraging and hunting opportunities for even the simplest of civilians.

Ajay got to see all that from the VIP suite for foreign dignitaries and royalty that President Dhir offered to him. Again, with the baroque-style design found throughout its furnishings and interior deco, Papir seemed very well off compared to its neighbours. But even they had issues that their current resources couldn't manage such as facilities to train personnel like Kyrat had. With its vocation schools and advanced military training centres, Papir was on a demand for a competent workforce to continue to meet their growing needs. Literacy rate had a huge gap here as Ajay learnt for Agarwal who took him on a tour around the city.

"Mmmm…"

Along with the other occupant who shared a bed with him. He sat on her bedside, next to her as he ran his fingers through the hair on her head, the hand rested on her cheek. His eyes ran from her snowy white feet exposed to the elements thanks to the thinness of the blanket for the nights tossing and turning, up to her slender figure hidden beneath the sheets. A sight for sore eyes, if Pravindra ever saw her in this state his entire brain would overheat. If he knew the stage of relationship he was with Saras in, the poor man would probably cry himself to sleep.

Yet it wasn't as if he hadn't been informed by Ajay during the award ceremony that he would also be pursuing Saras. At first, he thought he was kidding until Ajay clarified to him of his change of heart towards Saras over the course of the war and perhaps even before she left for Maharashtra. Pravi laughed at him and told him good luck, in his eyes perhaps the thought of Ajay with Saras was too humourous to describe. Ajay didn't know whether to laugh or be frustrated with that denseness of his, his co-pilot Arun shook his head.

Pravi left them to talk about his exploits to the young women that got to meet the ace pilot protecting the skies of the Himalayas and pressed him to talk about his life in the Air Force. It was a bit contrasting when he said he was only interested in Saras or he didn't see other women as an object of affection any longer and more like a friend or acquaintance.

"(Sigh)…. Don't come crying to me later on." Ajay sighed as he left yesterday, his co-pilot encouraged Ajay to pursue Saras surprisingly. His reasoning was that there were plenty of fish in the sea for Pravindra, but Ajay might only have her. Ajay laughed at Arun's remark, it was both complementing his partner's ability to sweep women off their feet and also sort of pitying Ajay. So Ajay was not at all bothered about Pravindra's likely reaction later, he won't believe he was Ajay Ghale either if he ever told him.

"Rise 'n shine, beautiful." Her eyes popped open slowly with a smile planted on her in an instant.

"Good morning." She got up to kiss him. Ajay responded with a passionate french kiss which made her chuckle with glee.

"Easy there, tiger! Or you'll get me in the mood again." She said as she weakly held him back.

"And what if I do, what if I make you want it but force you to wait the whole day." He said with a mischievous grin. Saras tapped his head.

"Pervert."

Ajay walked over to get dressed in the traditional Papirese clothing that the resort staff provided to their guests. It consisted very heavy clothing to guard against the dampness in the air. It was apparently a popular vacation spot for the Kyrati high society as well since the City was laden with merchandise they'd gone out of their way to acquire. Chiffon had sent his intern, Chang-san to gather all the fashion accessories for his works here in Bhagawan ka Nivas. Saras had been here once with her mother before her request to join the army.

A set of clothing for Saras was also available, he tossed it to her to get dressed. They weren't staying in Bhagawan ka Nivas for another day. There was the state of affairs that were waiting for him back in Kyrat, including a prison visit. Kamran had promised to pick them up in the morning as he ferried the rest including Pagan back home with a few other dignitaries so there was no space for Ajay and Saras. As unique as the Pagancopter was, it had limits to carrying capacity as well. But carry twenty-two passengers back to Kyrat it did. Pagan didn't question him as he kind of got the idea and smiled as he left.

Ajay was busy sorting through his effects into a duffel bag. The last item to enter the bag was his newest purchase, something he had done at a specific craftsman's store. The result of the craftsman's work was kept inside a small box to keep the precious work of art safe. It had cost him a considerable amount even for his standards but as Chiffon recommended him to the craftsman, it would be worth every rupee. That being said about money, there was to be a conference to discuss the exchange rates of the respective currencies of the four pillar nations. Each adorned with the face of their sovereign or founder. There were rumors going around that there was to be a universal currency to be distributed to them, similar to the euro. Hopefully, the sovereigns weren't going to fight over who's face would be on the mint and notes or who was on the thousand dollar note and the one dollar notes.

It caused a spike in cash spending throughout the four nations, it was good and bad onto itself. It allowed an increase flow in cash spending and flow, but it also saturated the markets and inflated the prices of some items and daily necessities in some places which wasn't particularly good for the lower-income families.

"Ready?" Saras nodded.

They met up with Kamran waiting for them patiently but upon seeing them gave a dastardly smile at them, indicating that he knew it was more than coincidence they were left behind. If that were the case, then why did they let baby Nanda go ahead of them. She was currently with Maya whom she wasn't uncomfortable with either. The helicopter quickly left the City of Bhagawan ka Nivas in its wake as it flew for home, a hundred and fifty kilometres North. It took less time then was expected but not too troublesome considering that Papir Republic or Kumsa wasn't exactly far from Kyrat, only Yinke was at least a few hundred kilometres from both.

As they flew over the borders of Kyrat, Kamran keyed in the air traffic codes to his special envoy mission to the strategy air defense network. A series of protocols had to be followed now when entering Kyrat by air or risk being shot down by a QRF flight of Su-30 interceptors or by the long-range surface-to-air missiles slaved to the radar that could detect anything in a four-hundred-kilometre radius from the Command centre. But their destination wasn't to the Royal Fortress Command, nor back to their homestead in Lakshman. They landed at the border of Kyrat and Pakistan below Pacchim Valley.

There standing on the other side were the people who had called a meeting between each other. Accompanying said person beside his heavy-lifter transport helicopter were pixel uniform cladded special forces soldiers, at least two dozen surrounding him. All armed to the teeth with machine guns, hand-portable artillery and a variety of small-arms not publically seen by Western analysts. Ajay almost felt they were overdoing it, but it showed the concern Dmitri's higher-ups had for his safety. It was more likely he held intel and had seen too many classified documents that they couldn't afford to lose him here.

When the helicopter landed, Ajay stepped out with Saras staying back. The Kyrati Border soldiers were looking nervous at the large intimidating specops soldiers glazing in their direction. It made them unconsciously put their fingers in the triggers. Seeing Ajay arrive gave them a sigh of relief.

"Won't be long." He assured Saras as he made his way to the fences.

Ajay crossed the border line to the undefined borders that faced Pakistan. A specops soldier, likely the team leader stood in his way.

(Russian speaking) The associate told the specops leader to leave him be. The huge bear of a man stepped back though reluctant it went against his routine and procedure.

"Dmitri."

"You've certainly been busy, Badala. But to think you would do something so-….. how do you say…."

"Reckless?" Ajay provided an adjective.

"Foolhardy, but considered brave only because it worked out in the end. Moscow can't take their eyes off you now, the President is most concern."

"….."

"You didn't just stir the hornets nest, my friend. You broke it. And now all the angry little insects look to eat you out from the inside for breaking their little walls of comfort."

"Thanks for disrupting the Chinese Satellites." The one major reason the Chinese weren't prepared to fight in Yinke was because GPS and satellite imagery modules had been disrupted by an unknown jamming frequency that denied them the use of their own satellites through radio transmission. Going in blind without onsite assets which Gary's spies had dispatched and electronic intel being denied, going up against four armies was something the PLA were unwilling to do since it would be the first time the PLA mobilized since the Korean War. The Theater Commander wisely pulled back his forces after justification for withdrawing was suitable for them that it wouldn't affect their standing reputation.

"Your welcome. Although Beijing will have likely noted our intervention in this matter."

"You win some, you lose some."

"Quite. But question is, what did Moscow stand to gain from this?"

"You get to supply equipment not just to the humble Kyrat now but an entire coalition force, almost four hundred thousand soldiers combined. And knowing who our likely opponents are, I think you get the idea of the quantity and range we're asking. Full monopoly on Aviation hardware and more recently Armoured units in Division strength." At present, the Yinkian Armoured Division was the most powerful land force of the combine armies.

Dmitri nodded his head in acceptance of the situation changed for the better. Meaning he approved of the changes in supplying hardware to Kyrat and its allies now. But it also meant that the quotas of aluminium they wanted would increase.

"I have a letter from the Kremlin addressed to you." But as he took it out, he planned to read it out instead of hand it to Ajay. As Ajay stepped forward the specops giant stood in his way again.

"Dmitri, tell me. Which part of the human skeleton must not be broken if you still want to remain in the active service units of the GRU?" The specops soldier failed to hide his astonishment behind the ski mask to Ajay's open threat that he would break a bone of his, but was furious at what Ajay had said. He clearly hadn't heard enough about Ajay and even if he did, he would probably think he could take him on.

Dmitri had to shout to order the man to step back.

"I am sorry about soldiers conduct." He said as he passed the letter forward to Ajay.

"That's alright, we were just making a point that's all."

On the seal was the imprint of the Russian star, sickle and hammer with the background of a globe. Ajay briskly read through letter. He had to give it to the formal writing style of the Russians, there were more formalities and pleasantries in the letter than the actual point. As if to create loop holes for them to exploit if their deal with Kyrat turned sour then they could leave at the first sign of trouble. But he got the point.

They wanted to take the "wait and see" approach to the development of the Himavana Alliance, India supporting Kyrat wasn't enough for them to commit. But it made perfect sense, two UN security council members already had beef with Kyrat in general. One was official while the other wasn't in the black and white. Being seen supplying them was considered Russia siding with Kyrat and put them in a strained relation with West and China should other worldly events happen they would intentionally put Russia in a disadvantageous position.

Yet they couldn't afford to let the supply of aluminium fall less their economy and raw material supply to manufacture new military hardware come to a halt, then they would be in a worst situation than before. Their meeting had another purpose, they wanted to remind Ajay through Dmitri that these dealings were out of both of them in a consensus agreement and not because one depends on the other.

After reading the letter, Ajay took out a lighter and burnt it. The associate and Ajay watched carefully that every scrap was destroyed. Russias involvement in the Himalayas was to remain anonymous and unrelated until such time that the Himavana Alliance had gained the worlds' recognition.

For the first time, Dmitri smiled thoughtfully. It was almost a shame that he didn't smile more be it because of culture or his line of work.

"I'll see you on the flipside then."

"I will bring family recipe Vodka for us to celebrate with then."

"Mmm. I happen to have something of that category as well."

"Until next time, friend."

And just like that, Ajay had finished his business with the associate. He'd given Moscow his answer and clarities to their relation. That was all that they wanted to hear, now it was Ajay's job to make their plans reality.

"Rumors have been circulating you know of man named Jackal." Dmitri asked before he left.

"Who's that?" He blatantly denied knowing Dmitri knew he knew. Ajay left him to return back to the helicopter with Kamran and Saras. He had just one more thing to do before visiting that certain someone at the new Vyatha prison. Which was to introduce baby Nanda to her new home and family. Although he knew they wouldn't refuse, he wondered if this child could heal them of the loss after his indifference had cost him the life of their daughter, Kamala.

Dmitri laughed, thoroughly entertained as he boarded the large transport helicopter with his accompanying armed escorts. He thoroughly enjoyed their meetings, and it made him feel a shift in the current stagnancy of the world.

Whatever was about to happen, the epicentre of that earthshaker would be in Kyrat.

* * *

Vyatha Prison, what was once known as the City of Pain before its occupants the renegades had abandoned it with the apparent news of the Lanka night assault failure and the unleashed firepower brought out by the hidden Air Force. All it took was a fuel-air bomb or laser-guided 1000lb bomb to their living quarters to end their miserable existence. After the captured citizens had been imprisoned had been freed and been taken into protection and government sponsorship to repair some of the irrepairable damage that was done to them. It had undergone a heavy overhaul to its structures and compound to that resembling a prison city to give the inner inhabitants some bit of autonomy. Those that had been spared the rope became the new occupants of the Military Prison, Golden Path, renegade or deserters. This Included the former-Deva Vasu Sen. Before his abandonment for a mere trinket Badala gave to that little whore Vel.

But whatever it was, that item was precious enough for her to give it her full attention. And why did Badala exchange it for him? He knew the answer to that, even if he refused to acknowledge it over and over. Vasu felt a disgusting feeling he owed Badala for breaking that curse upon his life, yet completely humiliated it was him of all people.

(Tap) (Tap) A baton was banged against his cell bars belonging to the prison attendant.

"Oi! Former Deva, you've got yourself a few visitors. Stand against the wall." The prison guard ordered him to face the wall for him to be searched before leaving.

After the guard had done what needed to be done and cuffed his hands in front, he was led through the unfamiliar walkway to a room with a reinforced door in case a prisoner got the wise idea of taking a hostage and breaking out. He was surrounded by five guards everytime he left the cell for both his own protection and the other prisoners' safety in case they brawled with him.

They entered that room with him and to his surprise it turned out to be a conjugal room with a row of seats with a bulletproof glass to divide the inmate from the visitor. On the other side on one seat was a face he hadn't seen since he left the household. The old man had aged considerably since he last saw him, but then so had he. Upon noticing Vasu's arrival, old man Bibek smiled with evident joy in his face. He finally had a chance to see his student, charge, son safe and sound. The guard tugged him to sit so they could lock him to the seat. Then, they left for their privacy sake.

Bibek had already pick up and placed to his ear the two-way telephone.

*Hello son….* Vasu picked up his telephone and spoke to his mentor for the first time in twenty years.

"…. Hello, old man." Bibek looked as if he wanted to cry upon hearing his voice.

*After all that has happened over the years, and most recently….. know that I will always be on your side.*

"Be on my side? Be on my side?!..." Vasu's temper flared as he recalled how Darshan had trumped them sixteen years prior and recently Badala had also exhibited strokes of Four Seasons Pandemonium added to his already warped nature with the demon god Yalung. He dreaded how far he'd gotten in the forms, had he surpassed the bottleneck of the first stage that so many before him failed to comprehend?

"Then why was I facing down your students?"

Bibek didn't answer, he knew that whatever he said next would cause his anger to rise up again, making it almost impossible to talk to him again. Vasu had always been a quick-tempered child for things he didn't feel were right.

*The house of Khati will not shy away from requests for help, the Khati household will do everything in its power so that all who come to them seeking shelter, aid or a way to defend themselves will be given all they need before being on their way.* With this, Vasu could not fault him as it reminded him of how a middle-aged man welcomed a homeless child of Sen into his household. The child of his rival House that had opposed them for as long as the Devi bloodline still existed.

*Darshan, a tragic soul looking for a way to confront his past and enemies. Badala, the demon of Lanka, the boy who didn't want to be king yet wanted everyone to live in peace and harmony under his protection. And the Heir of Sen, the lost child looking to restore his identity in this cruel world.*

"….."

*But if there was one thing all of you had in common, it was your courage and strong will, striving to achieve your goal with all you had. But where the three of you differ is in your regard for those around you.*

*Darshan cared not for anyone save the fragments of his former life, all he had was a heart of hatred and that was why he was never able to comprehend his failings. You were too earnest at what you do but you ignore the people around you thinking they had only themselves to blame for their actions, only looking at one side of the coin. Your lack of exposure caused you to be suspicious of other's intent and never seeing others for who they want to be but instead who you think they are.*

"And Badala? How is he different from the both of us."

*At first, he was not so different from Darshan. He held a great animosity for someone in the Golden Path and the cause in general. But as suffering mounds a person's character, so did his. When I look at his eyes, first I saw a lifelessness, now I see belief in them. Believing that he could make Kyrat a better place, believing he could be more. I'm glad he didn't get trapped in the same chasm of despair and revenge that curses Darshan's every living day.* Bibek's smile widen as if he reminisced some nostalgic thoughts.

*Almost a stone throw away from my life before my beloved Aasha came into my life.*

"You?" Vasu couldn't believe what Bibek was saying, he was like Badala? That persona was never seen by a young Vasu, only the loving father and mentor he always remembered.

*The tales of my valour and chivalry far obscure all of the true bloodshed that I've caused in my campaign to restore order to the Kyrati Kingdom. It is why Utkarsh which was once a City home to the nationalist movement is now a mere Town. The Hunic people who used to be a minority of a hundred thousand, now they are barely ten thousand.*

*You must be wondering, how did things turn out written differently in history I suspect. Because all that matter is what happens at the end of the day, child.*

Vasu did not make his confusion hard to conceal.

*Because in seeming despair, we will always look for hope in a cesspit of a situation. When the Huns marched for revenge against the sovereign Shukoh Devi, people looked for a savior to protect them from the vengeful hordes of mountain savages. People looking for hope will never look to despair.*

Vasu thought for a moment, it sounded rather familiar.

It sounded like what had been happening in Golden Path when Mohan came to the scenes. When running from the demon's presence they sought hope, and Mohan conveniently arrived at the right time. In regardsto that, Badala was his exact opposite. He challenged their methods but never declared himself the righteous nor justice-bearing. He warned them with an oppressive might and almost never involved civilians until they took up arms against him. Unusual behaviour for one herald as demon, even though it was a title given by Golden Path he took to the persona on his own accord.

In truth, Golden Path since Mohan appeared had changed dramatically. At first, he assumed it was a necessary measure to take in the presence of a danger as great as Badala. But in truth, the Royal Army had never made a move before they mounted an attack. Which was strange for an army bent on hunting Golden Path.

Vasu, who never thought too deeply about these things thought about them now and forever more seriously.

Bibek was patient in his waiting as he'd always been.

"Why am I here?" He had found it weird he was in this military prison instead of the Gulag or worse, Durgesh.

*… I asked Badala to bring you home.* Bibek didn't need to explain or elaborate on why and how.

*I want you to have a second chance at living if anything. Living a life for a cause where death is certain is no life at all. Merely living the role of a tool to another. I want what all father's want for their sons, I want him to be happy.*

It had been the first time in sixteen- ney, twenty-six year that anyone had wanted something for him, he had completely forgotten the feeling. Vasu felt his eyes welling up and quickly hid it from sight by turning away.

"I'm sorry….. but I can't…. It's already too late for me." Vasau had recalled the horrible things he'd just ignored and had even taken part in. He remembered the soldiers who valiantly stood in his way at Lanka. Kul and that Commandant who refused to comply.

-I deserve my just desserts for all I've done. I should start paying for it slowly now.-

"Is it?" Came a voice by the door where he entered from. Vasu turned his head to find the one person he knew would visit but not under these circumstances.

"Badala…. What are you doing here?!"

"I'm here to pass judgement upon you, your rights are in my hands." Ajay held up a paper with the stamp of the Supreme court chief justice crest on it. Vasu got up unconsciously as he approached but was held down by the cuffs and shackles.

"Did you come to mock and humiliate me further?!" He eyed him was a glare.

"So prideful…" Ajay rolled his eyes as he walked closer.

"What?"

"Bibek Khati can stay to be witness, will that be alright, sir?" Ajay turned to Bibek who nodded.

*I wasn't able to intervene in his imprisonment the last time. I want to be there for him now.*

"Former-Major Sen of Royal Guard. The jury has decided upon your sentence to remain as life imprisonment without parole."

Vasu huffed a sigh, it was considered light for what he'd done and who he was.

"However, with an appeal from Former General Bibek Khati, the board committee has decided to review your sentence based upon his service to the country. And with my vouch, we've been able to come to an agreement. You have two choices, Vasu Sen." Vasu looked at Ajay with a complex expression, what could they possible want from him at this stage?

"Option one, the reactivation of your military status in the Royal Kyrati Army. You will be put on the first plane to the active unit locations and your end of service date is indefinite. Only in death does your duty end. However, you will be given all priveleges of an officer of your rank, this includes salary, leave, and housing benefits as well as your citizen rights as a Kyrati. Option two,… you already know what it is."

"Hmph…. So fight alongside you or remain in prison for the rest of my life, huh?"

"I personally would prefer to cut off your head the instant I saw you, just like I did with the the rest of your brothers. But what do I stand to gain from chopping it off, only a grieving father and mother. And the outstanding problem of Golden Path getting weirder still remains, which is becoming a hassle even for me. Between you and me, we're the only ones that know of what the Golden Path has truly become. You know the danger it poses to the Kyrati populace and now not just Kyrat but every member of the Himavana Alliance. You know they aren't very forgiving to civilians who turn away from their requests, I just hope you haven't forgotten your original vow as a Royal Guard to defend the country from aggression."

"And you agree with this?" Vasu looked to Bibek for advise.

*If it is a way my boy may be set on the path to finding redemption, then yes. You should not be denied the chance to let the warrior's blood in your veins be wasted in idle.*

Vasu turned back to Ajay who was three feet from him.

"I most certainly hate you, if you every give me the chance I will strangle you to death."

"You've already lost that chance when you failed in Lanka. Not even I can kill me now, if you know what I mean." Ajay gave hints of the demon's influence preventing his demise.

"…." Vasu knew that better than anyone how difficult it was to kill him. Only Vel seem to have been able to trump him once. Looking back at the events, he did owe Vel for her betrayal even if she was enacting the mistress's will on her behalf. She still caused him to be severed from Golden Path, what did Mohan think of this, he didn't know.

"So you want me to swear allegiance?"

"What's the point if you don't even mean it." He thought he had to kiss that blade with Pagan's markings but shockingly enough Badala wasn't making him do so.

"So then what does that make me?"

"A warrior." Vasu was baffled, what difference did that make?

"Soldiers follow orders to the death, but warriors follow their hearts." As if reading his thoughts, Ajay gave him the answer.

"I'm not going to say you won't face men and women you once called brother and sister."

"I know."

"What do you want to do then, Vasu Sen?"

Vasu pondered deeply, with a troubled look on his face. In normal circumstances, he would have asked Ajay to drop dead. But after the talk with Bibek he felt as if he owed the old man for keeping him alive to this date even when he wasn't grateful for that all this while.

-If there was one reason I fight, it would be for you, mentor.- He reminisced a younger Vasu declaring boldly to Bibek during his youth. Now what was he? A criminal, an enemy of the state, a terrorist in the eyes of the common folk. But worst of all, he too believed he was.

He had seen unsatisfactory things within this new order of Golden Path. The renegades kidnapped the citizens, the Golden Path looted the houses and slit the throats of surrendering soldiers, the slaughter in Lanka. Yet, during this entire time Mohan had never intervened in their actions nor spoken against them like he used to. If it were the old Mohan he would have protested against these acts of aggression against common folk. But this was no longer that Mohan, Vasu had always assumed it was because of that betrayal by Ishwari that set him on this path. To destroy everything that Ishwari created and Pagan cherished.

He was dissatisfied with the way Golden Path was no longer the Golden Path he wished to tread. Yet, in his heart, he wished that the souls of those still inside were salvageable like he was. Would Badala be so generous? Perhaps this was his chance to save as many like himself who doubted the Golden Path but were too afraid to leave.

"What would my priorities be then?"

"I have three rules for you. One, won't do anything beyond what I say. I will kill you on the spot, so don't make me. Number two, serve the public and protect the innocent, even if it leads to your death. Even if I'm not around, you will abide by that rule as a citizen of Kyrat."

"What's the last one?'

"Don't die." Vasu's eyes widen when Ajay of all people told him this, even after he'd threatened occasionally he would kill him. Why did he give such contradictory statements for him to follow?

"This life doesn't belong to you any longer. When you signed up with your mistress, you sold your soul to her. When Vel transacted you, I owned it. Don't waste the life that cost me a boon."

*Son, whatever you do. Know that I and Aasha will always have your back.* Bibek said on the other side of the glass.

To have his mentor's encouragement at a time like this, it was thirty years late but even so, he wanted it.

"What was it that you exchanged for me?"

"You don't wanna know."

"It was worth my soul, tell me and you'll have yourself a deal."

"This isn't a deal to begin with, this is an ultimatum for you, choice a or b. That's for you to chose."

"Even still, I'd like to hear it. Consider this putting your trust in me. We will be working with each other in future so I'd like a bit of trust in this decision."

Ajay sighed and walked over to the P.A and switched off Bibek's telephone. Then told Vasu, Bibek tried to lip read out of curiosity. Vasu's eyes widen with shock. All Bibek could decipher was something- flute- …. Hunter's call. Before he knew it, Ajay turned back on the two-way telephone to hear them.

"You have my assistance in this fight." Vasu said with renewed vigour, Bibek could see it in his eyes. The same glitter as in his youth, despite his age.

Ajay nodded and walked to the door and tapped it. "Guards, free this man. I'll be taking him back with me."

The Guards disappeared for a moment before returning with the keys to unlock Vasu's shackles and cuffs.

Vasu was being released to his own surprise of the turn in events, his father was laughing heartily. Not because he was free, but because he knew what Vasu would do in time to come would make him proud.

They left the room and out of the prison where Aasha had previously waited for her husband to come out. Only to find both him and her adopted child had been released thanks to Ajay. She cried as she embraced him like a son returned from the war, at the point Vasu's heart truly melted. He still had misgivings about joining the Royal Army and fighting his former allies. But as it stood now, they were doing things that went against his conscience to allow any longer. Even when the brigade that fought in Xue Lu had fully changed, he had no power to protest as he'd already undergone a binding to the mistress. A thought would erase him from existence.

A vehicle convoy came to pick them up. Bibek and his wife rode separately from Vasu and Ajay in the other SUV.

"I would like to swear allegiance." Vasu suddenly said on the way somewhere.

"To whom?" Ajay asked casually as he looked at the scenery of the developing town of Hubris they passed along the way. The Tiger militias were out and about in the construction of many houses and buildings. Ajay had thought about where Amita was in all of this, probably busy directing the Tigers around like she usually did.

"I didn't thank you for releasing me from that binding."

"So you did sell your soul." Ajay said with a grin.

"…. I…. wasn't in the right state of mind at the time."

"And neither was I when I killed your brothers- don't bullshit with me, Vasu. If you did it just say you did it. Not admitting it is equally shameful. When I killed, Bhishma and Sanjeev, I felt nothing, because they had little consequence to my intent." He said sarcastically followed with seriousness at the end.

They remained quiet for a while before Ajay spoke again.

"I've already mentioned, I own you."

"Still….. I wish to make in voluntary."

Ajay looked in his direction and looked at his eyes to see the truth of his intentions.

"Are you sure, you want this for yourself? Words aren't easily taken back."

"I know."

"Do you?" But Vasu's eyes remained firm.

"I wonder, how far you're willing to go to since you've already conveniently sold your soul once."

Ajay took out the Royal kukri that Pagan had given to him for safe keep, but also as an indicator of who would have the throne. After all, the blade was the royal seal of the King's authority.

He cut his finger and allowed the blood to drip into a cup that he'd previously filled with with Baijiu. As ritualistic as it seemed, this was the best example of an allegiance of oath Vasu asked for, instead of saying it. Ajay handed to him the cup and didn't need to tell him what to do.

Vasu didn't even hesitate when he received it and drank it down. A warm fuzzy feeling brewed in his stomach due to the drink and his conscience being relieved.

"Actions speak louder than words, always. Today you've taken an oath of allegiance with me through your own voalition. If you ever harbour thoughts of ill intent to me, be sure than you strike yourself first before you think of doing that to me. From today onwards, Deva Vasu Sen no longer exists." Ajay placed a seal in Vasu's hands, a bronze badge engraved with the Royal Throne's coat of arms. Ajay had one of his own, and so did Saraswati.

"… Only the 4th Kshatriyan Lord, Vasu Khati."

* * *

Much had changed in the layout of the Arsenal the last time he was here. Elina had done some micro-management changes over her own to improve the working layout and efficiency of the staff employees. But Vasu was more impressed with the fact that such an operation even existed in Kyrat, and to think there were three more like this one scattered around the nation.

Lot of eyes landed on Vasu in particular, many seem to think he resembled a certain someone in the wanted posters around the place. But none really knew who he was, only that he was an associate to their lord.

"A fancy seeing your grace here. Didn't know you still had time for us." A certain executive of his Arsenal operation said to him from the catwalks.

"Elina, nice to see things are going well for you. I'm just getting our newest member geared up."

"Mmmm. It's good to see you as well, Badala. Mm?" Elina noticed the person next to Ajay and took a while before she realised who it was.

"You." But Elina didn't seem pleased at who she saw beside Ajay as her previously good mood became a frown of disappointment on her face.

"Elina….." She walked up to him and-… (Slap) Gave him a rather hard smack to his face that everyone stopped working to see what made that loud sound.

"Right, back to work everyone. There'll be a box of Shangri-lagers before you head home today."

The workers cheered and laughed as Ajay generously gave them a treat to look forward to at the end of the day.

It didn't really click with him at first, but Elina was Bibek's blood daughter and Vasu was his adopted son. There was no way that neither of them hadn't seen each other in their childhood or mingled. Somehow it felt as if it was something more to Ajay as he watched Elina fiercely stare at Vasu.

"If you'll excuse me, I have reports to file-."

"Elina."

"No! Shut up! I don't want to hear your excuses!" She ran off covering her ears. Now Ajay felt there really was something going on between them before. Perhaps a secret lovers?

"(Sigh)." Vasu looked thoroughly fatigued even though he hadn't been through much movement at all.

"Let's go, I'll talk to her later. But first, we need to get you equipped and armed."

"Couldn't you just issue me what you do with the soldiers?"

"You're a Kshatriyan Lord of Kyrat. An Apex in military prowess, and a heavy investment by the Kyrati Army. If I don't equip you as such then I'm just wasting resources."

"Do you trust me that much?"

"What? Are you saying that blood oath meant nothing in the end? My poor finger." Ajay chuckled at his own poor sarcastic humour.

"…." Vasu kept silent as it was useless to contradict Ajay.

They entered a private armoury in one of the many maze like corridors. In it were three individuals.

Samar, the Royal Armourer. Chiffon and Chang-san as Ajay introduced them.

They were just as astounished to see him there and hear of what had taken place. Samar scratched his head as thinking about it was complex. Chiffon just chuckled away, it was the least expected thing to happen. Could the Golden Path fighters imagine it in a lesser fashion? Probably not.

It would be the most demoralizing thing to see. "A Deva has defected!" Word passes around quickly in the Golden Path. To hear that one of the strongest Generals had turned on them was a gruelling sign that Golden Path was hitting rock bottom once more but with certainty that it was finished. Probably why Ajay had decided to give amnesty to him in the first place.

Chiffon unhesitantly went about measuring Vasu on the stand. He was thouroughly delighted, because with Vasu, it extended his collection of combat couture to different physical proportions, after all not everyone was Ajay's lean fit size. Vasu had considerable mass that he could be in heavyweight. Chang-san was up and above taking down the measurements and mulit-tasking with bringing over the pins and fabrics for Chiffon.

"You need something to kill what?" After Ajay gave Samar a list of requirements, the later had trouble imagining. While Vasu was being fitted, Ajay discussed on his ability to kill Golden Path with more conventional small-arms than his unconventional slayer and high-powered bow. Only, he didn't say it was Golden Path as the primary victim.

"It's better if you didn't know."

"Fine. You just want something damaging to living tissue and rated against 12.7mm or .50 cal. Madarchod, what are you fighting against?" Samar left him to find something in the armory which was once Longinus's stake out

Samar returned with a case and opened it to reveal boxes of ammo inside.

"7.62x51mm Sabot-light armor piercing with incendiary compound. What we in the workshop also call Armor-Piercing High-explosive or APEX rounds for short." Ajay picked up a casing and studied it, it looked rather familiar.

"You reverse-engineered the CNS operatives' sabot ammo." Samar nodded with satisfaction. That rifle firing 4.1mm sabot rounds Ajay brought back with the camo cloak invisible or rather null to thermal readings. Speaking of which, he still had no intel on where they buggered off to, but they had most likely accompanied the Golden Path to the mountains between Yinke and Kyrat.

"Made a few modifications to increase lethality, but they're hard to make I'll tell you in advance."

"What's the ballistics like?" Samar beckoned him to follow with the case to the range. He brought with him a customized HK417 rifle from Pagan's collection of firearms. After loading a few rounds and setting a frozen pig-carcass target, he fired away single-shots at the target with an armour plate rated to stop heavy machine gun rounds.

The round pierced the plate sending sparks flying out from the entry, but that wasn't the end of all it did. When the bullet entered the target, pieces of frozen meat were scattered around the place.

"How's that for ballistics?"

Ajay received the rifle and examined the load again.

"Effective range out of these are four hundred I'm afraid. The stabilization of the projectile by fins instead of spin limits its max range. Your bullet drop will dwindle pass three-fifty. In exchange, anything within that effective range will get minced even if he's behind a steel plate."

"That's fine, my engagements aren't that far anyway."

"You haven't answered my question yet. What are you going up against that could possible require this kind of damage to put down, a Rhino?"

"Golden Path's been distributing a combat stimulant, old recipe that nullifies pain to the extent that they could move with holes in their body. Employed as a last ditch at dire times, they'll die the next day." Was Ajay's justification, but of course the truth was far from that. What he wanted was something to kill the "warped ones" besides the power of his slayer double-barrel. They were effective but costly and limited in supply.

Ajay examined the flesh on the frozen carcass. What he found were burning fragments scattered throughout the wound cavity.

"Yeah, not something that really aligns with Hagues or Geneva. So I stopped."

"I have a building order for you."

"Ok?"

"Fifty thousand rounds, send it to the Garuda Legion in Yinke."

"Are you serious? I already said, they were overpowered-."

"They'll do. Have them shipped ASAP in batches along with the supplies flying over." Samar didn't question further, if Ajay thought they needed it then they needed it.

"You wait just a second, I have a little something your Russian friends sent us together with their crates."

Ajay waited patiently, while doing so he was thinking about returning back to the apartment that old Miren and Aryaa Malla lived in. Currently, Saras was helping them settle their newest member into their home. Though their meeting was brief, after his explanation they seemed delighted to care for her. Miren was reluctant at first, but seeing that smile on her face made his heart soften. Nanda had done well in winning their hearts.

In their hands, he knew that Nanda would grow up being loved just as Kamala had grown up loving her parents. Monetary issues would be his problem from now on.

"Ajay." He heard Samar call him after being patted to respond a few times.

"I'm here. I'm here, what is it?"

"I've got what I was looking for. You alright?"

"Nothing, just dozing off. What do you have for me?"

Samar placed a simple-pump action on the table.

"Really?"

"If it were a normal shotgun would I be so insistent?" Ajay picked it up and noticed something weird about it, it felt enlargen in his hand. He hefted the simple shotgun which had a larger than 12 gauge bore for its calibre.

"Right, tell me the magical aspect of it." Ajay asked for specs.

"KS-23, if you've heard of a bigger bore shotgun than this whooping beast, then you don't belong in Planet Earth. Fires 4 Gauge shells the size of micro grenade rounds, used by Russian police and specops. You get hit by this, you'll get rekted. There are no second chances with this thing, that's why there is only room in the tube for four plus one in the chamber." Samar placed an example of the buckshot shell on the table with a normal 12-gauge shell next to it. The 12 gauge was half the size of the 4 gauge which told of its yield instantly.

"I've got the appropriate ammo types as well, solid-slug for piercing body armor, dragon's breath incendiary for burning fools, and double' o buckshot to give them a double tap surprise." He described them colourfully.

"I know it's a hassle to load and fire only two rounds from that double-barrelled so this would make a fine subsititute."

"I'm not discarding the slayer, its kept me alive in more situations than I can name." Ajay objected to his suggestion. In fact, the appearance of this dreaded weapon and its iconic boom was what made the Golden Path recognise him in the heat of battle.

"Compliment then." Samar passed over a box containing a variety different shell types.

Ajay was starting to feel he was carrying too many weapons at this rate. The slayer, his compound bow, his 1911 shadow handgun because he gave his HK45 to Jagriti as a side compliment to their deal. Now that HK417 battle rifle and this beast of a shotgun, he had to decide which he liked and what was more suitable for the engagements ahead of schedule.

*I shot the sheriff…* His Mobile phone went off, informing him of a call. *But I didn't shoot no deputy…*

"Aren't you gonna answer it?" Samar asked him annoyed by the tone of Bob Marley.

Ajay used various ringtones for each of his contacts based on his personal profile of their personalities, like Pagan's was Kanye West's song, Power.

But in this instance, Bob Marley was a representative for Paul Ferenc's laidback attitude. Ajay picked up the call, since it was rare for Paul to even call him when he usually met him at the Crazy Cock bar like all the other Lupus Caelum mercenaries loved to rendezvous at in their down time.

"Badala speaking." Ajay answered.

*My main man! Got some news for you, bro.*

"What? Did Mossad decide to fire you?" Paul laughed in his laid-back tone.

*That's harsh, bro. No, they wouldn't do that less some unfortunate sod wants to do this crappy job in place of me- not saying its crap, I love it here. Don't need them knowing it's a little paradise if you know what I mean-.* Paul was getting off track easily in his conversations.

"Get to the point, Paul."

*What? They charge by the second here? Come on, you don't call for a month and expect me to live like this. I called you like ten times, man. Its Michelle….. I think she's coming on to me.*

Ajay sighed, even if he was the only good Paul out of the three, with one dead and the other missing why did he have to always drag conversations and only tell the important bit at the end. He knew it was important or else he wouldn't call. But every time he did, he exploited it to talk. Like they didn't talk at all in the bar.

"Paul!"

*Right- Right! Ey, relax. Everything's under control. So where was I….. Ah! Yeah! Its concerning your ex, the beacons showing a positive signal.* Ajay's expression grimaced as he asked with a serious tone his next inquiry.

"Where?"

*North-East of that charming lil' city called Pada Mo. About seventy clicks. When you heading out?* Paul asked as he was pretty much been roped into this for possessing the tracking beacon in the first place when he gave it to Ajay.

"As soon as possible."

* * *

Author's Thoughts:

On Ajay conferring Vasu the 4th Kshatriyan Lord title even though he has sinned against the Kyrati Kingdom. (HALO 2)

Elite Vasu: "What use am I? I can no longer command ships... lead troops..."

Ajay, Prophet of truth: "Not as you are- no. But... become the arbiter, and you shall me set loose against this heresy (Golden Path) with our blessing."

Elite Vasu takes up the armor of the Arbiter.

Arbiter Vasu: "What would you have your arbiter do?"


	98. Chapter 90 - Betrayal for Generations

Author's Notes:

To clarify what Omegas brought up about the word Kshatriyan, it was a play with the word Kshatriya. For Gundam fans, its the name of a mobile suit piloted by Marida Cruz. But in our world pretext, it is a name given to a particular caste of warrior, rulers. These charming fellows ruler and conduct war and security for the cities and kingdoms. As you know, Caste differs from class system by the inability to move up in the work beyond your caste status. Unfair? For modern times it sure is, but it's still being practiced today though not in India or Nepal but some less known places.

My aim of the title was something much like the Roman Empires Praetor Lord title, which is kinda like a magistrates appointment. For this case, Kshatriyan Lords were meant to be a military title without parrallel save the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed forces. Because in a conventional army, there are limits to how it may react to certain a crisis which should be practical to handle but the soldiers are restricted due to doctrine or military order. However, a Kshatriyan Lord should be able to override this military orders and carry out the appropriate actions with due care and swiftness. That was the idea at least. Why eight? This was supposed to be Pagan's idea of countering Golden Paths Eight Devas. Ironically, one has become a lord at Ajay's command. But mostly, this was for propaganda purposes when they were prepping for war against Yinke.

* * *

Apart from the general clattering noise of the turboprop engines there was also the constant rattling of the airframe due to the strong Himalayan winds.

*Dear passengers, this is your captain speaking. Today's forecast is the usual shit weather up here in the mountains. Please remember to check all parachutes and buckles before you leave the aircraft by the side or rear doors. And once again, we hope you've enjoyed flying with Lupus Air travels. I'm your Captain, Paul Ferenc next to the lovely co-pilot Michelle. Happy landings!*

He still had the time to flap his mouth in this crazed weather, Ajay was impressed. But then again, he wasn't as crazy as himself who would be jumping out in the midst of a storm via HALO insertion jump.

Ajay didn't mind the noise as he was busy writing away into his journal. The small leather covered book contained accounts in his life, memories. Because he knew that on the road ahead, there would be more than one use of this cursed power that would rob more of his cherished memories. He knew this for a fact because he could still remember his life in Brooklyn, but when it came to a happy childhood with Daisy, all he had was a blank space. He couldn't recall where he met her nor how they got together now. Very soon, he would forget everything. There was no way to gauge how fast he would lose it, only hope that this conflict would end.

Michelle came out from the cockpit mumbling complaints in her native tongue.

"What's got you so on the edge?" Ajay as he put away his journal and went on to checking his gear.

"You still have the cheek to ask!"

"Weren't you friends?"

She went away with those swears again. Ajay ignored her and slung his weapons comprising of his signature slayer, a suppressed HK417 and the 4-gauge KS-23 shotgun to the container. Even this was considerably heavy added to his other equipment and armour carried with him. Michelle gradually quieten down by herself seeing he was in quite a focus.

"She must be really special to you….. for you to travel to such a loathsome place behind enemy lines." She said with a lighter tone than before. Ajay put down his magazine from loading.

"… She made me what I am, I wouldn't have been here now if not for her push."

"I see…" Michelle smiled warmly which was a rare sight to see.

"I'll need extraction for three when the time comes."

"You'll have places for four when we flyby. Just make sure you attach yourself to the harnesses properly or you'll be dropping out halfway, imbécile."

Michelle passed him the Fulton device carefully placed in a duffel bag. This was Ajay, Daisy and another person's only means of escape from that hostile place under fire. A special self-inflating balloon their harnesses were attached prior to inflation would snag onto a specially modified C-100 as it flew by. Picking them up and flying them out of a hotzone, that is….. if the balloon inflated quick enough and/or was not shot down before Michelle and Paul extracted them.

It would have to be a night ops, when visibility was lowest.

*Two minutes to dropzone.* Paul called on the intercom.

"You'd better get back before this cabin gets depressurized."

"Take care of yourself, or no one will be able to protect her and you. Voyages surs?"

"Thanks. If Paul continues to trouble you I'll remove him indefinitely from your attache group."

"Suddenly you're so sweet!" Michelle laughed at him as she helped doublecheck for him the parachute and respirator tanks as was required before he dropped.

"I'm a fickle employer, I can be like Oprah Winfrey. I can shower everybody with incentives, just remember not to get on my bad side. For evidence, I provide you the Golden Path." Michelle huffed rolling her eyes and left for the cockpit which was sealed against the de-pressurizing.

"Bring her back and yourself safe and sound, perhaps we can have a talk about our pasts over a few drinks." Ajay had to admit, if she wasn't looking at you with loathe, Michelle was a pretty sociable person. He was wondering himself what a person like her who sends seventy-five percent of her pay to the local orphanage in Utkarsh was like and how she used to be. Paul once said she was looking for her missing daughter but that was merely a rumor he heard in Prosper's Native Africa.

"Mm." Ajay neither agreed nor disagreed. Michelle wasted no more time as she went into the cockpit. Ajay went over to grab the respirator, goggles which he attached to himself along with his kit in a separate bundle drop with the Fulton device.

The lights flickered to red and the room began to de-pressurize to match the outside air pressure so that he would not suffer from Batotrauma when opening the doors himself. The rebreathing unit helped to keep him from passing out.

*Thirty seconds to drop.*

The ramp opened with and a whole blast of wind came rushing in. Ajay positioned the drop container near the ramp holding its own individual parachute and the rest of the equipment necessary for this mission.

*Greenlight, go! Go! Go!*

Ajay pushed the container ahead of him and he jumped out the rear of the plane. It was in the midst of a windstorm, but from satellite scans, there was a small window where the gust died out for a few minutes, that was the period when it was ideal for him to open his parachute and land. Ajay checked his altitude on his wristwatch, he was currently at 13,000 metres above ground.

Why he had chosen this method of entering the supposed mountain stronghold built by Golden Path and its young brothers of the Shining Way resistance was due to the mountains offering them a considerable protection and early warning to ground forces and helicopters. Their original locations of their Command post and Daisy could be shifted anywhere. Plus, it saved him heaps of time landing right pass their border watchmen and vigilant patrols of their outer perimeter. Adding the storm and the general security of the area, the Golden Path fighters wouldn't feel any safer than now.

5000 metres, his descent was rather quick and the snowcapped mountains were now in sight through the clouds he'd passed. He checked his GPS to locate his container of weapons and additional equipment. They weren't far out from his location.

At the 1,500-metre mark, he pulled the cod to release his parachute. Thankfully, the parachute opened without hitch. Thanks to a woman's meticulous check and touch? Either way, Michelle ensured he was on the ground safe due to the equipment.

"Shit." He spoke too soon as he was directly above a forest canopy. Of all the places that didn't have trees in Yinke, it had to be this spot. Those fir trees looked rather far reaching.

"Urrghh!" Unfortunately, luck wasn't on his side even when he manuevered himself out of the way. The ends of the parachute snagged itself to the broad branches of the alpine, he ended up dangling fifteen metres from the ground. Depending on how he landed, it would hurt. Ajay drew his kukri and cut the harness as it seemed to be jammed due to the amount of tension from his body it was putting on it.

"… Still can't believe we're here in this frozen mountaintop!"

"Shhhhh! You want the commander to hear you?"

"Relax, he's probably having a good nights rest by his warm comfy fire in a cave with one of those Yinke fanatics women!"

"Ha! I know the feeling!"

They conversed on a sleezy topic concerning the reverence the naïve Yinkian Shining Way members had for the Golden Path fighters and Mohan himself.

"Really. I'd love to hear all about it." Came a voice over the treetops above them.

At first, it was merely a look of surprise to see someone up in the trees. But as the figure descended upon them to break his fall. They looked in horror to find the reason Golden Path had fled Kyrat in front of them and worse…

They were helpless to a painful death.

* * *

The Min household mansion occupied the highest point in the Echelon Valley in the Canton District, these were the perks of being directly related to the King. Or so everyone assumed, they were nothing more than lowly henchmen during the days of Pagan's usurpation of Gang Min's criminal empire mantle. But follow Pagan they did, and with fierce loyalty. That was until he cease to be that man they looked up to when he fooled around with that Kyrati whore. Like Yang Guifei, the concubine that led the Golden Tang Dynasty to ruin for leading the Emperor astray from his duties.

"Bau Pang!" A certain individual declares a full house excitedly at the mah-jong table of the four Canton lords.

"Mou Gau Cho ah!" One complained.

"Whatever, it was your win anyway Ah-Kwan. Nobody is gonna steal that from you." Lord Khoo made a silent threat to Sun Kwan out of frustration of losing his big win.

"Mm Sai Haak Hei, I'll make sure you have enough to break even in the end." Sun Kwan said with a wide grin, his patience as always paid off. Lord Khoo got up angrily, giving the aura he wanted to fight.

"Sit down, Richard." The person at the head of the table who was currently the dealer said. Lord Khoo became hesitant to act further.

"That's right, Dick. Cower back, like with your little bastard that nearly cost us everything." Sun Kwan said with spite.

"You! Shut up as well!" The Dealer said, Sun Kwan raised his hands to indicate he was done where he was.

"Why are we even playing this game anymore? That wasn't the initial objective of this meeting." A member representing the Lau family but not for Yuma asked hesitantly due to his actions going against the Duchess of Durgesh and Queen of Kyrat.

"It was to wash away some of that guilt the next time you look him in the eyes and tell him what you were doing meeting together like this without him." The dealer said in regards to that man's treachery against Pagan and his lot cast with the rest.

"..." The representative for the opposing interest of Lau with Yuma quieten down as he knew his anxiousness was inslightly before the three lords.

"Regardless of what happened in the past, congratulations to your granddaughter's success in the war against Yinke and China. Who would have thought, eh? Sigil of Valor! I'm sure you're more than proud of him as a grandson." Sun Kwan said slyly, knowing he hated to associate that bastard child to his family. His son had disgraced him far enough for marrying that Canadian bitch behind his back on his studies when he had instructed him of his arrangement with the Foreign Minister's daughter. Instead he was publically embarrassed when that unloyal son declared his love for that woman in front of the party arrangement. It cost him a place with the rest of the triads whilst the rest of Pagan's group fled Hong Kong from the combine arms of the Hong Kong Police and Interpol. He would have been able to live like a King there, but instead he joined the fleeing exodus with Pagan out of desperation.

If that child Samuel were a girl, then he could have at least used her as a bargaining chip with the Hong Kong and Macau Triads.

"Dully noted." He said to get him to stop talking further on that topic.

"As much as you loathe his existence, he is quin essential to our plans, Old Guang." Sun Kwan reminded him.

"Are you suddenly the boss of everyone, Ah-Kwan?" Guang Min said in a low threatening tone.

"Perish the thought, my stake is with everyone here, that includes you as the shining white horse."

"Hmph! Little bastard. Don't forget who's the brains of this organisation here, that is why you aren't doing the thinking and only the actions."

"Still, smart enough to know that regardless of our preparation over the last fourteen years, things would go to shit if you plan to ignore Pagan's watchdog." He said before stuffing his mouth with an expensive cuban cohiba. At the mere mention of Badala, caused the henchmen around them to shudder. They had heard of the stories from relatives in the Army of what he was like and it was dreadful. If they weren't careful enough, he could be at the door this very moment. This was the state of paranoia that spread around the households in the Canton District and a few of the Noble households align to the Canton Families.

"I thought that was just rumors Pagan spread to create an image for him?" All faces looked at the Lau representative with disbelief and astonishment at his denseness or lack of information.

"I assure you, if anything those stories you hear of him have been watered down. Because nobody has the stomach to talk about the bloodshed and massacres he's accomplished, yet ironically everyone of those Kyratis accept him for what he is." Sun Kwan laughed. Did he fear being in Badala's presence, yes. But what if he was not in the equation any longer, then what would Sun Kwan have to fear then.

"One way or another, he will be dealt with. I've already arranged for the 2nd Hussars to return to "refit", whilst the 1st battalion will go to Yinke to substitute them." Sun Kwan said and looked to Lord Richard Khoo to ensure his part was done.

"And I've gotten into contact with some of the aviation mercenaries in Lupus Caelum. They say, they can lend us a squadron of fighters as air support against any armed response. For a fee that is." The Cantons were initially shocked beyond belief that the Duke and the Marshal had built an air force behind everyone's backs. But it was to their favour, because that Airforce had one flaw. Almost eighty-five percent of the pilots were foreign mercenaries, they were here to get paid. One way or another, their stand was with the highest bidder. And Richard assured them he was the highest bidder with the enormous payday he gave them a preview of with a deposit of rubies. While not all were interested, there were always a few. Human greed knows no bounds, they knew this better than anyone. Lord Khoo turned to look at the Lau representative who shook with anxiousness.

"Uh- everything has been arranged as requested! The replicate costume and hired guns have been sorted out. As well as scapegoats and informants."

"Good. Then everything will be put into action once word of Badala leaving comes." Guang Min couldn't help but smile maliciously at the orchestrated plan playing out the way they wanted.

"The betrayal the people will feel, when word passes around… that Badala, murdered the King and Queen still with child in cold blood for the throne. We, the Canton Lords will step in to dictate marshal law and assume control of the Armed forces to hunt Badala down with every breath in our bodies."

It was the best of their plans made possible by the presence of Badala, the supposedly loyal right-hand of the King. But was after all, a foreigner with hidden agendas. This was the message they wanted to people to realize while they framed Badala for a crime he had not committed. The blood that flowed from his already drenched hands put him in the category suspected of actually killing the Royalty.

"I wonder what kind of face he'll wear when he returns…ahahahaha-.." Sun Kwan was already looking forward to the look as he placed a gun to his forehead and pulled the trigger. That's what he got for humiliating him in front of his family and subjects.

"""AHAHAHAHAHAHA!""" They began to evilly cackle in unison.

From the balcony of the mansion living room they gathered, Solomon gazed out into the starry night. He'd heard of their plans to usurp the throne and frame the demon for the crime. He had a part to play in this, his amnesty given by the Min family's Min Guang wasn't out of charity. They wanted his impressive arms dealing connections to keep their forces loyal to the cause equipped and the troubled loyalists in disarray. He was the one that talked to the traitor within the ranks of the Royal Fortress about the situation if they tried to simultaneously assume control over the Royal Fortress Command, Fortress Lanka and the territory of Lakshman for its weapons manufacturing plant. In summary, it was nothing short of possible failure. Not matter how good that armoured battalion was, it could only be in one place. The other two, they could forget about it. Knowing them, the Royal Fortress was on their list as one number. Lanka was guarded by a definitely Loyalist Commandant-Brigadier Kul and the newly formed Lanka Brigade. Although, Lakshman had not supposed military force. The people of Lakshman would never let them set a hundred metres from the Arsenal without a fight. Their loyalty was with Badala, even if he was criminal, there was also the Hunic tribesmen they hadn't accounted for.

From the very start, Solomon saw the failure in their actions too conceited to realize this. Even so, he casted his lot with the families. He would make sure it didn't fail. He had secretly sheltered a group of American operatives which was at his disposal.

Kyrat was capable of change, Mohan, Pagan and more recently Badala had proven it could change for the better out of strife. Kyrat was once an idling self-serving nomadic kingdom with little to no way of defending itself. It's only military force then was the Royal Guard regiment. Now, there were Cities being built. An Army of over four divisions worth and even an Airforce made possible.

Solomon believed that usurping Pagan and carrying out regicide was the most rational thing, part of natural order. After all, Pagan had killed his father for change. This was what Solomon sought out the most, change from stagnancy. As Pagan had taught him so long ago.

"(Sigh)… What naivety." He shook his head at the simple yet narrowminded thoughts of the people he called family.

* * *

For the two that went out for a night stroll, all that the search parties would find would be their mangled corpses from a painful and agonizing torture with subsequent death.

Once Ajay had collected what he needed on the surrounding environment they were disposed of in the quickest, quietest way. His next destination was to recover the container holding all his other weapons and equipment since his only armaments now were the kukri and a suppressed scorpion submachine gun used as a personal defense weapon. He followed the GPS transmitter to the container which was supposedly three hundred metres from him lodged in the side of the cliffs. His nightvision thermal slung on his head allowed him to see as clear as day in the pitch black. The sound of folk music and celebration resounded from where he was in the valley where lights and a massive row of tents were pitched.

-They still have the stomach to celebrate.- Ajay scorned the Golden Paths witless thoughts with no responsibility for their actions. All the better for him to sneak into the camp later. It also made it easy for his contact who infilitrated the camp grounds prior to his arrival in Yinke.

True enough, he reached the container lodged in the cliffside rocks. He was not surprised the Golden Path didn't hear it land over that loud racket of dancing, drinking and fucking. He had a sudden bloodlust to sneak a few C4 satchels and incendiary bombs into their camp lodgings, if he didn't already need these munitions to break out of whatever stalemate he might encounter. The shouldered the rifles and ammunition into his armour harness and was about to do the same for the duffel containing the "Skyhook" when- (Snap) A twig breaking sent Ajay into high alert as he spun around with his vz.62 Skorpion up and ready to dispose of the wandering straggler. He saw a distortion in the air in from of him and his wits were about him, it was a signature trait of thermal-optic camo cloak used by CNS.

"Woah-Woah! Its me, Bads! Just me." The cloak was thrown over the wearer's head to reveal a gingerbearded man. Hurk raised his hands in surrender.

Ajay took a minute to register as he wasn't the usual chubby fellow he was familiar with two months ago, when he did, his PDW was lowered.

"Why aren't you waiting at the extraction point?"

"Yeah, your welcome." He said sarcastically. Ajay stared at Hurk seriously, making him uncomfortable.

"(Sigh) Alright, I was anxious. Dais has been here for a good two months now, aren't you worried?" Hurk sure was, Ajay could see it in his eyes.

"I am, but that doesn't mean I let my emotions get in the way of my mission. How she turns out or what the damage that's been done will be left to later to reflect upon."

"I'm sorry." Hurk felt he was worrying over silly things when he hadn't even confirmed it with his own eyes yet.

"What's the status of the Exfil points surroundings?" Ajay asked to change the subject back to the topic at hand.

"Cold spot, no one within fifty feet. Everybodies either at the perimeters or partying out like a hot mess."

"Let's see the exfil point first." Ajay said before taking point in moving forwards, Hurk followed stealthily behind.

True to his word, there was barely any patrols or random walkers. Everyone was inside the tents doing seedy things. It almost made Ajay want to fire his machine gun across and kill them all but he stowed those dark thoughts.

Hurk switched places with Ajay in taking point as he had also brought some equipment of his own that would help them hold out as a contingency. He hurried ahead to heft the item he brought with him, but unfortunately for Ajay it was not the item he asked him to bring over the mountains.

-Goddamn it, not this again!- Ajay sighed exasperatively at the sight of nostalgia.

"Dude, meet the Impaler. It's not just for whales anymore man- I predict this will be the thing… in and out of the bedroom. With appropriate attachments- yeah…" Hurk lifted the harpoon with great finest since it was originally mounted on a steel rig on a whaling boat. Ajay was beyond frustration at Hurk's inability to listen.

"When I said mounted weapon I meant-….. what did you do with the Kord Machine Guns at the Armory?" What Ajay had instructed him was to bring a mounted weapon like an automatic grenade launcher or a heavy Machine gun like the Kord guns the russians' supplied. They were supposed to hold out the onslaught of Golden Path converging on their location in the exfil. Instead, like the usual buffoon he was, he brought this "mounted" weapon instead. With only few shot to use against tens of thousands of fighters

"Ops….." That single word tripped a few fuses in Ajay's patience.

"Hurk." His said with great control.

"Yeah?"

"Are you even serious about saving Daisy?"

"Totally!"

"Then why-…..wait. Are-… when you're nervous-…. Do you make mistakes?" Ajay had trouble gathering the evidence but matching the numerous events he'd witness him do stupid things matched with his insecurity about the missions that he proposed himself.

Hurk looked flushed and scratched his head sheepishly. Ajay had hit the spot.

"Hurk…. Perhaps you shouldn't continue with this."

Hurk looked at Ajay with shock and was about to refute but Ajay raised his hand.

"Perhaps if it was before I would have asked you, it was my fault for pressing expectation upon you. I'm sorry about that." It was his mistake to think that Hurk had just become a cold-hearted killer like him, he forgot that Hurk was but a lost child in the battlefield. All he really needed was someone to depend on what he could already do, it didn't need to be killing. Now, his lack of care had put Hurk in the most dangerous place to be it, behind enemy lines. He could not afford to let him fight with the soldiers here. Especially with the limited munition and weapons they had.

"No! Its fine, I'll go with you in th-."

"No, Hurk. As you are right now, you will put yourself in danger."

"Why? Didn't you allow me to chip in for rescuing Daisy together?"

"Golden Path aren't who they used to be, from that engagement in Xue Lu, you and the battalion would have already figured something amiss about them. This exceeds all of our understandings of them now."

"Wha-…what do you mean?"

"Golden Path is no more, all that is left are mindless soldiers, creatures of desire that follow only basic animal instincts. And they follow the commands of something worse than Mohan. Each and everyone of them are almost as strong as the Devas are and equally hard to kill. We're all playing on very thin ice here."

Hurk didn't know what to say, but he was most bothered that Ajay no longer trusted him to reliably carry out a job. In a way, it hurt his gentle personality.

"Even so, I'll-."

"Stay hidden, till I've gotten Daisy out. If I don't come out in thirty minutes from now, hook yourself to the Fulton system and await Paul's retrieval." Ajay didn't let him finish his sentence, he knew that if he did, Hurk would have confidence in following him all the way to the top. Ajay didn't waste time as the window to find her was narrowed down to half-an hour as he'd said to Hurk just now.

His GPS indicated the tracker was somewhere 300 hundred metres above sea level in his North-East direction, which led to a supposed lair where Mohan and the Command retinue of his stayed in overlooking the whole encampment. Ajay dialled in the codes for a napalm strike on the location where the camp was with time to spare for his getaway without any for the Golden Path to leave the site.

Call him cold-blooded but from his point of view, he was no longer dealing with humans with souls. Only monsters with unsatiable desire. Thankfully for him, his armour allowed him to scale the mountains without much trouble and to avoid the checkpoints within the cave ahead. The cable quickly reeled him to the top where his grapple hook had latched on. Within five minutes he'd reached the top where he was level with the GPS tracker and conveniently at an open part of the cave with several tunnel networking about. There was almost no one in these caves, it gave the feeling of grandeur that Mohan possessed as a leader and spiritual leader of two massive organisations. Again, Ajay had the weird uncomfortable feeling about this setting. He knew Golden Path generally wasn't very good in keeping military order but…..

It was too convenient.

He doublechecked his weapons. Slayer, assembled. 4-gauge shotgun on the hip holster and HK417 battle rifle at the ready. Loaded with the new APEX ammunition Samar engineered, he took off the silencer as having explosive ammo was defeating the purpose of silence. Carefully scanning the corridors for any sudden contacts, it couldn't be that this massive place didn't have even a few attendants cleaning up the accomodations.

The GPS tracker grew more aggressive in beeps in his headset integrated into his composite mask. His nightvision was no longer required due to the consistent distribution of torches hung on the walls around the corridor. Twenty-five metres away from his target, the next round of the corridor should be where she was. Ajay's caution grew greater as he had not even encountered a single person in this cavern abode.

He retraced his steps to that opening he climbed up from with light sticks tossed every fifteen metres away. Along with a few sets of claymores trip mines to buy him time to escape.

Turning around the corner, lo and behold was a figure tied to a cave support pillar, apparently unconscious. In the surroundings, nothing. It was a storage area apparently due to all the boxes lying around but not densely packed. He ook each step towards the figure which seemed to resemble a woman's with extra caution as he got closer. He was just next to her a foot away, using the rifle muzzle he lifted the traditional garb veil off her head. What was revealed was a bloom of golden blonde hair, Ajay took a knee close enough for him to bring her unconscious head up to see her face.

But luck had it that it was the person he'd been looking for.

"Mmm….." She began to stir, as her eyes opened slowly. Ajay placed his palm over her mouth to prevent her surprise from making a scene at this time.

"Mmm?!" Thankfully, it was fast enough as her recovery was quick.

"It's me, I've come to get you out."

"Mmmm! Mm! Mm!" She continued to make a racket from his hand muffling her.

"Daisy, you need to be silent or else I can't-." It was only a brief sight but he saw that her eyes weren't looking at him but behind him. A reflection of a figure was standing at the entrance of the storage room she had been dumped in.

(Bababababaaam) Ajay didn't hesitate to turn around with haste and let loose a barrage of 7.62mm APEX rounds.

But all he hit was the wall and nothing was within sight. His sight remained at the door with the rifle raised in alert. By now, the Golden Path guards would have responded to that. He didn't have long.

While his eyes remained front, his free hand took out the kukri and cut her bindings loose in a single sweep.

Daisy undid the rest without slowing and went into a crouch.

"Karma is a very strange thing. An invisible string of fate that binds us together…" A voice from everywhere spoke. Ajay's eyes darted around to scan his surroundings as he walked forwards.

"Follow me closely." He told Daisy who had a sorrowful look like she'd caused this.

"Ajay I-."

"We'll talk about everything later, just follow my instructions for now. Can you do that?" He asked calmly. As they approached the corridor on the way back, shouts could be heard of the guards trying to locate the source of the commotion just now. Ajay with Daisy at his back, moved carefully through the claymores he lay for the approaching guards.

"A boon of good fortune, a collective misfortune, or simply… destiny. Just like the destiny I once had and still have to rule all of the lowlands."

Ajay cared more about helping a fairly weak from malnourishment Daisy across the traps.

"Because from the very beginning of my career in the Royal Guard, I had been aligned to a sham. The Devi bloodline that everyone knew was not the one of ages past."

Four guards popped out in front of him, Ajay didn't hesitate to spray them with the high-powered ammunition. They spasmed from the shots impacting their dense skin and penetrating their flesh before detonating. The considerable loss of blood and flesh caused three to fall to the ground dead, but one survived and charged at Ajay with wild abandon. He quick-drew his 4-gauge and blasted a shot square in his torso. The force knocked him against the wall but not dead yet. As he tried to get up, a foot pressed down upon him and a muzzle pushed against his forehead. (Boom) The shotgun decapitated him from the amazing power of the double oo buckshot, ending his life once and for all.

Ajay reached out his hand for Daisy to follow, she was instantly shaken by the way he fought so viciously and hesitant to reach out. Ajay didn't give her that benefit to take her time as he grabbed it and ran with her back towards the exit.

"The true Devi bloodline ended with the rise of Yalung- no….. Kalinag's resurgence to wrought havoc upon everything the Royal Devi Bloodline owned. For it was the Devi bloodline that betrayed everything he stood for."

Ajay ignored the obvious voice of Mohan, trying to confuse him during his escape. trying to get him to think about his story instead of acting as he should in leaving. Nothing mattered more than to leave this place that was the hornet's nest, Ajay knew that.

That voice distracted him for a second when he rounded a corner, only to bump into another search party, this time twice the original group.

"It's Bad-(Boom)" Ajay took the head off one of the soldiers with a close 4-gauge blast to the head, leaving seven left. They abandoned their rifles and took up their knifes wearing a madden smile on each of them. They wanted to test their newly found powers on Ajay, not noticing that the trooper he blasted hadn't gotten up yet. His shotgun went dry and he switched to his battle rifle in a sub-second and fired automatic into the narrow corridor.

The Golden Path fighters wailed in pain and disbelieve that they were getting killed painfully by this non-standard load of cartridges. Three survived the onslaught of bullets by using their comrades' bodies as a meat shield to the APEX rounds. They laughed insatiably, knowing he was out. That was their first mistake to think that Ajay fought solely with rifles and explosives. His shadow appeared in front of them and a quick jab sent the kukri impaling one of the fighters through the eyes. He twisted the blade to wretch it free and in the process, killed the fighter. The remaining two gazed up in shock. They had no idea he would be this terrifying, and neither did Daisy who watched it all happen from behind. She'd heard quiet gruesome tales about Ajay, but never did she expect something like this, not even Jason or that man in his place was anything close to this.

The last two struggled to pull out their knives in time before he delivered an uppercut to one and chained with a roundhouse kick to the other. He then pressed the barrel of the shotgun against one while he threw in a shell and charged the weapon. The man was pushed against the floor while the muzzle pointed at him all the while before Ajay delivered the killing blow with a pull of the trigger. (Boom) His head turned into a gory mess. Ajay preloaded another shell while the other one tried to recover. The fighter reached out but Ajay swiped his hand away and placed the muzzle against his chin. The fighter tried to frantically get away- (Boom) But he wasn't quick enough.

He returned to drag Daisy away as she seemed in a daze from all this bloodshed, too new to her.

"On that day, I learnt of this truth was the day that Pagan took the throne by regicide. The old prophet provided me with proof of this with the Kalinag scrolls and the vision it bestows solely upon the bloodline of Kalinag. This was our family's destiny to take the throne as it is in my rightful place, destiny determined by my blood…. And your blood."

Ajay continued on without paying much attention to the words Mohan passed on to him. The pursuing fighters behind them tripped the mines and got themselves killed by the hundreds of thousands of metal ball bearings flying about.

"Betrayal against us is no coincidence in our family, it is a more common occurance than you could ever imagine and it has been going on for generations. That is why, your encounter with the abode of Yalung wasn't by chance. Your destiny had been woven by higher powers even you don't fully understand."

"Shut up." Ajay moved onwards with Daisy in tow.

"It is something even I fail to comprehend yet long for it happen. After all, even I wasn't aware of the façade you created for yourself. Who would have suspected that the fabled demon of Kyrat, the greatest enemy of Golden Path and right-hand to Pagan. The man who won the reverence of the armies of Pagan, the respect of the echelons of nobility, the hearts of the people... was none other than the son of the arch-enemy of the false crown, Mohan Dij Rran Al Ghale-…."

Ajay continued on till he finally reached the exit. But waiting there was the one doing all the talking all this while.

"… And so happens to be none other than my son, Ajay."

Ajay stood firmly where he was in a defensive-ready stance with Daisy close behind him shivering at the sight of Mohan. The man before him looked not even near the age he should have been currently at of sixty years but appeared in his late thirties instead. There was a small noticeable resemblance in his features to Ajay's, but beyond that was inherited from his mother.

Contrary to his and Daisy's expectations, Mohan let out a warm loving smile at Ajay that seem to look behind the fearsome visage of the demon. Not that Ajay wanted to be around to see it, but his window of escape to safety was getting smaller and smaller as the rest of the guards approached and surrounded them from all other tunnel corridors.

"My son, it's been too long."


	99. Chapter 91 - For His Karma Sake

Author's Notes:

Watched a music video that really made my day today such that I can't get the song out of my head now.

RASPUTIN - Vladimir Putin - Love The Way You Move (Funk Overload) slocband

I hope it does the same for you. The most fun part was the 2nd strongest man in Russia.

* * *

In the small cavern opening in the middle of the mountains that sat between Yinke and Kyrat, all hell broke loose. The faces of the Golden Path horde looked up in expectation from down below even though they could not see what was happening. Within the whirlwind of blades and tether threads, four demonic-like individuals fought for supremacy over the other. To be most specific, it was three against one. And that one against three was struggling for his dear life to ward off the attacks whilst keeping Daisy within safe grounds, the other three pounded him mercilessly.

These were the new Devas of Golden Path, reforged and remade in a way that wasn't comparable to the former ones. Coordinated attacks upon him with equal viciousness. Resulting in his current diplidated appearance with grazes and cuts upon his body from grazing slashes and swipes from blades and threads.

Ajay, robbed of his ability to call out the demon had to depend upon the limited munitions he had to ward them off as the inched nearer to the cavern opening he first scaled to get in. He was running on a limited window to begin with so things weren't looking good for him at all.

Over the clash of blades, Jason Brody's cacophonic laughter resounded as he thoroughly enjoyed the fight with the enhancement bestowed upon the seal placed by Citra, he bolstered super human strength and agility comparable to Vel's unnatural comprehension of spatial awareness and reaction. And to the reborn Sabal, who wore a ravenous expression as he wanted to give the most cruel of punishments upon the very person responsible for his many times of humiliation and robbing of pride.

(Boom) "Arrghh!"

Ajay was only able to keep them back by virtue of the slayer. If not, aside from his grievous injuries obtained from their team attack, he would be dead in seconds. Vel was inevitably human, the last time it missed and shrapnel impaled her skin deep. Jason Brody and Sabal were pushed back or knocked out temporarily by the destructive capabilities of the .700 Nitro round. Both of them found that the points where they were hit was having trouble regenerating, something only the mistress could remedy when they stopped fighting but not now when they had him cornered. Little did Ajay or they know that it was by no coincidence that the "slayer" of monsters could repel and damage them considerably. A weapon that had been bathed in the blood of Devas, the tainted skin of Golden Path, the essence of the abnormal beasts of Kyrat and of course, the mythological Yeti. Where it was first found in the Lost Valley, it had been left there to be cold hardened by the drops of the Relics' essence as it froze hard to the corpse of its former wielder which had bleed his desire to hunt that which was not man.

An amalgamation of gunbarrel steel and magical tempering. For the first time ever, a gun had become a living treasure. An Astra of its own chosing, wielded by the god of vengeance no longer vengeful but conscious of the world.

This was the assessment the witch made of the weapon as she appraised it from a distance with Mohan by her side, sullen due to Ajay's rejection to join them. The Witch knew it was impossible to convince him to join even if it was Mohan's utmost desire his son fight by him, he had even offered to allow him to be the King of Kyrat. But that meant Pagan and Yuma's execution, something that Ajay stubbornly wouldn't allow over his "dead body" he said.

(Click) The gun ran dry as the ejector clicked out the last shell casings and Ajay had dug into his pocket to find he had expended all his ammunition.

"Empty, at last!" Sabal growled with satisfaction.

A thread came his way, but Ajay fired his grapples at the roof and retracted the line with the motor to pull him out of harm's way. He used the other anchor to change his course to avoid Sabal's coordinated swipe, he had been tutored by someone in Golden Path of the Royal Martial Arts but like all others, he'd been stuck at the first form due to his lack of clear mind and comprehension abilities. Even so, it made him a completely new threat that was equal to the rest of the Devas, if not worse due to his scary willpower.

But he wasn't contending with two but three of them. Placed in an unfavourable position with limited ammo and his ability to rely on the strength the demon stashed away had been cancelled out by the witches presence.

Jason Bordy leaped towards him at the end of this mid-flight course change and lashed out with his augmented strength. Ajay had no choice but to block and was sent flying towards the stone floor. The moment was bad for him as Sabal leaped from behind and struck down with his fist onto Ajay's chest, smashing him against the cold hard floor. (Bang)

(Crack) The floor got indented with Ajay's back and dust was blown up from the fragments of rock.

"Ajay!" Daisy called out from her spot.

The smoke and dust cleared.

What remained was a body surrounded by a growing pool of blood. With multiple deep lascerations, supplying this pool and his ruptured blood vessels and organs there would be no short supply of red.

The mask of Yalung dropped from his face revealing bleeding orifices and a dead hollow look.

Ajay had been thoroughly beaten by the three Devas and was on the verge of death.

Sabal laughed triumphantly as he picked up the broken mask, for the first time a feeling of joy washed over him. Though the same could not be said for Vel who remained motionless after the fight seemed finished. Jason Brody grinned slightly. But Daisy's look was worse of all, she gazed directly at those hollow eyes, convinced that Ajay was at death's door.

"AJJJJAAAYYY!"

* * *

Twenty Minutes earlier -

The word "Son" Resounded through the cave in such a way that every member that had taken arms to rush to their leader's aid had heard his voice call out this single phrase that made them halt in shock. Of the people who were at the entrance of the cavern space Mohan, Ajay and Daisy were in. All they could see were the three of them, but no son of Mohan's.

It only hit them as a revelation when they noticed their leader staring affectionately at the last person they thought would have taken up such a role. But when they did, thunder struck and completely immobilized their extermities. The Shining Way members were in the same dilemma as they'd studied their Kyrat history more fiercely than even the Kyratis themselves.

The fabled Demon was Ajay Ghale, the son of Mohan.

"Im-…Impossible!" The first person to mouth this created a chain of voiced disbelief.

Many collapsed to their knees as it was beyond their ability to accept. The one who should have led them to victory in the absence of Mohan, was hellbent of their destruction.

Ajay, Daisy and most certainly Mohan were oblivious to these reactions and shouts of disbelief as they were occupied in their own little world.

"I don't recall having a father as far as I can remember, but if his name was Mohan you are definitely not him."

"Oh? Pray tell, what am I then?" Mohan exclaimed, willing to indulge him.

"A hollow will, acting out a last dying impulse and a marionette to a witch." He said in a cold tone. Mohan couldn't help but laugh insatiably.

"I assume you read my journal then. But I can tell you, a lot can happen in twenty years, Ajay."

"Why are you back?"

Mohan turned to the crowd that gathered and said "Leave us."

And the crowd mixture of Golden Path and Shining Way fighters dispersed and left the cave awaiting the go ahead to rush to his aid if he needed it. When all had left a certain proximity from them, Mohan turned back to Ajay.

"Straight to the point, eh? Alright then tell me, how does it feel to have everything you work for suddenly turn against you, and betray you?"

"You're talking about mom, but then again you weren't exactly the father and husband material either."

"That still doesn't forgive her infidelity."

"Always someone else in the wrong but not you." Ajay shook his head.

"Then tell me what wrong did I commit when someone had killed the sovereign. Was I not right to fight for the people when a foreign dictator came to enslave our people to feed his hunger for wealth?!" Mohan burst out at him.

"You were right to fight Pagan and the Cantons, you were right to stand up against tyranny and protect the people. Even if your actual agenda was far from it but I'll give the benefit of doubt. And maybe…. You did deserve an explanation from her why she conceived Lakshmana, perhaps even answer with her death due to laws back then. But when you killed a two year old child, innocent to the world around and free of the crime her parents commited against you….. That is where your right ends. And so did your status as a righteous and benevolent at heart leader remain. Do you thing someone like that would care for Kyrat?"

Mohan laughed maniacally at the reason Ajay gave him.

"So you were willing to live with a bastard sister then? You really are too soft, Ajay. One day, you might face the same betrayal as I have, oh-then again, you already have."

Daisy unconsciously lowered her head as Mohan stared in her direction.

"I'm sorry, Ajay…. I'm so sorry." She pleaded softly within hearing distance from Ajay. For him, it was the first time she was ever this meek.

"Your little foreign whore betrayed your identity, all because of a naïve venture to free her ex-lover's brother of his own demon. It sounds ridiculous doesn't it. But that's how you have come here with expectations betrayed. Are all Americans like this to each other too?" Mohan had a poor evaluation of Americans due to his limited encounters with self-important individuals like the CIA.

"Daisy….." Daisy looked up to Ajay who called her from behind.

"When have I ever known you to do something without the slightest good intentions?" It was a simple phrase, but one that Daisy instantly understood. Ajay's trust in her remained, her eyes welled up with tears as she recalled how she had in fact betrayed him long ago leaving him to himself to wind up in this hell.

Ajay turned back to Mohan but with his slayer unslung and cocked the internal hammers with the break-action.

"What do you plan to do? Shoot your way out? You would do all this for such a dishonest whore, I'm surprised."

"I might've been betrayed before and now, but at least I'm not the one doing that to another. I'm not like you…. I am who I am…. Not a shadow of another, not a legacy nor cursed lineage of my kin. I am Ajay Ghale, but I am also Badala, Duke of Kyrat. The Demon of the Himavanas." Ajay said in a deadly calm voice that his father could hear. Mohan sighed.

"You are more like me that you could possibly reckon, my son. This world is not forgiving upon aspirations to break the norm, you of all people should know that! You've fought against the social ethics of class, questioned religious authority and contended with human greed. You cannot win against the world alone, that why-… come join us, join me." Mohan stepped forward with an outreached hand and a longing look on his face.

"Why didn't you explain to her?" Ajay asked instead of take the hand.

"What?-"

"I'm not gonna pretend I didn't know mom was hell stubborn. You sent us both to Pagan because there was no safer place, no?" It was clear from this that Ajay had read all his journal entries, so he knew what had happened those days past.

Mohan looked at him was a complex expression, he was confused whether Ajay saw him as an enemy or neutral.

"Yes… that was right… With the regular attacks on the cities and towns, Ishwari wanted to join the fight. But what about you, what about her? This civil war was so dangerous I had more than countless close calls with death had it not been for the company of my friends."

"So why didn't you share with her your plan?"

"I don't get-."

"Do you really think she wanted to march out there to prove that women could do the same as men, because of a gender thing? What she wanted was out of that was trust in her abilities, your trust in her as both a leader and her husband." At it was at this point that Mohan hadn't been paler that any point in his life. The visual image of a strong leader turned into a frail and vulnerable old man in a mere second. For years, he had pondered about how he could have made things right, but to think that it took him twenty-six years for someone to tell him this so that he could realise on his own and accept it. It was he who pushed her away first.

Mohan's face became a rainbow of pale colours that their conversation was silenced.

"…. What's done is done." Ajay said more as a way to end this uncomfortable conversation than to comfort him, but comfort Mohan it did as he looked at Ajay with a sadden smile.

"Yes… What's done is done…. I just didn't think it would be you of all people to tell me that. For what its worth, I'm sorry Ajay. I've been a bigger fool than I've realized. There wasn't a day that goes by that I didn't think of being there for you. HaHahaha…! (Sigh) Even as a foe, I bet your enemies find your familiarity strange." He said laughing sadly. It was a strange atmosphere that daunted between Ajay and his father for Daisy. At first, she was convinced they would angrily burst out at each other as matched her personal profile of both of them, like birds of a feather.

But Ajay was no longer the impulsive young man she knew and at one time fell in love with. He had grown up without her. Was it him who needed to grow up, or was it her?

"It's a strange feeling, Ajay. Suddenly I no longer feel much hate for her as I used to." He looked to Ajay with warm affection.

"You really have done me proud, son. If anything, I'm proud I could have the pleasure of calling you my son….. I'm sure she would have been too." Mohan straightened himself.

"Then help me put an end to this, declare the Golden Path disbanded. So that I can at least grant everyone amnesty and end this fight over nothing."

Mohan looked at him like he had to disappoint him instead, as he stepped back.

"I'm sorry, Ajay. But-….No. That is the one thing that is not in my power any longer."

At this moment, new figures stepped forward from the shadows of the dark which the torches couldn't reach. Five figures to be exact. Three surrounded him and two hung at the back. Those three, he instantly recognised.

"Perhaps I will be a better father to you… in the next life." Mohan said in a solemn tone. He had tried his best to bring Ajay over, but instead he was given a lecture on how he should have approached his life choices and what he should have done after that. He knew he was beyond convincing Ajay, even if it pained him to let him go.

"Sup'." Jason Brody gave his greeting with a wry smile. Vel were there to Ajay's left side.

"Ajay Ghale…" called out a voice flaring with anger, yet familiar to Ajay that he turned as he couldn't put a finger to who it was.

"So all this time it was YOU!" Said a person he thought was gone for sure yet was standing before him with an accusing finger pointed at him and a face full of anguish fury. Even till now, he still felt the phantom pains of where Ajay had disfigured him months before in their first encounter.

"I'm gonna enjoy tearing you, limb from limb when I've forced you to the gr-(Boom)" Sabal's sentence was cut halfway with a blast of the sabot frag round of Ajay's .700 Nitro bullet impacting his torso and sent him flying to the wall with a smoking hole in his chest.

Jason laughed at the top of his voice at the pathetic sight of Sabal. "Cockblock-ahahahaha!" He said on the side, while Ajay donned his mask and greeted Sabal himself.

"Nice seeing you again, loser."

* * *

Present, 20 Mins to Extraction-

"Who's the loser now, Ajay Ghale!" Sabal really took this pride thing on a long trip where even Jason was getting tired of hearing him. The Golden Path fighters had returned after the commotion ended to find the demon lying defeated before Sabal and the new Devas. At first, their hearts shone with vigor to this sign that the demon's reign and streak of triumph had ended here, marking a turning point in their movement.

But Ajay was in no condition to answer with any witty comeback, he couldn't even hear him over the muffle of his temporarily impaired hearing. Sabal delivered a kick to his body sending him slamming into the wall, no response came from Ajay.

"STOP IT! You're killing him!" Daisy shouted from where she was.

"That's the idea, my dear. But I don't want it to be a quick death, I want you to die slowly and painfully. Do you hear me, Ajay?!"

Sabal's rants were answered with silence. Making a fool of himself in the end. He walked up to Ajay. There were subtle movements that showed a recovery from his impairment and unconsciousness but that was the best he could do. He didn't even put Mohan into consideration even though he was a benefactor of his at a dire time, all that was on his mind was revenge against Ajay for ruining his image. Vel snorted at his uncultured behaviour, why the mistress kept him alive was a mystery.

"You're still alive that's good. I was beginning to worry you wouldn't survive, but then again you are the demon of Kyrat so how could you not."

Sabal's eyes scanned Ajay with loathe and disdain in his eyes to fuel his damaged ego until he chanced upon something interesting hung on the back of his harness.

"What's this?"

Sabal pulled out the silver line jar without issue and went to a light to see the engravings better.

"aha…hahahahahhaHAHAHAHAHAHA! And I thought I'd never see you again, dear Kamala."

At the response of the mention of the name, suddenly life returned to Ajay, although he was crawling towards Sabal. The fighters had too heard the name and were astounded that the demon had been carrying her ashes all this time with him. What did that mean? Seeing this brought delight to Sabal as he'd found a weakness in that façade of a demon in Ajay. The reason Ajay had burnt down Jalendu Temple was in retaliation for Sabal's murder. With no sacred relics, no Tarun Matara could be endorsed to vouch a sacred revolution. He had even kidnapped Bhadra even before that happened.

"I've always wondered why you cared so much for her, she was nothing but a plain nobody that you installed to take credit for the son of Hamal's death. You want her? Come, she's right here." Sabal bounced the cremation jar up and down on his hand. Even this was the line for Jason, of all the things he was, belittling someone through a loved one was something that he found distasteful. He was no longer laughing and was instead looking at Sabal with loathe.

And to his surprise, despite the serious wounds and fractured bones. Ajay used his one good but weaken arm to drag his body Sabal's way for the jar holding her ashes.

"Is this cremation jar that important to you, Ajay? Never in my life have I seen a person carry around ashes of a friend. And to think that you had been fighting with it since…. Was it since I killed her?"

"Don't tell me….. you had fallen for her?" Sabal said with a widen grin and begun to incessantly laugh at the top of his voice.

"You really are full of surprises, Ajay. In fact, it's quite anti-climatic. All this hate and condemning for Golden Path just because of a dead soldier, one of tens of thousands!" At first, the fighters of Golden Path were joyous that one of them had beaten Badala. But after Sabal's belittling jeers, it started to give them a bad aftertaste because this arrogant bastard couldn't contain it within him.

"She repre…" He murmured too softly for Sabal to hear as he continued to drage himself his way.

"Speak up or nobody will hear you." Sabal said with disdain.

"she represent-….."

"You're starting to annoy me, say it clearly you fool of a man."

"I said….. She represents what Golden Path should have been, and what you….. personally, will never be able to achieve in your lifetime. Golden Path that should have been died with her, and for that….. nobody within Golden Path deserves a second chance. Especially you, murderer." Sabal had a sudden flare in his easily set off personality and raised the jar.

"Hmph!" (Crash) It would not have normally broken due to its metal exterior, but because of Sabal's augmented strength, it was not problem.

The cremation jar was smashed in front of Ajay and before the fighters that had seen it all happen with a complex emotion. Kamala had been herald as the people's champion by none other than Sabal. And they believed it too, she exluded none of the powerful auras of the Devas or capable field commanders. Just a regular soldier doing her part like the rest of the fighters, that was why they could continue to fight with pride they were in the same league as Kamala when they were being compared with the arrogant old guard in the past. To hear him say that was contradicting everything he stood for in the past.

But Sabal was oblivious to these thoughts, all he cared was for Ajay to grovel in the dirt before him. Nothing pleased him more in his life than this moment. Not even Mohan stopped him, though he wore a frown at Sabal's hopeless attitude.

Ajay's hand finally rested upon the remains spilt from the broken jar after what seemed like an eternity from the onlookers watching in silence, yet barely five minutes had passed. Because deep down they sympathized with him for just this one time. Sabal's foot landed on his hand preventing him from moving it, even though he brought it down intentionally hard Ajay didn't wail in pain or flinch for that matter. It wasn't just because he had entered shock resulting in almost no sensitivity but because he had long given up on speaking to Sabal especially. He was a brute that only wanted to see things his way, had he always been this way but concealed it? Or had Ajay altered his personality with the affliction very early in the beginning. He didn't know and didn't care.

All he did was try to move his hand but the weight of Sabal's foot prevented it.

"You want to pick her ashes up? Beg me first." (Pak) A stone flew his way and struck Sabal on the temples.

"Who did that?!" He roared at the top of his lungs he retraced the trajectory of the pebble. Its direction led back to the king of comedy, Jason Brody. Happily whistling away innocently, but it was obvious he did it.

"Oh? Sorry about that, I meant to throw it at the jar 'cause it looked fun." He smiled bashfully, but it was clear it was meant for Sabal.

(Pak) "Urgh!" Another peddle came his way, but not from Jason.

(Pak) (Pak) More began coming his way, from no one other than the fighters.

"Stop! You cretins, it's me!" He roared at the crowd that begun to increase in volume with their stone throwing, he could not see who exact were throwing but it was amongst the crowd and nobody stopped them. Though he couldn't feel it due to the unnatural hardness of his body, he could feel the hate brewing. He had realized his mistake too late to be salvaged.

The irony of the situation, the Golden Path were helping Ajay in this one time. Perhaps they were convinced he would surely perish now so at very least he deserved their utmost dying respect for him.

Ajay was no conscious of what was happening around him, all he cared about was the ashes that were beginning to blow away with the wind.

He took a handful in his lying position wondering what to do to prevent more from escaping.

Right now, by tradition. The last step of the last rite ceremony was about to be completed after its several month delay. To scatter the ashes into the wind to release them from the worldly affects, that was what the end of the Kyrati funerals represented.

He watched as every grain of the ash flew away from his hand, when it left it symbolized the severing of his earthy connection to Kamala, she would be free to rejoin the cycle of reincarnation. He held out his hand toward the opening of the cave as the witch created a mild gust to assist in sending her away.

After hanging on to the jar for so long, he would take a while to get used to her absence in spirit.

-Remember that I'll always be watching over you…..- the last words of Kamala to him resounded in his mind as if she were there.

He prepared to release the last bit of ash in his hands…. But the grip would not open. His conviction prevented him from parting. His whole arm began to shake from holding up his hand, and then he lowered it.

His eyes were placed deeply upon the ash, the last physical remains of Kamala.

"I won't give you back to the cold indifferent winds…"

He brought his hand closer towards him.

"You said you'll be with me….. always."

He then brought the ashes to his mouth.

"Then from now on, live inside of me… And be with me forever."

The occupants of the cave watched as he did something that none of them would have believe he would do instead of freeing her soul to the winds of the Himalayas.

He ate her ashes.

Ajay took whole mouthfuls of the ash as he devoured it ravenously so as to keep more of the ash remains from scattering with the wind. This way, Kamala would live within him always. The witch seemed to tremble at the sight, though nobody was looking her way. Mohan sighed, his decisions in life had cursed Ajay in the most horrible way.

Sabal looked appalled at what he'd done. To eat human ashes.

"Cannibal! You really are a monster, both in spirit and in flesh." He drew out his kukri and raised it ready to take off his head and end this long spanning scene. "Whatever, you'll be nothing but a memory now."

Sabal picked him by the collar and raised him from the ground. Ajay dangled lifelessly in his grip as he pointed the knife to his throat with the other hand.

"Any last words?"

Ajay made no answer even though he stared at the knife without showing fear or despair.

"Your silence is all the better." Sabal said before plunging the knife towards his throat to gut him.

As the knife flew straight towards its destination, a sudden force prevented it from reaching any further. The knife had stopped just an inch away from its target. Sabal looked in shock to see what had stopped his hand was none other than by Ajay's own hand.

With a grip like steel, that transcended his own immortal strength. But it was not with the power of the demon that held it at bay. Sabal's push was held back as he struggled to impale him with the end of the knife, Ajay barely moved an inch.

Ajay felt something inside of him change, he felt no hatred, no anger, yet no joy or sorrow either

Ajay pulled his hand away and lurched his hand away causing him to yell at the rough handling and stepped back from Ajay after releasing him.

Ajay stood up on his own feet, albeit waving to and from because of the weakness that still stalked his body. Yet where did that strength come from? Mohan eyed the stroke of which he had done so, and instantly recognised that form.

-Four seasons of pandemonium. First comes spring.- Bibek's voice explained the first form to the four forms of the Royal Martial Art.

"The high time of life. Representing vigor of youth." Ajay recited in almost a murmur the form that Bibek had taught him in those three days, whilst taking the stance of the first form.

* * *

Sabal glared at him, as if he had robbed him of his kill and freedom from humiliation by continuing to live despite his beyond sound condition. "I'll-…..I'll KILL YOU!" He rushed Ajay with his knife in hand against an unarmed Ajay. No one else seemed to intervene, no one else partook in this fight that emerged between Sabal and Ajay.

Sabal thrusted his knife when he'd entered strike range. Ajay raised his hands in a defensive stance and he did not even leave the place he stood in. He simply pushed the trajectory of the knife away from him as it passed his face by inches while he stepped forward and delivered a chop to Sabal's artery before backing off quickly.

Since Sabal was too tough to kill without weapons, naturally he didn't even feel discomfort from the chop. But knowing that in a different circumstance it would have killed him made him enraged as he threw slashes with additional fury.

Ajay did the same but pushing him away whilst delivering a chop. No matter how Sabal attacked, he never seemed to land a hit. He had even tried to change his swing in the midst of the form himself, but Ajay used his hands to lock with Sabal's so that the blade would never reach him.

But as it stood, Ajay was merely defending without inflicting any serious damage, he was already in a terrible condition while Sabal could regenerate heavy wounds and his stamina was almost unlimited.

The rest of the fighters quietly watched as Ajay contended with Sabal with staking odds against his fight with Sabal. He would have to break the stalemate by taking out Sabal somehow. But with what?

His ammo run dry, his inner demon suppressed, what else did he have?

Only the vocal manual that Bibek had recited to him. The one thing the former General brought with him into the bloody battlefield and emerged a legend. The style that turned Darshan into a power that the four Devas could not mess with. Four Seasons of Pandemonium, the mysterious martial art that ended up in the Royal Bloodlines possession and passed to its warriors.

-The next comes summer- He heard the second form being said my Bibek in his recollection.

"The bountiful sun. Blistering brightly." For decades, no one had passed that form. No one had deciphered the meaning of its meaning. The sun that blisters, wouldn't it mean an aggressive style of combat? That was what many had thought, yet none had passed that stage including him. They had even been given the motion by their masters, yet none could apply it, sometimes not even the masters knew.

-Blistering brightly… what if its not a scorching sun of absolute power….. but a warm glowing ember that envelops the soul, heart and mind. Nourishing it rather than beating it with brute excessive force.-

Ajay soften his motions in performing the stance till there wasn't even a shed of force to deliver to Sabal upon the latters second swing at Ajay. He had finally uncovered the secret to the second form.

-Envelopment force to return.-

The fighters and Mohan watched in anticipation to the fight, some hoped that Ajay would even beat Sabal. Teeth gnashed when the blade entered a reactive range to Ajay.

His hands that were without power naturally followed parrellel to Sabal's swing and locked upon Sabal's arm. Causing the confusion of the latter that he didn't oppose the force to prevent the swing from decapitating him.

Ajay naturally lay back and let his body follow the direction of the blade until it seemed as if he was about to fall to the ground. Sabal, seeing he was about to fall wanted to change his approach and retracted but then Ajay's hands had prevented him from tipping with him. Sabal was about to topple with Ajay.

But of course, Ajay wouldn't let him fall of him. He pressed his leg against Sabal as he fell back and pushed him upwards, this sent Sabal flying in a somersault and landing to the ground face flat. His body smashed the floor with an indent much like how Ajay had been punched into the ground before.

Sabal was in a daze, disbelieving that someone in his state could fight him beyond the pinnacle of human strength and prowess. He angrily rushed once more as if refusing to accept the reality that he had failed to kill him on his own. This time his strikes did not meet the target as Ajay struck his elbow joints and wrist to bend his trajectory out of its original direction whilst delivering a strike from the palm while using the momentum that Sabal had exerted upon him from his stab. If there were a Chinese martial artist around to appraise what was happening. He would have claimed Ajay was incorporating a variant of Tai Chi Quan and Drunken Fist. As the Art form was not far from that derivative.

Mohan was especially surprised not just because of Ajay's worsening condition but his ability to contend with augmented humans that even practiced the Royal Art like Sabal. It wasn't all, Ajay had been the second person of the next generation of Royal Martial Art users to pass the second form. Although, Ajay had impressively chanced upon this during the heat of battle.

The fighters were equally awed but the way he fought with Sabal while in a terrible state and unarmed to add into the equation.

"JUST DIE ALREADY!" Sabal shouted as he wished for it to be an absolute fact, he held the kukri in a two-handed grip that didn't align with the Martial Art but just a mere slash.

Ajay found his chance here, and at a good timing as it was already difficult to keep his consciousness awake, his vision began to fail him leaving him blind in the left eye. He grappled Sabal's hand and tugged him till the latter lost his hold to the ground. He released one hand from the two-handed hold to balance out with his hand unconsciously and that's when Sabal's strength to oppose Ajay's altering of his wielding had ended. Ajay struck the back of his elbow to bend while holding his knife hand, he turned Sabal's wrist to face him and delivered a kick to the knife that plunged into Sabal's eye socket.

Sabal barely had time to scream in pain as Ajay delivered the final blow to strike the nail into the coffin, he elbowed the hilt of the knife further into Sabal's eye and into his cranium. From there, Sabal's body stopped moving entirely and rested against Ajay. He pushed his head off him, and the body fell back motionless with a thump. He knew that Sabal wouldn't die from that if he'd been through much worst.

Ajay swayed to keep his balance, his bleeding had reached a point that his armour was soaked wet with blood, yet he refused to go done less Daisy suffer at their hands. He picked the fallen slayer up and propped himself against it as he held his kukri with a jittering hand. Even in this state, it made even Jason afraid to approach him. He was in a genuine state of near-death, but like a cornered-rat he would take you with him. No one approached to give him the killing blow after Sabal failed despite his newly found prowess.

"RRRAAAARRGHHH!" In an instant, a louder than usual cry of angst came from Sabal as he awoke from that blackout and pulled the knife out of his damaged body. Which worked vigourously to recover.

It took a few seconds, which was unbelievable. Sabal's rate of regeneration had even surprised Mohan. He had heard his report that Sabal had regenerated from pieces after a grenade splattered him everywhere. Did it change his ability to reform beyond even the others' limit?

"AJAAYY!" Sabal charged in his incomplete state, ignoring the pain. It was a frightful sight for the rest of the fighters to see that Sabal had truly transcended humanity into a genuine monster, a Rakshasa.

He was just about to restrain Sabal when his six-sense kicked in, telling him to evade. As a fifty-kilo javelin flew by him and stuck the charging Sabal. He flew with the projectile that impaled him solid to the walls of the cave. Another projectile out from thin-air impacted and struck his limbs preventing him from pulling out the harpoons.

"Everybody drop your guns." The air near the cave fizzled and distorted where the voice originated from. The camo cloak was thrown over his head to reveal the burly foreigner once a friend to the golden path.

Some of the fighters reached for their firearms.

"Uh-Uh! Now I wouldn't do nothing funny if I were you." Hurk raised what appeared to be a remote detonator.

"In case you're wondering, while you were enjoying yourself I rigged this place to blow. So stay the fuck back!" He moved forward with the harpoon slung around his shoulder with one hand and the other with the detonator.

(Plop) Ajay's body fell flat against the floor as he'd expended every last drop of his strength even beyond his reserves to protect Daisy. Now that Hurk was here to take over, he could take her out.

"Ajay? Ajay!"

Hurk moved slowly towards where Ajay and Daisy was by his side. He reached down with his finger to check for a pulse.

"He's fine, Dais. Help me get him up." Daisy didn't answer him, she instead carried out his instruction by holding him from the shoulder. She struggled to do so as his general weight inclusive of the armour and kit was far heavier than she anticipated but she managed to bring him up and fling his hand over her shoulder to carry. She made her way to where Hurk was standing near the edge and received a rappling rope and harness for her to take down. She attached Ajay to herself as she begun her descent.

"Go to the west where the bushes are neck high in a bunch. And hurry, we don't have long till extraction arrives. E.T.A, 6 Minutes." He told her before her rappelling down to slopes with the help of Ajay's detached winch motor to quicken the process for a four hundred metre descent.

No one dared to walk within thirty metres from Hurk as everyone was familiar with the stories about his exploits. He was Mizaru, the cold-blooded sniper who had killed a Chinese soldier over the border at the risk of sparking a war. No one was crazy enough to do something like that here, so it was best not to test him out to see if he would really commit suicide with them.

That was them, but Jason was Jason. He was the only one to walk towards Hurk calmly.

"Stay back, Jason." He warned from the edge, but Jason continued forward.

"I said stay back, goddamnit!"

"You won't shoot me, Hurk. After all, didn't you say we were tatbros?"

"I'm warning you, Jas!"

"And don't tatbros stay tatbros for life?" He proceeded ignoring his warning whilst he wore a comforting smile he mimicked from the original Jason Brody.

"Jesus fuck! Don't move another fucking inch!" He cocked his harpoon.

"Do it."

"Do it, Hurk- Do it! DO IT! PULL THE FUCKING TRIGGER!" Jason shouted at him.

But Hurk's hand shook hesitant to release the steel rod into his dear friend who had been with him in the Rook Islands. Jason sighed with a wry smile.

"That was your only chance to really free Jason…..." A machete darted out from behind his hand and flung it at Hurk. "Urrghhhh!" The machete gorged itself deep into Hurk's shoulder that he dropped the harpoon all together. Jason flashed before him and lay his hand on the hilt of the blade. "And you've wasted it." Stabbing deep into Hurk and striking his heart.

* * *

Daisy dragged Ajay as best as she could after her quick descent, but there were already shouts from the camp moving around to apprehend her. She could see her odds of bringing Ajay to safety were slimming every second. Even so, she had no choice but to pull him away to the designated location that Hurk had prescribed to her.

"There they are!" She had been spotted in the dark of the camp due to the shining torches and the growing trail of blood she hadn't stop from bleeding yet, Daisy pulled with all her might as she knew that to stop would mean death. His death.

A figure covered the moonlight as it descended towards her from the direction of the cave, a feeling of dread welled inside of Daisy at the sight of the figure that approached to her faster than she could comprehend and outran the rest of the Golden Path forces.

And then a violet thread shot out looking to behead her. Daisy suddenly felt a cold chilling feeling stalk her extermities. She felt the impending danger, yet it was too quick for her to dodge. It was as if time had slowed around her as it was made clear that thread would take her life. Daisy sighed internally, there was much she wanted to do. But unfortunately, life was too short. Worse of all, she had put Ajay's life at danger and he was likely to follow after her. Daisy had no choice but to reside to her fate here as she closed her eyes.

-So this is how death feels like. I'll be sure to repay you in the afterlife.-

But it was not to be the day she died as a sharp blade cut through the air and severed the string in half causing it to fall to the ground without meaning. That cloaked figure backed away as a shadow converged upon her and sent out an array of seals and talismans that would render her threads without its special edge and anti-magic talismans to prevent her from retaliating the same way. The shadow spat a goblet of liquid from an alcohol flange which ignited into a wall of fire that cut off the Golden Path fighters and Vel from Daisy, Ajay and the mysterious figure.

"Let us not waste time further!" He said in a demanding voice. But even so, he took over carrying Ajay from Daisy. She could instantly tell he had good intentions and was obliged to follow with haste. They came to the place where Hurk had pointed out to them the man looked through the bushes and pulled out Ajay's duffel he left for their extraction and dug inside to find the fulton system.

"Put this on, and be quick. There's no telling when it will arrive and when they will find a way around that wall!" He tossed a harness over as he kicked the inflating system on.

He was quite accurate on the part that they would find a way to them sooner than expected, while the rest were attempting to put out the fire and circle around the hill to get to them. Two figures popped through the fires unharmed. One was Vel, the other was her mistress.

" _You dare take him from me, Demon Banisher?!"_ She shrieked at him.

She appeared in front of him attempting to wave her hand to send a crushing vacuum to consume him but talismans shot out and mitigated the destructive force. He sent a few flying wooden swords her way containing sealing power which forced her up into the air where she was in fact more vulnerable. The time to counter had come, out from his holster came his bow while he strung a very unusual arrow on, locked upon her.

Upon release, the arrow spun towards her master with a power surge of energy and a deadly toxin to a very particular magical entity category which she fell into.

"Master!" Vel changed her course to intercept the arrow as she changed midcourse and took the arrow with her body. Vel dropped out of the sky as the power of the toxin wasn't for humans to handle. The witch's eyes flickered with hesitation then frustration as she chose her apprentice over retrieving Ajay.

" _Make my words, Demon Banisher. You won't see the last of me, I will be sure to eradicate you for sure next time! On my heart, I swear this to you!"_ She scorned before leaving with a mortally wounded Vel to draw out the toxins to save her. She made one final look to Ajay that hung from the exorcist's shoulder and bit her lip in frustration.

She had allowed Mohan to set this style of trap and their individual attacks upon Ajay. This was all for a simple reason. To sever his binding Karma with that foreign woman that was polluting it, in order for him to go through the process, he needed to hold the purest form of Karma there was to survive the assimulation, to break Yalung from his prison. She had not expected the demon exorcist to be here to intervene and steal him from her. Her mere carelessness had cost her greatly, and now she did not even have time to exert her anger due to Vel's worsening status. And the exorcist knew that.

The roaring sound of a cargo plane could be heard coming closer. The exorcist grabbed the harness for himself and Ajay. He checked to see that the balloon had risen sufficiently which it had. The C-100 passed over them and the line was strung. The cargo plane took the balloon with it, along with the three of them one after another, extracting them from the hotzone.

Ajay regained slight consciousness from the wind blowing at his face harshly, but was only able to open one eye. He saw the burning fields where Darshan had lit the flame and the cave in the distance, now getting further.

He saw a familiar figure which was hard to make out from the distance lying against the rocks in the mouth of the cave, looking in his direction. Who was that he thought to himself? Then- (BOOOOOOMMM) The cave and the place that the person had been sitting erupted into explosive force demolishing the whole cave network. Following that was a roar of jets which dropped trails of napalm all over the camps in the valley.

But by this time, Ajay's eyes would shut for a very long time before it opened again.

* * *

Author's Notes:

Short chapter coming your way shortly, now in process of finalising. Tomorrow morning, i'll get back to it and release.


	100. Chapter 91(g) - A Son Reunites with Home

There one hundredth posted chapter. Good lord! I would never have expected a day like this would come even if I said it might but- wow….

If you've stuck around this long then you're probably longing for the ending pretty soon. Like I said before, this would be around the closing for sixty-five percent completion. Long way to go in such a short time, hope things go well.

* * *

It was the first time, Vasu set foot upon the Royal Fortress in twenty-six year. Well, technically he'd assaulted the bastion gates back in '98 before his sixteen years of imprisonment. And much had changed since then, apart from the Golden Pagan statue that daunted the parade square in the middle of the courtyard.

Where it was once a single regiment of Royal Guard in his day, was now four divisions of soldiers enlisted with the Royal Kyrati Army. Royal Guard was now either referring to Yuma's private army or special honor guard soldiers like the Fortress Guard, Palace Guard and the mountain alpine troops called the Snow Guard. There were helicopter battalions, motorized rifle divisions and mechanized forces. But most impressive of all was the Royal Kyrati Airforce (KAF), the one element that turned Kyrat into a major power in the Himalayas. It was also the bargaining edge Pagan had in convincing the three states to come together as a political bloc known as the Himavana Pillar Alliance. The four nations represented the pillars that held up the mountains, but the public had stuck to calling it Himavana Alliance instead for convenience.

That being said there was a different air about the place, everyone had been invigorated by the telecast at Papir Republic from the Garud Durbar palace. Having stated the intentions of the alliance to the people and what it hoped to achieve. It meant that interregional business was about to boom. Which meant rise in budgets for education, military, security, industry, infrastructure, housing and healthcare. You name it they call it. That was why everyone was excited, it meant a change from their stagnant times with little to do and low pay wages. This was about to change all that, and perhaps their future as well.

The staff officers in the Army were discussing the latest development in troop deployment via a modern system he'd not heard of before called C4I. Basically, it was a high-technology network between the Command, intelligence and ground forces to coordinate an efficient movement of troops. Coupled to this was a portable battle management system they planned to issue to each platoon of soldiers and every armoured vehicle. What this did for the ground forces was allow them to receive up to date intel on the road ahead as well as access to fire support at a click of a button. It kept sounding their requests off the radio and reducing comms traffic considerably. This system also allowed ground forces to relay info back to Command more efficiently and in a language they understood better. There were currently talks with a certain High Tech South-East Asian country for developing for them this system using the credentials of India and the newly established Himavana Alliance.

Vasu felt out of place and out of pace with the current officers, but it was not as if they gave him due concern. He received more than his fair share of stares at him while his back was turned. Everyone knew who he was, and everyone was not as equally accepting of his place as a Kshatriyan Lord despite Badala's power to appoint three Lords. Two had already been conferred, one went to Arjun's daughter and the other to him. The absolute highest authority in the Kyrati Army under the Marshal and the 1st Lord. It was clear he wasn't deserving of the title, that feeling was mutual with the officers of the Royal Kyrati Army, but they dared not question Badala's judgement of the matter. Considering that it was none other than the 1st Lord that battled with Vasu on more than one occasion, yet he choes to redeem him. It was all a matter of perspective, everyone was entitled to their own views and beliefs.

Vasu just had to believe he was a Kyrati Lord doing good for his people.

"Shall we be on our way, sir?" Said the young officer acting as his liason to the Army forces temporarily.

He did have at least one person that believed in his ability to fight on their side. And that was the young lieutenant Jeevan Hamal. His past with Badala was a whole other complicated story, but apparently he was his apprentice and also the future Commander of the Air Force Specops known as the Jatayu. The Airforces' only ground troops at the moment, in the form of a brigade of paratroopers currently returning back to Kyrat from their two-week long excursion to Yinke. They had already been combat proven with their invasion of Yinke and fight against the Golden Path at Lanka early in their conception.

"Yes, lets." He followed the younger officer to the staff car to be ferried to their next location at Vasu's request.

He sat shotgun to Jeevan who drove off down the hillside that the Royal Fortress was on. The checkpoint guards immediately raised the gates upon sighting him and saluted crisply at him. Jeevan saluted back out of courtesy before moving off.

"The soldiers seem to respect you a lot." Vasu started a conversation for no apparent reason.

"Well, I do have a reputation as the Demon's apprentice to uphold you know, sir." Vasu scanned the kid a few times previously as he'd heard that Sabal had apparently been "killed" again by this regular human. But then again, if he was Badala's apprentice he could hardly be called normal. Perhaps the apex of human lethality, Sabal returned as a half-formed mess due to his body struggling to maintain itself from the grenade that had torn him from the inside. Vasu found his will to be the most frightening thing he had encountered in Golden Path.

To think that none of them knew the real extent of the dangers that Golden Path posed because Badala had kept them in the dark for so long. Yet, they never seem to be at odds with Golden Path. Badala had found himself some rather unique and talented individuals where even immortal flesh could not deter them. It almost questioned the true strength of Golden Path without these supernatural powers and the validity of Mohan's resolve. It was painful, to see that Badala and the Royal Army had taken off where Mohan and Golden Path should have been doing. But one single incident changed the course of the civil war and turned it into a stalemate for two and a half decades.

Vasu sighed.

"I did good considering your first time inspecting the Royal Fortress Command, sir."

"This place doesn't suit me."

"I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you, sir. You're expected to deliver a division commander's worth of paperwork if you intend to go outfield as often as you did in Golden Path."

Vasu sighed again more exasperatively, Jeevan chuckled at his lack of patience.

"Do you know my teacher's workload everytime both of you had clashed?" Vasu turned Jeevan's way slightly interested to know.

"Two stacks, a ruler length high." Vasu's head started to feel giggy at that sort of endorsing of materials via paper authorization. Golden Path had none of that, and that was why the supplies often appeared less than usual because someone had taken some to keep or sell in the Shanath bazaar behind everyones' backs.

"That's only for combat mission, sir. We haven't even gone to management of the Four Arsenals, overseeing his city of Lakshman, endorsing local territory laws and taxes, and when Lanka was still in construction all the material and worker requisitions, the airforce and mercena-."

"Ok! I get it!" Jeevan laughed once more, at least he hoped that Vasu would have an idea of how difficult his teacher's live was besides tutoring him in conditioning the state of mind and close combat drills. He barely had time to be home with his family or at least that was what it was to him. Jeevan had all the time in the world to be with his sister who visited him regularly to hand him his lunch, some officers and grunts mistook her for a love interest of his at one point. When he clarified, they all begun hitting on her that she stopped coming all together.

They drove down to a very familiar abode which it had been year since he last set foot in, Sano Pahada village. What he once called home for fifteen years of his life.

Jeevan parked the jeep at the side of the road and turned to Vasu.

"Do you need me to follow you, just in case the villagers get bright ideas seeing you?" Jeevan patted his holster to express his willingness to protect him on his way home.

"There's no one here left to remember me. I'll be fine on my own, thanks for the ride." Vasu thanked him and rejected his offer politely.

"then, I'll pick you up tommorrow at seven. Will that be alright, sir?"

"Yes, that's pretty late. And from tomorrow onwards you can address me like your teacher does, just Vasu will do."

"Very well, sir. I'll see you tomorrow then. Sir!" He saluted with a bashful face before leaving on the jeep. Noting that he had heard what vasu said but still addressed him as Sir, because it was not tomorrow yet when he could address him as Vasu.

"Cheeky bastard." Vasu chuckled and shook his head. He turned and made his way home, retracing familiar steps towards the House of Khati on the mountain slopes.

He did receive a few looks but mostly because of his uniform that resembled that of staff officers in the Royal Army, the only subtle difference was a crest badge pinned on his left breastpocket which held the Throne's coat of arms. His status as a militant lord.

He walked slowly to enjoy the sights and sounds of the quiet village of Sano Pahada, the charming hamlet of over eight thousand souls. Although, some features like certain stalls or architecture were long gone, some things remained like the river before the Khati Mansion. Vasu took a moment to rest his hands and leaned against the bridge as he looked at the running waters. It sparked, long ago sweet memories he had in his childhood and his young adult life. The affection he held for a certain young woman he would dare to call his sister at one time. What occupied her place was the strong independent woman who singlehandedly managed Badala's Arsenal One in the city.

"Are you lost, mister?" A sweet voice called out from behind him.

* * *

Vasu turned around to find a sweet little girl with rosy cheeks standing behind him.

"Well, to be honest…. I think I am." Vasu chuckled to himself as he refered to his thoughts rather than his destination.

"That's good!" The child replied without a shed of restraint.

"Uh…..?"

"Mom says its good to be honest." She said with a smile. Vasu had trouble understanding at first until she completed her last sentence.

"So where do you want to go?"

"Are you sure you should be talking to me? Didn't your mother teach you not to go near strangers?" Vasu warned.

"Mmmm….. but you don't feel strange. You smell a lot like big bro Badala."

"Badala? So you know him?"

"Mm! He's mommy and big sis Maya's boss. Plus, he's very funny." She always put her finger to her lips cutely as she thought before she said anything.

"That doesn't sound like the Badala I know." Vasu voiced his thoughts about Ajay's humour or maybe it was just he who didn't find it funny when he constantly made fun of Golden Path and him in the past.

"So where d'you live? Where? Where?" Vasu had to admit, this girl was energetic.

"I'm looking for….. the Khati household. Heard of it?"

"Is it someone you want to visit there?"

"Family."

"Really? Are you going to take back your child?!" Vasu had trouble understanding this little girl because she only talked about things from her point of view which he wasn't aware of as a stranger.

"No. It's more like I used to be a kid from there, I'm Vasu. Vasu Khati."

"Ooooooh! Just like grandpa and me!"

"You've a Khati as well?"

"Everyone in the home is a member of Khati, or so mom says."

"….." How could he forget, old man Bibek took in children from the streets and allowed them to don his surname. He didn't inherit it because he stubbornly wanted to revive the Sen household despite its apparent fall from the logs of the echelon households. Darshan seemed to have taken the name for his entrance into the Royal Guard Academy and Hunter Fraternity.

"Come, I'll take you there!" She announced excitedly as if she'd established bringing him to the Khati mansion was a mission of hers.

Vasu decided to follow along with her since he was headed there anyway, even if he already knew it was on her mountain slope. He never understood why Bibek chose to live frugal when he was the greatest general alive in Kyrat. Now he did, there was no greater joy than being with family. This was what Vasu had forsaken for glory and had come home with nothing in the end, Bibek must have realized it during his exploits and retired from the field for that very purpose.

"Be careful, the slope is slippery."

"Thanks for doing this, it's great that someone could help me retrace my steps back home." Althoguh he already knew, there was no harm commending her on the effort she put.

"Family helps each other, right? Mmm…. How long have you been away?"

Vasu looked at the mansion that was not too far away up top but because the girl had smaller feet it was several times more difficult, how did she come down and up everyday he wondered?

Vasu reached down and picked her up, placing her on his shoulders. "Weee!"

"You sure are enjoying yourself."

"Go horsey! Go!" She giggled excitedly.

"What? Horsey…?" She kicked his side like a horse to make him move forward. Vasu sighed, it was he who volunteered after all to carry her because he was concerned by her walk up the treacherous slopes.

"Hang on tightly then."

"Yaay!"

Vasu held on to her feet as he scaled the mountain slope with careful steps as he centre of gravity had increased due to an additional weight about his waist. He walked on a familiar path and one each stone as he had walked upon for decades. He was already forty-five years of age, a veteran of many wars and should have been too old to fight in his war where he should have been a staff officer directing men out into the field. But his mind was filled with achieving feats of glory like Bibek once had and to do that he wanted to be out there fighting by the mens' side. That was how his title as a Deva came about, but as the months went by after his release from the Gulag he was beginning to grow weary of fights especially against a monstrous fighter like the younger Badala. His brothers were in the same mind even though they failed to mention it, their era had long past. So this little girl's presence was a warm welcome to the end of Vasu's career out in the fields.

He was sure Badala had appointed him as a Kshatriyan Lord as a way to absolve him of the war crimes against the state and for Bibek-ji's sake. To think that so many would stand up for his mistakes for an immature person such as him, it made him feel helpless of what to do.

"We're here!" The little girl announced before Vasu put her down.

"Nana!" The girl called out to the silhouette of an old man hunching over to inspect his humble vegetable garden diligently.

"Alisha, my girl. Back from your adventure, how was it?" Bibek called out lovingly as he came over and found Vasu to his surprise he had come with her.

The girl Alisha explained her trip to the river to collect unusual stone which she presented physical evidence in the form of small rocks in her satchel bag.

"Ohhh… look at this one, child. You found a gold nugget, now how did you manage that?" The girl shrugged her shoulders.

"I just found it in the water with the fishies."

"My, then it must be a sign that someone is watching over and has blessed you with good fortune. You should treasure it, you might not know when you'll need it." Bibek acted out like a maternal-grandfather would to his granddaughter.

"Mmm… I want to share it with mom." She said in all her honesty." Bibek couldn't help but smile.

"You would choose to share your fortune with others? Remember child, there will be more good tidings coming your way in future."

"Mmm!"

"Now run along, your mother wanted you back ten minutes ago for dinner. Be sure to wash your hands as well, child."

"Yes, Nana!"

Bibek waved her off as he approached Vasu.

"Welcome home, son."

For some reason, it felt like a very emotional moment for him as he tried to get a hold of his expression.

"Thank you, father. It's been a while."

* * *

The table was extended as it usually was for dinner time with all fifteen orphans and the master of the house himself with his family. These included Aasha, Elina and Alisha. Elina avoided looking at Vasu ever since she'd been notified of his arrival to the mansion.

"Tonight, we'll be sharing a meal with a very special member of our family. He's been away for a very long time from our home which has been his home too for nearly fifteen years." Bibek introduced him to his newer family at the table.

Vasu straighten himself and cleared his throat. "I'm thankful to share the table with you all tonight, my name is Vasu Khati. The Khati household was my home nearly twenty-seven years ago."

"Ah! This Deva Vasu Sen!" One of the boys recognised that name.

Instantly, the fifteen other orphans didn't seem to have a very good picture of Golden Path. Vasu could see that.

"What is a traitor doing here?"

"Child!" Aasha was called out to the boy who said it.

"Am I wrong?!" The child who had once played ball with Biraj and had questioned Ajay's returned with his ashes inquired.

"No, you're not." Vasu answered his query.

The faces of the orphans and Elina looked at him with astonishment. Especially her, knowing from the past how stubborn and self-righteous he was.

"If you want to know whom I've betrayed over the years I can tell you every one of them. Bibek-ji, Aasha-ji, Elina….. The marshal and all who stood by the king instead of following us. I've done worse that betray them, young man. I've killed more than I can remember for reasons that I've began to question now more than ever. So, if you were to call me a traitor, I wouldn't mind. At least, you're tolerant enough not to shoot or kill me for sitting with you to enjoy the pleasure of sitting with a family and eating. And for that, I'm grateful." Vasu said with a genuine smile as he bowed his head.

This rendered everyone at the tables shocked, he'd instantly defused the horrible mood with a mere exhibition of humbleness. Bibek couldn't help but smile, at least one of Vasu's more stubborn traits had finally vanished with his experience. Or thanks to Ajay for giving him this opportunity to understand this.

"Ah- haha-… nevermind what this silly boy says, Arnav is just very adventurous aren't you. He even did the same to Badala at one point, quite naughty if you ask me. Come- child, apologize for ruining the mood!" Aasha was strict enough to remind him of his manners.

"Ah-…Mm!" He hesitantly nodded his head. "I'm sorry I said some bad things I didn't mean."

"Don't sweat it. I'm glad you were honest enough to bring it up." He said with a smile.

Alisha giggled away as she was reminded about their short conversation earlier about honesty.

"Then, a toast. To the son that returned home, to Vasu!" A more cheerful and friendly orphan girl who was one of Bhadra's friends took initiative by raising her glass of barley drink.

"""Cheers!"""

"Cheers!" Vasu said along with them as they went around clinking cups to pass their good fortune to one another. Vasu chuckled as all fifteen orphans struggled to clink their cups with him before doing so with the rest. Alisha had done so with Vasu were her own drink. Which only left Elina who was directly on the opposite side of him. Both of them met eye contact with each other, his with a serious earnest look, hers of a hesitant one.

"What are you waiting for, girl? You want me to matchmake you or something before you do such a simple task?" Elina's mother joked to get her to move.

"That was uncalled for mother." She whispered to her.

"Then don't waste each other's time. Don't tell me your childhood crush for Vasu is resurging." Aasha grew bolder with her statements.

Elina neither denied it nor agreed. She reached out with her cup. "Bless wishes to you on your new career." She said.

Vasu smiled warmly back to her as he reached out with his own cup of barley tea.

"And may you always treasure the wonderful things you've made for yourself." He made a glance to Alisha happily drinking away the barley.

"…."

(Cling) Their cups clinked, ending whatever hostility or awkwardness they previously had.

* * *

Author's Notes:

Think i can safely say I'm the heaviest of all the FC4 fanfics out there, not that i'm proud of it though. If i could make content like Crab Rangoon, The One True King or Tomorrow is Today and Evil Prevails from FC3 which is pretty good as well. In the same quality to my quantity then I would have the confidence to pursue writing as a career, as if that would ever happen.

Its Engineering, History and Soldiering for me all the way, anyday.


	101. Chapter 92 - Pay it Forward

Author's Notes:

Man. Not getting easy to craft out these chapters from here on out. I've already crafted three drafts for this one to experiment with the feel which hadn't been right till this one. May the Lord give me more brain juice to do my studies and gather ideas for writing the story to portray it the way I want.

* * *

The surgical team worked tirelessly in the operating room, ever since they received the emergency from Sagarmatha Air Base. Even then, it was hard to believe who their patient was.

"Number 20." Noore called for a different scalpel from the surgeons as she worked on the fifth gash. She was working against the clock because of his blood loss and when her fellow doctors wanted to use anesthetics with adrenaline she disallowed it. Only she knew the consequence of invigorating his blood with accelerating chemicals, he could very well blow up the entire hospital on his own.

"Right, stitch this one." She finished the gash wound and wiped the sweat off her brows as her nurses did as she asked.

"Doctor, we're on to the last plasma packs for A+!" The nurse announced to the surgical group.

"Tsh!" She had even told them to submit a resupply of that blood type as it was unusually common in Kyrat.

(Bepepepepe) His heart rate was going out of control for the last five minutes straight. Running at 140 beats a minute.

"What the hell is it?! We've sealed a majority of his wounds! We've bloodbagged half the supply of plasma and type A+ blood! What is causing all this, an unknown toxin?" The Royal physician complained as he'd reviewed the data on his injuries beforehand with Noore yet nothing of that sort was found.

"Let's not think about it first! Help me stitch the last one together then we can try a cocktail of anti-venom." Noore straightened out her temporary medical colleague whom Pagan loaned to her.

She turned his side over to check the last gash as her nurses applied the alcohol to wash away the coagulation agent that had been applied by the pilots to stop his immediate bleeding. Then threw the operating sheets over him wound. The working light was shone down into his wound as she took a pair of thin scalpels and tweezers to begin work with removing foreign debris. From the previous wounds had a few exotic objects like a broken tang of a kukri, shards of sharp granite yet no bullet wounds.

Knowing the world that he fought in was based upon blades and barehands, Noore thought about it no further. But that was when she noticed it deeply embedded in his wound, normally the rest would have throught it was merely part of his armour fabric. But Noore's keen eyes could see it was of a different colour, a violet thread. She removed it as she naturally needed to remove all foreign debris before sealing the wound.

(Beep) (Beep) (Beep) And his heart rate dropped back to stable levels.

This was a surprise to the other doctor and nurses who thought he had finally managed to stabilize on his own. But Noore found that to be too much of a coincidence, she carried it with her tweezers and dropped it into a small container for her to examine later. The Royal Physcian took over from her to do the stitching process as he regained confidence to do so.

Noore huffed a sigh of relief that this op was over and removed her mask as she walked to the table to grab her bottle of water to hydrate.

She gulped down the fluids that seem to moisten her throat and sat back to relax. She thought about what Ashley was doing at home while she was performing this emergency. Probably playing that makeover video game on her laptop after finishing her studies. Noore's most pressing concern was for Ashley's future, would she take her back to the states or should she stay here to raise her. Noore knew she had been deeply involved in the revitalization effort of Kyrats economy and so out of convenience the choice should be Kyrat. Then again, Ashley like herself were US citizens, would she feel betrayed that she had been robbed of a different and perhaps better life in the states?

There was no guarantee Kyrat and now the Himavana Alliance would reach first world level standards by the time she became a young adult. She smiled to herself at these thoughts, she could finally call Ashley her own, even if she was the daughter of one of her families' murderers.

She was all in all, a sweet child and it was no wonder Paul, De Pleur put such high precedence over her wellbeing and comfort. At first, it was about repaying the sin for having her revenge against Paul who died in the most horrific manner, in despair. In a way, Ajay had been true to his word.

He had given her a way of living on.

Noore picked up the small container that held the seemingly harmless thread and twirled it within the jar. Curiously, streaks appeared in the inner walls of the container. It surprised her to see as she guessed what had caused it. That thread was ultra thin and razor like.

(Plop) Something fell from the table holding Ajay's bloodsoaked possessions stripped from him for the surgery she'd been leaning against.

"Mmm?" The sound was heavy and a shadow was square indicating it was a book of some kind.

Noore reached down to pick up what appeared to be a small journal-size leather-covered book. The Royal Physician was stabilizing Ajay's symptoms and keeping a watch, giving her all the time in the world to read a bit. She didn't feel guilty for reading what appeared to be Ajay's journal from the first entry as he had already given her his trust to hold the darkest secret of all, and that was the end game result of Kyrat and of her. Ajay had altered her doomed fate and was now working on Kyrats.

And yet, why did it feel that there was still something else he had yet to tell her she could find within this small insignificant booklet?

* * *

Amita's trip was a sudden uncalled one out of her works on training the newest batch of recruits to the Mukti Tigers. To think they had come such a long way from a raggard-tag band of cornered abandoned Golden Path fighters to becoming a paramilitary organisation endorsed by the then-Marquis of Kyrat, Badala. Now they were a growing armed militia of eight thousand. It didn't seem like much in comparison to the original formation with the Golden Path but it was still substantial for their area of protection which was stronghold Baghadur.

In fact, it was excessive for their region of protection which encompassed Baghadur, Delta Barracks and the Royal Airport itself as major infrastructures they watched over. The Golden Path was no longer in Kyrat to threaten them, or so the public had been made to believe.

She was being informed by the private channel with Layak on the news as was her right as the Commander over the Tigers to know the most critical information regarding the defense integrity of Kyrat.

This piece was the most disturbing yet.

Badala had been beaten, coming back in a near dead state. Layak promised to fill her in on the details on behalf of the Army High Command whom were doing everything to suppress this sensitive bit of information. She had come alone despite the insistence from her fellow Tigers to have a few escorts with her.

It took a while but she finally reached her destination via Royal Police escort who helped gave her a smooth trip straight to Kyrat General Hospital where Badala was being operated on. The Police escorts bid her farewell and left her to find her way inside the building. At the lobby, Layak was already waiting for her.

"Good timing, I just arrived and was on my way there."

"Fill me in, Lieutenant." Layak only felt like talking when they were in a quieter part of the hospital on the route to the operating room. When he was sure nobody was nearby, he filled her in.

"The Marshal has enacted a full lockdown on this news so that it does not reach the public and especially the informants of the Duke's enemies in the Echelons."

"What happened?"

"He went on a solo mission to retrieve a foreigner by the name of Daisy Lee, he had some sort of acquaintance with her prior to his arrival to Kyrat. But she entered Golden Path to do something really stupid I won't even bother to say. So, he went to rescue her and sprung their trap they set instead. Can you imagine fighting in the hornet's nest? Anyway, Specialist Major Khati happened to be operating in the area and assisted them in extraction. This was his report that we're basing our assumptions of the 1st Lord's intentions were in infilitrating the Golden Path stronghold on his own."

"How did you know about all this?"

"He ordered a napalm strike just forty-five minutes before the distress transmission by detail flight by Lupus Caelum was received under Major Khati's codes to High Command were sent."

"Does the king know?" Layak was a little astonished that Amita whom was originally a militarized advocate against the King was acknowledging him as one.

"There's no way we can hide even that from him, the Marshal went this morning to tell him." Amita understood that Arjun had just taken up the hardest job upon this fuckfest, to calm the king's rage.

"…" Amita sighed as she walked with Layak to the ICU ward without asking another question.

"So who knows about this now?"

"Apart from me and you, there's Lady Noore who's currently operating on him. 3rd Lord Saraswati and ….. (Sigh) 2nd Lord Vasu know as well as Lady Kadayat, Lieutenant Hamal and Condotierri executives Samson and Ricardo. The rest who've seen or know his status have been placed under a suspension for a week."

"My god, how did this happen?" Like Achilles, invincible to combat suddenly getting shot by an amateur arrow by Paris to his heel and ending his reign of victory. The integrity of all that Badala built in his façade would tremble as each day passes when the news reachs the public.

They arrived at the ward that was specified to them by the nurse at the lobby, knocking before entering. Inside were five others already standing around with Saraswati seated next to him and a blonde-haired woman standing at the furtherest corner of the room watching from afar. Amita had a guess that it was that Daisy Lee woman Layak talked about. Badala's former acquaintance.

Of the five, she could recognise three. Samson of the Condotierri PMC, a long-standing acquaintance of Badala since the failure of the Meh Teh offensive on their end. Standing beside Saraswati whom was holding the only seemingly good hand not heavily bandaged on Badala was Captain Kadayat. Supposedly Yuma's intern and adoptive daughter, she personally never pictured Yuma the maternal type but Maya was evidence that her assumptions were false. She was at the Homestead Bhadra lived in with Saraswati and Badala, so they had a little bit of time to get acquainted. Amita found Saras to be delightful, she shared a mirroring experience of being the only female in their ranks to rise on their own power, besides the fact that Maya and Saras had almost equally powerful backing. Saras chose to join the Royal Army in contrast to the Royal Guards and therefore received supposedly equal treatment. Saras was quite a dear to talk to as well, she could even consider herself a friend to her, so it hurt to see her wear that face like she was in the midst of losing something precious and was helpless to stop it from happening.

On that, they were the same.

She made her way over to Saras and knelt next to her. "Amita….." She responded weakly, Amita could see that her lips were pale as if she hadn't hydrated or eaten or slept for that matter as their were dark shades on her eyes. When did she arrive? Badala was supposedly in surgery twenty hours ago, meaning…..

"Saraswati…. I won't pretend not to feel you." Saras responded with just nodding her head once whilst wearing a sad smile. It made Amita feel that her words had triggered off something worse.

"Come here." Amita reached out to her with open arms, Saras immediately understood and embraced her tightly.

"Ahem." Layak tried to remind them that there were still others watching.

"Give them a moment, Layak." Jeevan nudged him for being too formal.

It was at this point when Noore came into the private ward given to Ajay at the corner of the hospital, she had intentionally booked this room for him for her discussion with this select group she'd asked to come and were notified of Ajay's apparent state.

Noore went over to silently check Ajay's temperature, pulse and breathing along with an eye test and twitch response. She then sighed as the results she knew were the same.

"Noore, how is he?" Saras asked the most concern of all, the others were just as equally concerned though.

Noore received Saras's hands and said with an assuring tone. "I will get to that in a moment, don't worry."

"Why are we really here, Noore?" Amita asked as she sensed this gathering was for something else.

"We could have come on our own time yet you seem to have gathered us here purposefully." Some sensed this, some didn't.

"…"

"Lady Noore seems to want to entrust us with something she only wants us to be aware of." Layak said to affirm himself of what he understood.

The Seven of them entered preparing for the worst. What they came to was Ajay hooked to a life support system with bandages across much of his body and face like he'd been in a car accident but his limbs were still there.

Noore had come over with a clipboard with his x-ray scans and general assessment.

"Condition…" Was all Saras cared to ask from Noore while she ran a hand over his face, she couldn't care less about anything else.

"Saras, what I'm about to say you need to promise me that whatever it is, you must-."

"I asked for the CONDITION!" She roared. Everyone's hearts had jumped when Saras of all people had shouted in the most frightening manners. It just went to show that even she had a side that could not be tested for patience. After her outburst, a silence matured on the room before Noore sighed and flipped to the first page of her overall report.

"Multiple gashes from blunt melee objects and shrapnel from stone. Fractured left Femur due to brute force and to the right lower arm. Right Lung punctured by broken ribs. These are all the major injuries he's sustained… But that's not all of it I'm afraid." Noore thought it better to answer her instead of arguing further when everyone was at their tipping point here and there.

"Wh-…What do you mean?" Daisy asked most concern.

"We tested him for limb and pain stimuli as well as pupil dilation in reaction to light. And….. there was no response."

"Santo Dio!" Samson was the first to get it and responded expressively.

"What?" Layak asked next to him.

"Badala….. He's entered a coma."

Hearing Samson declare that sent shock rippling through the rest of the people within the op room. Especially Daisy, who looked at Ajay with a troubled expression. The rest looked to Noore who nodded in confirming his condition.

Noore looked over to Saras whom she was most concerned about hearing this piece of info. There was a frightening silence and lack of reaction from Saras that worried her the most. She would have never expected the next stream of events after Daisy mouthed off the words "I'm sorry." Out of reflex in her guilt for landing Ajay in this situation due to her ignorance of the reality.

Because it was when Saras had swipped a pen off the table and kicked the back of Daisy's knee bringing her to her knees, where she grabbed the back of her skull and placed the pen in against her throat.

"Uh!-.." Daisy's eyes widen at the sudden motion that struck while she was completely off guard, not that she was even on guard to begin with. What paralysed her motions further was the frightening look that Saras had on her face that was directed at her.

"Saras!-." Noore had no time to react as the rest were stunned that Saras's natural had completely flipped 180.

"Huh! You're sorry?" She said in a spiteful and ridiculing tone to Daisy. "You've made many mistakes in your life Daisy Lee. One was giving up on Ajay… and now-…. You've put him into a state like this not because of naivety or a friend's brother-."

"Colonel! Put down the pen!" Layak called out in vain as she carried on.

"I've listened to you mumble for half and a day now in the waiting room-… How this was your fault- how if you hadn't gone on a hopeless trip this would never have happened.. WHERE DO YOU GET THAT PRIDE? When did he still belong to you, you selfish bitch!?" Saras burst out in anger as her pen pressed into Daisy's neck till blood was apparent.

"Why couldn't you just leave with what you had when you were all safe and sound?! Why did you have to put my Ajay in harm's way for your ego?!" All thoughts of sorrow disappeared from Daisy when a person whom once had a friendly and warm attitude towards her viewed her as the cause of Ajay's predicament. But also, the object of absolute hatred.

However, this all ended when a vice-like grip plied Saras's hand off of Daisy holding the pen against her throat.

"Of all the people…. Why you?" Saras was momentarily confused by the person who had chosen to intervene. Maya's face showed tell tale signs of a complete calm, too calm in fact.

"Your interrogation serves no purpose but to exert your emotions upon her for your own selfish reasons." Saras's expression flickered as she too realised that her emotions were taking reign of her actions. For years, she'd never reached the point that she would have lashed out like this but the nuisance that Daisy posed with her presence and the stress that piled up from the day caused her emotions to fly out of check.

"If she wants to talk then she'll talk, in the mean time I think Noore has something to say to all of us. Can you promise to stay your hand just this once?" Of all the people who would seek to calm her it would be the most impulsive of all in the past. Saras's hands loosen as the fountain pen was taken from her by Maya.

"He will recover eventually and you know it. What would he think if you personally wrecked yourself over something he put his all to bring back safe and sound.-."

"I get it! Don't talk to me any further about her!" Saras waved as she leaned against the table behind her.

"You were saying, Doctor?" Maya told her to initiate the discussion she wanted them to hear and understand.

"Right. Before we start, I'll need you all to swear and oath that you will not reveal a shed of this outside." She looked at every one of them who raised their hand and swore to her. Her last swearer was Daisy who was seated. "I…I swear."

"Is this wise, to let a civilian like her here, Doctor?" Layak asked.

"She's already been exposed to some secrets that cannot be erased from memory, she's in the danger zone of being hunted for her knowledge whether she likes it or not. So she'd might as well hear it, all of it." Noore reasoned to which Layak replied no further.

"Alright, what I'm about to tell you….. no one else knows, not even Pagan. (Sigh)…. Now, how do I even begin?"

* * *

At first, there was no reaction. But then, it begun to become more and more absurd to them as they heard further. Immortal bodies, self-regeneration, magic. The witch behind it all. It was difficult to associate what was fiction into reality…. And yet, some of them had the strangest feeling things they'd encountered were affiliated with it as well. Especially Jeevan, Maya and Saraswati.

"Something like this-…" Layak still had trouble comprehending.

"It feels like we're in a fairytale or fantasy fict…"

"Huh! I bet someone will write about this in a book of his!" Samson remaked sarcastically. "Or maybe a fanfict….." He murmured to himself with not much care.

"Fuck! No wonder Sabal was so hard to kill!" Jeevan cursed upon coming to a revelation, he seemed to accept it pretty fast given his encounter with Sabal.

"You're not telling me you really believe this crap, do you? And Lady Noore, you of all people, a woman at your level of profession is talking about rather unscientific means." Layak was a tough nut to convince, but Noore was not the least bit shaken.

"I can give you physical evidence." Layak was confused and a bit interested to know. So were those that hadn't had any encounters.

Noore beckoned them to follow her downstairs after she'd obtained a blood test syringe and a beaker. She then went over to Ajay and drew some blood from him and poured it into the beaker before bringing them down to the open fields. Samson had been made to fetch a fire extinguisher from the lobby as she said they'll need it.

Then she drew out another syringe that was labelled as a medical drug called Epinephrine, what was commonly known at the pharmacies as Adrenaline.

"Put a drop into the beaker with the blood. And fall back as quickly as possible after you drop it." She handed him the syringe, Layak didn't refute although he had a very bad feeling when Noore brought the rest away from him where the beaker was placed in open ground.

It was just adrenaline and some blood in a beaker, what could it possibility do to him?

(Dip) (BOOOOM) Layak fell on his buttcheeks completely stricken stiff as an explosion had just blown the ground in front of him. Thankfully, Samson was made to dig a hole for the beaker to be lowered into, to much of the force was vented upwards instead of towards him.

Samson immediately reacted to the burning ground by putting it out, while the rest looked flabbergasted at the sight.

"What the hell!" Layak turned to Noore in dismay that she had made him set off a bomb, he usual calm and logical persona collapsed with the sudden prospect of death.

"I told you once you placed a drop to retreat as fast as possible."

"You could have told me the danger of it first!"

"I could have, but then you wouldn't really understand the seriousness of what I had just revealed to you prior." Layak had a feeling it was Noore's way of getting back at him for questioning the soundness of her judgement.

They returned to the ward once they'd witnessed and cleaned up after their little experiment, Noore locked the door behind them and closed the windows so that the least amount of sound escaped and was heard by someone outside.

"Noore… what was that?" Maya asked the shocked by this as much as the rest.

"That was blood."

"There's no way in hell, blood could possess that kind of reaction!" Layak responded as the straightman for this group.

"Correction, that was his blood." Noore explained after lighting herself a cigarette which she almost never did since her days as a married woman. They remained silent for her to explain.

"(Puff)… There are things that till today we cannot explain with a thesis or theory, like whether we're alone in this known universe, angels and demons exist, or perhaps if there were Yetis in the Himalayas." She chuckled, although she had yet to see one Ajay's journal had told her much.

"…." Saras was the most familiar with this after her own encounter.

"His blood contains no extra substances nor compounds that you wouldn't find in anyone else's blood, its exactly the same. And yet, even from the small experiment its clear his blood has a consequential amount of explosive yield and fuel his body generates."

"Is this even possible?" Samson asked.

"A similar instance happens everyday even though we aren't aware of it. In pregnant mothers, their body produces a particular group of enzymes which allows the growth of the fetus on rapid proportions on certain stages of pregnancy. Ajay's body takes the same pathway even if it isn't genetically that way. Healing wounds that were fatal, granting him enormous proportions of strength and perception for short bursts of time. From this theory, it can be picture far more easily and physically, its wearing for the body." Noore had guessed the whole cycle of Ajay's use of power in a more scientific way even if it wasn't scientific to begin with.

"I'm sorry-…. Ajay?" Layak wondered why she kept referring to Badala as Ajay, was this his real name?

"Ajay….. Ajay Ghale?!" Jeevan suddenly looked at his mentor with widen eyes.

"What?!" Layak turned to Noore for confirmation.

She neither confirmed nor denied. But from the serious look on her face and that fact that she isolated them to tell them this meant-.

"No…. How?-….. Mohan's son?" Layak stepped back feeling reluctant to partake in whatever they had in-store.

"Grow a pair, lieutenant." Maya told him from the side.

"E-excuse me?"

"The fact that she's willing to disclose this to you means Noore has sufficient trust in your ability to handle it and keep your mouth shut." Layak took a while to get a hold of his bearings, then he turned to them.

"And you knew this all the while?"

"It wasn't exactly a secret back then, only when he built the persona of the demon."

He looked at Saraswati who seemed only occupied with looking at Ajay, but had a feeling she was aware as well, only himself, Samson and Jeevan weren't.

"By the gods, (Sigh) This is just too much." He sat on the seat behind and rested his head upon his hands.

Jeevan took this time to process his thoughts into queries he had for Noore.

"There's one question that still bothers me, why is teacher on the King's side?" It was in fact the question that loomed upon him and Layak's mind the most. Samson wasn't really affected by who Ajay was as he was a foreigner. The rest already knew who he really was.

"I'll give you a short summary of things, so pay attention and try not to be too shocked every step of the way." Noore sat next to Layak as she repeated the story that Ajay had told her and the girls.

Mohan sending Ishwari and Ajay to Pagan as spies, the affair she had with Pagan resulting in Lakshmana and her death as a result of Mohan finding out and going rampant. This reign ended with a bullet to the head in self-defense. Ishwari took Ajay to the states and that was the end of the short summary.

Layak could not prevent his jaw from dropping every step of the way. It was an absurd story stacked upon a whole series of absurd stories.

"This-…." He was speechless at the end of the story. "I need a smoke." He asked off Noore who generously passed him one as well.

"If that isn't enough to satisfy why, then just take it as both of them simply indulging in each other's selfishness. Pagan wants to make amends for all he's done through Ajay. And Ajay wants to atone for his own and his families past sin by using Pagan's connections."

"I'm not really sure what all of this means, but can we get back to why the boss's blood does that?" Samson asked as he was left to listen to a story he had no clue of but guessed it was his employer's drive.

"The Devas and Golden Path get their strength from the witch. But Ajay's was unintentionally received from an entity named Yalung." While Noore said it normally, it was like thunder in the ears of the Kyratis.

There had always been an association of Yalung to Ajay's Demon, but to think there was an actual connection, it also meant that said entity was real.

"This is too intense."

"No-… Nononono-…. I- I just can't accept this."

"Man up, Layak. The demon is real- so what?" Maya called to her fellow officer.

"So what? Witches, demons, Rakshasa, the fucking Yetis!? Badala said it was a concoction for incredible resilience to punishment called untouchable!"

"And do you really think a drug is capable of doing that?"

"I-… I don't know… can it?" Noore rolled her eyes to Layak's insecurity. She chose him because he was the closest to the directives of the highest military authority, Arjun. She didn't want this to reach the Marshal's ears because it would severely impair his ability to craft out strategies in future for fighting an opponent with this kind of capability. Layak would proved helpful in ensuring his plans did not fail with his newly acquired intel.

"Of course it can't, no drug can alter a human's ability beyond his or her general physiology. Yet, you hear Ajay bend metal, kill rhinos with his barehands and survive an equally devastating wound like that and survive? The Golden Path beat him, that should give you an idea of what kind of level they've achieved." Maya straightened things out on behalf of him to the rest who had some doubts.

"How did he get it then?"

"That's a story of another time, but to honest, even he isn't so sure where. Only that it awakened from dormancy when we first met." Noore could not forget that day, when the demon awoke and slaughtered everything that would harm him before converging upon Paul and almost killing herself.

"You obviously have some intentions for letting us know this, Doctor." Jeevan reminded them that she had a reason for gathering them.

"Yes I did. And if you're prepared then I'll say it, if not then I'm afraid I'll have to kill you." To say it that way meant she had intentionally picked for them to have no say in the end.

"I can see that doubt in your eyes, Lieutenant but I can assure you. Before I became Marquess Najjar, I was the Arena mistress of Shanath. I processed a thousand souls, men and animal through the gates to slaughter one another each day. Part of the job also entrailed feeding the dishonest and incompetent to my hungry tigers." Noore smiled cruelly as she gave him a reminder that not too long ago, she was just as savage and cruel as Pagan and Badala.

"….. What will you have us do then?" Layak finally gave in to her demands. Noore smiled with satisfaction as she turned to everyone else.

"You now know the real dangers that are posed to Kyrat, so use it to keep a watchful eye on those mountains. Because like it or not, Golden Path are returning and the demon will not come to the people's aid anytime soon."

"Are you serious?" Layak felt a massive headache returning from the things he'd heard today.

"Ajay didn't end up like this because Mohan was compassionate towards him, and neither was he."

"….. To think he would turn against his father." Layak shook his head.

"The reason I've brought you here to tell you this is to stand in for him, not just till he recovers. Unless you want another instance like this to happen or worse that is."

"""…""" They understood Noore's rationale behind her calling upon them now.

"One last thing." She said to them.

"While Ajay wields powers of that demon entity, it's not without price."

"Price?" Jeevan remarked.

"Did he sell his soul or something?" Layak had not paid much attention to his words when he said them.

"I DARE YOU TO SAY THAT AGAIN!" Saras boomed loudly as she chasted Layak. Saras was becoming more and more frightening by the minute with her more frequent outbursts for anything against Ajay. It worried Noore to see her personality shift in this way because of possibility of losing Ajay became more apparent.

"No, Lieutenant. But it is just as bad." She said to cut in on the confrontation Saras was about to have with her father's secretary.

"What do you mean?" Saras asked as she had not heard of this part before, she had previously assumed it was his lack of control of the demon within. But Noore seemed to know something she didn't.

Noore was looking her way, most concern with how she would receive this news.

"Don't worry, I won't do anything unsightly again I front of all of you." She said to Noore and the rest lightly.

Noore sighed, it was like how Ajay had been forced to tell Noore of her family's departure yet was happening as time went by instead. Noore had read every page of the journal of Ajay, confirming what she already knew and things she didn't ever imagine. A cruel world where there was no happy ending, only death and despair. And its unwitting champion of that broken world was Ajay Ghale, son of Mohan and of Golden Path. Destroyer of Pagan and his Royal Armies. To think he would give that much of himself for their futures, Noore was more convinced to stand with him all the way even if what meet him in the end was a cruel fate. That was the fate she would share as his accomplice.

But now, he didn't have to be alone in this. She could entrust a few with this to help protect that which meant to Ajay the most. He wouldn't just have her to depend on now, protecting Kyrat was a group effort and by doing this for him he would understand when he awoke. You can't fight the world on your own.

"His memories."

"…..W-….What?..." Daisy's body begun to shake as the words slowly took root into her psyche as she processed it and begun to see the true horror.

"For every time he calls upon the demon's strength, it takes away not just any memories of the past. But the most precious and treasured memories he holds on to. And as time goes by, so to will the memories of the present until-."

"I'm-… I'm sorry, I just-…just need to!-." Daisy stepped back unbalanced and knocked the chairs around as she backed away. Upon her cheeks fell streaks of tears, she quickly covered her mouth with her hands to muffle the cries she was about to give out and pushed her way out for the door to leave.

The rest were left in silence, they now understood the terrible price he paid for contending with Golden Path while everyone remained ignorant to the truth. And why did Ajay hide it from them?

So they would not feel the weight of the odds stacked against them, so that they could see hope at the end of their struggles and soldier on. But most importantly, he cared too much for them to allow this knowledge to corrode their thoughts. So they could brightly go about their day to day activities in making Kyrat great and prosperous, so that there would be a façade of peace about the air. Peace was what Kyratis had yearned for so long and with the end of the Civil War had the privilege of basking in its wonderful freedom. To be told that Golden Path had returned with this kind of capability would shatter their peace with no apparent prospers of it returning, dwindling their hopes.

"I'll go after her, I need to discuss what she and the other Americans will be doing after this." Maya walked out ever calmly to find and talk with Daisy about what she planned to do with her. But it was not to rule out she was just as shocked by what Noore had claimed about Ajay's use of this ability. To think that all this while, he'd been sacrificing something even she wouldn't dare give up besides giving his all every time. A pain pulsed in her chest unlike any other, but she chose to let her current affairs distract her feelings for the time being until she had time to sort them. She passed a quick glance at Saras who wore an emotionless and calm face, too perfect of any sort of pain or sorrow that she could tell she would burst at any moment just as she had numerous times today. She was just waiting for the right moment to be out of sight to do so. Noore was here for her so it was within manageable boundaries. Even so, she could not feel anymore sorry.

"That's all I have for you, as hard as it is to accept, I hope you'll use this information to prepare appropriately. Do your best and God speed." She had sort of dismissed them as she returned to reading through the data on the clipboard on Ajay's status.

She'd left them with answers, but they only had more questions in need of answers. Unfortunately, this was her limit in answering. She would leave them to sort things out so that the person in question would answer their queries when he awoke. At least….. that's what she hoped.

She had no definite answer to when he would awake, he might stay a vegetable throughout his life for all she knew. But she hoped. That was all she could do as a friend since as a General Practitioner, could not help him wake, he had to do so on his own.

She managed to get others involved in these matters that had stayed between her and Ajay for too long. There was a limit to what she could do, so the rest would cover areas she couldn't possibly manage. Defensive measures, the political circuit, troop morale and employee assurance. All these were covered by the six individuals. Now that the rest had left save one, she could now attenf to her friend's needs.

"Saras, I'd like to-."

"If its alright, Noore. Could you leave me with Ajay for a while?" Saras said with a smile having turn down her offer of comfort. Noore was reluctant to do so at first but seeing a bit of plea in her tone, Noore softened and gave in.

"Alright, I'll leave you with him. I'll return in a half hour to check on Ajay's condtion."

"Mm. Thank you, Noore."

"Don't mention it, ever darling. Remember to approach me for those meds later."

"Alright." Satisfied with everything, Noore left and closed the door behind her to return to her office to manage the reports on the rest of the patients. She was running a hospital for two hundred other patients, not just Ajay after all.

But she knew what Saras would do when she left her in the room alone.

It was only a while after the door was shut behind her that Saras collapsed into a kneel beside Ajay's bed. She pressed her face against the mattress, for if she didn't…..

The sound of her crying her heart out would have resounded throughout the building.

* * *

…..

…..

The smell of burning flesh and wood awoke his senses. Ajay opened his eyes to a world coloured in red and orange, this was due to the burning cities that daunted down below and around him from the bell tower he stood on. The fires of the burning mountains and blood was what defined this world of red and orange light.

Where had he seen this scenery before? That's right, it was during the dream where he returned back to his supposed original timeline, one where Saras killed him.

Ajay flying-foxed down the power line towards the ground to find a kukri lying at the floor which he picked up. He had the strangest feeling about this dream, was it even a dream? Why was he able to maintain consciousness of his surroundings and his own thoughts? Something didn't feel right about this place and reality, he would need to get to the bottom of this soon.

It almost reminded him of the visions of the Kalinag Thangka.

So why was he here? He thought about it while he made his way down to the nearest town to investigate. What was he doing before waking up here? He couldn't remember that well, only that he'd been in some fight with a very dangerous force. Golden Path perhaps.

But what he could recall was the use of the second form of martial art, Four Seasons Pandemonium that allowed him to beat that opponent of his-….. Sabal, it was Sabal!

-Sunnovabitch! He's still alive. That bastard keeps coming back like Rasputin, how many more times does he need to die before he'll finally stop coming back?-

But Ajay wasn't that deterred by the outcome, he knew he wasn't dead himself and he had acquired enlightenment on the second stage of the Royal Martial Art. The summer form. For years, the learners had thought summer meant a hot and burning time which translated to aggressive moves with power and might. But then, what did Spring which was energetic and powerful mean then? He wasn't sure how he came to the conclusion it meant basking in the warm radiance and sending it back. It had something to do with his deadly calm-like state when he was in a near-death moment from blood loss. It would allow a normal person who could use it the ability to contend with an altered being in hand to hand, in theory.

Apart from this was a nearly endless list of questions in his head he knew weren't easily answered by those not in the loop. Everything his father said, every word, he heard it. It was clear they had something meant for him, the witch intended for him to be some sort of sacrifice, most likely….. to the resident demon imprisoned under the mountain. That was not the most unusual thing he had heard from him, he could have sworn Mohan said…..

"Yalung was… Kalinag?..."

Ajay shook off these thoughts for later as all these questions served to multiply in his head when he questioned it, he was still no closer to finding out where this place was. He jogged down the hill to the town but it was completely empty. In fact, this place was completely void of any living thing, not even birds. Yet it wasn't all quiet as the sound of burning buildings and crackling embers that still glowed from the town ruins could be heard the clearest.

"What is this place?" He asked thin air no expecting any reply.

" **Home."** But one came anyway.

Ajay jumped as he turned in the direction of the voice that sounded too familiar. It sounded like himself.

"Who goes there?" He said with his wits about him.

A figure shrouded in the shadow of a razed building remained where he was.

" **To think you haven't even figured that out yet. Who do you think you rely upon during the most dire of straits….."** The figure walked into the red light of the burning surroundings to reveal unto Ajay who he should have know was there yet it slipped his mind on every turn.

" **When you felt the uncontrollable rage, let loose from its faucet. When you wish to smite an adversary you couldn't stand the sight of. To do the dirty work when it was too much for yourself to do!"** Its tone became stronger as it spoke further.

What stood before him was a person he would never have thought was actually alive. Or to be more specific, didn't know that it had a life of its own.

" **It would be none other than me."** Standing before him cladded in the same armour and mask crafted by Chiffon and Samar yet different was none other than a projection of himself, an alter ego.

And his inner demon.

"It's you." Ajay stood on his guard higher than he'd ever been. His likely opponent was the most terrifying of all. Because he knew everything about Ajay and perhaps even more since he'd devoured his memories in exchange. The demon could be told apart from him due to the replica armour and mask actually being fused to its skin, a tell-tale sign to differentiate him from the demon as his doppelganger.

" **And now, you've fallen into the very same cage as your beast. What do you expect your Tiger to do with you?"** It smiled wryly at him with an insatiable thirst.

For a moment, Ajay's facial expression was sullen. He of all people knew what he was facing, the true terror of Golden Path, the Demon of Lanka. And now he would have to face it to protect his life, he'd had difficulty with the Devas already, but to deal with this….. he could feel despair seeping into his heart, and yet…

"…ahahaha…..ahahahahHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAA!" He let out a maddened laughter to which the Demon was not surprised at all to see. It had in fact anticipated this day to come as well. Ajay looked to the demon with a ravenous smile of equal measure as he twirled the kukri in his fingers. It had finally come.

"Well…. Then have at it then!" He raised his kukri the only weapon he ever needed to fight with, even if his odds were stacked against him. The Demon laughed wildly when it's challenge was met with a firm response.

This was the day they could battle for the ultimatum….

Where either Ajay would win over the demon through submission, or the demon would shackle Ajay in the recesses of his mind for all eternity.

….

….

 **Ten Vedic Talismans**

 **Ten Sacred Guardians**

 **Seal the wrathful asura, beneath the everwinter mountains**

 **Four perish, two stand by the Indomitable one**

 **Six Talismans shattered**

 **Leaving the shackles to the Asura weakened**

 **The seventh Sacred Guardian**

 **To the seventh Talisman, Hasten in its waning  
**

…

…


	102. Chapter 93 - Die a Man or Live a Monster

Author's Notes:

Sorry this took so long. Course work see, lab reports and assignments kept stacking. But all handled now, including the next batch.

* * *

To be responsible for someone's absolute loss was a feeling that washed over everyone, no matter how cruel or self-righteous a person was. Under normal circumstances, she should have had her emotions under control. Yet when those words came out, "For every time he calls upon the demon's strength, it eats away the most precious memories of the past." In that moment, she knew how shitty Ajay's life had been. How many treasured moments did he have, she knew best of all. Daisy knew, as she'd also learnt from Mama Tinashe and Ishwari so long ago. There hadn't been a moment till she came along, it only meant one thing.

He would inevitably wipe away all of his treasured moments with her and his own newer memories, and it was all because she had forced him to indulge in her selfishness. But what did she get out of spending two months with the Golden Path? Nothing. Just lies and deceit, and something far more terrifying than anyone but Ajay could imagine.

And now…. He was no longer around to protect his people from these monsters.

Daisy knew the weight of her actions, she had jinxed their growth and prosperity out of a horrid life into an upcoming nightmare. Even so, these were little in comparison to what she had forced upon Ajay.

"Stop running around, you're only making things difficult for me." Came a voice behind her, belonging to none other than the woman that almost stopped her from proceeding with her naïve plan but had second thoughts to allow her to go with it.

"…." She wanted to say something along the lines of "sorry", but no words could form in her mouth. Like she had unconsciously written into her psyche that her words caused catastrophne.

Instead of talking, Maya leaned against the railings of the balcony that she'd run off to for some quiet time to herself. Only speaking on a different subject.

"I've never seen Saraswati that scary before, hopefully it never happens again, and I won't be the one to provoke it."

"… This is my fault." She came clean with her thoughts.

"It is." Maya agreed without showing any remorse.

"Can't you just leave me alone?"

"No."

"Why are do you have to be so annoying?! If I'm an eyesore just shoot me and be done with it!" Daisy said to her angrily as she grabbed hold of her shoulder.

(Slap) Maya delivered a fast one to her cheek that shook Daisy up.

"Even after returning, you're still as selfish as ever. Did Ajay not pay enough for your mistake?"

Daisy grit her teeth, while she held her hand to her redden face.

"But I won't deny that the thought didn't past my mind." Maya said as she tapped her holster.

Daisy backed away slightly frightened at the prospect of dying for real.

"Still, I don't like to waste effort over something that gives me no gain." Maya relinquished her hand from the handgun on her belt.

"Ajay certainly saw something valuable in you that he would go almost immediately when your tracker went off. Just because I can't doesn't mean there isn't."

Daisy found this not at all comforting, it was saying the same thing that everyone else thought as well as her.

"To kill you here would be… wasteful."

"How could you even say something like that!?" Daisy questioned her moral compass.

"Because Ajay has left it to me to watch over Kyrat and you, just like everyone else. From everything that Noore has said, we're up against an enemy that we might not have a defense against. And it seemed that Noore was hoping that you would chip in."

"…" Daisy could not refute this, Noore had included her in the disclosure, did this mean she expected the same from her?

"So instead of walloping you should be taking care of what you have left to protect."

"… Even after what I've done?" She laughed sarcastically.

"You aren't the only one to made them, you know. To make mistakes that put lives at risk or even cause their deaths indirectly. I've caused more than my fair share. Ajay…. Huh! You couldn't even begin to imagine. That's why he never quits, because if he does it'll be rude to all those souls he failed just by sitting by to watch as their friends and family get torn to shreds. This is Kyrat, Daisy Lee. You need to stay on your toes less mother earth and its other inhabitants devour you. That is why Kyratis have a stronger will than most people."

Again, she was reminded that there was a job for her to do just like everbody else. Her friends were depending on her. When she had failed to retrieve Jason she fell into despair, thinking of no alternative to draw him back, she betrayed Ajay's identity to the one person she should never have given it to and to think that she had been played the entire time. When Ajay came which she had wished he didn't, it led to him nearly getting beaten to death and landed him in the comatosed state. Yet he never once put the blame on her despite his fath- no, Mohan's insistence of her betrayal. Even in the last legs, he stood between her and the ravenous Golden Path monsters. When that older man pulled her and Ajay out it left her in a state of idle, she had no idea what to do given the length of failure she'd amassed. Kyrat depended on Ajay and she'd just caused the sheperd looking after the sheep to get mortally wounded, leaving the sheep ripe for the bounty.

-How long am I gonna wait to make the same mistake again?- She questioned herself to strengthen her own resolve. Daisy slapped her cheeks to wake herself out of that negative stream of thoughts.

Seeing her restore the light in her eyes, Maya smiled wryly.

"Tell me, Miss Maya. What are mine and my friend's options?" She looked ready and willing to go through anything now. Maya got up from leaning against the railings.

"The way I see it , you have two options. One is to take the next flight to Russia, India or Israel and disappear off the grid for good."

"Why is that?"

"Why is that? You five are no longer on the US registry, chances are that immigration will catch you entering the states. You might plea your case of being citizens but you'll only make things worse, then the authorities will turn you over to government agencies like FBI, NSA or if you're ready unlucky, the CIA will appear to wipe their mess clean. Then, it'll be a game of how long can you withhold intel on the developments in Kyrat while they beat you half to death in a place where the law cannot protect you, but then again you aren't officially citizens so-… I guess they'll dispose of you once they're done to clear loose ends."

Daisy closed her eyes and sighed. Things had really become horrid for them, it almost encouraged them to runaway from it all. But she would do no such thing.

"What's the other option?"

"Option two, hide out in a secure location until we find Willis and ply intel we can use against the CIA by threatening to turn it over to their Commander-in-chief whom I'm sure wouldn't want such a scandal to happen during his term of presidency. When that happens, some heads in Langley will roll, and everyone will be back to their normal lives." She said with a grin.

"Why are you going through so much to protect us?" Maya almost felt like laughing.

"Don't get me wrong, I'm not doing this for you or even him for that matter. You have no idea how much your very presence and story in Kyrat affects us all." Daisy wasn't sure what she meant.

"One does not simply make an enemy of the United states and China without expecting repercussions. And both parties will be searching for things they can pin on us to justify an armed intervention. Imagine five tourists, held against their will and tortured without anyone answering their pleas, escaping certain death or prospers of being sold into slavery. How big the outcry to put down that system that allowed this to happen. A board of inquiry will open demanding for "facts" on the Kyrati regime and then "Yes, we can!" Announces the highest authority to bring that corrupt system to justice without even clarifying the details of whom were the kidnappers. And soon, warships will arrive off the Gulf of India, indiscriminately firing cruise missiles upon our infrastructure. "And oh!- So there is an armed resistance that opposes this government! Golden Path you say? Let's aid them in the rebellion!"." Daisy was shocked that their mere presence would incur such a outlandish development, yet she couldn't shake off the prospect that it could happen. That their own country would use them for such a manuever, for the advancement of their war economy and rare earth metal deposits found in Kyrat.

"We would never-." She wanted to pass her case that they would never betray them. She would ensure it, after all she owed this place too much. But Maya cut in with a raised hand.

"You don't need to. They just need to show pictures of you, you are just a figurehead. In the end, the world only wants to see culprits for their daily injustice. Nobody is gonna ask who those five were and where they are now. "Probably in good hands." Some might say if the government gave this much of a damn to their citizens being tortured. Then you'll have the blood of eleven million on your hands." Maya didn't even need her intellect to figure that out.

Daisy had trouble steadying herself to the kind of impact she could create with just her and the rests' presence in Kyrat. They were safe nowhere save for here. Then, there was really only one option left.

"We'll take option two. We will take option two."

"Fine by me. Let's go." Maya nodded and led the way downstairs.

"And-…. thank you. Miss Maya." Daisy said as she figured there was no better time.

"No… thank you."

"Huh?" Daisy was baffled about what she meant, Maya was doing a lot just by protecting them.

"For not being a hassle to me." She said smiling wryly.

"…Pfft!-.." Daisy couldn't hold back her laughter as she heard something that was over the top unbelievable. Maya shared a few laughs with her before leading her on to the jeep where they would make preperations to go to the safe spot.

"Where do you plan to take us then?"

"A place that no one has heard of."

"Are you sure we can't be found? What if Mohan-… I mean, wasn't he an officer of your Royal Guard once?"

"Not even he will know this place. In fact, no one save for the King and Queen knows."

"Then how do you know?" It would defeat the secrecy, wouldn't it?

"You need to be part of the clans to be allowed entry into the village."

"Clans? Village?"

"A clansman of the Royal Army Hunters."

* * *

….

….

It felt like days had went by, even weeks. Ajay began to realize that defeating his inner demon made in flesh was a lot harder than he imagine, and he was the type to take precautions into account regularly. His earlier enthusiasm had been all but diminished, while the demon chuckled to itself in mockery of Ajay's naivety in believing it was a simple affair.

He forgot one important fact about the demon. That it was still a part of him.

It meant that skill, every ability he had mustered over time, everything that he'd learnt or experienced. The Demon had access to all of these and could use them as well, how well? As if it was something it had learnt on its own.

The quiet and hollow red world rung with the clashing of blades. Their exchange was an expression of the phrase, "Survival of the fittest".

Either Ajay would emerge on top and reign over the demon. Or the inner demon would step onto the real world to reign destruction upon everyone and everything indiscriminately just as its true self had thousands of years ago I a history forgotten in time.

But it appeared that the latter seemingly had more chance of succeeding as Ajay had to learn in their spars. Because it knew every move he would make and possessed every fighting style that he did, on top of its insanely demonic strength. The fighting odds were no better to when he fought the three Devas on his own. But this time, he had no firearms. Though, not all hope was loss. He had attained the Summer Form of the Royal Martial Art, which was very effective when his opponent was stronger than him as it would use the opponent's strength against him, just like Tai Chi.

While it did not bring him any closer to wounding the demon or defeating him, it did give him the opportunity to collect his thoughts to figure a way out of this mess. But there seemed to be only one option, he had to force the demon into submission for this burning world to recede.

He didn't know how long he'd been in this world, in this state for. Days?... Months? It certainly felt that long, he'd been sparring with his inner demon ever since. Curiously, in this world, he felt not a single shed of fatigue. So he just kept on fighting, this either meant he was likely in a comatose state or he was truly dead and this was some sort of purgatory.

" **Looking for a way out?"** The demon said temptingly to him.

(Clang) Ajay mitigated another clash slash away from him.

" **You can see the stacking odds against you, you know how this will end."**

"I'm destine to lose against you no matter how I try…."

The demon seemed glad he understood that at least instead of stubbornly cling to the glimmer of hope that he could best the demon.

"But, so what!" Ajay responded in defiance.

"I can't possibly kill you with what I have, but I can keep you locked away in here indefinitely." The demon frowned with the mask visibly bending with its facial outline.

" **And what of your friends?"** The demon began to exert more strength and ferocity into its swings and stabs.

(Clang) (Clang)

" **What of Kyrat then, without its demon?"**

The demon tried to shake him to draw some hesitation out of him.

" **What of Saraswati?"**

Though it was subtle, the demon noticed a general pause in his stroke being weaker than usual. The Demon used this opportunity to counter attack with a brutal force sending him flying into rubble of a razed building.

" **Typical, so strong against everything, but women. It's always been that way! Your mother, your foreign lover, that klutz of a girl….. If you let me take the reins, I'll be sure to do your part in warming the bed with her."** It said with a gleam of lust and licked its lips in a sadistic way.

"Ptt!... If you win, Good Luck. Saras's a progressive type, so don't become her bitch. But if I win, you'll instead be mine." Ajay spat the blood that cogulated in his mouth as he stood up. The Demon laughed at his vulgarity, he was playing the demon's game of spats.

" **You know best of all what your enemy is capable of, you've seen what even a single grunt can do. What are the chances of your mire little nation surviving against the Rakshasa on your own?"**

"What?" This was another shock upon the mountain of shock. He never would have thought that demon would openly admit the existence of otherworldly creatures.

" **Oh? Did you not even know what your enemy was? But of course, if it were just any lowly Rakshasa even you could crush it. No, you're dealing with someone much much worse, Ajay. Something that only a true Deva or an Asura can singlehandedly crush."** Demon glanced at him with a mocking smile.

Ajay struggled to his feet as the Demon took its time to converge on him. He shook off his hesitation as it would get him killed if he took things too lightly. The demon sighed at his futile attempt to stop him from rising up.

It lunged forward to steal the initiative of the fight against Ajay, preventing him from countering properly. Such that all Ajay could do was block and parry, yet he still received wounds in the form of mere grazes. But each cut stung with a hint of the demon's cruelty and unshakable bloodlust.

(Clang) Their blades came into locked, but it was more like the demon was holding his swing at bay with an effortless motion. Ajay knew what this meant, the demon enjoyed playing with its food.

"Just what are you really? Why the hell do you know so much?!"

The demon stopped all seeming movement to pursue him as he let him retreat and smiled to him.

" **Then. What do you think I am, Ajay?"**

"A splinter from the Relic that hid like a refugee in my soul as I travelled through time." The demon sighed exasperatedly as Ajay didn't fully understand yet.

" **You're part right, and part wrong."** Riddles, Ajay hated that the most. But he was forced to listen.

" **I am just as you thought Mohan was on this earth. I am the hollow will that echoed that last cry of vengeful hatred upon Golden Path and all that it held dear… I am the will of Ajay Ghale."**

"Nonsense! I never-."

" **You never?- Hahahaha!-….Never what? Held anyone else besides Golden Path in animosity? And what makes you so sure? Are you sure that deep down it was truly only Golden Path? Was in not only them, but what they held most dear…. Kyrat itself-."**

"Shut up!" It laughed so hard as it had never seen something so pitiful.

" **You can't even remember certain parts of your own memories. But then again… are these really your memories to begin with?"** The demon continued on with its taunts, but the most it spoke the more it shook him. Ajay stepped back visibly shaken by the demon's attempts to shake him in the core of his beliefs.

" **That's right, Ajay. What makes you think that you are the genuine Ajay Ghale of that era of time or this time for that matter? How could an Ajay from that time exist in this era without interfering with the Ajay of this era? You have eluted yourself in thinking that your consciousness had passed over, that might be so, although you forgot to include me. So gullible in your thoughts…. But who's to say, that consciousness had genuine control over this Ajay."**

-What-….. What are you saying?!- Ajay said in his mind that raced to piece together the parts it had lay there for him.

 **-I'm saying, I'm more like Ajay Ghale than even you.-** The voice resounded in his thoughts like it could read and channel its voice in his head.

A streak of terror rushed through Ajay as his head was flooded with thoughts that the demon planted in him.

He might not be the real Ajay. Of this time or the past. Then what was he, and why did he possess only the memories of Ajay Ghale.

"Then….. what am I?" Ajay's hand around the grip of his knife loosened.

" **Beats me. But if I'm Ajay Ghale's last expression of vengeance. I guess, maybe…. Our perceived roles are reverse."**

-Reverse?... But that would only mean-.-

" **Yes, Ajay… Or should I call you by what you are meant to be, the fragment of Yalung that stowaway in Ajay's soul?"**

Ajay's entire body shook at the revelation of things that had formed in his mind, even if he would deny that it was true. There was a small possibility that he was in fact… a hoax. That it had in fact been his consciousness that had stowaway in Ajay's psyche as he travelled here with the demon. That was why he could see those weird dreams and hear those weird archaic mumbo jumbo, it was because it was meant for him.

 _-Does it matter who you are…. Your actions have always spoken louder than any words this thing spews at you. Remember?-_

All of a sudden, a woman's voice called out and broke the spell of despair as the Demon was just about to deliver the final blow whilst he was being distracted with his thoughts. Ajay parried just in time as the blade passed over and grazed his cheek but didn't decapitate him as the Demon had envisioned. For the first time, the Demon visibly frowned.

Ajay backed away for breathing space. That voice had saved him not just from a certain death but had also given him an encouragement that had solidified his hold upon reality. Ajay turned the flat end of the kukri in his hand to face him. He looked upon the reflection of himself upon the blade, all he saw was Ajay Ghale.

-That's right, it doesn't matter who I am. I can be anyone, so I chose to be Ajay Ghale!-

The Demon laughed as it heard his inner thoughts. **"That's right! It wouldn't be fun if you didn't put up a fight for dear life! Now it's my turn to say, come at me, Ajay Ghale! Will of the Demon!"** The Demon roared with a booming laughter as it pounced toward him. Ajay readied his kukri to take on the demon a second spar. Strangely, in this world he felt no fatigue at all. Like it was infinite, if possible, with the use of the second form he could literally keep the demon held back indefinitely. He could fight the demon for all eternity, assuming his mental state could hold that long from fighting non-stop.

But why be satisfied with that? If he really wanted to beat the Demon despite its knowledge of him like he was an open book, despite its demonic strength that contended with the Devas. If he didn't try now, he would never know. However, there was a way for him to defeat it.

And that was to surpass himself. Some way the Demon had yet to comprehend itself among his memories.

Beyond what the Demon knew about him that he had not known yet. There was only one thing the Demon didn't have that could trump over Ajay, provided he use it.

He would have to comprehend the third form of Four Seasons Pandemonium, the Autumn style.

…

 _-Be you Ajay. Badala or Soren. I will always watch over you.-_

… _.._

… _.._

* * *

There was a time when he wished that there would be some action to return to Kyrat, perhaps an exercise or even an uprising just to get away from the desk. If he knew what would happen nearly two weeks ago, he would never had wished for such a thing to happen.

He had been busy signing the documents to approving some of the member nations' Armies' requests on procurement of weaponry and technology such as heavy excavators or cranes and such that would contribute to the growth of their cities development. He was an army general, yet he was made to deal with all these affairs in place of the King and his ministers. What were those damn geezers even holding those posts for anyway? Especially the Foreign Minister, this was supposed to be his job. He was gonna file some charges once things went back on track.

Kumsa was in demand for its abundant food supplies, but it lacked the infrastructure and road to bring them to its neighbours to sell at affordable prices. Something their more responsible Ministers of Infrastructure and Transportation were working on.

Papir Republic wanted facilities to train and educate its population, some bright and energetic students and officers had been sent over to Kyrat to study in the vocation school, hospital and Royal Academy on an exchange.

Yinke was all about the supply of foods via Kumsa which required the new route to build a more improved road system, that and their armour units supply. Because they were no longer supplied with logistics for their armoured force from China or Ukraine, Arjun arranged for them to receive the next best thing, from their neighbour India and Russia via Kazahkstan.

Russia in particular had a vast armada of armoured vehicles from the Cold War that they kept in storage because their army could not maintain that fleet. So there was a large quantity of modern vehicles still relevant in todays battlefield that they couldn't repair or upgrade because of their poor economic situation. Often, some of these vehicles were sold to third-world forces to keep their armies in the current loop, so there were examples of these post-soviet hardware found in many surprising parts of the world. T-80s, T-72s, BMPs, BTR armoured vehicles, the systems which the Yinkian Army tankers were familiar with. He could have the Indian defense industries refurbish, bringing them to condition zero or overhaul them with modern equipment. A bit of contribution to their more powerful neighbour's economy by providing more occupations.

These procurements were justified besides Kyrat's recently shaky relation to their neighbour since Yinke faced the most serious threat from its former ally, the mighty Dragon. Humiliated by that crazy boy, the Central Chinese Committee will never forgive and never forget that insult he gave to them. He had just watched the news the other day on netcase from Indias CNBC broadcast. The PRC had been accused of intruding the Himalayas with a substantial military force by the Indian authorities in a UN board of inquiry meeting. The Chinese countered with their attempt to intervene with a regional war that had broken out with their neighbour but had failed to garner attention as the world objected to the People's Republic of China's mobilization of troops as a perceived pretext to conduct an exercise over the Himalayan borders to ready their troops for a possible outbreak of a second Sino-Indus War. He heard from his colleague in Maharashtra that Badala was now the talk of the parliament behind closed doors. He had shaken too many waves and caught the attention of too many world players that would affect Kyrat.

And now, that said person had just went out and got himself wounded and worse still…. Layak tells him that the boy went into a coma. Was he intentionally trying to make his life a living hell? He could still recall the horror, when he had to make the Palace Guard bar the King from leaving the Palace. Had the Queen not been there, he would have to deal with dead guardsmen lying at the doors and a king missing from his own palace. Either to see the boy, or to requisition some of the troops to go to Yinke to find Mohan. Kamran had left the site with his helicopter upon receiving the news from him so that the King would not hijack his helicopter to do something on his own. The King could not afford to go out especially now when the boy was not in action. He had tried his mightiest not to let the news leak of Badala's apparent mortal wounds, yet it was Manisha who informed him of the rumour mill going around the echelon estates. His censorship had failed, and now the internal enemies would plot with no looming threat of Golden Path or Demon.

He had dispatched orders to loyal troops to remain in their stations with more autonomy to their facilities to counter what would likely be a second civil war if that ever happened. The staging point to repel the rebellion sympathy would be none other than Super Fortress Lanka.

A Palace Guard had informed him yesterday that the King had locked himself in his room depressed, refusing to leave or eat. He locked himself away from so that the Queen wouldn't be affected by his presence. Gary had managed to sedate him and gave him liquid fluids against his will so that he wouldn't starve. For these two loyal subjects, he was ever more grateful.

"(Sigh)"

"This is the eighteen time you've sighed, are you trying to expend our family's fortune and good luck on needless reflex?" said the ever-critical Manisha.

"It would not have come to this if certain people were still there to do their jobs instead of falling ill. Have you even had a look at the King's face? Have you even seen mine? Look! All these black spots under my eyes!" Though he never said who, Manisha rolled her eyes knowing who he was criticizing… as usual.

"From what I've heard, I don't think that boy has ever taken a break without the King or you urge him to. And you can't even accommodate him for a sick leave?" His wife snorted at his usual antics of pettiness.

"…. Hmph!"

This was the first time in four days straight that Arjun could return to the comfort of his abode in Roka Mansion. A comfortable villa with a magnificent view just like the rest of the echelon estates but with an interior that spoke of character. He had his wife to thank for her great sense of fashion and aesthetics. And yet, even with this lovely home with a wonderful ambience. There was still one other person that was in no condition to return to her post. Not that 3rd Kshatriyan Lord position ever had anything to do besides what he/she thought was good for the state and the people. That much autonomy for a single person under the king, he wouldn't say he didn't oppose to this idea when the King did this for his usual acts of showmanship and propaganda purpose to know that he and his retinue were busy doing good work for Kyrat. But it was mostly to spite his old Canton comrade in arms to show that his trust was with someone else if there was ever an emergency.

"How is our daughter?"

Manisha looked at him with a rather subtle annoyance that he took so long to ask that question or to find out for himself.

"You have the gall to ask only two weeks later after she literally cried herself to sleep, how do you think I feel as a Mother about her and about you not being there for her?" She said annoyed.

Arjun was taken aback, it had always annoyed him that Manisha always chose to side with the boy. Was it because he brought up his displeasure to her so often that she used this to get back at him? If so, then where was his once sweet darling of a wife?

"You know that I wasn't home since that boy landed up in the hospital! My god, woman! What did I ever do to deserve this?" He got up from the sofa and stomped out seemingly angry with his wife's picking on him.

"Arjun, dear." Arjun halted in his footsteps when he heard his wife call out in a concerned tone.

"Yes?" He turned back and asked, thinking she was sorry for being so harsh.

"Buy those pastries on your way back." She said in a sweet affectionate voice.

Arjun was so torn between retorting and obliging that he mumbled in dissatisfaction with her overbearing attitude. That being said, he would still go to buy those confectionaries. After all, he loved his wife.

Manisha chuckled thoughtfully as his silhouette disappearing dutifully from the courtyard whilst in her seat next to the fireplace. Arjun was quite forward and straight in his delivery of words that it often caused conflict with those he was less familiar with. Manisha was more than used to it, she knew how to counteract it on her own. Manisha got to her feet to check on the other inhabitant of the house who they had insisted she come back from the Homestead she lived in.

That younger girl staying with her was helpful enough to pack her things to be brought along, it was a joy to see such a sweet girl, this Bhadra.

Manisha had gone to the hospital with her husband to assess the situation of Badala where she and Arjun found Saraswati in that solemn state. She sympathized with her daughter for having to deal with this sort of thing even if it was common that a husband or lover failed to return during war or peacetime for that matter. It seemed that the invulnerability that Badala had been boasted for had come to an end, not that he was ever invulnerable to begin with. Manisha understood that from her conversation with him once.

But this was the first supposed defeat of Badala by the Golden Path, it meant the rise in their morale and drive to take back Kyrat for themselves. Even if she wasn't of military background, Manisha was smart enough to see that Mohan would return to take what was his. He had always been that sort of overly ambitious type, she pitied Ishwari for having to deal with his unrelenting attitudes sometimes. But that wasn't to say he wasn't a good husband, so it baffled her why he had sent her to the palace in the first place.

Why was she thinking about Mohan all of a sudden? Somehow, recalling back to when she met with Badala at his coronation party to Duke and again in the hospital, she saw the same desire in his eyes to push for something he believed in. She just hoped that the boy wouldn't end up like that poor betrayed man and hurt Saraswati in the process.

"Daughter. I've come to check on you." She knocked on Saras's room.

There was no answer after a few times even after she let herself in, fearing the worst for no immediate response. But when she entered, there was her little girl though not little at all. Seated at the window, gazing out into the open air.

Manisha sat next to her on the chair next to her at the coffee table that was part of her old room furnishings. It reminded her of the days when Saraswati was just a little girl, playing social parties with her invited. It was a distant memory, at some point her daughter became more adventurous and tomboyish that she often worried for her future. What sort of lady climbs trees and plays soccer with the boys? It made Manisha chuckle at the thought, because in the end her daughter turned out more than fine. It was a wonder what some makeup, styling of dress and hair could do. Soon the boyish girl that no one wanted became the swan.

But she knew that Saraswati was still of a wild and free spirit, she had a nasty habit of playing pranks and teasing others that still clung on till today. That was why as a mother, to see her so torn in emotion, it hurt to see this kind of flip in her attitude.

"….. I was just thinking, about how fortunate I am…. To have both of you as parents."

"As we are to have a daughter like you, my dear." Manisha placed a hand gently on her cheek.

"I just thought about all the wonderful childhood memories that I had, playing, laughing, the good and warm moments…."

"I was just thinking about the same thing, dear." Manisha chuckled.

"….. But what about-…. Him?"

Manisha knew she could only be referring to one person. She was completely unaware of Badala's history, only that he was raised in America and that life wasn't as how many would imagine in the land of the free. Was it torturous? She had no clue. But perhaps her daughter had a better understanding. After all, Manisha had received weekly reports on how her daughter was doing.

It was only Arjun who didn't approve of this relationship due to stubborn beliefs and the boy's closeness to the King. Usually, it would be an honor like none other. However, he had always complained and warned of Badala's ruthless and manipulative tendencies that outstripped the King in action. He was more dangerous than the King and Queen because unlike King Min's highhanded methods and the Queen's use of capable individuals, Badala went hands deep into the problem himself and made that culprit a bloody example of so that it would not happen again.

But it had proven effective, he was responsible for many major tide pushes in Kyrat and its premier military. Manisha chose to see the good side of a person. He didn't discriminate on class, religion or culture, that was why the Sherpa, Huns and minority tribes always visited his territory freely.

And why the people were only thankful to him for introducing jobs for them in the defense industry and construction sectors. There wasn't a day that went by that a civilian ever bad-mouthed him on her trips to the market and bazaars with her lady friends. Many inquired about his status, wishing to get their daughters to be acquainted with him for their family future's sake. Manisha felt a bit of pride stir up when her friends chatted upon that subject, that her daughter might be the one. Although she knew that Saras's intentions were solely her own rather than for family prestige.

"I'm sure that deep down, he does too."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because if he didn't, why would he do all of these wonderful things for the country? Your father talks day in and day out about how much of a monster he is on the battlefield, that one day that boy would become the likely monarch he would serve. But that's merely asking for things to suit his style, that is just one of the flaws in your father sometimes. If that boy didn't have memories and cherished experiences, he would bear no love for anything." Manisha stroked her head gently.

Saras looked as if she was about to burst into tears, her mother embraced her tightly to let her know she was here for her.

"Say if you were to lose those memories, what would become of you then?"

Manisha was puzzled why her daughter had asked this question as she thought the response. If she knew what was the response her mother would have given, she would never have asked. As it haunted her for the rest of her days.

"….. Then perhaps, you will truly lose your humanity."

* * *

The ride was a bumpy one for the five of them, it was even more so because of the cloth bags over their heads that increased their perception of touch and feeling. This was a precaution so as to prevent them committing the route to memory and earplugs to block out the sounds.

Then, the bumping stopped after an hour and a half of driving. The cloth bag was removed from Daisy's head first by Maya, while the rest had theirs taken off by the two accompanying hunters sitting with them on the truck.

This was one of the many supply trucks that made a routine stop at the village to resupply them with everyday necessities as well as bring back fresh recruits to train with the Military Hunter Cadre camps.

What beholded itself before Daisy was a rainforest, which puzzled the hell out of her to see this type of habitat in the mountains of the Himalayas. Kyrat was truly a place full of mysteries. Her friends were equally amazed at the scenery as Maya and the escort hunters unpacked the provisions to bring to the village on foot. It appeared that vehicles were not permitted within the villages premise, Daisy thought. The rest seemed content with the sights. Not to be outdone by the hunters, the boys chipped in for carrying the goods. Although they realized quickly the disparity in their threshold of strength and endurance. Carrying boxes of provisions like they were just a box of papers, they had shearly underestimated the hunters for their physical proportions. Maya was no exception, she was slender and fit, yet was carrying more than those hunters with ease. Do you even lift?

It was easy to forget Maya's qualifications as a Military combat officer, who was a second-in-command to the para commandos in the field. And lastly, was one of the hunters, the deadliest group of reconnaissance soldiers cum assassins within the ranks apart from Pagan's spies. Apparently, all of the hunters came from the same village and were born amongst the clans there, no Kyrati was allowed to join. With the exception of Maya, the protégé of the villages' benefactor Yuma. As it was envisioned, that Maya would succeed her in the years to come.

If the scenery was impressive, so too was the four-metre high palisade wall that isolated the village from whatever wildlife lurked the forests. But it didn't stop there, as the palisade gate opened and revealed a homely looking settlement with character. It was enough to ignore the general appearance of everyone, from old to young. All wore a hood of sorts which gave them a bit of concealment to their features whom the group had only noticed after their spectation of the waterfall that dominated the centre of the village into a lake for washing and drinking. Clean, sparkling water. Bishal seemed to have been here before, as it walked ahead of them as if it were its home to have a dip. The villagers noticed its presence and politely clasped their hands and bowed. Daisy wasn't sure what it meant, but it seemed that the White Tiger had a respectable presence here.

"Ohmygodohmygod-…. Dudes… this feels like we're in a village of assassins." Oliver commented with much enthusiasm based on his video game knowledge.

"Or a shinobi village." Steve added.

"Shinobi?" Riley asked.

"Japanese Ninjas, heard these charming fellows have the same job range too." Clarified Steve.

As they walked in, the villagers turned from their daily routine to gaze at them. It was a sight they had not seen before, which was the access granted into the village to clear foreigners. Where even high-ranking officials in Kyrat weren't permitted to enter.

"Not a lot of friendly stares." Oli noticed.

"Say, Miss Maya. Where are we headed?" Liza asked not to be too quiet within.

"There's only one authority in this village, and she's the one who agreed with sheltering you lot."

They reached a structure that had a wafer of herbs brewing in the smoke, it was wooden like all other houses but was the size of a hall. The two escorts left them as they relieved the boys from the supplies to distribute to the settlement. The villagers began to gather where they were to do what they did routinely in receiving their ration necessities.

Two hunters stood guard at the entrance. When Maya walked forward, they parted to the side to allow her to move through.

"They're here with the Matriarch's blessing." She pointed towards Daisy's ground.

But the hunters didn't seem to move even when she commanded it as they stepped forward to intentionally block them.

(Whistle) A whistle from inside the village matriarch's abode sounded and the guards immediately parted way with their bows holstered.

The door opened and out came the person that Daisy immediately recognised.

"Ah!-." So he was a Hunter too, she thought. It made sense, how he had snuck up into the camp and kept the Golden Path fighters at bay. But there was something else about him that Daisy couldn't put a finger on.

"The Huntress Matriarch is expecting you." Darshan said before returning inside.

"Specialist Major, a moment please." But Darshan chose to ignore.

"Specialist Major, wait!" Maya called out again.

"What is it Major Kadayat?" He asked in a dull tone.

"That gun….." It was easily recognisable, Ajay's slayer did not accompany him to the hospital. So it was in fact in Darshan's possession all this while. She pointed to the gun slung on his arm as he had come out the assist in their entry.

Darshan was a clansman who held the rank of veteran warrior, which garnered a ton of respect among the ranks. Although, he presence among the hunters was a dubious one.

Their old group, her, Darshan, Anish, Prayan. Were a group that had been given special privilege to enter and work within the ranks of the Hunters. Their destination in their career was to be Commanders that had exclusive rights to command hunters which no one save Yuma and the King could. Hunters only worked alongside the army officers, not serve under them. So Maya's group was a pretty prestigious party of promising Royal Guardsmen.

But Darshan was at least nearly twice her age, which was not someone they'd recommend for future command posts. In fact, it was only recently when Ajay mentioned it that she became aware of the secret nature of his relation to Yuma. In other words, Darshan was her secret weapon of clandestine activities.

"I'll return it to its owner when I'm done. The Matriarch is expecting you, don't make her wait." He said before moving onwards to a door to the room he previously occupied.

She was just about to move off when a slip fell to her feet. "Hmm?" She reached down and picked it up. It was a slip of fabric with ancient words written upon it, she had previously not noticed it upon Darshan but a few were placed upon the gun.

-What the hell is he doing?-

Maya wasn't here for him, but he promised to return that to Ajay so it didn't matter. She was aware of how powerful that thing was. It was the number one crowd disperser from numerous accounts of Golden Path prisoners and Royal Army alike. They were even surprised he could use that beast of a gun so frequently.

"Come on." She told the rest as they moved on through the corridor without further hindrance.

They reached the end of the corridor where a large wooden engraved door separated them from the Matriarch. Maya was just about to knock when a voice answered from behind the door.

"I've been waiting for you, child."

* * *

Upon opening the door to the room, a fragrance of herbs that had been lingering in the air rushed out to indicate that this was the probably origin point. Sitting on a straw mat in front of a cauldron was an old woman so old that she would either make the perfect reference for a witch crone or she would fall over and die any any moment.

Maya walked up and sat on the other side of the Cauldron.

"Matriarch Jayama." The Matriarch turned to memorize every one of their faces.

"Please, sit." She waved to the straw mats uniformly placed next to Maya in a straight row.

The group were busy looking around the inside of the room with fascination.

"Are you intrigued?" She asked in a grandmotherly tone.

"Uh-no. Just- I mean yeah!" Riley fumbled with his sentences as he somehow felt guilty when the Matriarch was facing him in particular.

"It is quite alright. No harm learning something new every day." She said with a hospitable smile.

"You speak English." Liza said before Steve nudged her for saying something unnecessary.

"I've had more than enough time to learn it. I cannot be expected to be unable to receive the words of my liege and not give him an answer."

"Um….. Matr-."

"Jayama will do, dear." She said to Daisy to skip formalities.

"Madam Jayama, thank you for agreeing to shelter us. We're in your debt, if you need a few spare hands, we won't mind a bit helping out with the daily routines." The Matriarch nodded with a smile, glad that she understood manners.

"Nonsense, child. You and your companions are our village guests."

"Um-…."

"No need to be so reserved, this is merely sowing Karma with the Duke. And at this one's request, the village council will not object." She looked warmly at Maya, indicating that she had a part to play in their protection.

"I see.." Daisy was beginning to see a whole mountain of debts she had to pay in good will to these people.

"But perhaps, you might be the first foreigners not of Kyrati kin to have stayed her in decades."

"Who was the first?" Oli asked out of curiosity that there might have been other foreigners.

"During my time, it was the outsider named Pagan Min. Whom we called our benefactor when he arrived and our liege today."

"Pagan?"

"You might not be aware, child. But the lowlands of the Himalayas was not always a place of peace even before this civil war had begun and ended." The Matriarch begun to indulge a bit of history.

"For as long as the scriptures once said, there used to be one kingdom over the Himalayan lowlands. What is now modern Yinke, Papir, Kumsa and Kyrat. And seated at the throne was the Devi dynasty."

Daisy had heard that the previous royalty had been of the Devi bloodline as well, although it had now ended.

"So Kyrat use to be a lot bigger?"

The matriarch shook her head smiling.

"The names of these kingdoms are of the splinters of nobility that remained after the Devi bloodline was destroyed over a five thousand years ago to run the domains."

"Destroyed, so what about the former monarchy here?"

"They were mere branch members of the main family, or so they used to proclaim. And the best way they thought was to prove that the Kyrati kingdom was better than all of the native tribes that have been inhabiting these lands for countless generations."

"Then that would mean that-."

"Yes, child. We, along with many other local tribes had been hunted for centuries by the Kyrati Kingdom."

The blackest history in the annals of the Kingdom of Kyrat.

"But of course, in vain. The Kyratis have always underestimated the tribes understanding of the terrain better than them, let us not even talk about prowess. Although the other Kingdoms have not been as charitable either. This string of stagnancy ended for us when King Min reached out. And for ensuring peace throughout our generations, we owe him tremendously."

The conversation became far strafing so Daisy tried to change it.

"So how long has this place been around for?" Jayama smiled at her good intentions.

"I don't know."

The rest felt like dropping. As she broke her own veil of mysticism with an honest remark.

"But from what my grandmother used to tell me as she brought me to the sacred grounds where cave paintings portray the beginnings of our tribe. "We have been in these lands for as long as there has been life that flowed into this valley paradise and our ancestors first learnt to overcome themselves and develop a way to harness nature."."

(Whistle) She made a bird call and through the window came in a huge majestic eagle that landed on a perch built just for it.

"All that we are, and all that the King wants from us has been in our tribe before we even began to write it down." She added as she stroked the eagles head and blew smoke into its face to cast a sleeping spell over it.

The boys watched with utter excitement at the trick she just performed as if it was normal.

"Ma'am, I have a request." Oliver raised his hand.

Jayama laughed heartily as she immediately knew what he wanted without him saying it.

"You want to learn? But will you have the patience to understand? Maya took five years to apply and yet even she cannot be called a beastmaster." Hearing her describe the duration made Oliver retract his statement from his lips. He wasn't intending to be out of civilisation just to pick up a rather unusual parlor trick that could earn him big bucks if he played it right. But unfortunately, he had no patience for that. Unless they could give him a regular supply of weed and other fantastic concoctions that Kyrat's brewers had yet to show him.

"Argh. Forget I asked."

Jayama chuckled to herself at the boy's frustrations in life that he showed from his posture and attitude. She then had a one to one talk with each and everyone of them to better understand their social norms and personality.

It was a surprise that such an old lady could process info so quickly where their grandparents struggled. But for the Matriarch who was regularly coordinating the movement of the village and of the hunters in the army, this was no challenge. She had an outstanding memory to back her despite her advance age preventing her to carry out more rugged tasks which were left to the younger villagers.

"Which reminds me, child." She switched to Maya after speaking to Liza who was the last. The latter had surprisingly enjoyed her conversation with the Matriarch. The group felt quite assured of their safety and hospitality offered by the Hunters highest authority that living here for the time being wasn't so bad.

"That flute you spoke of, would it trouble if I could have a look at it?"

Maya sighed. "Forgive me, Matriarch. It was in the Duke's possession until he traded it for Former General Khati's son." The matriarch was a bit disappointed but could not fault him, Bibek Khati was one of the Kyratis that all minority tribes deeply respected as an adversary or as a friend.

"Understood, forgive my selfishness then." The rest had no idea what they were on about, some artefact, they figured.

"Well, I've at least been able to get acquainted with all of you. I will have a guide allocated to you to tour the village as well as manage with your stay here in our home. So once again, on behalf of the village, we welcome you our honoured guests." The matriarch bowed with humility.

"Likewise, madam."

"Oh-Thank you."

The rest bowed or clasped their hands in the same way that she did to return her compliment at least.

Just then, a hunter bursted into the room with a sense of urgency about him.

"This must be important for you to barge in, young one." Although he was at the prime of his life, the hunter huffed to catch his breath. Whatever he was delivering, he had sprinted here non-stop to relay it.

After recovering his breath, he looked around at the foreigners in the room with a hint of surprise. But he walked up to the Matriarch to whisper the details into her ear.

As the hunter dispatch retracted, the Matriarch visibly frowned and sighed in annoyance.

"My child, you'd better return quickly to your post." She said with all the seriousness overwhelming her previous light manner

"What is it, Matriarch?" Maya asked slightly worried with a bad premonition.

The concerned look in the Matriarch's eyes said it all, yet it was only hearing it that May truly found it a disturbing piece of news.

"The Canton Lords are rebelling."


	103. Chapter 94 - The Canton Rebellion

Author's Notes:

Had internet blackout since Monday, been spending extra time at the uni to do my work and prep for my exam that starts 20th June. I also had to do several assignments and lab reports crammed into this week to give time for revision lessons at Uni. In other words, prepare for a delay on works. Maybe once a week at most on Sundays. Finish exams on 30th, assuming i don't have to resit. Hope not.

A bit of interesting insight from Anbu Codename-Kuro, personally I have to admit that I haven't actually watched Naruto at all. (Audience: What?! Blasphemy! Burn him!). Looking at extended content, I'm quite aware of the the length. Still, content that I reveal must have an explanation or it would seem as if I pulled out a rabbit from my ass. Trying to keep MC from being too Mary Sue.

End of flapping my mouth. Let's get back to the story. (づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)

Music for fast pace firefight:

The Lone Wolf (Carpenter Brut - Roller Mobster)

* * *

(Bababababababaam)

A firefight erupted in Kyrat General to the surprise of patient and staff alike. Machine gun fire ripped apart the only two guards at the vehicle checkpoint where the anarchy had begun. But these assailants were not without an opposition and severe hindrance to their primary objective.

(BoomBoomBoomBoom)

A reciprocation of buckshot blasted apart concrete and body armor which protected these assassins of a certain ethnic background.

"Wah Diu!"

Two went down to the power of the 12-gauge double o buckshot's kinetic energy killing them despite their enforcement level body armor.

"Man San!"

"Shit Shit Shit!"

The device which was responsible for these deaths had turned towards the last of their group. Their faces behind the balaclava masks were pale as sheets and despair as Jeevan depressed the trigger to the automatic shotgun in his possession.

(BoomBoomBoomBoom)

Another salvo burst of shells sent the last two flying back dead and just in time as he had run out of shells in the drum.

In the distance, Jeevan could hear the distinct shouts in that Chinese-Dialect, only spoken by a very particular minority found in Kyrat yet held more power than any member of Kyrati nobility could ever hope, except one.

Jeevan reached into the duffel bag that Samson had the boys leave in the hospital in case of an emergency especially like the instance that he was facing. A fresh drum for the USAS-12, one of the more exotic firearms that Longinus had brought over part of the Jackal's inventory.

There couldn't be a better situation such as now for the weapon to truly shine. Thankfully, the walls here were genuine concrete that was sufficient in stopping the pellets from the buckshot or he would have had a significant collateral damage on his hands, both objects and human life. In the same instance, the assailants weren't armed beyond pistol cartridges from their antiquated MP5s. Even so, in their hands. It was the most lethal combination to exist, because it was the primary weapons used during their time in the Hong Kong Special Duties Unit of the '80s.

The best that the Canton Families could dispatch to claim the life of the demon asleep for their plans to succeed.

Jeevan was a little annoyed with this attempt that had ruined such a beautiful morning, if only he didn't jinx his own wish that he was wasting the day escorting his sister here.

* * *

30 Minutes Ago-

A sunny day with zero clouds, a day to spend relaxing in the shade drinking ice tea or having a drink with the rest at the officer's lounge. And to top it off, it was his off day. What a stroke of luck he could have time to snooze around in the apartment allocated to him.

"Is bringing your sister to see your mentor such a bother to you?" Kanaan gave him a sorrowful look.

"No, of course not. It's just-….. (Sigh)." He didn't want to say it, so he zipped his mouth and carried the basket of effects that Kanaan insisted on bringing.

"Please don't sigh in my presence, you're invoking bad luck upon yourself and I." She reprimanded him like always.

"Nobody believes in that superstitious crap nowadays, sis."

"Just because you don't doesn't mean others share the same opinion."

"…." He knew all too well, Golden Path were the most extreme example.

They were here, and here being Kyrat General Hospital, the only fully operational medical centre with sufficient facilities and medical know how to treat severe cases that clinics could not. The Director of the Hospital was none other than Noore Najjar, former-Mistress of Shanath and Marquess of Kyrat.

In the past, medical treatments of severe nature were administered by a very exclusive league of general practitioners whom had inherited their mantles from the family. That group of doctors could only be counted with one's fingers. And the only the ones who could have access to this attention were those that could afford it, that was only eleven percent of the overall population that had funds to request immediate treatment.

But that had all ended with the conception of Kyrat General after half a year of fiddling about with numbers, requisitioning of manpower and advanced medical equipment abroad as well as a steady stream of medical supplies. Work was not easy for Noore, but with the help of that small group of physicians it was made possible with their blood and sweat. What came out of it was a government-funded program to provide subsidized healthcare and emergency treatments to the public. Nothing in life is free, but they could reduce the strain on the people's finances as well as give them the healthcare they deserved and provide immediate attention to those that needed it most.

Jeevan found himself musing how busy everyone he knew was, everyone doing something to bring Kyrat out of the third-world into a competent powerhouse for their neighbours. Because Kyrat was representing the interests of three other states as well. But most of all, someone had inspired them to strive for something better, said person was now on involuntary medical leave.

They arrived in the carpark grounds with the convenience of a jeep loaned to Jeevan because of his commission, he was by no means going to refuse it from the motorpools if they offered which they did willingly. Perks of being the intern to the Duke, but also an enormous reputation to uphold on his end.

The hospital had minimal security, only a pair of guards at a checkpoint entrance into the hospital if someone was driving in, the walking path was free. Noting who he was from the ID he presented, the guards saluted with feeling which he nodded back curtly as he was not in uniform to be saluted but they did it out of respect for him.

They did not even check his vehicle which he was about to admit had a rather destructive device inside which he carried up with him to the ICU ward where his mentor, Ajay lay asleep.

Not too long after arriving, they were already outside of the ward room. Jeevan opened the door to find Noore inside checking boxes on a clipboard to assess his health status as a part of routine.

She turned around and smile at their company.

"I was expecting you, Jeevan. But I'll have to say your visit is a surprise, my dear Kanaan."

"Just here to pay compliments, Doctor." Kanaan replied without much thought to the question Noore posed.

"How is he, Noore?" Jeevan asked.

"Stable for now, although he's had a few-…. "Attacks" over the course of week. But nothing major so long as we administer the right dosages to keep his activity to a minimal."

"I see….." Noore looked at him and knew that there was more he wished to ask. Particularly pertaining his mentor's identity as the son of the Rebellion.

"Come with me to my office." She said as she motioned to the exit.

"Kanaan, my dear. I'll be borrowing your little brother for a little experiment if that's ok." She said with a smile.

"That's fine, he'll be more than happy to help. Just don't chew him too hard." She returned a rather sleezy comment which Noore giggled away at the joke.

"I'll return you little brother a little bit more of a man if that's what you want." She played along in their joke and shared a laugh, leaving Jeevan slightly embarrassed as he became conscious of a beautiful doctor actually "taking care" of him. They laughed at his embarrassment as well as he scratched his head awkwardly.

Noore left for her office with Jeevan in tow, while Kanaan remained in the ward Ajay slept in. Noore returned to the office of the hospital director which belonged to her, though simply furnished still held a character around the room. Amita had mumbled something about her decorating Baghadur in a similar fashion. It was more teahouse fashion than office, yet there were evidently papers and medical books stacked neatly by the floor desk for her reading.

"Have a seat." She told him as she went to the back to retrieve some tea leaves and boiled water from the kettle. Jeevan spent the time admiring the surrounding deco and looking at some of the reading material on the table. She returned in no time at all with a tea set and handed him a cup.

"Thanks." But Noore didn't choose to speak until she'd savoured every bit of the tea she poured the first round.

"So what else do you not understand about your mentor?" She finally opened to Jeevan for inquiries he wanted.

"All you've told us about…. Ajay. I know there's more to it than that. Don't get me wrong, I'm not pressing you for it-…. It's just…."

"If you don't want to know, then don't ask."

"I'm still baffled as to how someone who's lived almost his entire life in the safety of the state can-."

"Can what? Fight like a monster?" Noore said in the most belittling of laughs.

"Lemme tell you something, boy. No matter which state or city you're in, be it the deep South, the Miami beaches, the ghettos in Brooklyn or even the bustling streets of Washington. There's always a level or place of violence hidden from plain sight. Daisy can attest to that, I can also attest to that."

"… I don't know."

"Of course, you don't. You sent a good half of your life in a box!-… I'm sorry. Forget it." She had a sudden outburst which was rare for even her. Noore reached into the desk drawer to pull out a box of cigarettes, drew on and lit it. Jeevan gave her time to settle her nerves.

"….. I've had my fair share of violence myself. My- ah-…. My husband came from a family that were-… against the idea of marrying a person from the middle east. See, my parents hailed from Jordan. But I was born and breed in the states, my husband's elder brother had been in the Gulf War, he'd come back shaken… so." Though she said nothing about it, her had gesturing towards her stomach and her shoulders indicated a dark side to her peaceful life in the states too. Was this why she'd chosen to work abroad in the aid organisation? Jeevan would never know and he would never want to.

"I'm sorry."

"No you're not, but neither am I." She threw the bud of her cigarette out the window.

"But do you see the point now?" She asked of him. Jeevan was not so dense as not to have understood that underlining their supposedly peaceful lives, there was always something darker.

"I do. I'm sorry for forcing an answer out of you." Noore waved her hand casually to indicate it was nothing.

"We all have our dark pasts, but its something we keep to ourselves so that none of our friends or even family have to share the burden of our woes."

"Family….." He murmured softly, though Noore caught it.

"Yunno, he envies you." What Noore said to him gave him a genuine surprise.

"Me?" She nodded.

"How you have a sibling like Kanaan to always look out for you, care for you, worry about you everyday."

"…."

"Treasure what you have now, Jeevan. Or you'll lose them forever…. Just like him….. Just like me."

Jeevan couldn't feel ever more silly for his doubts that he'd engaged in a very unfortunate conversation that referenced Noore's own past.

"What are you looking forward to here, Noore?" He suddenly became curious about Noore's reason for staying despite all that happened to her.

"To see it through, I guess." She said as she popped another stick into her mouth.

"Then, I'm probably gonna take Ashley somewhere."

"…"

There was a lot of questions that he would naturally inquire about her relationship with Ashley, the daughter of her families murderer. But he kept it to himself as he'd just learnt from her. Sometimes, addressing the pain wasn't the solution to the problem.

"You could spend an entire lifetime mourning for your loss, and it still won't be enough. But that's alright." The words came out of Jeevan's mouth as naturally as he breathed.

Noore frozen and blinked a few before breaking into a laughter so infectious.

"It seems that you're becoming more like your mentor than you realize. But I won't take the fun out of it for you, so I'll just tell you to thread your own path however you wish, Jeevan. Don't regret any mistake that you make, because at some point of time you'll repeat it but this time you'll have better understood how to work around it. And that's something worth experiencing."

"Thank you, Doctor." He said with a look of thoughtfulness. Noore chuckled away.

"Oh, you trying to get smart with me?" Noore smirked at his sudden change in address.

(Screech) A considerable collective sound of tires burning from a hard stop could be heard from the front of the building when the dropoff point and carpark was facing them.

"The hell is that?"

"Sounds like someone's in a hurry. You think it's an emergency?" Jeevan asked Noore as he walked to the window.

Jeevan took a peek from where he was down below to see five MRAP armoured cars parked on the side with men that did not resemble any uniformed group he was aware of. They walked out of their vehicles briskly and carrying hardcases which aroused the suspicion of the two guards below.

"All of you, stop and show some han-(Bababababababaam)" The sound of a machine pistol ripped through the air. Causing the whole hospital to enter a panick to the all to familiar sound of gunfire.

"Stay down!" He told Noore and ducked on reflex to the firing as did she.

"Nei, zau zo jik! Kei jyu dik gan zyu ngo!" (You, take the left wing! The rest will follow me!)

Jeevan's adept hearing picked out loud commands in Cantonese. And a list of culprits had already formed in his head. He knew they didn't like Ajay one bit, but he didn't really think they'd dare to do it so openly… unless-

"Ajay!" Noore made a sudden revelation upon hearing the same thing as Jeevan near the window. She dashed out towards Ajay's ward leaving Jeevan standing in the office.

Though he had not seen where the firing took place, Jeevan knew that the guards were the first victims of these "assassins". And they had yet to reach their target whom if Jeevan was willing to bet, was none other than his teacher as Noore had already prioritized.

Not on his watch.

* * *

To describe how quickly the Royal Fortress fell, it was like a stack of cards in the shape of a castle falling to the winds. Men, once trusted since their days in the academy turned upon them like hungry wolves and that was how half the personnel at the heart of the Kyrat Military Command fell to the swift blade of treachery. The Canton Forces drove into the compounds without a scratch as they'd let their insiders do all the heavy lifting.

While this was happening, a nation-wide military channel blackout had occurred. Denying all major military facilities an update on the situation of the blackout save for a message that the communication system was undergoing maintanence briefly.

And so, under an hour the last bastion to the throne fell to forces that were of the King's bloodline, and supposedly the most loyal of King Min's. While there was always a vibe that the Canton Families would rise over the King, with Badala's appearance it seemed even less likely for that to happen. And Yet here it happened, the few that had survived were rounded up and held at gun point to cooperate in the coup less their families suffer a horrid fate. The more stubborn of the lot were executed and the few too valuable to kill were imprisoned.

This was not a sudden impulse but a plan, sixteen years in the making. From the day, they collectively lost faith in Pagan's ability to carry out their wish.

"Report."

"Communications remain dark throughout the military channel save for our standalone channels for our force. But-."

"But?"

"…. Sabre group has had some delays in securing Lanka." The dispatch said with cold sweat pouring from his forehead.

The individual he reported to in person rubbed his forehead to absolve a headache, caused by the failure to secure one of the most important facilities in reigning Kyrat.

"Get out of my sight."

"My lord, the rest of the-."

"GET LOST!" Guang Min roared at the lieutenant who reported to them. The officer briskly walked out of the threatre of war where the rest of the senior staff and nobles align to the cause had gathered.

"Do any of you have something else to say?" He asked in a threatening tone if they had any more set backs to impede their progress. Unfortunately, it was too serious of an affair to keep in the dark.

"Sagarmatha Air Base is secure, only….. some of Lupus Caelum's employees including the IAF pilots are left unaccounted for in Coriolanus's staff."

"A small matter, but well done." In his mind, a small group of less than ten would not stand as much of a threat. That should be left to the men that accompanied Winnefred Coriolanus in their payoff to turn against their employer to handle. He wasn't cheap but they would get the best professionalism in his work if he wanted to be paid or family heads would roll in Johannesburg.

Four other commanders reported the success in taking control of major facilities that were assigned to them. The supply depots, the airbase and the echeleon estates where nobles loyal to the King were held under house arrest.

"The Marshal and his family have been detained."

"Excellent." Guang Min was truly satisfied, the subordinates of him had sent the bad news upfront first before relaying the good to assure him, he took note of that as he chuckled away at an overall victory.

"And what of the loyal hound?" Heads turned to Solomon as they knew he meant Badala. It was a pressing concern for the military members especially, some directly knew of his abilities and presence could do to shake their entire coup against them while some didn't, Guang Min was one of them.

"What can a vegetable do against us?"

"Then why do you think I'm asking if there wasn't a great concern to address?" Solomon replied with an annoying smirk.

"We've already sent our best man and his team to deal with it." Sun Kwan said to assure the rest of the nervous nobles whom supported this uprising financially.

"Lemme guess, Joseph?" A flicker from Sun Kwan's expression gave away and confirmed Solomon's assumption.

"It's great and all that you've sent a competent man to deal with things that he specialises in…."

Sun Kwan took that as a compliment and smiled.

"But how much will it take I wonder?"

"Speak your point or sit down, brat." Guang Min said coldly.

"He might be out of action, but did you lock up or deal with his retinue?"

"…"

"Like I thought."

"Then what would you do?!" Guang Min was getting flustered as Sun Kwan went over to calm him though they didn't get along that well.

"I'd like to address a few groups that could potentially be a problem now and in the future I'd like for you to eliminate and capture. If in the event that your boys fail, then at least you still have leverage over him to stay his hand….. assuming for all unlikeliness he actually breaks out of his coma." Though he was arrogant, he did have a logical point.

"Go on."

"The capture of Lakshman's Arsenal-."

"We're already-."

"Hang on, lemme finish first. While you may outnumber and outgun the local militia and police force there. You've missed out the most illusive group that could jeopardize our operation in future."

Most of the members were not able to understand who he was referring to, until an aged-retired officer stood up and said. "The Huns."

"Yes, old boy. I give you full marks on that one."

"Their leader and alphas are in Yinke." An officer retorted as it didn't seem like they were threatening enough.

"That might be so, but the one who holds real power in the Hunic settlement isn't Yang Er Hu but their Matriarch."

"And how does this Matriarch threaten us?"

"You should really brush up on your Kyrati history or…. You should go pay General Khati a visit to tell you three reasons not to push them."

"Even if they are that much of a concern, what reason would they have to aid the City? The Kingdom has been their mortal enemy since the conception." One of their bean counters replied.

"And yet, their chief is Badala's subordinate." Sun Kwan shut that stupid noble's trap who was a smart alec.

"Right, burn the Hun's village. Anything else?" Guang Min moved the subject along.

"Find the SOCOM Marines and the Italian Mercenaries, kill all and take none alive." Sun Kwan motioned to a subordinate of his and whispered some commands to proceed with his plan.

"Have a few of your boys go to his City and house and find Bhadra Rishal, the Tarun Matara and an elderly couple by the last name Malla."

"Malla?... As in-." Guang Min seem to remember that surname before.

"I'll leave those to you, now….. what else…." He rubbed his chin thoughtfully as he thought on the go.

"Yunno…. I think, Amita will be a problem in the future as well. Be dears and torch Baghadur, or maybe have your backstabber Coriolanus bomb them without warning. Make'em think it was a betrayal on the Royal Army's account and have them rise against the other garrison forces to divide their attention from us when they come to an understanding of the situation."

While they hated to admit, it was a pretty good strategy to fool the Tigers into fighting their enemies for them.

"Have someone relay to Coriolanus, destroy Baghadur and level it to the ground. The 2nd Hussars will clean up along the assault on Lanka." Guang Min said personally, highlighting it as the highest priority.

"Right, Iive said all I've needed. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a few "friends" I have to meet." After saying so he left the scene as quickly as he appeared. The rest of the group returned to talking to their colleagues about the situation. Guang Min motioned to a trusted officer as Sun Kwan went over to him as well.

"My lord."

"What is the status at the palace?" He began to discuss a more sensitive topic while Sun Kwan listened closely.

"His Royal Highness-… is hold up in the Royal Palace. The Royal Armorer and his attendant have barricaded the place preventing our soldiers from moving in to kill them."

"What?!.. You're having problems with just two people?!" He said as quietly yet loudly as he could.

"I think that attendant of his was once Deva Acharya." Sun Kwan entered the conversation. But the mere mention of that individual falling under that category changed everything.

"Why wasn't this sorted sooner?"

"M-My lord please understand, there was a minimal personnel requirement of the palace to allow only five guests and guards at a time. And-… our very best had been overpowered."

Guang Min sighed once more, things weren't going especially well. Their original idea was to have the king killed along with Yuma in cold blood and frame Badala for the murder, since his situation in coma proved beneficial in him not intervening and speaking against the charges they would place against him when Pagan's death became public on their accord. But now, they were no closer to creating that setting thanks to Pagan's demise being prevented, though he could not leave to rally forces loyal either being hold up in the Royal Palace.

"What do you suggest?" Guang Min turned to Sun Kwan who was his second in command for this coup.

"Bombing the Royal Palace would cause problems in keeping to the story we've placed down. And we won't be able to confirm if he is truly dead and not escaped into some secret passage we aren't aware of." Guang Min nodded.

"Agreed, keep pressure on them to prevent movement and have more men sent to the Royal Palace. I expect Pagan's head here by three, is that understood?"

"Ye- Yes, My lord! With haste!" The officer saluted and left sprinting away.

"Solomon…." Guang Min murmured.

"Tell me, you've arranged for his execution after this?" Sun Kwan seemed to be in an agreement for the first time with the senior Guang Min.

"Richard has already expressed to me his disappointment in that little shit. I had a pair of eyes watch him and that group of Americans." Sun Kwan smiled as Guang Min chuckled away.

"Once he's outlived his use, no one will remember him."

* * *

The five squads of disavowed SDU officers were tasked with the job of killing the demon, an easy job they said since he was currently comatosed in a hospital with almost no security forces. Yet the man leading the operation could not shake the feeling that something would happen. If not, Sun Kwan would not have made his whole group apprehend a single person. Joseph was not affiliated with Badala because he had never been to the Royal Academy where all the officers and Royal Guard were trained at.

Even so, tales of this exploits spoke of years of experience behind his tactics and fighting style. Badala was adept in psychological warfare and it was his most powerful tool, it didn't just shake conscripts but full-fledged veterans as well. It was nothing like he'd ever heard of before, so the Canton Families had commissioned him to take command in assassinating the highest authority next to Pagan. After the many gangs, terrorists and rebel insurgents they'd dispatched over the years, the lords were confident in their ability to manage.

Another group was on the way to the Royal Palace to do the same while the fat cats lounged in the Royal Fortress taken by force with the help of those emerging "heroes" from the recent Yinkian War.

"Floor one, clear!"

"Haa Yat Cang, Ngo mun zoeng fan wai saam zou! (Next floor, we're going to divide into three groups!) Alpha take East, Bravo takes North wing, Charlie, Wui pui ngo loi gim caa naam fong dik gaai keoi. (.. will accompany me to check the southern block.)"

"""Yes, sir!""" His group of assassins acknowledged and scaled the set of stairs to the next level. They had no choice since none of the nurses knew that Badala was in the hospital, the group that were disclosed were on tight lip and weren't at the lobby or on the first floor.

He took the south with Charlie, they were quiet adept with the hospital layout since it mirrored on all floors. They knocked down the doors to the private wards and scanned the public ones with equal swiftness. The civilians had no choice but to shiver in the corner as they searched for Badala.

"Last ward. Nothing!"

"Fuck!"

"He's just not in this end, that's all. We assist the ot-(Bababababaam)(Boom)(Boom)(Boom)(Boom)." They heard the roar of a fierce firefight taking place along with distant screams from several people.

"Charlie! North side, zao! (Go!)" He recalled his group Charlie to head to the North block. At the end of the corridor, he saw Alpha group run ahead of them that way as well.

"Faai Dim!" (Quickly) He increased speed with Charlie as they ran toward the North wards, but as the reached the corridor with the next bend leading to where Bravo was-.

(Boom)(Boom)(Boom)(Boom) the sound of a repeated shotgun blast echoed through the corridor. Joseph made a quick glance from the bend to see the shredded bodies of Alpha and Bravo laying all over the floor, some had survived groaning in pain but-.

(Boom) (Boom) (Boom)

They had been mercilessly finished off with repeated blasts. He caught a glance at the culprit at the other end of the corridor carrying one of the rare weapons in the world today. A USAS-12 automatic shotgun, he was willing to bet was loaded with a drum and using some sort of incendiary due to the sizzling bodies of his former colleagues.

(Boom) (Boom) A burst blasted the concrete protecting him as he retreated to cover.

"Wah diu!" He cursed as it nearly took off his head.

"…. Instructor, is that you?" Called out a rather familiar voice at the other side where the shooter was. Joseph didn't answer but he knew who it was, with all the veteran SDU members that were formerly instructors at the Royal Academy dead. There were only three possibilities, one was Darshan, too old to sound like that. The other was Kadayat which wasn't possible since he was with the 2nd Hussars now. Only one last possibility, that recent smiling monster of a student of his and coincidentally, the demon's.

"Should've guessed, but I never imagined you being in leagues with the Canton Lords before Yuma!" Jeevan said from the other side as he loaded the next drum.

He knew there would be an assault like this one of these days, that's why he asked Samson to deposit weapons and ammo in the ward's wardrobe safe. And thank god he did, or the situation would have been very different. He gave a call to Samson to tell him of the attack as well while his sister remained in the room with Noore and her nurses to continue stabilizing Ajay's condition and prepare to move him out of the hospital.

"How much are they paying you? Are you even receiving anything for this mission?" Jeevan laugh resounded the hallways.

"This isn't about money, son. This was a plan, sixteen years in the making."

"Really now. Is attempting this failure of a coup de tat really worth burning your escape ship?" Jeevan indulged as he cocked his shotgun.

"There was a time when all of us would follow him no questions asked, even after Ishwari fūren's (Madam) departure…..We-…. You have no idea of how much Pagan has let us down, son. If he can no longer bring us to our dream then he's as good as our stepping stone now."

"… Fair enough. Don't expect any leniency from me then, traitor." Jeevan cut all ties with his former training instructor for two months.

Joseph sighed and motioned to his men Swat-style to take the other corridor while he threw a smoke canister to mask their corridor.

"What a pity, he would have made a great soldier." Joseph shook his head as his colleagues advanced with guns blazing to suppress him.

(Bababababaam) (Babababaam) They fired look suppressive bursts from their old school yet reliable M16s and MP5s, weapons they trained with back in the police department.

(Boom) (Boom) (Boom) Jeevan returned a few from his end as well.

But there was only so much he could do against seven of them who knew the situation in front of them and had the convenience of numbers to outmanuever him. Even if he carried a bigger stick, these stats would allow them to overpower him given time. Time was also what he was trying to bide, time for Samson and the rest to arrive and get him out of this pickle. He checked the room where the nurses, Noore and his sister too, were scurrying through the neighbouring rooms for medical supplies to bring with her on her trip with Ajay out once the coast was clear, but not now.

(Click) "Shit-(BOOM)" One of the former instructors had not expected a claymore of all things to be in the hospital, but it was part of the kit that Alberto assembled for an emergency such as this on Samson's request. It was no surprise since Ajay had accumulated a fair share of enemies at home and abroad that would pay big money for any random person to cap him on the road or helpless in the hospital.

The claymore device took the lives of two more former instructors-turned rebel. Joseph grit his teeth and rushed through the smoke with guns ablazed but not before nodding to his men to take the other way his recently deceased comrades had taken to their deaths. No booby traps would hinder them now.

(Boom) "Argh!"

(Boom) (Boom) "Aaaaaahhh!" Two of the men that accompanied him fell to the ground motionless.

He saw the silhouette hiding behind a wall and suppressed him with full auto fire of his MP5 as he rushed his target.

(Bababababa-click) It went empty as he was merely five metres from and when Jeevan emerged from cover and pointed the shotgun towards him.

Unfortunately for him but fortunate for Joseph, it was not quick enough for Joseph to reach the gun with his hand and prevented it from being pointed at his torso. His free hand went for the combat knife on his carrier which drew as quickly as it slashed at the younger opponent of his. Jeevan smartly abandoned the shotgun and slapped the stab of the knife away as he drew his own kukri.

He was now in a bad spot where the other two to come around the block to where they were, he estimated thirty-seconds. Joseph knew as well, all he had to do was stall or kill.

"Don't make me do this, son."

"You already sunk that ship, instructor." Jeevan swiped at him without mercy as he took a step back.

"You don't understand! Jeevan, you are a talent that has never been seen for a time. You could receive better than you have now, all of us can! When Kyrats enemies are all but vanquished who's gonna protect you and everyone else from him!?" He pointed the dagger towards the ward where Badala lay in judging from the nurses inside.

"It's that kind of thinking that got us in this mess, suspicion, plotting. You say I don't have any idea about the complexities of politics at play, but neither do you! You have no idea of the threat that is about to arrive, do you think my teacher got injured to this extent in the first place by accident?"

For a moment, Joseph hesitated yet Jeevan never took the opportunity to strike. Seeing that, he returned a swing that almost took Jeevan's head off.

"Sloppy! Didn't we tell you boys time and time again, never to let a chance disappear into thin air?" (Clang) (Clang)

'It'll cost you!"

Jeevan parried a few more stabs from Joseph and understood that the pressure upon his shoulders had increased.

He could hear the tapping of feet in the distance, the two remaining squaddies of Joseph were about to arrive. He exhailed to empty his lungs and breathed in whilst adopting the defensive style of Four Seasons Pandemonium. Joseph instantly recognised it having seen the more traditional Kyratis practice it once. Many laughed at it for being a useless art in an age of close quarter combat and automatic weapons. But after years of CQB, Joseph knew they were never more wrong about the Royal Martial Art. If this was still an age of clashing steel and arrows, then it would have reigned supreme.

"You fool of a brat!" He lunged with his knife pointed towards a stationary Jeevan holding the kukri in a weird angle for a defense.

Joseph seemed to misplace his confidence in that undefender front and plunged his combat knife towards his heart. And in a moment so fast that he could barely see it had it not been for the polished steel shining, decapitated his arm from the elbow. Followed with the same blade impaling him in the chest. A fist came flying Joseph's way and impacted his cheek sending him flying a few feet from where he was. This chain of swift attack was the result of Jeevan's access to the Royal Martial Art archive available to none save the oldest of houses defending the throne.

But by now, the other two assassins were already aiming for Jeevan. He had no time to dodge nor reach his fallen gun. Joseph had bought enough time for his last comrade in arms to finish him off and the demon. Jeevan's face fell at the sight as the muzzles were aligned with his head for a precision shot.

(Bang) (Bang) (Bang) Instead Jeevan falling to the shots, it was the last two who fell to the ground after having several shots penetrate their body armor and kill them.

He was surprise at first, until Ricardo and Luca came running upstairs and Samson from the corner where the two assassins were.

Jeevan lowered his guard and picked up the fallen shotgun.

"Nnnnn….." Joseph groaned in pain as the he experienced significant blood loss from the loss of his hand with no immediate medical attention and puncture wound.

Jeevan walked over to his former instructor.

"Start 'fessing while you still have the chance. What I need to know and what unfinished business you have in life." Jeevan told him as he squatted down next to a lying down on his front-Joseph.

"….. We're just one of four groups headed for each individual target. One is in the process of murdering Pagan and Yuma at the Royal Palace (cough) (cough)… After securing the Royal Fortress, next will be fortress Lanka…. Then-…. Lakshman's arsenal… (Cough) Since…. Nobody knew about his situation, they will say Badala murdered the king." His injuries were now getting beyond the point of treating as blood filled the floor around him. But the news was worrying to both Samson and Jeevan to the situation at hand.

"That damn Martial Art-style-(Cough)…. I guess you were right then, eh son? The winner takes it all in the end…. Yet….. what did we get after Pagan became a King? His promise of recognition and a title worthy of our service… A chance to return back to our native Hong-(cough) Kong without the cops going up our asses? Nothing."

"He gave you all posts that made us Kyratis jealous of." Jeevan replied.

"Huh!... Maybe, but that's not what we wanted…" Joseph laughed weakly as his body began to lose strength all together. Even so, he reached out a bloody stump towards Jeevan.

"Do not make-… the same mistake as us… we trusted Pagan just as you trust the demon. But you should only trust-….. trust….." Jeevan pondered over it, it was certain that he owed much to Badala for getting this far. And yet….

"I don't fight alongside Badala because I owe him, but because I chose to."

Joseph's eyes widen for a while before smiling in defeat.

"… I guess….. that might've been the difference. (Sigh) What a disappointment….."

"What did you want from him then?" Jeevan asked off Joseph.

"To reach….. the lands of-… eden….. together-….as-…..brotherssss…." Joseph said his last before his head hit the floor motionless. Jeevan reached out to close his eyes to put his corpse at ease.

The Condotierri were silent throughout the period, Luca even offered to perform last rites thanks to his past application as a Catholic deacon. He made the sign of the cross after murmuring a prayer.

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it, saw the trail of bodies. You put a hell of a fight." Ricardo patted his shoulder.

"I'll take this." Ricardo got his hands on the fallen USAS-12 that had been discarded during his close combat encounter. Jeevan just passed him the satchel for magazines relative to the weapon which Ricardo appreciatively accepted.

They made their way to the ward where Ajay and the rest of the non-combatants were.

"All clear, Noore."

"Great, we've packed and are ready to leave this place. I've already dispatched the hospital staff to prepare for an influx of wounded in time to come."

"Where do you plan to take him?" Samson asked.

"The only place that I can think of that's safe from all contact."

The rest had already stood by the hospital stretcher he was moved to and relieved the nurses of the necessary medical supplies for treatment.

"We'll hide out in the Shanath Arena catacombes."

* * *

The evacuation from the hospital was a cautious one. They commandeered the MRAP vehicles to ferry them to the arranged place of the escort convoy that would take them through the waters of the river out of the North and towards Shanath.

It was theorically possible due to the connecting channels of water, however the waters were varying and would not allow heavy-armed monitor boats to come along, only the inflatable boats and jet skis. Although Jeevan was quite positive on the drive to Jalendu Temple lake, even if it was the afternoon where visibility was maxed.

He sat in the driver's seat so that he wouldn't have to see his mentor. Even in a sedated state, his face showed evident pain all over, whatever he was fighting, he was fighting hard. There was nothing he could do save get him to a safer location, Noore was doing her best to stabilize his condition that had a random attack. Accompanying them were the Condotierri Luca, Ricardo and Samson. The rest had remained in Lakshman to coordinate a dig in with the local armed police and militia for a possible appropriation of the Arsenal by the Canton forces. While the military lines were down, word was spreading via phone message. Although there was some reliability to reckon from the messages being forward, at least the garrisons had their wits about them and viewed any arriving force with a bit of suspicion than fall helpless like the Royal Fortress did.

They acknowledged that the King was in great danger as well, but they were too far from the Palace. The only other people that could keep Kyrat from caving in were Yuma and Ajay. Unfortunately, the former was in the same situation as Pagan, they could at least change the fate of Ajay.

Upon arriving at the designated point of pick up, the group gathered the necessary supplies by the jetty off the island that once held holy Jalendu Temple. Noore unravelled a map of the river system that streamed down from the Northern high point into Pacchim Valley.

"Simple in theory, we take this rivine down through the choke at King's Bridge, pass Naccarapur and drop off at Shanath Bazaars. That should give us enough cover to evade any patrols that are in bound."

"In theory that is." Samson reminded.

"Jeevan, do you think they'll be any problems up ahead?"

"A few? I can name a dozen." He walked closer and pointed to the map where King's Bridge was and Lanka lay.

"Assuming what Joseph said was true, I'll take the worse scenario into account and say that Lanka has fallen, though with Brigadier Kul there it would seem unlikely. He'd rather see it a smothering ruin than let the canton families get their way. But even before that is the rapids at King's Bridge, not exactly level ground to take a boat through without risk of falling overboard in an inflatable. This'll be a high-speed escape to get to the destination as soon as possible, but we'll definitely be spoted along the way. The rebels will most likely have a private channel to communicate amidst the blackout so they'll be hostiles upon us before we know it both river and air."

Noore was not familiar with military matters, but the more practical Jeevan was about the situation the more difficult it seemed.

"But not to worry, I called some eager lads to help out and told them our troubles." He said in a light and chipper tone, contrasted by the grim prospects.

"I think It'll take more than grit to get pass this gulch. If there are rapids, wouldn't it leave us dangerously exposed when we pull out the zodiacs to get to calmer waters?" Samson was thinking of it in the most practical terms. Swimming towards the top of the rapids then traverse dry land before returning to the waters once more. But Jeevan's expression remained smiling.

"That's if we travel by inflatables." Samson cocked his head as did Noore to what he meant, what other form of transportation was there to go through the rivine? The rivines narrowness and shallowness prevented heavily-armed monitor boats from getting through, while the road led directly to Lanka which was either in the midst of a firefight or occupied by rebels.

"Contacts SouthEast, 500 metres!" Ricardo called out from his observation point at the end of the jetty.

All heads turned towards the arriving forces.

"Five vessels!" He further relayed.

"That's them." Jeevan got off the phone with the Commander of the water-borne force.

All of them, the Condotierri, the hospital staff following Noore and herself were surprised at the sight. Not due to the numbers that had answered Jeevan's call but the nature of their transportation that would get them across to Pacchim Valley's Shanath Arena to hideout.

A powerful fan driven roar echoed from the propulsion of the crafts that blew its way towards them and drifted into a halt before them. What was before them were-.

"Hovercrafts….. of course!" Samson chuckled away at the young man's idea to get them as quickly and as well-armed as possible. Two qualities which the escorting craft seemed to have.

"My mate claims it was a military procurement five months back to support the Royal Police in busting the drug operations that were being held by the rivers. At least that was the official story."

He said this because the hovercrafts were 12 metres long but narrow enough to traverse the waters and roads. But also sporting heavy plate-armoured skirts along its hull and heavy armaments around it. The smallest of mounted weapons was Samar's custom mingun, and automatic grenade launchers while the largest was a modified turret on one of them that came from the Hussars' Ratel vehicles, a 30mm autocannon turret. As impressive as the array of firepower on-board was, all these transport hovercrafts had a rather humble career of ferrying tourists about cities or beach rides. Most came from as far as Great Britain, brought over to Kyrat and overhauled to the current configuration that suited the armed groups' purposes. But also giving them the most powerful water-based vessels in the country.

The hovercrafts came to a stop and shut off their turbines to halt the fanblades, the men dotted about the crafts stood weary but their mounted weapons as the hatch to the control station opened. Out jumped an officer of Captain rank.

Jeevan walked forward and clasped hands with him. "Thanks for coming, Hada." The officer tilted his head to see Ajay laying on a stretcher with the attention of Noore's staff.

"No problem. Madarchod, I wished you were kidding when you said it yourself on the phone. You've making me drive into a shitstorm, I just know it."

"Is that too much for you?" Jeevan said smiling to his alumni colleague from Royal Academy.

"Too much? Hmph!" The captain snorted with pride.

"There is nothing too much, too hard for 8th Company!" His men on-board gave a roar of approval, displaying good camaraderie with their commanding officer.

"Glad to hear." Jeevan said grinning and turned back to the rest.

"Guys, this is a friend of mine from the Royal Academy, we graduated together. In fact, I told him as a joke that on the day the Canton's rebelled, I'd preferred him by my side."

"And I said anytime! Captain Hada of the 3th Battalion 8th Company Rivine Guard, at your disposal." The Commander of the hovercraft force introduced himself.

The group was on a good vibe in getting to the south safely and without sustaining injuries due to the nature of their heavily-armed escorts.

"Even if it kills me, I swear I'll bring you all and his grace safely to your destination. On our honour, as loyal soldiers of Kyrat!"

* * *

How many sacred animals are there left? (KIA: Tiger, Rhino, Badger, Bear)(Convert: Dhole,Wolf)(Remaining: Elephant, Leopard, Eagle and Demon Fish) Btw, there's no Eagle amongst Rare animals, I just added it for story sake. (Yunno me, Eagles are crazy!)

Some water-based sports/action for the Black Dragon is in due order, I guess.

Speaking of Military hovercrafts, anyone ever heard of a Zubr? 500 Ton beast with missiles and CIWS guns, carrying troops and tanks onto the beach. Epic!


	104. Chapter 95 - The Witch's reason to live

Author's Notes:

Exams get closer and i'm getting more serious. Here's the weekly dose as promised, next week one as well. Cheers, all!

 **(Updated 11/06/2017 11.07pm)**

* * *

(Brrrrrrrrrrrrr)

The sound of cloth ripping was the more optimistic version of what resounded out from the barricaded Royal Palace. Where a pack of angry 7.92mm hornets flew out of an MG42 at the approaching traitors, cutting them down despite the heavy body armor issued to them by the Royal Armories align to the Canton Lords. The same weapon had seen combat when Ajay held back the Yinkians and Golden Path at Lanka, and now it was serving a higher function in defending the overlord of Kyrat.

There were collective screams from the survivors whom had lost a limb or two from the nature of armour piercing rounds specially loaded by none other than the Royal Armorer himself. Samar was always at the Royal Palace, gunsmithing was a hobby and passion his liege helped him realize. But his primary function was always his personal protector in the Royal Palace, the Chief Palace Guard.

They would not repeat the same mistake as the late Devi Dynasty, ended so quickly while they were asleep and Mohan who had survived in his failure to save his lord and family from death.

"Come on, Traitors! Is that all you've got!" Samar taunted from the window slits, aided by the Royal Palace staff that had taken up arms alongside him and the only two Palace Guards remaining.

The prospects were grim, but they would hold out for as long as possible with the inventory they had. They knew their enemies wanted Pagan's head, but they would have to go through a bloody gauntlet of their tenacity to so muc has touch a hair on his head.

The troops outside began to get annoyed that they could not take the Royal Palace so easily, and begun requesting the use of explosives and rockets to flush them out. "Denied." Replied their superiors, for if there was no body to confirm Pagan's death, then it was worthless.

All they could do was come in waves of numbers to storm the Royal Palace.

But at least for the defenders, they could hope to delay them long enough for someone to come to their rescue.

How long would that take? They had no idea.

Against his will once more, Pagan had been locked in the cellar with Yuma to keep them hidden as long as possible. The non-combatant's roamed the palace to create traps and decoys to fool the rebels when they breached the front barricade.

While in the direst of straits, there was a tinge of fulfilment in all of their hearts. For the first time in a long stagnant time, the men and women of the Royal Palace could finally carry out their duties to the utmost.

* * *

Cruising in hovercrafts was an unfamiliar and quite nauseating feeling, despite its rather smooth cruise on the waters with its air cushion. The tremor vibrations that rattled the superstructure was a norm due to the powerful engines keeping the craft levitated about the surface via air flow from the lift generated. Noore had already thrown up twice during the trip barely ten minutes in. While the boys seem to enjoy it more as a tour through Kyrati waterways, it was just not for everyone.

The craft Noore, her nurses and Ajay were in, was flanked by the other heavily armed gunboat versions, Jeevan stood by the weapon station of the Command Vehicle of the forces to provide fire support and marking of targets for the stabilized-remote 30mm autocannon turret on the parrellel craft in front of them.

Jeevan had only a brief moment to check around with the twelve crew on the vessel he was on, they all seemed estatic with the prospects of going into battle in their new outfit. A trial by fire to test new concepts and tactics in water-borne operations, since their primary function as ravine patrol did not incur much activity beyond police raids when they required heavy firepower to bust drug and smuggling syndicates which was barely necessary.

"Sir, our CO would like to have a word with you." One of the crew gunners patted him on the shoulder to inform him as he pointed towards the bridge capsule. Jeevan nodded and went inside.

It was a nice change not to have wind and mist blowing at your face, but daunted by a powerful hum from the diesel engines rattling the superstructure. It indicated the age of the crafts and the strain it had with the payload of weapons and armor in its repurpose.

"Hey." The Captain waved to him from the bridge where two other crew members steered and controlled the craft.

"Hey."

"I've kinda guess what's going on so far. Canton Lords got greedy, didn't they?" Jeevan nodded.

"With no Golden Path hindering them and the elite forces overseas, this seems like a perfect opportunity. Especially when the demon won't be around to bother them."

"The Golden Path are coming back." Hearing this new intel from Jeevan made him shiver to the core.

"They just don't quit, do they?" He sighed.

"We need to end this rebellion asap."

"Even if you say that, what about his grace?"

"….."

"Shouldn't we be stopping at Lanka instead for protection?"

"Brigadier Kul has his hands full with the Cantons."

"Where did you hear that? I've not received a single word from my superiors or high command."

"High Command has been overrun, they jammed our signals and are converging on the Royal Palace, Lakshman and Lanka. I heard this from the Instructor Yip."

"Instructor Yip? Where is he in the grand scheme of things then, is he trustworthy?" Though Captain Hada had the highest regard for their former instructor, he was still suspicious because of his background as a Canton.

"He was the assassin they sent to kill my mentor, he told me this in his last dying breaths." The Captain didn't need to figure out what had happened, he was certain that Jeevan was the one that ended his life, if not he wouldn't be here with Badala.

"Madarchod, I hate them already." Jeevan thought about their situation and how every Canton would have felt in this coup, especially what "that group" was thinking.

"Yunno…. Not all of them shared the same beliefs."

"How would you know?"

"….. 2nd Hussars. Is there any intel on where they are?"

"Are you kidding me? Those are the Cantons' Golden Boys! Ever since they came back from Yinke, the canton echelons haven't shut up about how they beat the Yinkian elite."

"Even when their winning strategy was by a Kyrati, Bipin. And they chose to follow him despite differences."

Captain Hada couldn't fault him.

"Trust me on this, when Jatayu fought alongside them there was a different air about them. It wasn't that usual loathing you felt with the Canton boys in Royal Academy. Plus, Samuel also owes my teacher big."

"Another of their white horse! These guys are the people representing the Cantons, not neutral agenda-."

"Is there anyway we can contact them besides the main channels."

"Hey! Listen to me! Don't go calling them in the middle of this, the Duke's safety comes first! Then we can see if those guys'll help us."

"So you're with us all the way then?" Jeevan asked with a grin.

"Buddy, I'll regret it if we didn't." His friend returned one his way.

"Sir, we're approaching King's Bridge. There's a checkpoint up ahead." His pilot notified him.

Jeevan reached for the binoculars and observed the waters ahead. To be specific, it was a roadblock to Lanka on the road next to them, but they'd been spotted in the far end of the river next door.

Captain Hada reached for the intercom microphone to communicate with the rest of the Company.

"Alright boys, keep your wits about you but try not to look suspiscious."

No sudden movements, they couldn't determine if they were align to the rebels or just being asked to blockade the road.

"What's the excuse?" Hada asked him as he distributed suborders to his subordinates on the command craft.

"Answering a 15-0-11 at Baghadur."

"What?"

"If they're rebels, then it'll make sense that we're going to Baghadur to raze it. If not, it would seem like we're just helping them out."

"…. I hope you're right." Captain Hada returned to his company operations while Jeevan disembarked the control module and out the hatch to man the mounted 12.7mm heavy machine gun, charging the weapon with a pull of the cord.

"Guys, we've had a run in with a roadblock. Friendly or not, we're just gonna play pocky and hope to drive by. No sudden movements. Noore, secure yourselves in the bulkhead compartments in case they want to have a quick search."

*(Static) Understood, over.*

"The same for you as well, boys. I'm afraid they'll recognize you with Badala."

*Will do, over.*

*You hear that, they'd recognise us. How popular, you think we are?* Ricardo was just being to optimistic before Samson shut him from the front most craft they were occupying.

"Poker faces now everyone." The Sergeant Major on board announced before they entered audible range.

The hovercrafts slowed down their speed and approached the two troopers from the pack that were maintaining an eye on them from the roadblock. The command vehicle came to a stop right next to them and Captain Hada himself came out to speak with them.

"Destination and Unit."

"Baghadur, we're in a bit of a hurry boys. You see we've got a-…. "payload" to deliver. Hada smartly patted the canister containing their breaching rocket chained explosive device for clearing minefields or blowing fortifications. The trooper looked back at his Commander and motioned an inter-platoon silent gesture that no one but they knew. The Roadblock Lieutenant returned something after a brief scanning of their fleet.

"Alright, let us confirm with Command about thi-."

"Tick- tock Tick- tock. We have a schedule to meet before Airforce arrives, and you know how quick they can get here. I'm sure you'll have plenty of time after this to explain to Lord Min why you made us dally." The expression of the soldier changed and he backed away slowly before running to his officer and explaining quickly.

The Lieutenant walked forward to confront Hada.

"Sir, orders by the General Staff to isolate this road and several other sectors. You need to produce paperwork regarding your dispatch."

"Then can I ask you if 2nd Hussars came this way?"

"Yes, sir. Just fifty minutes ago."

"And did you stop them and ask for their paperwork?"

"That-…." The officer stumbled as he had no answer to that, his orders were to blockade Lanka but he had ignored the battalion coming through with the other regiments because of the presence of a Colonel amongst them and he wasn't going to question a senior officer about his mission.

"So what do we have here then?" Captain turned to Jeevan with a grin.

"Neglegience of duties, perhaps." Jeevan responded.

"And how many days in the brig is that, Lieutenant?" Hada cased a cold glint from his eyes at the roadblock officer.

Caught tongue-tied, the lieutenant had difficulty justifying his stand at the post if he had just let someone go just because he was of a higher rank.

"How will we do this now, Lieutenant?"

"(Sigh)…..Tsh….. You're free to go." He finally gave up.

"Let's mount up, we're making up lost time! You have my thanks, Lieutenant." Captain Hada smiled cooly before returning to the hatch to button down as the engines of the rotors spun, blowing the air surrounding them. Unfamiliar to the craft, the three guards stepped back and returned to their posts. The lieutenant made one more look before returning to his post to make some calls, but by the time he did, they wouldn't be around anymore.

Jeevan sighed in relief that they could pass incognito at this stage still as they were already a distance away from the checkpoint earlier.

"Looks like we made it." Jeevan informed the rest.

(Screech) But he spoke too soon, as from the top of the cliffside where the road went up to King's Bridge while the river followed the valley, a few ATVs followed them on parrellel. One of them signalled for a countersign from them.

"Looks like this is as far as we go." Jeevan announced the end of their cover as he turned the heavy machine gun towards the ATVs whom shuddered as the group of hovercrafts showed signs they weren't on the same side.

(Boboboboboboom) The thunder of 12.7mm rounds rattled the simple mount and blew up the dirt around the ATV squad and dispatched a few of them. The rest of the crew fired their weapons at the survivors albeit shocked that the young man had made that decision for them in such a short time.

*Damn the gods, Jeev! When this is over, you owe me big!*

"You know I'll return more than I owe, Hada." Jeevan answered calmly.

*(Sigh) Damn! No use crying over spilt Yak milk. Men, from here on out is enemy territory!* Hada knew that if he didn't fire, they would have harassed them nonetheless, these ATV squads were likely the forces sent to create a double layer to prevent anyone from getting to Lanka.

The atmosphere upon the five hovercrafts changed to that of wariness as they monitored their surroundings for anymore hidden adversaries.

(Boom)…. (Pop) In front of them to the West where Lanka lay, a red smoke signal was shot into the sky.

Everyone on board knew what it was, they had been compromised. Smoke trails from the narrow road ahead could be seen as a convoy of RPG equipped ATVs and machine gun mounted technical began their pursuit of the Company.

"Eyes up, lads! We've got company!" The Sergeant Major made the group aware through the intercom.

Samson and the boys got out and manned the empty guns as there was no use hiding now. It was then that the cliff previously blocking sight of Lanka had finally revealed onto them the true state of Lanka. Smoke bellowing from the superstructure of the flak towers and bastion walls from the forces besieging Lanka. Smoke and burning wrecks weren't exclusive to Lanka, but a bulk of the early opposing forces' waves. Tracers of different intensity were flung to and fro, causing high strength concrete and rolled homogeneous steel to blister.

A very grim picture was captured by those that saw it from a distance. It only be summarized on one word.

Rebellion.

Jets roared overhead from the direction indicating Sagarmatha Airbase toward their target, the loyalist soldiers in Lanka. The worse had happened, the enemy had taken control of the Royal Army's most powerful asset. He didn't need to guess that someone amongst Lupus Caelum was taking the coin from the Canton Families pockets to cooperate in this coup, and it wasn't a small group. His prediction, likely that worthless filth that had been drifting from country to country looking for employment. Where was Raghu in all of this, probably at the Royal Fortress.

Jeevan turned away from the sight of Lanka burning towards the front craft where Noore and his teacher were. In his heart, he wished with all his soul that his teacher's eyes would open and send fear rushing through the rebels in an instant.

If they lost, the Cantons had no hope of leading Kyrat to victory against Golden Path in its current state. If they won, Jeevan could only imagine the slimness of their chances of fighting them on their own. Golden Path was coming, and the Cantons had just witlessly made it easier for them to return unhindered.

* * *

The scene and mood was like something out of the Christian Bible, the exodus back to the promise land. Back home in the familiar fertile soil. Everyone had the same optimistic feelings, all twenty thousand men and women that made up the reformed Golden Path. Comprising not just of the old Golden Path and Shining Way apostles but men and women who had heard of the liberation of Kyrat from none other than Mohan himself and align themselves to him. Young men and women from the indigenous tribes and villages on the long road, all hoping for the same thing, a place to call theirs. They replenished the ranks and formations of the Golden Path almost to its former state, but even that might not be enough to make the legendary fortress wall tremble. They marched through the familiar mountains with the help of the pathfinders and geographic maps across the harsh winterscape lands.

They found temporary sanctuary in the mountains in a stroke of luck. Someone brushed the pillars of the ancient structure and a name was found. Akaash Monastery, a holy place in the mountains, built there purposely by the worshipers of old to be closer to their god. Lost to time, but served its purpose in sheltering the many thousands from the cold winds for a night. Thanks to the structure being carved out of the mountain stone, they had plenty.

So for this brief time, the fighters of Golden Path were given brief respite to wash off their fatigue and to recharge their spiritual strength by paying homage to the statues of the deity that reigned the lands, the same deity that they had prayed to all their lives could be found all the way in this harsh lands.

Was this a sign of divine intervention, that Kyrat should be theirs for the taking? It gave them hope.

Their prayers went out to the hundred or so victims of the failed entrapment of the demon, when the foreigner sniper once known as Hurk had detonated explosives to allow for Badala's escape. It was a tragedy to them, but a godsend to Mohan as much as he hated to admit it. Because with the hundreds that died from the cavern caving in, the word of Badala being the son of Mohan did not spread beyond that.

Though only a brief moment, he saw the faces of the hundreds when he had declared Ajay his son he was looking for all this time. And there wasn't a single person without a look of despair on their faces. There were a few reasons this was so, mainly "the son of Mohan opposed the beliefs of his own father." Making him technically on par with himself in boosting morale if Ajay so chose to reveal it. But he knew that Ajay would not reveal it, not now at least. The Cantons would be the biggest impediment to his true identity as they had real beef with Mohan, he knew they hated him already and to add reason for them to hate him more was to cause Kyrat to submerge into Civil war again. It should have been good to provoke, unfortunately it would also damage his own armies' morale. How much more, he was not entirely sure but he wasn't willing to test it out.

Mohan had a moment to venture into the inner sanctums to find magnificent works of art, statues that had not been lost to age or decay and wall paintings that depicted an almighty being shining his light through a young girl upon the ravaged lands, bringing life back to them.

He knew what it was, the oldest story in the scriptures back home. The providence of almighty Banashur, and the living idol Tarun Matara.

" _A lie for ignorant herds."_ His mistress told him with utter scorn, he had been with her for nearly twenty years and never once had she lied, though she would never tell the whole truth if she didn't want to either. She had been around since or perhaps even before the Golden Age of the Lowland Kingdom, that was nearly five thousand years of history, even before the faith had existed onto itself. She knew the ancient tongue of the temples that even Bhaskar-ji would struggle in, lore that hadn't been heard by human ears for millenia. There was always a shroud of mystery around her.

Mohan had done some digging into ancient scriptures on his own with the best of efforts to understand what was the motivations of the Mistress whom had not once revealed her name onto anyone. In his decades of research and cross reference with what the Mistress had indulged him he had some discoveries that had not been known by the ignorant pious.

Most fascinating of all was the story of how Kalinag became the demon Yalung. An epic that ended in unnecessary tragedy and had broken the original Devi bloodline, the first true overlords over the lands that became Papir, Kumsa, Yinke and Kyrat. The Devi dynasty had caved in to corruption and there was Kalinag, returning from his spiritual journey to dutifully inform the King of the whereabouts of Shangri-La as a seeker.

At some point, something had happened.

Something that could twist his enlightened soul that was bound for transcendence and sever his divine ascension to paradise, ended with his death on orders of the Royalty. The Devi bloodline continued to indulge in a lavish lifestyle for two more decades before a demon burst from the unburied remains inside of Kalinag's dried up corpse. From within, his Nirvanic heart had cracked and flowing out of it was a torrent of agony and hatred melded together to poison every living thing that came into contact with it. And so began the seven night long terror upon the lowland kingdom.

An unwritten part of history was that an ancient order of exorcists had sealed him away before his power rose. How did Kyra fit into the picture, he did not know. Or was it just out of helplessness that the people of old turned towards an unshaken soul for comfort, fabricating the myth of Tarun Matara healing the people and the lands as a saint would?

Mohan didn't care for these minor details, the real reason was understanding the fate which Ajay had been tied to as the apostle of that bloody demon. And his mistress was doing something to accelerate his deterioration almost as if she was encouraging the demon to awaken. Bursting from Ajay as it did to Kalinag. Would that demon be the same? Or was it another one all together.

Somehow in his naiviety, he wondered if there was a way to reverse this process. Why was this feeling unfolding within him at a time like this? His encounter with Ajay with the intention to break his resolve in Pagan had backfired. In the end, it was he who began to question the workings of his return. Ajay would have known exactly how Ishwari would have felt all those years. She didn't betray him like he betrayed her and made her pay for her betrayal through despair.

Mohan thought these while he was on his way to the mistress's secluded corner, an entire cave with a stunning view of the windy mountains. But its surroundings had been scratched and torn with fingermarks and a bit of blood mixed into the gorges. These however, had not been there before when she occupied this temporary abode. Vel had left after being resuscitated on her mistress's orders.

" _This is the first time I've seen hesistation in your indomitable spirit, scion of Kalinag."_

Mohan turned to the direction of the voice, but he was not expecting to see what he saw.

Leaning to the side with a flagol beside her was a fair-skinned woman with snow white hair. Not the usual appearance hidden from plain sight but this beauty adoned in light satin-like material gown that no picture could fully capture. Her appearance could only be described in one word….

Goddess.

Mohan turned away on reflex as a constricting feeling overwhelmed his chest. While he felt a discomforting feeling that if he looked for a second longer, he would lose himself in wild adoration for her. As if all he needed in life was to have one more look and he would die happy. That was how frightening it was and if he did not have the intuition that he did just now, he would have just signed his own death warrant.

" _Hmph. How shrewd of you. But what now, scion of Kalinag? That you've seen myself….."_ She teased.

In a split second, a feeling of body warmth rested upon his back.

"…. _not wish of it."_ A seductive voice like honey ran down his ears, causing him to shiver and tried to divert his thoughts to something else instead of imagining her body line against him.

"… _ahahaha…HAHAHAHAHAHA-….(Sigh) Look at you, like a mere child."_ She replied towards his reaction, but Mohan sensed both pain and loneliness from that mockery. Was it even meant for him, or for herself.

"… You're-…. drunk?" Was that even possible for an entity like her.

She raised the flagon that was by her side a moment ago, the smell permeated from the cap and almost intoxicated him from just the scent alone, giving a clear idea that it wasn't normal alcohol.

" _Could you be wondering what this is?..."_ She said with a voice like honey, no longer shrouded and ethereal hollow. Like she was a normal human being and yet something celestial.

"….." Mohan remained quiet trying his best to gain control over his thoughts.

She finally released Mohan and sat at the ledge to a thousand metre drop down the mountain where she gazed out into the vast expanse of mountains blasted with high torrents of wind and snow.

" _An acquaintance had once brewed many bottles for this one. All he cared for was the joy and pleasantness that his beverage could bring to his customers. Now I'm the only one who can appreciate his sentiments."_

For such an acquaintance to brew something that could make an entity like her tipsy, was that person also in the same class as her, not human?

She could read his thoughts without even trying, that it was almost as if Mohan was actually asking her directly.

" _You know of the legends of the lowlands like the back of your hand…. But did you know there was more than just humanity living within sanctuary of the mountain and valley?"_

She continued on after taking a drink from the flagon.

" _Humanity occupied much of the valley which they call lowlands but they once shared that place with other races like all others did of humanity. Another of the gods grand design to make all under them peacefully coexist."_ She snorted at the last part indicating that she didn't believe it the slightest. Mohan hadn't the slightest idea why she was indulging him this knowledge, maybe it was because of that wine, maybe it was merely to fulfil his urge to understand the scripts on the walls like he had previously been doing.

" _In the bountiful forests lived the Vanara monkey tribes, the most lavished parts of the valley by the lakes lived the Yaksha. And in the mountains-…."_ She seemed to pause on reflex as she recalled images of the past.

"… _In those cold frigid mountains, lived the Rakshasa."_

Mohan's mind went blank, she was suggesting that once upon a time. Entities that had once occupied the epics and lore had once lived among them in this valley. But even the Rakshasa!

" _I can feel your thoughts, Scion of Kalinag. And they are unsightly!"_ She replied to his ill thoughts of the demon race.

"Forgive me! That was ill of me to think that way, I was ignorant." Mohan genuinely apologized.

" _Scion of Kalinag, look upon me."_

Electricity ran up his spine at the command she gave.

"My mistress, I will continue to serve you as always even without a glimpse-."

" _Scion of Kalinag, LOOK-…AT-… ME….."_

Her voice caused the solid mountains to tremble around, making the Golden Path warriors assume the worse of an avalanche and made the appropriate preparations. Gulping and doing his best to control his thoughts he looked her way.

Once again, he was exposed to that fair skin, luscious eyelashes, a curvascious figure and eyes so sharp that it was like they stared into your soul. Mohan bit his lip to wake himself from the trance as she approached him.

" _What is it you truly seek down here, scion of Kalinag? Decide for yourself this once."_ She tapped his chest before breaking eye contact with him and releasing him from a self-agonizing pain.

"Can Ajay no go through this? Can he not take up the mantle which you've aligned him to?" Mohan spoke from his heart with genuine feelings that the witch sighed as he'd spoken forwardly for the first time in a long while.

" _So even your heart agonizes to see a loved one hurt that you wish you be in their place instead of them. Then what about this one?"_ She placed her hand to her chest as she refered to herself.

" _I've waited for over several millenia. Nine lifetimes…. Nine different realities…. All to find him… All to walk by his side again! And you want me to give up all this for a son you forsook over pride!?"_

(Rumble) The mountain shook to her voice once again but rapidly calmed down.

" _You said to him that you would be a better father to him in the next lifetime, that I will not intervene. Your Karma has already been linked to him inevitably. But the boy of this lifetime is mine."_ She made it adamantly clear to him.

" _This is the tenth and final incarnation that he will take, if I fail now. I will never be able to find him again."_

But unlike the nine others, this one proved stronger in spirit. The nine incarnations that had either surcome to hatred or despair. Which was to her benefit and at the same time, disadvantage. How was she to create a catalyst for his rebirth if his spirit would not break easily? But hope was in the right place for her, his will was stronger than the rest by a mile and yet even when she had orchestrated all these events to put him at odds. Not once did she detect resentment against her for it. If anything, she could sense a familiar glow in his soul. Now, her chances for success were beyond failure on her end, it was now up to her to decide whether he would go through it or not. But if by chance that he did fail…..

" _When that happens, there will no longer be a reason for me to exist here forever more."_ She indicated suicide if her wish could not be granted.

A complicated expression ran done Mohan's face as he thought about her experience from mere description alone. And it was fair evident from what his mistress was disclosing to him.

Ajay was an incarnate of someone she held dear to her heart. To think she had gone this far for someone for so long, it was unfathomable in his pretext as a human.

Though, he was deeply reluctant, he was inclined to agree. This was already beyond his capacity to intervene, so he should carry through with it all the way. Yet even so, he was glad. For the first time, his mistress had shown trust in his ability and conscience to share her plans. The Karma that she sowed with him at death's door will be fulfilled before he would return to the cycle of reincarnation to be reunited with his son in another lifetime.

The witch gazed upon the only token from the person she yearned for in her satin wrapped hand. An item that had once been lost but found again, and coincidentally, from the boy's hands. A simple bamboo flute with character and intricate designs of the himalayan animal kingdom adorning it. Once a gift to her from him, and yet again in this lifetime. It gave her a genuine hope that somewhere deep down, he was there slumbering deep within the boy's soul. But it also brought back the memories of how she'd lost it to circumstance, the circumstance brought about by one foul being that had both ruined her life and torn him away from her whilst leaving his laughter echoing into the distance from high up in the dais of paradise.

The witch's hand tightened around the ornamental treasure as she did all she could to suppress her rage at that memory of the ultimate betrayal.

" _But before that…. I will make sure that person will not get his way. Even if it means tearing down Shangri-La to get to him."_

* * *

The hovercraft escorts sped along the riverbed with quickness that put a strain on their overworked engines, but with the on-board technicians there to ensure they continued to run, that was no issue.

They could instead focus on the problem at hand, the pursuing high speed vehicles whom were identified at the High-speed reconnaissance battalion, one of the former Royal Guard regiments that were dissolved and merged with the Royal Army. It was apparent that some commanders weren't the least bit satisfied with the change in command structures. It was likely due to the deterioration of their officers' prestige for being "demoted" to mere Royal Army from the once-exclusive ranks of the Royal Guard Army which was just as big as the former.

But in Ajay and Arjun's opinion, it was not economical and rightly so. When they reformed the Armies, it gave them a large surplus of cash to support the other areas of statecraft such as the industry, infrastructure, housing, education and healthcare. The public was by no means against this reform, if anything they were highly appreciative of this genuine change. But the Kyrat's Military elite were inclined to disagree, they'd held their tongue in the presence of the awe inspiring demon till today when the Cantons had announced their intentions to overthrow Pagan and bring back the old ways.

Jeevan's priorities were different, it involved killing everyone that got in his way.

Tracers of heavy machine gun fire and grenades were fired towards the high-speed reconnaissance forces on armed buggies and quad bike armed-RPGs. Accompanied by return fired from their end as well.

(BOOOM) A rocket-propelled grenade struck the led hovercraft in the propellers causing a fire to break out and the craft to slow down.

But the commander of the point craft was not about to let their demise impede the rest, so he made the hovercraft beach and block the road ahead of the aggressor vehicles. He wished them the best of luck as they passed him and his platoon without stopping and fought for his platoons' survival.

"Tsh!" At this rate, they would lose more and more. They were only running from the problem at hand without confronting it. The Canton commanders were anticipating them to do that too, to withdraw to regroup and hold out. They weren't going to give them that grace. Lanka was just overhead towering over them from the side of the cliff of the ravine they were on towards Narrapur town.

Then, the chopping of blades in the air were heard. Choppers began to chase after them from the regiments sent to attack Lanka. Someone clearly knew the importance of the escort that was on board. A stream of rockets were unleashed from a gunship variant at the second craft to lead their point, but unlike the first there were no survivors to the fireball that ignited from the barrage of 80mm high explosive rockets.

*NAGA!- Goddamnit!* Hada mourned the lost of his Lieutenant, killed so swiftly.

Even so, the remaining three crafts rolled on without pause but now warier of air attacks than they were previously. The helicopter that had unloaded its ammunition into the second craft flew off back to base after depleting its munitions for a resupply. Hada crawled out of the hatch cocking his rifle and firing it at the impossibly far heli gunship.

He tossed the emptied rifle in the departing helicopter's direction. "I don't care who you are! When this rebellion is over…. I WILL FIND YOU!"

Hada returned to his control room hatch to return to his command station, passing Jeevan who gave a solemn glimpse.

"I don't need your pity, I've said all I've needed to say. I will find that sunnovabitch and gut him…. But now, we've got more pressing matters. Agreed?" Jeevan nodded, helpless to the maturity of his classmate's thoughts.

"What will you do after sending us?" Jeevan asked this simple question.

"Support Baghadur, at least there we know they can be trusted."

"…. Understood." Hada turned away to return.

"Hada… I owe you."

"You're damn right you do. I'll be taking interest from you." Hada said lightly before closing the hatch entirely.

"Boats! Three o clock!" Called out the foreman pointing in that general direction. True to his words, a swarm of monitor-class boats and several zodiacs begun to converge in a pincer style of attack.

*That mark!-….. that's 13th battalion!* Hada announced on the channel, a fellow rivine guard protecting the Southern waters had turned on them for their own benefit.

-There's no end to this greed and ambition….- Jeevan lamented with a fallen face.

But then he steeled his senses. -No! We can't keep being on the retreat, these traitors!-….. They must die here today!-

Jeevan quickly scanned his surroundings as the firefight raged on for what would become the biggest brownwater naval battle in Kyrat of all time. His eyes landed upon one of the jetski vehicles used by the battalion to confuse their opponents or board enemy vessels for sabotage.

"Hada, bring me pass that jetski!"

*What?!*

"Don't argue! Noore, I leave my mentor in your hands."

The hovercraft turned to head directly for a small watercraft boat that accompanied the bulk of the Southern rivine forces. The driver of said boat was shocked to see the huge hovercraft heading for it in ramming speeds and tried to get away. Whilst this was happening, the other boats exchanged heavy volumes of firepower at each other.

Jeevan slung all the explosives he could gather along with a handheld M79 grenade launcher.

*Jeevan- are you listening! What are you doing?!* Noore called out astounded by his choice.

"Delaying them, don't worry. I'll come out of this alive. Have faith."

*Jeevan? Jeevan!?-…. No!-Brother!* His sister called out to him, but by that time he'd already disconnected the channel and readied himself by the railings. The jetski was just a few metres in distance from him before he jumped on board.

"Huh! What-." Jeevan plunged his knife into the back of the former operator of the jetski and threw his bloody corpse off as he took the controls of the fast-moving vehicle.

The larger monitor vessels were preoccupied with attacking the hovercrafts to notice one of their smaller specialist had his jetski commandeered as it didn't seem like a huge affect to their battle power. But they were dead wrong.

It gave Jeevan the opportunity to sneak up on the large vessels from behind. He primed a C4 charge to the back of the boat and went on to the next one. He was able to repeat this process about thre time before he was spotted by an armed zodiac which fired its machine gun at him and forced him to make zig-zags at high speed to avoid being hit.

(Click) (BOOM) (BOOM) (BOOM) Explosions erupted from the back of three vessels and shocked the crew into wondering if they'd been hit by something terrible. The C4 was enough to take out their engines, halting their pursuit of the hovercrafts entirely and leaving the smaller boats vulnerable to the heavy firepower of the hovercrafts still present.

But now, they turned their attention to that hidden adversary.

"Don't let him escape!" Shouted someone from the tower on one of the boats, indicating to Jeevan he was the Commander of the forces. His mouth curled into a smile, he had just made things easier for him. The zodiac continued its chase and fire at him from behind, but the instability of the sharp turns and accounting for Jeevan's predicted direction made it difficult to hit him and resulted in them make overshots.

He passed another boat and threw a grenade into the cabin area while the boat captain was unprepared. The grenade turned the steering cabin into a fiery wreck and forced the rest of the crew to abandon ship for fear of the flames spreading to the ammunition on board.

Switching to his grenade launcher, he fired back handed at the zodiac chasing him. The first shot landed just in front of them, splashing their front and blinding them temporarily from where he was. When they came out of the mist, they faced Jeevan head on as he passed them after firing another grenade into their mount.

(Thump)(BOOM) The zodiac was vaporized.

By now, the rest of the company of 13th battalion was clear that they had stumbled upon someone they shouldn't have gone after.

They begun to regroup at their commander's request while he called for whatever support he could garner.

Jeevan had just made him the number one target of the afternoon as he turned the throttle of the jet pump to maximum and went straight on for the Command Boat.

"Ki- Kill him!" The Commander ordered, having a bad feeling about what he intended to do. Two boats positioned themselves between Jeevan and the Command Boat, making it impossible for him to get there without bumping into them first.

Jeevan looked around and found his entry onto the Command Boat, he turned the jet ski to face a derelict turned-over boat he'd destroyed previously whilst dodging the grenade rounds that were being shot at him from afar. For some reason, he felt the adrenaline run through him like never before, pushing him onwards to progression in what he did without fatigue or fear.

-Was this what teacher felt?- He was both estatic as he was disgusted with himself.

But it didn't change the fact that to end this fight, that Commander had to go. He engaged the throttle to the end as he positioned the jetski's trajectory to the Command Boat and let gravity and kinetic energy do the rest. The jetski and him flew in the air over the heads of the boat crew blockading his way to their commander. All of which stared wide-eyed at that sport-style jump over their five-metre-long and three-metre-high vessels.

"What- the-!"

But whilst in the air found that he had overshot his target by and entire boat length and would fly overhead instead. Even so, he didn't despair. As he kicked down on the jetski to change direction to land on top of the boat instead while he jumped out and landed upon an enemy soldier with his knife to dampen his fall. The jetski crashed onto the deck of the Command Boat and struck their engine deck, but that was the least of their problems. For the monster responsible for half the Companys' destruction was on board with them.

(Bababababababaam) A rivine soldier open fired, accompanied by the symphony of his fellow soldiers' automatic fire. Jeevan replied with a 40mm grenade shot which turned the deck into a blazing mess. He then turned to where the commander was on the cabin platform but was surprised to find him on deck with him with a knife in his hand charging towards him.

To some, it would seem like a very credible threat as he had only a grenade launcher in hand that couldn't be used in close range. Jeevan's reaction to this was slightly on the unsound side when he smiled with satisfaction and glee while withdrawing his knife from the leather scabbard and dropping the grenade launcher. For quite some time since his CQC training from the paratrooper-trained Condotierri and the combat proficient Ajay, his days of practicing in the Royal Academy had been dull. At first, they were astounded and impressed, but later no one was willing to play fight with him, then the rumor spread like wild fire even to his unit with the Jatayu. Discouraging everyone save for Ajay from fighting with him and he knew better than to get in a practice run with his mentor. He always came out bruised and sore from when his mentor played dirty to teach him that not all knife fights or gunfights were fair. Unfortunately, he had no one to test and confirm it except for that one time with Sabal.

But now it was entirely different. This Commander knew jackshit about him.

"Errraggh!" But instead of fight with his knife, it was purely a ruse to have him drop his guard as the Commander slammed into him. "Guurghh!" He fought back the pain from being hit in the stomach, but lost his footing as the Commander pushed him over the ledge. They came to a stop at the railing against Jeevan's back, there he decided to gut him with the knife instead. Jeevan had no choice but to wrestle with his hand holding the knife towards his chest.

But the commander proved to be stronger than him as the knife inched closer and closer to his chest, Jeevan begun to struggle to keep it away. The Commander saw that light flicker out in his eyes and grew over confident.

-Nobodies gonna play knives with you in a gunfight.- The words resounded in Jeevan's mind as clear as his mentor had told him, Instructor Yip had said the same thing before. Now, Jeevan was clear on the meaning more than ever.

"It was a good experience." He said with difficulty but with a smile on his face, which confused the Commander. But that millisecond of hesitation was all Jeevan needed to wrench the knife away from his chest and kick him away towards the ledge himself. He however did not expect the Commander to grab hold of his clothing and drag him into the waters as well.

(Splash)

Both of them fell into the waters. Jeevan sunk deeper than the Commander due to the weight of the equipment that was on him. He realized that and begun to use his knife to cut free from the harness.

They both begun to prioritize their survival over killing each other, the Commander was unfortunately alone because his Company had fled with the sight of the Command Boat in flames so he was forced to swim toward the shore.

But what both of them didn't realize was that all this commotion in the usually calm waters had stirred up some inhabitants that shouldn't have been disturbed. Especially during their breeding period, and during that period, a particular alpha always reigned supreme in those dark cold waters. All the blood from the overboard corpses were attracting the natural predators to the waters.

Jeevan would not have noticed any presence within the waters had it not been for a streak of white pass him to his right amongst the reeds that had blocked line of sight of him from the king of the waters. His alarmed senses begun to kick off as he gazed in the direction of the creature that moved in the waters with such grace that it was clear it owned them.

He watched under the silence of the waters and limited oxygen, as the enemy Commander swam unawares to the danger that was approaching him. He saw a shadow approach the silhouette of the Commander from behind and grabbed him as it dove deep into the waters with his gittering corpse, leaving a bloody trail. A huge figure he had previously caught a glimpse of, at least the size of a shark. But in these fresh waters there was only one creature that fishermen were ever so wary of, a creature exclusive to the waters of Kyrat and have said to have been here since the early dawn of man.

If it had a name starting with demon, on the accounts of generations of water faring Kyratis, it may have very well have earnt it.

* * *

….

….

 **Ten Vedic Talismans**

 **Ten Sacred Guardians**

 **Seal the wrathful asura, beneath the everwinter mountains**

 **Six perish, Six talismans shattered**

 **And the seventh Sacred Guardian to be slain,**

 **by the first apostle of the Asura**

 **Ten Talismans to seal,  
**

 **Ten Incarnates to break the hex  
**

…..

…..

* * *

Author's Thoughts:

On the witch's demands overriding Mohan's conviction. (Captain Phillips parody)

Witch: "Hey!... look at me."

Captain Mohan: "Sure-."

Witch: "Look at me."

Captain Mohan: "Sure."

Captain Witch: "I'm the Captain now."


	105. Chapter 96 - The Wrestle for Supremacy

Author's Notes:

Kept in reserve for today. Enjoy. Be back in writing after 27th, be seeing you soon.

* * *

As amazing as it appeared underwater with the light shining down into the riverbed of murky freshwater that he was, he was running on limited breath. With the evident danger in surfacing, thanks to the newest arrival to the field.

It had disappeared off into the open waters, but Jeevan was convinced it was still there. It exhibited some intelligence in the form of dealing with prey, it knew the late enemy Commander needed air to survive so dragged him down deeper while hurting him. The result was a man-sized snack, but it was still hungry. Jeevan could make out glints from the scales shimmering in the rays of light piercing into the water which said it was aware that there were more.

Even so, Jeevan had an oxygen limit that he couldn't exceed. Two minutes without struggling was his best during some water sports in the past. But struggle he definitely will, and he was already twenty seconds in on that ticking clock. He had virtually no weapons as he'd dropped both the M79 grenade launcher on the deck and his knife had been dropping somewhere into the river he didn't know where.

Forty-five seconds of breath left, at best. He tried to clear his mind to think of a way to get to shore whilst delaying that demon fish for as long as possible. Fighting that thing in water was suicidal, that thing was both powerful and intelligent. He heard his mentor once mumble something about rare animal handbags once concerning requests from Mumu Chiffon. Was this one of those "freaks" he'd mentioned? If so, they weren't like their more ordinary members of their animal family. Like Bishal was the archtype of all Bengal Tigers in Kyrat, Vajra was the rarest breed of Alpha. The Black Water Dragon was to the species of carnivorous fish that terrorised the waters when you least expected. Demon fish was its name and not one given lightly either. It tasted like tilapia when you were lucky enough to catch it, not very tasty but enough to feed and provide sufficient protein for a low-income family for a week.

He patted himself down for items that he could use. On his harness were four M26 "lemon" grenades with him which could make a hell of a concussion underwater. But he couldn't be near it or he would also be knocked out or even killed. Then, both him and the fish were food for the other fishes. No knife, he lost it falling into the water. His despair encouraged his timespan to shorten further, he knew he couldn't stay here long. But to reach the shore, it would require a resurfacing to gather his breath.

His eyes tracked the pale river monster gracefully swimming the area, it was aware that there was still someone else in its waters. It just didn't know where exactly.

Jeevan looked around in the riverbed for anything else he could use. And that's when he saw it.

In the distance, near a shipwreck long before he sunk any of the rebel boats was a long metal rod stuck on the rusting prowl. He could make it out because the light was shining through the waters down upon it, like a gift from heaven. But it was away from the shore, away from safety.

He had a quick thought and knew how he could deal with the black water dragon without being near enough to be concussed by the blast of his grenades. It involved a lot of risk as well as skill in keeping to his plan.

But it was better than not standing a chance at all. As the fish prowled around the area between him and the shore, he took this chance to make a mad dash for the shipwreck after bundling three of his grenades and pulling the pin on one of them whilst swimming.

The fish could sense even the slightest of vibrations in the abnormally calm waters thanks to the conflict that had died out above, it turned towards him and skimmed through the waters as quickly as Jeevan ran on land.

-Fuck! That's fast!-

He clearly underestimated the demon fishes potential underwater, it was now fifty metres away from him but would make it to him in ten. He had thirty seconds of air left, Jeevan did breaststrokes as fast as he could to the pole and released his grenade with the pin pulled to try and delay the fish between it and him. (BOOM) As he swam as fast as he could, a cloud of bubbles from the explosive force engulfed him, but was not far enough to concuss him. He continued on faster than before, with every vibe of muscle he could draw until he finally reached what he thought it was.

A steel reinforcement that jutted out of the derelict ship, just perfect enough from what he needed. He had only a few seconds more to act as he spotted the fish pierced through the cloud of bubbles, it really wanted a taste of human flesh after having a human sized sample.

After setting up what he needed to set he tossed another grenade between him and the fish, not twenty metres away.

The fish had clearly been able to shrug off the blast at close proximity where other water creatures wouldn't. So it was not at all phased by him throwing another towards it and swam with a renewed interest for Jeevan.

But that was what Jeevan was counting on, hoping that no matter how smart it was, it was still a creature of instinct.

(BOOM) Another wall of concussive force erupted from the centre of where the grenade was.

The demon fish didn't care as he headed towards the last known location of Jeevan at maximum speed, it even opened its mouth ready to swallow him.

The demon fish cut through the stream of bubbles, hoping to grab its stun stiff prey as all its victims had frozen at the sight of it.

(Stab)

What greeted it was the surprise of its life. A steel reinforcement had pierced through its upper jaw and prevented it from closing its mouth of getting away. And who was the cause of this? It had only itself to blame for moving at that speed blindly through the temporary concealment of the bubbles and vacuum caused by the grenade. It struggled to get free but the jagged piece of metal was like a fishing hook or harpoon that prevented easy retrieval.

Jeevan was nowhere in sight, not really. He was now where he needed to be, behind the cover of the wreckage. Because stuck to the steel reinforcement, were the last two of his grenades, just centimetres from its opened mouth.

(BOOOM) The same vacuum effect underwater occurred like before and caused the surrounding water to bubble furiously. With its insides forcefully exposed by the unclosable jaw, the blast had engulfed it and turned the surrounding disturbed waters into a red-dyed mist.

Jeevan's priority switched to survival and surfaced as fast as he could.

"(Gasp) (Cough)." He successfully reached the top for air.

And for the first time, he was able to bear witness to the destruction wrought by him. The river was filled with burning vessels from the Southern Rivine Guard aligned to the rebel movement.

A shadow rose to the surface of the still shaken waters which caught him off guard and made his hair rise. But it was in fact a false alarm, as it was the carcass of the once feared Albino terror called Black Water Dragon for some reason he didn't know. Or at least the tail end of it remained in the pool of blood he was floating it.

Jeevan quickly swam to shore with half his prize as fast as he could, there was no telling when the other demon fish would approach. He climbed onto a boat that happened to be closer to him than the shore for his convenience.

Thankfully, the winter had passed so it was not as cold as it should have been. Hypothermia was still a possibility if he didn't get warmed up or changed clothing.

"Mmm? Oh nice!" But that was quickly solved with what was in the wooden boat. A box that contained a set of clothing among other things. There was even an esky holding a whole crate of Shangri-lager. It gave him the impression that this boat belonged to a fisherman, but likely flee when the firefight erupted.

"Looks like I'm set." He declared contently as he finished changing to the dry clothing. He pulled the cord to start the engine after checking the oil levels and integrity of the motor.

(Brrrrrrrrr) The motor propeller winded to life and began his quiet voyage to his next destination. However, he was not heading to Shanath where the rest were. He was quiet convinced that they were alright as they were and if he were to find them, his movement would draw suspicion to the wandering patrols. He was now headed towards the next best option.

To aid the Tigers in their fight against the rebels.

Jeevan donned the cap he found on the boat and acted like fishing was his trade and these waters were a familiar route. All to fool the passing rivine patrols along the way to his destination. The tail end of the late Black Water Dragon provided the perfect alibi, he was going to collect the bounty on this fish.

Though that was not his priority now, Jeevan licked his lips, rubbing his chin thoughtfully thinking about how much that bounty actually was worth.

* * *

How many times was it already that Lanka had been besieged and by which faction had they yet to be attacked by? Golden Path, Yinkian, political critics and now Canton. What's next, Rakshasa?

Either way, the fortress was doing its job. Concentrating all internal conflicts to a single area and minimizing collateral in civilian populated areas, outside and within the walls of the fortress instead of anywhere else. Lanka was no longer populated with civilians, only military personnel now. They weren't going to let history repeat itself and the former residence respected that, though they were compensated for their losses and given homes elsewhere in the safety of the North. But the toll that the gastion forces took, was a whole different story all together.

Even with Amita's advice of caution in regards to an imminent attack, the Garrison Command was having a difficult time keeping out the rebel 2nd Hussars spearheading for three other regiments. Where urban environments should have been the least ideal for armoured forces, the Commander of 2nd Hussars was not falling for that logical trick.

If anything was keeping out the vehicles from traversing the streets quickly, it was the latest creation by Saraswati's ever-quick 3rd Engineering Company. Aptly dubbed "flak towers", like the old second world war German monstrosities that defended Berlin from air and land attacks. Although they were pale in comparison to the German ones, they still carried firepower unparrellel from the fixed emplacements. A single 122mm D-30 howitzer for destruction of targets long range. For heavy suppression of infantry and light vehicles, there were the good old reliable 40mm Bofors gun and rapid firing ZU-23 air defense guns. They kept the helicopters a step away from the fortress and forced them to release their passengers outside of the walls at most while being cautious about their approach. The rebels hammered the tower with heavy ordnance to try to topple it but to no apparent effect due to the honeycomb structure that kept it up.

And the reason they were able to maintain a hold over Lanka was because Brigadier Kul had performed a sweep of his ranks for any sort of sympathy towards any one group and placed them under detention. He had contingencies in place in case one of even his most loyal officers turned on him, and that was in the form of a single battalion sworn in with him to the end. A brotherhood of Lanka, his glory was theirs and theirs was his. Such ritualistic formalities were often frowned upon in the modern Kyrat despite the traditional Banashavism being the only recognised cult religion in Kyrat.

But Gopan Kul was convinced that whosoever went through the process of initiation was worthy of his trust. So it was no surprise that when Canton sympathy arose from their ranks to take over the fortress behind their backs, the Brotherhood mobilized and cut down all of the sympathizers. As for the ethnic Cantons, they didn't even ask if they were in on it, it was death for them as well.

The odds were quite against them despite the advantage of highground and defensive provisions against a numerically superior foe, but they could hold out for a while at least.

Brigadier Kul had dispatched a small group to inform Amita and the other garrisons of the treason involved in Pacchim Valley. But for the North, there was little he could do but pray they were ok. He always knew a day like this would come, he saw it in a younger Lord Kwan's eyes when the bulk of the Canton forces fought the Golden Path at the Royal Fortress to rescue Pagan back in 98'. The Cantons had long given up their fervor for their leader. And what better time than when they were weakened by prolonged fighting against Golden Path, when all the elite assets were overseas assisting Yinke in rebuilding its Economy and Military. When Amita and the Marshal informed him of Badala's current comatosed state, if they Cantons knew, then it was now or never.

"Have you identified the Commander of the rebels?" He asked his reconnaissance leader. But the latter shook his head.

Colonel Min is nowhere to be seen amongst the Cantons, sir. Only the Fang cousins."

"And young Kadayat?"

The reconnaissance leader felt ashamed he could not report properly due to the limitations in their communication resources.

(Boom) The structure of the Command Bunker rattled with an artillery shell striking its fortifications.

"…."

Gopan thought about what his predecessor, Comandant Gurung had gone through during the atrocity at Lanka. No doubt he laid down his life to draw the demon's attention. Gopan shook off the thoughts as it was directly related to the death of his son as well. Badala had already gone to Lanka to punish the Yinkians while forgiving the people. It was the responsibility of the politicians and military leaders that they assumed. And he crushed it down to its bare bone, leaving only certain loyalists like the long missing Tenzin and famed Colonel Dema.

"I have something of interest I'd like to report."

"Speak."

"About ten minutes ago, on Bastion One's end. There was a firefight occurring between some rebels that broke off from the siege to engage some force heading from the North. My scouts say there were about four of those-… um-…. Pancake boats." He had difficulty making out what that meant, so it was a low priority message.

Gopan thought a bit about what he was referring to till he got it.

"It's the Northern Rivine Guard, those vessels are probably hovercrafts, only 3rd Battalion operates about a Company of them. So it must be that group, where were they headed?"

"In the direction of Naccarapur."

"You sure not Baghadur?"

"Absolutely."

Brigadier Kul had a moment to himself while the rest of the Commanders were busy keeping the situation under control.

"Naccarapur is not their final destination." Gopan concluded.

"If so, then where?"

"They're clearly heading in a direction furthest away from a fight, could it be?-….." His adjutant was already getting a vibe about who they were transporting.

"That's good, at least his grace is out of harm's way."

"But not in fighting condition either, sir." Clearly, if the demon was in top shape, he would've been coordinating fights in the North.

"No, but even so, it proves that the North isn't entirely going with the flow of things. Worst case, the Royal Fortress is in their control and the Royal Palace is being attacked."

"Then that's not the least bit good!"

"Calm down, when has the King ever been so easily fooled. Remember the game of poker in 09'?"

"….." How could he forget? Pagan regularly had meetings where he just invited his generals over for games or dinner. On one such game he exhibited ingenuinity and fine memory from a game of poker with five other senior officers. It didn't matter if they were prepared to lose just to let him win, he would have won even if they were serious. He even mumbled the likely cards that each of them held. It said one thing, the King was always a step ahead of everyone, as flamboyant or hazy as he seemed at times.

"All we have to do is ensure that Lanka remains in our control, repel the rebels at best and corner them for the bulk of the regrouping army to encircle and kill off."

"Easier said than done."

"Have some faith. Major Phanish."

"….."

"I've called for Amita to send reinforcements and given her authorisation of the Airport. In case, we do lose, the Tigers will at least be able to stand a chance against the rebels." The Phanish couldn't fault him for looking at their alternatives strategically, that was his job.

But there was an overview of their situations in that sentence as well. The odds weren't looking in their favour, contingencies were being made as they spoke to mitigate their losses.

"Dispatch report!" Then as if things hadn't gotten worst, a dispatch soldier arrived huffing, carrying grave news.

* * *

"We're so screwed! If we can't find'em, Winnie's gonna kill us." One of the men from the sweep and clear teams put out his case which was actually a problem for all of them as well.

"They can't do nothin' without the birds in the air. And that's all that matters." His leader straightened him out.

"Ten minutes, then we'll assume they ran to the nearest outpost instead." The leader confirmed with them another patrol around Sagarmatha Air Base to clear it of unwanted presence. His men were only happy to oblige as they followed him taking point onwards with much scrutiny in his search.

"(Sigh)." Paul crawled out from the vents that had hidden him and his significant other.

"Coast clear, cher. Unless you wanna wait this whole affair to blow over."

"Incroyable…." (Unbelievable) Michelle rolled her eyes at his lack of eagerness, to actually think he could hide his head in the dirt like an ostrich at a time like this.

"Hey, it's your call. Since our generous employer went down under, these snooks have been talking about whether the next paycheck was coming or not."

Even though he wasn't wrong either. They had been in Logistics when gunfire erupted everywhere, a group tried to subdue them as well but failed for obvious reasons in fighting experience. Michelle interrogated a survivor of information to what was happening before dispatching him. The news wasn't great.

"…" Michelle was familiar with the vibe, in fact. Years ago, her and Paul had been through it before.

"This is Africa all over again." Michelle murmured.

That nostalgic feeling was like the approach that their former merc buddies had taken in the past. At the first sign of trouble, they threw their lot with the side with the largest reward regardless of the morales.

Paul's relaxed expression for the first time crumbled and switched to a serious look.

"That's not even remotely funny."

Paul sighed as he gathered his thoughts ready for another crazy attempt by Michelle to do something really stupid instead of sneak the next plane out.

"What's the plan?" He passed her his Desert Eagle sidearm whilst cocking his own SPAS-12 shotgun. Weapons they were adeptly familiar with during their trips.

Michelle received the oversized handgun and appropriate ammo from Paul as she cleared her throat.

"We need to ascertain the current status of Commandant Rohan, Commander Singh and Chef Khalid."

"If I were the mutinier, these people would have been the first I popped a cap into." Paul stated his belief they were already dead. Michelle gave him an annoyed look that he chose to be pesimmistic about their chances.

"Fine. Command and Control?" Paul stated their next destination where they were likely held.

"Command and Control, merci Paul." Michelle smiled as her friend had stuck by her.

Paul mumbled something along the lines of being in a bad spot. Michelle rested a hand on his shoulder to show her gratitude to him.

"Right, let's prove to Winnie he fucked with the wrong group and wrong employer." Paul took point in their careful movement towards the Command and Control centre, where highest authority members were being held, but also likely where the heaviest concentration of enemies were.

"Let's cut through via the munitions depot. Sound good?" Michelle nodded to his suggestion.

"We could stock up on firepower from the armory there as well." Michelle added onto Paul's advice.

They moved under the guile of quiet footsteps and use of the darker areas to conceal themselves from passing patrols. And there were many.

They had all been a part of a hundred-employee mutiny rallied by former-SAAF member Winnefred Coriolanus. The mutiny, being of Lupus Caelum LLC. Ajay's mercenary company in charge of handling much of the experienced technicians and pilots of the airframes of Kyrat. And who was Coriolanus? The Wing Commander of the Royal Kyrati Airforce 2nd Strike-Fighter Squadron comprising of reactivated Russian MiG-29Ks from the Soviet Navies decommissioned aircraft carriers. But as of late, they were one of the Squadrons who had not deployed on strike missions of any kind. Mostly because they were intended to play as the reserve in Kyrat in case there was any attacks domestically while they were abroad.

So it was to no surprise for Paul and Michelle who were in the airbase everyday that the entire squadron had been edging into vanity and complacency. Having been paid to be here on standby.

They were still unsure of what set off the trigger for Coriolanus to defect, perhaps a faction hidden in Kyrat had employed them to doublecross the Crown.

Paul waited for a patrol to pass before approaching the doors to the kitchen that would take him to the corridor where the Armory was. As he pushed the door open gently, a muzzle came through the door and pressed against his forehead.

-Shit.- Paul was too late to regret what he'd done, he dropped the gun and pushed Michelle out of the line of sight of the door so she wouldn't get peppered.

"What's the magic word?" A question was passed his way from the group of employees aiming their weapons at him.

"…. Guess this is what I get for not going to temple."

The crowd broke into snickers as they lowered their weapons and helped him and a stunned Michelle to her feet.

"Paul."

"Paul, the main man." The mercenaries patted him on the shoulder as he walked through the sea of of the crowd where they parted. Michelle chuckled lightly, it was Paul's easily sociable attitude that earned him some camaraderie points with most of the technicians and pilots.

From the end of the sea of employees were Chief Khalid and Commander Singh, seated discussing a way out of this mess. It was clear that these people were not part of the mutiny.

"Mr Ferenc. Good to have you with us, and Miss Dachss as well. The fortune that is with us." Commander Singh got up to shake their hands.

"A pleasure, Commandant."

"Hey, see you turbans are in great shape." Paul said in his usual chirper manner.

"We'd be merry and about if we could get to our birds." Pravindra said.

"Buddy, not to get between you and your metallic sweetheart but we've got a big problem on our hands from us outsourced boys and girls." Paul was referring to the nature of their mercenary background of all of the men and women in this room. Whatever force that was taking over could not afford to harm the Indian officers, for fear of incurring the wrath of India herself. Nobody was that stupid.

"Fill us in, chef." Michelle changed back to the topic at hand.

"It's the Cantons."

"The who?" Paul asked oblivious.

Michelle sighed and explained. "The relatives of the Kyrati King Pagan."

"I see, then Winnie must've been bribed by those sons of bitches. No cash or that paper garbage, all in stones, uncut and worth a heck of a lot. Drives men wild." Paul knew that best of all, from that adventure over eight years ago, still fresh in his head even after almost a decade. To be fair, he sometimes felt that he had left a part of him behind, an irrecoverable piece. Michelle did too. The crowd including the two leaders were shocked when he mentioned who was the ring leader.

"I should've known!" Chief Khalid swiped the food can from the kitchen table.

"Was this expected?"

"I handled all of the recruitment applications of the Company, Sir Singh." Khalid formally addressed his Indian Counterpart, even though he had no apparent rank equivalent. Even so, Commander Singh respected the former UAE Airforce Commander.

"Captain Winnefred Coriolanus, age 34. Dishonourable discharge from the South African Air force for multiple counts of insubordination and assaulting a Female officer in a collaborated gangrape."

Michelle instantly scorned at the pig's history, a little astonished why he was even tolerated in the company application that was supposedly scrutinous.

"So why was such an-…. Undesirable person in this company?" Pravindra couldn't help but ask even though it was a sensitive topic but asked the same question as Michelle.

"Because, pilots don't grow on trees, Lieutenant. Winnefred was a squadron leader, so where would you find one roaming around, huh?... (Sigh) When your boss hires you to form an Airforce within eight months instead of a natural five years, you're pushing boundaries that even National Militaries wouldn't dare risk! He's brave for attempting it, I give you that. As for Winnefred, he even failed the psychological evaluation, but the boss made the executive decision to give him a chance. So I wasn't going to question him on that. In fact, on day one, I'd never seen a rosier cheek employee than him. So even I had a good feeling about him at first. Who knew he was good at hiding his emotions that well, slippery bastard." Chief Khalid cursed.

Paul had a feeling that Winnie was also fearful of Badala, though he never indicated it. So this rebellion started because the bogeyman was bedridden and he gave it to greed shamelessly without guilt.

"Is Commander Rohan with you?" Paul asked if the Kyrati Air force Commander of the entire operation was with them. But he was met with shaking heads.

"He's likely in the-."

"Command and Control. Yeah, we had that feeling and were on our way till we met you charming bunch."

"Sit down and join us, we'll do a quick overview before moving. Time is of the essence." Khalid said.

(Bang) The door opened with force and all guns trailed to the person that opened it.

"Bad news, chief! Their preparing to roll out the MiGs!" The informant said undiscreetly as urgent as it was.

The two leaders visibility frowned. It meant that someone was already been marked as a target for an airstrike.

"With those, MiGs. It'll likely be a precision bombing, 500kg, laser-guided." Commander Singh gave his thoughts.

"Or napalm." Pravindra gave a different view before his co-pilot nudged him.

"Damn! It could be for anyone, Baghadur, Lanka, the Royal Palace, even a settlement!" Chief Khalid was most concern that the ordnance he was in charge of was being used to harm innocences instead of his employer's enemies, the Golden Path terrorists.

"Are they off yet?" Commadner Singh asked the informant.

"They're loaded and on the tarmac."

"We won't be able to stop them from leaving in time….." Khalid laughed in defeat.

"Looks like we'll have a secondary objective then." Commander Singh was not at all daunted.

"Sir Khalid, how willing are you to lose millions of dollars of hardware instead of the lives at stake?" Khalid looked up at him, he knew what he was implying. For a professional like Khalid, he didn't need to hesitate at all. He nodded, giving his permission to destroy the turncoat 2nd Squadrons' MiG fighter fleet that was preparing to take off.

Commander Singh turned to Pravindra.

"If we can get you two up is the sky, can you intercept the bombing squadron with escorts under fifteen minutes?"

Pravindra broke into a gleeful smile as he was being asked to do what he did best.

"I'll own the skies for you."

* * *

...

...

The crimson valley was filled with clashing of blades to wake the hollow empty world. How many days had it been since he declared he would defeat this demonic iteration of himself? He didn't know, and didn't care. Because if he started to think about thoughts on how long, it would affect his concentration entirely.

And so they fought to a continued stalemate in a world where the natural law was different from reality. Where fatigue and wear were non-existent, but wounds were. With the exception of the demon itself, relying on instant regeneration and superhuman strength like the inhuman Golden Path or perhaps even unparrellel to them.

It was a battle fated to continue on to eternity or loss, because Ajay would not yield despite his wounds and would only truly end with the demon's victory when his body was no longer functional.

But something did change.

The more he fought, the more he understood the demon's pattern, he understood his own pattern of fighting like he was engaging himself. The demon had unadvertently given Ajay a precious opportunity to surpass his own abilities. So how does one exceed himself?

Strengthening the body? Quicken the reflexes? Predict the pattern of attack and counter?

While all these ways were correct, in providing one with that edge. Albeit, only a marginal increase in ability and prowess, but Ajay took a different route to improving himself. He chose to hone and sharpen his mental fortitude, his will and his spirit.

Fortitude kept his mind intact even in the most stressful times and sudden surprises. Will was not stubbornness, but his ability to overcome mental obstacles and endure torture of any kind. Spirit was something he shared with the people, his ability to stand tall against odds inspired and rousted the flames in the hearts of the men and women that followed him into battle.

After all, even if you have the most powerful hand weapon implementation ever devised in your possession. It was nothing without the person that wielded it, the resolve and training in its uses. And what made the difference between the wielders were these traits, not strength nor talent. But the will to use it against his or her foe. That was what made a weapon a weapon in the hands of a willing person instead of a mere tool to the ignorant.

At some point, the demon grinned wryly. And Ajay understood that the demon was not truly against him despite its boasts, but with him and always a part of him. It chuckled in defeat as it felt a shift occur in favour of 's counter of his herculean blows became more refine, and used less effort to deflect, whilst delivering an auto-counter that impaired the Demon's ability to deliver another blow as quickly. It had lost the initiative now, but that was just the first step in subduing it. He had to find a way to pass the hard-ballistic fused carapace of the demon whilst doing enough damage to disable it.

Even so, Ajay let loose a fearless grin. He looked forward to triumphing over it and walking out a new and improved person.

" **I wonder which of us is the actual demon here."**

...

...


	106. Chapter 97 - We Are Rakshasa

Author's Notes:

For this weeks. I'm guilty for doing this during my breaks between exams. So sue me if I cock up somewhere.

* * *

*This is Golden Path Akaash Monastery fortress command. Thank Kyra. Its good to hear from you again brother. We feared the worst when you covered the retreat from Kyrat.*

"Thank you, sister. We're fine, we took no serious loss and have been encamped a little to the East. We picked up some comms chatter and thought them the snow guards." The Commander replied.

*Where have you been all this while, brother?*

"Hiding, dear sister. In the mountains due East, it's been tough but assuring to hear your voices and that the cause is not lost." He replied excitedly.

*Brother-….. We have some important news for you all….. its-…..*

"Yes?"

*Yinke had been invaded by the demon and has lost to Kyrat.*

A welling pain nudged against his skull as fragments of memories began to resurface in his head, it felt important and yet worth nothing in his current state.

"But you're with us, and so is the Founding father. We'll return when the time calls upon us." He replied back in an optimistic tone.

*Yes! I'm sorry to have laid the bad news to you this way. However, our ranks have increased since then. Your brothers at home have joined us not as Shining Way but as a member of Golden Path. As will you if you return to us, brothers.*

"We look forward to it."

*Great! Head to point 2614 on your map, and follow the light stick strobes. They should lead you directly into the monastery without problem. Again, its good to hear from you again, Commander Namdak. Havildar Thakul, out.*

"It's good to hear from you as well." He said, but by that time the comms had grown quiet.

The man named Namdak walked down from the cliffside overlooking the valley area. And down below, was unmistakably the uninhabited monastery turn-Golden Path base. Lights flickering in the evening light from the tents that were laid out to shelter much of the Golden Path forces.

They, so weak to the cold they required refuge to wait out the storm and night. Just as he'd once been before, when his eyes had yet to open to the truth of the mountains. When he and his brothers had been made aware of the path to salvation. It certainly did not lie with the way of Golden Path, those weaklings. Neither did it come from that false messiah that ran their banner, Mohan. But Namdak did not despair, because they too could experience the joy as they had. In death.

"Preparations for the raid have been completed, we await your commands." A savage looking man cladded in animal hides over the defiled uniform of the Yinkian Army reported with much zeal in his tone.

Namdak poked his head around to see the forces that where with him, his brothers and others that they'd forcefully help "enlighten" to their ways.

He walked down to meet the anxious pack of hungry wolves he called brothers, they noticed his arrival and stood up with grins wider than their faces.

"The time is now, brothers. Those weary sheep who listen to honeyed words have opened their gates and reached out their arms to us without suspicion."

Many roared satisfaction, others growled like dogs. They could not wait to begin the ceremony that he had preached since they heard the comms chatter here in their mountain abodes. They came and waited patiently, and were rewarded with a magnificent feast for their lord.

"Night has fallen, and the ritual is about to commence. Purify this valley! Tonight, we offer up these lambs as a worthy sacrifice to the lord of darkness!"

"""Yes, Master!"""

"Offerings to Lord Yalung!" Master Namdak shouted raising his handmade ceremonial knife from bone in the air.

"""Blood for the demon god!""" They replied in utmost zeal.

"Purity to the sacred grounds!"

(ROOOOOAAAAARRR) The echo of the accompanying "awakened" shook the mountains.

* * *

"They just never quit!" Scowled Brigadier Gopan Kul as he put down the combat telephone to the flak tower emplacement, informing him of a severe shortage in autocannon ammunition.

He'd already left the Command Centre to personally manage the men and to give them assurance he was watching out for them. It was now a matter of troop moral that determined the outcome of the three-way battle that was going between themselves, the Canton-sympathizing rebels….

And the Golden Path.

After almost three months away from their native home, the Golden Path had finally stepped foot in Kyrat once more. Where had they come in from this time? They did not know, because a certain faction decided to cut off all communication with all sectors in the nation wide military channels. In a way, the Cantons had let the enemy in once more unchallenged. When the Rebels saw the Golden Path attack, they were bewilded. And were preyed upon like hungry wolves on yak herds, having attacked them from their exposed flanks.

But because of this, much of the heat on the Lanka garrison had dispersed temporarily to allow them to regroup their forces appropriately. That was not to say that Gopan felt the least bit grateful to the Golden Path who immediately assaulted the bastion of the Western end, whilst the Canton rebels attacked Lanka from the North. Golden Path fought the Cantons and besieged the fortress. The Canton Rebels defended their flank and continued their pressure upon Lanka, albeit with more attention than before.

Whoever took Lanka first would have the initiative over the other.

That was why, the odds weren't favourable to the Lanka garrison at all. Gopan was most worried not for his forces, but for Amita and the Tigers at Baghadur in the direction this vanguard came in from. Phanish estimated about four thousand fighters were in this fight, but where were the rest? Where was Mohan?

"Lone enemy! Ten o clock!"

"It's Golden Path!" Kul turned to the street which the overhead watch informed him of.

"Why are you telling me? React!" Gopan didn't understand why the Company Commander shouted out from a distance this. That was until he saw the soldier fall to a blade impaling his neck, a chill ran through Gopan. The next time he blinked, several soldiers in front of him were on the ground in a bloody mess. It happened again when he blinked several more, until a deadly feeling matured in his heart. Yet, there was something strange. It was a familiar yet unsavoury feeling he had so long ago, when he was but a mere Battalion Commander.

A dangerous and frightening feeling that ebbed its way into his heart when he saw the young man charge through the swarm of soldiers directly towards him with a sadistic grin on his face. It was just like him.

(Clang)

The next moment he blinked, a kukri had just been stopped just an inch from his neck.

"General! Fall back!" Phanish grunted as he heaved the blade away as best him could but the young man's arm remained rock solid like Phanish was pushing against a stone wall.

"Hmph!" He lightly swung and carried Phanish with his blade. His Major flew in the air like he was struck by a truck and slammed the concrete wall.

"Protect the General!" The soldiers didn't need to be told what to do as Gopan had been carried away by the sea of troops while they struck out at the lone fighter. More troops fell at the young man's feet. And then, if things weren't horribly nightmare refreshing, the young man called out to no one but him. And said words that carried an eerie meaning behind it.

"Running again, little soldier?" The young man called out casually as it was ominous to Gopan that he felt his heart being gripped by an unknown force. His eyes widened with disbelief.

Sixteen Years, it was finally back.

"run…" He murmured.

The officer who heard it ignored him and continued to escort him out of the field.

"Run!"

"Sir, you are our priority.-" Gopan pushed the escort aside as he picked up a rifle discarded to the ground.

"Fall back! Fall Back to the second level!" He pointed to the gates of the second tier defense in Bastion Three. Hearing his command, the soldiers left as quickly as they could. But Gopan stayed behind. His adjutants called out to him but he roared back from them to leave that fighter alone.

"Sir!" One officer insisted on staying behind

"Seal all bulkheads, lock and prime the detonation charges! And good luck."

(Baam) The mechanical blastdoor sealed them behind, leaving only Gopan, Phanish whom had been too wounded to get out, and of course the younger man hailing from Golden Path.

"Putting on a brave front for you troupe? Even so, I can still feel that heartbeat quake as it did so long ago."

"We finally meet again, monster." He readied his rifle.

"Come now, its been such a long time since we met again, little soldier. The one that got away."

Gopan couldn't lie to himself, he was scared. Him of all people, a veteran of many wars. A fearless warrior of the crown, was scared of the person standing before him. Because, sixteen years ago had it not been for a certain someone. Gopan would never have seen his family again. He was the survivor of a relatively unknown massacre that had been wiped from the records on Yuma's orders. The victims, were every man from his battalion, the culprit was a monster that wore a human face.

"You know its foolish to resist so reluctantly, just hop into my mouth. And let me devour you!" It grinned mercilessly and too wide for a human being to wear as it made that figurative speech.

"Then, I will help myself to the buffet spread you've locked up inside your failed excuse for a Lanka. By the way, do you still have dreams about that night?"

Gopan steadied himself as he aimed his rifle towards centre mass, the young man did nothing to avoid and instead laughed.

"I've hit a nerve haven't i? Of course you would, you'd wake up every night to hear the screams-… those sweet bloodcurling screams of men that knew no better. Men who you failed."

"Why are you back?"

"There is a changing tide in the realm of man, I've been called upon to take part in an endeavour millenia in the making."

"The hell do you say."

"You probably wouldn't even understand. You're nothing but mere livestock for that false god." It said as it stepped closer.

"Then again, you know that I wasn't human. That's why you ordered a mass retreat… so that the tragedy wouldn't unfold again. Am I wrong?" It said with a satisfactory grin.

Gopan knew his options were limited, he held the pin to a grenade on his combat harness.

"Commiting suicide? I can assure you, it'll take more than that to eradicate me."

"You're here because there is no bigger demon than you here, you're nothing but a cowardly thing." Gopan spat bravely at the person he knew was a genuine monster underneath.

"Oh? And pray tell, why do you come to such a conclusion?" It folded its arms to hear Gopan's explanation as to why he thought it was a coward.

"Conveniently showing when Badala was not her-."

"I'll admit, that one does make us think twice about emerging. But even so, we do not act beyond our princess's all-knowing. That Duke of yours has a special touch with her, so we may not be allowed to reveal ourselves." What it unfolded to him made his head boggle, it was as if it claimed to serve a higher power behind the scenes, and Badala was involved in fighting them.

"But other than him-."

"That's not all." Gopan cut him.

"Don't forget who sealed you away in that rotting old man of a corpse." The young man's face distorted into dissatisfaction in an instant. Recalling that abnormality that had once been the only human to pose a serious threat to him. Now, he was beyond just it. The princess was nearly vanquished by him had it not been for her human puppet.

"Just because you found another skin to wear, doesn't mean Darshan will allow-."

 _ **(I dareth thee to speaketh his nameth again!)**_ It let out a voice that had no resemblance to a human being and in an ancient tongue, yet Gopan was able to recognise what it meant.

"As I was saying, a coward. Even now, you're still absolutely terrified of him." Gopan made his point. But now, it was boiling with rage like no other. The mere mention of that name sent its thoughts of hatred wilder than before.

It flayed its blade-like fingernails towards Gopan so quick that he knew that it was the blow that would take his life.

Gopan closed his eyes as a stream of memories passed through him, he had the satisfaction knowing that it had suffered for a long time. That even if he couldn't hurt it physically, his slur had agitated it to an unquenchable blood rage to prove it was otherwise.

-That was for you all, my friends. I can finally join you all. I can finally be wih you again, son.-

His hand tugged the pin to the grenade that hung to his harness.

His body shook as an iron grip grasped his fingers preventing him from pulling the pin free. Yet, it didn't feel like it was the one doing so, since it could crush his hand in an instant.

(Clang)

Gopan opened his eyes to find the most unbelievable thing.

"What-… What on earth!-."

Someone stood between him and that monster, one hand holding a kukri that parried with an outreached hand of the monster, the other was grasping Gopan's hand holding the pin.

The wolf in sheep's clothing grin so widely, it was most estatic to whom had arrived to stop him.

"My my, how your demeanour and aura have changed. Almost didn't recognise you my dear boy, Vasu." It spoke with a honeyed familiarity to said person.

* * *

After an intense firefight to secure control over the hangar bays of the Sukhoi fighters, Pravindra and his weapons officer Arun climbed aboard their airframe whilst the technicians hurried to optimise his loadout for total air superiority, air-to-air missiles in three different modes, IR, semi-active and active-radar homing missiles.

Pravindra seriously tapped away at the LED display to calibrate the fighter as quickly as possible and turned a glance back at his co-pilot.

"What?"

"I was a little surprise about those two." To see those two, Miss Dachss and Mr Ferenc kill so efficiently as they took point for the rest of the armed mercenaries to follow. Those accompanying them almost barely engaged the enemy on their own as they advanced in sprinting and firing in an almost synchronized manner. Strange, the French woman clearly didn't like "oddball" Paul, yet it was as if they'd fought by each other's side for years.

"….. You've just not had the ill-fortune of trundling through the fields you've flown over, sheltered brat."

"Ha!" Pravi returned to warming up the engines. Outside, the mercenaries were fighting heavily with the patrolling mutiniers.

"Sir, all munitions loaded!" The specialist reported after confirming with his minions.

"Fuel?"

"Half tank, that'll give you forty minutes of air time!"

"What else does Commander Singh want me to do?" Pravi smirked.

He clearly stated for him to destroy the MiG squadron under twenty, what could he do with a remainder twenty?

"I know what you're thinking, Prav. Just head back to the airbase, the boys and girls here will still have to deal with the rebel forces when they try to take this place back by force."

"Alright." For the first time, Pravi had acknowledged Arun's decision that the latter sighed in relief.

"Thank you, Prav. Yunno the airs gonna be tough, right? Not just professional pilots in light airframes, but the SAM emplacements. We still don't know the full extent of the enemy's control over air defense assets and whether 2nd Squadron can coordinate and mark you."

"We'll know when we get there, won't we?"

"Ah."

Pravi sealed the canopy over head and increased the throttle to bring them onto the tarmac. Outside, the mutiniers were fighting even more vigourously as they saw his Sukhoi leave the hangar with intentions to apprehend air assets that their boss Winnefred sortied earlier.

*Eagle 1-3, this is Heron Actual. Once you're in the skies, head to point 3418. We've just uncovered intel pertaining to the sortie just now. The munitions loaded are thermobaric warheads and bunker-busters. Do you acknowledge, over.* Chief Khalid was the one to brief them on the channel.

Point 3418? Pravi tapped the GLONASS system that revealed the nature of the terrain they were intending to bomb. Pravi saw a structure semi-engraved into the side of a cliff, instantly a mental image visualised. He had been there with Paul and the others over a pint of drinks at the crazy cock bar, and another more memorable time on a date with Saraswati. Although, Arun would call it maligning her into leaving work just so he could spend some time with her. She was of course not impressed but indulged in his selfishness for once as a reward for his masterpiece against the PLAAF in Yinke.

*RPG on the tarmac!* Pravi heard over Chief Khalid's mic.

*Stop him before he damages the runway!* He responded to the armed mercenaries.

Pravindra could see a rocketeer on the far end of the tarmac, loading a rocket to destroy him. But he seem to have forgotten that missiles weren't the only armament on the Sukhoi.

(Brrrrrrrrrrr) If it was too overkill, it was necessary at the moment. As Pravi depressed the trigger to his 30mm cannon, sending tracers flying to the far end of the runway and annihilating the rocketeer whose body dissipated into thin air from the explosive nature of the round.

"I've got it." Pravi affirmed as he readjusted the Sukhoi to the runway lines.

*Fool! You almost hit the runway! Now bugger off before I send someone more competent in your place!* Instead of gratitude, it was harsh remarks from Chief Khalid.

"You really made him pissed now, Prav." Arun commented in an "I told you so" kind of manner despite not telling him. Pravindra just chuckled.

"Lieutenant Kumar, Eagle 1-3! Marshalling the skies!" He said over the comms as he pushed the throttle to maximum to take off.

Su-30MK3 callsign Eagle 1-3 ran across the tarmac and flew off undisturbed.

Commander Singh looked out from the stairwell window leading to the Command and Control tower where Rohan was being held, and where Coriolanus should be.

"Good hunting, my boy….." He murmured a silent blessing to his troublesome ace.

He walked up the steps to where the frontline was being led by Mercenaries Michelle Dachss and Paul Ferenc. Today they have opened his eyes to combat on ground. It almost resembled something of fiction, how they moved and tore through the armed mutiniers like they were nothing. They were demons of the battlefield, and what was Badala like. If he was someone that these two feared and respected with equal measure. A monster among monsters? He had a sudden sickening thought that he was grateful for being in the Air Force. It was a disgusting notion that he quickly denied himself of further. His family was of military background, many fathers, many sons, many uncles, many cousins in generation after generation bled their arteries over the Battlefields of Agra, the Himalayan Sikkim, Singapore, Kashmir. Everywhere the nations' soldiers went, a relative was there fighting or leading the fight. It would be fair to say that he was a blacksheep for enlisting a pilot, but that was his aspiration since young and he had the mighty privilege of joining.

Commander Singh chuckled lightly as a thought occurred to him.

-Now I'll add Kyrat to the battlefields we've ventured thus far.-

(Beep)

"Charge set." Cobra who had joined him in the rescue pressed the last of the plastic explosive charge against the door hinges and gave Paul and Racket a nod. They stood against the wall with their submachine gun and shotgun at the ready for a very up close and personal "conversation".

"Fire in the hole." Paul tapped the explosive plunger and a flash blew the hinges and doorknob off. Paul went first and nudged the unsupported door to fall inward as he scanned the surroundings for hostiles and made reactive shots against targets that were recognisable as unfriendlies.

Two out of the five armed men fell to the floor dead, by the time any of them comprehended what had happened. An explosion of the door took them utterly by surprise as the fight was over at the hangars and runway, not here. But that was what the Commanding officers wanted them to think.

Paul, Cobra and Racket, the pilots who's callsigns were Eagle 1-4 and Eagle 1-5 respectively. Took aim and gunned down the three remaining mutiniers without asking question as they were already raising their guns to counter.

The last of the enemy combatants fell and they were given more time to observe the surroundings. Thankfully, tied to a chair, there sat Kyrati Commander Rohan which they proceeded to untie and ungag.

Michelle looked around the control equipment that had not been blazed by their trigger-happy breaching formation.

Commander Singh came over to check on Rohan.

"Amar…."

"Glad that you're alright, Rohan."

"You need to scramble the jets immediately!" He responded after the bindings were cut.

"Already done, I've sortied one of my boys to take care of the Squadron."

"Only one?!"

"That one's a handful, but he can get them done in himself if they underestimate him." Commander Singh replied confidently. But Rohan's reaction was different.

"You don't understand. They're not just going for only one target." Commander Singh's hairs on his back stood up as he began to understand the graveness of what it meant. Even Pravindra had a limit to how he could combat air formations. If they were heading to more than one place, depending on what the targets are, Pravindra might not be able to get all before they'd fired their munitions.

"Do you know the target sites?"

"Baghadur and Hubris Town, to the West." Commander Singh nearly sighed in relief but was cut when Rohan had yet to finish.

"Vyatha and Chal Jama Monastery."

"What the fuck-. Those aren't military sites!"

"Why?"

"Coriolanus indulged me in some monologue, it was an order by the Cantons. They were intending to raze these central living areas to make an example of those that try to cross them in future." Rohan said with a sullen face.

"Animals!" Michelle roared as she toppled a hardware with a brutal kick.

"Guys, I think we forgot a certain important someone who was supposed to be over here." All of them turned to face Paul as they had the same feeling.

"Where's Winnie?"

Commander Singh had a sudden intuition, without evidence but just a feeling alone.

He looked out the glass window in the direction Pravindra had flown off in. He had either made a terrible mistake of only sending one to apprehend seven, or…..

Winnefred would become a stepping stone to the greatest intuition pilot he'd ever had the privilege of commanding.

* * *

A combination of gunning with a fallen Bison submachine gun and knifing with his kukri kept the young man at bay. It would take more than immortal strength to get the advantage of him. And then the young man backed up for a moment with not visible indication of attacking again. Vasu discarded the empty machine gun and pulled out his own sidearm.

"I don't know you." He answered the young man whom showed some recognition to him when he first arrived.

"Oh Vasu boy, didn't I teach you to always look beyond appearance and instead at the person's eyes and heart?"

They began to circle one another, Vasu had his knife raised at an offensive stance.

"You really can't tell? That's a pity, then again you were the biggest fool out of all the Devas despite being the strongest."

"I've never known you my entire life." Vasu affirmed as he lunged forward to sweep his knife at his opponent. But the young man disappeared in a flash and appeared up on the tiled roof of the buildings in front of him.

"You sure say such cruel things, Vasu boy. Have we not spent a good sixteen years locked away in Rajgad Gulag."

-Rajgad Gulag?-

Vasu accessed his memories but he failed to recall anyone that looked like this, there were only men over their thirties that were inside the gulag. Convicts, political anarchists, lunatics and killers.

"When you asked a story about the ye old kingdom that once stood where Kyrat stands now. When you had queries regarding faith in the cause, when you sought guidance in your daily rationale…. Who did you turn to?"

Vasu looked long and hard at the young man as he mentioned instances that were familiar, yet not with the preson he was looking at now. And yet, the young man had a strangely nostalgic feeling coming from him.

"….. Bhaskar-…..ji." The young man chuckled with glee. Impressed that he was able for once to figure out something on his own.

"You are not Bhaskar-ji." He steadied himself once more.

"Come now, Vasu. Although, you are right about it in a sense. I am not that old scribe. But then, you have never actually met old Bhaskar before he became my host." The young man gazed at his hands as he stretched it and played around with his fingers.

"This body, belonged to a Yinkian. Oh you should have seen the look on his face, when he thought he was being exalted by the princess just like everyone else. Salvation turning into despair. I've not savoured anything greater than it since I was forced to occupy that old man's rotting body."

Vasu had made the revelation from this monster's indulgence of monologue.

"Who are you?"

"It does not matter who we are? What matters is our mission to undo this rotting filth the great betrayer placed upon this realm. Any and all that stand in our way will be wiped from existence."

"And are we?"

"… You know that better than anyone, boy."

"Before I kill you, tell me your name." The monster in the puppet laughed as if a might fine joke had been told to him.

"Kill me? AHahahahahhahaha! No one here is even remotely capable of doing so, no one! Here's a little word of advice to you, take it as a gesture of good will for old time sake. Giving someone else your name isn't something so trivial as an introduction, handing in your true name is as good as giving up your everything to that person."

The young man jumped down ten metres without any show of pain from the fall that would have broken his legs.

"But if you were to class me under a category. It could only be one thing." He didn't have a knife with him, but he didn't need it. For the carnage, he wrought just a few metres back filled with corpses of dead soldiers was done solely by hands.

"I am the General of the Four pillars of the once magnificent snow-glazed city of Akaash. I am a entity of myth in your folklore. Faulted by history, told by the victorious wicked oppressing the weak." Every word grew in strength as it made the surroundings tremble with the might of his aura.

"I am an eternally proud being that stands over pitiful mankind, the naïve vanara, and the ever vain Yaksha."

The winds around them began to distort and blow heavily against them. Vasu had always been aware that Mohan's mistress was never human to being with. But who was to say she was alone all this time. Bhaskar-ji had been with him for as long as he could remember in the gulags. Now it was revealed that it was possessing him all that time.

An ancient chanting could be heard from within the winds. Gopan stepped back against the wall, in disbelief with the stories they had churned out in front of him, yet not a single word was untrue. And as the smoke gathered in the powerful winds that blew around them yet did not uproot their footing. Figures began to pop out, but they were not figures of man. As they stood with crocked postures and cladded in white paint over their dark bodies. Masks covered their faces, and held a design strangely similar to that of the Demon. Or rather, his mask had been partly inspired by the horrifying visage that the formers' carried.

"I am-….. We-…. **Are** **Rakshasa.** "

* * *

Arrival in Shanath was without incident. Noore had chanced upon meeting with her former handmaidens, Ajay would have recognised one of them as the topless woman who introduced him to arena fights in the past. But of course, that reality never happened after Shanath Arena was discontinued. It still did not stop people from coming though, there were always alternatives to colosseum battles. So the blood-ridden battlegrounds became host to underground casinos and gambling dens, contraband bazaars for illegal wares, brothels for passing patrons looking to have a little fun in-between work.

It was the new centre of depravity, not that the former status was any better. Pagan had let it grow on its own for a few reasons, partly to his deep understanding backed by experience on the ways of the underworld and organised crime. It was better to let it gather in one place than let it spread all over Kyrat. It was both more manageable to police the population and activities there and on the side, make some bucks. Rules were in place to enforce regulation, but every now and then, there had to be some constant flow of goods and services that weren't common or harmful to the public. Humans weren't perfect, they had needs that would make their relatives' jaws drop if they found out their real character.

Technically, Noore was still the Governor of Shanath so they owed her due respect and royalties as the Marquess of Shanath.

Former handmaiden Agnes led them through the catacombs through the crowds that had occupied the spaces illegally without causing commotion. They settled down in a storage room used as a holding area for the menagerie of wild animals once before.

"Thank you, Agnes."

"It's a pleasure to see Milady well and-…"

"And?"

"Your eyes have a different light to them." She said with a chuckle approaching the door on her way out to give them time to settle in.

Samson and Ricardo did some scouting when they found this spot to assess the available terrain and resources in the event they had to hold out against a raid.

When the 8th Coy had deposited them on dry ground, they left heading for Delta Barracks. Hoping the Commanders from the frontier outposts were more loyal to the crown than to the ambition of the Cantons.

They, the relatives and sworn-brothers of Pagan had no idea what kind of consequence their uprising had to the state of affairs. They weren't entirely aware of the confrontations with powers beyond Golden Path like Shining Way, the Chinese Government, the CIA or Pakistan and the CNS conglomerate. The Kingdom had a whole roster of enemies and rivals that made its suppliers think twice about putting one toe into the Kyrati pool. Russia took the "I'm not involved, but if you want my wares you're free to buy. Ok, friend?" stance. Even if India was slightly more considerate due to their strategic ground available to stave off China's ambitious expanse into the Himalayas. They too had a threshold that they could not jeopardize their global economic prosperity over one-upping the Chinese Central Committee or in worse cases an embargo by the ever-self-serving UN.

Noore rubbed her head, how was she ever going to restore the collareteral that this nation-wide uprising would cause. Her months of work stood to be destroyed at any time. Whatever the stance was with the Canton families when this uprising ended. If she had a choice, she wished they burned at the stake for all to see. And knowing Ajay.

She turned to look at the sleeping beauty of a man lying asleep in a coma she couldn't point when he would awake. But knowing him, if he woke up to see the destruction wrought by the Cantons….. He would make them dig their own graves with their barehands, not just the soldiers but every Canton. Old, young, women and children.

And the Kyratis would cheer him on, Pagan would be no more happy to let him, which was where Kyrat would lead to its downfall. If the rights of the world were driven by pure emotion, then they were no better than the animals that the higher authority of the Cantons acted in. Not every Canton was a power hungry, ruthless and arrogant pig. Noore had her fair share of patients, Canton and Kyrati alike. One time, due to shortage of rooms an old Canton seeking regular medical treatment gave up his ward to a sick Kyrati women and even paid for her fees at his expense. The woman never knew who paid for it nor gave thanks or show of appreciation. So there was always a different side to each coin.

Noore was most concerned whether Ajay was mature and rational in mind to know this, even if he displayed calmness under fire. There were more than a few instances that he let his inherited impulse take over rational thought. Ajay knew that as well, but the question was if he could reign it in, especially in his deteriorating condition of memory loss. It gave her a migraine thinking about it, as well as a tinge of sadness. What would Ajay have left when these wars ended? Would he end up a patient in her hospital in a vegetative state? Would he die not knowing why or who he was before kicking the bucket?

"You damn fool." She whispered.

Footsteps not matching her nurses approached their area in storage.

"We're back." Ricardo announced.

He, Luca and Samson appeared with loads of provisions bought from the bazaar and underground markets.

"Here." Samson passed her what appeared to be an MP5 sub-gun stripped earlier from the Royal Academy instructors turned-assassins' possession.

"For self-protection." He showed her the basic steps on loading, unloading, cocking, selecting fire mode and the famous "HK-slap".

"Can't I count on you lot to protect us?"

"You never know, Ma'am. These catacombs provide plenty of escape opportunities but also numerous instances for them to outflank us, a few might get through and a few is all they need." Noore understood that rationale and accepted the machine gun and bandolier of magazines.

"So what now, do we just wait?"

"I'm surprised, Allegretto. You even agreed to this plan of refuge before guessing what we were doing here." She said with an assured chuckle, making Samson scratch his head awkward.

"The way you phrased it…. Suddenly, I feel a little less confident in myself." He smiled.

"You sure love to tease women, don't you, Allegretto? Make them think you're so vulnerable."

"That thought never occurred in my mind. When did you get that idea of me?" He smirked, trying to trap her in his words.

"Choose a better time to seduce, matusa (old man)." Ricardo completely killed off the mood, making Noore laugh at his cock block moment.

"Brat! Divertente dopo che ti ho aiutato a trovare tra le gambe di Stella. (Getting cocky after I helped you get between Stella's legs)." Noore was not sure what he cussed but it sounded highly offensive and involved Stella.

"You make yourself sound like some sort of love doctor, you're not that qualified. Even if you were a charmer in your day."

"That's ashame, I was looking forward to making you my successor." Samson said undeterred and countered Ricardo's return. Rendering him quiet for a while.

"…. I dunno if I should insult you further or kiss you, magnificent bastard. Well, Noore. You've got a preview of what that old goat can do if you're not careful. And don't be fooled by his earnest look, he's already tasted the Kyrati variety…. Among every other women from our trips." He murmured the last part to himself after warning Noore lightly.

Samson chuckled in defeat. "Well, it was worth a try… in seclusion for god knows how long with a beautiful woman in front of me."

"Nice try, Allegretto." She leaned over to his ear to whisper.

"…. But this fish you cannot catch."

The three of them broke laughter as they chatted on after their little show had enticed a conversation to follow through after. Noore got to learn a little more about them as did her staff members. And so it became a campfire moment for the occupants of the storehouse.

They repeated some parts for the benefit of those that didn't know who they were.

Samson and company were disavowed Italian Paratrooper special forces, drifting from one battlefield after another seeking fortune and the comforts found in conflict afforded only to soldiers. What they didn't mention before that they did now was that on Ricardo and Stella's honeymoon retreat in Florence. Their vacation was cut short by word that the Italian authorities were looking for them on behalf of Interpol. It was likely because of their misadventure at the borders of Serbia and Kosovo. When corrupt authorities were selling them state-arms manufacturing equipment, technically they belonged to the dissolved Yugoslavia but the current Serbian government would never say such a thing for valuable equipment in their land. Interpol had their attention to them because they were the next hot lead to the activities of the top ten most wanted men on the planet, the Jackal. Whom had a big hand in getting the transition through smoothly as a favour from Longinus.

"This Jackal, I've only heard great things about him." Noore was always involved in conversation between Yuma, Ajay, Maya, Arjun, Saras and Pagan. All of them had at least once mention his name before.

They in fact depended so heavily on Jackal that it was unreal that he could fulfil their demanding requests solely on a whim and mere favour. He was just one man, yet it seemed he was more omnipotent than Chuck Norris.

"Heard a crazy story about him being trapped on an island once with an army of mercs lurking about from Hurk."

"What happened?"

"He killed everyone, including the higher chain of command inhabiting the island to conduct some really sick shit." Ricardo gave his "the end" in the shortest possible way.

It just went to show that he was in a class not too different from Ajay and Jason Brody. The things she'd seen Ajay do, and what Daisy told her about Jason. They were abnormals that shouldn't have been awoken, but the world's insanity pushed them too hard.

The hard-cold floor tapped loudly as footsteps of a running person around the corridor came to their location.

"Guys, I'm getting a transmission from a recognised code!" Luca reported to them dutifully. He'd previously been up top playing with the communication equipment to get around the intentional scrambling and calling likely friendly forces.

Samson and Noore stood up and followed him to the comms set he left topside.

He readjusted to the channel and codes he previously used in his shuffle attempt.

*This is Blackwing, calling Whiteserpent. Come in.* Hearing that voice, Noore had a nostalgic feeling about that voice.

"Is that Bipin?"

Samson took the mic that Luca provided.

"Whiteserpent copies, identify yourself?"

*Samson, is that you? I've been calling you since this uprising started and word that the hospital got attacked. Where are you guys?*

"We're in a safe location, what are we looking at from your end?"

*Who's with you?*

"Noore, Luca and Ricardo."

*Noore's there? Alright, listen. The ringleader is Guang Min of Min Family, followed by the usual suspects. The Royal Fortress is theirs. Lanka, the Royal Palace and Lakshman are under siege. Wherever you are just stay hidden.*

"Something's not right….." Noore murmured as she shared her feelings with the boys.

"What will you do, Bipin?"

*Unfortunately, I have my orders. I cannot betray them, you need to do the best to hide. Stay hidden!*

Now Samson was finding it strange, why was he speaking in a very rigid and cryptic way.

"Luca, pull the plugs." Luca was in a dazed for a moment when Noore said that.

"Pull the plugs, goddamnit!" She went over to pluck them herself.

Till the frequency fizzled out. "Wha-." Luca was too stunned.

But Samson was having the same instinctual feeling as Noore. (Bang) (Boom) The sounds of battle could be heard outside of the Arena and bazaar. Along with the sound of hovering helicopters getting closer, people shouted and screamed in mass bloody panic. Mistaking it for an army-backed raid on the illegal businesses. For sure, some would fight back.

"Santa Madre….." He came to a same revelation as Noore.

"Am I missing something?-"

"They tracked our signal! You idiot!" She swolded Luca on his mishap.

"Shit, I don't believe this….. Bipin couldn't have-….." She also shared Ricardo's disbelief at the conclusion brought about from that simple comms. And yet, something about his speech was weird. Almost like he was trying to indirectly inform them.

"We've got not choice." Samson dragged them down into the lower levels.

Even so, it was something unimaginable for a person of his calibre and closeness to Ajay directly and indirectly through his sister.

Words like Ajay's first and oldest ally betraying him, should have been non-existent.


	107. Chapter 98 - What am I, without Hatred?

Author's Notes:

Exams ended! Can't say I'm completely satisfied with some of the work in the end, but that's on me. I put the time in the preparation, imagining if I didn't. I would be screwed. Anyway, back to normal speed again. Lots of prayer time now, hoping god can mind control my lecturers into giving some bias results for me.

And now everyone knows I have internal issues like these! (Sarcasm) If I were really a chirper bastard, RaK would not exist and I would be irresponsibly clubbing just because.

* * *

The last thing he remembered before being where he was, in the brig of the Royal Fortress Command was on his way to the local store to purchase confectionaries. Then, armed men began running through the street rounding specific families with ties to the military, including his own.

He was stuffed into a truck and when they took off his hood, he was in a holding cell with both members of his family, including their extended family of his siblings, in-laws and their families. The entire House Roka was a a jail cell with them. They were all here because of him, he was the highest military authority in Kyrat, a word from him could change everything.

Arjun didn't need to guess what was happening.

"So they've decided to act… and now of all times!" He kicked the bars.

"Dear, you really need to stop taking out your anxiety upon the iron bars." Manisha was ever watchful of his manner. But this time she had good reason, because Arjun represented one of the family heads that everyone looked to for advice and peace. Showing a roudy behaviour would only unsettle them.

Arjun left the bars alone and sat on the cold hard floor crosslegged as he meditated for a while.

"Still, to think they would really do it. Could it be because the boy was not around?" She asked as she sat quietly next to him.

"…." He pondered on the subject for a while, like he always did.

"Mistress Lau wasn't around to marshal them for obvious reasons, Badala fell into a coma, the Jatayu Brigades and half of the Armoured Battalions are overseas, Golden Path and Brother Mohan are not here. They're virtually unchallenged. But even still, I'm not sure how they would ever convince the people to acknowledge their rule."

"I don't find it surprising at all."

Arjun turned to his wife with sceptiscism as to how.

"How else did His Highness and Mistress Lau do things before that boy entered the scene?"

Arjun came to the epiphany, they were going to resume the occupation of Kyrat in the old style. It made sense as to how they had some Kyrati support in their actions. Not everyone was for the big reforms, especially for Badala taking the mantle of Duke right after Marquis. They were suspicious of his lineage from the very beginning. And if the King did not acknowledge the complex procedure to attaining these ranks by generation than by merit. Then, it showed that the King no longer cared for his subjects' priveleges and rights.

Adding to this was the dissolution of the Royal Guard army, the premier elite guard for marshalling the Kingdom. House Hamal was a definite supporter of the Cantons, old Raghu still hadn't forgotten what Badala did to his son whilst entrapping him with his younger son.

Manisha poked his cheek affectionately to break his line of worry.

"These trivial things, you don't have to worry. The rest can be handled by your subordinates. What we need now is the head of the household and my husband." Arjun nodded, agreeing with her assessment of the situation.

Saraswati was at the corner comforting her cousins, his nieces and nephews from ages two to thirty. Telling some stories of her adventures in the army, both in Kyrat and abroad in Yinke as well as the Papir Garud Durbar Palace.

Arjun listened unintentionally to one of the stories which she switched characters of genuine people for animals. That was a little more appealing to the young ones.

One such story was her original idea, "The Badger and the Fox." Which she told in a part minisery-style every after meals. They'd spent over at least half-a day in here without a single report of what was happening outside.

As Arjun listened to the story, he began to find a similarity to certain individuals as her characters. The Tigers were the leading force in the valley, probably the Cantons and Kyrati Military Officers. The even numerous Dhole that ate everything indiscriminantly like locust were Golden Path. The Fox seemed to be her, sporting luscious fur that subjected all who bore gaze a tinge of admiration or envy. A bit shameless if Arjun had anything to say about it, making herself the star of the story. Then again, this was her story. Her friend in the story was a White Tigress, which if he was guessing correctly was Maya Kadayat because of her pet sky tiger. Pagan seemed to be the Lord of the Tigers, Arjun himself seem to be in the story as the Rhino which he was not to pleased to hear.

And who was the ever-feared Honey Badger, resilient, fearless and ferocious it was like a little devil? It could only be one person. The Dhole were more frighten of him than the Tigers who were also afraid had it not been for the Lord of Tigers adopting him.

At present, she was telling the part where the playful fox began to see the dark history of the Badger and rethink her opinion of it. Arjun had a feeling that this children's story had a romance element within it. It reminded him of her illicit relation with Badala, and it bugged the hell out of him. How could she continue with this when she had a fiancé was she not bothered about what the societal norms in their class had towards extra martial affairs? Even if she was genuinely reluctant, couldn't she have waited till she actually met Mohan's boy to tell him straight in his face she didn't want to marry him? There was a formality in place, he wished that she would at least be considerate of both his and Mohan's original good will. He truly didn't understand the people nowadays. Texting and messaging one another online instead of talking face to face at social events. There wasn't a time when he saw youths put down those damn smartphones. Even now, there were a few of his nephews and nieces using them in here.

The doors opened and in walked in their guards and a Canton he should have been familiar with, but his daughter said it before him.

"Han Feng."

"Didn't think the 3rd Lord of the Army would bother with a humble nobody like me." He said with a smirk.

"What is Sun Kwan's boy doing here?" His relatives began to whisper amongst themselves.

The guards opened the gate and walked in, surrounding Saras. "What are you-."

They grasped her by the arms and tugged her out of her seat.

"Get your hands off my daughter!" A fist came his way and struck him square in the jaw.

Saraswati did not struggle less they do something to the rest of the hostages.

"Don't make this hard on yourself, Marshal."

"You still have the gall to call me that after you Cantons commit the highest act of criminal act against the crown!" He wiped the blood stain from his mouth.

Han Feng grappled him and slammed him hard against the bars, by now the guards had already walked ahead with Saras. Han Feng said a few quiet words to Arjun that caught him by surprise and stared at him in a daze. Han Feng pressed something into his hand and left while the remaining guard that returned to lock the bars stood guard

Arjun's relatives gathered around him to check if he was alright.

"What is he planning to do with your daughter, Arjun?!"

"It couldn't be-." Han Feng had a rather infamous reputation after his attempted rape of Hamal's step-daughter.

The relatives began to discuss heatedly amongst themselves and worried themselves for utterly no reason at all. To add to the flames, Arjun was silently staring through the small barred window out of the Royal Fortress.

His wife approached him and clasped his hand. Arjun returned strength into his hand to let Manisha know he was alright.

"What did you learn?"

"… Not everything is going as the Canton Lords have planned. Despite a comms blackout, the Army and paramilitary groups are fighting back. Lady Najjar is somehow responsible for drumming up the frontier garrisons' defences just coincidentally as they expected Golden Path instead. Gopan is fighting a three-way battle with the rebels and an advance party of Golden Path for Lanka. They failed to kill Badala at the hospital and found him in Shanath. They're trying again."

"They really fear him, even when he's in a coma." Manisha found it all too cautious and cowardly of the brazen Cantons.

Arjun brooded over what the young Canton had briefly told him about his opinion of this rebellion before handing Arjun an item which represented his belief on how it should be approached

"What did the Sun Kwan's son say to you?"

Arjun raised his clenched hand in the light of the window for only himself and his wife to see. Opening his hand to reveal a key with the dimensions just right for the cell bars.

"What truly becomes of us in this insane world."

* * *

These unknown enemies carried a strangely nostalgic and eerie presence from appearing out of thin air. When was it that he first learnt about the word Rakshasa? When his mother, his true birth mother read him a bedtime story on the adventures of Kalinag and even before that, Ramayana. The Rakshasa were demi-god-like beings, a creation of the ancient hindu gods just as mankind and all other creatures were made. Banashivism hadn't encompassed all of Kyrat like the monks would have you believe it was the state religion. Even so, these religions shared a very similar concept, same beings and style of carrying tales. The Rakshasa were evil beings that looked down upon entities weaker than them, cruel, prideful and ruthless. But most importantly, immortal. True immortality. Not a half-baked version that the witch conjured up upon his brethren. They were a product of the oldest hindu deity.

He didn't have time to think these thoughts as he fled with a confused Gopan and a young officer found lying on the floor unconscious over his shoulders still knocked out.

How he was even given the window to escape, was thanks to a grenade launcher he appropriated from the armory before coming to Lanka. The bandolier of grenades were marked MEI Hellhound, some sort of incerdiary grenade he thought. So when he fired it between him and the Rakshasa young man and his minions the charge detonated at pointblank and out of the round erupted a shockwave that took out the narrow walls of the alley they were in. They had also been pushed backwards by the blast sore on places they didn't even want to comment on. That round was clearly anything but fire.

"Hey! What does this say?" He held out one of the fresh 40mm rounds to Gopan while they ran.

Gopan's eyes widen when he saw the description upon the round.

"You numbskull! Why don't you just kill me and yourself right now! That says thermobaric!"

"Thermo- baric?" He had no idea what it did.

"It's a high pressure explosive that kills by vacuum, and in these narrow confine streets it'll vapourise anything from two blocks to an entire bastion! Fool!"

"You're welcome."

Gopan stopped dead in his tracks and raised his rifle at Vasu, cocking it.

"I didn't ask to be saved, especially by you! I still haven't forgotten what you did to my son!"

"Your son?-…. Wait-… You're Kul?"

"Tell me what it was like, plunging your blade into my boy? Tell me!" Gopan completely forgot about the looming threat in favour of what he knew at heart.

"Nothing."

"I should kill you by the most painful means if I had the time to-."

"Squabbling over pettiness. I would have imagined both of you to die for a more reasonable cause." Boomed the voice of Bhaskar who interrupted them as he dashed through the street towards them at inhuman speeds/ His minions had dispersed into the streets to kill any living being they found, be it rebel or loyalist, they were equal in the eyes of these monsters. Gunfire rattled in the air and dying screams resounded with the rest of the noise of battle which was now becoming slaughter.

(Thump) (BOOM) Vasu fired another grenade from the revolver-type MGL grenade launcher. The grenade struck the young Bhaskar point-blank and turned him into the centre of the fireball and shockwave.

"Madarchod! Didn't we discuss what thermobaric was?!" Gopan complained rightfully as it was shot at Bhaskar only five metres away.

"Not the time to be relaxing, Kul. He's still got some life left in him." Vasu reloaded the chambers of the grenade launcher with fresh rounds.

"What are you talking about? There's no way anyone would survive that!" Gopan said with a reasonable assessment.

"But I'm no mere anyone." Came a voice from amidst the dying flames who answered in place of Vasu why it took more than a powerful explosive to kill it.

"Wha-." As the smoke and flames cleared, it revealed a standing corpse. With much of its flesh burnt off revealing tissue and muscle charred underneath.

"That tickled quite a bit, and not even that will kill me, little soldier. As I've said before, no one here is even remotely capable of killing me. If this body fails then another can be easily requisited. Perhaps yours might be a suitable candidate… It could potentially save time completing her highness's instructions." The corpse moved its jaw to mouth those words. And then, the healing factor kicked in at an insane rate for both of them to bear witness. For Vasu to see the disparity between a Rakshasa and an altered human. Gopan saw the horror of a monster that could not potentially be killed even with firepower available to them.

Vasu stood between Bhaskar and Gopan. Even now, Gopan wasn't able to accept the reality of the situation so Vasu made it clear for him. By grasping his collar.

"You're the only one that can prepare your men for this scourge. Return to your Command. I'll handle this."

He said before flinging him off into a narrow alley. "Go!" He said once more.

"Vasu Sen….. You owe me an explanation, so don't die here!" He said as he turned around to run off for the Command module. But then he stopped in his tracks as he felt like reminding him something.

"That monster….. it had been sealed in your friend sixteen years prior by Specialist Major Darshan Khati!" Once again, Gopan had mentioned the name of his benefactor who had saved his life years ago.

Vasu heard it and was genuinely surprised to hear Darshan's name of all names. And sixteen years prior? Did this mean that Darshan was capable of actually sealing this monster already? It put things like his fights with his mortal enemy into prespective. It meant that Darshan could have very well been able to beat them effortlessly over a dozen times even if they couldn't accept it.

But as Vasu heard what Gopan told him, so did Bhaskar. As his face warped into a twisted rage that didn't resemble the original young man he was. It sprinted in Gopan's direction, it had warned him not to speak that wrecked name and he said it without caution. **"I'll rip thee in tway!"**

(Thump) (BOOM) A hellhound round was fired not at the Rakshasa Bhaskar but at the arch over its head. Causing the structure overhead to come crashing down upon it. (BOBOBOBOoom) The heavy bricks and foundations piled over Bhaskar and buried him under the weight of the rubble. Gopan took his leave to command his men, whilst Vasu reloaded his launcher, now left with five rounds. He knew it wasn't far from dead, but at least now he had changed its current agenda from rage murdering the Commandant of Lanka.

Past affiliations and relations, even one as long as sixteen years were now void in the Rakshasa General's thoughts.

* * *

People were screaming as they ran out of the Shanath Arena catacombs. It wasn't an uncommon occurrence since the dark and hidden catacombs were perfect for rituals, mugging and quiet killing of victims. Yet, it differed by the volume of noise being created. Majority of that sound came from gunfire pulsing away inside the catacombs between two distinct sides. One was the Condotierri and the other were Yuma's former Special Deep Strike Group. The most advance special operations group in her inventory and should have been loyal to her exclusively. But their presence here proved otherwise. She was clearly not in charge right now, likely hold up in the Royal Palace with Pagan.

Samson was more than familiar with them one way or another. Like himself and the Condotierri that taught the Jatayu Para Commando Brigade the principles of airborne operations. These highly-skilled specops passed on their knowledge of wetwork and espionage, as well as operating behind enemy lines for long periods of time and establishing network resistance cells. It was fairer to say their speciality was clandestine operations, what Perkins and David would familiarly call Blackops.

Had he not witness the training regime they put the Jatayu commandos through diligently, he would have been caught completely unawares of the deadly efficiency of their close-quarter battle techniques and tactics which he had to admit were superior to his own military training.

"Who trained these guys?!" Ricardo shouted over the loudness of the stalemate firefight they managed to achieve.

Ricardo shared a common interest. That was what he wanted to know as well. Could it be? That it was a matter of who trained them that defined their current agenda of hunting the demon? It was definitely not for money nor power of their own as a reward. It was something else, did Yuma truly have a leash over these guys to begin with?

"These guys are definitely Blackops!" Samson said whilst chucking a smoke grenade for concealment.

"Urgh! Bastardi!" He cursed as he ran through the heavy suppressive fire volume with little cover from the smoke to Ricardo's location.

"A fanabla!" He shouted while giving the bird to the specops group after a successful transition to safer cover.

"Didn't you teach us the word, cover fire?" He questioned his former mentor for his one-man recklessness.

"And give them two things to shoot at? Come on, let's go! This route is a lost cause anyway." He patted him to follow as they made their way to the third and last line of defences they'd hastily set up. The Special Deep Strike Group took this opportunity to advance an in turn discover new alternative to trying to flank them. (BOOM) Which they paid dearly with their lives for carelessly prancing into a claymore trap. Even so, they had a relatively large group at their disposal. Luca escaped in plain clothing to act as reconnassaince outside to determine the numbers they were dealing with as he mixed with the crowds that ran out. Fifty men, that was at least a platoon, or in this case five or more fireteams. This was beyond their ability to delay or deter. They were just two trained paratroopers, one armed woman and helpless nurses. Not forgetting a comatosed demon that was barely any help.

"Damnit! I really wish the boss would wake up right now!" Ricardo gave his most sincere of wishes.

"Go to storage and bar the doors!" Samson directed him.

"What about you?"

"….."

"Fratello!-" He called out frantically to no response from a cold look in Samson's eyes.

"I often ask myself, why did I accept that offer?"

"You can think about it after this, now get up!" He held out a hand for Samson to get off his firing position behind the brick wall with a small opening below.

"I knew every well what I was getting into back then. Back when we took the airport together….. I just….. No. I knew all along." He plied Ricardo's hand of his shoulder.

"For so long I looked at my dear Adrianna's grave up on the cliff at the Florentian beach. I was looking for an excuse to join her."

"Don't do this, fratello!"

"And then you lot jumped out of the plane unwittingly. You foiled my plan by making me worry for your survival, you delayed my journey to my wife!"

"Suicide won't bring you to her!"

"Not if it was selfless sacrifice for another less fortunate than us. Our god in heaven would have understo-." His sentence abruptly ended with a fist striking his face.

"You damn fool. If life was so meaningless then die here! I won't bury nor cremate your corpse!" He said as he ran off to where Noore and Badala were.

The SDSG specops were cautiously approaching whilst laying a thick volume of fire to advance, but their progress was slow. Samson lay behind the pillar all scratched by the grazes of 5.56mm rounds. He took out a locket chain around his neck beneath his clothing and opened the cover. Inside was a picture of his late wife still content and very much in love with him. What killed her was none other than himself. When he had disobeyed orders and assaulted that incompetent officer in the army years ago. He was dishonourably discharged only after three years in a cell. But all it took was two years till she took her life out of heartbreak, she had always been that weak at heart so to begin with. But he could not blame her for that, after all he was in the unit with the most likely action and he had yet promised her to return to celebrate their anniversary together. He chose moral over orders and landed up in jail for his actions, and in the process caused her to die inside. From then on, he'd lost his meaning to live, and travelled abroad a mercenary, in hopes to find some battlefield to die properly in.

Who would have thought those brats would stick with him all the way. They were delaying his rightful place in the afterlife and they had wilfully given up their promising career in the army. They were stupid brat, and bloodly fools!

"Forgive me, Adrianna. I cannot let these young ones die here." He kissed the small portrait. He readied his rifle and grenades.

"Even if it means I cannot be with you in heaven."

* * *

….

….

The tables seem to have turned on the demon, the hunter became the hunted. In just mere weeks, his growth and been exponential. The demon could no longer hurt him if Ajay didn't want him to.

Ajay had surpassed himself, a tenfold.

But even still, he could not kill or critically wound the demon enough that it would concede in this contest of strength, it would not yield to a human like him. Human, the fact that it acknowledged his existence as a human being instead of the demon everyone saw him for made him feel a little less lonely at heart.

" **You've learnt all you needed to learn about yourself and me, but… in the end of the day its getting out that still matters."**

"I know."

He stood in a stance with the worn kukri, now battered to the point that the tip had broken.

"Consider this match the final one."

The demon expression turned into a smile like never before, it was clear Ajay's resolve was more crystal clear than before when it was fouled up by conviction and worry.

" **Ready to die?"**

"I'm ready to leave."

" **I certainly hope so, if you want my strength you need to take it from me."**

The demon took the initiative to attack this time and leaped with the dirty floor cracking under its feet.

(BANG) The resonance of the steel blades created a high-pitched sound that disturbed the natural law of the lands.

It was the demon's strokes that carried the force to flatten a pillar or vaporise hard rock. Yet, Ajay calmly deflected it as if it was a mere child's sword game.

Ajay had finally comprehended the Autumn style.

The third form of Four Seasons Pandemonium, Ajay had taken a giant leap forward in being the first of his generation to get pass the third stage and onwards to the final form. The last was supposedly more powerful that all three combined, it turned mere men into legends. It kept the British Empire away, quelled the Nationalists and chasted Golden Path now.

"Maple falls leaving home, carried by cold winds." He murmured the passage that Bibek had given him to recite.

And after weeks of clear mind and thoughts he understood it was a type of offensive style. Like the falling leaves of autumn, collecting together. The winds that did not carry much yield, picked up a whole season's worth of foliage. Gathering energy… and releasing it upon your opponent like the winds.

When he first tried it upon the demon, he created the deepest gash he'd ever inflicted upon the hard armour-cladded demon. An armor-piercing move, ideal against harden Golden Path. The demon knew that this was his turning point.

Yet, it did not back down in its unrelenting assault upon Ajay who merely defended fifty minutes into the match. The demon thought it strange, by now he should have discovered a way to overpower it.

" **What are you doing?..."**

For once in its time, it could not read his thoughts like it did usually. Ajay had become even more remote and alien to the demon than it could comprehend. It was hopeless to beat him now as it was for Ajay to beat him, he would never submit no matter how much Ajay forced him into submission.

He was a product of Ajay Ghale's wrath, it claimed to have rage running deeper than Yalung himself.

He swung at Ajay who parried and used the force of his strike to propel his blade into the demon. The Demon roared in agony as the stab wound was deep, it kicked him away to gain space and time to recover. Yet, Ajay did not use that opportunity to prevent his recovery and constantly batter him with chain of attacks. His movements and motives were getting stranger by the minute.

The Demon avoided a close call from a swing driven by momentum that nearly sliced its throat which would have been painful. They locked blades for a second time.

"I believe every word you've said." The demon looked at him with a complex expression.

"I am the will of an asura led astray, and you are the will of Ajay. The impulse of his last dying emotion….."

" **What are you trying to say, fool?"**

"I pity you." The demon added a sudden burst of fury into its blade to push him back.

" **You overrate yourself!"**

They stood on top of a cliff where the red river flowed down into a chasm fall, and Ajay was the one with his back to the waterfall down.

The demon began an unrelenting assault to drive him off the cliff. Its blade banged against his blunt broken piece he once called a knife. Until he was at the ledge, the demon delivered a heavy strike to knock him off his feet, which Ajay parried but brought him off his footing and down the long heights of the waterfall.

The demon, unwilling to let him go, jumped down after him. Ajay continued to face it as it streamlined itself to gain acceleration towards him. Then it held out the knife in from of it, with the intention of piercing him. It should be hard to deflect but not impossible despite that speed, it was what it did that the Demon wanted. Which was to add deadly speeds to Ajay's fall down the cliff and die from the fall in the water.

" **DIE!"**

That was when it noticed the stranged sequence of events to happen after another. It begun with a warm smile creeping upon Ajay's face, a sensation of loss eroded into the demon's thoughts but he clenched the kukri tightly as it roared towards him. Ajay held his blunt but solid knife out, and then…..

He let go.

That single action shook the demon to its core, but it was already too late.

(Stab) The kukri pierced his chest while they were still falling.

And then… time stopped. The demon willed it.

They were left hanging in mid-air and just metres from the water below. The demon's hands trembled upon the knife that stabbed into him and action it had never believed he would take.

"… **.Why?..."**

"… You misunderstood, when I said I pitied you. What I truly meant to say, was that I pitied the path that I'd set for myself before." Ajay raised his bloodstained hand and placed it upon the demon's face.

"All that rage, against those that wronged us. It would get us nowhere, except to square one and we knew it, every time we unleashed it upon an enemy. Those painful emotions of loneliness and heartbreak could never wash away." The knife had stabbed his heart yet he felt no pain from it, just this once. The demon prevented it.

"I was the fool all this while." He admitted that should have felt refreshing to the demon, but now it was wavering. His inner demon could not comprehend him.

"I kept thinking that you were a foreign entity stowed away from the Relic. Even though your presence had been with me longer than I dared to admit."

"You are a manifestation of my wrath upon the world that betrayed my expectations. But this is no longer that world, my wrath should not exist any longer."

"And yet, a cannot simply discard it. Because you are a part of me, just as I am of you. I need you now more than ever."

"… **..Ahaha….AhhahahahahHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"** The demon laughed in a humour that it hadn't ever before today.

" **I concede."** At this phrase, the world around them began to crumble slowly but surely. Behind the walls of where the sheets of reality covered was a vast expanse of void. The mountains crumbled, the sky shattered, and the ground collapsed beneath a bottomless nothing.

The demon placed his hand upon the knife impaled in Ajay and held it with its own. The demon began to slowly disintegrate as well but into motes of light. Even still, it wore a smile of contentment despite its predicament.

" **How I longed to hear those words, even though I did not ask for them. From now on, I will always be with you. In conscience and in spirit, I know there is no such thing as no anger, no wrath. But know that it shall never be pointed at you nor those precious to you. For I cherish them as you would them."**

Ajay nodded as they came to an understanding.

" **I have a few things I'd like to share while I still have time. That witch…."** Ajay paid attention as it indulged something he didn't know very well yet always had a weird feeling of nostalgia when encountering her presence physically or in his dreams.

" **There is a thread of Karma that binds us to her, I can see the thread deep within. And its stronger than any relation you ever had so far, even that of our own mother."**

"….. Past life?" It nodded to the conclusion. Was she a past lover or something? If it the thread was so thick that even the bond with his mother lost out. That voice in his dreams, it both sounded familiar and not. It triggered a vision of the past once, back to ancient times when a newly born-Asura of destruction and wrath was being sealed away by Arhats.

" **She's not against you, but neither is she for your current interests. Her power, is unfathomable. If she wanted to crush us all she could."** It warned.

"Then why isn't she doing so to get her way, why does she need Mohan and Golden Path?"

" **Its just a theory, but I think she can't afford to directly manipulate the natural law around her surroundings here. Specifically, within these mountains and valleys we call the Himalayas. Or it would retaliate and where even she would have no defense against it."** It appeared as if the lands had a life of their own and was capable of banishing powerful outsiders.

It made partial sense to Ajay. And there was also another point that supported it. The reason why she did not intervene in Golden Paths fight or escape to Yinke instead of backing them up further as she did to a limit with the Devas exclusively. He remembered the hunter cadre leader saying to him once that they could not read the grounds nor contact the local spirits in Yinke. Because there were none. Perhaps that was why there was a sudden boom in inhuman Golden Path warriors which she could bestow power upon whilst not within the sight of these "protected" areas, due to the weakness of natural laws there and the lands self-defense mechanism.

If so, then it was better that she was here than away from Kyrat where her ability to influence the battlefield would have terrible consequences on their side. Shangri-la, the name of that legendary city popped into his mind again. She said all would be clear when he entered Shangri-la, he had a really bad feeling about this. He was being pulled into something he didn't want, but was forced to deal with.

" **Also, one last thing."** It said as it was now a ghost with no lower body, while the surroundings were almost a void.

" **What you call stolen memories when you called upon me isn't just mere memory. But your Karma to the people you cherish and all the good times you had with them. In a way, you will forget about them as you would for losing memories, but they still hold Karma on their end to you, so they will still remember you."**

"That's not very assuring."

" **Unfortunately, that is to say that there is a chance that they could lose this strand of Karma to you and forget you entirely."**

"Is anyone even capable of doing that?"

" **To sever Karma between you and them. The witch might be capable. And so can you."**

"Why would I want to do that?!"

" **Maybe to ease a broken heart, or erase your existence from their minds. But there is also an interesting thing you might not fully understand."**

The demon-… his other conscience spoke of things he had no prior information to and desperately needed if he was to combat these otherworldly foes without the reliable help of Darshan.

" **Karma can be used as a weapon."**

-A weapon?-

The demon was now only a floating head now.

" **Karma is essentially a wish, between you and another. Karma is what empowers the gods and demi-god alike, though it makes little difference to them due to their transcendent nature. It is however what gives legendary heroes of old the power to overcome the impossible, that is how they kept a winning streak, because thousands believed in them. But they're also as easily forgotten because of this, when people lose faith in their abilities."**

"So all this while, you never had any power to begin with?"

" **Don't phrase it that way, I have direct access to the fragment in you. Since that time you said you would trade something with me, you weren't talking to me, but the fragment of the soul in you. In other words, I allowed the transaction to happen between you and Yalung's power."** So it was nothing but a middleman all this while.

 **"But now, I will not allow you to lose any more Karma between those you cherish. Even if it means, giving myself up in exchange."**

Ajay remained quiet to the resolve of the demon within him. In other words, his wrath was offering itself up to give him access to that wellspring of power at its expense.

" **I am very much a part of you, Ajay. So don't make that face, it would do you some good to have a little less hatred in your life later, assuming you chose to live quiet and happily after this….. no?"** It made a sadden smile in declaring this.

Beat things he physically couldn't by sacrificing Karma sown between individuals. It sounded like a forbidden power, with a cost unimaginable. To lose everything between you and say a loved one. What if Saraswati suddenly couldn't remember him? It was a painful thought.

"I hope it doesn't come to that."

" **I hope so too….. may fortune always be with us, Ajay Ghale."**

The world around him grew into a fireball and then turned dark all together. The dream world had finally collapsed and allowed him to return to the land of the living. But how much had it changed while he was in a coma.

Ajay had to see it with his own eyes to believe the events that were taking place even at that very moment when his body lay in a hidden storage room in Shanath Arena.

…..

…..

* * *

Author's Notes:

More to come. Time to craft out the demon banishing formula.

Author's Thoughts:

Shakespearean Rakshasa. Not my finest hour for making them sound ancient. But at least you guys'll understand it since none of us can fluently understand Sanskrit or speak hindi.

More shakepearean Rakshasa to come.


	108. Chapter 99 - The Apostles of Yalung

"Nonono- arrrrgghhh!" A Golden path fighter had succumbed to the tide of unsettling savages that swarmed into their icy mountain base. His comrades watched in horror as they dragged him away into the depths of the caverns in the temple now lost to them. Shuddering at the thought of what they intended to do with him alive and well.

Only moments ago, they were looking forward to greeting and congratulating the return of the Yinkian autonomous commando regiment led by Commander Namdak. And here instead were these ravenous warriors that chopped and cleaved their way through the ranks of warrirors. And what of those few augmented warriors? How did they fare where the Royal Army always needed heavy ordnance to deal with? These demented warriors couldn't care less if they were immortal or not, when one of theirs fell, the rest grappled the fighter and took him away like all the others.

It was like nothing they'd ever seen, and it frightened them to the core. More so that even the demon that purely killed them. These- things were monsters.

But they weren't the biggest threat amongst these enemies.

(ROOAAAAARRR) "Oh my gods!-…"

Though they had never seen it before, everyone that bore witness to that beast with ash-snow fur in its giant primate form knew what it was. It was a creature of folklore, not solely exclusive to Kyrat or the lowland states, but every country that was connected by the collective mountains known as the Himalayas.

Wherever those creatures stalked through their camp, left a wake of destruction and snow caked in thick blood. An augmented warrior the Golden Path came to call "exalted" affectionately courageously confronted that creature thinking he was stronger than it. In a flash, that beast tore him in half effortlessly and tossed his two halves aside to rip through more at its leisure. They were genuinely no match for this think.

"Withdraw! Withdraw!" One of the Commanders in the Eastern sector of their encampment that had been raided announced to the whole Eastern flank. The Eastern side of the camp ran towards the Central part where fortifications were being made to prevent a further advance. The Central sector was where Mohan and his benefactor inhabited.

"Mohan! You have to leave this place!"

"They'll be here any minute! Great Leader!"

His commanders begged him to evacuate the area to a more fortified location. But Mohan stood where he was, on the steps towards the temples inner sanctum where his mistress resided with Vel standing guard at the entrance. Mohan looked down from his location towards the approaching horde of warped humans, permeating a scent from their mutated flesh. A scent and aura he knew very well.

His eyes locked on to one of the savages in the distance relaying orders to the rest. That leader finished his orders and turned to face him eye to eye from a considerable distance away. But he knew he saw him.

"…."

Mohan signed. This should not have been the fate that they suffered after ensuring the survival of Golden Path. Yet, they became one of their adversaries' due to a realignment of their fates for encountering something they shouldn't have.

"The cause owes you so much, Namdak…"

The former Commander grinned in delight as he'd found the source of this deluded ideology.

"But I cannot repay your Karma this way." Mohan waved out a hand to signal something his Commanding officers were completely unaware of.

Three cloaked shadows appeared next to him and stood steadfast between the Golden Path and the forces only Mohan knew were most certainly the Disciples of Yalung. Byproducts of an "elixir" that transformed them into hideous beasts of instinct. They knew nothing of what they truly became, relying upon false memories that the elixir provided them of the terrible truth of Yalung. Because this "elixir" was the unstoppable ever-flowing blood of the Asura, leaking from its containment under the treasured mountain. It bestowed fragments of his memory upon those that absorbed it, but not complete memories. It showed how weak the sealing hex had degraded over time, and how much more it was showing signs of expiry when a talisman was broken in Sacred Kyrat. How many were gone and how many left, only she knew. And how they were being broken.

But it no longer mattered, these Disciples of Yalung had to be destroyed if nothing else.

* * *

Vasu stood alone against the monster, now fully recovered from the grazes and blast injuries due to some sort of bending in natural law the Rakshasa could provoke upon the body it possessed. He could finally see the irony of it now, what normal soldiers faced when going up against him before. But now, he'd been severed from the chain thanks to Badala. His soul was his. Correcton. It merely transitioned from one monster to another. Just that this one he belonged to had consideration for his father.

He was down to four rounds, after expending another to buy the Commandant time to escape to reorganise the garrison regiment. He didn't have to kill this demon, only delay it long enough to stalemate the battle. Eventually, these entities roaming the bastions would succumb to fatigue and discover the infavorable odds. Rakshasa Bhaskar was no fool to this plan and began to smile at the simpleness of his plan.

"Rakshasa don't tire as you do, Vasu. It would be fair to say even for over a millenia we've had many sleepless nights and yet are still capable of fighting at full potential. This is the heaven and earth between man and demi-god."

"If you're demi-gods, then why are you struggling to take this fortress?" Vasu stated the hypocrisy in his bold claim.

"There are many things you aren't at the liberty of knowing, Vasu. Not because you're stupid, but because your moral code is so narrow." Bhaskar put an end to their talk as he converged upon Vasu with lightning reflexes. He turned the grenade launcher to face the approaching Rakshasa with little regard for the thermobaric nature of the rounds. It hurt but it also deterred Bhaskar.

Unfortunately, the Rakshasa anticipated his move and latched onto his hand when it was close enough preventing it from firing at him since Vasu had a certain disregard for area of effect and onto an attritional approach where if he hurt it, it was worth it. The Rakshasa Bhaskar slapped the revolving grenade launcher out of his hand and delivered a kick to his chest.

"Gurrgh! (Crack)" He felt a few of his ribs break under the force of the kick as he fell and struck the concrete floor with his back.

It was barely even a minute since their little dance began and the overwhelming advantages were apparent to the Rakshasa Bhaskar. Vasu's mind raced trying to think of ways to counter him.

-How did Badala combat us in our prime?- It was both the solution to his problem and also his trial.

He recollected his encounters with Badala, the latter never ran for an engagement despite the disparity in strength. Whatever came from that demonic strength he employed had a price which he only used in times of desperation. But all that Vasu recalled were his colourful taunts to piss him off.

-Piss me off… infuriate him?-

His mind found an answer, but the question was of how effective was it upon others. He had only himself as a reference and even he knew that he was not the benchmark for tolerance. So the question was….. how patient was the Rakshasa?

Vasu looked at the smiling monster approaching. His conviction was contradicting his theory every way. How could angering him make it easier for him to counter? He had a brief running thought on the recent refresher lessons that his mentor gave him. All he accomplished was amazing defeat after defeat in his spar with his father. Where he moved with diligence, Bibek flicked his wrist to parry his blows like he was swatting a fly. Was that what it took to overpower Bhaskar?

"The princess's servant may have severed your connection to her and your talisman. But it need not end this way, Vasu Sen." Bhaskar raised out his hand to him.

"Join us, and by us I mean we and not Golden Path. We've watched your actions and conduct for as long as you held a weapon in your hand. We have judged you worthy of becoming more than just this."

Vasu struggled to his feet and tried to get a hold of his breathing.

"Will you stand by our side, Vasu Sen? There are mysteries within the land that will destroy your faith in all that you hold in principle. Such as that false idol your brethren have blindly worsh-."

"Jeez, you talk too much! Yap Yap Yap! (Sigh). Now I see how annoying it is to hear someone blabber on and on."

Bhaskar's nerve on the young man twitched.

"If all Rakshasa are like you then you deserved to be banished from existence."

"Vasu…. I warn you-."

"Banished by Kalinag. And banished by Darshan."

When that last name left his lips, a cold air burst out of an unexistent vaccum. That was the Rakshasa General's aura domain. And at that moment, a crushing feeling fell upon Vasu forcing him into a kneel.

"I guess that's how you wanted to be remembered as… a fool."

"And you would bother to remember a fool? You must be a bigger idiot than me for going up against the likes of you." Somehow at the heat of the moment, Vasu suddenly got the hang of spurting out remarks with amateur skill since he wasn't adept to it but tried to mimick Badala based on experience. But the results were clear to see, he provoked this Rakshasa General. He mentioned something about being the fourth of the pillars whatever that meant. But it also did mean that there were three other primary Commanders of the Rakshasa force hidden away conserving their strength. A terrifying thought occurred to him during the heated avoidance of the Rakshasa's wrath.

Who were they reserving this strength against?

In a blink of an eye, the Rakshasa appeared before him again, how was he doing that? He did not know, it was too quick for the human eye to see. His reflex kicked in and forced him to lean back as a hand grasaped out to snatch his neck but failed. Vasu turned around and ran towards a dead end, Bhaskar chuckled at his action and followed closely. He fired another round into the walls of a house and ran through the man-size opening. Throwing smoke grenades as he entered the confines of the house.

"Leading a tiger into a confine with a rabbit. You truly don't treasure your buck life." Even though he threw smoke into the house, Bhaskar could see and smell him just fine. But the purpose of the smoke and limited room weren't for making it more difficult for Bhaskar.

Bhaskar had finished playing around with this nuisance of a distraction and performed his flash manuever to kill Vasu with his barehands.

"Just die alre- (Clang)."

His blade finally contacted the Rakshasa's talon-sharp fingers, to Bhaskar's surprise as well.

"Now I see…." Vasu murmured to himself, seemingly understanding something about the Rakshasa's abilities.

Bhaskar applied pressure to his flaying of his left arm to push Vasu back. But Vasu seemed to direct the thrust in a spin as he narrowly dodged the hand reaching him to stab his kukri into his ribs.

"Gurrgh!" Bhaskar looked down in shock to see his flesh pierced by that move Vasu made. To put it into a more understandable perspective.

"Impossible!" Vasu was performing the third form of Four Seasons Pandemonium. To use one's own strength against him. Over history, the advancements of weapons had always been segregated into defense and offense, but there was also another balance at play in their development. A weapon with the ability to pierce X defence was always paired with a shield that could defend against X offense. When Bronze armour was developed, a Bronze sword was part of the troop implementation as well. When the gun stood for new offensive capabilities, the ballistic body protection countered it.

So Bhaskar's defense was as strong as his offensive power. That power, Vasu redirected at him. Bhaskar jumped back clutching his wound till it healed in surprise.

"You-…. You should not have been able to get pass the First stage!" The last Bhaskar knew of him, Vasu had struggled for years to further comprehend the martial art, with no signs of improvement. Before he left the Khati household, Bibek told him not to let his impulse cloud his emotion or it would be detrimental to his cultivation and improvement. But his words fell onto deaf ears as a young excited boy was off to become a Royal Guardsman. And having the first form was sufficient for nineteen-year-old Vasu to progress ever so quickly through the ranks to become Major. Frankly, the distribution of military positions was not like true professional armies. They were merely a militarized force paid from the sovereign's purse to act as a defensive force. It had been that way since Kyrats conception.

"Lots happened since then." Vasu took the initiative to attack, moving in to cover the distance that spanned between them. Bhaskar responded with a parry and exchanged blows with Vasu with his hands that begun to receive cuts all over from the change in Vasu's style. As for the choice in venue, it was also deliberate.

"You chose these confines to limit my movement around and you used the smoke grenades to track my movements through the smoke particles, so that's why you had so much confidence in countering me." Bhaskar had just explained what Vasu was doing all that while in a mere few exchanges.

"Sadly, I didn't fight hundreds of wars over thousands of years to lose to a mere mortal!" Bhaskar moved in to strike with openings present throughout his stance and strike. Vasu hesitated for a moment to this change, Bhaskar instantly found a counter for his technique. If he didn't attack him in a distance which he could employ the stance, then Bhaskar wouldn't need to worry about defending his body. True to his word of living through wars before Vasu was even born. Bhaskar struck out with his fist only as he was inches from Vasu's face with his own and delivered a one-inch punch to his abdomen. Vasu had just barely blocked with his blade due to reflex again, unfortunately under the tension of the powerful and quick strike, the blade broke in two then the fist landed on his ribs.

(Bang) (Crash)

Sending Vasu flying like a ragdoll through the windows and out of the other side of the house they were in. His body skidded upon the floor before striking the steps to a central atrium feature. He coughed out a goblet of blood from his cracked ribs and new damage to his internal organs.

"Yeurggh…." Vasu vomited out the contents of the afternoon meal he had with Elina and Mother Aasha.

Bhaskar slammed through the walls of the house effortlessly as he stared upon Vasu from where he was. And then noticed something behind him, and that was when Vasu bore witness to the first time that Bhaskar had shown any sort of surprise.

Behind Vasu, up upon the steps was a monument dedicated to the thousands that died during the atrocity of Lanka. But the Rakshasa wasn't concerned over the deaths of insects, he was bothered about the object impaled within the monument. Or rather, it was purposefully built around it since no one could remove it. Said object was an ancient sword embedded in stone, if the sword was to be retrieved from the mantle of concrete, the person would have discovered that it was in fact a broken blade at its tip.

But to Bhaskar, an Ancient General of the Rakshasa, that sword had more importance to him that anything else, even the mission entrusted to him by her.

It was the sword which once belonged to his sovereign, the King of Akaash.

In a time long forgotten, the blade had been forged by a Deva with essence of Creation and Destruction to bestow upon his devotee. It was a symbol of his rule over all of the Rakshasa living under his domain. A sequence of betrayal by the other races had led to the death of his noble liege and the possession of the blade falling upon the princess.

Bhaskar had been too occupied with his thoughts as to why the sword was here instead of her possession, that Vasu had the time to recover. But he was far from giving up now, as he approached the sword and latched his hands around the hilt. It was only then did Bahskar break from the spell of disbelief only to be replaced with incense for Vasu's attempt.

" **Take your filthy hands of that sword."** Vasu ignored him and pulled as if he was truly desperate to rely on even a broken blade, the only seeming weapon lying around to help him against Bhaskar.

At first, he was enraged and wanted to rip his head off, but seeing his desperation Bhaskar began to see how pathetic he was.

That sword had been magically embedded with a sequence to only allow one person to remove it, either him or someone carrying his blood. If so, then why was it left here instead of the fragment's hands? Bhaskar didn't know the answer to that either or why the princess had given it to him at a time like this.

"Hurrrghhh! Hurrrrghhh!" Vasu continued to tug at the sword that it worsened his condition, his wound began to bleed profusely that it spurted out of his cuts. His hands also bleed from the strain he put it through in pulling.

Bhaskar was starting to get tired of his behaviour, he had forgotten how much of a fool Vasu had always been and was now reminded by it here. He wasn't stubborn, but foolish.

"Do you want to fight me that much?" Bhaskar asked for afar.

"I don't want to die…" Bhaskar signed as he couldn't belief those words actually came from Vasu's mouth. His entire opinion of him had dropped rock bottom.

"…. Then walk away." Vasu was now not even worth killing.

"If I do….. you will kill everyone." Vasu's continued to pull as he replied to him.

"Only those in the way of our plans….." That however was not the end of his sentence.

"Kyrat and all the remnants of the mortal kingdom are in our way." He made it clear that for their plan to succeed, all would die.

The people of the Himalayas would die. So would the people of Kyrat. The Northerner and the Southerners. The Khati Household, his father, his mother….. Elina and Alisha would die though they did no wrong. All because the Mistress, this Princess of the Rakshasa was trying to achieve some goal here.

"Over-…." He murmured under the strain of freeing the sword, his only device to fight the Rakshasa.

"Over-…" Vasu was now pulling with a force like never before in his life, he was pulling with not just strength and will power but with a sole desire of wretching this sword free to do only one thing.

"OVER MY DEAD BODY!...RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" He roared with bloodshot eyes and a bleeding external. He poured his lifeforce into freeing the blade.

And that was when a few changes fell over Vasu, his blood begun to boiled like he had an internal kettle within him and there was a gradual rise in heat upon his wrist. Until it felt like someone had planted a hot searing iron on his skin to brand him.

Though he himself didn't notice it due to the adrenaline rushing through his body. Bhaskar was watching every bit of it, his wrist was glowing till the clothing covering it was burnt away revealing a mark upon him that was all too familiar to Rakshasa Bhaskar.

That mark was a talisman, a talisman once broken months ago but was now being restored upon Vasu. That talisman came in the sharp of an animal that represented the very character that Vasu defined. As the talisman mark took the form of a Rhino, one with grazes all over its tough but resilient hide and nature. It took the form of the beast once herald as Karkadann.

Like a foreign chemical seeping into his body, Vasu's eyes began to undergo a change from his original brown hazel into all too familiar yellow irises. A trait of the power Ajay held in his dominance as the demon through channeling the unnatural powers locked within him. And now, shared through him with Vasu, through an oath of blood. Jeevan was the first apostle by word, Vasu had become the second by blood.

Bhaskar had a bad feeling about this sudden transition, he was not sure such a thing was even possible. A Talisman restoring on its own, especially one this old.

But it didn't matter to him. His mind had been set the moment he became aware that Vasu was holding a portion of the fragment's strength as well as his likeliness of restoring the Asura's sealing hex. Vasu had to die now. He walked forward ready to take his life, then something happened that he wouldn't have believed in his wildest of dreams, or dreadfulness of horrors.

(Crack) The earth and concrete around the sword began to crack, the material originally there during the monuments construction but not before. Then the sword drew out from its scabbard of earth with relative ease.

The sword came free fully after Vasu roared again for a final tug that wretched it out of the ground for both of them to bear witness. Bhaskar's mind collapsed into disbelief, one so great even for an entity such as himself to only be phased by beings more powerful than him.

With the blade free from its prison and held in Vasu's hand to inspect, he found his original opinion of it to change as he expected better. It was a strange thing to act as a monument and stranger for it to be embedded there and not a part of someone's collection. But Vasu was no fool to the expression held by Bhaskar upon his retrieval of the sword.

"Impossible-…" It seemed that Bhaskar had some idea of why.

"Impossible!" He denied it once more.

Vasu took a renewed stance, albeit in pain but still flightworthy and having a strange feeling pulsing through his veins brimming with energy.

"Then come here and find out!"

* * *

Five minutes in the air, cruising at normal speeds with fifteen to go till they reached their targets. Kestrel 2-2, 2-3 and 2-6 had already broken off their formation and headed in the direction of that para-military cliffside fortress. Bagha-something, Winnefred didn't care. In fact, when those treacherous nobles of the monarchy came to him he already knew that with or without his help, he had no place here. When the spark of rebellion blazed, the first ones to get killed were the foreigners. Be you protected by international law, an influential person from a foreign power or even a priest. The locals wouldn't even give a damn, they just wanted someone to pin the blame on their problems as the upstarts of the rebellion had influenced them.

He and two other wingmen were headed for a charming town called Tirtha. The Hong Konger explained that this place was subject to terrorist sympathy on multiple occasion and it was something they didn't want to deal with during their reign.

His payment was in Rubies, uncut stones with a net worth of eight million. They were now blood rubies thanks to the deed he would do to get'em. Money was still money. But after that, he was not staying here. Convincing the rest wasn't hard at all, they were survivors of many small wars so they knew the game and what their status was as mercenaries, expendible. So what was the plan?

Bomb the places and get wired the money and stones to a swiss account. Then desert and defect with the all six MiG-29 airframes to a designated US air base in Malaysia. He had a little chat with the CIA agent that was hidden by that dandy-looking Hong Konger by the name of Willis Huntley or what the people here called "One-leg Willy". Where he negotiated an amnesty agreement with the US authorities for himself and his family to live securely in the states after the transfer was complete.

Willis was eager because despite being late Cold War-era fighter hardware that the US intelligence department already had data pertaining to. It was the modern electronics package that were installed when the Russians refurbished the aircrafts, specifically what were the current Russian encodings for the Glosnass GPS system, their IFF frequencies for possible disguising of US warplanes infilitrating hostile airspace. There were also databanks that held the most modern updates in the Russian warplanes software for flight control and radar. Specs that would help the US fighter pilots in future engagements with airframes of the same type manned both by Russia and countries that adopted the aircraft. Intelligence was invaluable, worth more than its weight in gold.

In his talk with Willis, he was kind of distracted as well and only listened to the summary after. That most notable feature of Willis's was his struggle with the crutch. It indicated he wasn't always that way, rumors were that he discarded like a lizard shedding its tail to cheat death at the hands of their frightening employer. Frightening. He, Winnefred Coriolanus was a veteran of many bush wars and African conflicts including a Thai-Cambodian conflict. He had seen every possible shit out there and survived, giving him the right to be called badass.

But that demon, Badala. He accidentally heard Khalid mention he had dealings with Russian FSB, and a long spar history with the CIA to which they were the losers. Just recently, he did something that no one in the right mind would do, not even the most foolhardy of nations. Israel fighting for independence against its numerically superior arab neighbours, his own home country fighting communism spreading in Africa, or the legendary Winter War of Finland fighting off Soviet Union.

He was the one that initiated a fight with People's Republic of China knowing full well they would accept. And the Chinese didn't fight like their Western Counterparts. It was all or nothing for them, they'd sacrifice everything for a victory even at the cost of heavy casualties because the humiliation of defeat was worst than an abysmal victory. Korean War proved that. And this devil sent them packing after a few words and a massacre of a city and escaping civilians with just his barehands.

-I've done nothing wrong. Anyone in the right frame of mind would've done as I did. Hell-…. I've done above and beyond already!-

All he had to do was drop this payload of fuel-air explosives and let pressure and scorching heat do the rest- (Bebebebebe-) His laser warning system reported a radar lock on his airframe.

-What?!- He had no time to think, so he let instinct meld with training take over. "Dispensing flares!" As he stated, the countermeasure kit fired off a heavy dose of chaff to fool the infrared missile if it was already on the way.

But no missile came.

(Brrrrrrrrrrrr) (BOOM)

Instead, a fireball ingited to his left and plummeted to the earth. That fireball was once Kestrel 2-4. A distinct roar of engines resounded as a shadow flew pass them, evidently because of its more powerful thrust its engine could produce.

A silhouette sped pass his one o clock and vanished into the clouds

*Enemy just passed us! Boss! What do we do?!* His last wingman stated the obvious in a grave panic for the lack of combat he was exposed to.

But from the general outline of the silhouette, he could tell it was a heavy fighter. Two-seater. It was clear as day who it was.

"Eagle….." He murmured under his breath as he concluded the result of his theory. The 1st Fighter Squadron, the Indian pilots.

-Shit! This wasn't supposed to happen!-

And then, his intercom broke silence to speak with him.

*This is Eagle 1-3 to Winnie the snitch and friends- now just friend. I'm your host Ravindra and in the backseat is Arun. We've here to bring you a whole wing of AAM surprise. So get your asshole lubbed, Randhwa! (Man-whore)*

* * *

"…. And this is Arun in the backseat? Did you just throw that together like we were something else together in your list of gay joke insults? You're a fucking moron." Arun insulted his clumsy wit for insults.

"Arun-…(Sigh) details man. Details." He exclaimed whilst skilful but risky bleeding of speed just at the right moment to let them pass him.

"Madarchod, just kill this bastard already! Don't play with your food!"

"Aye aye. Don't need to get flustered, I'm on it."

*Pravindra, the Indian hotshot. I should've known you would be the one Amar would send.*

It looked like Pravi had gotten him into a talking mood.

"Yo! Oh, yes. Hello friend-….." Pravindra directed his airframe to chase the wingman of Winnefred's Kestrel 2-5.

(Beep) (Beep) (Beeeeeeeeee-)

His infrared locked on to the tail of the wingman. "Bye bye." Pravindra fired off his infrared at the wingman, completely disregarding the use of proper calls.

*WINNEFR- (BOOOM)(Static)* The wingman screamed his last.

He was stuck with making a high-g manuever and had no chance to release flares when the missile chased him and annihilated the wingman.

The intercom went quiet for the time being, no words were carried until Pravindra was the first to break silence.

"You know what I hate worst than mercs, Winnie? Worse than lazy incompetent bastards that slouch on daily routine. Worse than lousy pilots who aren't even brave enough to admit they aren't up to scratch. Worse than corrupted officials wasting taxpayers' money to fund a private lifestyle?" Pravindra suddenly changed into a serious mood, even Arun noticed that.

The intercom was silent as Kestrel 2-1 flew behind Pravi to get a lock-on and kill, though Pravindra effortlessly dodged his tracking radar.

"I hate people that not only bite the hand that fed them, but steals from them as well. You fucking thief."

*And you're an annoying do-gooder. What would you know?* Pravindra fired his dose of flares to break the incoming infrared missile which flew out of direction.

"I don't. And I never will. So just die here, weasel." He entered a barrel roll when Winnefred carelessly tunnel visioned on him to get a lock. Despite a long career in the air, Winnefred had not recently had any airtime to reacquaint his skills. This was supposed to be a simple bombing-run, and now that the situation had taken a turn it became a dog-fight.

*You goddamn moral warriors, I never asked to be in this situation. I served my country as you did! Nine years, damn it! And six campaigns! And where did it all go?! To that bitch who framed me! But you know what? I'm not even mad, I'm glad she screwed me for her limited career opportunity, 'cause it's widen my perspective a little. It taught me that no matter the employer, always have a contingency at the right time.*

Multiple beeps of new incoming targets entered the scene on Pravi's HUD display.

"Prav!?" Arun called out to him on the new boogeys

"Tsh!"

*Right now was the perfect time to cash-in. When these petty disputes burst into a full-on Civil War, none of us want to be in the centre of that!* Winnefred had intentionally left the comms on for his Squadron to come and assist him. They'd delayed their bombing attacks to overpower Eagle 1-3.

"This has become something of a-."

"I know- shut up!" Pravindra was now deadly focus on the three fighters that had appeared to rejoin the formation with Winnefred. Only-… *I'll leave these boys in my place. Now, if you'll excuse me. I have a fortress that needs bombing.* Winnefred declared as he flew off to complete his job before flying off to safety.

Pravindra knew they were too closely packed to allow him to reach Winnefred so he reorganised his thoughts upon destroying the rest of the Squadron. An evil smile ran across his face, three vs one was not uncommon occurances for him, the question was how competent did Winnie think his partners in crime were.

Two aircraft zipped by him while one gave chase behind him.

"Oh my god…" Arun lamented as he didn't share the same view.

Pravi's focus was on the fighter chasing him from behind while the rest took time to circle around to meet him. He fired one Infrared missile and a two second burst of the 30mm cannon, leaving him with one infrared, four semi-active radar and two active radar missiles. Arun helped confirm the inventory left and adjusted the preference of weapons for each target of opportunity for him in advance.

With the fighter frantically trying to get away from him now that he was just a few hundred metres from him. Pravi fired a lucky clutch shot from his 30 mil and managed to graze the starboard wing which shredded under the weight of the extensive load of bombs it carried. The fighter he downed effortlessly plummeted to the surface and exploded with an unimaginable force due to setting of its explosive payload.

"Right, let's get to work shall we." He smiled at a good start. After all that Winnefred said, it didn't change the fact that he was going to shoot him down here and now. The pride of the IAF was at stake just as the integrate state of Kyrat without its leadership taking the reigns as they should be.

He just hoped that his fellow pilots and Commander were fairing well against the likely Rebels poised to retake the airbase. After all, he who controlled the airspace ruled the land.

* * *

The sound of the firefight grew closer and closer to the storage area where Noore, Kanaan and the Nurses were. Noore peeked around the corner ever-vigilant for any enemies that may have flanked around the catacombs to reach them.

Ricardo and Samson were actually quite far from their location, the purpose was to mislead the attackers into thinking they were all somewhere in one of her former private chambers. Some rooms, they booby trapped while they withdrew a distance.

Noore turned back to look at her helpless employees wearing worrisome faces, they shouldn't have been here with them. Yet she brought them in case Ajay's condition were to spiral out of control. Perhaps if Jeevan were here, it would've made more of a difference. Though not official, Ajay had always commented on Jeevan's progress. Among the more curious things was his good cognitive abilities meshed with tenacity. Rare attribites that made him a talented soldier given the resources and faith in his abilities.

Jeevan had even "killed" Sabal once before while remaining ignorant to Sabal's changed state. Er Hu was saying the samething, albeit because he had the desire to make him his son-in-law. Noore made eye contact with Kanaan who was quieter than for her own good and gave her an assuring smile to hopefully change some perspective to their truly dire state.

Who would have thought that Bipin was aligned to the Cantons. Even though something didn't seem right, she was finding it strange. Upon returning from Yinke, Bipin had been brought to her for a checkup. She diagnosed his condition for being PTSD based on what he confessed and the accounts from Maya and Ajay. It was out of her study, and would only be treated if Bipin sought means to address it himself. So she gave him medical leave for two weeks to rest and recuperate, he earned it after all. Despite that, it was his Commander Samuelle that earned the prestige that he won for them. Bipin had changed drastically since his trip to Maharashtra and Noore wasn't sure what to make of it.

Speaking of Sam, where was she in all this? She was their commander first and foremost. Though she had expressed her advocation against being involved with the Canton Families, she even approached Ajay to show her support against them. The pieces of the puzzle floated around in her mind with no apparent answer.

Shadows of search groups began to appear in the far wall away from her, indicating they were closing in on their location.

"Doctor."

"Shhh." She quietened them as they tapped her on the shoulder.

"Doctor, as it stands they'll find us soon."

"…."

"We have a plan."

"No. I won't allow it!" As if she knew what they were about to say, she forbate them from creating a diversion that could cost them their lives, lives that weren't worth wasting over.

"Doctor, at this rate they'll find us and his grace in no time. This isn't the time to get emotional."

"We know, Lady Najjar is worried for us." A female nurse assured her of their state of mind.

"We didn't go this far just to quit, let us help every way we can."

Noore's heart was yet reluctant to send them to their deaths, she realised how Ajay had been doing that almost everyday and begun to understand how heavy it weighed being him. Even if he wronged Pagan before, it didn't mean he had to do all of this and yet he did. She really wished he would just open his eyes now to take the burden of her shoulders even if it was cruel to ask more of him. But he was her accomplice as she was to him, they were meant to share the workload.

"What do you have in mind?" She finally gave in and listened attentively as they whispered their instructions to her.

Fifteen minutes had passed since then, and the Special Deep Strike Group specops were nowhere near finding Badala amidst the chaos created in the maze-like catacombs. But it became apparent why they chose to hide here where even the most well-trained trackers had difficulty finding him. All they encountered were the Italian Mercenaries. The Commander shouted a proposal for them to be given four times their annual wage to show them where he was and one of them responded something in Italian. Which they took as a sign they weren't complying, but it just went to show how much loyalty they had to either Badala or their professionalism in their employment.

Ricardo hid behind the support pillars, he was on his way to Noore's but noticed they were trackng his movements to get a fix on Badala's location. So he stopped all attempts to return and focused on throwing them off. But it was getting difficult to fight them alone, Luca was up top getting a signal to make an encrypted call for heli-evac from Kamran who disappeared of the grid temporarily.

The rest of his mates were most likely organising a resistance to the rebels trying to take the Arsenal in Lakshman. And that damn Samson… Ricardo sighed. To think that he was already signing his death wish since that time. As much as he refused to believe it, it was a possibility. Samson spend more time than for his own good by his wife's grave even during his wedding day with Mrs Stella Allegretto.

Should he make his way back to Samson? His heart said that, but at the same time he had second thoughts about it. What if he put more strain on what Samson was handling my focusing the Rebels' attention to them both.

Samson might what to die but Ricardo certainly didn't want that, his wife would say the same thing. If he ever left him there she would never forgive him and neither would he himself. But the Rebels seem to have gotten the hand of these worthless diversions and started looking around while leaving some to suppress Samson on his own to prevent his interference. Again, who trained them?

"This way! Badala's here!"

A shout came from a shadow that echoed from a quarter nearby.

"Over here! He's here!"

"Don't listen to them, his right there!"

Voices from shadows appeared from all matters of corners that the sound of shooting stopped between Samson and Ricardo with the Rebel specops.

"Capture them, we'll interrogate them one by one." Ricardo could just make out what the commander said to his men.

He recognised some of the voices as the assistants of Noore.

-What are they doing?!-

"The demon is here!" they continued to mislead the Rebels.

Ricardo had a think about what they were doing then it made a little sense, they were dividing the Rebels further for them to kill off. It was risky if one of them got caught though, they always had ways of making them talk. Ricardo was also taught a trick like that too so he knew.

Ricardo sighed. Noore was both an amazing woman but also a handful. Not like his Stella, always a mother hen that kinda annoyed him at times though.

(Bababaam) He heard gunfire coming from a different direction for where the Rebels were and understood what they were really doing.

-Nonono! Noore! These fellas aren't so amateur!- He rushed off into the general direction of the weapons discharge that matched the MP5 Noore was given. She was trying to kill them off as well by luring them into a perfect shooting condition for him.

Noore was unaware of what were Ricardo and most certainly Samson's opinion of her actions. On her end, she'd successfully lured one soldier and killed him off with a burst. The nurse that misled the trooper exchanged a thumbs-up with her and was about to leave when-

(Bababaam) His body was peppered with shots and slowly crumbled to the ground dead.

Noore hugged the wall to conceal herself from the approaching team now changing their tactics to three-man search teams.

"Over here! The-." One of her nurses were unaware of what happened and popped out to announce herself.

"NO! GET OUT!" Noore screamed as she fired her weapon to suppress the soldiers but all she achieved despite the nurse running to safety were shots that couldn't hit the right side of a barn and hardly phased the elite troopers.

One soldier took a precision shot to her shoulder and grazed it. The gun fell to her feet as she did with a hand to her shoulder dyed in red. The soldiers cautiously approached her and one struck her on the forehead with the butt of his rifle. She instantly passed out.

She received a rude awakening by means of a punch to her face. "Urghh! You goddamn brutes! Hitting a woman!"

"Noore Najjar, where is Badala?" The Commander interrogated her with a straightforwards request.

"Pft! You know who I am yet you treat me this way!" She spat out blood at him.

The Commander pinched her wound causing her to yelp in pain. "Irrelevant, where is Badala? I hope you're more adept to pain that I think you are." The Commander threatened further torture but she held her defiance in place.

"You lot are with Yuma, so why are you aligned with the Lords?"

"Where is Badala?" The Commander motioned his man on the right who was heating his blade for the extended part of her physical torture

"You'll have to ply it from me!"

"Great, we were looking forward to it. It wouldn't be sporting if you just gave in."

The soldier approached with his knife now red hot.

"Just so you know, this isn't for your wound." The Commander made a motion that he was going to have his subordinate disfigure her face with the crisscross action on his own.

"Fine! I don't need looks, I'm too old for a flame anyway!" She shouted boldly.

The Commander chuckled at her statement. But wasn't expecting the next line from elsewhere.

"That's not a fair statement, Noore. Even you deserve some affection." A familiar voice echoed out from the catacombs. The specops soldiers stood up and scanned the surroundings with darting eyes. And a renewed wariness to the one they were seeking having to finally awaken much to their fears.

Thumps could be heard as some of the troopers whom were standing at the corridors fell to the ground a bloodly mess without some much as a cry or wail in agony. The Commander ordered them to spread out while he attended to Noore. He tied Noore to the pillar. "Don't you think about anything." He warned before his intentions of joining his men.

But as he turned around, he bore witness to their mangled corpses lying around the catacomb just a few feet from where he was and he didn't even hear a sound. Except for the last sentence he would ever hear from someone again.

"Tinker, tailor, soldier, traitor…." The Commander of the Special Deep Strike Group turned to face the voice in at his back where he previously tied Noore. "Gurrrgggggghhhh-…" A knife plunged deep into his chest on his left, held by the person he was supposed to kill whilst still inactive. The Commander was being held in place by a hand on his shoulder and a knife in his heart as the person that ended his life finished his rhyme.

"... I feast upon all that turn knives towards their king in favour."


	109. Chapter 100 - Confronting Darshan

Author's Notes:

Special thanks to Darsassan for extensive hindu translation. If you think you're better than him then you must be a hindu language professor in India. He is more reliable than my uni bud, sorry Prav.

* * *

The first sensation that Ajay felt upon waking up was the cold dampness of the catacombs, his eyes adjusted to the light of the surrounding relatively easily thanks to heightened senses. The noise of a firefight could be heard some distance away, and he seemed to be the only person in the storage area of wherever this was.

"Had a good sleep?" Ajay turned to the inquirer and found him sitting against the wall not far from him.

"Hurk…." As he thought out his name, a sharp pain invaded his head and a rush of fragments pertaining to what happened before he entered that dream-like state had occurred.

"Glad to see you're awake and all, bro. Lots happening since you passed out, better get to it." He pointed to his equipment placed neatly on the chair. Ajay approached immediately to dress-up but as he was inspecting the gear a very special weapon seemed to be missing from his inventory, Ajay wondered if he'd left it in that cave.

"(Sigh)." -I'll have Samar build me a replacement, I'm gonna miss it.- Ajay made do with the high-powered bow and trusty Kukri he slotted into his holsters.

"I'd best be off now, my people need meeee-." Hurk thrusted his hand out like a superhero saying that cheesy line to the exit.

"Hurk-."

"They're gonna need you." But Hurk ignored him and stood up walking to the door, he stopped with the door held half open.

"I don't blame you, and neither should you. You're the best tatbro that I've got, Bads." He laughed awkwardly to himself before departing.

"Hurk, wait a second. Give me a brief on what ha-." But the door was closed and Hurk no longer responded.

"Goddamnit." Ajay brisk walked to the door and opened it.

"Ahh!" But instead of Hurk it was a certain someone he didn't expect in a place like this who was startled by the door suddenly opening on her as he was about to attend to a comatosed Ajay.

"Kanaan…"

"Y-Your Grace." She bowed politely out of etiquette. Ajay looked behind her to look for that mischievious monkey of a man but he was nowhere to be seen.

-Slippery bastard.- Did he hate getting technical this much? Sometimes it worried him about the future Hurk would chose. A future in fighting wars was no future at all. Perhaps when the war ended, he would have more time to help him out in his life choices. It wouldn't just be him but Kyrat that would help him on his journey.

"You see where Hurk went?" But all he got was a puzzled look from her.

-Oh yeah. I don't think Kanaan's ever been acquainted with Hurk before.-

"Nevermind. I hear a firefight nearby, tell me a short summary of what's happened while I was out."

"Yes, your grace!"

"And Uh-… Kanaan."

"Yes?"

"Sorry, but first-… how long have I been out?"

* * *

If he had been any later, Noore wouldn't have been able to recover from that brand and it would haunt her for the rest of her life.

That was only one of the problems he solved out of the more complexed matters as Noore indulged onto him. He had been out for weeks.

In summary, while he was out, the Cantons found out about his state through siphoning censored material and initiated their rebellion. The Royal fortress was theirs and the Royal Palace had been blockaded. Lakshman was under occupation but the inhabitants were stubbornly resisting, if he didn't act on this fast many of his people would be killed. Sagarmatha Airbase and Lanka were under assault with no apparent indication of being overrun…. yet. He was sensing a very disturbing feeling over in Lanka for some reason. Something that emanated a very familiar aura yet harmful to life as he knew it. Whatever was there, he needed to confront it now.

"So what's the plan?" Ricardo asked as he came over with the boys. Although it felt like there was some friction between him and Samson now, clearly an evident took place that they wouldn't say.

But that was all of it, and that was where the problems began for him right after waking up from that coma. It just went to show how fragile Kyrats state of affairs were without his presence here as the demon. Too many depended on him, if he were to really vanish would they be able to stand on their own?

Ajay casted aside these thoughts for a plan to liberate Kyrat from the Rebellion as quickly as possible, for all he knew the Golden Path would be here soon

-So that was the feeling.- He turned to the general direction of Lanka. Golden Path was already here, an advance party at least. He could feel majority of that Karmic thread still far away yet near but not as close as this one. The demon half of him was true to his word, it gave him the power he should have had. At its expense.

"We'll do this in sequence. Priority one, ensure Baghadur and Meh Teh Airports security. Luca."

"Yes?"

"Follow Ricardo to the airport and send a mosscode transmission with these encryption codes." Ajay wrote on a piece of paper the digits to the code.

"It'll bring Kamran to your location where we can stage a ferrying point to the Airbase."

"We're on it." Ricardo left after exchanging a complex glance with Samson who kept mum but wore an emotionless face. Ajay was no fool to see some friction in their friendship had occurred, was this because of him?

"Noore, Kanaan. Take your staff and head over to this safehouse here." Ajay pointed on the Southern Kyrat map where the mountains lay.

"Is there a cave there?" Noore asked unsure.

"Isn't that-…." But Kanaan seemed to have an idea what was there.

"It's the Ghale Homestead." Noore was a little skeptical of the state since it was likely left in ruin for twenty-five years.

"Don't worry, I had some folks renovate the estate while I was on my tour constructing Lanka. That place is a model house now and a piece of history." Ajay joked.

"…. Alright." But Noore was more unsure of Ajay's condition since he just woke up and wanted to get back in as soon as possible, as a doctor she couldn't recommend that but still, this was his choice. The staff seem to be both excited and baffled as to why Badala was in possession and even placed such care as he suggested into the home of the arch-traitor.

"There's a housekeeper by the name of Japa who maintains the place. Tell him "Badala asks why didn't you water the white mushrooms?" And he'll know I sent you, be honest about your situation though." Noore nodded and held his hand one last time.

"Good luck, when this ends I have a lot to share with you." Ajay faced Samson whom he intentionally left out for last. From Noore's account, Jeevan would likely be headed for Baghadur or Lanka, he guessed the former was the more likely option for him. Amita could get an extra hand in reinforcing the Western sector around their region, he could use his authority to requisition troops from Delta Barracks.

"Samson." Samson looked up to him.

"Thanks for all you've done this far. I don't want to keep asking from you but could I leave their protection in your hands?"

"Sure. Do what needs to be done." Ajay nodded and turned about towards Lanka but just as he was about to leave, a thought occurred to him regarding his brief thoughts on Hurk.

"Do you think Hurk would accept it if I gave him a place here to call home?" The meaning behind this message was because he had said rather unsavoury things to Hurk during the rescue. In his frustration, he showed that he lacked faith in Hurk's abilities and it compromised his friendship with the naughty ape who didn't stay long to let him think about it and apologize. Noore cocked her head slightly as she thought about the meaning behind what he said before replying.

"Why don't you ask him after this? You'll never know what the other person might be thinking besides your own opinion." Noore said with a smile.

"Thanks, Noore." Ajay left with a guilty-free mind to accomplish the tasks ahead of him.

Thankfully Ajay had left before the next words that came out of Noore's mouth were just a mere murmur but too inaudible for him to hear.

Noore turned to Kanaan and asked. "Who's Hurk?"

* * *

(Clash)

Blades clashed with such violence that the windows surrounding them shattered with such force from the vacuum produced in their confrontation. It was so pronounced that the fighting all over Lanka ceased to be, Golden Path, Royal Army, Rebels and Rakshasa alike.

When Bhaskar bore witness to the sword in his hand, his first and only response was the action taken to relieve that sword from his hands. He couldn't stand a second more of it in his possession, it insulted the memories of their Kingdom, it insulted the memory of his King.

His blows were the heaviest that he could deliver in this body, he had released the limiters on the body that prevented its decay from the power injected into it. And yet still, Vasu was able to shrug of blows that would've flattened a mortal into pulp. He was channeling powers bestowed upon him through a curse. A Curse of binding Karma with the demon of Lanka, his Covenant with Ajay.

How or why the blade chose to accept someone with barely a fraction of the original owner's soul or blood was beyond him. It was virtually impossible, unless-….

"No-… NO! I can't be!" The sword that belonged to the King's bloodline couldn't possibly accept another outside of it. It couldn't be…

It chose to be wielded by Vasu, one of pure heart

prataapaavanhaa (Valiance).

It was betraying its original master for another, was that even possible?

Vasu began to understand the significance of the broken ancient sword, it seemed to have been left there intentionally for someone to take away. He was honestly only intending to use it for just this moment. But soon, he found something rather frightening about the sword in particular. Whatever it touched corroded into ash, that included Bhaskar. That was why he changed his fighting style upon pulling out his kukri and other weapons out of thin air.

Vasu had never felt such power flow through him so naturally, it was something beyond that of his time as an "exalted".

"So this is how he felt…. So disgusting…" It was a forbidden power, that much he knew. If Ajay were there, he'd applaud him for sharing the same sentiment. Unfortunately, as much as they hated it they needed it to combat Golden Path and the newly emerging Rakshasa.

"RAAARRRGHH!" Bhaskar flayed his newly acquired sword at Vasu armed with that blade. (Clang) (Clang) The sword was slightly more resilient to the corrosion than normal metal but still gave in to the corrosion upon it.

Bhaskar jumped a distance after throwing out a wall of knives that held a deadly poison even to beings like himself. He gained a moment of rest between himself and Vasu, but a moment was all he needed.

Vasu stood unsure of what he was planning as he began to chant something archaic and quickly tried to close the distance between them.

"Let me show you the difference between a Rakshasa and a mortal, Vasu. Here's the difference between heaven and earth!" Bhaskar yelled out as he finished chanting.

"I hereby curse thee, bloodline of Sen! I break thy cycle of reincarnation! I elipse your path of enlightenment! Slaughtering Moon Hex!" And at his command the surrounding natural law began to shake and crumble as he fired the hex at Vasu. An invisible thread flew out, not deterred by the objects between them, at the moment he was touched by the curse, he felt his entire body fall like an anchor into the deep ocean, worsening his wounds. But that wasn't all, as if a stream of venom was invading him, he felt like he was plunged by knives all over.

He couldn't hold back a scream even if he wanted to, but the pain completely rendered his vocal cords mute.

"You feel that? That is the effect of the hex specially suited for men like you. Have you ever felt a moment when you killed someone without conscience but pure anger? For every such kill and slaughter, the pain multiplies. And it's no surprise you've done so on more than one occasion. How many did you slay under the spell of fury? Dozens? Hundreds? Each adding to the fuel of the hex, burning your soul and body from the inside out." As Bhaskar stated, it was a clearer explanation upon what was happening to him.

Vasu was not enjoying any bit of the curse he was hit with, but his will wasn't about to falter here as the curse was eating him inside out. He could already see his skin on his hand turning purple and spreading.

-Even so…..-

He bit his lip and struggled to get up bit by bit.

"My name-…." He said with great difficulty.

"My name is not-….. Sen-… IS KHATI!"

And as if a window had shattered, so did the basis of the entire curse crumble to the ground. A great wave of relief fell over him from the absence of the stabbing pain all over. And at that entire time, Bhaskar watched him wriggle on the floor in a pathetic way. The fact that he broke the curse with the change in his family didn't matter.

"Then, shall I curse the Khati bloodline as we-." (zip) (Thump) (Thump) (Thump) Bhaskar narrowly dodged three throwing knives, all emaculating a dangerous sealing aura. He retracked the origin point of the projectiles to find a shadow blocking out the sun over him.

(BOOM) The thunder of a projectile out of a barrel of a gun shook the air around them. Vasu looked in surprise, as he had expected another person to have come from the signature sound of that double-barrelled weapon that messed his days as an "exalted". But it was not him, instead another hom he recognised more clearly than any other.

Sensing something terrible from the shot beforehand when it was unslung from his back, Bhaskar tried to get out of its effective range. The sabot slug missed him, but exploded into fragments nearby, and the shrapnel hit him.

Embedding itself deep into his body. It didn't matter if he was a Rakshasa empowering this body. None of the recovery abilities were restoring the wound, and worse of all he felt the devastating effect like any mortal would. Bhaskar collapsed onto the ground in a kneel as his body refused to respond to him. Vomitting huge amounts of blood, but it was pale in comparison to the internal damage that this weapon did to him. He looked up to see his opponent was already absorbed in a chant that would end this fight.

"Mera Iccha Parvato jesa mazboot he. Mera Karma hi mantra hai. Is paapt srishti jo prakriti ka dushman hai, usko yaha sai nikaldo. Aathva Rakshash ko Nirvaasit Karna Tantra!" (My will is the mountains! My karma is the mantra! Banish all creation against Nature! 8th Demon Banishing Hex!)

His eyes widened as he saw a build up in Karmic threads intwining, but by the time he was already a move too late.

"Seal!"

" **NAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"**

Bhaskar's entire external complex instantly caught fire into an Azure flame, he screamed in agony as the person had struck him with a powerful hex that destroyed his body that denied norm which was against natural law.

" **YOU WRETCHED THING! When I find you again, it will be with my brothers! And then, I WILL DESTROY YOU! BODY AND SOUL! AS WE SHOULD HAVE LONG AGOOO!-"** The burning corpse finally gave way and extinguished but not before turning into a pile of ashes.

"You're welcome to try." He answered the hollow winds, the small blood ruby in his hand broke and disintegrated.

"But next time, I won't just exorcise you. I swear this on my true name."

Vasu got up with difficulty, the person before him was someone he'd encountered many times in the past. Once a rival foe, now a supposed ally. He had so many questions about the nature of the enemy they were really facing.

"Darshan."

Darshan turned to gaze at him. But would he indulge him?

* * *

Han Feng could understand Saraswati's sentiment, having her entire family locked against their will and with an opportunity such as capturing him with the possibility of negotiating for them back.

Even so, he didn't enjoy having a gun in his mouth.

"What do you mean you're helping us?" She removed the gun to allow him to speak. Althought, it was a laughable sentence he spewed right after neutralizing the guards silently and freeing her bindings in the safehouse he brought her to. Of course, she couldn't accept it. After all, he was the scion of the Sun Household, Lord Kwan's son, a Canton. Why would he help betray his own people? In her defense, Han Feng did not have a very good impression with her, especially when he attempted to rape her friend years ago.

He couldn't just up and say, "That was all in the past" this wasn't the way things worked.

"I wished that this rebellion never happened. I wish I was never born into this life!" He said his most earnest desire.

"No one is allowed to." She replied her answer.

"Even so, I wished that I still had a choice of life, to choose my own destiny! I never wanted to be a Lord of Kyrat, I didn't want to reign over others, I simply wanted to serve and be proud of something."

"Your record has shown much to be desired, Han Feng."

"…. You don't know how lonely it is to be an heir to such loathsome people." Saras was shocked to the expression he released after failing to convince her. Tears trickled from his face, the face not of a proud future Canton Lord.

"Stay away from those common filth, you must uphold the family name so don't forget that! Become a carpenter? What a joke?" The last of the lines seem to hurt him the most as he recited every single one of the words of caution by his mother, his father and relatives. Saraswati seemed to find his plight genuine and was a little astonished he had such a simple dream.

"It's not uncommon for us to be isolated from society till we're adults, they wanted to indoctrinate us with their "ways". We don't even mix with Cantons our own age because of House segregation, they want use to know our places. Only our own family members were the limit of our social boundaries." Matching with her personal experience growing up, she never really saw a Canton child roaming around the echeleons like they did. She always assumed they were sent to study in Canada or something, but it appears that this was a hidden side of the Cantons she wasn't aware of.

"But I do remember one time, I even escaped from the house just to get some fresh air despite the punishment I would get later, I thought it was worth it back then." Han Feng smiled in a way that she was surprise he could show so much joy in a single expression.

"And then I met someone I will never forget, this girl…." Saras's eyebrow raised as she was clearly listening to some childhood love story here. Han Feng was either telling the truth from the genuine expressions he held or he was a brilliant actor who deserved a place in the Toronto Academy of Canada.

"It might've just been a few days, but it was the most fun I ever had. Even if we didn't know each other's names nor cared to ask for it."

"So now are you going to tell me you exchanged some sort of trinket." Han Feng scratched his head awkwardly whilst laughing it off.

-Seriously?-

Saraswati lowered her handgun as she sensed no malice from his intentions, if anything it was too overwhelmingly ridiculous.

"So what was your friendship with Sugun? Don't tell me it was just a working relationship." She sat on the safehouse sofa with the gun on her lap.

"As a matter a fact, it was. You know how House Hamal has always had close ties with the Sun Clan. Getting together with tubby was just to let both of us know who was the next leaders of our respective families. But that pig was no friend."

"Alright, we're done-."

"I'm not." He insisted.

"We are."

"I'm still not done! You want to know the reason why your friend was raped, right?!"

"Shut up." She turned away not wanting to listen.

"I never liked Sugun but I bore with it for the sake of the family, I always practiced smiling in the mirror just in case. But believe me when I tell you that if you felt sick just looking at that fat pig then I was revolted by the things he did. Sugun had always been this bastard because his father allowed it and when he was sick of his half-siblings. He bullied his half-brother and beat his step-sister. Then one day, he proposed to whore her out to our training Company and his father or all people, didn't even flinch! That was how much she meant to them!"

Saras visibly shuddered when she heard this and turned around wiith a look of disbelief.

"I knew she didn't deserve it as did her brother, but who was I to stop that from happening. But it didn't mean I would turn a blind eye, so I expressed my desire to have a go with her first." Saras frowned as Han Feng waved out to stop the misunderstanding.

"I wanted to pretend! Pretend!- it was the only time I could be alone to ask if she wanted to leave with her brother. I'd arrange their export out of the country and say she ran away and I killed her."

"Say for a moment I believed you, that still doesn't justify what happened next does it." Saras replied in a cold tone, implying the attempted rape incident. And there was not cutting close corners with that one when Jeevan was a witness and both the deliverer of justice upon him.

"I admit, going in during her shower was the wrong time. But it still made a perfect alibi for Sugun to acknowledge. Of course, she was startled to see me in the bath as well…. But as she turned to face me, I had a strange feeling of nostalgia. It took the lines I rehearsed out of my mouth."

"You rehearsed lines?"

"I didn't have much contact with girls since I was a kid so please don't go laughing at me."

Saras suppressed the sudden desire to laugh, it was still a serious thing, to hear why he raped her friend Kanaan. But she couldn't help but feel that it was some sort of misunderstanding, whatever excuse he had cooked up better be believable.

"And just when I regained composure and told her to hush, I saw it." Han Feng dug into his shirt and took off a necklace holding it out for Sarsa to take. She received it and opened her hand to see what all the fuss was about.

In her hand was a small wooden figurine of a clam shell. And that was when she had the strangest of feelings she'd seen it before.

"This-…."

"Before we departed I gave that girl the other half of the shell."

Memories raced in her head as Saras recalled a time when they were two adolescent girls having fun and talking about secret crushes. Personally, she had a short crush for a boy she knew in the Dev family but she had a pretty low self-esteem back then and dressed boyishly. That boy got together with some bitchy girl too dense to notice her flaws. It was only during the Crystal Fall Ball when she wowed everyone with her transformation did he notice her beauty and charm and deeply regretted his decision. Adolescence was fun. And Kanaan was no different.

When she asked if she had a crush which she obviously did, she took out a necklace that was run through a wooden depiction of a shell. Saras asked her the reason why it was only half or was it supposed to be that way.

To which she replied and Saras recited before Han Feng. "As happy as a clam. And only by having two halves will our happiness be whole."

Han Feng's eyes widened and begun to tear once again, but not of sorrow.

"So, it really was her all this while…. Kanaan."

Saras was able to figure out the rest based upon all three of their accounts. Kanaan's, Jeevan's and Han Feng's. Han Feng was excited upon seeing the necklace pendant and wanted to inquire if it was hers or whether she got it from somewhere else. And became a little physical to the extent of grasping her shoulders, but given the place and situation it was enough evidence to convince Jeevan of the situation otherwise like a romp in the shower. Kanaan also misunderstood because Han Feng lacked the skilfulness in conveying himself.

It was at this point that Saras couldn't control herself and bursted out laughing at such a ridiculous incident. It should have been a happy ending, yet it turned for the worst in the worst possible way. Han Feng couldn't intervene in Jeevan's punishment because he had a position to uphold, he could only watch from afar as his misunderstanding was carried across. Thinking if she were in his shoes, it felt heart wretching. Someone so precious, so close and yet so far away.

Han feng sighed as he felt a great relief telling a very personal story that even his father hadn't. Saras was just about to accept this excuse when she recalled the events at the King's Birthday.

"You mind explaining the King's 49th Birthday while you're at it?"

"That was simple. I gave up. I knew she would hate me even if we were engaged but I didn't care. Let's just say I crossed a very dark bridge back then. And then her brother suggested he run away with her. Of course, I didn't want that! Whatever I said regarding sharing her around with my mates I wouldn't allow that. I know she wouldn't accept me in the beginning but over time… was what I hoped she would."

"You've just changed back my opinion of you."

"I'm glad you think that way at least. I'm not going to lie about what my intentions were, but sometimes if yearnings aren't fulfilled they can become obsessions. I had no one to talk about my problems, so how do you think my thoughts festered that way?"

"…"

"That ship has sailed. I know I can never try again. Just knowing she happy is good enough for me."

"Why are you doing this?" She asked him as he still didn't explain why, only gave her a brief history of his sob past.

"You were there, remember? At the Papirese Palace Garud Durbar." Saras could recall.

"You recall what Captain Kadayat said to me?"

"His retort about your dubious history of attempting to rape Kanaan?"

"Do you remember what happened next?"

"Hang on, was it when Badala reprimanded Bipin?" Han Feng nodded.

"Badala should've been supporting Bipin, so when he stood up for not just me but the Canton soldiers in general…. You couldn't possibly understand the feeling of liberation, for once in your life, someone doesn't judge you based on status, or whose kind you belong to. Colonel Min was right."

Saras couldn't help but let a smile creep on her face.

-So your big oaf heart touched even them.-

"I know that Colonel Min was on Badala's side, we all knew she didn't support the older Cantons' ways. We were willing to follow her if she did decide to turn her back on your elders."

"She? She?" She repeated as she clearly heard him call Samuel a she.

"Most unguarded secret in the 2nd Hussars, can you believe she still thinks we don't know? She thinks we're oblivious to the long nights of writing petitions in our implementations which I can assure you is a bitch to handle when your sponsors are stingy Cantons. She thinks we only care for glory, but if we had to chose we'd rather have her as our commander than kudos. And we're thankful for Bipin being at her side." Han Feng said in a light conversational manner and chuckled a bit.

"… Why doesn't she know that you lot know?"

"Uh-." Han Feng felt that he tripped on a landmine and began to sweat. Once again, her opinion of him dropped.

"Did you take part? Did you peek on Sam while she showered or changed?"

"….N- No comment." He turned away to hide the blush.

Saras's smile twitched.

"When this is over, Sam will know all about it."

"Madam!" Han Feng addressed her formally whilst getting on his knees, kow-towing and holding out his hands.

"If its possible please say it was just me, she'll believe it! But the lads- if possible, just them-."

When Han Feng unhesitantly stepped forward to take the heat off his fellow soldiers, it really put her in a difficult spot.

"(Sigh) You boys…. Jeez. But after this she'll need to know you were aware of her identity as a woman all along."

"Thank You, Madam!"

"Alright, get up. Please, its unslightly."

"Uh- ok. Huh?" as he got up, Han Feng was given a surprise embrace by Saras much to his shock.

"You protected my dear Kanaan and got hurt in the process. I hope you can rely on me in future to tell her how you feel." Han Feng couldn't control his emotions and drop to his knees where Saras caught him as he wept against her stomach.

"Saraswati…. Save us."

* * *

Rakshasa.

Who would have thought the creatures from his multiple delusions both by that damn inheritance of the Ghale family and the hallucinations at Durgesh would actually manifest here? The sight of him for the Royal Army was a relief like no other and terror for the Rebels and Golden Path.

Those Rakshasa saw him and held reservations upon fighting him, why? He didn't know. But they were massacring his men, so they were his enemy. A powerful shot from his bow piercing their ceramic mask eye slits instantly took them down and a powerful gust of wind blew their remains away like there were but sand illusions.

It gave the garrison forces the motivation they needed

"(Ancient language)." The Rakshasa, he encountered spoke in that familiar binaric tone as in his delusions. In fact, his entire fight against these new opponents were based entirely upon the visions of Kalinag fighting them. When one disappeared into the air, it felt as if its presence had shot off into the distance. Implying that killing them, didn't really "kill" them. This was just some form of physical manifestation to substitute their actual bodies somewhere hidden away. In other words, this wasn't even a fraction of what they could do.

But fifteen minutes into the fighting, there was a sudden change in the tide. Both the anxious Golden Path and the Rakshasa withdrew and headed in the general direction of the snowy peaks of Akaash Valley. It meant that the Golden Path were most likely hiding within the abandoned temples and monasteries up there. And where was air support when he needed it. A fuel-air explosive would have been enough to kill all of them taking shelter inside. One quick swoop would've put the Golden Path in a very bad situation that threatened it with disbanding.

Ajay knew they were nowhere close to done here as their strength was far from expended, yet they withdrew with urgency straight back to their likely hideout. Something was going on up there.

-Maybe they disturbed the Yetis.- Ajay humoured himself with that thought. Although the Lost Valley was a bit away from the Akaash valley mountains. Then again, supposed Yeti sightings weren't exclusive to Kyratis part of the Himalayas so maybe. But he knew where their origin point was.

Ajay used the local airwave channel to contact Brigadier Kul whom was surprised to hear from him but did not hesitate to update him on the situation.

"What?"

*That's what I said, but at this point with those-… Rakshasa appearing can you really discount this fact, your grace?*

"No. Its fine, I belief you. I'm heading over there now, meet me there when you've assigned your lieutenants to take control and force the rebels out from the fifth bastion."

*Yes, sir. It won't be easy though, since "they" appeared the Rebels just barred themselves inside their occupied bastion.*

"I wouldn't be surprise, its like being in a folktale."

*Like the Epic of Kalinag?*

"I certainly hope not, you do remember what was the last thing he faced, don't you?" Ajay's question was met with a genuine silence over the radio. It was something he was sure Gopan was praying that wouldn't be the reality here. Unfortunately for him and everyone else, Ajay knew it was either as bad or much much worse with her around.

He made his way to where vasu was last noted of being from Gopan's account, Bastion Three. The soldiers along the way brightened up upon seeing him, even giving a cheer as he or she spread the word that Badala was in Lanka. It helped made things more fluid with them when motivated, added to the brief respite from the absence of Golden Path and these monsters who shook them greatly to the core. Ajay couldn't pretend to the casualties sustained from the sudden attack from not one but three different parties, two on the same side.

His thoughts had made his journey to the bastion in search of Vasu faster than he expected. He found a silhouette of him near a rather familiar place for a certain first encounter. But he also found another person whom he had lots to ask.

"Vasu."

"Badala. We've you been?"

"Napping, what do you think?" As he got closer, he could see Vasu was in a bad shape but not grievous or mortal so it was fine.

"What happened here? And Darshan, hang on a moment." He said in case Darshan wanted to do that cool walk away thing he always did, it was annoying because he was impossible to find afterwards. Despite being part of Maya's cadre, the only time he was together was one of their first missions at Ratu Gadhi, where he pretended to be a pothead to a very bad degree of acting.

"My brother had a confrontation with the General of the North." Darshan instantly summarized everything that Vasu was doing here.

"Excuse me?"

"It was Bhaskar, the Golden Path scribe. Or at least that was what we knew him as." Vasu confirmed.

Ajay's mind was working out what Vasu was telling him, what it meant was that the Rakshasa had been hiding with them for a very long time.

"They've been here long before Kyrats conception." Darshan seemed to be ahead of him in predicting what he was thinking and answered his query with a certain accuracy.

"Wouldn't that mean that they could be anyone?" Vasu was not wrong with his assessment.

"I didn't spend sixteen years loitering Uttar for nothing." Darshan replied with confidence as he had combed every portion of the north for demons in hiding.

"How much does Yuma know of what you're doing?"

"Enough to know it keeps her operations going without delay or hindrance."

"Darshan-."

"How much of your Karma do you still retain?" These words made Ajay's hair stand, as if Darshan knew everything about him there was to know and was merely gauging what was left.

"….. Enough to get the job done."

"What's this about Karma?"

"Have you ever wondered how our young lord here was able to rein the beast so recently he could overpower you but then inflict maximum damage from its after affects? He was burning the Karma of his memories with those precious to him. Was that all, brother?"

"… What?!" Vasu turned to Ajay stunned that he would agree to do such a cruel thing to himself.

"And what's that about brother? You're no-."

"You declared you were a Khati, did you not? I too bear that name in case you'd forgotten."

"…." Vasu remained quiet as he got the point. "Fair enough."

"And you sat from afar watching me run about like a headless chicken, I gather." Ajay glared at Darshan with hostility. "Must have been amusing to see, huh?"

"Your fate is none of my concern."

"But Maya is, right? I don't know the reason but you hold her more carefully than even I would." Ajay stepped closer.

"I hope you aren't using her for whatever you're planning. Because if you are-…"

"Don't get bright with me, boy." Though he didn't shout, it was just as hostile as Ajay returned to him as they stared each other down. Ajay was feeling a strange nostalgia from him.

"But as much as i hate to admit... I will need your assistance." Darshan sighed as he admitted to the reality of his predicament.

"Who are you, Darshan? And what is your business here?" Ajay asked the number one question he had for him. Darshan sighed again, standing steady whilst he dug into his bag.

"The Army knows me as Specialist Major Darshan Khati, what I do keeps the paranormal away. That is their firm belief with the confirmation from Yuma, but they also know me for-."

"Locking us Devas away and killing Jaswant. And-… thank you, if you didn't kill him I don't know what would have happened."

"He was a raving lunatic."

"Sabal's brother? I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree." Ajay snorted as it seemed to be a trait common in Kyrats Rajput family, he'd have someone pay a close eye to them in future.

"But he was also her first mortal apostle before Mohan." He dropped the bomb hard.

-What?!- That exclamation of surprise failed to come out. So she tried more than once, but Darshan extinguished it.

Darshan took out an ancient medallion with the carvings of ten animals around its rim and a chakra wheel in the middle.

 **...**

 **Ten Vedic Talismans**

 **Ten Sacred Guardians**

 **...**

Those words rung in his head like something he'd heard before. He shrugged it off as Darshan watched his behavioural reaction to the seal medallion.

"As I've said, you know me as a specialist major in the Royal Guard. But I'm also something else."

He reached into his back and pulled out Ajay's lost slayer and held it out to return it to him.

"Ah-." Ajay accepted it back without hesitation, he was just happy to see it again after he'd gone through thick and thin with it.

"I am the Ninth Generation Inheritor of the Demon Banisher Order. And my sole intention is the extermination of body and soul-..." His knuckles cracked and teeth grit as he recalled his hated adversary.

"... To the Rakshasa Princess of Akaash."


	110. Chapter 101 - The Kingdom Strikes Back

Author's Notes:

It is approaching the 16th of July. To me it is a very special day for the more observant of you. It marks one full year of RaK. I went check the stats today and found it tops the long reigning FC3 stories as number one story in Farcry. I would like to express my thanks to all of you for your insight and support over the course of this story. Especially our first few readers, you are dearest to me.

This to me is a milestone for the Farcry Fanfict page to prove that FC4 or others are not irrelevant now and there are Writers out there that are capable of surpassing this milestone if they could dedicate some time and effort to writing a Farcry story. I hope my juniors who have just started writing one to eventually be better than me.

Viva La Farcry 4!

* * *

Having the helicopter was a genuine relief, to save on time travelling to Sagarmatha Airbase. On board were Ajay, Vasu and Darshan, including a hand-picked infantry section by Brigadier Kul who had the necessary information and knowledge in reseting the communications blackout. The clean up at Lanka went quicker than expected. 2nd Hussars and the three rebel regiments withdrew quicker than anticipated. Ajay was sure the witless Canton Lords would be furious that they left, but they weren't there to witness what kind of horrors the soldiers witnessed in half-a-day.

From Gopan's projections, they would likely fortify the North-West arsenal in Uttar near the town of Utkarsh belonging to Yuma as well as the route directly to the Royal Fortress and Ratu Gadhi. This strategy highlighted the stance the Rebels had chosen to take which was to try and wear the loyalists out and perhaps enter a ceasefire or attain victory. But they were pressing on time, the Royal Palace had been attacked since this morning and it was now dusk.

Gopan addressed the need for communications to be restored for them to receive further reinforcements and conveyance of dispatches quicker but the airbase was just as important. So Ajay decided that they should split up to accomplish different tasks. Darshan and the infantry section would storm the SADEC air defense command and regain control over the air traffic and Surface to Air Missiles. After that, he was heading back to the Hun Settlement on his own. Vasu would be dropped off to link up with a very special surprise unit he had for Arsenal Two also alerted via mosscode.

Vasu asked if he was bringing back assets overseas like the Jatayu Brigade, 1st Hussars or the 3rd and 4th Squadron Close air support assets but Ajay's answer was backed by majority of the Commanders of Southern Region. Recalling them would place doubt in the hearts of their allies in thinking they couldn't contain this situation and would put strain on the alliance where this rebellion was already doing so. The overseas assets didn't need to worry over something they could do on their own. Yinkes redevelopment was essential to all the states and it represented Kyrats part which it would play until the end.

As for Ajay, he would be jumping off on his own towards the Airbase to support and assert the situation with his employees of Lupus Caelum. The likely point of the jammer was on the mountaintop near the public commission relay, a strike mission with whatever air assets were available there. An Anti-radiation missile should do the trick in seeking out the jammer to save time.

As they flew, Ajay reflected on the conversation with Darshan.

"You won't find it in the annals of history anymore. It's become a forgotten event and reality, pre-dating the Mahājanapada era and after the Vedic period."

Darshan narrated the origin of the mountains and valley they called home to give them a better understanding of the enemy they fought.

"The legends went that an all-powerful Deva used a boon with the Himalayas to form our secluded valleys. He did so to resolve an age long enmity with the Rakshasa in general and restore Karma between them."

"So these lands were purpose built for them as the main inhabitance?" Darshan continued on without answering his question.

"There were other minority races and tribes there as well of course. The Rakshasa royalty did not bar access to the bountiful lands that the Deva gave them. And so, among the races that settled into what humanity called the lowlands, were man, Vanara monkey tribes, the Rakshasa themselves and the Yaksha spirits."

Ajay wasn't going to pretend he didn't find it all too surprising about the Vanara monkey tribes, those humanoid monkeys from the Ramayana epics. Hurk gave him side quests to find those three monkey statues and the temples that they were found in were lavished with monkey icons to some monkey god. But other entities like this Yaksha, this was the first time he'd heard of such a thing.

"The reason the valleys flourished within the seclusion of the icy mountains was due to the proximity of its natural law coinciding with Shangri-La. Or so it was said. And Shangri-la was the reason more immigrated into these valleys for the purpose of a religious pilgrimage."

"Now not all was peaceful between the races despite the hospitality that the Rakshasa provided. The Humans and Vanara especially grew too quickly and their civilisations boomed due to the richness of the essence in the air causing many to attain nirvana and ascension quicker than any would anticipate. And the Yaksha claimed the valleys were once theirs before that Deva had the mountains terraformed and had effectively evicted them without their consent, but who were they to challenge the might and judgement of a god."

"So they fought." Darshan nodded to Ajay's answer.

"They fought several bloody conflicts that redefined their territorial boundaries. The Deva whom had resolved his Karma had no obligation to intervene. So unfortunately for the Rakshasa, they were forced high up into the mountains in the valley of Akaash. The Vanara occupied much of the forests we know as Papir. The Yaksha were cunning in occupying the lakes, which was essential to all life and forced uneasy alliances upon its adversaries for their daily rations of water and food. The Humans were quick to dominate much of the valleys and formed the Lowland Kingdoms of the Kirata Dynasty and its successor the Devi Bloodline."

"So that's their purpose? They want their land back? It seems pretty roundabout in the way of achieving it." Vasu felt it seemed strange.

"Did I say they wanted the valleys?"

"…"

"So where did this mess start?" Ajay was more concerned about why there were no living Rakshasa in Akaash if that was where they settled in over thousands of years ago.

"At first, the valleys seemed to be at peace. There were alliances and mix marriages to create a bond between each of their cultures and races which weren't uncommon. The Rakshasa still possessed an important boon, which was the will of the gateway to Shangri-La. If they said you couldn't enter, then you couldn't."

It sounded like that should have been enough to keep the other races from attacking.

"But Rakshasa King didn't prevent their pilgrimages despite their differences."

"That sounds awfully kind for a Rakshasa."

"…"

"How do you even know all this, if it doesn't exist in any ancient text here?"

"Like I said, I am the 9th inheritor of the Demon Banishing Order, and among my inheritance is my predecessors' memories."

"So why didn't he prevent it?"

"I just have the details of what happen. If anyone should have the details it would be you." Darshan didn't want to answer that either and shoved him a different problem.

"Me?"

"The Akaashian Princess clearly holds you dear as someone she was acquainted to. So it was more than likely, you would have had memories of that individual and knew what became of the Rakshasa's downfall and what their King was like."

"Even if you say that-…."

-It's more than just acquaintance.-

She constantly invaded the sanctity of his dreams. And for an acquaintance spanning over thousands of years to have Karma stronger than his mother said something all together.

"… Did you ever consider disposing of me?" This sentence shook Vasu who was listening to their conversation. That though often occurred on his mind every time he encountered Darshan.

"…." Ajay didn't need to hear it from him, his eyes showed it. He should have felt it as early as their first mission, but because all the other members of the Hunter Cadre were at the time aiming for his throat. Perhaps the one event that stopped it was his subjugation of Bishal's man-eating mother. How much of him did Darshan know, he couldn't say. But there was still a slight distrust he felt towards him, the reason was quite simple. Darshan didn't either, if he did he would have come out sooner. It was like he said, he was approaching Ajay because he had no choice.

"This is not the first time she's tried to resurrect that person." Darshan seemed to know a lot about her as well.

"Why do you hunt her, Darshan?"

A silence matured between Darshan and him, Vasu found it uncomfortable. His face was essentially emotionless, but Ajay could read beyond facial expression from the eyes. And from those hazel orbs he could see his soul screaming its lungs out to the torment it was feeling everyday of living with the pain of her not dead.

Ajay sighed, though he failed to say or show it he knew now why he did the things he did. Darshan's loved ones became subject of collateral to her plans or maybe she was directly responsible for their deaths. Darshan was in no way going to tell him just as he hadn't for over sixteen years of when Shili encountered him in the forests and gave him his alias.

In the end, Darshan was no help in providing information. Either because he couldn't trust them or he didn't trust their abilities to handle the situation as he would. That was both dangerous as it meant his rogue intentions. If he was being too difficult, Ajay would kill him. Demon Banisher. That word had no meaning to him other than more effectiveness against the Rakshasa.

"Wouldn't it have been better to assemble troops at the crossing?" Vasu asked him again on the flight.

"We don't know when Golden Path will return, so we'll use whatever assets in the North to deal with the rebellion. Gopan will coordinate defences facing Akaash, the likely entry point of the Golden Path."

"I hope this strategy will work."

"You'll know once Kamran delivers you to the drop point." Those forces should be enough to even the odds for the Loyalist forces against the Armoured units the were in the rebels possession.

*Thirty seconds to tarmac.* Kamran announced on the intercom.

"That's my stop. Darshan….." The older man turned to him.

"When this is done, teach me how to hunt demons."

Darshan only responded with a stare into his eyes, as if to assess his current condition and if it were suitable for such a thing.

"That'll depend on your condition." Ajay acknowledged with a nod and faced out the open door.

Sagarmatha Airbase just lay beyond, but Kamran would not stop so as to save time. Instead Ajay jumped out of the helicopter over a thousand metres above ground. He had nothing to fear thanks to the wing suit integrated into the pack hardpoint of his armour specially designed to support additional weight of his hefty kit. Kamran deployed him a distance away from the Airbase due to the presence of Bofors AAA gun and Spyder SAM batteries near the control tower to provide standoff defense against air raids.

Ajay manuevered himself towards the heavily reinforced checkpoint gate for the perimeter fence. Reaching close to the ground, the automatic chute deployer kicked off and released the main chute and allowing a safe landing. His boots hit the ground sending dirty up and he automatically folded up the chute into the pack.

As he was doing all this from the cover of the munition crates, he noticed that eerie silence that stalked through the Airbase, something that shouldn't be the case if either his employees or the rebels controlling the airport would do. They would have preferred birds in the sky to provide air support.

-I don't like this.-

Ajay unslung his slayer and made a quick sprint to the control tower to get better vantage and perhaps meet with the control tower team.

(Pat) (Pat) (Pat)

His adept hearing picked out the sounds of fast moving footsteps around the corner, his body made an immediate stop behind the wall to wait for that individual to approach.

-Those are pretty light footsteps.-

He thought as he waited for the unknown with his kukri unsheathed carefully. When the figure entered his perception his muscles kicked in to grasp the targets mouth and knife to the throat. Be it enemy or foe, he would gather intel on the grounds before proceed-.

"Maya?"

"Oh my god… Ajay." Surprise was written throughout her facial expression. But one of joy as well.

* * *

There was no telling how long it would take till Ajay awoke from his comatosed state, it could have been years, he might never open them ever. That was Noore's medical answer.

So it was a great relief to see him up and about.

"You asshole, look what's happened because you fell asleep." Even though she said that, Ajay could tell she was happy he was awake.

"Thanks." Ajay ruffled her head much to her displeasure but gave him that moment of contact. He noticed she wasn't alone.

"Your Grace, it is good to see you've recovered." The Leader of the Hunter Pack called out respectfully.

"Glad to be back in the game. Didn't really want to wake up to this though."

"You already knew they were planning this so stop with the feint ignorance."

"I knew it would happen but not when, anyway, I've dispatched the initiatives so we're a go with launching Operation "Long Knives"."

If it didn't occur to the hunters accompanying Maya, then it was because it was a planned initiative that only Yuma, Pagan, Maya, Gary and Ajay knew. Operation Long Knives, named after the Night of Long Knives purge by Adolf Hitler in 1934 to bring to heel his paramilitary Sturmabteilung (SA), or more commonly known as the Brown Shirts. As cruel as it sounded, regicide was also the highest form of treason. It was all about the winner taking all.

Ajay acknowledged that he would likely face a majority of the former Royal Guard elements including divisions in the Royal army who were for the Canton Lords.

But the Canton Lords made a very serious error in their assumptions and intel on him. They thought his only means of retinue support was the Air Force squadrons and the Paratrooper Brigade now overseas. One of these hidden units were on standby awaiting Vasu to lead them in storming Arsenal Two. The other was a paramilitary organisation like the Tigers but different by their training, doctrine and allegiance. Soviet Union had the KGB now FSB. United States also had one in the form of the notorious CIA.

Pagan had a cache of spies at his command, they operated independently of one another so as to prevent intel leaks and control situations easier. But they were nothing more than individual spies or purpose-built assassins.

Gary had been the one who managed things thus far, and now it was left to him again to manage these volunteers who were part of a reserve action for defense of the motherland and resistance against the overthrowing elements.

Yuma christened them "Four Virtues" often referred to on encrypted messages as 4V after the Four Cardinal Virtues. As much as Ajay was opposed to the idea of something like the CIA, he hated an organisation that had so much power yet immuned to the judiciary. He agreed only on the condition that their penalty for failure and unauthorised actions be in the form of maximum punishment. The men and women volunteers would be handpicked by the monarch exclusively. They were a potential double-edged sword, and Ajay didn't really like sharp ends pointing his way.

But who was he to oppose the decision of three masters of intel and espionage craft.

"The Marshal and his family are being held by the Cantons."

"Does that include Saras?" Maya nodded anticipating he would ask that.

"We need to end this quick."

"How do you plan that?"

"Ascertain the status of the Airbase and scramble a jet to kill that jammer. When communication comes back up, the rebels will know they can't hope to take Kyrat any longer. Then gears will switch to preserving themselves in this hostile environment, hostages and human shields will be presented and so on."

"Then we need to act fast."

"Agreed. We'll check the control tower. Squad Leader, take your men to the SAM site."

"Sir?"

"Beneath the command module is a backup keycard to enter the SPYDER system and admit an override to the system to default. When you're in, insert the key into the master key slot and press the flashing red button. That should activate the automated defense."

"Aren't you sortieing the squadrons?" Maya asked perplexed.

"Since I came to this site, I haven't seen a single soul alive. So I don't know for a fact that the installation is truly under our control. Adding to that, if it was under the Cantons control then they should be up and about sending squadrons like us."

"True. That doesn't sit right."

"Let's go." The group divided into their teams. The Hunters went about their mission to restore the low-level air defense while Ajay and Maya were sufficient in locating his employees.

They moved cautiously through the open tarmac using whatever cover they could find from munition crates and aircraft that were left out in the open with their support vehicles around them.

After a long and eerie quiet trip they finally reached the base of the control tower.

"Can't understand why we ain't shooting them!" Upon hearing voices inside one of the rooms on the ground floor, Ajay motioned contacts.

"Don't ask me, I'm not the brains of the organisation."

"Huh! Not shit!"

They caught small talk going between minions of someone, and someone Ajay didn't fancy being around at a time like this. But they were, exploiting the fact that Kyrat was at war with itself.

-CNS operatives.-

The familiar ash-grey pixel camo and advanced armor with weapons was a signature trait that stood out like a sore thumb here.

"Stealth kill, slit their throats." He used sign language to relay to Maya on the otherside of the door.

(Thud) Ajay threw a stone against the crate outside.

"What was that?"

"Go check it out." The two operatives picked up their weapons and headed to the door. When the two stepped out-.

"Mu!" Ajay grabbed his.

"Hey-. Graargh!" Maya plunged her kukri through the armpit passed the segment armour.

"Mmgggghh!" The one which Ajay held with a hand over his mouth and a knife against his throat struggled.

"Ssshhhhhhhhh…. If I wanted to kill you, you'd already be dead." Ajay said as he took his hand off his mouth and used it to turn off his radio set on his left chest. His knife stayed where it was.

"P-Please I hav-."

"A family at home? How many times have I heard that? I've lost count. Where are you from?"

"… M-Minnesota."

"Ah… L'Étoile du Nord. Lemme guess, you couldn't buy into the quiet lifestyle, good paying job. You decided to be a good soldier instead. Fucked up along the way and signed yourself to Private Contractors instead."

"Wha-?"

"What's your name?"

"B-Bar-!"

"Yunno what, it doesn't really matter. I'll call you Minnesota, how bout that? So Minnesota, I'm gonna need something worth your weight in gold or my lovely girl over there is gonna mess you up worst than she did to Mitchell Reeves." It should have been common knowledge to them, the stalker unit leader was taken prisoner at the beginning of their landing. The Durgesh interrogators did their best to ply info but he was good, really good even for a mercenary who had no obligation to protect his employer's secrets.

"Then you're-.." He came to a revelation of who Ajay was. Recalling the earliest of attacks upon them in this wretched country.

"Let's start by asking how many of you are in the compound, what is your purpose here?"

"If I tell you, will you let me go?"

"That depends on the value of your intel. If you're rock solid, I might even send you on the next plane out to anywhere from Switzerland to Japan." The merc gulped.

"First off, where are my employees and the Airbase staff?"

"In the Hangar with those Sukhois."

"How many of you are there here?"

"F-Fifty! Commander Crow and that spook were here to get a transport plane."

Already, Ajay didn't like it. They wanted his AN-12 and Il-76 cargo planes but it was clearly not to get out with. One should have been sufficient for them to exfil out of Kyrat and yet they were going for all.

"Which spook?"

"Huh?"

"Does he have one leg or both?"

"B-Both! Alright I've told you everything so please- Gurrgh!" Ajay struck him on the neck which blacked him out. Maya watched him tie the merc, gag him and removed his radio and equipment.

"That's awfully nice of you." Maya questioned his normal self of ripping them apart even with info extracted.

"He was just a kid lost on his way. You saw how he shivered where his colleague would tell you to just get it over with."

"…"

Ajay sorted through the equipment he looted. Handing that XM8-style sabot firing rifle to Maya to improve her offensive capability thanks to the advance flechette ammo to counter their advanced bulletproof vests. Ajay tuned the radio till he got the right channel as it brimmed with chatter on their activities.

*Make sure those planes are fuelled an ready!*

*Aye, sir.*

*Dane, gimme an assessment on the Kyrati forces and ETA.* The radio channel was joined by the ambiguous Commander Crow, the Field Executive of the CNS operations here.

*Hey! Dom! Would ja hurry it up a bit, I don't wanna get my ass popped here of all places, if you get my meaning and pardon my French.* Ajay also didn't need to guess who spoke that way.

"Willis is here too." Maya stated her hundred percent assumption.

"What do we do?"

"Like hell they're taking those planes!" Ajay unholstered his bow.

*Black Eagle to White Deer, we've secured the SAM site and have captured the air defense system.* Maya's radio announced the Hunter's progress. Ajay motioned to Maya to hand it over which she did.

"Squad Leader, this is- yunno who it is. Here is your directive, do not let even a single plane take off from this runway. Do you hear me? Destroy any plane that attempts to leave this site. How copy."

*We read you, your grace and comply.*

"Good. Out." He said before passing back the radio and going on ahead of her.

"Hey!" She said as softly as possible when Ajay didn't wait for her.

When she reached next to Ajay from his sprinting he held out a pack of C4.

"Put this in a place near hangar five that goes boom. Then try to rescue the guys at hangar three." He said it in a dead serious tone that Maya chose not to object or hinder him and so took the satchel of C4.

Ajay tested the radio frequency of the detonator in his possession and nodded before running straight in the direction of said hangar. Unlike the Fighter Squadron hangars which had a higher priority so were given bomb-hardened hangars or hangars within the mountain, the transports had a lower priority with need of quick sortie and repair so occupied the hangar away from the cliff.

The rapidly approaching darkness began to set in making his approach concealed to a certain extent, as they still possessed nightvision but this transition between light and darkness was the period when night vision was not as clear.

Ajay reached into his quiver and drew out arrows on his hand in advance whilst running still. Even then, the operatives didn't seem to turn his way as they were focused on the unloading of the initial cargo on the plane for something else. Plus, they were pretty sure no one would come.

(Pow) His high torque arrow struck the throat of an overwatch guard as he advanced with great guile.

*6-2, 6-8 has not answered their comms go check things out with five others.* The communcations was already noticing the absence of the comms check from those two operatives he subdued, only a matter of time now.

*Aye Aye.*

(Pow) "Gguuughh!" Another victim guggled blood in his throat as an arrow pierced his neck as well.

"So I was say- hey!" (Pow) "Gurrghh!" One had unfortunately spotted him but was quickly put down by a clutch shot.

Ajay advanced into the hangar undetected and approached the first cargo plane from the service hatch. He entered and disabled the electronics by pulling out the main databank to the flight controls effectively rendering the aircraft inoperable. He had oftened watched how the technicians did their work, and they were only happy to show him the technical aspect of their jobs that white collar executives often shunned. Ajay was a layman through and through, so he possessed a willingness to learn mechanical operations like in his youth.

Wherever he advanced he also left a claymore surprise snuck between crates hoping the collateral wouldn't be so great upon the structural integrity of the hangar or the airframes.

He waited in cover as a random patrol passed by him, but he didn't let them go. So he snuck up on them and delivered a chain takedown upon the unsuspecting operatives.

Ajay was innately surprised that the CNS operatives had lasted this long without extended provisions like David's Force Recon Marines. It went to show that they weren't some push over group, which worried Ajay greatly especially due to their technological prowess that even their parent nations' armed force did not possess or have to field.

Who the hell were these CNS employees, and what was this conglomerate? Were they trying to take over the world or something?

Ajay had lots of queries but no one to answer them. Thankfully, there were two such people who had the privy knowledge he needed.

"Now to find Lynch or Willis. Heads says former, Tails says latter."

(Ping) Ajay flipped a coin to decide his pick to torture and interrogate. Upon the side that faced him, he smiled ever so brightly.

* * *

After placing the C4 where it needed to be she went in search of the employees and staff of Lupus Caelum. She interrogated another lone operative along the way, although she was not as forgiving as Ajay had been. What she wanted, she got.

The location of Willis.

For months, it had bugged her that Willis Huntley was so slippery he escaped from capture not once but three times. If there was a fourth then they were the fools for failing, they were already fools for failing three. Willis Huntley was the most destructive force on their country soil, because he brought forces that shouldn't have been here. He singlehandedly supplied Golden Path with dangerous materials. He was a cold war agent that should have been locked in a vault or assassinated in '89 when the Berlin Wall fell. These paranoid field agents were jeopardizing the world's safety just for small interests in the United States benefit. If she could, she would set an entire force of hunters upon the CIA headquarters in Langley if she was all powerful. But she wasn't, she was just Maya. But she was a proficient hunter to say the least.

She arrived at Hangar Three where the prisoners were likely held and peeked in through the window. The entire floor was filled with the employees and staff sitting crosslegged but hands tied to their backs. She wasn't a fool to approach Willis on her own, she needed help.

She caught glance of five guards roaming around to keep them in check, after mapping their destination on their pattern of patrol around the hostages, she snuck in.

The first of the guards she slit her kukri between the back of his neck whilst a hand wrapped over his mouth. Easy. The staff noticed her arrival and pretended she wasn't there to avoid arousing suspicion. She killed another the same way but unfortunately-. "huh? Hey!-."

Maya was ready to fire back with the commandeered rifle, but her targets were grappled by mercenaries she was familiar with. Paul and Michelle overpowered two, and Maya took out a throwing knife laced in a secret poison to kill the last.

She indid the bindings to Chief Khalid and Commander Rohan and left them to undo the rest.

"Nice of you to drop by." Paul took up the fallen weapon and ammo to inspect.

"You both already had your bindings undone, you were just waiting for the moment." Paul rubbed his head and laughed.

"The lady reads us like a book." He said to Michelle but she ignored him.

"Merci, cher." She instead thanked Maya wholeheartedly.

"I need your help."

"Oh. The beautiful lady is asking for our help." Paul was all ears.

"What do you need, Cher?" Michelle was agreeable to Paul just this once.

Maya smiled and explained.

In five minutes, the employees were free and getting equipped for another firefight. Five accompanied Maya including Paul and Michelle to go about their mission. Get Willis, dead or alive. Alive would be very beneficial, but dead would save them all the hassle. Maya was aware of their prowess from day one of their employment, Longinus had often talked to them about life and occasionally tried to convert them to no effect. They were the real deal in combat, something that could only be breed from the most brutal of conflicts where the casualty rate was above eighty percent.

The operative she'd tortured informed her of the whereabouts of Lynch and Willis together in Hangar Two which if Maya was correct was occupied by the reconnaissance aircraft.

(Woooooooo) At this time, the sirens went off, informing the whole air base of an attack. Tracers flew in the far end of hangar five. She did not need to guess who they encountered from the frantic screams and random explosions from the use of heavy ordnance to take him down.

If it was the Ajay from when she first met him, he might have been pinned. But after every battle, every confrontation, he seemed to become stronger, more powerful. Fulfilling the name his mother gave him, Unstoppable. What would he do with all that strength when this conflict came to a close?

"Ready and waiting, sweetheart." Paul said as they prepped a door breach manuever. The Hangar was one way, so they were cornered inside.

"Do it." Maya signalled the breach.

Paul flipped the switch to the improvised plastic explosive used to blow a whole into the doors.

(BOOM) The section blasted away fell inward.

(Ping) (Ping) (BANG) (BANG) And two flashbangs were thrown in.

Paul advanced with another armed merc as they coolly entered the premise and gunned down the hapless CNS operatives that were around. They took a few shots to down due to the advanced nature of their armour but they weren't invincible.

Willis and Lynch stood stunned amidst the one-sided killing. When all eight operatives guarding them fell motionless to the ground.

Willis and Lynch obediently raised their hands.

"Do you remember me?" Maya said in a cold tone.

"That sweetpea that caught me that time, Kadiwat or some- (Bang). ARghh!" A shot struck him in the shoulder and just happened to graze him only. It still hurt as he clasped it.

"Serves you righ- (Bang) Aarrgghh! What the fuck?!" Maya shot Lynch as well in the shoulder but was a solid hit. Willis chuckled painfully.

"You-… You are just some piece of work." He said not at all afraid.

"Don't talk, don't fucking open your mouth again! Just lie there with your hand behind your head if you have even the slightest value in your life!" She motioned the two mercenaries two cuff them with the cable tie.

"Uh!-Alright, but before me and shitface over there surrender. Can you just answer this one question?"

Maya was reluctant to let another of his poisonous lies leak from his mouth. But considering their endgame she had no reason to stop them from singing the things they wanted to hear anyway.

"Out with it!"

"Alright, just a simple question in regards to generation gap….."

A sudden surge in her sixth sense was telling her that danger was nearby and death was imminent.

"Have you ever heard of Reaganomics?"

(Bang) (Ping)

A shot zipped out of nowhere and was about to strike her. Had it not been for Ajay who wretched her away and stood in the way of the high-powered bullet's trajectory, letting the armoured gauntlets of his absorb the precision shot. Her life would have ended, had Ajay not heard that phrase in his previous life. The word 'Reaganomics' was his signal to unleash hell. But this time, it proved to be Willis's undoing as he stared at Ajay with fear and disbelief as to how he was able to react that quickly.

"That's not a gun." He said as he pulled out his slayer and aimed at the catwalk with nothing there.

(Boom) His shot flew and struck something in the air which caused an invisible presence to get slammed into the walls by the additional energy delivered from the .700 nitro slug. On the place that Ajay struck the invisible force, static was sent cascading from it and grew in size till the camo fizzed out and revealed a humanoid figure donned in some sort of power suit with a red visor.

"This is a gun." He said with a grin.

Then static fizzed on both sides of the power suit man kneeling to recover from the shot, revealing two more suits.

"Mitchell? Is that you?" Ajay called out to the suit he'd struck. To which the suit man shuddered that he could pick him out when his visor obscured his face. He relived the terror of his torture in Durgesh even though Solomon had arranged for his freedom during the Rebellion.

"Then, those two must be your Commanders. Hello. Nice to see you again- and by the way... Nice suit."

*Badala.* The mechanical voice replied to him. The three suits made a jump that spanned five metres across and ten down effortlessly crushing the floor beneath their weight, showing the true capabilities of the suit in superhuman feats. They landed around Ajay causing the rest to back away unsure of what to do with something this absurdly unfamiliar situation they'd gotten themselves into.

Paul just whistled.

"Maya, Paul, Michelle. Please watch over our spooks and make sure they don't wiggle away this time." He said as he dropped his slayer on the floor and also put down his bow. This action puzzled the three in power suits as they wanted to force him into surrender instead but what he said didn't sound like he was willing. He discarded his weapons and harness as well and drew his kukri exclusively making it more confusing.

And to further their bewilderment, Ajay beckoned them with his finger to come.

"You didn't bring those expensive suits just for show, did you?" This sentence made Dominic aware of what he meant. He wanted them to fight him, all three against one. Sure, he didn't know the potential of this tech that didn't officially exist but it didn't mean he didn't understand the potential of it from novels or sci-fict.

Dane was already raring to go and went ahead without his consent. Ajay smiled from ear to ear when they had given in to his provocation. They'd brought something he did not even have the remote idea existed till today, but even so it excited him that it existed during this time. Most of all, he wanted them to fight him.

-I couldn't think of a more perfect scenario to try us out.-

He licked his lips and stared at them with dangerous amber glowing irises.

* * *

Vasu was the last onboard the helicopter with Kamran when the Hunters deployed under Darshan to retake the Air Defense Network on foot. Vasu found himself reflecting upon what Darshan shared with him about Jaswant Rajput, his brother and fellow Deva. Jaswant had taken the same path as Mohan but unlike Mohan, he was unaware of any other apostles because the witch didn't have much faith in his abilities. And it was a good investment to see the potential of Kyrat as well as keep intel from leaking which was good especially with Darshan around since then.

However, he did uncover a conspiracy the witch had intended for Kyrat to topple on its own over time, this was to cloud Pagan's sister Yuma with visions of Shangri-La in the hopes that it would slowly eat at her sanity and she would turn against Pagan. That plan was foiled and Darshan earned her trust since then. As far is that theory was concerned, Darshan had been sweeping Kyrat for supernatural entities for sixteen years and killing them. Ghouls, Rakshasa and Yaksha. All strays that devoured man he destroyed.

*Lord Khati, we've arrived.*

"Kamran, was it? Thank you."

*I'm just doing my job.* He could tasted some conflict from Kamran's tone, clearly he was among the many that didn't favour Vasu's amnesty as easily.

They hovered over the forest canopy where Ajay's coordinates had indicated their rendezvous with this unclassified unit of the Air Force. He hadn't said much about this over-sized battalion other than it was a support wing to the Jatayu Brigade.

(creek) The bushes snapped to the sudden movement. And Vasu scanned the quiet forest grounds that Kamran dropped him in before leaving. Where he was go, he didn't know.

"Lord Khati?" Two Officers in the grey maritime blue uniforms emerged from the bushes.

"Yes?"

"Lord Khati, I'm Lieutenant-Colonel Jha of the 6th Airborne Support Battalion." The older one saluted.

"I'm Major Lobsang, Yinkian Republican Guard."

"Republican Guard?"

"The Major is here as a military guest to the Royal Academy, before this he was the liason and adjutant of Colonel Dema the current Chief of Army." The Kyrati officer informed him of Lobsang's status.

"I see, forgive us for this unfortunate event that ruined your trip here."

"Not at all, sir. If anything, I'm glad to partake."

"I think it would be better that you say out of this." Vasu was concerned for their national conflicts if he were to take up arms during this rebellion.

"That's quite unnecessary, sir. You see, His Grace has given me a special task in this fight."

Vasu was surprised he had a part to play in this.

"Which is?"

"To counter the Architect of the Republican Guards' lost during the last war. I'm here to help you beat 2nd Hussars' Bipin Kadayat." Vasu had very little prior knowledge regarding the Kyrati-Yinkian War apart from the happenings at Xue Lu and the fall of the Military Chain of Command in a day thanks to the Air Force.

"And how do you intend to fight a fully-motorized battalion, forgive me for saying this but aren't you a support replenishment battalion to the main Jatayu force?" The Commander of the battalion wanted to snicker at his remark as did the Yinkian Major but they held back for the sake of Vasu's appointment.

"Perhaps, my lord. The name support was too modest in designation for what we are. But these were Lord Badala's instructions so that we would be overlooked by the rebels now."

Vasu figured out that Ajay had anticipated this day would come and had put in place several contingency plans like he should have to deal with the rebellion appropriately. So theoretically, they would outmatch the Rebels. However, the practical aspect still fell to the quality of the soldiers and commanders on the field.

The Commander pushed aside the brushes for Vasu to walk through, apparently the unit was on the otherside. He had to hand it to him for concealing the battalion so well he didn't even notice them till the Commander made a sound.

But as he walked through to the opening on the other side, he was left flabbergasted.

-So this is why you had such confidence.-

Before him lay and entire convoy of armoured vehicles. Vasu was unaware of what vehicles they were, but they were heavily armed, perhaps even more than the 2nd Hussars in some areas.

But to Lieutenant-Colonel Jha and Major Lobsang, these were their mobile steeds. Russian-made BMP-3s, sporting low-pressure 100mm guns for anti-personnel role and a sidemounted 30mm autocannon for defeating armoured targets and soft-skinned vehicles. These were the work horse of the battalion, even though there were other variants like an ATGM version, an engineering vehicle and more.

Kyrat had a special nature of specifications due to poor road infrastructure and bridges. Vehicles could not weigh more than 20 tons or the roads would experience erosion long term and the bridges would give way. That was why 2nd and 1st Hussars wheeled vehicles were fine and became the most powerful land system till now. But after the war against Yinke, it became apparent that wheeled vehicles were inferior to tracked vehicles on cross-country terrain like the mountainous Yinke. Not everywhere had simple roads and so the Yinkian Armour had a mobility advantage to the Hussars.

The Royal Air Force doctrines had changed drastically since then. They projected that the Airforce Ground troops would be deployed overseas rather than at home, so therefore it was better to optimise them for overseas deployments. The Airforce troops depended upon the Hussars for Armoured support extensively and it highlighted a niche they could have filled on their own. So the 6th Airborne Support Battalion, or Airborne Mechanised Battalion was conceived with a little insight from the armour-wise Major Lobsang of the Yinkian Army.

The men were armed to the teeth with weapons and rocket launchers loaded up onto their IFVs and ready to move out.

Vasu nodded to himself whilst smiling. Was he even necessary in this fight? Was there a need for him to lead them? He looked down at the strange sword in a scabbard provided by Darshan. Reminded of the horrors of the Rakshasa, that did not put humanity in their eyes and slaughtered the troops at Lanka with wanton destruction. He looked at the young and eager faces of the tanker soldiers, ready to fight the good fight. Good Honest men, ready to fill the mass graves till it overflowed. His hand tightened around the handle as he thought of such things.

-No. I've been given this mission both by him and destiny. I'm here to ensure they have a tomorrow to return to.-

The branded mark of his wrist began to heat up without his intent.

Vasu looked in the direction of the Air Base.

"… You put your trust in me, I shall fulfil it. Your Highness."

* * *

Author's Notes:

Side story 101(h) attached as usual. Enjoy.


	111. Chapter 101(h) - A Farcry from Home

Author's Notes:

Attached to Chp 101

* * *

-Year 2055-

"I hate these school trips!" Tabatha complained.

"Ha! Tell me about it!" Her friend was only supportive of her opinion but it did not discourage her eagerness to visit the restricted sights. She tapped away at the holopad whilst the journey was still some time.

Tabatha preferred to spend that time on her latest story. She was still an amateur at writing but it was something she enjoyed. Her favourite writer, S. Roka had inspired her dream to become a writer herself, she instantly fell in love with one of the romance novels she wrote that was a best seller for decades. A part of her always felt that the story was based on an actual account, but there were parts that were too surreal to be real as well. Then again, it was fiction so of course there were parts that weren't real or were overglorified in some way.

Instead, she was dragged into this compulsory trip to an old civil war site.

"Remembering our fathers' and mothers' sacrifices." Were the words used by their aged history teacher Mr De Costa. Word went around that he had once been part of the fabled Mercenary Corp. Lupus Caelum. But those stories of past were buried away by him and the authorities. He was now a grandfather to a large Italian migrant family settled here two generations in Kyrat. But he was the pioneer of that generation.

The bus ride through the populated urban metropolitian areas was a pleasant one at least, thanks to the sweet smell of cakes from a confectionary store nearby and the general ambience of a city. The school bus made its way through a military checkpoint, heading upwards to the cliffs. And where was their destination for this education field trip of theirs?

"Look!" One of her more popular classmates pointed out towards the old abandoned fortress upon the cliff. The remains of the longest and most brutal fighting in the history of the Himalayas.

The Old Royal Fortress. Once the central keep of military might, now a shadow of its former self. Dipilidated and left to crumble to age.

The bus stopped right outside a half-rented gate.

Their History Teacher was the first to come out hobbling on his walking stick, followed by a liason Officer for the school field trip. To ensure they didn't leave the premise with anything dangerous. She couldn't remember that guy's name, only that he was a retired Major and a veteran of the Elipse Wars. A compliation of all the civil wars, wars and confrontations the Himavana Federation had against itself, terrorist organisations, the United States and People's Republic of China from 1988 to 2015. Sometimes the old folks dubbed it the Long Wars for its duration. This year was the approaching end of the Kyrati Queen's hold over the office as head of state before its rotation with another states' Monarch or President. The news said that because Yinke had the largest number of seats presently in Parliament, their President would be the next leader to their Federation of states. Other than that, was the news of the UNs' dissolution due to permanent security members abuse of powers coming to light. How would this fractured world piece itself together again?

"Alright, you lot. Come out quickly and form up. We don't have all day here, Con Fretta."

The students got off the bus lazily but briskly.

"A don't believe it…. The Fortress of the Royal Armys' last stand!"

"Yippee…" Tabatha said void of excitement and appeared more out of sarcasm instead.

"Gather around, I don't want to raise my voice at you brats. Now, as we're gone through before with Mr Layak please do not touch anything from the floor or around you. There may be unexploded munitions lying around so I advise caution. Now I shall pass the flag on to Mr Layak. Layak, if you please?"

"Thank you, sir. Now, as you know this fortress has nearly two hundred years of history. Used to initially fend off the British Empire-….." The guide continued on and on about the long stretched history of this rotting history while moving slowly through the large bastion gate being plied open by something powerful.

One of the boys stood at the rented opening and placed his hands against the rented metal. "Huurrrrgh!" He acted out the pose of opening the gate with his barehands.

"Alright, superman! Your up front, don't step on any claymores on the way." Mr De Costa warned him. He just laughed and followed his friends to scout ahead but not out of Mr Layak's sight.

"Boys…" Tabatha shook her head and walked through the arch of rented metal.

"Huh?" As she was crossing into the compound her eyes seemed to pick up bends in the metal area that looked like handprints. The picture of someone plying the gate open was revisualised in her head thanks to the earlier demonstration by her classmates.

-I must be daydreaming.- That gate was at least a few tons and inches thick of steel.

"Glad you could come, Tabatha." Mr De Costa held out a hand for her as there were ditches of water puddles between them.

"Weren't you the one that prevented me from skipping?"

"If you really wanted to skip, then no one could have stopped you from running."

Tabatha sighed.

"How's that story coming along?"

"…."

"Are you going to let me review it again?"

"With the amount of criticism, you gave the last time. I just might lose interest all together."

"Tabatha, part of writing is to find your weaknesses and improve upon it. That's what makes excellent writers." Her teacher encouraged.

"Whatever…" She walked along to catch up with the group.

"Didn't you once say, you wanted to be like S. Roka?"

Tabatha stopped where she was.

"You don't know the next thing to writing. You're just an old teacher that teaches us mistakes of our forefathers!"

"I've known Madam Roka for a very long time, nearly forty years. We still chat once in a while to check on how each other are doing. So in a way, I knew the elements that inspired her stories, Tabatha. Exposure, this is what you need for your story to be felt by your readers and tug at their emotions as if they were there. I'm not in the privy of saying what she'd gone through but I can say that those books don't even capture half of the fighting, the adventure and flames that brewed between her and her husband….. and the tragedy of it all. Writing comes from the heart. I hope that this trip would encourage you to venture out on your own to give you fresh new ideas."

Listening to his logical explanation, Tabatha had a tinge of pride that said he was wrong even though all he said was the truth. It hurt her pride to know she was not even in the same league as regular writers. So she walked off to the front of the group.

Her history teacher shook his head and chuckled.

"Kids these days, right?" He said as if the fortress had spirits dwelling within the walls. He pretended he heard the laughter returning back from his comment.

* * *

"What's that old bag on about?" She had a tantrum the entire way that her friend noticed and giggled at her dispute with Mr De Costa.

"'nother comedy skit?"

"Shut up, QingYue."

"Oh, don't be like that. Say, wanna come to my place after this?"

"I dunno…. I don't like the smell of your dad's breath." Her friend couldn't help but laugh.

"I'm sure he'd be very upset to hear that. He's been trying to replicate the tribe-secret Bai Jiu to impress the Matriarch."

"It's not my fault he sucks." Tabatha replied.

"I'll second that." Her friend's twin brother raised his hand.

"Alright, get going." Her friend slapped his shoulder.

"Aren't you going to be a good big brother to act as our meat shield against "hidden unexploded munitions"?"

"Am I your brother again?" He retorted but went forward after she threatened another slap.

"So what did, Mr De Costa say this time?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing would get you upset."

"(Sigh) It's nothing, he just said to widen my perspective or something." Her friend folded her arms.

"What?"

"Ok, everyone! You're free to explore, just be back here by 1300 and that's 1pm for those you can't understand. If you are in need of assistance or help, don't hesitate to hail me on your smartwatch. Right, have fun and be careful." Mr Layak let them run off.

"Say, where's Mr De Costa?" Tabatha noticed the absence of their history teacher.

"Maybe he stayed at the entrance, who knows."

"I heard there are ghosts of dissatisfied soldiers who died here in that final battle." Her group naturally formed to accompany her wherever they pleased in the grounds of the old Royal Fortress.

"Chill off, Vid."

"Right, where to boss?" The boys were eager to let her and QingYue lead the way as they followed.

Tabatha looked around the rubble and scorch marks from some huge rounds penetrating the concrete.

"How bout we head off to the Command Theatre of operations?" One of the military geeks in her class suggested.

"What's that?" QingYue asked with interest already showing on her face.

"That's usually the place where the Generals gather to discuss strategy and moves. Should be pretty identifiable from inside maps and a huge table with figurines representing army units are." QingYue was eager to see such a place but didn't want to sweat looking for it, so she devised a plan to have the rest help out.

"Ok! First mission, first one to find this Theatre of operations room gets a kiss from Tabs!"

"OI!"

"Sold!"

"Eat my dirt, I'm getting those lips, losers!"

The boys with them and those that heard her declaration went in a wild frenzy searching for the Threatre of War.

"What have you done!"

"Meh!" The playful QingYue just shrugged her shoulders.

Tabatha didn't want to fulfil that promise, she wanted to have a normal relation and share her affections with that person. Knowing the boys, they'd take it a step too far and get a French kiss out of her or worse. Was she that desirable? She didn't want to stay around to find out, though QingYue's twin was quite aggressive in his stance to find the Theatre of operations room.

-Maybe him.-

If she had the choice, she wouldn't let any of them.

"Huh?" As usual her perception was better than her average fourteen-year-old. What she saw was Mr De Costa walking purposefully through the ruins with a bottle of whisky dangling from his free hand while the other hand rested upon the waling stick to bring him there.

Where was this there? She wondered. What business did Mr De Costa have in the ruins of the old and terrible conflict that raged on here?

She followed closely behind so as not to be caught suspiciously tracing him. It would serve as a preoccupant and provide her a place to stay hidden from the rest.

She followed Mr De Costa through the maze of corridors, amazed that he knew his way around the complex.

-He's definitely been here before.-

Tabatha was wholeheartedly convinced of this. As she walked through the same corridors, she bore witness to some things that didn't seem appropriate or were just down right eerie.

Like claw marks in the concrete that were at least two inches deep and craters where bodies slammed into metal struts or the concrete walls and floor. Like monsters were fighting within these very corridors.

After some distance, she saw him walk into a room was lights own. How strange when the power to these areas had been cut nearly four decades ago. Perhaps it was a backup generator, her family had one in the back to power the house in case of blackout. Not that it ever was a problem when the State had a nuclear power plant feeding their households with plentiful power supply. Still, why did Dad even bother to fix one?

She crept as silently as possible to the doorway and listened first before daring a peek.

"Is this all that's left? (Sigh)."

"What can we say, Samson? We're getting old."

"And mellow might I add." Someone joked and was followed with an entire audience of laughter which surprised the hell out of Tabatha who was only expecting Mr De Costa and someone else.

"Alright settle down! Settle down!" Another old voice called out.

"Where's Madam Roka?" One asked. To which Tabatha became shocked her inspiration was mentioned as a part of this group.

"I'm sorry to relay that Saraswati won't be coming. She wants to spend the day with her grandkids." Said Mr De Costa. There was much talking but overall, they accepted the fact.

Tabatha took this chance to peek into the room which seemed to resemble the description that military geek classmate mentioned of the premise of the Theatre of operations room. She found it. But she also found a room full of well-dressed old people ranging from sixty to as old as ninety.

"You sure those brats won't find this place?"

"They haven't got the slightest clue, I bet not even a single one of them even remotely knows what a TO is."

"Couldn't you have taken leave from work today instead?"

"(Sigh) Don't even ask what my Head of Departments is thinking in that young upstart head of his." Mr De Costa cursed his school superior.

Then a quietness stalked the room and Mr De Costa spoke again.

"Glad to have all of you here with us."

"""Glad to be here, alive.""" The crowd replied to Mr De Costa.

"We stand where our friend and family would only be among us in spirit. We survived a hell with no seeming end to it. But we prevailed, not alone but by the side of our demon."

Tabatha listened on as he seemed to mention something that even history books seem to miss out.

"To friendships everlasting, to bonds unbreakable, and to hearts unwaivering. I salute you for being here in their stead and here for those long gone."

"Here! Here!"

The crowd cheered and drank down the shot of whisky from his large bottle.

"You didn't bring enough!"

"No one drinks like they're still in a young party mood, Anish." Mr De Costa said to some elderly guy with the finest suit among the rest.

"If fact, where's all that alcohol you keep in that cellar the last time we visited."

Laughs were heard and the old man too laughed.

"I drunk it all! Haha! I drunk-….(sob)….. I drunk-… it all-…." The old man began to cry.

The room became silent. Then Mr De Costa asked.

"Did you drink their share as well?"

"… Every drop."

"…. Good. Anish….. Good."

Mr De Costa reached into the back of his jacket and pulled out an engraved kukri. All the other oldies did the same, pulling out matching ceremonial knives with ancient engravings of vedic scripts worked into the iron. They held out their knives in front of them.

It was clear to see that Mr De Costa had a serious connection with this group. A cult? A Fraternity? Or just a gathering of old warriors. Tabatha was the only one to bear witness to this secret gathering exclusive to only them.

"Ajay, if you're hearing this. We've lived long and prosperous lives. We've had the privilege of seeing our children and grandchildren grow up into wonderful human beings. All is good in Kyrat with you watching over us. Our children might seem vain and wasteful, but-….. there are some good kids out there that I'll know you'll appreciate. Your legend of Badala, the wrathful asura is waning away little by little."

Tabatha's eyes widen, the history books. What Mr De Costa taught to them, all of it didn't match what he was saying. Why? If what he said was true, then why? Why was history so shrouded? She couldn't understand.

"But I think it's alright. The time of peace you worked so hard to accomplish with your blood spilt on this soil has not been in vain. Your spirit will always be remembered even when we're long gone. Kyrat will prevail."

"You will always be, Kyrats greatest hero."

Mr De Costa raised his kukri.

"When our time comes, promise to let us enter Shangri-La. So we may fight alongside you against the enemy."

"Present!" One man shouted and the whole group raised their engraved kukris in the air.

"Courage."

"""Honour!"""

"Loyalty."

"""Eternal!"""

* * *

Tabatha made her way out of the premise as quickly as possible whilst they were still occupied with talking to one another to check up. When she returned to the meeting point, the boys wore saddened expressions.

"Tabs, give us a consolation prize instead!" QingYue's brother shamelessly pursed out his lips.

(Smack)

"OOOuuuuu!" He wailed in pain as his tactless sister flung her back hand towards it and collided with his mouth.

"Loser's weepers. So Tabs, did you find anything interesting while we were gone?"

"Uh-…um." She hesitantly agreed and got QingYue wondering what it was.

"Mmmm…" QingYue was not convinced but let it go.

"Alright, boys and girls. I hope this trip was well worth your time. Some might've found it a waste…"

Mr De Costa looked in her direction. "While some of you had the privilege of finding some unique insight."

Tabatha's heart sunk, she was guessing if Mr De Costa knew she had been spying on them or was it just her guilty conscience playing with her.

Either way, it didn't prevent their trip back to school before their dismissal.

"Tabs, wanna grab a bite before we go home?"

"Uh- sure."

"…. You've been pretty off lately since we visited the fortress ruins."

"Like I said, I'm fine. Just-…. Pictured what it would be like fighting in that fortress back then."

"Wow, the irony. First an advocate now a sympathist."

"Tabatha. May I have a word with you?" Mr De Costa called out.

"Mr De Costa! Well, I'll wait for you at the station. How about that?"

"Thanks, QingYue." Tabatha waved as she dismissed herself from the school.

"Mr De Costa, I-.."

"You think an old man like me wouldn't hear those elephant footsteps behind me?"

"E-Elephant?!" It was a bit exaggerative on Tabatha's end.

"…. So did your trip widen your prespectives a little?" He said with a wide smile.

Tabatha lowered her head thinking about the things that were conversed.

"Ajay…. Ajay Ghale was the Demon?" There was no answer from Mr De Costa, just a wry smile.

"So why?"

"Why what? I'm sure your English Teacher did not neglect her duties."

"You know what I mean, why was this not in the history books?"

"Child, have I not taught you this in the very first lesson? "History, its written by the victor."."

"But weren't you?"

"We were, he was. And this is the history we chose."

"….. Why?"

"There are too many scars of war from the Long Wars. It was a unanimous decision by the people and the monarch of the time. Even so, he will not be forgotten. Even when we, the last who hold his memory vanish from the earth, he will always be watching over our descendants for eternity. And protecting them, protecting you from the greatest evil that has ever lived in these valleys."

Tabatha was curious as to why it sounded more and more like a cult.

"The Asura of Kyrat will always be so long as the monsters that tried to devour Kyrat persist."

The history books and the accounting from Mr De Costa was a league apart. Which was true and which was false? Did it really matter? Tabatha came to a revelation on her point of view regarding story writing and Mr De Costa could see it mature in her eyes.

"I wish you well on your next story." He said before hobbling off with a pipe in his mouth.

Tabatha was left alone with this new open mind towards stories.

Tabatha rejoined her friends excitedly as they enjoyed a meal together to booster her calories for a late-night burning of oil. She didn't slow even a second after getting off the bus as she rushed through the street to her family home in the residential apartments.

(Bam) "I'm home!" She pushed the door quickly to get on with what she had intended to do since heading home.

"Welcome-.. op!- My dear, where are you off to in such a hurry?" Her mother chuckled away.

"I'll have dinner late, thanks mom!" She said without stopping and entered her room. The lamp to her desk was turned on and the stack of fresh A4 paper was placed on her writing table. She often enjoyed the scribbling over type on the computer any day.

Her previous story in the works was shelved in her file organiser as she placed the first page of her newest works in progress on the table.

Tabatha was ever grateful to Mr De Costa for that truly intriguing insight, perhaps she was the first outsider to witness that gathering in over four decades those veterans lived on.

Ajay Ghale, the son of the Golden Path. Was the nemesis of Golden Path itself! History seemed to have forgotten the anti-thesis of Golden Path, Badala the demon of lanka. Or what history books wrote as the forgotten duke. Many historians debated if his existence was real or was it just one of those instances of Schrodinger's Cat. Existing only because they believed he was, perhaps it was just a mere propaganda figure to roost resistance against Golden Path. Mr De Costa and those aged veterans proved that he was every bit real.

He had been forgotten, and it was all by his own doing. The saying of "Don't have wicked intentions, less the demon of Lanka devour you." Was built to keep the governing power of Kyrat in check so they would not fall into depravity and cause their nation to fall into rot.

Whether it was really the case or not. Mr De Costa had inspired her in looking at things from a different perspective, make the audience think it was just something normal then surprise them with a completely unsuspecting plot. Just as surprised as she was to hear those outlandish things they said.

Tabatha tapped her fountain pen on the desk as she thought up the most important step in her new story. What would she name it? A light bulb appeared over her as she stumbled upon something to use and double checked the dictionary app to see if there was a word that could summarize it.

Carefully, she sketched the outline of that title into the first page.

The title she choose, represented the beginnings of her newest wordings for her fresh start.

She chose to call this story…

-Farcry-

"… from the home that I know." Tabatha was convinced that her story would bring a smile to her teacher's face for once.


	112. Chapter 102 - Broken Arrow

Author's Notes:

I really screwed myself this exam. But all fixed, I've managed to get a pass for all my papers and attended the supps which I will never do again.

Just did the first chapters to my XCOM reboot a few days ago. I'll be taking off the previous XCOM stories soon, so yeah. Just some heads up.

* * *

The air was filled with a roar of triumph and celebration, as a moment that seemed like all was lost suddenly took a turn for the best.

Strange creatures emerged from the smoke assaulting Baghadur from within and around. These humanoid creatures, they knew not what they were. Pale azure white painted skin donning a mask that had a striking resemblance to Badala's except theirs had an inhuman touch to it, a more frightening visage whereas his still showed parts that said he was human behind it. Attacking them with knives, bow and arrows, one large one carried some sort of flamethrower torch. There were even dogs rigged with explosives. The tigers had taken a serious beating and lost almost half their forces to this attack. If the Garrison at Delta Barracks did not come to help them, they might've faced a total annihilation.

And then there was Jeevan Hamal, amidst the mass of these monsters. Fighting them in the same fashion that they fought, with knife and blade. He garnered a considerable attention from these creatures that Amita was able to reorganise as the Tigers had previously been fighting the Rebels for the Airport.

When she first laid eyes upon them, she had a sudden recollection of a certain Thangka hanging in the walls of the Rajput family estate during a one time conference, Sabal's ancestral home. One he left behind when fleeing.

It was a thangka that demonised Pagan and his forces, made before Ajay Ghale came to Kyrat and founded the Demon they knew today. There was a single group that represented the Hunters by in the mystical sense. The Rakshasa.

These creatures looked every bit like them and seemed to fight almost like the Hunters in general. Fierce and on the move always.

And then, as if something was calling out to them exclusively. These "Rakshasa" looked to the mountains and disappeared into the smoke. Almost as if they were nothing but an illusion, except the bodies of the Tiger and Rebel victims lying around. The Rebels, scared out of their wits, left the premise as quickly as possible when the Rakshasa turned their attention to the mass gathered around the stronghold Baghadur.

Amita allowed her people a moment to value their survival for just a moment, even if there was still a tough road ahead. She personally approached Jeevan to thank him for his assistance at the untimeliest of manners, it was he who informed the Delta Barracks to help them as the trouble with communications prevented them from assessing the situation correctly.

Jeevan stood huffing away what was the centre of where the enemy were but had disappeared with the winds. He was filled with cuts and grazes but stil seemed to be standing on willpower alone. And then, his legs gave way. Amita was quick to catch him before his head bumped the floor.

(Clang) The kukri fell harmlessly from his hand to the compound pavement.

"Well done, intern."

"(Huff) Well done?... Your welcome, boss." Amita was reassured of his condition since he had the strength to retort.

"I would never have thought this day would come, so…. Thank you, son of Hamal."

"….. I'm not a son of Hamal any longer."

"…" Amita kind of forgot, House Hamal was involved in this Rebellion, she knew it. So it was fair to say that if they the loyalists won that would be the case that House Hamal would be liquidated save for Jeevan who stayed loyal to the King.

"I guess I'll be taking my Mom's maiden name from now on."

"Which is?" Jeevan felt awkward lying on the lap of Amita so he tried to get up. But Amita pushed him down with her palm again.

"Lie down, I'll allow it just this once. You've outdone yourself here today, Jeevan." Amita looked at the surrounding calm scenery.

"I wonder what were those things?"

"I would like to ask the same question? I have a feeling that they're connected to why Master returned mortally wounded."

Amita held a grave expression, creatures that could harm even their fabled demon and put him in that situation? It meant that they might not even have the sufficient means of combating these things when the next assault came.

"I think we'll think about it when we've ended the rebellion. They'll be back for sure. Alright, get up boy wonder. I've got things to-." But as she tapped him Jeevan didn't respond. She checked his pulse and breathing to confirm if he was alright and her conclusion was that he was exhausted from the fight which he clearly overclocked his abilities. Still, where it took a salvo of automatic fire to cut one of them down. The last she saw Jeevan from the distance, he was fighting hard but didn't seem to show signs of weakening or his defense breaking, that Royal Martial Art seemed to play a big part. Amita had privy to the existence of the Royal Art but her family wasn't of warrior kin or even those old families so it was not afforded to her, not that it would even fall into the hands of a woman to be studied either.

All she could do was sigh and carry him back to the quarters to place him on. As she folded his arms to throw him over her shoulder blade, she noticed a very perculiar tattoo upon his left wrist. It looked like a serpent coiling around his wrist but looked more detailed than just a mere serpent, almost as if it were alive. Or rather than a serpent, it looked like… a dragon, a black celestial dragon.

Yet his personality and the way he brought himself didn't seem to match with someone who chose to desecrate their flesh for some mere showmanship accessory. Was this an icon of his past indulgence or did Ajay Ghale do this to him as a part of a ritualistic initiation? Possibly, he was fond of forcing pacts and covenants upon others by means of intimidation and oppressive. Even though he wore a charming face.

-Who else would it be.-

Amita huffed at thinking about that nasty habit of his. Ajay was an evil schemer trying to look benevolent yet somehow, she couldn't help but applaud him for it. Because it was getting shit done that hadn't since this mess started. It was doing what she had tried to do since she joined Golden Path to apparent effect since she truly couldn't bring herself to go so far with a façade that it would bring her severe consequences. Maybe the people felt the same way, about a leader that could do horrible yet great and benevolent things in their interest. She carried Jeevan around her shoulders to bring back gave her a sense of nostaglia of carrying around her once small sibling in piggyback.

"What a handful you are." She said with a gentle smile.

* * *

Dominic had seen crazy before. But this fella was a lunatic that shouldn't be allowed to exist. Just awhile ago when they silently recontacted Willis after nearly a month of hiding in the mountains and depending on high-speed airdrops via the Company. This was the hardest time they'd experienced, yet they couldn't leave, because the Kyrati Military had woven a lethal air defense web over the Himalayas. The Company deployed their high-profile stealth container-carrying drones to drop them the necessities, the cost was great. And the boss was not settling for half rewards on their trip here, even deploying the pre-production prototypes of the N1 program. The highest priority project in their establishment, said to revolutionize warfare forever.

Combat suits. Made to enhance the soldier's reflex, agility, strength and endurance a hundredfold. Protected by a second skin made out of a crystalline-coltan titanium shell, and sandwiched between that was an Ionic Electroactive Polymer reservoir acting as both spalling armor and means of providing power to the suit from catalysing Gold-Cobalt Oxide within a powerpack. But it didn't end there. Underneath and within the outerlayer of Cryfibril muscles were millions of working nanites. Their sole purpose was to keep the suit running optimally and "recover" it from any external damaged sustained.

So what was this?!

How could that person look at them like they were nothing but prey? Even a nobody could understand they were donned in power armour. Why couldn't he understand he was outmatched? Dane was the first to take initiative by charging with his shotgun aided by enhanced speed.

Mitchell maintained overwatch over the rest of the mercenaries whom seemed twitchy with their weapons on their appearance.

An unsettling feeling of dread washed over him behind the suit layers, coming from none other than that man himself.

The one the old man had interest in studying where his prowess was based on.

And during the entire time he had the luxury of thought, Dane moving in to subdue him. Badala just stood there smiling, not even taking up defensive measures at all.

Lynch said he was classed as a CIA threat Category L. Men and woman said to be capable of waltzing straight into Langley or even the White House to kill the president alone. He had met the Jackal inadvertently during an opt, but Badala was giving a dreadful aura that exceeded his. Badala had to be the most dangerous Category L to ever live.

*Wai-! (Bang) (Bang) (Bang)* As Dane fired his shotgun at him. Ajay's silhouette vanished from the original point of his gunbarrel and he forcefully readjusted to fire again. But after three shots, nothing hit and a hand now grasped his shotgun tightly.

Dane tried to shove him aside with the shotgun as a fulcrum, but Ajay stayed in place much to his disbelief. He extertion was at least 50kN of force aided by the suit muscle fibril, but his grip felt like the shotgun was embedded in concrete.

Before he had another chance to do anything, a kick was delivered to his trigger arm. Wretching the lower half of the shotgun in two, but also sending him flying into the wall of the hangar. That suit weighed at least 300 kilos was easily thrown that far.

-Wha-…. What the hell!-

(Bababababaam) Mitchell had already fired upon Ajay to keep him suppressed.

Michelle and Paul fired back at him with no effect to his armour but breaking his line of concentration. He turned to face them to get rid of their pestering, so Dominic turned back to where Badala was. Only to find he was no longer there.

Realizing too late, Dominic turned back to warn Mitchell whom was shocked to find him up on the catwalk ten metres above ground thanks to some sort of tether wire on his own armour.

Mitchell reacted by swinging his rifle in a combat rifle butting fashion only to sway at thin air. (Crunch) A haymaker too quick for even the cameras on the visor to capture struck Mitchell on the jaw pushing him back. (Crunch) Another haymaker punch struck him on the opposite temple crushing the weave of alloy protecting him.

Mitchell threw a random punch with his augmented strength at Badala that seemed to be a fluke in getting a possible direct hit to his abdomen. And all he did to counter that poor punch was a wave of his hand to push the fist away from his stomach and balled his own fist, delivering a powerful strike to Mitchell's stomach protected by the thickest armour section. Sparks flew from where the tungsten-carbide kukri stabbed through the armour weave into his gut.

*Mitch!* Dominic raised the last Gauss Rifle in his possession.

The demon that gutted him turned on a dime and presented Dominic's line of sight with an impaled Mitchell instead. Causing his trigger to hesitate. With a kick, Mitchell's motionless body ragdolled off the knife and flew in Dominic's direction blocking Ajay entirely from his view.

(Baam) (Baam) Dane recovered as quickly as possible to readdress the odds, firing his shotgun at Ajay.

But he wasn't there again where he aimed. What they didn't know was in close confines, like in the Labyrinth under the Lanka fortress trenches, Ajay was King. The darkness of the corners, the obstacles that provided him with cover, and the unparrellel edges that allowed him the use of his highly-tuned grappling anchors to give him limited manueverability apart from his own movements to direct thrust. The enemy was literally entrapping themselves in his zone.

Ajay appeared directly above him bringing his entire weight as well as drop kicking downwards at Dane that struck his shoulder and pummelled him to the ground with a loud (thump) as the cement fractured and made a concrete angel out of him.

(Beeeww) The strange whistling sound of the Gauss Rifle discharging a shot whizzed through the air but not hitting its target at all.

*Fuck!* Just as he was about to pull off the follow up shot, the gun jammed on him. It was still relatively untested technology but gave them a tremedous advantage provided it worked.

And it was the wrong time for it to fail.

*Come on! You fucking piece of shit!* Dominic didn't despair as he still had his fists to fight with and the suit to help. The rifle was chucked aside as Dominic went for a bull charge to grapple Ajay and end it with his artificial muscles to overpower him. And to his surprise, Ajay remained where he was waiting for him to come over.

In fact, he held out his hands to grappled with Dominic as they latched on to each other's hands squeezing and pushing. But try as he might, Dominic did not even budge him. Ajay stood straight like a monolith and it made Dominic look silly being in the powered suit.

An armour cladded Ajay was face to face with a visor and suit sealed Commander Crow.

"These suits are pretty impressive, chief. Survivability, I'll give it 10/10. But you of all people should know that armour isn't always what's needed to survive in the battlefield. If I had to say, this suit seems partially completed, those camo cloaks seem to be part of its development. Don't tell me-… your boss brought it here to field test." Ajay grinned ever so brightly whilst Dominic was struggling even under the assistance of the suit.

*What-…..What the hell are you?* Dominic asked over the strain. His suit was capable of delivering 55kN of force and here his target was not even seeming to budge. He clearly wasn't human.

"There's lots of things here in these mountains that no one outside has even the slightest understanding of. To be honest, your hardware really disappoints me. You couldn't even fight the Rakshasa with this."

*Rakshasa?...*

"Simon says, kneel." Ajay exerted more strength into his wrists that forced the muscle fibril of the suit to fatigue heavily and brought Dominic to his knees. (Thud) (Crack) Then Ajay delivered a kick to his face that smashed him backwards into the floor and cracked the visor in the process.

Ajay stepped over Dominic's motionless body and sat on him to pin him down. He reached down and plied the red visor off his face, not bothering the least about the pressurized clamps that held it in place. Those metal bindings sprung and broke from the superhuman torque.

Even now, Dominic had difficulty accepting that a normal human even as tough as Ajay appeared couldn't possibly do the things he did.

"If you're listening to this, I'd like you to know. It wasn't the suits' fault, its users were holding it back." Dominic and everyone else who was awake to hear what Ajay said not directed to him but the suit was baffled. Until a reply came from the suit external microphone.

*At last, someone who understands our limitations as man.* Came an automated reply from Dominic's suit. Dominic's hairs stood up, because the voice wasn't his, but his employers.

"This is Badala of Kyrat. To whom do I have the pleasure?"

*CEO of the company. But for informality sake, you may call me Ahab.* Ajay knew it wasn't his real name but at least had something to call him by.

"As in Captain Ahab? I wonder who your whale is?" Ajay calmly got up and waltzed about Dominic who was given allowance to sit upright.

*Something even you wouldn't begin to reckon.*

"Well, you have yourself a nice day, Ahab. I have lots to do now, interrogating the charming CIA spooks. Skinning these suits from your boys and perhaps selling it to Russi-."

*Wait.* Was all that came from the other side. Ajay chuckled upon hearing the tone of hesitation.

"So these suits have a lot more value than all three of their buttchecks put together, hey? I have to bet they're even more valuable than this entire operation. But if you couldn't get them back, I'd guess some sort of self-destruct would go off, no?"

"Sunnovabitch! Har-!" Dominic got up cursing his employer who could have killed him to protect his technology. But was cut off by the employer of his.

*I'll have none of that, Commander. Thank you very much. I did specify that an insurance was in place and for you not to be the one using it.*

"…..Tsh! If one of my men used it, you'd blow their heads off without a second thought!" Ajay pressed his foot down on his torso.

"You. Shut up, before I save your boss the trouble of pressing any buttons."

Dominic wasn't stupid to challenge someone that overpowered three suits on his own so he kept his mouth shut and let them speak.

"Quite the fancy stuff you brought here. Who were these suits meant to be test on?" Ajay teased knowing it was for him.

*Your reputation proceeds you, Category L "Demon" Badala.*

"Sup!"

*I don't suppose I can ask for my suits back intact?*

When the voice mentioned this Ajay laughed and stared at Dominic.

"Look how he treasures you fellas." His said in mockery, Dominic's face bloated red but all he could do was grit his teeth.

"I'm gonna need a finder's fee."

*Name you price.*

"Name your price? Wow. I'm beginning to like the sound of it. You speak my language, Ahab. But unfortunately, I no comprende with mere wired cash or any other physical valuables. No, Ahab. You owe me a favour for each suit. That makes three wishes from my magical wish granting genie."

*….. What will it be then?* That fact that this Ahab gave in to this degree highlighted the genuine value of the suits to him.

Ajay smiled in that familiar triumphant way that Maya instantly recognised, when it followed after a clear victory.

"Don't worry, Ahab. It'll be worth your while."

* * *

What Ajay negotiated with Ahab over the suits could not be said as he told everyone to get out. But it was definitely worth his while without being to unreasonable or beyond Ahab's capacity. However, Ajay was determined to keep the suits around so long as his "wishes" were not granted. One wish for one suit return. Ahab couldn't fault him if he got what he wanted back.

The airbase staff wasted no time performing an immediate scramble of air assets into the sky. Chief Khalid had arranged their units to support which element of forces fighting out there. The IAF pilots led by Commander Singh took into the air first to destroy the jamming system and maintain a full perimeter sweep of the airspace over the Himalayas. There was no telling of someone may have flown over by chance to test out their air response.

The most unfortunate obstacle upon recapturing the Airbase was the lack of Air Support attack aircraft. Ajay had been made aware of Corialanus's mutiny, along with the entire 2nd Squadron, he commended Commander Singh for the initiative of sending Pravi to destroy them. The majority of the Airpower was based in Papir Republics' airport to dispatch to all other states at the quickest possible time. All that were left were the Su-34 Bombers and the Mi-28 attack helicopters sent to support the 6th Mechanized Airborne Battalion supervised by Vasu. The Bombers, he had another task for them.

Ajay was wondering more about what Ahab's "Moby Dick" was that it required the development of these suits as a priority project. The CNS operatives outside had surrendered to the overwhelming numbers of the mercenaries and the earlier softening with firepower by Ajay. It wasn't worth dying over, and Ajay wasn't so tyrannical. He set them on the spare An-12 cargo plane along with some provisions, their gear he confiscated. He simply wanted them out of his country, now that he had Ahab, the CEO of that powerhouse back in the states by the balls. He could now stand a chance against the next possible incursion by the United States Armed Forces or CIA's Special Activities Division. Since he had already used one favour, he sent Mitchell and his suit back with the rest of the operatives because he was in need of medical attention from the stab wound. Unfortunately, he couldn't remove the suits from those two due to some complication in skin chemical fusing that would tear their flesh if he plied it open but also set off some sort of "vapourisation" function that liquidated both suit and wearer. That was the insurance Ahab spoke of as a complication to the suit, perfect for removing fingerprints in a region of operation.

(Crunch) With that out of the way, it would be a while before the jamming to the air wave was destroyed. So Ajay had some spare time to kill in doing something to a certain someone he had waited a long time to see.

"Boggrrh! Arghh!- (cough) (cough) I ain't saying shit!" Willis stubbornly held on as Michelle wrecked his face. To think she had this much of a sadistic side as well.

"La belette." She said as she straightened his head to strike once more with her bandaged fists.

"Sweetheart, shut up and take this ring!" Apparently, Paul was also into hands-on women.

"You'll- (cough) Never make me talk!" Willis said all bruised up.

"Oh! I just let her beat you for the sake of beating you. It makes me happy, it makes Maya happy and it would certainly make have made Pagan happy if he were here. So instead, Paul will just tape your execution."

"What? Why me?" Paul was already comfortable on the work sofa in the hangar where the staff took smoke breaks.

"Check bonus."

"Deal!" He said no more and took the video from his smartphone.

"In the end, you get nothing from me!" Willis spat defiantly.

"You really rate yourself too highly, Willis. You, dying a painful dog's death is good enough for me. Whatever dirty secret you have locked away can stay that way…."

(ZZZZZZZZZZZ) "AAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Came a yell from the next room where Maya tortured Lynch with a aircraft power source and two cables.

"Well…. At least till Lynch spills his side of the beans."

Willis's face looked like it had weathered over twenty years of age in an instant. Everything he'd built up to now, destroyed by this foreign filth. Worst of all, he scrounged in the blessings of America not too long ago. Badala was a traitor if he ever saw one. But it didn't change the fact that he was indeed out of playing cards.

"You should have gone on the first flight out of Kyrat the moment this chaos erupted. Then you'd at least have a months headstart before I chase you." Ajay said into his eyes.

"Why?... WHY!? What did I ever do to you? Badala! Why must you fuck with me!?" Willis underwent a mental breakdown from the pain and suffering he held back for so many years.

Ajay grabbed his chin forcefully to face Willis towards him.

"….. In your defense, "Every patriot is a sunnovabitch." Were you looking at a mirror all this while?" Ajay laughed at him with disdain.

"They say that the bullied usually become the bullies and I don't fault that. Having experience hell, why would you let others do upon you like that one bastard."

(ZZZZZZZZZZ) "AAAAAAAAAHHH!" Lynch's screams were invading their conversation.

"But you know, Willis. Humanity is cruel."

"…. Then why are you keeping me alive?! Just kill me!"

"Shhhh…. You should already know my methods by now, Agent Huntley. To my friends, I reward. My enemies, I kill. And my arch-nemesis and people who give me a fucking headache, I torture for life till there's no life left. I know I'm an evil bastard, but even we have perks of being evil."

Hearing the route which he had been destined to take after all he'd done for the States. Willis broke under the weight of his suffering and laughed maniacally and sadden reside.

"You still don't know what I've hidden here! That's enough to be proud of." He said with loathe to Ajay. But again, that boy showed an unnerving smile like he owned it all. It was more painful to look at than Lynch's face.

"Actually, I have a rough idea of what it might be."

Willis couldn't hide his surprise.

"I'm fairly sure you both weren't here for something that existed prior to your arrival twenty-six years ago. It would have to be something that forced Langley to send you here, as clean up. Because Kyrat isn't capable of shaking any disputes between the Soviet and Western powers."

He stared at Ajay was stricken eyes and did his best to turn away, in case he was using some sort of trick to retrieve it from his expression. Ajay frightened him.

"So if it wasn't something Kyrat had prior, it had to be something landing up here. Something Langley absolutely could not let fall into the wrong hands. Something so serious, you helped the Nationalists kill the Royal Family to create chaos so that your footprints could be masked."

Ajay drew closer and closer to the terrible truth, for once in his life Willis felt a genuine fear of Ajay finding out his guilt.

"Its definitely not a person you sought, and object. But not just any inert thing. It was hardware. And to lose something like that through this tough mountain terrain it has to be a crashlanding. So, cargo. But what is the cargo? What is so terrifying about this cargo that when you were both sent in without prior info, Lynch bugged out when you both saw it? Langley screwed you from the very beginning of the op, you know that right? You were their assets, but Lynch didn't give in. Instead you were Yoshi to his Mario to get to the other side."

"Shut up-."

"And for twenty odd years, you couldn't accept the fact that you were betrayed by both country and partner."

"Shut up!"

"So you went off-route, to find means to fuck them both. And stick it to Langley who owed you two decades of your freedom."

"And what's wrong with that!?"

"Nothing. But you also fucked with the wrong man." Ajay pointed to himself.

And to Ajay's amazement. Tears were falling from Willis's eyes and he began to sob like a bitch.

"…. Paul, sedate him."

Paul sighed and grabbed the anesthetic kit.

"Bads!- Wait! Alright! Let's have a deal!"

"Tick Tock, Paul."

"I'm hurrying. I'm hurrying." Paul said lazily as he squirted the syringe.

"Bads! Bads! BADS!" Willis screamed.

"Hold." Ajay told Paul who crossed his arms waiting.

"…. Arrow…." Willis murmured.

"Nevermind Paul. He's not willing." Paul sighed and approached Willis who prepared his heart full of guilt to open up to Ajay all that defined his purpose in Kyrat.

"BROKEN ARROW!..." He wailed loudly just as the needle touched his neck.

Ajay sighed and held a hand to his face as he laughed in sad reside. For this was what the Devi Bloodline ended over. So that the United States could save some mere face.

"GURGHH!" (Crack) Ajay threw a solid punch to Willis's face that sent him and the chair he was tied to flying and rubbing across the floor.

"Broken Arrow." Ajay repeated what Willis said in a cold tone. (Crunch) Went his nose breaking.

"Broken Arrow." He delivered a merciless kick to his shoulder. (Crack)

"Broken Arrow!" His voice boomed louded as he kicked him again even harder. (Slurck) Wet sounds were now substituting the cracking of bones as he squished something soft instead.

"Broken Fucking Arrow!" And kicked him the last time with augmented strength causing Willis's ribs to crack and internal organs to rupture. Willis couldn't help but pass out from the stress and pain.

"Fuck me!" Paul instantly knew what that phrase was from his time in IDF and Mossad, he even whispered what it meant to Michelle who responded with-

"Merde!" And stared a Willis with disbelief and hatred brewing.

Broken Arrow was a United States Air Force term for an accidental event involving certain hardware in transit. But it wasn't for just any ordinary hardware or materials being flown from A to B getting lost or discharging.

They were exclusively for Nuclear Weapons.

Ajay's knuckles blistered and a deadly killing aura brewed about him with an even more frightening expression found on his face that would make the weak at heart faint. It made Michelle and Paul back off ever so slightly. "CIA-….. United States-… When I'm done with this war, be prepared for me to wage another on you! I don't care how the world views me, I-.. will-… make-… you-… pay!"

* * *

The battle raging at the Royal Palace had taken a bloody toll upon the besieging troops, some much that they mustered a regiment to take the Palace. As furious as the Canton Lords were, nothing could be done without the head of Pagan. But the Palace Guards and Palace Guard Chief Samar were making the job almost impossible.

But the defending residence of the Royal Palace too had taken a serious beating and losses to their already small numbers. Five Guards had perished along with twenty work staff. They used the last ounce of their life to make a push from the previously barricaded setup within the Palace to regain control of the inner portion of the palace.

The enemy had adopted an approach of sending wave of companies after another, so far they'd survived the five waves in total. A lot of corpses were scattered around the courtyards and the corridors of the building.

What made this possible to hold were the existence of two individuals. One was Samar and the other was former-Deva Vijaya Acharya, otherwise known as Gary. Pagan's right-hand man and personal attendant. Both had a wealth of experience, it became useful to them in defending their Alamo. But even they too had taken a thrashing, their clothing was torn from the many close calls with bullet grazes and roughing in close quarter combat with some that entered the building.

Samar coughed out a stream of blood after taking a hit for Eric who was out an about confusing the Rebels with his likeness to Pagan.

"How's the wounds?" (Bang) Gary fired the Dragunov down at the stragglers from the last wave that had not fully retreated.

"Arghhhhh…. I'll manage. (Huff)." Samar was forced to apply his own first aid due to only the six combatants currently protecting the Palace alive and still in fighting condition. Eric stood with the two-remaining palace guard and armed servants in the throne room.

(Bang) Another round fired off at a runner, blowing his head off.

"You should fall back."

"We have a vantage he-."

"This place in no longer defendable. We've pushed them into desperation, they will use explosives and rockets, that's a guarantee. They know the King wouldn't be out and about and that Eric is most likely a decoy."

Gary ignored him and reloaded his rifle. A hand reached out and grasped his shirt.

"Vijaya….. (plop)" Samar weakly called out Gary's former identity before collapsing. Gary immediately put down his rifle and picked up the fallen Chief of Palace Guards.

As he held him up and placed him against the wall, he noticed his hands covered in thick blood. Looking back at a smiling Samar.

"Looks like this is the end of the road for me." These words were hard for Gary to accept, even so it was Samar accepting his fate.

"Do you really believe dying here will change anything?"

"Whether I die or not doesn't change what happens or will happen…. Besides, if anyone can turn this situation around, it would have to be him." As much as Gary wanted to deny that naiviety, it was all Samar had been running on this far.

"(Sigh)… do you have any last wishes, any regrets?" Gary asked him to which he surprisingly had some strength left to laugh it off.

"Last wishes? None. I had a king support my little hobby. Youngsters to pass my legacy. They've all been fulfilled. Regrets?... Perhaps one." Samar held out his hand towards Gary who clasped it.

"Ajay…" An item concealed by a clenched hand dropped into Gary's hands from Samar's.

"My deepest regret was not being able to live to see his rise to greatness. How frustrating…"

"It might be better than knowing his outcome, he might fall harder."

"Even so… I owe it to him…. I owe it to his mother, Lady Ishwari…..(cough)."

"Nonsense." Came a voice from the corridor, as Gary looked up in horror.

"Your Highness!" It was not just Pagan, but Yuma following closely by him.

As much as Gary wanted to place Samar aside to warden them back to the vault. Samar's hand held his arms tightly despite dying.

"…. Your Highness…." Samar said weakly with blood flowing from his mouth.

"You don't owe anyone anything. You standardized the manufacture of arms, you equipped and armoured Ajay. You built the romance of the Kyrati demon. And you made all these things possible, even Ajay… even I know, there was so much more to you than what you think, my friend." Pagan knelt down and took the hand of his dying subject.

Samar was unable to refute, he was losing too much energy to retort, so he just smiled every so dimly.

"These twenty-eight years of service…. Have been an honor. My lord."

"Aye….. Aye! Friend."

Pagan's face held a solemn tone to it.

"….. Permission to be relieved….." It was Samar's request to be freed from his servitude to the Monarch of Kyrat.

Pagan reached down and ran his hand over the corpse's eyes to close them.

"…. Permission-…. Permission Granted. May Karma smile upon you." Pagan gave his final blessing upon the departed soul of one of his most loyal soldiers and longest serving subjects.

Gary respectfully lay his old friend on the floor and said a few words of pray to any god that would listen.

Yuma loomed just a few feet away, walked forward to touch the corpse's forehead and murmur words of thanks.

Although for Pagan, he was not in a mournful mood at all. It had been a while since his temper had flared, much of that was thanks to Ajay and a newly emerging new generation of officers and officials succeeding where their predecessors had just left things idle. He had so much time to reflect upon his actions and feel ashamed of it all, to think that the death of Lakshmana drove him to the near-decline of this adopted-home of his.

Pagan walked to the open ledge of the second floor they were on. Passing the bodies of his subjects that died fighting to keep him safe. Coming into full view of the forest and winding roads where the Rebel Regiment loomed below.

"Your Highness!" Gary became frantic as snipers had been scanning the windows to look for targets. But Pagan was presenting himself before the next wave that was assembling outside the forest.

"You bastards!" Pagan said as he faced the Royal Fortress down below.

"If you wanted Kyrat so badly, why didn't you just ask me for the throne!? Ajay never wanted it!" He shouted at non-existence. Gary wanted to intervene but Yuma of all people latched on to his hand and shook her head.

Why did she do that? She believed Pagan needed to vent this emotion now if he were to carry resolve for what was to come.

"Ah-Kwan-… Richard-… I saw you as hing dai (Brothers)!" Soon, Pagan's open presence became known to the spotters in the forest as the company making up the next wave were about to charge. Word was passing around fast, and the Rebels' mood brightened.

"But now, you're both just animals of instinct. You both disappoint me greatly." These words carried the bulk of his faith in the Canton Lords he once fought side by side with. And like a heavy weight, it fell to the ground, crumbling into nothing.

Pagan no longer held restraint for those he once called family. He had only one family left. That was with Yuma, Ajay and the people of Kyrat he called his own. He was prepared now to fully accept his responsibility as the father of Kyrat.

"Rebel scum! Hear me!" He shouted with much power out to the Rebels much to their disbelief.

"I am the reigning monarch of Kyrat, I am Pagan Min! I am here, I am open! Take the shot if you dare!"

His taunt had reached the ears of every rebel of the regiment including their commanders.

"If not-…..!" Pagan picked up the bandolier of ammo and slung it over his shoulders, holding the fallen rifle off a palace guard.

"Come and kill your King!"

These were his famous last words, this was the thought that ran through the minds of the rebel officers as the chuckled at the last words of a soon to be dead monarch and the end of the Min Dynasty under Pagan Min. If it was a noble death, then they could at least arrange that for him. A fight to the bitter end.

The forward commander was just about to complacently give the order for the final charge. When a worrying thunder echoed through the sky followed with sonic booms. The men were late to notice due to the canopy of the forest that covered over them. And then in a split-second-.

(BOBOBOBOOOOOOM) The entire forest and treeline ignited into a wall of high-temperature orange inferno.

Those that did not die from what appeared to be a napalm carpet bombing run, were burned to death by the high-viscous napalm fuel. Screams resounded from the forest that burnt the entire exposed regiment to fire support. What little survived the napalm attack, ran towards the Roya Fortress for safety.

A pair of Sukhoi bombers thundered pass over the mountains. And it was a sight to behold for those that survived in the Royal Palace. It only meant one thing.

Pagan's expression leaked a smile that soon grew in proportion bit by bit.

"My boy is back."

Lupus Caelum answered to no one, not even him. So only by Ajay's authority would they act against the Rebels. It was also something that the Canton Lords knew from the viewing parapet in the Royal Fortress. Staring at the devestation wrought by the bombers upon the attacking force on the Palace.

But this attack had two purposes.

Napalm would burn continuously for hours. And so, the carpet bombing of napalm not only destroyed the attacking regiment. It had also isolated the Palace via a wall of burning napalm, preventing any crossing or attempt on Pagan's life.

One particular aged Canton Lord gazed at the burning barrier with blood shot eyes and had aged several years in an instant. He knew what had changed just from that airstrike alone. He'd felt a similar feeling when Interpol closed in on them twenty-six years prior in Hong Kong. It spelled the coming end of the short-lived triumph of the Cantons in Kyrat. Solomon, beside him was no better, but at least he didn't cringe at the problem at hand like the old lord did. Retiring to some quarters or just loitering brooding over an event that couldn't change.

"Dispatch." Solomon called out with a strong tone.

"Present!" A young officer reported crisply.

"Bring Colonel Roka and the old couple over."

"Yes, lord!" The dispatch disappeared with haste to relay instructions to the appropriate manpower.

Solomon made a glance towards where Lanka lay beyond.

"Your move, Ajay Ghale."


	113. Chapter 103 - Between Duty and Affection

Author's Notes:

Sorry it took so long. I've been having some academic trouble lately, been thinking of an internal transfer from engineering recently. Also, friday i'll be going to yorke peninsula for a short three day trip. Its like this country side trip. I'll be bringing my laptop and the motel should have wifi so i might release another chapter soon.

* * *

It was the apex hour of the demon, one that those who had bore witness to the massacre that a single person was capable of would wake even during comfortable nights to the unpleasant thoughts of reliving the nightmare wrought by the last Demon of Kyrat.

From the entrance to the inner compound of the Headquarters villa, the entire Royal Fortress was trailed with incomplete bodies. No matter how much he kept his emotions in check, there was always some instance where someone would push it to the very limits and crack his control. Sabal was the first. Willis Huntley. Then Jason Brody. And now it was the Canton Lord Guang Min and Solomon Khoo.

Those not dead yet couldn't leave, for their feet were shaking non-stop. Out of all the Lords that had given up and accepted judgement. There were two that refused. One was Guang Min of the Min Family. And the other was the newly made Canton Lord Solomon Khoo, after killing Lord Richard Khoo.

Ajay was just about to get the approval of a conditioned surrender of the rebellion. But cornered rats still had teeth. Those cornered rats were Guang Min and Solomon, after the entire cohort of Cantons surrendered on conditions Ajay had given. They were the only ones who stood to gain nothing, in fact they would have everything taken from them. Including their lives.

He tried to be diplomatic with thieves and gangsters, but the result was always the same. _"Humans are nothing but animals."_ It was as if the witch had invaded and planned this thought in his mind, but in a way, he too believed it. At their most dire time, people would always show their ugly side.

They pushed him to his limit of tolerance, when Solomon held Saras at gunpoint and Guang Min held a trigger device that would set off the fuses to a rocket battery zeroed on the Royal Palace. Worse of all, behind Ajay was Bipin. Pointing a rifle not at the Cantons but him.

"Don't do this, Ajay." He pleaded with Ajay who was dead focus in his aim of the pistols at Solomon and Guang Min. Solomon held one to Saras and a machine pistol at Ajay. Guang Min held the trigger to threaten Ajay and a pistol to Bipin who pointed at him as well as Ajay. It was a Mexican standoff.

"You crack me up, Kadayat. For a tactical genius like you, to not see he's already had the resolve since I made this scenario to shoot." Solomon laughed despite his fate.

Solomon stared deep into those blazing eyes that would deliver him to hell. But there was satisfaction to his actions. He was an engine of chaos, that burned the earth to cinders allowing new life to sprout and a new fresh beginning to Kyrat. This was his twisted ideology, those that maintained this sick and dying world were the true evil. And the rage of the demon was his perfect tool to achieve it.

Solomon had not been playing about for the last months of his release from prison. He studied the Duke of Lakshman's history thoroughly. Even more so than anyone had before, he came to a single conclusion from his research.

The Demon Duke Badala was none other than Ajay Ghale.

Everyone assumed Badala was some sort of love child of Pagan, or that he'd been specially bred to maintain his kingdom and the Min Dynasty after he perished. No one would have suspected he would adore the son of his hated enemy. But no one knew Pagan personally enough to know of his affair with Ghale's wife whom was at the time a hostage. Except a then-young child named Solomon who looked up to Pagan as his idol in life.

There was absolutely no reason for Ajay to join Pagan of all people. But here he was. Solomon had solved something that only the hostage he held and himself had discovered on their own. Not even Willis nor the CIA knew of it.

Apart from the further silence between the parties was Sun Kwan's wails for the dying son in his arms. Crying over the foolishness of both their actions.

"So now, what will it be, Ajay? Loving affection or Duty. I'll leave that decision to you. Show me what the Demon of Kyrat is capable of!" His madness grew beyond even Guang Min's reckoning.

As Solomon stated, he was given the choice to make. One that would affect how his life in different ways.

...

Kill Guang Min, Save Pagan - or - Kill Solomon, Save Saraswati

...

His primodial eyes locked dead set on his choice to kill as he squeezed the trigger to fire the shot.

(Bang)

* * *

One Hour Ago -

When the airwaves cleared of the disruption, chaos ensued among the garrisons that had been made ignorant were informed of the Cantons' betrayal and Rebellion ongoing. Sides were no longer undefined in the North. Word of Badala storming the Royal Fortress sent shivers through the spines of the Theater of War. The Veterans knew that there was no hope of beating the 1st Lord of the Army, the Airforce had just displayed protecting the Palace and killing the attacking regiment.

They were quickly losing their foothold over Kyrat. With no supplies or reinforcements coming from the suppressed Arsenal, the isolated stronghold Ratu Gadhi, and the uncaptured Lanka and Lakshman. The Royal Fortress had only its garrison of three thousand troops to protect those ringleaders of the Rebellion. Even the soldiers within the walls were having regrets and second thoughts about whether they should proceed and fight to the death or should they surrender and hope for the best.

The Cantons hated how one man they thought should have been an easy kill with their most well-trained team of professionals, the Royal Academy instructors turned out to be the most detrimental to their plans after failure. They knew they'd lost the chance to take Kyrat now and forever. This was now an Alamo.

Knowing his unrelenting personality, knowing Pagan's temprement, they knew they and their entire families were in danger of a public execution. There would be no trial, no rights to a fair court, nor even a life sentence with no parole. They had tried to kill the head of state, this was treason. All would die, from young to old, no matter how indirectly they were involved. In ancient China, treason against the throne invoked killing off fourth generations of family and sometimes worse. They frantically tried to organise the defences as best they could, while telling the men that if they didn't defend to their dying breath, the crown would execute them and their families.

"Enemy march-(BOOM)" The forward observer was about to announce the arrival of the assault when a rocket annihilated his lookout tower along with his accompanying snipers.

The sirens went off as the men ran frantically around to take their firing positions.

At the foot of the hill was an emerging forest of men running up the steep incline with little fear of exposure to the machine gun fire shot down at them. The Commanders had intended to keep their men from firing till they entered optimal range. Unfortunately, the growing bellowing roar of a battlecry from the attacking loyalist had shaken them. It was now fire at will.

And it was not enough to counter that truck that was headed on course for the gate. If they guessed correctly was a demolition truck filled with explosives. The truck revved towards the gate at full speed, only now did it receive the proper attention from the Rebels on the wall. But by now, it was too late. The truck driver's door opened and a figure tumbled out while the truck headed for its destination and collided with the gate before- (BOOOOOOM)

A combination of concrete and stone was blasted away from point zero. The gate was blown off its hinges and was flung inward several feet and crushing anyone unfortunate to be behind it.

The assaulting battalions numbering three let out a mighty roar of triumph at the sight of entry into the Royal Fortress. Even as the stones were falling due to gravity and the flames had not yet extinguished. Busting out from the smoke was a figure on a motorcycle who had taken advantage of the Rebels under concussion and bypassed a considerable defense line straight for the Bulwark. That person was naturally-.

"It's BADALA!"

(Vrrrrrrr) He revved the bike into full throttle, to make the jump over the bulwark inner gate with a damaged and toppled supply truck that happened to form a perfect incline to boost off. Utilizing the full 170 horsepower at his disposal to launch himself and the bike over the second gate. Those that had recovered were stunned by the daredevil stunt performed by the ever-foolhardy demon. But to used that sort of method to breach pass a whole defensive line and a gate which could withstand a 200kg bomb. They truly didn't see that coming, they expected an easy win when the commanders sighted only three battalion worth of soldiers storming their Fortress which outnumbered them 3:5.

The Ducati landed with a thump onto the dirt ground in the compound of the Royal Fortress parade square. Ajay didn't enter this far just to show off, he turned the throttle that caused a temporary smokescreen and a dirt shower to form from him holding the brakes.

(Boom) The slayer taken out and rested on his shoulder blew the chain holding the heavy doors together on the gate. Once again, granting access for the soldiers outside to storm in and fight the defenders on equal grounds.

The field commanders at the Communications Relay were in complete denial, that in a mere thirty seconds of the attack and Badala's spearhead. The Demon had broken the defense that held the army at bay. No one in two hundred years since the construction of the Royal Fortress had ever breached its defences or won against the defending Kyratis of old. Not the Golden Path, the Nationalists before them, not even the British East India Trading Company who dispatched the British Imperial Army to subjugate Kyrat succeeded. Ajay's move had made a mockery of all the preceeding attackers of the Fortress.

The Cantons were confident of their struggle because of the Royal Fortress which had been unparrallel till Lankas appearance. And like a bubble of reality, it popped as quickly as it was blown from the straw.

Of course, unlike the named parties of attackers. Nobody had seen the internal layout nor studied the gates and defences like Ajay did in the previous timeline after succeeding in capturing the Royal Fortress for the Golden Path. Now, he was on his way to securing the Royal Fortress once more but for the Royal Army instead.

Ajay released the brakes and zipped off upwards to the Headquarters building. Behind him, the soldiers poured in to clean the aftermath and suppress the numerically superior Rebels, but with the guidance of Colonel Raja. Whom made use of the assets he had such as the requisitioned Heron UAV flying over head to provide updates on the enemy locations and the mortar batteries which bombarded the heavily defended concentrations. He had intended to use a smoke barrage to aid in their advance but Ajay frighteningly opened two of the only main gates that defended the Royal Fortress in that mere instance. Raja didn't know what to think of the way he went about breaching the defense, it was clearly unconventional and something no one expected. The Rebel Commanders were feeling the same way but with more jeopardy due to their switch in situation.

"Stop him!" Some squad leaders shouted to their squads that were marching down to apprehend the storming battalions at their open gates. The blanket of fire was unable to reach him as he zipped through their lines making them hesitate to shoot their own and aimed shots were difficult when he moved in a zigzagged fashion at high speed. He used a Vector Kriss to mow down some soldiers in front that got in the way of his traverse upwards.

As he passed the bend to where the Golden Statue of Pagan lay, his sixth sense when off that an imminent danger was ahead. He turned a hard right and skidded to a halt and came into view of the levelled ground and what lay ahead.

What was prepared for him was one of the Patria Tank Destroyers. He ended up staring down the barrel of its 105mm rifled gun.

The cannon thundered on the commands of a watchman whom predicted the time Ajay was to appear over the horizon of the slope.

(BAAMM)

The massive shell loobed towards his intended path but missed his body by a few inches and blasted the ground near him. The dirt was kicked out from the large five-metre-wide crater produced by the High Explosive shot and masked the area around which the shell impacted.

"Did we get him?" The tank commander asked from an open hatch.

"Not even he could- (Boom)" Ajay answered their question with the report of the slayer that took the top half of the tank commander's head off. The soldiers surrounding the armoured fighting vehicle frantically fired their rifles. He responded with his knife that took more lives adding to the fuel of bloodlust in the drenched blade. The Patria's driver hit the reverse to get away from him whilst Ajay ran towards it. The gunner fired the co-axial machine gun while the main gun was being loaded by the autoloader. (BAAMM)

A canister shot fired forward and devastated the surroundings and the people unfortunate to be in its spraying path of humongous pellet shots. Ajay was not one of these people as he used the gun barrel to climb the tank destroyer and rush to the hatch where the dead commander was.

(Ping) The audible sound gave both Ajay and the vehicle crew who could hear it what he intended for them.

A couple of dull thuds rattled into the turret basket of the tank destroyer and the gunner looked down to his horror to see the grenades that had been deposited into the vehicle.

Ajay jumped off in the nick of time as the grenades pummelled the crew and set off the shells in the turret bustle, turning the whole vehicle into a blazing tommy cooker. Ajay looked around him, it seemed he had a moment to breath easy as there was no one in his immediate vicinity now. All were concentrated on the bigger threat in the form of the Battalions of infantry and Engineers pouring in through the open gates and moving in to capture from the Rebels the Armoury that supplied their weapons and ammunition flow, the Communications Block was still under the process of capture. Where he stood next to the Golden Statue for all to see, gave the Rebels a feeling of dread and the Loyalist soldiers confidence of their victory assured.

Ajay felt it truly too easy. Even since he encountered the Golden Path Exalts and bullet impervious Rakshasa he was raring to fight them again. The Rebels were quickly overshadowed in this aspect and sadly so despite the significance of the Rebellion at play and their advantage of holding similar weapon loadouts to the loyalists if not better.

Ajay had a look at the details of the statue. He recalled the last time he destroyed in and now…. He was protecting it.

(Boom) "Urghhhh!" An explosion wrenched him from the impact point directly on the statue base and sent him flying back with a scorched front.

The beating of helicopters grew close. Ajay recovered to his feet unsteadily and puking a bit of blood from the concussion wave of the explosive. He looked back to the blast area to find Pagan's statue blasted to bits much like how he did. Apparently, its destruction was inevitable even during this timeline. He chuckled at what this Pagan would think, but recalled what he would do to the parties responsible. That wasn't the least bit funny.

He turned to the direction of which the rocket, likely a 70mm Hydra unguided rocket from a gunship among the many Blackhawks coming into view. Only the Dragoons had helicopters in that number, so it was fair to say that a battalion of Dragoons cased their lot with the Cantons in this Rebellion and they were dead set on making sure their gamble paid off even if their was a loss of tactical advantage by withdrawing the Battalion to fight at the Royal Fortress instead of with the loyalists elsewhere.

Ajay stood up and licked away the remaining blood on his lips as he stared at the lead helicopter making a landing boldly in front of him, its door gunner firing rather unsteadily towards him.

He unslung the slayer off his back and pointed its dangerous end towards the chopper. A smile appeared on his face as the shot lined up on the unsuspecting pilot.

The slayer, originally the ultimate in elephant guns found in Kyrat. Its former owner had taken it up into the mountains to hunt the deadliest of hunting trophies up for grabs. Did he succeed only to be overwhelmed? Did he succumb to the Elixir instead? Or did he truly underestimate the Yeti itself and become its lunch? No one knew save the Yeti that had its stomach sated. Raw energy of a .700 caliber slug guided by a custom sabot which increased accuracy and velocity of the shot. Causing the projectile to shatter upon impact and also gave a big felt-recoil only manageable by trained strong men. It was used effectively in Yetis, infantry, Exalted fighters as Samar had described. But would it also as he'd mentioned "kill" a helicopter?

-Let's find out.- (Boom) the shot flew true towards the windshield of the cockpit and the heavy slug drilled its way through the thick bulletproof glass and then- (Splat)

From where Ajay could see, the seat which the pilot occupied had its entire windshield section splattered with red. Followed with the helicopter spinning out of control.

(BOOOOM) The helicopter slammed into the ground and exploded killing its passengers as well.

Some soldiers who had made it up to the point where he was stared stunned in Ajay's direction, more specifically the weapon he was holding. A Sergeant Major looked at his weapons with disbelief and couldn't stop his comment from setting free from his mouth.

"Damn- now that's one helluva gun!"

* * *

The threatre of war was in a frantic mess, when news that the first and second gate falling came one after another. The ringleaders couldn't believe what they heard. Royal Fortress stood unopposed for two hundred years, all who tried failed. And yet the demon had come with a lesser force driven by pure energy without serious siege equipment or numbers to storm the Royal Fortress. The Field Commanders almost took it for a joke, and how Yuma's left-hand man Colonel Raja was over his head.

(Boom)

The dust from the ceiling was shaken by the distance explosions as were their glasses of water left untouched. The bulk of the officers and major players from the Canton Families and Nobles were approaching Guang Min for counsel and perhaps persuade him to take a conditional surrender while the time was still on their side but limited.

He wasn't the only lord they approached. Both Sun Kwan and Richard Khoo were in a similar fashion. Except that Richard was the first to succumb to the weight of reality and agree that now was not the time to hold onto pride like it was the only thing they had left.

Guang Min had enough of this and was about to reprimand him when- (Bang)

A 9mm hole appeared through the two ends of Richard's head as his corpse collapsed to the floor motionless. The ringleaders dispersed in fright to the culpit who took the life of one of the major leading forces of the Rebellion.

The dandy-dressed Solomon blew the smoke from his unused gun made use once on his Uncle.

"Solomon… you- You bastard!" Sun Kwan was the first to react as he stomped towards the ungrateful little cur that shot his own family member. Solomon stood where he was without indication of resisting as Sun Kwan came to teach him a lesson. But then Guang Min intervened.

"Wait." That simple command sent several officers to stand in Sun Kwan's way.

"Solomon. You will take Dick's place as the head of the Khoo Family."

"Unbelievable!" One of the Khoo family members couldn't believe what he heard as did the rest of his kin.

The only thing that kept them in their place was Guang Min's absolute word. Sun Kwan cooled off and understood what he was doing. In this scenario, only Solomon had the slightest idea about the end result as he'd always reminded them lightly. But he was also known for getting out of slippery situations, this could be the trickiest yet.

"I assume you have a plan to get us out of this mess?"

"Oh don't worry yourself, Kwan. While he seems unstoppable, he has but one weakness."

The doors to the theatre opened and in came Han Feng dragging Saraswati along with some guards doing the same to an old couple none of them recognised.

"Arjun's daughter?"

"And Badala's Lover." Solomon corrected Guang Min. And the whole mass of the Cantons seemed to unanimously agree that not all hope was yet lost.

"And they?" Sun Kwan motioned to the old couple whilst staring at his son who seemed in League with Solomon, a bit disappointing in his opinion but still beneficial to the cause.

Solomon only grinned wider as he jumped off his new dais and towards the Malla couple.

"Hello there. Will you mind telling everyone who you are?" He asked with a sincerely smile but was clearly fake.

"Leave them alone! It's me you wanted, right!?" (Paakk) Solomon stuck her with the back of his hand. Giving her a swollen left cheek but she glared at him defiantly.

"No wonder that guy's so fond of you, those eyes alone can awaken a dry libido." He chuckled.

"Hmph! You? A Sissy-dressing impotent drag thinking impure thoughts and getting hard? Keep dreaming, even a pig is more appealing than you." Saras's venomous tongue out did him and made his eyebrow twitch but he maintained control over his behaviour. The same could not be said for some from the crowd gathered. Especially the Khoos' who made their humour known to Solomon by laughing their asses off.

Solomon grabbed a handful of her hair and pulled her towards him from her tied up kneeling position.

"I wonder how much you know about me, let alone Ajay." When that name fell out of Solomon's mouth in a whisper to her, she stared at him half-believing he said it.

Solomon let go of her and looked around with a smug look on his face, disdaining all who were still left in the dark about who the Demon really was.

"Did you know that Saraswati Roka was betrothed to someone?"

"What has this got to do-.?"

"Did anyone know?" He said in a louder voice to silence them to answer his question. No answer was given save for a few shakes of the head here and there.

"Well, Marshal Roka certainly did before all of us even left Hong Kong. And guess who he made the agreement with? Mohan."

Some debate went across the talking parties.

"And following along that line of thought, yes! His son was made the betrothal to a cute little girl of Roka. That son was Ajay Ghale."

"And? So what. That little shit hasn't been seen since he got killed in that attempt on Pagan nearly a year ago." When Sun Kwan exhibited no sign of getting it, Solomon laughed his heart out as such a dense flock he was with.

Solomon looked to Saras and asked. "Do you want to say it or shall i?" But it was clear he had to do it himself, she wasn't going to do anything in his benefit.

"Right, boys and girls! Pay attention to the story of the fucking century. The prodigal son returns home to bury his mother's ashes, accompanying him as a guide was a hidden Golden Path elder named Darpan. Their intention was to bring him Ajay back to Banapur and use as a beacon to rally his father's old followers to rejoin the ranks and bring Golden Path back to full strength."

"But then our glorious leader landed his chopper and intervened, bringing a confused son back with him. He explained the affair he had with his mother that sent his father madden with rage that he killed a one-year old Lakshmana. He showed him out stagnant kingdom ridden with poverty and civil war, he showed him what a wreck he was after that excluding the bit about us might I add. And said he would make him a King in his place."

The amount of intel Solomon had dug seem to be something that none of them had even imagined, not even Saras. The Cantons were in unrest when they heard of this plan. To think the successor he planned had been way back, and was this boy, not even his own flesh and blood nor his unborn child or his favorite watchdog outside wrecking their fortress.

"But he refused."

"What?!" Even Guang Min was in disbelief to what Solomon said. Refusing the throne, an instant path to power and riches unparrallel in the Himalayas.

"He would rather mend a broken kingdom by himself than rely on a forced kingship."

"How noble." Sun Kwan obviously said sarcastically.

"Yes, how noble indeed. But nobody was going to support the son of the archenemy. Would you?" He pointed to a few notable people of power who turned away when he pointed.

"So he adopted a alias to run by. And that alias became quickly known to the Golden Path as simply Demon."

"Dear god!" The crowd fell into the epiphany too late and rather slow even for them.

"Yes, my dear friends. Badala, the Demon is in fact the prodigal son Ajay Ghale. (Sigh) Seriously, if anyone had put just a little effort into finding out who he was. This mess couldn't been avoided and you could have spread this to defame him."

"But neither did you!"

"Yes, but to think it would fall to me find this out. Where are all those spy rings and intelligence groups, you nobles and officers keep bragging about?" He challenged them to which no answer meant he was right.

As unsettled about the news as they were, this was the facts. And their complacency had cost them.

"Who're they?" One officer asked.

"Ah! So glad you asked. But I think I'll have them answer my questions this time, hello!" He struck a conversation with the two old people, on their kneels.

"What might your names be?"

"M-Miren, my lord! And my wife Aryaa."

"And what is the name you bear of your forefathers?"

"…Malla."

Many were once again astounded. There was only one Malla recently that everyone knew, she was now the hero of the Tigers, though dead. And apparently Badala/Ajay had shown some sympathy for her and their cause.

"This is it? Just dispose of them. They have even less value than the girl."

"Now hold your horses, gentlemen. Because there is something about them that even Ajay Ghale isn't fully aware of."

"So what would that do if he doesn't even value that which he doesn't know?" Sun Kwan rolled his eyes at the stupidity of what he said.

"My dear Miren and Aryaa. Why did you adopt Kamala?" Miren almost didn't want to answer but was reminded of the physical beating they would dispense on him or his wife.

"… We loved her."

"That's not what I asked for, Miren. You're not very good at following instructions." Solomon said as he waved a soldier with a baton to come forth.

"Please, my lord. Just me."

"No." And at the wave, the soldier raised the baton upon his wife.

"Stop! Stop! I will say!" He shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Hold." The baton wielding soldier stepped back.

"….. She filled the gap of the daughter we lost."

Solomon was pleased once more. The rest were confused, including Saras but she had a very bad feeling about what he would ask next.

"And what might I ask was her name?"

"….."

"Hahahaha… don't tell me, you intentionally hid it from him when you met."

"…" Miren lowered his head in deep sorrow.

"Well? What was her name, Miren? Let everyone lose control of their jaws."

Now an expectant look filled over all gathered in the theater of war. The battle outside seemed less important to what Miren Malla had to say and what all this meant in their alternative backup in evening the odds. Miren was in tears due to the circumstance he'd been placed in despite his earnest way of life, it was too much for him and too much for Aryaa. Why did he have so much in common in regards to them making waves that shook the country?

"…My dearest daughter…. Ishwari."

* * *

The battle for Akaash monastery had finally come to a close. Unfortunately, it couldn't be considered a win for the Golden Path despite the aid of these three individuals with Deva-like strength. Who were they? The question that circulated everyone's minds.

The wild and crazed forces of savages had retreated with a bulk of these strange gorilla-like beasts. Rumours travelled around that they were in fact the legendary Yetis. But they seemed domesticated by these savage humans with some very wapred features as they could tell from a few corpses.

But that wasn't the worst of their problems. Much of the munition had been burnt, the supplies were intact though. The real problem lay with the kidnapping of over a thousand men and women, gone with those savages for god knows what. Many had expressed their desires to form a rescue party but Mohan was the one who denied it from them. His reasoning was that whatever turned them into these savages was out there and unknown. With the lack of munitions to support a search expedition, it was not going to happen. They didn't even know where they were headed and a blizzard was coming in of all times.

Everyone was in a horrid mood. They had no choice but to continue on route after the blizzard to support their isolated scouting party that attempted a raid on Lanka.

A particular Havildar was shellshocked. She'd been the one who arranged the entrance for Namdak but instead these savages came in and took advantage of their guard dropped. It was concluded that Commander Namdak and the dear Yinkian Regiment had all lost their minds in this snow and became this cult-like entity. The gods were truly cruel to their hero turned into an aimless lunatic.

Mohan knew the truth about Namdak and the Yinkian Commando Regiment, but kept silent. It did little to help their morale. All he could do was go around helping his people personally by interacting with them to ease their worries even slightly.

Vel remained where she was, standing guard at the entrance to her mistress's quarters. What she was doing there while they were fighting was none of their concern. The three Generals were more than enough to stop the Disciples of yalung from further jeopardizing their plans. The Rakshasa Generals could sense the increase in strength from the Disciples, likely due to the talismans weakening considerably. Someone was killing the Sacred Guardians they couldn't touch but mortals could. The Demon had slayed a few incidentally, but only because he crossed paths with them. Someone else possessed a similar strength capable of besting a Guardian, it did not bode well for their future plans if that person grew. Then there was Darshan, the biggest threat of all as reported by the General of the North.

The witch had been meditating on the matters at hand, small disturbances like the fight outside were not capable of moving her. She felt nostalgic feeling in regards to how she would've reacted to trouble in the past. In a long and distance past, thousands of years ago.

Nothing but a distance memory. Yet the dearest possession she held for all time.

* * *

…

…

"Bhaiya (Brother), I've finally found you. Esteemed mother has called for you for nearly an entire day. Come! Less you shall leave find your stomach aching." A voice like a sweet melody called out to him awakening him from the rather disturbing dream he had. He opened his eyes to see a smiling youthful face looming over him. A face which belonged to a treasured and loved existence to his family, despite being not true family by blood but loved nonetheless.

He rose to his feet and gazed around him. Taking in the ever-majestic sights of the valleys they lived in, at the heart of Akaash City. Abode of the Himalaya Akaashian Rakshasa, what he was. His sister had found him at his favourite escape spot, by the entrance of an old cave of the highest mountain in the valley.

"Come now, Bhaiya! Hah… how do you expect to succeed the family with that kind of attitude, beloved Bhaiya?" The young girl pouted, yet it did little to ruin her beautiful summer complexion that radiated light and hope upon the whole existence of the Rakshasa since her arrival. A beauty that was herald to be unsurpassed throughout the lands, even amongst the humans and naturally perfect Yaksha complexions. She also possessed a beautiful heart to go with it. While barely at the coming of age, their father the Lord Regent had already received several requests from his colleagues and friends in alliance to be engaged to. But he showed no sign of doing so, for he too was reluctant to part with his adoptive daughter.

Though she was not of the Rakshasa kin but a hostage from the long spanning wars for Shangri-La between the four races. Even so, Ishaan's family dotted her as their own precious daughter and so did she in turn treat them as if they were hers.

Although, they were not content with her close interactions with the youngest son who showed no worth in the eyes of the clan.

"What does it matter?" He said lazily, blowing the weed stalk from his mouth.

"I am the tenth son of his Lordship in line to succession. All sons before me are capable warriors, strategists and architects of greatness worthy of his Lordship. I'm just the additional one, so why bother putting any effort."

"At this rate, honourable father will throw you out of the house!" She said in a worried tone.

"All the better, he'll sever his Karma with me on his own voalition. And I will be free to do whatever I want." The irresponsible young master placed his hands behind his head and walked ahead of his beautiful sister.

"But then…. I will not see you again." She said in a heartbreaking tone as she truly believed that if he crossed this path, no matter how he pleaded. He would not be allowed to visit nor even look upon her.

He scratched his head and sighed. Returning to rest his hand upon her head.

"Silly girl. You think something like a mere cutting of ties will prevent me from ensuring your happiness, dear Bahin (Sister)?"

His sister looked up at him with joy in her heart. He couldn't help by leak a smile.

"Right! Its settled then!" He suddenly declared with a bright expression.

"What has been settled, Bhaiya?" She asked confused.

"I'm going to surpass our brothers." The eyes of his sister widened in shock as he continued.

"I'm going to surpass honourable father as well. So that no one can tell me what to do! No one shall be above me save the gods, and none shall suffer under me."

"But how?..." Though she was surprised, it didn't mean she didn't believe that he wasn't capable of doing so. She had grown with him since she was but a mere toddler who came with her mother as hostages. But her birth mother had left her to substitute herself to return back to her homeland, that vanity was part and parcel of her kind. It appalled their father and mother, but they would rather an undeserving mother left her child in better hands that she deserved.

"How will you surpass honourable father who was once General of the East and is now Minister of the Left, a Lord Regent?"

While she astounded by her dearly beloved brother's claim. She had full faith in his ability to stay true to his word. He was highly intelligent as a child, but was quick to notice that the spotlight often made one vulnerable to jealousy and rivalry. He chose to pretend to be a deuce, only because there was nothing like living in freedom from responsibility. Free from studying and training lessons in magic and martial arts. But to her, it was painful to see him humiliated by his peers for their lack of understanding.

He looked to the city they called home, the Valley of Akaash. In this city, there was only one supreme overlord, ordained by heavenly mandate to rule over Akaash and possess reign over the mountain and valleys which in turn gave him the power to rule over Shangri-La. But this sort of position wasn't inherited, it was earned through valour and a certain test of qualities. He smiled ever so brightly it was almost undistinguishable to a grin his younger sister had seem many times when he exhibited that hidden talent of his.

"I shall become King."

….

….

* * *

Author's Notes:

Been thinking of a Gate Jietai story recently, because I had initially planned for a Gundam Iron blooded Orphans timejump story like this one. unfortunately and also quite fortunately, someone was ahead of me and doing the story some justice.

The story will be about Hitoshi Furata a.k.a God of Cooking in Alnus. Paired with Tyuule.


	114. Chapter 104 - The Dandy Man's Madness

Author's Notes:

Forget to mention how many times I repeated writing the previous works. (Three times; 6000 words each) Gives you an idea of how serious I am in getting this formula right. But the concept and plot are still there, rest assured that won't change midway. It's how to graph it into a viable chapter that's a challenge sometimes.

* * *

The Rebels fought a bitter battle against a significantly smaller force. After ten minutes of entering the base thanks to Ajay's efforts, they begun hunting those few cut-off forces which refused to give up and would fight to the death.

After Ajay and several soldiers had mopped up the Dragoon Battalion that attacked them, he turned towards the final objective. The Royal Fortress Command Building.

A few soldiers were already ahead of him planting the explosives to blow the hinges from the main door and ready to storm the three-level complex with a central villa in the middle of it. The Command Building was a new extension made after Arjun had taken power as the Marshal of Kyrat. A project that took seven months to build and was still relatively new.

It was sufficient in size to be a complex on its own. Perhaps it would be an equivalent to a Ministry of Defence if the system of governance became more liberal democratic much like the European countries with Monarchs.

The officer in charge of the small detail assigned by Colonel Raja to storm the Command Building approached Ajay. And raised an eyebrow when he could have sworn that his grace wasn't talking to himself, rather talking to someone he couldn't see at all. Was he practicing a routine skit or something along the lines of inner monologue spoken out loud? He could never know as Ajay came before him and asked.

"Status."

"Charges set, just waiting for you, your Grace."

"Then let's give our Rebel friends an explosive entry." The officer revealed a grinned and jogged ahead to set off the charges on the main door hinges.

As one would expect from someone who was facing a calamity, they would bar the windows and lock themselves inside the Building Ajay could easily order Rohan to call in a bunker buster strike on them and level the whole building to the ground.

Unfortunately, he received some new intel regarding the personnel inside the building. It didn't merely consist of the parties responsible but a certain group of hostages per se.

Some were random civilians, others were important government officials whom were essential to the new order but refused cooperation, Arjun and his family was one of them. Some echelon nobles as well.

(BOOM) There was no time to think now. All they could do was rescue the hostages and arrest the hundred over collaborators of this Rebellion.

"Go! Go! Go!" The officer warden a Company of infantry into the corridors starting with the lobby they were in. Ajay walked in easy and carefully scanned the surroundings.

"A cornered rat bites the hardest." He recited a phrase that stood true in his beliefs.

*Your Grace.* Ajay's radio barked to life with the sound of heavy fighting occurring outside.

"Status. Raja."

*The 1st Hussars, it seems your Battalion couldn't keep them at bay.*

Ajay understood what that encompassed. They were arriving to liberate the Royal Fortress from their attack. Only to delay an inevitable end for the Cantons who were not in the position to rally forces. This only spelt something weird about the behaviour of 1st Hussars. From what he'd gathered from interrogation and intel was that Samuel was not leading the Battalion. This made sense because if she was, this wouldn't be the side she'd take even if her mother was taken hostage. She hated the Mins in particular.

That wasn't to say there weren't here to help their own relatives. The Commanders of 1st Hussars was narrowed down to three possibilities, either one of the adjutants surnamed Fang or Bipin. Which begged the question why was helping them? He was just glad his sister wasn't here to mess with his actions.

"What could you possibly gain from helping them? Talk to me, Bipin." He murmured as he observed explosions and tracer exchange at the base of the cliff to the Royal Fortress. Attacking the three infantry Battalions at once, it was brave and also unnerving to what they had planned up their sleeve.

But this wasn't his problem, Raja wasn't a Colonel for nothing. He had more difficult matters to handle with the Command Building affairs.

"Deal with them, I'll be busy clearing Command." Ajay clicked the last response and order to Raja before turning off his radio.

Ajay undid the buckle to his kukris, one was a reliable companion and the other was a partner to his other knife and a ceremonial piece to his office as a Kshatriyan Lord. In these narrow confines with tight corners, his blades were ideal.

He proceeded down the pathway which he was familiar with, all the while holding thoughts about the future that was in-store of Kyrat. The Rebellion that was about to come to a close, seemed pale in comparison.

*…..* The P.A suddenly came to life and caught the attention of everyone in the building.

*Welcome, demon. I-… We've been waiting for you.*

He recognised that voice anywhere. Ajay gazed up to the surveillance camera up in front.

"Solomon. They must truly be desperate to rely on a nut like you."

* * *

*Desperate, yes. But insane, not at all. Because when you're up against a person- ney…. A monster like you, sometimes you need a genuinely brilliant individual that society shuns.*

"Glad you acknowledge that."

As he spoke, a firefighter broke out in the distance somewhere. And he could hear the tapping of heavy footsteps at the end of the corridor around the corners of the T-junction.

*Let's see how well you hold up against the warm up.* At his announcement, four Heavy Gunners popped out from in front at the T-Junction and cocked their MG42s.

(Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr) They fired in unison, not even giving him a gap to escape by.

(Boom)(Boom)

Ajay quick drew the slayer and fired in quick succession the two shots that badly pummelled the front two Gunners and shook the other two from firing.

He fired the grapple anchor at the side of the walls to reel him in to quickly close the gap between him and the Heavies. His eyes locked on to the first of the Heavy Gunners out front who gazed at him in horror as the sight of their armoured suits which discouraged many did no such thing to him.

If anything, Heavy Gunners and Flamers were slow and cumbersome. He learnt very early in his arrival that there was a significant flaw to the heavy suits between the helmet and the torso plate which he could plunge a knife into the gap and kill the wearer. Relying on the demon, he could flick his finger and create a cavity in their protected face. He was sure the Exalted Golden Path and the Rakshasa could do the same, hell- it wasn't a problem for Ahab's suits either. He wondered who came up with such a stupid idea in regards to this unwieldy concept which was going back to the era of the European knights. But this was the 21st Century, even a handgun could penetrate an old medieval and renaissance armour plate.

His first victim fell pretty easily. (Bang) While he dispatched the first one, a previously thrown stun grenade went off and blinded the remaining three whom he dispatched almost effortlessly.

*Very good! Very Good! It seems you're all ready to get working with all the others.*

Then, more appeared at the three corners from where he was standing in the middle of the T-junction like Solomon planned. More than five Heavy troopers on each side, and this time they had Heavy Flamers with them. As a countermeasure if he came up to them close and personal.

*If you survive this, then good. We'll be waiting in the Theatre room.*

(Brrrr) (Brrrrrrr) (Brrrrr)

The Heavy gunners fired in short controlled burst because they were facing one another besides Ajay who was in the middle. Ajay was inevitably hit by a few shots of 7.92mm rounds, fortunately, they weren't the K-bullets or armor-piercing variety or even his armour wouldn't save him. Nevertheless, he was taking on the full energy of the rounds which was quite painful and knocked him around.

The Flamers fired their flamethrowers in succession to keep him suppressed even though they weren't in range yet.

(Boom) (Boom) Ajay fired his slayer at one corner.

(Boom) (Boom) after firing the first salvo, he ejected the shells and loaded a second pair which he discharged as quickly as he placed them in.

He focused his fire on one corner which killed one of them, but to his surprise they drew out ballistic shields to add to their armour. Creating ceramic wall to block his attempts. The .700 sabot rounds could pierce the ballistic shield and hurt but not kill the Heavy, and the shrapnel did not spread due to the spacing effect and spall lining of the shields.

*Tsk! Tsk! Tsk! Never play the same trick twice.*

Ajay's knuckles tightened and made an unnaturally loud cracking sound for a human hand. One second he was there in their sight, a passing flame from the flamethrower obscured him for a while and presented them with a vanished Demon. It caught them entirely off guard.

(Bang) Went the metal ceramic shield on the corridor leading to the Theatre of War Room.

The Heavy suited troopers were smashed into the walls with dented shields and a depression in their armour. Four had died in an instant to shock from the considerable damage sustained, while the last remaining one on that corner wanted to turn tail and run. But would Ajay let him after he shot him many times with the MG42s?

(Crack) Ajay punched out to the man's face and beheaded the plated head off his shoulders, leaving a bleeding fountain from the body of the Heavy Gunner.

This sudden instance where the pinned down Badala suddenly tearing up five Heavy armour soldiers with protection and firepower caused some to wobble where they stood.

Ajay turned to them without even turning his body.

"Go pick beef with someone else." He said in a warning tone. They instead dropped their guns and shed their armour before running off into the direction of the entrance to go and turn themselves in.

Unfortunately for Solomon, he wasn't able to see it as it was the limit to the surveillance devices' turning radius. But he saw the troopers flee nonetheless.

*….nhnhnhnhnh!* All that he responded with was chuckling.

Ajay was in no mood to cater to any more of his tricks and obstacles. If anything had been achieved by Solomon, it was that he'd deliberately emptied Ajay's slayer of additional shots. His most potent range weapon with area of effect. He obviously didn't see the other weapon slung on his back which Ajay kept reserved until he really needed it.

Regardless of what Solomon had done to wear off his provisions, Ajay was still fully capable of tearing them apart weapon-less. Solomon was the one person he would not spare today, along with the main culprit who encouraged this rebellion to happen.

The door to the Theatre of War lay before him.

(Bang) (Crash) He didn't even turn the handle, he kicked it off its hinges and screws. Sending the door skidding inward and revealing the fearful flock of sheep before him. Although this flock was anything but innocent.

(Clap) (Clap) (Clap) "Bravissimo! Truly outstanding work, Badala." The dandy man himself was just three feet from him.

Ajay scanned the room without turning his head around, just his eyes.

There were Canton Lords and Nobles, a whole lot of them who chose this lot over king and country. Some familiar faces there, Sun Kwan, some nobles he'd seen during the Crystal Falls event, and who else but old man Raghu.

(Bang)

Ajay drew his sidearm and shot the old man in the weak legs. "Arrrrrrghh!" He wailed loudly, yet no one came to his aid or even tried to prevent Ajay from shooting him.

His sidearm 1911 was still pointed at Raghu who glared at Ajay albeit in agony.

"What are you waiting for?! DO IT! Just like you did to my beloved son!"

"And give you the satisfaction of a quick death? Old Man. Count the fact that you've served the King this long that I didn't pursue you after Sugun courted his own death. Jeevan was my way of restoring that karma of enmity between us."

"To that-…urrgh! Bastard?! He was nothing more than a useless by-product of having a taste of his mother!"

Ajay sighed to hide the anger he felt from hearing that from Raghu, he was only glad Jeevan wasn't here to hear it from the horse's mouth. He fired the grapple anchor which pierced Raghu's frail leg as he reeled him in just inches away. The old man cried out in pain but ceased as he clenched it down to glare all the hate at Ajay. Raghu spat on his leg from where he lay unable to get up.

"… You are nothing more than filth, just like your traitor of a father…." He said.

"You're right on that account, old man." Ajay readily agreed to his insult like it was a fact.

"But you were a fool for not recognizing it sooner." Ajay thrusted his Royal kukri into Raghu's femoral artery.

Raghu's corpse slumped onto the side once the life slowly drained from him and felt every painful moment in wake of an imminent death.

From what Ajay assessed from Raghu's last words, it was clear he wasn't referring to Pagan. Meaning, he had an idea of who he was and it was clear the rest did too, for it would be foolish to keep it hidden to himself where the chances of killing him were less than with the whole lot planning and contributing resources.

Which was why Ajay faced the forbidden Heavy armour units carrying some vintage MG42s from the old kingdom procurements. Someone must've taken some from the armoury and stashed it away, it might've been Raghu, since he was the Former Chief of Royal Guard.

And during this entire time, all the rest did was silently watch. Ajay really had enough of them, but even then…..

"I assume you are the ringleader, eh?" Ajay nodded his head towards the old Canton sitting on Pagan's dais.

"You clearly know who I am yet you don't acknowledge my name." He said with lines forming on his face.

"We'll save that for your public execution. As for the rest of you, that includes you Sun Kwan."

Sun Kwan was puzzled when he classified him amongst the rest and not condemned to the beheading like the elderly Min.

"In this scenario, the highest treason against the King by attempting to take his life and seizing his throne. What was it called again in Chinese…. Zyu lin gau zouk (Nine Generations Extermination)." Ajay said in their native dialect.

The response from the Cantons in particular were faces of white sheets. What this capital punishment was, was an ancient capital offense that invoked a charge against every family member of nine generations/relations and sometimes even close friends. This punishment was reserved only for the worst criminal against the state, often Rebels that had an attempt on the Emperor's life or displeased him or failing to follow critical orders of his liege in some way.

The Modern Chinese government no longer practiced that sort of severe punishment, although a certain lunatic of a leader in North Korea did it to his uncle.

"But this isn't ancient China, and we're all civilised men and women. So I asking of you, ladies and gentlemen…. Stand down and surrender. And you'll at least have me as your advocate when the king comes to judge you. The sooner you present capitulation the better. I can at least promise that Pagan will not find your sons and daughters overseas."

There was a change in the tide as the previous chaotic emotions straightened out to the words that their salvation might be possible. Of all people, it was the demon that was offering them this. And they believed it, because not once had they known him tell a lie or go back on his words.

"I yield." A noble supporting the rebellion stepped forward. He wasn't significant in the contribution but it didn't matter as he'd just broken the ice and allowed the rest some dignity intact as the chose to surrender.

"I surrender."

"I yield."

"This is enough for me."

A whole group of leaders including some officers stepped forwards, although there were some that remained stationary.

"Have all of you no pride or dignity?!" Sun Kwan shouted. But all of them remained quiet, they valued their lives and their families over a failing ambition.

"This has nothing to do with dignity or pride!" One shouted back.

"And put out families in jeopardy? You know how King Min operates!"

"If you want to die then, die yourself!" They jeered back at him.

"Shut up!" It was not Sun Kwan who shouted, but Ajay. They instantly welded their mouths shut to stay in his grace.

"Sun Kwan and those that didn't surrender. You have my utmost respect." It was an honest opinion from Ajay which made them feel a bit weird.

"I know why you're in on this. But is your disappointment in Pagan's inability to fulfil your wish truly worth all of this?"

Ajay said it. The reason he was being level-headed in a moment where slaughtering all of them would mean nothing. Because of what Noore had told him about what Jeevan heard from his former instructor.

"You were Pagan's most loyal-."

"And now you are. Can you see the irony? And can you safely say that he still trusted in us?" Sun Kwan retorted.

"…" Ajay could refute that. By placing Ajay closer to him, he was indirectly shunning any interaction with his fellow Cantons, that was why he lost complete control over his own clan to that old man on his dais.

"You might even think what I'm saying is just hot wind. But one day, when you face the same circumstance as we did, then you'll know what regret is."

"….. I already have." Was Ajay's answer, which shocked them.

"But a temper outburst of "why the world is so cruel" from me would only do worst for others that don't deserve to be collateral to my anger. Tell me, Sun Kwan. Don't you think your boy deserves something else besides being herald as a traitor and being executed?"

These words had shaken even the steadfast Sun Kwan whom fell into a state of conviction, staring at the floor and reflecting as did the rest of the more responsible members of the Rebellion.

"Your son, your clan has served beside Pagan since you all left Hong Kong. You were nothing but gang henchmen following a young man who saw the world his oyster and believed he was undefeatable. You took the Kyrati throne and established the Min Dynasty all on your own while he was recluse. When Golden Path came knocking in 98' you fought to protect him."

"What good did that do?!"

"It proves you and your families are still men of honour! And that is something I can't let be trampled when your home needs it most!"

"Home?" Sun Kwan looked at him baffled. Did he refer to Kyrat as their home?

"Isn't that why you made the exodus with him? To find a home?"

"Home… Hmph! Hahahahahaha!" Sun Kwan laughed sadly.

"You call this a home? A place where you should be standing proud and tall by a man made into king. Instead the subjects stare at you with loathe and see you as a parasite. Is that the kind of environment we should have raised our children in?!"

"And you think anywhere else has greener grass? I lived in the states for twenty-four years of my life! Not once was I ever considered an American by its people! Not even my friends! At least in their hearts, I was someone foreign."

"So you felt it as well."

"But who cares what others think! Did they decide what you should be?! Do they dictate your every action? Did they support Pagan when he needed it most?! You are one of his oldest friends, that is something the Kyratis can only look upon with admiration. You built what would become modern Kyrat! That is something no one else can claim from you all."

It would be a lie if Ajay's words didn't hit home to their emotions. Because after all they'd done, he was right.

"So I'll ask again of you, Lord Sun Kwan. Please submit on behalf of the Rebellion. Pagan will surely put your friendship into consideration. If not, I'll remind him." To their surprise, Ajay went on one knee in front of Sun Kwan whom as even more astonished.

But they all knew what it meant. It was silently saying that Sun Kwan as a Canton Lord was regarded more highly than a Duke of Kyrat in the King's graces. Ajay was admitting that to resort some of the dignity in Sun Kwan and to get him to willingly step down and order the Rebellion to come to a close. They still needed the strength of the armies to fight the Golden Path and Rakshasa whom were just two hundred kilometres away.

"You!-…. You!-…." No words could properly form in Sun Kwan's mouth.

Why was the demon so hellbent on ensuring their survival? Wouldn't ridding the Cantons from Kyrat be in the people's favour? The demon was after all the champion of the Kyrati people, born and bred a Kyrati.

When Sun Kwan seem to get some bearing as did the rest of the officers, the troops came in and arrested those that surrendered earlier. They were completely aware of all this because Ajay had connected the radio on his persons to the P.A. via wifi. And so, every soldier in the Royal Fortress, Rebel or Loyalist, heard the conversation and were convinced into laying down their arms and giving up.

Sun Kwan saw the cunning in Ajay and a superimposed image of a younger Pagan upon him. He wanted to laugh at the sight, if tugged at his heart due to the long missed nostalgia of that emotion of witnessing such cunning at play.

"I meant what I said, Lord Kwan. All of it."

Sun Kwan was silent for a while before speaking his bit.

"Why do you help us, Duke of Lakshman? When all we did was make your journey difficult."

"Are you really asking me this far in?..." Ajay cocked his eyebrow. Sun Kwan gave an expression tht he needed to know before making his final decision.

"I've never considered you all as Cantons or Kyratis. You live here, therefore this is your home. What gave anyone the right to deny you that?"

Sun Kwan's serious expression broke into a smile, albeit regretful in all that had transpired till now.

"… I, Lord Sun Kwan of the Sun Family of Kyrat. Yield this Rebellion and all that fall under it."

A wave of relief passed over everyone as a calm resolve was made.

"And I accept full responsibility for all that has happened." He added.

"That'll be left to the King to decide. And Thank You, Lord Kwan." As he said this, Sun Kwan shook his head.

"…no. Thank you, son of Mohan. You are nothing like your father."

"Ha! That means a lot coming from you." Ajay chuckled. It really did. For his greatest fear of all was becoming the very thing that he was trying with everything to avoid.

"This truly is touching. How you can forget all the wicked things and make up like friends.

And all this while, Solomon was snickering in the corner. Ajay approached him slowly and under a spell of ultra-calm. But Solomon could sense the ill intent but was unfazed by his intimidating aura.

"To be honest, all of you make me sick."

* * *

"You forgive just because they feel sorry, how wide is your ego, Ajay Ghale?"

"So it was you who figured it out?" Ajay wasn't so surprised as he'd imagined. In fact, it was about time someone did, but with Pagan going around suppressing all that knew it was hard to spread reliable rumours and accounts.

"Have you ever considered your actions noble?"

"Do I look like a nice guy to you?" Ajay drew his pistol and raised it to Solomon's forehead. But all Solomon responded with was a crazed laughter.

"You have no power over me, Ajay." He said as he raised a remote and pressed it to turn on a screen.

In the LCD screens on one of the monitors displayed three parts. One screen had two in the form of a very familiar old couple tied to a stake with a petrol trail, whilst two had women tied to a charge of C4 each.

One was Samuel and the other was-.

"Saras."

"Like a sweet lovebird. You hero-type always have such a cliché weakness." He held up a detonator which was to be said quite obvious what it was for.

"I want to play a game, Ajay."

"I've had enough of your games!" Ajay shouted truly angry.

"Ho! Temper, Ajay. That attitude's not gonna free them by themselves. Besides, you've have to decide, which is more important. Your maternal grandparents? Or your lover? Oh! The way it sounds is just so delectable." For once, Ajay was shocked.

What did he mean by grandparents, was this some sort of mistake he thought that Kamala's parents were his grandparents.

"That look on your face. You really didn't know did you. You never asked yourself where your bitch of a mother's own parents were. You thought they were dead." Every sentence was a mockery to him and confused his thoughts ever further even though it wasn't the time to worry about that. But to hear that the Malla couple were his grandparents, his only remaining blood family. There was no feeling to describe it. His mother was known as Ghale, through and through. She never changed it when flying over to New York and neither did she tell him absolutely anything about Kyrat not even about herself. What kind of estranged relationship were they in after she married his father? Mohan's diary made no mention of this other than there was a very slight conflict from his own parents to the decision to marry Ishwari. Did they know all this while and never tell him?

"Get down!" (Bang) A high-powered shot flew by him in a narrow miss thanks to Sun Kwan pushing him down.

This was all that Solomon and Guang Min needed to make a getaway. They did so by activating the blast door on the theatre of war.

(Bamm) The blast door sealed shut.

*…..* Ajay's secure channel beeped to life.

*Here's how we'll play. There are three hostages that need rescuing, two of which are important to you of course. While the other…. Well, let's just say I pulled at a certain someone's heart to get him to rescue his damsel. I've set the timer to 2 minutes, you'd better hurry. I forgot to tell you that if the other person retrieves his woman yours will be cooked! Tah! tah!*

"God damn it! Solomon!" Ajay bull rushed the door was a loud gonging sound from the hollow spacing.

Ajay held the doorknob and pulled with everything until the metal broke and denied him a proper exit. He didn't give up as he battered the hinges with superhuman strength as the crowd of prisoners and Loyalist soldiers watched.

When he tore the hinges with bloodied hands from grazing the rented metal he plied one top end.

"Huuuuurrrrrghhhh!" The crowd were just flabbergasted to see him bend a solid steel strut with just hands. But Ajay didn't care to hide that at all. He bent the metal only slightly with the whole amount of effort he put into it, even in his state.

But it was no use, he wouldn't be able to bend it enough for him to squeeze through in time. There was almost no time, it was now one minute and thirty left. All that the tiny dent allowed him to do was give leverage to ply the door open which it wouldn't.

Then a hand rested on his shoulder and soldiers came rushing towards the door and placing their C4 charges.

"You idiots! Explosives in a confine space!? Where did you graduate explosives from?!" Ajay shouted at the soldiers and Sun Kwan.

"All the more reason that door should blow open." With the pressure to assist, but it would kill everyone inside this pressurized location.

Ajay continued to pull the metal.

"How stubborn are you gonna be?! Help us build a barrier at least!" Sun Kwan reprimanded him while he naturally led the soldiers to push down the tables and chairs to form and area segregated.

The segregated area was quickly produced and the metal cabinets and tables were used to shield the whole assembly. Ajay remained outside planting thin spreads of explosive over the metal barriers.

"What are you doing?!" Sun Kwan asked as he was the last man to hid behind.

"Laying an improvised reactive charge. This should counter the explosive pressure generated."

Justifying his reason, Sun Kwan left cover to help him lay the explosive tape. It was now forty-five seconds left in Solomon's game.

Seeing them retreat behind the covers, the soldier with the detonator flipped the switch and set off the charges.

(BOOOOM) (BOOM) As the charges on the blast door blew and created a pressure wave that reached the barrier, the reactive charges detonated and pushed back against the flow and added more explosive force upon the door which was blow a few feet outwards.

Ajay didn't waste time as he jumped out and sprinted as fast as he could. Sun Kwan and the soldiers did their best to keep up but were left like dust in the wind.

He ran through the corridors with the bodies of the Heavies still uncleared towards the site which the last video feed showed similarity to. The central courtyard, exposed to the elements but was used as a small place to take a breather for officers and staff members.

He made a dirt mound from where he halted to a stop in front of the Malla couple and undid their ropes.

"Hide now!" Was all he instructed as Miren carried his wife away.

(Bang) A sniper's bullet flew and struck Ajay on his back as he was focused on them. He reactively responded with his pistol and quickly gunned down the sniper on the roof looking down.

The bullet had unfortunately gotten through a place where the armour wasn't protecting and it cracked his rib. Even so, he bit down on the pain and sprinted with gun in hand as he proceeded on to look for the last two hostages. The entire place seemed void of soldiers, let alone Rebels as well. All he found were corpses.

(Bang) (Bang) Some firefight broke out in the distance. It gave him an indication that there was still time. Ten seconds on the clock.

Then at last he curbed the corner to find Saras had been untied and Solomon holding her at gunpoint, but that wasn't all. Guang Min was holding for him to see some sort of detonator and on the floor in a pool of his own blood was surprisingly Han Feng.

"What a foolish boy, now my grandeur of this whole arrangement is ruined." Solomon puffed.

Ajay pulled out a second pistol on Guang Min as he did with his first on Solomon who used Saras to block the shot.

"Ajay-…. Just shoot!" Solomon stuck her head hard with the bottom plate of the pistol he held.

"Don't ruin my fun."

"What do you want now, Solomon?" Ajay asked while giving him a chance.

"What I want?" Solomon laughed. But Guang Min answered.

"I want out of this god forsaken country, nobody to track me! That's my price, or you can kiss your king goodbye."

"Don't ask the impossible, old man." Solomon mocked him but was true.

To confirm it, Ajay wasn't answering his request. Which made him swear profusely. He listened to this nut and now he'd gotten himself into this situation. There was truly no medicine for regret.

As Ajay raised his gun, the sound of one cocked behind him.

"Drop it, Ajay."

"Bipin?... Why?" Saras called out from where she was.

"Oh yeah! I kind of told him a different pattern from yours, Ajay. His mission was, if you don't stop Ajay from killing Guang Min, he's gonna trip the detonator to his lover Sam's C4 rigged vest.

"Sam? Lover?" Saras was really confused and wondered if she was hearing right.

"Not now, Saras." Ajay said focused at the two of them he wished to kill right now.

"Change of plans, my dear dedicated young officer. You've followed my instructions to the letter with the Hussars. Your reputation precedes you, Kadayat."

"Shut up! Let her go!"

"Very poor choice of words. She'd also dangling from the cliff apart from having the C4 vest strapped to her, yunno." Solomon teased.

Bipin backed off but kept the rifle raised at Ajay who was likely endangering Sam's life.

"This is a surprise, who would've thought you were having some after work activities with your boss."

"Not now, Ajay. And drop it!"

"He's not dropping anything, right Ajay?" Ajay didn't answer.

"I want off this place!" Guang Min demanded separately.

"Shush ah-Guang! This doesn't make things any better. Alright, here's the new game rules."

"Not playing."

"You will if you want to keep one of them alive."

"I'm only bothered about the one with you now."

"Ajay!" Bipin shouted worried he really was going to consider Sam expendable for Saras wellbeing.

But Solomon chuckled.

"I wasn't referring to that crossdressing Eurasian. I was referring to what old man Guang is holding there."

Ajay made a quick glance to the detonator which he assumed was for Sam.

"That is linked to a rocket battery just up the wall, its zeroed onto the Royal Palace in the event we couldn't claim Pagan's corpse to parade."

-Fuck me!- Ajay cursed internally.

"And this?" Solomon held out a depressed detonator of his own.

"When I release the boy's lover goes kaboom!" An assisting soldier took the detonator whilst still depressing it and stood apart from Solomon

Ajay could see the picture clearer now. Solomon was relying on Ajay's undying loyalty to kill Guang Min to save Pagan. But knew his conviction for Saras as well. It was a guilt trap laid out so perfect that Ajay was literally led by it like a carrot. And there was Bipin who was only concerned about Sam, but the soldier was behind Solomon and impossible to reach even with a rifle because he was directly behind so could only wound. And the man would release the trigger if caused to flinch.

Ajay had remained quiet for some time now. He breathed in and exhaled to relieve his tension. Looking at Saras and smiling warmly.

"I guess I can go back to being Ajay now." Saras realised the significance of what he said. As she'd said to him quite some time ago. She was only keen on marrying Ajay Ghale.

Ajay quick drew the gauss rifle and aimed at a clueless Solomon.

"Ajay?..." Bipin called out.

Solomon held Saras closer and the soldier behind repositioned to be shielded by Solomon.

"Don't do this, Ajay!" He raised the rifle on him for fear that the soldier would release the trigger. But Ajay was about 75% sure that he would kill both of them. After all, this was a gauss rifle. It would pierce through both of them at Mach 8, which meant that the soldier behind should be blasted into bits with the detonator whilst Solomon would have a hole somewhere due to the proximity which meant he was not receiving the full blow of the shot that passed through him at this point blank range.

"You crack me up, Kadayat. For a tactical genius like you, to not see he's already had the resolve since I made this scenario to shoot." Solomon laughed in the face of death.

"So now, what will it be, Ajay? Loving affection or Duty. I'll leave that decision to you. Show me what the Demon of Kyrat is capable of!"

Ajay's eye, turned a yellow hue as he controlled his breathing. And Solomon awaited his verdict from his mouth. Ajay's mouth moved in a speed he could read and predict what it would form. But unfortunately, it didn't form any word he'd been expecting. Not Pagan, and not Saras either, but-

"Both."

* * *

(Bang) Was the sound not of a gunshot but a huge slapping sound of a solid slug passing through Solomon's chest and hitting the soldier behind him who exploded into bits of flesh.

Solomon fell to the ground with a smile of satisfaction on his face. But Guang Min's was anything but satisfied, he was terrified. And in his fear, he pressed the trigger before Ajay could get a shot on him.

(Bang) Bipin shot him in the knee instead.

But now the sound of rockets igniting could be heard on top of the roof. Ajay fired his grappling anchor to reach the roof top and saw the rockets flying towards the Royal Palace just up and beyond the current location.

It was a multiple rocket launcher from China, fixed emplacement but each rocket was devastating. But Ajay was too late to stop them from firing, and he could only watch them fly toward their destination with horror.

-As if.-

His focus returned to him and his breathing became one single breathes and raised the gauss rifle towards the rockets now moving slow-mo due to a trigger in his brush with death symptom he induced in his mind.

He had poured in every ounce of demonic power into his focus, and steady hands. More was funnelled into his cognitive senses to predict a path of the rockets individually. This amount streaming into one portion of his body have a catastrophic consequence later on.

He didn't need colour, it was detrimental to identifying the motion. He didn't need sound, he only needed to see it. He didn't need to think any other thoughts, only the shots mattered.

Once the rockets' path were predicted by his brain.

(Beww) (Beew) Beeww) (Beww) (Beeww) (Beew) Ajay fired six shots in quick succession at the six respective rockets shot out of the launcher.

With the nature of the gauss rifle's near-light speed velocity, the slug would hit the target almost instantly the trigger was pulled. And like the latin phrase, "Velocitas Eradico" Destruction through speed. The kinetic force of the projectiles would detonate the warheads.

(BOBOBOBOBOBOOOM)

And like an artwork in the sky, six brightly oranged coloured clouds blossomed in the sky.

Every shot hit its target. The Royal Palace would stand to be reduced to rubble another day.

* * *

Author's Notes:

Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade. That's what i think about when i see heavy gunners with MG42s even though the game ones only carry PKMs. Would've been more of a challenge.


	115. Chapter 105 - The Tears I Shed For You

Author's Notes:

Back from Yorke Peninsula, longest fishing trip ever. Longest road trip in South Australia ever. And farthest I've been to the outback and frontier since WA.

* * *

With the prevention of the 107mm rockets pummelling the Royal Palace and in the process, ending the line of Min, Ajay was left with the last two dissidences of the Rebellion. He approached the one that was at death's door first, and let the newly-arrived soldiers watch over Guang Min and Bipin while attending to injuries Saras might've sustained.

Solomon was lying on the floor with a tennis ball size hole next to his heart, but was all the more mortal in nature. Nevertheless, Solomon wasn't rude enough not to extend a greeting which he did.

"Ah…. Brother." Solomon called out to him in a tone of familiarity, Ajay did not refute the dying man's last wishes.

"Solomon. Even after our brief encounter and conversation. You still cling to that abomination of an ideal that even Pagan doesn't hold."

"Who ever said it was Pagan's that I was practicing. It is my own and no one elses. It is- (Cough) born from my understanding of the world."

"You've limited yourself to one what you know."

"Of course! How would I know of what I don't! How does anyone, we live by our own experiences and judge based on that limitation. That is humanities greatest flaw, but it is also out greatest source of innovation."

"….."

"Even then, we still have gauges to mark ourselves by. To climb the highest peak, to go the farthest, to run the fastest, to excel, to be stronger than anyone else, to be smarter. And so what are we?" Solomon asked like he was schooling Ajay.

"Laws of the jungle." Solomon grinned widely.

"Laws of the jungle….. that's where we're the same, you and I." He agreed to Ajay's answer.

"But unlike you, I still have one thing that puts me apart from you."

Ajay took a kneel beside the dying Solomon to listen closely.

"I still have my soul. The very essence of what makes a human a human being… Precious beyond all worth. But you….."

Ajay had stood over him, casing the image like some sort of demi-god. After all Solomon threw at him, he should not have been able to reach him or the hostages, only watch in despair. And in the process, create a vengeful demon that would help him crush the land. Instead, a miracle occurred that swept away all of Solomon's plots and who was the auditor of all this but Ajay himself. Something was inherently wrong with his nature.

"In exchange, you have everything humanity had hoped to achieve. But you lack the very thing that defines you as a man, Ajay brother." Solomon began to cough violently for raising his voice. The fact that he could even talk exhibited the willpower that drove Solomon.

"And that was why I despise you, why I joined in on this farce of a Rebellion. This was my one shot at either standing triumphant over a monster or setting it upon those unworthy of being called kin of Kyrat. My goal of the entire staged Rebellion was you."

"... Was this everything you hoped for?" Ajay asked to which Solomon grinned widely.

"Everything… and better….. So long as there is a demon who threatens our way of life. All of humanity will spend every ounce of strength to destroy you just like anti-bodies crushing a cancer. And in the process… Kyrat shall be cleansed as well." Solomon could foresee the forces at work that would move to destroy him when his existence was more widely known. It was after all part of his masterful plan. This Rebellion was the opening embers to a Global effort in destroying Ajay and Kyrat. This Rebellion was made to catch and lure the world powers into intervening over Kyrat and in doing so, profit out of Kyrats suffering. When you became the sacrificial lamb to the world, there was no escape. Only god could turn the odds around.

Ajay was quick to understand Solomon's hidden motives. He had been too late in realising the true damage Solomon's existence could cause and had left him alive to be punished by the proper authorities which didn't and had instead given him free reign.

This was all on Ajay. And he knew that.

But even so… "They can try."

"Yes… hahaha…. They can…. Spoken like a true Asura. And in doing so, you will understand that your presence is more of a danger than to your people than not existing." Solomon gave his final prediction of the world to come after his passing. Solomon's state seemed almost at the verge of collapse and his eyelids were heavy as lead.

"I'll see you on the flipside then, brother." Solomon gave a thoughtful look at him when he called him by that, as the energy from his body was finally dissipating.

"Perhaps…. We could've been-… the very best of friends." He held out a hand shaking.

"In another life." Ajay answered and clasped it in a handshake as Solomon repeated after him in agreement and with a smile on his face that said he was the happiest man on earth.

"..In-…. Another-…" Solomon's last and final moments were the best he'd ever had. A worthy foe who he'd won the respect of, completed his entire being. One day, the philosophy of Solomon Khoo would spread through Kyrat and maybe the world in one form or another. And one day, humanity would be great again.

"Goodbye, brother." Ajay swept his hand over the wide eyes of the corpse belonging to the most peculiar arms-dealer and opponent he'd ever faced whom had given him the opening stage to being Badala.

Ajay got up from his kneel as the soldiers collected Solomon's body respectfully for the morgue.

"Stay with us, son! Stay with us!" At a critical junction of a certain Canton's live, Sun Kwan cried out louder, hoping to anchor him to the world of the living instead of descending into hell where the King of Hell awaited.

The reason why Saras didn't immediately approach him on his wellbeing was precisely to attend to Han Feng who was hanging on a thread due to a similar hole in his chest but caused by a bullet of considerably smaller calibre but to the heart.

A combat surgeon was doing the best he could to stop the bleeding but it was looking to be an impossible job as he cringed at the sight of the severity of the mortal wounds.

"I'm sorr-." The surgeon was barely able to get out that sentence when Sun Kwan grabbed him by the collar shaking him.

"You call yourself a doctor!? You fraud!" Sun Kwan fell into a state of upheaval, unable to control his emotions and was at the brink of falling into madness. He flung the doctor against the floor and casted him away, the surgeon left to attend to others who were in dire need of his help as well.

Ajay bent down next to the rest surrounding Han Feng.

"Ajay." Saras called out in a severely fatigued voice. "He saved my live…."

Hearing this from Saras was all he needed to know that Han Feng was alright, contrary to his record.

But there was nothing Ajay could do save, listen to his last dying requests.

Han Feng reached into his shirt and pulled out a chain necklace and held it out to Saras.

"Give it to-."

"Give it to her yourself! Fool! No one asked you to do this!" Saras fell into tears as she shoved his hand away.

Han Feng turned to Ajay.

"Will you grant this dying man his last request?" He asked with a resolve to his fate.

"Do you realise you're asking a favour of?" Ajay asked.

"I do, but I know that if you accept my wish will surely be granted."

"Let's hear it then." Saras and Sun Kwan were greatly saddened by the reality.

"Kanaan…. Kanaan Hamal."

"What about her?"

"Please make sure she is safe, that she is taken care of, that she has someone to love to the end of days. Please ensure her happiness for all time." Sun Kwan cried painfully, hearing his son pour out a heart of gold even moments before death.

Han Feng looked at Ajay with fierce eyes that were gradually weakening by the minute. Ajay remained quiet as he was being told something in his mind by the demon whispering internally. Then he looked to Han Feng.

"Wish granted."

Han Feng sighed in a relief he hadn't felt before, ready to let go and pass on. (Slit) Ajay ran a kukri across his palm he held above Han Feng as it dripped blood onto his wound where the hole to his heart was.

"What are you doing?!" Saras called out in alarm though there was no reason to.

"I'm doing as he asked. I'm giving Kanaan a person that would love her, protect her and give her a future of happiness." The remaining three couldn't understand what he was saying, had he lost his mind.

"In other words, Han Feng. I choose you."

As the blood trickled into his wound, a burning sensation happened. His wound began to cauterise and seal by itself.

Sun Kwan's eyes widen as Ajay performed a miracle before his every eyes.

"But when her time comes to pass, you cannot follow her suit. You will be chained to a duty of standing watchful over Kyrat till the end of its days. Only then can you re-join her in the cycle of reincarnation." Ajay repeated the words that the demon within had whispered to him on how he could save his life by creating a bond to himself as he had to Vasu, by casting a spell of eternal servitude upon him. Ajay set his expectations high because he wasn't sure of the real consequences of this blood-bond spell.

Unbeknownst to Han Feng or Saras and Sun Kwan, a living tattoo embroiled itself upon his wrist. Resembling the mark of an undying pale Bear. For bearing the untold burdens upon himself, the sacred guardian chose him as its host.

"This is my curse upon you Sun Han Feng. You will be my fifth Kshatriyan Lord."

* * *

It wasn't like the atrocity of Lanka where they were met with an empty victory in the form of the entire garrison and thousands dead. This Rebellion had been anticipated and been in the making for nearly sixteen years, no one had expected it to even come on a day like this. It was truly a Day of Reckoning.

And so, there was a celebratory mood about the Royal Fortress, the garrisons and the overall population that heard of the quick end to the Rebellion of the Cantons. It ended all seeming class supremacy the Cantons had over Kyrat in one fell swoop and opened a new dawn to Kyrat. Little did anyone know of the invasion by Golden Path, who'd returned from the mountains.

Despite this occasion, there was only one group which were not at liberty to do so, these were of course the Canton and Nobles who openly rebelled against the kingdom. Over a few thousand people were gathered and made to sit in the compound of the Royal Fortress in neat rows and columns. They were surrounded by over-watching guards whom were on their wits to kill anyone who showed motives to escape their trial. At the very front of these rebels and their relatives whom were arrested and brought here was the Ringleaders of the Rebellion. Or at least half of the remaining leaders.

Guang Min, Sun Kwan, the Lau Representative, Fang Siu Wei and Bipin Kadayat. Raghu, representing Hamal had died at Ajay's hand. Solomon and Richard Khoo had died as well, leaving no one in their family ready to accept the responsibility of the family head.

At the podium, seated facing them was Ajay. He sat with his eyes closed as if meditating over the occurrences upon his abrupt awakening. Sun Kwan was in a similar posture, he was preparing to stand up as the ringleader of the Rebellion and receive judgement. Ajay had performed for him a deed he would never forget. It might've cursed him in some manner, but at least the Sun Family would stand to continue existing. But most of all, his son was ok and in good hands. Ajay was there to vouch his stand against the rebellion so hence would not be judged like the rest. It would now be left to him on what the future would bring.

Ones that weren't in the same mindset were Guang Min, the Lau representative of the rebellion and almost every member of the rebellion. Including every of their family members whom were not directly involved but would be punished for their fathers and sons' actions. They were all aware of the temperament King Min held, and they had pushed him to this extent.

A commotion occurred higher up the path towards the Royal Palace coming down to the compound. This commotion came in the form of cheers. Those in the compound had an idea of what was happening, the King had arrived.

Garlands were thrown on his pathway down to the Royal Fortress compound. Under more relaxed circumstances, Pagan would've ecstatically welcomed it. However, on his entire trip down towards the parade square, he wore a dignified expression that held a conviction over the many burdens of royalty. In other words, he was starting to look like a king. Yuma travelled close by without interfering in his graces, she was clear of her standing for today's itinerary. Ajay felt they were act contrary to the personalities all together, this rebellion had really changed them drastically. Then again, he'd also changed in some way. If it were before, he would've executed all of the Cantons till there was no even a single dissidence left to judge by the time Pagan arrived. He had learnt so much from his temporary unconsciousness.

When Pagan arrived into their view, the rebels unconsciously lowered their heads in shame. If they'd won, it would have been a very different matter entirely. But they lost, so they had no say and they knew that.

Pagan walked up next to Ajay who stood up and scanned the masses gathered before him. Pagan sighed internally, the sight of men and women he once called friends would turn on him. Loyal subjects whom declared a life of servitude had taken up arms against him and the kingdom. And if a genuine factor like Ajay didn't exist, their usurpation would have been a reality.

"Walk with me." He said to Ajay as he beckoned him to follow him up to the former golden statue of himself. Surprisingly not even a word was said about it.

Ajay obeyed and silently followed alongside him.

"I would've never expected this from you."

"I'm not just some wild dog on a leash, I know the value of keeping them alive and grateful."

"Which is?"

"We're not out of the woods yet, Golden Path and a powerful ally have gathered on Akaash. They attacked Lanka during the strife."

Pagan grimaced and thought hard.

"That's not all the bad news I think." Ajay nodded his head.

"I have Willis and Lynch detained in Sagarmatha. And….. I managed to get Willis to spill the beans."

"I'm all ears."

"We have a serious problem."

"Oh….. We'll talked about the rebellion for now then, shall we?" They reached the top next to the parapet where the Golden Statue of Eric once was.

"First order of business, we'll have you stand for the sculpture this time." When Pagan heard this, he couldn't hold back his laughter.

"That humour, how you'd hurt Eric's professionalism, again." Pagan patted Ajay on the back as he had tried to kill the serious mood that was brewing, he did a good job at that.

"But perhaps it's for the better, this statue crumbling to gravel symbolises the end of the old era. No more of cult personality, no more lies to shroud truth. We'll play it the good and honest fashion."

"The world isn't going to take kindly to our, the four nations expansion." Ajay spoke realistically.

"They can put a sock in it! Just months ago, I bet they probably never even heard of Kyrat till China mobilised Chengdu."

With the end of the Yinke-Kyrat war, almost every world nation was aware of China's movements via satellite imagery. CNN reported it as a massive Chinese exercise in the Himalayas to respond to Indian retaliation. How much of the news was censored to the public ear? It was incredible. Was this orchestrated by the Central Committee or was this done intentionally by the US intelligence agencies. Either way, the PLA wouldn't let that stain be known to the world.

In a way, India had benefited from this confrontation with valuable data on the Chinese Air strategy and piloting behaviour. They had also gotten a better idea of their own pilot competence which they were most impressed. Pravindra was becoming a sensation back at home along with Commander Amar Singh.

"Now, you were saying something about some powerful ally the Golden Path had." Ajay turned to Pagan, unsure of he should tell him. He had the responsibility to yet, would he believe in such a fantasy tale?

"They are the reason why my father rose from the grave." Hearing this, Pagan couldn't help but stiffen. He had long thought about how Mohan would have just returned when he was clearly buried in Utkarsh.

"They are the ones giving the Devas and Golden Path fighters unnatural strength and durability. And this isn't even a smidge of their capabilities."

"You're starting to scare me, Ajay." Pagan laughed it off but he wasn't afraid.

"I'm being dead serious, I went looking for them. And came back half-dead."

"…"

Pagan rested against the foundation of the golden statue legs and fiddled with his pen engraved with a memoir.

"It looks like I haven't been taking this king business seriously for the last twenty-five years. And I've made you all suffer for it."

"I met him." Pagan didn't need to know who he meant, he knew there was no one else he was referring to.

"All I saw was a reflection of myself."

"You are not him, Ajay!" Pagan said sternly.

"Maybe. But he was right about one thing, the more I deny being in relation to him, the more I will fall the same way. That was what he was trying to tell me. He no longer has reign over Golden Path or the movement behind him."

Pagan didn't know what to say.

"… He was sorry for what he did." Ajay said to Pagan concerning Mohan.

"For Ishwari? Or for Lakshmana?"

"I would like to think both."

"It doesn't really matter now at his stage." Pagan waved off.

"How're you and Yuma?" Ajay went on to ask. "How's Pagan Jr." He added with a smirk.

"We're not sure if it's a boy or a girl yet. But if it's a girl then-… well, we're of no shortage of names really. Yuma seems more eager to have a girl than a boy."

Ajay leaned against the foundation next to Pagan.

"Any bright names for your step-sister?" Ajay chuckled.

"Yunno, before all this. Before mom's condition became serious, I used to think of having a family with Daisy." Pagan was quite aware of his love life back in the states, he'd watched him his entire life.

"It was a very naïve fantasy-."

"It is simple but achievable." Pagan said straight to Ajay's own doubt.

"The name I would've picked for my little man would've been Abhay (Fearless)."

"Oh, going for more of a traditional name, I like it."

"I hoped he wouldn't follow the same path as me and soldier on in finding his way, without fear." Ajay had thought hard about the meaning behind the name of his children's names. But with the current state he was in, he was fairly sure that would never happen. The enemy was something out of this world, that he had very little options against. Why they stayed their hands this far, only Darshan knew.

"If it was a girl, then Gwendolyn." Pagan was surprised by the sudden change in direction.

"The world run by men is a cruel one that I hope she wouldn't be involved in."

"If you weren't such a good fighter and leader of men, you would've made it quite well as a writer or poet." Pagan lit a cohiba he'd found in his pocket.

"I had every opportunity to be who I wanted, and I squandered it on nothing."

"You didn't squander it on nothing, look at you. Here you stand as one of the highest powers in Kyrat."

"But that's not me, Pagan. And I know that very well…. I'm sorry to have to say this to you now, but it's been long overdue for me to not keep this from you. I-."

"I know, son. You don't want the throne. (sigh) Even without saying it or Yuma's girl saying it to her. I guessed it from your interactions with the people here. But are you sure, Ajay? Do you want to serve under another?"

"Isn't a king also in servitude to the state and his people?"

"….."

"This dynasty might've been established based on regicide, but that is what Kingship is all about. A king is ordained by the heavens to govern the lands and rule fairly."

"And when the king is usurped, then the heavens deem him unworthy of leading and therefore granted divine intervention to the rebellion." Pagan answered, being more than familiar with classic Chinese Dynasty rule.

"The Himalayas have a similar order around here, the fact that Tenzin of Yinke, Dhir of Papir, Manendra of Kumsa all recognise you as the rightful sovereign to Kyrat is sufficient. If the world doesn't then they're just being a bunch of sore losers who can't amend to their own historic rulings."

"I'm sorry, my boy Ajay. I've pushed my own selfish ambitions onto you and made you pay the price in your freedom and dreams."

The fact that Ajay remained quiet proved it to be true, as he sat gazing into the horizon of the approaching dawn. Thinking about the remaining days he had left.

"Make the best of whatever time you have to yourself. If you can't control the motions that'll lead to a quick end, you can always make a day worth a year of memories. That's how I used to think when I was challenging my half-siblings for rule over the Min Triad." Pagan shared some wise words of the past to help Ajay reflect on the present differently. Ajay truly did take it into consideration as his mood brightened.

"Gwendolyn, eh? Princess Gwendolyn Min. I think Yuma might like the sound of that." Pagan mused.

* * *

The Rebels were in shock, the Loyalists were in greater shock when those words left his mouth.

"I will let them live." Implying the capital punishment would not cost them their lives.

Some of the Canton members, young and old bend lower than before. Kow-towing to him as their ancestors did before such a magnanimous pardon of a painful death with mercy. Some Nobles and officers were the same. But there were a few who saw it as an insult to their efforts, like he was looking down on their valour to rebel. And there was Guang Min, who wore an expression of disdain and conceit.

Pagan was quick to notice this and waved to Ajay whom knew what he wanted. Ajay pulled out his unsuppressed "Sandman" custom 1911 and passed it over to Pagan. All eyes fell on Pagan holding the pistol.

"I knew your motives since the day we decided to leave Hong Kong, Lou Guang. But try as you might, that ship had sailed when Interpol collaborated with the rest and the Police. We would gain nothing from staying. I know you ratted on us once, but I forgave you in light of your support that brought me to that moment."

"Which is it? Kill me or spare me! You ungrateful rotten, don't forget who pulled you out of that gutter and brought you into a standing equal to your siblings." Guang Min spoke of a long-forgotten past in which he'd helped Pagan rise to challenge his brothers and sisters for the succession as the Min Triad Head. Guang Min had one thing he was sure of in respects to his life. The fact that Ajay hadn't killed him immediately and that he was sitting amongst the Rebels not segregated from them. The Pagan he knew would never forget debts, he would always pay them in full. That was his style and why many followed him in his code of chivalry back in Hong Kong. There was still honour amongst thieves.

Pagan held the surprisingly balanced gun for having more accessories on it than needed for its use as a backup weapon. He had intentionally motioned for the handgun for a reason.

"This pistol is just one of the works done by a very special friend of mine. If not for you, I would never have come here and had the privilege of his services." Guang Min grinned widely.

"So you do feel appreciation once in a while. Who is this man, I'd like to acknowledge his efforts as well." Pagan gave a very wry grin at Guang Min's careless comment.

"His name was Samar Shah, and he was my Palace Guard Chief who died protecting me against the soldiers you ordered to kill me." Guang Min's face turned exceptionally pale at the sight of a hostile glare that materialized out of nowhere at the end of this declaration.

Pagan raised the business end of the pistol towards Guang Min's head.

"W-Wait a minute-.. if it's an apology, I'll give it! A hundred- no- a thousand kow-tows! You want my possessions I've gathered over the years?! A Swiss bank full of money, conflict diamonds, women who would readily throw themselves upon you!-." Guang Min became erratic with his behaviour in the face of certain death.

"Thank you for all you've done, Lou Guang. Consider this coup de grace instead of a life of suffering as my way of absolving your crimes against the kingdom."

"I don't want to die! I want- (Bang)." (Plop) His execution was swift, a bullet pierced his head and instantly killed him. The barrel smoked after Pagan had laid out justice in front of the entire mass despite saying he would spare their lives.

This revived the more anxious of rebels' fears once more. From Ajay's point of view, nothing would change from what he said, except that Guang Min was pushing the envelope by himself. If he had shown a bit of humility perhaps the result would've been different-…. No. It wouldn't. Many felt that Guang Min deserved a more horrible fate, but the King had delivered him to the doorway of hell himself so there was nothing more to be said about Guang Min, the former head of the Min Family.

"Ajay, you decide their punishment." Pagan said as he threw the gun back to him.

Ajay held an emotion of bafflement as he believed he heard Pagan say he was to decide their sentence. The same could be said for all of the members of the Rebellion. There was some who couldn't control their weeping when it was confirmed. Ajay was after all the undisputed Demon of Kyrat whether he was once Mohan's son or not.

Ajay wanted to throw the hot potato back at Pagan, but to refuse him here and now was to disobey the king in front of his subjects and put his loyalty and the king's dominance at question. So Ajay answered-

"Yes."

Pagan nodded to him curtly and looked to Sun Kwan and gave the same compliments. Sun Kwan bowed respectfully, he was ready to receive which ever fate.

Pagan left with Yuma formally to deal with the repairs of the Royal Palace and many other important infrastructures in need of repairs. Arjun had been freed some time ago by Han Feng and had hidden away in a shelter with his family members till the fighting blew over.

Arjun was not pleased with the programs Ajay and Yuma had initiated behind his back without actual authorisation. Yuma's Four Virtues intelligence group otherwise known as V4, and Ajay's 6th Mechanised Airborne Battalion which was not even on the charts. He shipped over five hundred tonnes of hardware over and kept it hidden, effectively making it his private army. But now they would be properly integrated into the Airforce Ground Forces.

The soldiers over-watching the Rebels awaited his word on what to do.

"Keep them under house arrest in Rajgad Gulag, away from the inmates." The soldiers moved at the effect of his words, shouted and shoved them to move towards the vehicle depot to be loaded up and sent to said place.

An officer came to him, expecting to hear the rest of what he had to say.

"My lord." He saluted.

"Tell the warden they're just being kept there, they will not be serving a sentence. Feed them, shelter them, and in three days have them sent back here."

"My lord, if I may-." The Officer seemed to want to protest.

"I've not given them any punishment yet. I need time to think, don't get wise in trying to interpret my actions. I want them well taken care of, I want all of them here intact. If I find that any of them suffered in any way, I wouldn't be finding the warden, I will be finding you." Ajay made his point clear to the Officer so that he wouldn't play with his words.

"Y-Yes… Your Grace." The Officer submitted to his orders.

Ajay turned, ready to leave when the officer called out once more.

"What of Captain Kadayat?" He inquired about the hero of the Yinke-Kyrat War being amongst the Rebels. Many were aware of Bipin's original task of being Ajay's attendant, did it still apply? Would he be absolved?

"What about him?" The officer understood what that meant. He had after all casted his lot with the rebellion, why should he be different from the rest?

"Understood." The officer asked no more and went to lead the Rebel members to be loaded to be housed at Rajgad Gulag till Ajay's final verdict.

The reason Ajay hadn't given his command on the outcome of the rebels was that it wasn't something he could decide in an instant and be happy with. He had numerous factors to consider, one was the populations' opinion of the Cantons. How he dealt with them had a major effect on how he was perceived in future by the people and external powers as well. Rebellion was rebellion, there was a need to punish, but the question was how severe?

Bipin silently followed the rebels without objecting, passing a glance Ajay's way before continuing on. What went through his head, he didn't know?

The matters of the state were attended to by the appropriate personnel. Arjun, who'd taken shelter thanks to Han Feng had also come out with his family members safe and sound. Immediately returning to the military affairs.

And so, Ajay decided to pay a visit to a certain place which he hadn't visited in a very long time to contemplate. It was a place which he had only gone to once when he had first woken up back where it all began.

To the Shrine that housed his mother and half-sister's ashes up on the highest residence over all of Kyrat.

* * *

It was during this time, Pagan addressed the whole of Kyrat. Assuring the neighbouring countries that it was but a minor rebellion put down swiftly and without any detriment to their progress as a member nation. For the people, he assured them that those responsible have been put to justice.

But what the people were all wondering was how? He made no comment on it other than leaving it in the hands of Badala. In that time, he dispatched his spies and V4 agents to suppress the knowledge of Ajay Ghale being Badala as best as he could. Within 24 hours of the knowledge spreading via rumour, those rumours went back to being mere speculations.

Pagan also declared a nationwide holiday to commence a week from when he announced. A parade was to be held over the path heading towards Baghadur. All were invited to come and the preparations were already on the way. By then, Ajay would've dispatched his sentence upon the rebels. And this Canton Rebellion would be nothing but bridge under the water, because the real war was about to set in. It was critical that the hearts and minds of the people as well as the soldiers had this moment to rest and recuperate with aspirations for a better tomorrow about them, instead of caving in to the pressure.

But these were left to more capable people to handle.

Ajay was where he needed to be. Within the Shrine, he found a strange solace. For the first time in a long while, he felt free. He started by cleaning the altar and sweeping the dust from the tablet and urns, providing new incense to burn.

He talked to the urn for a while at one point, informing her on the events that had transpired. Asking for some form of guidance, but was obviously met with tranquillity. Where did Kyratis go when they died, to the Hindu underworld ruled by Lord Yama, or a heavenly stairwell to Shangri-la?

With the recent events that occurred, Shangri-La was proving to be the real deal, and unlikely a place where the dead ascended. Vel had passed on a rather cryptic message during the Campaign in Yinke.

"Meet in Shangri-La….. who are you? And why am I so important?" Everyone was keeping something hidden from him, something that would allow him to change his fate or doom him to one. It was a familiar frustration he felt when Sabal and Amita used to keep intel for him to manipulate him into destroying Pagan from them, all the while fattening up to become the next leader of Kyrat.

Sometimes it felt like he knew this woman, he'd been having fragmented dreams about an ancient world that nobody knew. His instincts couldn't determine if she was telling truth from lie or just outright lying to use him as well. Yet, he strangely felt no hate from her actions. It was a dangerous feeling that dulled his edge when it was clear she orchestrated everything since his father rose from the grave and reunited the Golden Path in their struggles.

"Can I come in?" A voice called out from behind him.

Ajay made no answer but a mere grunt of acknowledgement. Saras took it as an ok without saying it. She looked around the thoroughly cleaned and renovated Shrine.

"You've been busy, and not too bad at all." She complimented him.

"Why are you here?" Ajay asked in a rasped voice, like he was extremely tired over everything.

"Hey, haven't you forgotten?" Saras took his hand and placed it on her cheek.

"What do couples do in times of strain?"

Ajay looked away, not wanting to say. But was taken in a more positive way by Saras as him acting boyish for a change.

"I know that look. It's says it all, doesn't it? You could have done better….. if only you knew how." Saras held him in an embrace.

"It sometimes reminds me of how much of child you are deep down."

"…." Ajay added to the embrace with his own hands, holding tightly.

"You've already found the answer, yet you're here because you can't accept it, either because it isn't enough or you would rather have fate decide it for you."

"Have you settled Han Feng in-."

"Don't change the subject." She said in a straight tone, reminiscent of her mother. Ajay sighed like an adolescent child being told off.

"You're here because you have too much bottled down for yourself to handle. But you hold something that you wouldn't even tell me, instead you came here to talk to the dead instead." Saras's expression held a tinge of disappointment and some sadness in it as she prepared to open to him what she already knew.

"Memories for power?" Ajay's eyes widen as he heard this and immediately dug into his harness to look for that journal which he found to be missing.

But Saras held out a small book that seemed to resemble his. Ajay felt like his heart dropped into a deep pit.

"Noore read it. She gave it to me to return it back on the condition that I not to read the contents but hear it from you directly instead."

Some relief returned to Ajay's expression frozen rigid by the reality he thought. She held the book out for him to take.

"So how did you know about that?" Instead of taking the book, he asked her.

"She told only those worth telling. Amita, Samson, Jeeval, Layak, Maya and Daisy-."

"What the fuck! Even Daisy?! Just what is Noore thinking!? Does secret mean nothing to her now?!" Ajay stood up greatly angered she leaked this to even an uninvolved person like her.

"You were out of the game and she had only here wits to depend on, Ajay! She made a difficult call between letting things stand as they were or preparing us for the worst! Lanka would've fallen had Layak not prepared Gopan's staff of officers, Amita would not have assembled the Tigers to fight this Rakshasa I've been hearing about. Samson kept Elina and Lakshman vigilant. Her decision to tell us singlehandedly saved thousands and prevented the Rebellion from having the advantage."

"….." Ajay was speechless, it was as Saraswati said. Noore had made the right call that paid off well. He had no right to criticise her.

"Ajay…." Saras called to get his attention to her set of eyes focused deeply into his.

"Please don't keep anything away even from me? You know that I want nothing but to help you, and if I can't then I will be there to listen and support you all the way."

Ajay was having a difficult time. One one hand, he would very much like to pour out what he had inside. But on the other-…. Perhaps he was deeply afraid of letting her know about the genuine truth he kept hidden from everyone save Noore which he nearly regretted telling.

But the more his eyes showed doubt and conviction, Saras's hands tightened around his hand she wrapped them around.

"Please don't leave me behind again." She said in a very distressed tone, as if this was all she could.

Something cracked inside of him, how many times did he meet with this sort of pleading? He lost count, he hated how weak he was. He hated that knowing everything was still not enough to change the odds. Something new always took the place of difficulty in keeping the peace in Kyrat and for himself. Why did they come find him to beg? They should know he wasn't capable of changing all things, but then again they didn't.

A new feeling swept over him, he was tired. Dead beat from having to keep up with the charades all the while from everyone. It didn't enjoy him, he wished he could just sprout out the existence of the Rakshasa and let everything collapse onto itself.

-I don't care anymore….-

"Have you ever wondered if a single moment could change the future that unfolds so drastically it decides the turning point of a nation?" Ajay said in a half residing voice over fate and half he didn't care at all.

Saras didn't know how to answer that question. She couldn't possibly imagine.

"Then what if there was a slight difference in the way things were? What if I wasn't fighting for Kyrat by Pagan's side. But against him."

"W-…what are you saying, Ajay-?"

"What if I was fighting for the Golden Path, Amita to the left, and Sabal to the right. And I climbed all the way from Banapur all the way to the very peak of the Royal Palace. Killing all who got in my way, Royal Army, Royal Guard. I left Paul to his fate. I watched Noore take her own life. I let Bhadra get taken. I left Hurk alone. I killed Yuma in an intoxicated state…"

Saras almost backed away unconsciously.

"I stabbed Pagan to death."

It should've just been a story, and yet it almost sounded as if he'd been through an entire saga. Her mind raced until she finally pieced something together, the past which he would never speak of was not a past.

"Watch as Kyrat burned itself to the ground and that petty Sabal fighting over scraps for his sickeningly annoying tradition. Tell me, Saraswati Roka…. Does such a person deserve a second chance?" He said in a mocking tone, even if he was only laughing at himself.

It was his reality in a different timeline.

* * *

Ajay wore a maddened smile as he confronted Saras with the pathetic truth. He felt as if a few of his screws to his sanity were popping out at this very moment. He even pictured the expression that Saras would hold over knowing such a thing from him. He was a bona fide monster.

He held knowledge over every possibility in Kyrat and he'd kept it to himself to dictate his own fate, by distorting other's. Distorting her fate to share affection for him.

He was sure she understood how manipulative he actually was.

"Ahahahahahahahahaha…." Ajay lost control over his cool and began to laugh at the pitiful reality of the situation.

"I'm so sorry." Saras embrace over him was something he did not even remotely expect as the reaction from her.

"Now I see… you knew the direction that Kyrat was headed. That feeling of helplessness as you tried as hard as you could to change it."

Ajay tried to push her off when he felt awkward. "Get off."

"No!"

"Get off!"

"No!" She shot him down again.

He gave up on using physical means to ply her off and went for a psychological approach instead.

"You disgust me."

"I know you don't mean that."

"Yes I do. To think you would willingly hang on, knowing there was a possibility I knew you from a previous encounter. Know all the lines to "win your heart" and gain your sympathy. You must really enjoy being such a whore."

It was at this moment when Saras let go of him as expected and followed on with appropriate reaction from saying such a thing. (pak)

Her palm struck his cheek strongly. But even then, there was no contempt for him in her tearing eyes. Only sympathy and sorrow.

"I know you don't mean that." She repeated softer as she rested her head against his shoulder.

"What makes you so sure?" His mouth had the sudden urge to ask and said it out loud.

"Because if you did….. you wouldn't be crying like you have been all this while."

Ajay reached up and touched his face to find a certain salty wetness running from an unsealed faucet in him.

"It's the sign that your heart can't lie anymore. I'm so sorry for putting you through this emotional path. It was selfish of me to assume it was remediable."

Ajay reached out to wipe the tears, but Saras's embrace was in the way.

"And I know that you've never seen me before. Call it a woman's intuition."

"I don't belief in such a thing." He said back.

"But even if you did, I don't think it's impossible I'd fall for you all over again." Saras gave him a kiss unrestraint.

Ajay didn't know what made this woman so aggressively passionate towards him, no one had ever been this way to him. There simply was nothing in him worthy of affection. So why did Saraswati think otherwise?

Ajay was beginning to feel he was falling for this woman in more ways than one. He followed on to the kiss like he meant to tell her all of his secrets and pain through a simple contact of lips. For someone so dedicated, it was the first time for him that he felt like he could lay out his entire life for her a thousand times over. Repeat the timeline just so he could continue on a life just by sharing a brightly coloured smile or a simple show of affection through contact.

When that mouth to mouth cohesion finally ended and part of his strength of will restored. Ajay got on to asking with a wry smile.

"You sure I'm the only one who's experienced a timejump? Perhaps by chance, you have as-."

"Don't get any wrong ideas, lover boy. If that were the case I'd be sure to even keep all those other women from even coming into contact with you. Noore, Daisy, Maya, Bhadra."

"Scary…. And why even Bhadra? Don't tell me you feel threatened even by a pre-pubescent teenager." Ajay jokingly said.

"Of course not, but I'd like them to know who owns you first."

Ajay enjoyed a brief chuckle and laugh with her before everything turned quiet in the shrine again.

"I have something to say." Saras straightened out as she was awaiting to hear what he had to say in regards to his condition.

"Channelling the Yalung's blood doesn't just burn my memories, but their memories of me as well. Karma is what fuels this power, and Karma is what I lose."

Saras did her best to maintain a composed face, but to hear that she risked forgetting him as well, now she understood why it was such a difficult life to live for him even with such short time when he wasn't sure what to say.

"But…."

"But?"

"While we might forget certain things, there are some memories that can't be destroyed no matter the sacrifice." Ajay reached into his pocket where he last left a certain item he had custom made in Papir the last he visited.

He held in his hand a small velvet box which he opened and pulled out a small dazzling object which slide right onto Saras's ring finger.

"Some memories are everlasting."

The brilliance shone into her eyes as she held it out with what appeared to be a heavily embroiled ring with a simple yet elegant finish, leaving her speechless.

"I'm glad you like it."

"Like it? Ajay….. I love it." She giggled cheerfully, unable to hold her bearing and composure like just a while ago.

Ajay stood up and held out a hand.

"I might lose old memories, but I can make new ones just with you. Until I have memories of just you."

"Sometimes you say the sweetest of things, no wonder all the girls get so easily swept up. I'll be sure to keep my eye on you in future, dear." She replied with a mischievous smile, much like Ajay wore on occasions.

Saras held out her hand to be raised from the ground, he kept his hand wrapped around hers as they opened the door and left the shrine together.

Because of the nature of the shrine being just at the backyard of Pagan's house, he was quick to notice Ajay's departure after a full-on three days within the shrine. He had the intentions to invite him and Arjun's daughter over for a meal with himself, Yuma and Bhadra. Bhadra, being the chef had cooked them up some highly nutritional foods, mainly for Yuma and the child but also for himself and the shrunken staff due to the attack. Pagan held a sample of one of her dishes to entice him to come on over, a baked potato inlaid with salmon, avocados and delicious soft carrots which brought out the sweet flavours almost reminiscent of a sweet potato without being a sweet potato.

He had just passed by the external corridor when he noticed Ajay and Saraswati walking out hand in hand. He chuckled at the sight, but then they were young.

He decided to crash their little moment for a more appropriate reason such as eating Bhadra's delicious food when he noticed a silhouette standing by the shrine looking in Ajay and Saras's direction.

(plop)

The baked potato fell from his hand as his extremities lost total control over strength. All power was sent to processing that image in his head directly from his eyes. His eyes were surely playing a trick on him.

Because that bright figure was unmistakably- "Is-…Ishwari."

But that translucent figure could not hear him, it was solely concentrated on the son whom had paid her a long visit and revealed such terrible things in store for him.

Pagan was quick to catch it, yet he was helpless to prevent it where he would have quickly wiped it away back in the day.

A tear fell from her face. A tear shed not for the past he suffered but for what was to come.


	116. Chapter 106 - The Audacity of Ajay Ghale

Author's Notes:

Had a rather interesting request for a new story today. Can't say I was too enthusiastic, just to remind all of you I'm rather picky when it comes to stories. My criteria for initiating a story is the need for some level of sensibility with the current world. I.e. If you ask me to do a fantasy world one like harry potter or something I don't have the creative skill to keep things relevant and fresh. Which is why most of my stories revolve around military oriented fanficts.

As me to do titanic. (I dare you) And watch me butcher a perfectly good story that you'd probably come find me down under just so you could scream at me. Lol.

Although I have to say, this story is almost finishing now. I think around thirty chapters minimum should just about cover it. Either way, I'd be the longest Farcry Fanfict story ever. Unless someone beats my record. I welcome it.

* * *

It went without saying, the rebels and their families experienced a few sleepless nights. Mainly because the true inmates harassed them from over the other side of the fence in Rajgad Gulag.

Some members of the family whom were overseas had been called back thinking it was merely to address some administration issues in regards to their overseas stay. College students, mistresses and children, relatives working and staying abroad in general.

What awaited them at the airport was their arrest and direct transit to Rajgad Gulag, a very shocking affair for them all who had done nothing to offend anyone.

But these were the King's orders. He wanted to make it clear to all of them, none missing out. That there was no escape for anyone that committed high treason. Ultimately, their fate was left to the one that put down the rebellion the swiftest. Badala, the Duke of Lakshman. Otherwise known in the Himalayas now as the Demon of Kyrat. It wasn't a very optimistic setting for those who'd spent much of their lives out of the country to hear of such a person, it gave them a sense of dread that a cruel judgement would befall them.

A battalion of soldiers had them taken out and transported via convoy to of all places, the new settlement city of Lakshman. They had expected something along the line of a public execution ground or Vyatha Prison in the South.

They were unloaded off the five-ton trucks and gathered in a rather nice field with a lake in the centre. It appeared to be a very newly built estate grounds as the neatly arranged houses were empty and barren of life. One of the newer housing development projects in the ever-growing city.

Sitting by the lake was a single silhouette, waiting for them. The soldiers indicated for them to head over there and made sure nobody ran.

Sun Kwan calmly took the lead and led the bulk of the rebels to where the unmistakeable figure stood waiting for him. When he was face to face, he knelt in front of him, inclining the rest of the rebels and family to do the same.

"I've thought long and hard about what I am to do with you. If I kill you here, the killing wouldn't likely stop from there. And there will be a very bloody road ahead for the nation. But if I spare you, what am I to do with over six thousand sympathisers of rebellion? It's no lie that some of the population is for your execution and having been denied this would put the country at odds with itself."

There were a lot of faces of worry, but majority felt safe that this person didn't seem to have the intentions of mass murdering them.

"In fact, I've received petitions from five different Generals in the staff to have you either executed or sentenced to life at hard labour. But ultimately, the terms of your sentence rest upon me."

"So what do intend to do then, Badala?" Sun Kwan spoke as the voice of the group.

"Things can never go back the way they were, Kyratis can't live mundane lives like before, Royal Army soldiers can never work in peace, Cantons can no longer live the way they have since the founding of Min Dynasty." Ajay turned to face them all.

"Some of you felt that through Rebellion, only then could the rot and betrayal be vanquished, some merely wanted to maintain their way of living. I'm sorry to say that it's impossible, not because we can't do so, but of the tide of change that's coming." The faces they were, varied in such a degree.

"Here is your sentence."

Their hearts tightened as his words would decide the fate of over six thousand convicted members.

"All of your wealth will be confiscated by the state, that is a given. Military personnel will demote three ranking grades. If you are a Captain Grade Two you will be sent to 1st Lieutenant Grade One. Your property and further territorial assets have been seized."

Ajay gave the given rights for committing high treason, but not the punishment yet.

"That is all."

Or so they thought.

"So….. You're letting us go just like that?!" An officer asked.

"I'm not just letting you go, I've taken everything from you." The officer and a few others of the military side grimaced, it felt like an insult to their efforts, like Pagan was mocking them once again.

"Then answer my question. Who is more responsible? You or them." Ajay pointed to the non-combatants.

"Us, who else!?" Ajay nodded in acceptance.

"Have you heard the term, sins of the father pass to the son? Well to tell you the truth, I don't believe in that, not because I'm a son of an arch-traitor. But because my fate shouldn't be bounded by the notions of others. Your sons and daughters had nothing to do with this, but your actions have made them suffer in one way or another." It was a reality they couldn't deny.

"I once lived with my mother in the states, in the East Harlem's, a rough place to grow in. They say that America is a land of opportunity, but what they left out was like any other place, you need to be born into a world that grants that privilege. Kyrat was no different in that sense, that's why was an obvious disparity between a Royal Army soldier and a Royal Guardsman, Commoner and Noble, Kyrati and Canton. And what I and a few others had been working to eradicate. You've squandered that privilege and that belonging to your family as well on an opportunity that backfired. So now, you have no opportunity to pass onto your children and their children." Ajay explained the deprivation of a future and its effects on their later generations.

To have the strength and skill to qualify for a job or career tailored to you, but have that opportunity deprived from you. In the modern world where all men should be equal, this was a terrible fate that even being convicted in prison didn't matter. It doomed their descendants to a similar fate. This was the cruelty of the punishment Ajay dispatched to them. He would feed them, give them a livelihood, but they would never move up in the ladder of society even if they worked hard for it.

Even the previously rebellious soldiers became quiet with the situation they'd been thrown into.

"Do you now understand how the common people felt?" Ajay asked. "It's a disgusting feeling, isn't it? One that you couldn't help but loathe those more fortunate than yourself."

Ajay gave them a moment to reflect on what he had said before continuing with his point of bringing them here.

"But to let six thousand people skilled in a trait or two vanish quietly would be wasteful."

Faces seem to look at him with disbelief, he was sort of bending around what he had said moments ago.

"Why did you bring us here of all places, Badala?" Sun Kwan asked again.

"This place, is where you and your families will take residence."

There was much gasping and staring around the housing estates. This estate range was one of the many constructed by the council tradesman guild. They were not extremely luxurious in appearance yet neither were they lacking in any amenities like electricity, clean water plumbing, gas or even a telephone line. They were not small in size either, capable of housing a family of five each. And the numbers did seem to just be able to house all six thousand over people. But most unbelievable was the kind of vantage this housing estates had to the Lakes of Jalendu and to the lush forest surrounding it, giving off the ambience of a little Shangrian Paradise.

Could it be, that this place was truly given to them to start afresh?

"I rule this land under His Royal Highness, but that doesn't mean I built it singlehandedly. The city you see there was built out of the labour and pains of those that put their heart and soul into making a place for themselves here. That is my one rule if you want to live here. The City might be crowded with residence, but the actual numbers who are learned or have genuine trades are few. And that's where you come in."

"In this place, everything is decided by merit. You work hard, therefore you are rewarded as such. This is the opportunity I offer to all that come to call this place home….. And perhaps, maybe even you. If you are willing to work hard in the interest of everyone including yourselves and for the sake of the City's growth, then you'll have my support in any time that you are in need of it... and my thanks."

Ajay left them to think about it as he waved over to the soldiers whom had arrived with a truck that catered hot meals. Something they hadn't been eating since Rajgad Gulag.

He had made his choice of that matter of punishment that Pagan had given him, but in the end he just couldn't deprive them. He might be a demon, but he didn't pick in other's wounds. They might hate him for throwing them into this kind of situation, they might hate him because he looked down on their pride and saw a pitiful mass. The people of Kyrat might also question him why he was so lenient on them, weren't they the very source of corruption and greed he was talking about all this while? They would continually despise them for generations, and the former rebels would have to live with that shame for as long as people could remember what their predecessors tried to do. This would be their punishment to endure.

Sun Kwan was no fool, he would do his best to ensure that they carried on with their lives as best they could and perhaps earn their place in Kyrat once more. As Ajay had mentioned, Lakshman was in need of competent workers and educated people. Something the former Cantons and Nobles didn't fall short on. This was their advantage and their way towards future success. Their education was above basic arithmetic and writing letters. This gave them requisites to take up jobs in accounting and conveyancies, jobs that required a serious amount of writing. there was also a large majority in the military who could apply to be local garrison officers, policemen and other law enforcement or security personnel which the City was in need of to maintain law and order. So the future wasn't looking all that dark and Ajay had made them willing to tread this path in walking by their fellow Kyratis now as equals.

Their future co-workers might look at them initially with loathe and distrust but it was to be expected, all they could to was to slowly earn that trust with a reliable working attitude and friendliness to slowly melt that hate and distrust over time.

If they wanted to take a shortcut in this, only a desperate time calling for those who'd lay down their lives could possibly end the cycle of distrust they had amounted and cursed their descendants. Little did they know that such a time would coming quicker than they would ever anticipate.

"Bipin, walk with me." Ajay didn't wait for their response as he walked ahead in the direction along the lake. Bipin followed without question.

Catching up but not walking beside him.

"We both know you needn't be there." He referred to his self-sentence among the rebels. He was technically one for supporting the Rebellion albeit reluctant, but Pagan had personally absolved him in black and white writing in the form of a Royal Pardon.

Bipin didn't answer.

"You've made your sister worry for-."

"Don't bring her into every conversation we have!" He cut in quite offended.

"You always do that! I am a warrior, before all this- before I even became your bodyguard. My honour is mine alone!" It was Ajay's turn to stay quiet.

"I sat in Rajgad Gulag for three days thinking, just thinking. What if you weren't there? What if the great Badala, Demon of Kyrat wasn't there! Would I be able to reach as far is I had?!"

His voice became hoarse as he stated his true feelings towards the matters.

Ajay turned about and nodded to himself.

"I see. You think you've risen this far because of me. That generals promote you to be in my favour. Why you were always in units the best equipped. Why anyone bothered to read that thesis and allow you found Kyrati Armour." Ajay continued to nod.

"And now you want to let that all go because you think it was the only decision made on your own accord, am I right?"

"…..." (Baam) (splash) A blur of motion as a shadow struck Bipin square in the jaw and grounded him in the lake waters.

"Arrogant fool….. didn't I order you to mobilize to Yinke? A battalion against regiments thinking you'd be the safest there? Did I baby you all the way through your career as an officer?! Did I set you on that trip to Maharashtra or did you? You think you're so hot, like you're some sort of golden fucking stallion! You are nothing!"

Bipin got out of the water and grappled with Ajay as he threw another punch that missed and pushed Ajay to the mud. He then delivered a fury of punches down at his face which was blocked by Ajay's hands.

"And what about you?! When you came here you were just a foreign dog! Licking the king's hands to crawl your way up through your past relation!"

Ajay managed to use his legs to elbow lock Bipin.

"Fucking wastrel….. You had everything I wanted! You have a sibling who loves you! You once had a complete loving family that didn't fuck each other over!"

Bipin tried to break the lock but couldn't.

"You weren't alone almost your entire life! And I hate that you can't even realise that!"

"Fuck you, Ajay!"

As Ajay's vice grip began to loosen, Bipin released his arm and retracted it quickly before propelling a punch Ajay's way. In that short span reflex, Ajay did the same. The result was them both landing a hit on each other.

Ajay spat out a goblet of blood into the water. Bipin seem to extract a tooth that was hanging by some flesh. They'd been lock into some face off with fists and boots, there was no use of martial arts, nor any sort of elegant form. Just a raw down to earth brawl.

They were fortunate to have been quite a distance from the gathering, it wasn't something they would want the populace to see.

"After I'm done, you can let Sam pamper your booboos all you want."

"Hmph! I should say the same to you, you'll be crying like a wimp in Saraswati's bosom again."

After the skirmish of taunts, they clashed again with their fist and underhanded style of fighting. Like a bunch of adolescent boys having a fight in the mud. Ajay had his experience in unarmed combat, Bipin had youth of a few years younger, with stronger vigour and tenacity.

Their fight went on for almost half-an-hour, the gathering was not a bit worried for their return as it seemed like a long stroll. They filled their stomachs with warm food and were given the keys to their designated houses. They had a long day ahead of them in finding their way.

An hour had passed, Ajay and Bipin hadn't yet returned. Because they'd literally fought each other to the dirt. Even the grazing animals were scared off between their brawl. The most unexpected was Bipin's stamina, almost inexhaustible. But he didn't go away with light bruises as Ajay intentionally impaired his mobility with strikes to soft muscle supporting his weight and swings.

In the end, Bipin had finally exhausted his strength and fell in the dirt sore and in pain. Ajay was no better, despite being propped against a nearby tree he leaned against.

"You have a bright future ahead of you, Bipin. All that I've done was simply pave you the way….. but now I'll no longer be able to, I can't watch you from a distance or witness your rise."

"(huff) (huff)…. What do you mean?"

"Bipin…. I don't have long."

"... What are you talking about?..."

"The demon inside me can't match up to the force behind Mohan and Golden Path. We simply can't fight on par with genuine monsters when they come in person."

Bipin had been there when his battalion had gotten reports from the assaulting regiments on Lanka reported coming under attack by as the quoted "Rakshasa". This was the true enemy they were collectively facing.

"I can delay them if I try, but this power has a price."

"… What?"

"I will forget you and everyone. In the same way, no one will remember me. Because the Karma threads between us would have been severed."

"….Why?... Why would you do such a thing? Are you crazy?!"

Ajay laughed heartily at Bipin's hysteria, moments ago he was showing his spite for everything Ajay interfered with.

"It seems this was by design." Ajay recalled the time back in the cave when Sabal had rudely smashed the urn holding Kamala's ashes. That cloaked figure intentionally scattered her ash, to free her bodily remains. Sabal might've been a savage, but she had no reason to bother. He could feel a set of eyes pear through that garment cloak looking at him with longing eyes.

Darshan thinks he was some sort of reincarnation of a dead lover of hers she is attempting to have awaken the memories deep within and have him rise again. It was the reason she set about such a seemingly aroundabout methods and directionless path here and there.

"For my friends and the people I've come to love. Anything."

Bipin's expression fell, unable to maintain his calm.

"Don't look at me like that, Bipin. My ambition isn't all that far from yours, I want the best for Kyrat. Though I might not be able to see it ascend on its own, I know that with dedicated folks like yourself around, the flame can never be snuffed out." And not a second did Ajay show an expression besides the one fully at peace with himself and of contentment when he told Bipin the reality he foresaw.

To doom himself before all fate had been decided. Where no one would remember him even after death. To go this far for a failure of a state and a crooked monarch. If Ajay wasn't crazy, he didn't know what that word meant. No one would dare accept a role that he chose without denying one of the three at very least.

The people of Kyrat didn't realise how blessed they were to have such a noble at heart and at birth, watching over them, ready to lay his life down for them. Worst of all, they stood to not even know their bright tomorrow was as a result of his dedication. In comparison to Bipin's silence behind Sam's prominence where he had at least some recognition for this work, Ajay was just a demon lord doing what was expected of him. Taken for granted and would eventually fade into the background.

To see witness a person he held in the highest regard get sentenced to such a horrible fate, how could he remain calm and composed. How could he not feel heartbroken?

-Why do you torment yourself, so?- Bipin looked at that smile hiding no sadness behind it.

"Thank you, Bipin. I hope I can count of you in future, you've got a lot to live up to when you get older and wiser. Father of Kyrati Armour." Ajay jokingly dubbed him.

That's right, he was a pioneer in a concept that would never have come to fruition had he not pushed for it, and with the backing of someone like Ajay and Arjun it became a reality that saved their soldiers in many instances. It was also armour that fought and brought Yinke to heel, boots on the ground was always required in the battlefield over air superiority and would always be that way so long as battlefield were still about two sides fighting physically.

Why should he have such a future while his benefactor, his friend had such for his?

"Make me into one of the Kshatriyan Lords."

Ajay's smile halted.

"Do you wanna know the true purpose behind the Eight Kshatriyan Lord system that Pagan devised? They aren't just some elective placed at the centre of an autonomous power, yunno."

Ajay made it very clear to him in the next sentence.

"From his words, "Find Eight men and women whom you'd trust with the protection of Kyrat, eight people who would be willing to give up their birthright to do the most monstrous of acts to preserve our version of peace. Our Asuras to fight their Devas."."

Bipin's eyes widen at the hidden agenda behind the Eight Lord scheme. He simply thought like many it was some sort of propaganda movement as well as an efficient autonomous command branch that would circumvent the restrictions of a conventional army. But there was more to it than that. He had just assumed that Vasu and Han Feng were repentant and therefore were chosen. But in truth, Ajay picked them for very different reasons. Vasu was a former Golden Path Deva, he understood the sacrifices needed for holding the counterpart role. Han Feng's wasn't out of choice, or rather it was. He chose to continue living, no matter how cursed. Saraswati would rather live alongside Ajay or die without. Her genius in defensive structures and fortifications was unparrallel, Lanka was the greatest expression of that.

"Why do you want that for yourself?- Nevermind…. As long as I'm around, you'll never be one of the Eight. You deserve better than that, your father and family did too. But now it's just you left to continue the line of Kadayat."

"Don't forget my sis-…." Bipin just paused mid-way and cut his speech with silence.

Ajay got up after recovering his breaths, his bruises unnaturally healed during their small talk and Bipin was quick to realise it. If he had this much of an ability and it was not enough against whatever was coming. What could possibly fight against it then? A new concern brewed in Bipin's mind, he understood that for there to be a tomorrow, many would have to lay down their lives in the most valiant manner possible. The question was, was he ready for such a daunting task? Ajay didn't want him to take up that mantle, but what about himself?

"There are many forms of honour, Bipin. No greater and no lesser. To Vasu, preservation of his humanity is his honour. For Han Feng, it's the interests of the one he loves. And Pagan? His would be seeking redemption in every way he can. As for you, perhaps yours could be steadfastness. Food for thought."

Ajay made his way back to the site where the gathering was.

"What about yours?" Bipin asked as he was curious about what Ajay's honour would be. But Ajay laughed his way back without stopping, he murmured the answer to himself rather than to Bipin.

"Demons have no honour. That's why we call them demons."

* * *

"Nukes in Kyrat?!" Arjun's voice resounded in the Lanka HQ command Module enclosed for confidentiality sake.

The same expression of fallen crests and disbelief was found throughout those gathered in the Command Module since the Headquarters in the Royal Fortress had been wrecked bad.

Ajay was calmly tinkering with the newest modification to his compound bow when he said so, built in collaboration with the late Samar's apprentices. A self-loading mechanism for retractable arrows in a magazine, by pulling back the string and releasing he would charge a pneumatic system that strung a new arrow on the notch and thereby increase his firing rate. The bow used to prey on his foes stealthily, hence became his "predator bow".

Arjun's hand was visibly shaking, Ajay had put him through difficult odds once again. First, telling him about the appearance of "Rakshasa", the auditors behind Mohan's return and Golden Paths rise and imminent arrival. Now he told them about callsign "Broken Arrow", somewhere in Kyrat was a crashed delivery system for the lost nuclear weapons.

Arjun's eyes darted to the Marine Officer David and his men standing in the room when he spoke of said weapons in the premise. He would have preferred they didn't know about it, but Ajay clearly was intending for them to hear it. Not out of national interests but as an agreement they had from man to man.

"That's as far as Willis will indulge now, surprisingly Lynch has been just as stubborn despite the care and consideration Major Kadayat gave in "persuading" him."

"Question." Arjun's adjutant dutifully raised his hand.

"What is it, Layak?"

"What do you intend to do with the Marines?"

Everyone turned to the Americans like predators. Having them go back to warn Pentagon seemed like a really bad idea.

"Ease up, gentlemen. What we discuss here today will be the privy knowledge they can take with them on their way back to Washington." Ajay explained.

"E-Excuse me?" David didn't quite understand like Perkins did.

"I'm saying we're done, Captain. As much as I hoped it was just mere files to blackmail Langley, this find is clearly beyond their jurisdiction now."

David had no choice but to agree. WMDs were of a national concern, especially theirs.

"Why are you telling us this?" David couldn't understand the rational behind Ajay's unpredictable natural.

"It's simple, David. My promise was to ensure that your status as AWOL and disavow be revoked. This intel sent directly to the NSA will ensure you and your group under a witness protection from "the other" intelligence agency. I've arranged some contact with the CEO of CNS to have you transited back home via New York. Play nice with the mercs, alright?" Ajay held out an SD card holding a video clip of Willis's interrogation/testimony for him to use as a means to clear their names.

David didn't know what to say, Ajay was right on that.

"In other words, David. We're done here, goodbye." Ajay motioned the MPs on site to escort them to the airport to be escorted back.

Perkins seemed to show some hesitation in following through and stepped forward to confront Ajay but David grasped his shirt and shook his head. To his surprise, Perkin's shook him off and proceeded on.

"I'm not leaving-."

"Gregor!" David called out.

"Oh- does that mean you're ready to let go of your country, family and identity?" Ajay mocked him in a disdainful way for being so naïve in his declaration.

"There are still marines in Kyrat."

David was stunned, he could only be referring to one group. The splitter group of their platoon, led by Fredrick Grilles, his other platoon sergeant.

"In a few weeks, you can consider Staff Sergeant Grilles and his men, officially MIA."

"So you're gonna kill'em."

"Only if they get in my way, I hope they do just that. Wasn't it you who said you'd kill him if you had the chance?" Perkins wanted to lash out but David heaved him back along with the MPs.

"You wanna swing, don't you? Huh! I like you, Perkins. That's why I'm giving you this opportunity to walk away from everything scot-free. But if you insist on pressing further, I'll make it that the entire force recon para-marine unit dropped here becomes a blank history in the files. Your family members won't receive pension nor compensation and you will achieve nothing. All because of a self-righteous conviction whim."

Ajay stepped forwards intimidatingly, yet Perkins didn't flinch a single moment.

"What do you intend to do with the bomb?" Ajay smiled maliciously at Gregor's other agenda in confronting Grilles.

"I think you and I are in an agreement that your friend Grilles is there protecting it. But knowing his distrust of Willis and his long due absence, I can only guess he blew a whistle at some point to the CIA."

"That doesn't answer my question."

"Of course it does, I don't intend to give United States back their bombs."

"Really? What do you intend to do with them then?!" Arjun couldn't control himself.

"The same thing all nuclear states do with their bombs, Nuclear deterrence."

Gregor stared at Ajay like he was mad.

"You'll only draw them here!" He was clear what WMDs would do, like a magnet it would bring the actual armies over to find and retrieve it.

"Do you know why I like you, Perkins? You might be the most honestly stupid soldier I've ever seen. But that in itself makes you the best soldier, perfect for the meat grinder of some egghead's warmongering wetdream back in Washington or Langley to think up another brainstorm on revitalizing the war economy and distracting the general population from unpopular bills."

Perkins was speechless.

"But I also hate that this country sends its bravest to waste their lives over an underhanded manoeuvre to keep the "peace" like always. (sigh)… I'm sorry, Perkins. But this is the end of the road."

Ajay looked to the MPs.

"Escort them to the airport, and give them the honours they deserve."

The MPs took Perkins and the rest of the marines away. Leaving David whom wanted to say a few words.

"Badala."

"Captain Goh. I'll let you decide how you want to indulge the NSA with the privy of intel, it'll most likely decide your treatment as well. But I hope that you consider the welfare of your men and yourself who've gone through hell with you and back first and foremost."

Ajay dropped a letter into David's hands. He held it up and saw the address to his surprise was posted to the White House, Washington. Ajay winked.

Was the US government a threat to him, or was he the threat to the US government. Whatever this letter said, it was most likely meant for their Commander-in-Chief to read.

Ajay held out the other hand to David, he took hold and shook the hand.

"It's been a pleasure to know there are good soldiers like yourself out there still. Please tell Perkins that I'm sorry it had to be this way."

"…. Likewise, Badala…. And godspeed." David was sure he'll need it for what's coming.

"Oh-.. and I'll be leaving a few stranded Civs with you on your trip back. Some of Brody's kidnapped friends, take care of 'em while you return home, will you? they've been stuck here as long as you have in worse. Semper Fi?"

"I'll treat them like VIPs. Semper Fi, Badala." David responded understanding they needed protection.

When they were escorted out of the facility, Arjun approached Ajay after the Marines had been taken out of the picture.

"You can't be seriously thinking of keeping those bombs."

"I'm not. I made a call to New Delhi and Moscow. We've agreed that India will have the bomb to aid in their nuclear research to thermonuclear status. That should give our ally the status of the sixth nuclear superpower."

Arjun usually had an expressionless face, but when nukes came into play he was not ready to fool around with such a dangerous device that could call serious global attention.

"Moscow and New Delhi will dispatch a division of Spec-ops each respectively to search the mountains. They'll be covered under pretext of a division-scale military exercise in mountain warfare, and we're the hosts. They'll be here in a week's time after the holiday week, so I'll expect us to provide them with a warm welcome." Ajay looked to the staff who nodded their heads in approval.

"And you made this judgement call without me or the King's approval?" Ajay nodded truthfully and motioned him to come closer to whisper into his ear.

"The Americans already know." Ajay had intentionally let the Marines leave so they wouldn't know that the US authorities were already in Fubar. NSA was likely investigating Lynch's activities outside of his region. He hoped they would be accommodative to the marines in facilitating their reinstatement and clearing of their names as well as to restore Brody's friends identities as American citizens. That evidence he provided to David was worth that much after all, unless the NSA authorities were just as mean then even he couldn't help them.

"What?! How?!" Arjun replied as softly as he could but was still quite audible to the rest of the General staff.

"Pravindra was shot down after he killed my rogue employees. His weapons officer was killed during ejection."

He had a feeling it wasn't by the rebels or turncoats from the way Ajay mentioned it. To shoot down their ace pilot was not something easily accomplished when he had the spatial awareness of a bird of prey.

"Did you talk to him about it directly?"

"Commander Singh hailed me on it, and that man won't lie about what he heard, neither of them would."

"Are you sure he didn't just enter Pakistani Airspace, invoking a response?"

But Ajay smiled deviously which was a common sing that a situation was truly in dire straits.

"Not unless Pakistani pilots fly Raptors."

Arjun cringed at the word. Raptors was a name used exclusively by one type of aircraft and operated by one country only. 5th Generation F-22 stealth fighters. The ultimate warplane of the 20th Century into the 21st Century. For such a high profile aircraft to be deployed, it only meant one thing.

The United States were already deploying to get back their weapons based on a hunch.

"It looks like Kyrat will be the new hotspot for 2015."

Arjun could no longer control his legs and plummeted into the armchair behind him.

"How could you be so calm?..."

"Why not, Arjun?" Arjun looked up into those pair of eyes burning bright with hope and belief they could make it out alive from this. Ajay had a plan for this. The officers were anxious to hear, though they were worried they had some hope there was a chance to win or even survive. He was after all, the auditor who made Pagan's alliance plan and deterrence of China a reality.

"The United States Armed Forces wants to get physical, but when they cross this natural boundary, how I wonder how they'll react to our mortal enemies as they are now?" Ajay tapped his finger playfully on his chin.

Arjun could see the crazed idea that brewed in Ajay's head, he was somewhat use to the pattern Ajay thought up his strategies now. He wasn't going to have the Indian and Russian Army fight with the US Expeditionary forces in an "accidental" confrontation like he initially thought. He was going to do something even more absurd, he was going to stage the US expeditionary forces against the Nye invulnerable and indestructible Rakshasa and their omni-potent Princess. If the Royal Army were made to fight the Americans' Army themselves, it wouldn't even be worth mentioning as Kyrat would lose hands down. But these mountains had beings unlike anything the outside world had ever bore witness to, beings that were of all times choosing to emerge from slumber now.

"I'd like to know if the world's most powerful army can stand toe to toe with most powerful beings in this realm."

Ajay was playing with a very viscous fire.

* * *

(Ting) (Ting) (Ting) A hammer striking an anvil resounded through the forge in Arsenal One, surpassing that noisy hum of the machines busy churning out rounds and gun barrels.

It was the first time in a long while since he'd been back in the place where it all started. He had been macro-managing based on the files Elina handed him because he was busy on the construction sites of Sagarmatha Air Base and Super-Fortress Lanka back then.

But today, he was here with the late Samar's apprentices to supervise the building of weapons he could mass produce to counter the unkillable Golden Path and their Rakshasa allies. Darshan had left him a message and a letter which showed the sketches of a powerful demon sealing talisman. Supposely, when their flesh came into contact with the items engraved with the vedic rites in his sketches, it would cancel out the effects of the Exalted Golden Path fighters, who were strong by virtue of a talisman tattooed onto their skin with a powerful law of nature. They would fall like any man would to bullets. If it struck a Rakshasa, it would potentially weaken his host and banish it from the body. For they weren't facing actual Rakshasa, just mere flash clones or possessed bodies. This was because the natural laws of the mountains forbade beings beyond a certain mortal boundaries to that extent. Darshan did not make it too clear in his description but it sounded like the mountains had a life of its own and was more powerful than any of them. The Rakshasa were technically demi-gods in that respect. Ajay shuddered to think how they were able to fight with such powerful beings who possessed over thousands of years of experience in warfare.

How did the humans of old dare to challenge such powerful beings with the technology they had? The answer was the Demon Banishers. These exorcists were at the frontlines of those ancient immortal wars, but as the Rakshasa vanished from history, so did they. Until they were nothing more than a medium group under the Devi dynasty payroll. Only shining in the hour when Yalung came to exact revenge upon the old King.

Engraving talismans into kukri tangs or onto the gun barrels of weapons didn't make them work against those two enemies though. It was still short of one key ingredient, which was someone to chant and ordain them first with the associated spell, that's where Darshan came in. His ritual was different from those held by the monks in Chal Jama, or Jalendu who were of a different faith and concept. Once ordained and blessed, they would work indefinitely, unless the talisman script was damaged in some way.

This meant that when Darshan was ready to pay a visit to the Arsenal like he promised, he might potentially spend the whole week ordaining the bulk of weapons to ship to the frontlines.

Ajay played around with the key that Gary handed to him on a dying request from Samar. To think that such a dear friend was lost, it left a gap in his heart. Samar had left behind something for him to use, something akin and precious to his legacy passed down to his apprentices. A weapon to use against the new breed of foes? Or perhaps another armoured suit which Ajay was honestly tired of. Already onto the third iteration yet Chiffon was always enthusiastic to continue making improved versions based on combat experience for his combat couture line. He might need to use it when the time came, any and every piece of equipment was welcomed against the coming invasion.

If he were alone with Kyrat to fight the Rakshasa, he would be really worried. But now a turn of events had brought the world's most powerful states to fight over something they didn't truly understand and would get caught in the conspiracy spanning thousands of years. Call it manipulating their strength, but Ajay had already drafted some plans in using their military might to deter the Golden Path and the Rakshasas' progress. He was almost a hundred percent sure the mortal armies without any sort of protective devices or weapons were useless against them.

Although, there was one concern. Which was how willing were the US expeditionary force when encountering the Rakshasa to use Nuclear force to destroy them as a last resort. Especially when the proximity was within Kyrats territory. Man feared what they didn't fully understand, and their fear might lead to hysteria in deploying one such weapon against the Rakshasa. Kyrat would become a collateral against this kind of strike. Something he could ill afford to happen, it depended on the confidence of the American Supreme Commander and how quickly they could be destroyed before the Command back in the states knew what happened.

After sorting through the last few papers to sign and inspection runs, Ajay packed his things and gathered replenishments for his weapons like the sabot .700 nitro shots. He'd dispatched the respective orders to the parties to handle all the affairs in his absence, now it was time for him to meet Darshan at the appointed place to abide by his approved request.

He took a three-hour drive to a place called Shandar Kyrati Varshavan. A rainforest area not on any map or GPS save for the paper coordinates Pagan left for him. Inhabiting that place was a lone tribe called the Pravyadh, or as the rest of Kyrat knew them as the Hunters. He drove up to a barricade that opened before he even approached and gave his name, they seem to be expecting him.

He walked with a singular purpose, towards the hut that was designated to one of the most prolific elders in the tribe. As he was the only foreign-born member to reach elder status, yet he was just as respected by the Pravyadh tribesmen as he was in the Royal Army.

Many of the cloaked tribesmen and women stopped their work and looked at the new arrival with wonder. The one their actively-serving kinsmen had all been talking about. His presence here where only four foreigners were ever allowed privy of the whereabouts of the village grounds showed the sign of trust and respect the King of Kyrat gave to him and that they should as well.

Bowing as he passed them, Ajay was inclined to do the same to return their salutations with a curt nod. And would you believe it, a very familiar mutt appeared before him.

"Hello boy. How've you been, you naughty little devil." Ajay scuffled Vajra's well-groomed black pelt lovingly. The Mad Devil's best friend and master had returned to be with it. Vajra barked and yelped with joy, rolling in the dirt hoping he would scratch his belly. Ajay chuckled and did as the alpha wolf wanted, he owed it to his canine attack friend for leaving him out for so long.

Off in the distance, one of Brody's friends spotted him and rushed back to their accommodation to tell the others. But Ajay wasn't aware of that, he was here for only one person. To complete the arsenal of weapons he had at his disposal against Golden Path and their masters. He was here to begin his anti-demon training.

Darshan was already out on the veranda of his hut smoking a pipe in a relaxed pose. When Ajay reached his courtyard, his eyes flashed open and he got up.

"…." He retrieved his pipe from his mouth and took a few steps towards Ajay.

"Shall we begin?"

"Can I not call you master? How bout instructor?" Ajay tried negotiating first. And Darshan's response was-.

"Seal." (crush) He responded casually.

Like an anvil falling upon him, Ajay fell to the ground and crushed the floor tiles with an invisible weight. "Arrgh….."

Darshan squatted down in front of Ajay and said his opening speech before popping the pipe back into his mouth.

"Welcome to your first lesson of the day: How not to get hit by hidden spells." Darshan tapped the courtyard fence engraved with talismans to show where he got binded. He turned quickly to hide a smirk on his face where Ajay instantly knew he was having too much fun.

"Sunnova-…bitch..arghh." He struggled to lift himself but failed to overpower the sealing spell of miring suppression. A first taste of what a Demon Banisher could do, but Ajay didn't get his hopes up.

He was now in the hands of this annoying fellow for a good solid week. He was either on the road to slaying and banishing demons or….

He was in for a week of hell.

* * *

Author's Notes:

If all goes well and according to schedule, I'll be rolling out the Gate story soon without hindrance to RaK's rollout speed or performance. i'm very eager to begin.


	117. Chapter 107 - The Preparation Time

Author's Notes:

Apologies if there's any mistakes in future translations. Especially in the languages I commonly use in this story, thankfully some of you folks have volunteered your services to assist me for which I'm grateful.

* * *

Ajay's entire body was drenched in sweat, it was adding to the already burdensome task of climbing the cliff that Darshan instructed as part of his training in improving his endurance to magic. Call it "defense against the dark arts", She-who-shall-not-be-name wasn't the only one that could use bliming magical curses and manifestations in real space. Nearly all the Rakshasa were capable of that, just at varying levels. Why Darshan never bothered to at least train some young ones this entire time he'd been preparing was beyond him. If he couldn't trust even a disciple with carrying his knowledge and assisting him, then he was really hopeless in this regard. Him, training Ajay was already scraping the bottom of the barrel.

Ajay never experienced military training, not even scout camp or a huntering trip. All these had tiring and difficult obstacle courses, some natural and some man-made. Yet, he knew there were pale in comparison to what Darshan was putting him through.

He heaved a heavy backpack filled with stones as he climbed up a steep cliff without the aid of a rope or grappling anchor. Although the stones were hefty, they weren't as unmanageable as his usual heavy kit which he moved around in deceivingly agile. They were weighing on him exceptionally great by virtue of talismans stuck to each and every one of those rocks in his backpack. He wouldn't have been able to do this on the first day, so it took three days to get accustom to the gravitational differences with the talismans in place.

He also learnt that the effects had great combat potential as they could affect a locate area besides a direct application to the target, albeit weaker in comparison. There were no talismans that could outright kill though as Darshan had layed out a few for him to browse and understand what make a talisman. But where Darshan heavily relied on these slips of paper with intricate design, the Rakshasa could cast actual frigin magic with the only weakness of being long recitals. There was also another requirement of it only being able to cast in on a being less powerful that the wielder which was no problem for the near-immortal Rakshasa on mortal human beings.

(plop) He hefted the bag onto the granite floor of a natural shelter up on the cliffs.

"That looks hard." Said the chubby fellow that followed him along the trip and had been sitting watching the entire time.

"(Huff) You wanna give it a try?" He looked at him with a slight annoyance.

"No thanks man, I mean I know I can but-… nah…. This is like your trial man. I'm just here ta watch and make sure you don't cheat."

"Whatever." Ajay sighed and dug into his back to find his water bottle. After hydrating himself he poured the rest over his head to cool it off.

"Hey! What'da bout me?" The one accompanying him complained.

"I thought you were just watching over me so I won't cheat. If anything, you should've brought your own." Ajay threw the bag onto his back with a mighty heave, swearing not to put it down till he was done. He had enough of bringing it up. While the weight was still the same in reality, it was the talismans that distorted Ajay's sense of feel, making felt carrying load at something akin to a fridge on his back. He had sort of messed the demonic strength with his own but even then, it was a pain to keep standing with it, these talismans were especially effective in him. "Hurgh!"

It was just three hundred metres up the cliff to his designated checkpoint where the exercise would finally end. He ignored the whining complaints shoved on his as he climbed, keeping a strong-willed mind to focus on the task at hand.

"Say, Bads? When this is all over, what do you picture us doing after all this?"

"(huff)…. Seriously?" He stopped whilst holding onto the ledges tightly. The other person gave a look like it was important he hear it.

"Sigh….. settle in, have a family." Ajay said with honesty, unfortunately the former didn't really believe it.

"That's it? Very cliché, ain't it?"

"What would you have me do then? Take the throne and slave away for the rest of my life?"

"Man, you are such a cynicalist. If I said you could have the most fun job in the entire world, you'd complain too! What's not to like about being a King, man?"

"Because I don't have what it takes to be a King, plain and simple. I don't want to be one either…. Is it really so hard to believe I just want to live in peace and be loved?" He looked at his partner who looked back with a deep expression.

"If I was a king, I'd have to listen to hundreds of men and women representing each discipline and department drone on about what they need and would I give them my blessing. I'd step into the frontlines again, to keep morale the highest. They'd expect me to have concubines, making me breed like a rabbit. And worst, those kids will be fighting each other to take over my place. I'd rather live like I have with the girls than what Pagan originally wanted. If he consents it, his brat can have the throne for all I care."

The other person stared at him with surprise and smiled.

"What?"

"You think of kingship as nuthin' but a job like the one you have now. Haha!- (sigh) It's those kind of words about the dedication you'd put that makes everyone think you really are fit to be one, Bads." He said meaningfully.

Ajay said nothing in return and continued to climb than refute him. His muscles were sort of getting used to the strain after a good four hours of climbing. And in another seven minutes, he had reached the top. He casted the pack aside and dropped to the floor like it was a comfy bed.

A shadow loomed over him.

"Do this on your own time in future to improve your tolerace, go up by increments. Now get up, you know that time is at stake here."

"….(huff) (huff) Yeah… I gotcha. (huff)." Ajay pushed himself up onto his feet quickly and followed Darshan back to the camp they'd set up in an undisclosed location that even Ajay didn't know. Darshan had intentionally done this so that he wouldn't skip on his training to fight with incomplete understanding of his tomes and rituals which could be fatal to the user if used wrongly. He learnt the heard way before when he had trouble nunciation the Hindu words and triggered a backlash which he didn't ever want to happen again.

As the neared the familiar path back to the camp, Darshan turned to him and he knew what he was about to tell him.

"I'll be preparing for your next lesson, in the meantime go fetch our dinner."

"I'm on it." Ajay walked back to the tent which was his and retrieved his compound bow and arrows.

"(whistle)"

(woof)

Vajra who had been waiting patiently for their return accompanied Ajay to assist in what was in its nature to do so. The last hunt they were able to land a juicy tenderloin from one of the deers in this forest area, they would try once more for another, not even Darshan was going to refute a tasty meal.

"Dinner for three and one dog, coming right up."

Darshan looked at the silhouette of a man and a dog leave.

"….."

* * *

An excited mood was brewing around the North-Eastern part of Kyrat at the City of Lakshman.

The King had declared a national holiday to commemorate the battles thus far, this celebration marked the end of the climax to the twenty-six year long civil war. A name for it had yet to be drafted, but that wasn't as important as the assembly for the stage in which the parade would be held. A massive grandstand was being constructed along the way into the city central, meant for a large audience to watch as a military parade passed by.

3rd Company had the honours of completing that extremely demanding request in the shortest possible time, but this time they had their Commander Saraswati with them. As well as a huge logistical support to take over the heavy lifting from them to focus on the builds and construction.

But they were thoroughly enjoying the experience contrary to mega projects they'd done in the past.

"Lunch is ready!" A sweet young voice called out from the veranda under the shade of the trees.

A mix of civilian workers and soldiers were estatic at the announcement that signalled a routine for their much-awaited lunchbreak, it was their daily sin of lavishing in the textured flavour of Bhadra's lunches provided en masse to the workers at the construction site and any who wished to fill their stomachs. None of them would ever tell their wifes of this guilty pleasure, and to think that Badala had been enjoying such a meal every day made those who had eaten green with envy. It was no wonder he could fight like a demon when this delicious food was powering his mind and energizing his body, or so they were under the impression.

"Here you go. Three servings, for you and your friends." Bhadra served one of the soldiers a neatly wrapped bundle of bread and mutton curry.

"Hehe… thank you, my dear. I'll be sure to tell them you said hi." The beneficiary jogged off with the food to meet with his mates. He was just one of the few dozens in Bhadra's food line alone. She had managed to requisition the help of the student body to assist her in performing some menial work to improve the efficiency of the work going into the city celebration four days from now. Her request was approved at it would also advertise some of the social work that the school did for the community which was always a good thing to exhibit in demonstrating proper character development. The food, she sent a listen and they paid for everything. When she requested for manpower, they called forth eager volunteers not that there wasn't any who wouldn't want to work closely with Bhadra Rishal to get acquainted with her.

"Hey, Bhadra!" A voice called out in the distance behind the queue. When she looked over the shoudlers of the people she could see a couple of familiar faces.

"You guys don't mind taking over for a while, do you? I just wanna say hello and all." No one shook their heads and agreed to let her go off on her own as they managed. She could swear a few clicked their tongues but if they said yes then that was all she needed. Taking off her apron and rushing over to where the five women and one guy were. "Girls!"

"And guy." The accompanying husband of one of the women murmured due to her ill acknowledgement of his existence in the group.

"Hello, Ricardo." She beamed with a bright smile.

"Ciao Bella." Ricardo said with equal measure, earning a nudge from his wife not to take things too far.

"What've you been up to, munchkin?"

"Please don't call me that, Noore."

"Oh alright, I'm sorry. It's just me being too excited when I have another little one with me." A head popped around the back of her waist, a young Caucasian girl with brown hair stuck out like a sore thumb in this Asian dominant background, where Stella and Noore were at least recognisable as a Vice-Lord and one of Badala's mercenaries. But again, to have a young girl her age here was an enigma. Why would anyone like her choose to come here?

Bhadra was quick to notice who was that, she was the reason Noore moved out to take guardianship of her. The irony that a victim would take care of her family's killer's daughter, she was Ashley Harmon. But if Noore showed no adversity towards this adoption, then none of them could really question her on it.

"Bhadra, I'd like you to meet Ashley."

"Hello." Bhadra didn't pause in taking the rythme from Noore and greeted cheerful, seeing she was friendly in nature the younger girl returned that greeting in kind with a wide beaming smile.

"Hello. I like your eyes." She commented on Bhadra's striking eyes.

Noore tapped her on the head to which she giggled. "You're such a cheeky one, aren't you."

"You guys look free? How about lunch at the cafeteria?"

The group looked at each other and back to Bhadra.

"Sounds great."

Bhadra led the way for them to head off back to the polytechnic where she studied in, now called Min National Polytechnic or MNP. Under the sponsorship of none other than his Royal Highness. When the King's little darling was enrolled in your school, it was a blessing like no other.

They arrived at the well-furnished cafeteria and had what was on the menu. A

"Eating your vegetables first, aren't you a strange one."

"I dunno why everyone says they're yucky. I like them." Her glow caught the attention of some of the female student who giggled at her cheerfulness and were hesitant on whether to approach and interact with her.

"I wish Ric was more like you." Stella paid Ashley company as a conversation partner at Ricardo's expense.

"Unbelievable, its not like you're the one that co-gguurrgh!" A lightning quick strike to his gut silenced his last few words and made her friend chuckle at their love comedy between them.

"Any news of when Ajay comes back?" Noore asked as he had left without saying anything.

"Where did he go anyway?"

"To Darshan's in the Pravyadh village."

"The Hunter's domain?" Noore said as she frowned at the mention of that man. It wasn't just Ajay who had doubts about him, they were two peas in a pod in their opinion towards the strange exorcist.

"He'll be back for the celebration."

"But he isn't coming back for the celebration, is he?"

"….No….." Saras replied in a rather lonely way. Noore tried to change the subject to a topic that seemed more of intel gathering.

"How long have you known Darshan for, Maya?"

Being called to attention of her former subordinate, she huffed with an ill temper and then hesitated as she recalled some of the latest developments between herself and that person. She took a drink and nearly choked on it, Bhadra quickly administered a handkerchief and some gentle taps to her back.

"Thanks."

"Actually, I'm also kinda interested to know."

"That's interesting, interested in someone else other than Ajay." Noore joked.

"Maybe I like all the scruffy types better! Oh, maybe that counts as cheating?" They laughed together but the younger ones of their triad didn't seem to get it.

"Ahem." Bhadra visibly cleared her throat to tell them to quieten down, she too was anxious to hear an origin story about the pleasant middle-aged man that visited one time to return Bishal to its master.

"From what my Mistress told me, he was an enigma onto himself. It was during a time when Mistress Lau was in a more troubled state of mind, and her body was bedridden. Doctors couldn't diagnose her, Psyhiatrists called in suffering from an emotional breakdown. But it was nothing like any of their assumptions. She described it as losing herself into an abyss which she couldn't pull out from and couldn't break free on her own. Her mind was decaying slowly and would soon lose its sanity."

Noore paid close attention and had even taken out her notepad to jot down what she heard.

"And then she woke up with a clear mind one day, that miasma that trapped her thoughts and clouded her mind were banished. And standing over her was Darshan."

Bhadra seemed excited about the story already.

"He was on the accounts of the Royal Academy, an exceptional soldier. But he seemed to have a trade in mediums before all this. And it was as he described to the mistress, he'd banished the spirit that possessed her and was feeding off her negative emotion."

Noore was beginning to match this account with Ajay's description. He was some sort of exorcist and from the most recent account from Vasu, he was the only one that made those Rakshasa shiver at the sight of him.

"Vasu called him a Demon Banisher." Hearing that name, Maya's brows bent.

"I know you're not completely satisfied with the amnesty he gave to them." Noore said regarding the Kshatriyan Lords.

"Why should I be? Vasu Sen killed thousands even before he was set free. And Sun Han Feng, don't even get me started on that guy. He and his father had plotted for the day they could overthrow the Kingdom!" Maya expressed her disgruntledness towards Ajay's decisions.

"Perhaps there is a deeper meaning behind why he did this." Saras tried to be diplomatic without taking sides and giving a different perspective. Maya didn't want to continue one about them anymore so she went back to the original topic.

"As a reward or a way to make use of his talent she was thoroughly convinced was useful having been subject of that miracle, she promoted him to a standalone rank of Specialist. He took no orders from anyone save herself and her second-in-command who was still old Raghu at the time. And if he required anything, he was able to requisition it at his request, not that he ever did apart from request to join the Hunters."

"He only had one job, and that was to ensure that nothing would affect her subordinates' minds like it did to her. He was to scan her ranks of any such cases and destroy them at the root."

"Did you believe in this?" Saras asked.

"God no, I thought this was just something akin to a Taoist practice of hiring a medium just for the sake of having one. One of the weird quirks she as a Hong Kong Chinese might've brought over. Not that I ever understood Cantonese culture or Taoism for that matter."

"I don't think anyone would." Said Bhadra.

"So yeah, that's about it. Oh- I think he was heavily involved in the capture of those Devas during the 98' offensive which was kinda strange since he was only dealing with paranormal cases."

"Which raises the question about what drew him towards them." Noore said tapping her notepad like a detective trying to solve a riddle.

"His effectiveness as a member in the institution was a questionable one that many didn't fully understand, I was one of them for the record. Now I hear he is some sort of antithesis to those Rakshasa that stormed Lanka."

"That sounds like a bit of a twist."

"What does?" Maya asked Bhadra.

"Rakshasa attacking Lanka, the name of one of their homes." Maya turned to Saras for an explanation on why she picked the name for the fortress.

"I-… let's just say I went through a phase." She said in embarrassment. For once, Maya seemed humoured by her reaction.

"I bet you were screaming into a pillow to muffle your embarrassment when you heard that they were really going to build it." Maya said with a smirk almost laughing.

Saras's silence was taken as an acknowledgement.

"The secret side of Saraswati, that not even Ajay knows about."

"Oh god-…. Please for the love of god, don't bring this up with him." She said rubbing her temples in a tremendous headache.

"It'll require some hush money." Maya went straight to the point.

"(Sigh) If you weren't so petty, perhaps you would've made a little more friends."

"What was that? I have p-plenty of friends, mind you."

"Oh? Then name a few."

As if she was stuck in a botch, Maya was about to turn red at the embarrassment, like what she did to Saras in the beginning. She stared at her in deadpan and broke routine by declaring….

"Touché." Maya said back with a smile to which they laughed it off. Saras's expression was also gentle upon her.

"You've grown quite a bit, haven't you?"

"I should say the same for you, look at all those wrinkles."

"Alright, enough of those non-lethal confrontations." Noore broke up another potential word sparring match for another time.

"I wish we could've spent more time together like this, just us girls for a change." Bhadra said with a sigh.

Noore chuckled at what she was trying to say, she felt so as well. They'd been in and out of the house all the while when there was no pause to this civil war and now there was a measure of peace at least till such time that more serious issues occur.

"How about we go on a trip, just the six of us." Noore declared.

"Six?" Maya was a bit confused about the numbers.

"Stella and Saras's old friend Kanaan. Technically, six and a half if Ashley wants to come along. I heard its a place that the Nobles and Cantons often frequent. One of my traditional medicine colleagues ancestral home used to run a natural spa there. They have a hotspring just next to them that she allows her clients to use."

"I'm in!" Stella's voice called out almost instantly as she caught whiff of the words hotspring and spa.

"Can I come as well?" Ricardo asked but before Noore shunned him, Stella already did the job for her. Ricardo couldn't believe his wife's betrayal this early into their married life.

"I guess it's a yes from everyone? Ok." Noore nodded and puffed happily that the trip was seemingly going to turn out well.

"When do we set out?" Saras asked.

"How about tonight, our place at 7? It's not that far from where we are, I've already seen it though haven't tried it yet." The girls looked at her in a bit of surprise, but they were by no means going to turn it down.

"Oh man, I'm already fired up!" Bhadra declared. "I'd better get back to inform the rest I'm packing early!" She dashed off as quickly as the words left her mouth.

"I'm going back home to change into something comfortable." Stella declared and moved without waiting for poor Ricardo.

"Shall we go home as well?" Maya seemed to show interest in it purely for the stress-relief for god knows she needed it.

Noore chuckled at their excitement.

"You girls won't be disappointed."

(Boom) A tremor was heard out in the distance.

"What was that?"

"I dunno! It sounded like an explosion!"

A feeling of anxiousness grew amongst the peope in the cafeteria and the people who were in the proximity to it in general. They lived near conflict in the past so recognised the sounds of explosions.

""….."" Of all those ignorant to the truth, only Maya and Saras seemed to have a vague idea. And it had soured their mood greatly when that explosion though far and barely audible was still heard.

"Shall we cut-." Noore wanted to suggest cutting the trip short, but to her surpise they both replied-.

""No!"" Noore felt like laughing.

Even in seeming danger, no one was going to tear a woman from a means of relaxation.

* * *

(Boom) Another distant explosion out of the many few dozen explosions over the week was now becoming a norm to the more remote residence. It initially surprised the general populace, but after an explanation from the authorities that the Royal Kyrati Army was hosting a live-firing military exercise with India and Russia military forces in the mountains. The civilian populace was appeased, albeit annoyed to hear booms in the distance very early in the morning. They were still content with it than to actual fighting like before.

But the reality was far from the fabrication to keep the people calm to avoid mass panic. The detonations were triggered by explosions of ship-launched cruise missiles off the Arabian Sea, intercepted by 24hr patrols of interceptor aircraft and SAM systems with the aid of airborne AWACS aircraft and balloons. The ground-hugging cruise missiles were not something the state-of-the-art AESA ground radar could detect only at the very last moment. A significant amount of fuel, energy, man-hours and munitions was dedicated to keeping Kyrat and its installations safe from this underhanded-style of bombing. As costly as it was to deploy this defense umbrella throughout the fortnight, it was better than having the cruise missile indiscriminately kill.

The party responsible for firing them had not even declared war, but it was needless to say who was shooting them to soften up their defense integrity. The fact that their movements were not even publically announced on the international news said it was a high-covert operation but deploying quite a significant force. Strategists believed it was a strike force of at least five thousand supported by warships and a carrier fleet, an unknown reserve kept if they had to go public. New Delhi informed their war office of amassing troops at the Pakistani Airbases, while said country was not participating, they were providing a foothold for the US expeditionary force to house their supplies and muster their specialised troops.

It was a genuine silent war, the biggest there had even been. Where no side would declare their involvement in the coming battles. US didn't want the international community to dig into Broken Arrow and find all the mess they'd made stretching back two and a half decades. India and Russia did not want to be openly condemned and have commercial embargoes to boycott their deployments, so they had to play this carefully in their dispatching of troops. An official announcement was that a military exercise was being held in the Himalayas to boost troop competence in mountain warfare served as their alibi, hosted at the recently-affirmed Kyrati kingdom. News was that China was amassing troops along the Yinkian border, whether they were simply testing the alliances' defensive capabilities or worse, collaborating with the US remained an unknown to both the local assets and Russian and Indian intelligence. They only had the justification to keep their troops near the border fence to watch the exercise.

Commander Singh was sitting comfortably in the Strategic Air Defense control room monitoring the progress of the Interceptor-configured Fighter Squadron in cohesion with SADEC activities. The room was daunted by a dark red-light due to the action-stations status presently in effect. While his Kyrati colleagues maintained strict awareness to the surveillance assets for the Spyder, Pantsir and S-350 SAM systems in intercepting those cruise missiles, the air defense umbrella.

(Biiiii) A hostile looking dot merged with a dotted like and vanished all together on the screen.

"We have a confirmed kill, missile intercepted." Reported the weapons officer.

Everyone else breathed a sigh of relief and fist bumped. Even if this wasn't the first, they'd successfully downed every cruise missile.

Commander Singh figured he'd been here long enough to know that whatever intercommunication between his group out in the sky and the Air Defense forces would not accidentally shoot down his men or the mercenary pilots.

"It's time I head back." He announced.

"Let me take you back, I'll need to drop the Commander my report." The SADEC commander proposed and Commander Singh nodded.

Waiting for him in the car pool as he relayed orders and picked up a key to the jeep to ride back in. the drive down the road was quiet but from the distance, a beautiful dazzle of the hanging lights of at Lakshman was a sight for sore eyes. The people were out an about enjoying themselves.

It was at this moment that the Kyrati Commander grit his teeth. "Those damn Yanks. That was the twentieth one." He referred to the most recent cruise missile out of twenty fired upon them over a period of three days.

"That's good." Commander Singh's reply caught the Kyrati officer's tongue.

"It means the US military has no on-site assets and are relying solely on their satellite imagery to assess the situation based on analysis." Completing his sentence. The Commander Officer of the control room nodded in agreement to his theory as he dodged a bullet from his incomplete sentence.

"That can be the titbit of the day I suppose." He said before turning a curve on the road.

"I was more concerned about the return of those F-22 Raptors. The last time they attacked, you barely got anything on the early-warning."

"… I'm not proud of that. I'm sorry for your losses." The Kyrati SADEC officer replied.

To not be able to even notice the enemy fighters who'd escaped their eyes in the radar was more than frustrating, it was frightening. Pravi did not even notice the attack until they were upon him launching AMRAAM missiles.

"I'm not blaming you, those birds have an almost infallible reputation. No one has seemingly caught up with the US airforce yet."

"Speaking of the Raptors, how's your boy holding up?" The SADEC commander asked Pravi's superior.

"Shaken if anything. But more angry they shot him without warning or hailing him first, angry at himself for not noticing them at all."

"Like you said, he shouldn't be at fault here. Considering that he's one of the few to survive a Raptor attack, he should consider himself a lucky devil." This talk reminded him that he should visit the boy, since the very brief funeral for his weapons officer, Lieutenant Arun he hadn't left his quarters.

He himself had ever faced such a situation before in his earlier days as a pilot.

And now, it was going to happen to Pravindra. Their most celebrated pilot in the Northern theatre would have this conviction tying a knot in the boundless potential he could achieve and potential deprive India of a full-fledged ace pilot.

"Not for him though, when you've had a winning streak like Alexander the Great. The fall from grace is the hardest." Commander Singh replied as he'd left his Kyrati colleague hanging for a while.

"I dunno, you pilots are a totally different animal all together. All we do is look at a screen and press a button to send a surface to air missile at you folks when we see you." The Kyrati officer gave his honest opinion.

"…."

As simple as the Air Defense role was made to sound by the Commanding officer, it was anything but. They had a rushed course with the Israeli advisors on operating the equipment, but to actually practice using it. They had unfortunately stumbled when the squadron of C-17 cargo airlifters had airdropped those mercenaries and passed the scope to fire upon them. Instead, the IAF apprehended and confiscated those airlifters to their benefit, so all was alright in the end. But they still lagged behind competence then and they couldn't accept it.

They had undergone rigorous training and practice drills ever since then, they could spot even the slightest of details in the radar and react appropriately. The result was a 90% successful shoot down of all the cruise missile fired from the Arabian Sea, by destroyer or by submarine they didn't know nor care. The rest were shot down by the interceptor aircraft. It was annoying to be on the receiving end of their missile barrages though.

They arrived at the Airbase, booming with activity. A massive amount of airtraffic was ongoing in the deepest part of Kyrat.

"This is my stop. Thanks for the ride." Commander Singh alighted and thanked his escort who left for the Command Centre where the Air Chief Rohan was to report.

Commander Singh was forced to walk the remainder of the way as it was a no-drive area from here on to the medical centre. He looked to the nearby hangars brimming with people hailing from single nationalities. In one hangar, there was an entire Company strength-worth of Russian Caucasians in a woodland-speckle uniforms, if he had to guess, they were the Russian Spetznaz. On the neighbouring hangar, he could hear the cheerfully loud chatter in his native tongue and accent. His fellow countrymen were here as well, from the insignia he saw on one under the streetlamp light talking to a Spetznaz officer he could just make out that they were the Airforce Garud Para spec-ops. Both parties sent their elite direct-action forces here as an advance party for their mountaineer infantry brigades coming to conduct their "exercise". It highlighted the importance of this operation, to find and bring that nuclear weapon back to the Mumbai Labs for reverse-engineering. It was a matter of great national interest. As much as Nuclear weapons were banned and condemned the western powers, the US especially still had bunker loads capable of destroying the world many times over.

But what differed them from say the rogue state North Koreans' version of nuclear weapons wasn't just range and accuracy of their weapons, but yield. What made true nuclear-armed states was their nuclear weapons capable of secondary fusion stage, what was often referred to as a hydrogen bomb. If the bomb dropped on Hiroshima was 21 kilotons equivalent of TNT, then a secondary fusion stage thermonuclear weapon was capable of going from 300 kilotons to 1 Megaton. Capable of levelling a major city and destroying all of the harden shelters underneath, needless to say Kyrat would be a giant crater in the Himalayas if such a weapon was employed there. And that lost tactical nuke was likely within said yield.

To think that Badala would freely offer it to them exhibited extreme calm under pressure and a tingle of madness. Instead of handing it back the US, he wanted to deprive it from them out of spite. Hell hath no fury like his against the place whose conspiracy threw his homeland into chaos. As reluctant as the civilian portion of the Indian government was to accept it, the military and main governing parties were estatic. It was truly good Karma for the aid they provided to Kyrat, hopefully this was just the beginning. Somehow, Moscow seemed involved to provide nuclear package expertise on handling the weapon safely.

Perhaps having India enter the Nuclear triad with them would shake things up in their disadvantage on facing so many oppositions. If this was the case, China had more reason to stop them than even United States. But after their cockblock by Badala, they weren't going to risk another embarrassment, the Chengdu Military District knowing him. A rumour was that they took to callsigning him Shan Yao (mountain devil), a fitting name if any.

Commander Singh arrived at the place he had meant to be in, at the ward room occupied by his young subordinate, Pravindra. The ward was shared with four beds but Pravi was the only one in it.

"Lieutenant." He called out from where he was, but no response came from Pravi staring out at the glintering light where Lakshman was.

"Prav." Commander Singh called him by the pet name he always heard his co-pilot used to call him.

"Nobody calls me by that name anymore."

"….." He knew he was working with something not in his profession but even still these men were his responsibility to bring home. He sat down on the vacant chair he pulled next to Pravi, silently watching what Pravi had been seeing for the last four days.

For a good fifteen minutes, he said nothing. Until Pravi spoke on his own accord.

"I don't think I can fly anymore." He was declaring his resignation.

"That's not the Kumar I know, nothing like his crazy uncles. That hotheaded fool that dared to confront the PAF and USAF during his rounds near Kashmir. Who came home with fifteen kills, now a whopping twenty-three thanks to your recent efforts in these Campaigns in Yinke and Kyrat. You might be the start of our countries air dominance in central asia….. that's if you continue your career."

"I can't….. I've been with Arun ever since basic, no one knew me like him…... He always complained when I tampered with the plane or call out when trouble brewed." A sadness grew.

"But now, there's no one to watch my back."

"Not even in spirit?" His superior asked.

Pravi was loss of words as he pictured his friend watching over him in the sky.

"Son, more of our fellows die from airframe accidents than by actual dogfights. Even though the Brass does not accept his death as a documented KIA, the heavens won't turn a blind eye. You now have another responsibility…"

"…What?"

"You need to tell his family the truth, so that they know their son died for their tomorrow." These words stuck to Pravi as he thought about it deeply.

"Not an easy task, is it?"

"Letting them know their son died because he was attached to a fool?" He said in self-ridicule.

"Let them know that you're alive because of him."

"….. I'd might as well be dead."

"Then you're not being fair to all those that didn't have the chance to survive like you did!" He raised his voice.

"What you're going through isn't something that you feel exclusively I'm afraid. Like you I was once a brilliant pilot, a young one fresh out of school and graduated in the academy with 1st class honours."

"Congrats to you then." He said lazily.

"Yes….. but that would do nothing to prepare me for what happened sixteen years ago."

Pravi traced back the date to a very high-profile conflict in their military history, it could only be one battle. The Kargil War.

"Command had made the poor decision to send raw pilots up against veteran pilots in the PAF, thinking it was a good publicity stunt." He turned to Pravi. "To make up for the disparity in experience, they sent two squadrons against a single flight party. Back then we flew the good old MiG-21, Command assumed they would bring something along the lines of Mirages, F-86 Sabres or even Chinese-versions of our aircraft. Oh, how wrong they were?" Commander Singh chuckled at the ill humour of it all.

"They flew then-brand new American F-16s, and those Viper pilots were veterans of the Afghan War. We were horribly outmatched and outgunned, it was equivalent to a slaughter for us and a field day for them." He gazed deeply back at Pravi.

"That's why the Command never declassified this information and why there is always dispreferencies in the Pakistani claims and our own." He sighed as he remembered those ugly thoughts.

"I survived by virtue of my co-pilot who engaged our ejector seat when the shit hit the fan, I accused him of cowardice the entire time we returned, even slapped him. And then-… he just collapsed and died."

"Autopsy reported he had suffered deprivation of oxygen to the brain, at some point of the high-g manuever he forced our bailing out when we were level, but perhaps his ejection wasn't as smooth as mine. He ensured I exited safely before he did, he was not one bit a coward I declared him to be and to think in his final moments I never realised it."

"…" Pravi was no fool to understand his point, these things always happened. Commander Singh's story had reaffirmed him in getting it.

"I was now the only survivor of those squadrons that made it back, somewhere in Pakistan, those five PAF pilots were national heroes and we were nothing but an accidental loss. It was a painful feeling that took many nights at the bar or brothel to forget. But that was pale in comparison to what I set out to do next. I went to each door to pass words of condolence, to every concerned wife, to each anxious mother and father. I had no medal to hand them, no commendation for their son's services. They didn't have insurance back then, so you can imagine the situation for some that the main bread winner was now gone among the most grievous concerns."

"Is that why you stayed at Farkhor?" Prav asked him a more personal question.

"It was, so that young blood like yourself wouldn't unnecessarily spill your lifeblood over another foolish political bravado."

"And then fifteen years later, came this little deviant named Pravindra Kumar. Another in the long line Kumar hotheads, I thought. Who carried himself like the biggest thing, looked at dogfights like they were field days and enemies like trophies."

Commander Singh got up from his chair and prepared to leave.

"You have a privilege that wasn't afforded to me in my time, Prav. You have instinctual talent as a fighter pilot to keep you alive and able to strike back. Sometimes I wish to myself that I could fly as instinctively as you, but facing the reality all I can depend on is my experience. That's something our enemy has who shot you down. But talent is something ordained from birth, you either have it or you don't."

"….. What will you have me do then?"

Commander Singh smiled as he finally got through to him.

"Report tomorrow at Hangar Four, 0900Hrs. That should give you enough time to sort out your thoughts and put your game face on. Clear?"

"Crystal." Pravi replied.

Satisfied that he got back his MVP, Commander Singh walked to the exit. Stopping after having a last-minute thought to share.

"You now have a choice in what's to come though. Play this safe and keep our group alive till the end of this campaign, then head back home with a story to tell." But his face seemed to want to say there was an alternative.

"Or?" Pravi looked at him like he was providing him a divinitation to his future. Deep within, Commander Amar Singh was surprised to even think of such thoughts when he was usually of rational mind.

Badala was crazy for proposing to offer the nuke instead of returning it. The United States was crazy for having a non-negotiating policy towards a madman like him who wouldn't even flinch to use it if they pushed him, instead send a silent expeditionary force to take it back and subjugate Kyrat. Amar's own country was insane to break future relations with US to gain full superpower priveleges in a wild gamble over a black ops myth without solid evidence except for a testimony from an old dysfunctional agent.

-Perhaps if the whole place is turning crazy, we should just follow suit.-

"Sir?" Pravi bore witness to a blank exterior, then the light returned to his superior's eyes.

"Or we can give up on everything instead to find those Raptor pilots and return them the favor."

* * *

"Rakshasa have a library of offensive and defensive spell lines among their kind, most commonly used by them for simplicity sake are Slaughtering Moon and Azure Sky tomes. Both have curse-type abilities employed to handicap their opponent. Get hit by either one, and you can consider yourself done. When they move in for the kill" Darshan recited whilst he was busy memorizing a chant.

(zzzzzz) Like being struck by lightning, an electric current coarsed through his body and caused him to vomit out blood. Another backlash had occurred.

Darshan stood observing Ajay as he performed a simple incantation which shouldn't have even caused this type of reaction. Yet this was the fifth time over the three days of conditioning that it occurred. He could only guess one possibility.

"Your progression down the path of the demon has worsened." Ajay stopped trying to chant as he listened to Darshan's diagnosis.

"Does this mean I won't be able to use any of the Demon Exorcism traits?" Darshan thought for a moment and pulled Ajay's jacket off him.

"Hey! What'cha-.."

"Keep still, I'm checking the integrity of the seal." Ajay was stunned in place when he mentioned a seal on him. When did he place it? While he slept?

Darshan pushed down his collar and looked at the nape of his neck where he'd last placed the seal to force the demon into slumber. Ajay kept absolutely still.

"…."

Darshan observed the wear and fade on the diagram, a vast amount of corrosion had occurred upon it. But it seemed intentional, which meant that at some point the Rakshasa Princess had attempted to burn it. But being that it had anti-demon properties, she couldn't tamper with it to her hearts desire with the time span till Darshan came. Instead, what he found was a talisman of her own overlapping his. It was devouring Darshan's seal, encouraging Ajay's change.

Without asking permission, Darshan stuck an acupuncture needle into his neck. "Hey! What- aarrr…. (plop)" Instantly dropping Ajay into a snooze.

"... You never cease to surprise me, but the more you want him back the more I want to deprive you of your last hope." Darshan said silently to himself before proceeding with the delicate operation of painting the seal on again.

….

….

Music resounded the halls of the main court chamber as a young aspiring warrior stepped forward for the coronation. Before him, at the very end of the velvet carpet were the Temple elder, his former father the Lord Regent, his mentor and the old king.

His appearance had set off the crowd awild on a jubilical mood, for today the mountains had chosen their newest master.

It had been Three decades since his declaration up on the highest peak of Akaash that he would be at the very top of the world. The mountains had apparently listened to his wish and had judged him worthy of bearing the responsibility over not just the Rakshasa Kingdom, but all that was built upon the Mountains and Valleys of the Himalayas, this included the guardianship as the keeper to Shangri-La.

He had demanded his father disown him which he did without hesitation, infuriated by his words, albeit at the worry of his sister for he was setting himself up for a route without return. He joined the Rakshasa Army as a foot soldier and out of the flames of yet another war with the union of Vanara monkey tribes he emerged a decorated warrior whom they feared for killing several of their chieftains in the fighting. He was recognised by one of the Four Pillar Generals for his courage and valour and was taken under the wing of the General of the East's mentor, groomed to succeed him. But fate had other plans in store for him, as he had resolved an incursion with the human mortals backed by their Demon Banisher Order without even a single blood spilt. Earning him a place in the king's court among the many subjects but looked on with favour by the old king for his ability to circumvent disasters.

He brought about many great changes in their society as well as introducing many new systems in industry, military and policy making. It created many friends as it did enemies whom were disagreeable to his success or just jealous.

His father, the Lord Regent and his extended family were in disbelief to his rise to prominence. The 2nd Son, his elder half-brother had tried to plot against him, but he turned it on him and used his folly as a stepping stone. And after Twenty-Nine years away from the family home and away from that one beloved sister of his whom was the only one that believed in him, he took on the trial.

The final trial was none other than the retrieval of the treasured Astra, passed down from generation to generation. Said to be gifted by one of the Trimurti to the first ancestor and ruling sovereign over the mountain and valleys before the other races moved in as well. The sword of past kings now sheathed in his scabbard, now his. A trial that didn't decide its chosen by strength, prowess or even heart. It would only pick one, and it picked him. When the openings for the trial first begun upon the declaration by the old king's desire to retire, many flocked to take it from the altar but there was a catch. If he or she was not worthy, the sword would decay the wielders body and annihilate him body and soul. And so, when the sword was open to all to have a go, none approached it. When he stepped forth, his friends shook their heads in regret that an uncommon talent had chosen to waste his life. People begun to see him as a fool for trying something that even the old King's son, the crown prince who was the best qualified to take it had once tried years ago and perished. Throwing the old king further into despair and grief.

"I give you, your new King!" After a ritual by the temple elder along with the old king passing his signet ring over to him, the elderly Rakshasa king announced. His response was met with a bellow of joy and cheer. For they had walked alongside a person who had gone through untold trials and had become their newest mighty sovereign.

"""Hail! Lord Ishaan, our king!""" The soldiers and generals shouted in unison, as the new subjects knelt before their sovereign to express their allegiance. His expression changed into one of a dignified manner.

His father and family were no exception, for they stood a chance to be relatives to a king but had overlooked his hidden qualities and casted him out on the street. There was no medicine for regret now, they could only bow in servitude.

The new King of the Rakshasa looked around at his court and waS focused mainly on his former family members. They seemed estatic he would pay attention to them on the account that they shared the same blood. He stepped down off the dais and walked towards them, the sea of subjects parted to make way for him.

But he had his eye on only one person, dearest of all to him. Said person lowered her head further towards the ground as he was just arms length from him.

"Why do you bow, dear sister?"

She was frozen stiff for a moment but replied with maximum composure as her words stood to uphold the familys' honour.

"To express my loyalty to you, my liege." These words were like a newly formed barrier that she'd erected between them for the sake of the family. It hurt her more than it hurt him to see that gap widen between them.

"From you, that is utterly unnecessary."

She trembled at those words which the rest seem to be unable interpret.

"You have no idea how much those words you spoke back then meant to me, it was what kept me standing strong throughout my career in the military, every minute before I charge out into battle, and always stayed fresh in my mind."

His sister not of his blood couldn't help but look up at him in wonder, all she saw was a kind smile like he used to instead of that dignified face of a king.

"Your belief in me, was the only belonging I took with me out of the house and was the only thing I ever needed. Unfortunately, I cannot return in back to you…. But I can give everything to you to make up for it."

He turned to the crowd.

"I hearby declare this woman before me, my dearest sister. Beloved by all and most precious to all. The jewel of our city. Not for a single breath shall she be left wanting! Nor shall she be beneath any in authority but the heavens!" At that moment, a law was written into the fabric of natural as he words boomed into existence as a new natural law.

"My loyal subjects, friends… and family." He continued as he passed a gaze towards the family members whom disowned him. His father couldn't help but smile and laugh contently to himself.

The young king turned towards his sister, not by blood but by bond. He uttered the words that would write down the laws in the mountains and valleys and would never be unwritten unless someone succeeded him and did so.

"From this moment on, she shall be a Crown Princess of Akaash! (*muffle*)"

…

…

Ajay's eyes snapped open after a long period of time. Vajra whined next to him as it felt the disturbance in his thoughts, he administered some comfort to his wolf friend with a couple of gentle strokes over its pelt.

"What did she show you this time?" Called out the voice over the other side of the fireplace, slicing the cooked steak over the fire.

"….. Nothing that'll change my mind." Darshan got up to come within readable distance of his eyes.

"Let's hope so." He said before returning to his seat and cutting the meat.

"How long was I out? And before that, what the hell!? You-… You stuck a goddamn needle into my neck!"

"Your seal was getting undone, if I'd have left it as is, you would have set off anywhere and anytime giving her exactly what she wants."

"And what does she want, Darshan? Not once have you told me a single bit about her, and as a matter a fact not even you!"

"All you need to know-."

"I'm sick of you telling me that. I'm leaving." Ajay picked up his gear and packed his bag to leave. Regardless if he didn't know the way back, he could find it like he always did.

"You can fight her all you want, but don't count on me to help you. You've always worked better alone, so die alone! And most importantly, don't get in my way. Don't especially involve Maya in this, or that Princess will be the least of your worries!" Ajay threatened before turning about to leave the campsite. And for once, Darshan's calm left him.

"Don't you walk away from everything again!"

Ajay turned around with a hateful look.

"You read my history, you read my files. BUT YOU DON'T KNOW ME!"

As Darshan slipped out of his view in his hurry to leave, a sudden jerking flung him against the tree. A hand grasped his collar and stared at him demanding obedience. But Ajay snorted.

"You're pathetic excuse of a man, no matter how much the Huns or the Hunters adore you. You're just some loner expecting sympathy from everyone because you lost someone precious."

A fist struck Ajay square in the jaw with a force that he hadn't felt in a while.

"What do you know of loss, Ajay Ghale?..." He stared at him with daggers. As Ajay stared back in defiance and blood dripping from a forehead wound.

"Did you stand helpless as they suppressed your strength?! When they brought that loved one before you and cut her down?! DID YOU!?..."

Ajay had gone down that road before and yet it felt as if it wasn't the end to what Darshan had to say. Darshan tossed him aside as he curled up against the tree of all things…. Crying.

"…. My wife-… Jita-….. my unborn child-….." If Ajay was guilty for anything now, it would be for putting an elderly man at such ends that he forced a painful memory of grief upon him. Ajay was genuinely loss of words, falling sympathic to Darshan's outburst which had caught him unawares of the witch's true nature.

He sat down next to Darshan making a wet mess of himself. "…. I'm sorry."

"I don't need your pity."

Darshan wiped his eyes and brought back his expressionless look as best he could. He fiddled with something in his hand.

"She doesn't want you, she wants that thing inside. And she'll go by any means necessary to bring him out."

"How?..." Was what Ajay wanted to know.

"By breaking your sanity."

"By throwing you into an unforgettable despair you'd give it leeway to creep out of you when your emotional barrier becomes nothing. She will kill everything that you love if she can't make you forget them to shorten that loss of personality and gap for that person of hers to return."

Ajay took out his bottle of whisky which he saved and popped the cork off and drank directly from the bottle.

"How do you know that her brother will pop out of me?" Darshan looked at Ajay for a while and laughed.

"So it was her brother, was it?" A madden smile crept onto his face, a face full of anger. Before he turned back to Ajay.

"Kalinag once housed a fragment of his soul too. She failed and he was locked away by my predecessors under that mountain."

Darshan took the bottle from him and dunked down on the bottle of bootleg whisky. He gazed into the flames of the still burning fireplace till a new emotion arose.

"I will….. I will kill her, I swore it upon them and myself that I will."

"….."

"Ajay Ghale, will you lend me your assistance in dealing with her rearguard?"

"Who?" Darshan gave a look like he wasn't convinced he didn't know at all.

"The Four Pillars?" He nodded to Ajay's answer.

"Are you sure you can beat her alone?"

"Let me bother about it."

"What about Mohan, what about Vel?"

"They're just human tools she keeps around for utility, nothing more."

Ajay sighed as it was useless to portray the actual threat he felt from people like the Violet Witch of Tirtha or Great Leader Mohan to a person of Darshan's calibre when he was confident in fighting the strongest force among the Rakshasa. Though he met his father only briefly, he noticed his limbs and hands were conditioned. It meant that Mohan wasn't just some aspiring leader that Sabal hoped to be. He was a genuine fighter, how strong was he was beyond him. But if he was somehow taught by the age old Rakshasa in there secret arts, then he was a pretty credible threat on par to what Darshan was.

But Darshan was too narrow in his objective that he wouldn't acknowledge those pawns she had at her disposal. Ajay still had to worry about the US at the moment, because they were the biggest nuisance to Kyrats growth in future. So how he handled this would determine the future that Kryat would have. Americans didn't like losing, even he as one once had the same feeling. It was that unyielding belief that brought them this far as the supreme power over the free world as its guardian.

Ajay's insane attempt was threatening the peace like so many before him had but in a much more terrifying way. He was trying to possess a WMD, it was something out of a Tom Clancy novel thriller and he was the bad guy.

"We have a long day ahead of us, so eat up and sleep early. I'll cover the next portion of our training early tomorrow." Darshan got up and returned to his tent without mentioning another word.

Ajay looked at Vajra who cocked its head curiously from its seated position next to Ajay. Ajay retrieved the pieces of cooked meat and wolfed down on the chunks with a little bit of whisky to push it down his throat. He passed the uncooked bone to his canine friend who licked the uncut meat from the bones with delight.

Ajay reflected on what Darshan had told him and the most recent dream he had. It was strange that he could recall some parts but when it came to recalling their faces it was blank, a feeling of frustration ran through him. There was still too much secrets hidden from him that would decide his fate. While he sensed that Darshan had told him the truth, it wasn't the entire truth. The Princess Witch was no better. They were both telling their versions of the truth of which they wanted him to hear and be on their side.

Like chosing between Sabal and Amita.

"….."

It was starting to feel all too familiar. But unlike the last time, he wasn't going to pick either of them.

-I'll carve my own future and my own end.-

A thought occurred to him on the recollection of this familiar instance in regards to the choice between Amita and Sabal. He was often curious about it when he came to this timeline.

Would his fate have been different if he'd picked Amita instead?

"It doesn't really matter anymore….." He murmured like he was talking to Vajra.

Ajay thought good thoughts about after he had finished this gruelsome training, he could spend at least a day out with Saraswati. After a few hours of digesting his dinner, Ajay lay on his sleeping bag gazing at the stars. He raised his hand over in front of him where a matching ring on his finger blended with the dazzling blanket of stars.

He truly felt blessed to have such a person after all the bumps in his life, he felt that she was truly the one for him. But in thinking that she was an existence precious to him, Darshan's words about the witch destroying everything he would love came back to haunt him. If anything…

"I'd rather die together with your brother's soul fragment than let you."

He could not let her do as she pleased, even if he bore an unbreakable Karma to her in a long-forgotten era.

* * *

Author's Notes:

Just to clarify, since I've talked to one of the reviewers. These Rakshasa, as much as they can be commonly related to the ones found in Indian Mythology will not be affiliated in anyway save for that fact of sharing lineage and ancestory perhaps.

Cruise Missile - For the sake of those that aren't familiar with what differs this weapon from other rocket driven missiles i will give a rough layman's overview. Basically, its a smart missile guided by a satellite or a predesignated position, has a smart sensor which can detect new threats in the area and relocate appropriately. But its main use is often on Air Defense installations and other fortified locations where sending a bomber into enemy airspace would be more dangerous. This missile hugs the earth, as you know the earth is round and so there is a slight curvature in the horizon. therefore any radar won't be able to detect anything of a distance if its too close to the ground. Plus, in a real world scenario, you'll never know when one strikes so the air defence preparation might not be able to respond in time to intercept. This is what makes the Cruise missile a valuable asset to you see the news, the US often employs the Tomahawk cruise missiles, one of the most versatile platforms out there.


	118. Chapter 108 - Despite All Your Strength

Author's Notes:

I appear to have been added to the Longest Stories comms by Shay Guy, apparently reaching a criterion of 800k words. (Jesus). I've managed to shorten the original plot down to around thirty chapters I thinks, putting end of the story around November. Then, there'll be a few filler shorts at the end for after story happenings. With RaK out of the way, I'll be on a fifty-fifty between BYA and my upcoming Gate fanfic with working title: God of Cookery. Resting assured these two won't even be written with a long plot in mind. Twenty each, maybe less for Beyond Yearning & Ambition.

* * *

The long enduring peace the forest had enjoyed for centuries had been disturbed by unfamiliar trundling through the thickets. A pair of boots belonging to Ajay kicked up the dirt from where he ran, close by was a shadow trailing him that did not leave footprints where it moved gracefully through the forest like it was part of it, and leaving the surrounding in a frostbitten state. The ground beneath his feet began to freeze up and mire him with a gradual increase in snow that was never there to begin with.

His breath from panting in his constant sprint could be seen from the sudden unnatural drop in temperature. The animals scattered as they sensed the force pursuing him, but Ajay remained calm and consistently checked a compass to ensure that the right path was taken. What awaited at the end of his destination was the means of dealing with this thing chasing him for his Prana. A kind of internal ki or lifeforce energy which could be employed to power talismans, cast spells and empower items like weapons. These were the more practical applications of Prana, an art and alternative to the modern technology now proliferating the globe. An art lost in time and the disappearance of the more powerful beings that wielded them to full effect.

[Do not run, warrriiooor! Saave Mee!]

A clearing came up ahead and Ajay was presented with a very clear endangerment to himself in the form of a deadend. A cliff lay just between him and the other side of the mountains. He turned around to assess if a re-routing was still possible. A ghostly figure came to a halt in front of him gazing at him with two glistening orbs. This figure bore the resemblance of a beautiful woman combined with a ghastly pale appearance. Giving him a familiar feeling of a certain horror flick. The figure chuckled with an eerie womanly voice as if it found chasing him like a game.

[My lord…. How I long for company….. embrace meeee!] It spoke in a long-forgotten Sanskrit dialect, but Ajay could understand thanks to a perculiar translating talisman Darshan handed to him. So convenient, these talismans were it almost made technology seem very backward. To think it was magic arts perfected over a thousand of years ago.

Between him and what Darshan called a Bhoot was a vast cleared out space of flat ground unhindered by trees. That spirit was one of the more formidable common ones capable of devouring souls off witless mortals, especially those that wandered the forests alone. They're drawn by negative emotions but fed off the lifeforce of the unsuspecting, leading to the demise of many trekkers and travelling Sherpa without traceable symptoms to their deaths. Nothing but shrivelled corpses remained, giving the impression they starved to death to passing search parties. But that was clearly not the case.

Ajay shouldn't have been able to see it like any ordinary person, unless they believed in its existence. But Ajay's ties to the supernatural were deep rooted with the essence of Yalung within him. It was the "smell" of that vitality which lured the spirit to him despite the presence of the last rites talisman to repel it. Weighing the energies he held with the risk of banishment to be worth it, the spirit gave a relentless chase.

Where these entities would've once kept a fair distance because of a killing intent that manifested from his bloodshed and malice into his bodily aura, it was now sealed by Darshan. As Ajay came to understand the fear and intimidation over his captured enemies was this heavy stench of bloodshed he amassed and not because he was sharp tongued or frightening in visage. How was Saras able to bypass this he wondered, how was anyone he was closely acquainted to maintain calm emotions over this suffocating aura?

The spirit floated closer and closer towards him after seeing he made no attempt to escape. The deceivingly gentle expression remained throughout the entirely of its pursuit of Ajay, even when wanting to devour him.

[Finally…. Let me console you, young master….] It cooed like it did to lure a more unsuspecting victim, or perhaps this was all it could really comprehend in a limit as a renegade spirit in deterioration.

"No, thanks." He replied back not caring if it understood, he struck a beam sticking out of the dirt causing a hidden trap to reveal itself and enclosed the bhoot in a circle of chains linked with talismans hanging from them.

[RRRRRREEEEEEEEEIIIIIIIIII- AAAAHHHHHHHHH!]

A piercing shriek shook the valley as the spirit wailed in agony to the paper talismans that hung around on the ropes that encircled it. The sound was extremely disorientating and almost caused him to blackout, he managed to maintain focus and get ready to complete his final task of this trial.

"Now or never."

Ajay waved the sequence required to exorcist the spirit and banish it on its way to hell and prepared the chant. He'd spent nearly five days on understanding the theory behind the lore of magic, Prana, and different rites performed by all of the races that once lived in this valley. Along with some basic knowledge on each of them. The last four days, he went with little sleep applying the most basic craft that Darshan taught him which he divided into three groups for ease of reference and tracking.

These three were Spiritual Sense, Talisman crafting, and Rites of Exorcism (Author's Remarks: Exorcism skill tree)

Darshan was barely able to cramp useful skills into his short training camp with him for practicality sake, there was a war still going on. Darshan took years to master all of the inheritance that was passed on to him as the successor of the Demon Banishers. But Ajay would only have a few months at most, he had to constantly spend time learning and practicing on the go. Darshan had left in his possession a few things, and a copy of an original manual among other things to set him upon this exorcist path, a thangka with pictures and inscriptions cut into the lines of the intricate drawings. As far as Ajay was concerned, giving him these items was as good a sign of trust Darshan was willing to indulge onto Ajay.

An index finger pointed to his third eye and another to his navel region where his Prana was centred. Ajay began the recital to his first banishment of a spirit with excitement.

"Mera Iccha Parvato Jesa Mazboot He! Mera Karma hi Mantra Hai! Is Paapt Srish-pfftttt!" (zzzzzzzz) A painful current passed through his body as punishment for his interruption, breaking his concentration entirely.

Failure.

With a tongue, uncommon to the native language. It was the only possible explanation why he stumbled during the chant. Ajay coughed out blood from the backlash, but this was now the least of his problems.

The Bhoot had shedded its earthly figure for a more horrifying look with prehensile hairs floating and a jaw that looked like it could devour his head in one bite. Its true strength had also been revealed as it pummelled the talisman barrier that kept it from escaping, everytime the chains rattled and the talisman papers corroded a bit with each hit.

(crunch) (crunch) The stakes that held the chains were being uplifted.

Ajay gritted his teeth at the worsening odds. This was something akin to a final examination through the basics of combating demonic entities.

He had no other weapons available to kill this thing as Darshan confiscated them, he used only the talismans he spent the days crafting tirelessly which had all been used to draw out and capture this spirit manifested into reality by his own presence and the items.

The Bhoot looked towards him with evened fury, it couldn't wait to claw him to death before devouring him.

Ajay sighed. This wasn't the first time he'd had a backlash from incorrect nunciation.

 **-Words from the mouth doesn't manifest strength. Might comes from drawing upon your Prana directly.-** An inner voice said to him.

-Y-You-…..-

It was as his inner demon had stated, it was the lifeforced used to power the hex, not the words he used. The chant was simply there to create an absolute focus of drawing upon that Prana through his inner Nadi (channels).

Ajay placed his fingers towards his Third Eye region upon his forehead and onto his navel where his Central Chakra was.

"My will is the mountains….." His voice was neither loud nor soft, yet the wind carried it with a power that nearly all living beings nearby heard it as if it were a whisper to their ears.

"My karma is the mantra…" This included the Bhoot spirit who sensed a dangerous presence grow from its meal.

"….. Banish all creation against nature!" A rising pulse of energy was drawn out of his Chakra centre through his spiritual veins into the fingers at his forehead and his navel. He pointed the one at his navel towards the Bhoot just as it had broken free and hesitated between fleeing and attacking.

"8th Demon Banishing Hex!" It choose to flee as it zipped into the forest quicker than the eye could see. Strangely, Ajay could still see and sense it from the effects of the magic. His Third eye was given clear vision to where it was running with all the speed that it could muster from non-existence.

His index finger aligned with the spirit and he spoke the word that would complete the casting.

"Seal!"

And like a lightning bolt fired from his hand, no matter if there were objects in the direct line of sight, or the distance he was from it. The bolt flew true to its mark and struck the Bhoot.

[NAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!]

It wailed with an immense cry of pain as the demon banishing magic caught and corroded its existence.

"Immolate!" Said a nearby voice to the spirit and the Bhoot caught fire to an immaterial azure flame. The flame quickened the complete destruction of the renegade spirit and continued to burn in midair for a brief time that allowed Ajay to arrive to see it. A bright pure blue flame that seemingly didn't harm the dense forest growth nor feel intense.

The flame extinguished almost instantaneously, as the matter which fuelled it had finally dissipated. But it did leave something behind from the flame that dropped to the floor, Ajay couldn't quite see it as Darshan moved in to pick it up.

"…." No words of "well done" or "that'll do, pig" Not that he wanted it from Darshan, but at least he could've affirmed that Ajay had made progress. Only Vajra came over to congratulate Ajay, but expected pets as a reward.

"What's that?" He asked as the older man came over with the thing he picked up.

Darshan wasn't actually concealing it so he caught a glimpse of a very small object that had a glossy finish or pink or something fleshy coloured.

"Are you feeling any urges of nausea, weakness or puking out blood?" He asked Ajay instead.

"No. And that last one is really worrying!"

"…." Darshan remained silent as it presented that it was not the case for Ajay and so wasn't a danger.

"What's going on?" He found his silence to be a bit unsettling.

"You shouldn't have been able to seal the Bhoot so easily." He said with a finger to the chin.

"Excuse me?... Didn't you put me up against it because it was the easiest?" Darshan closed his eyes to absorb his thoughts and think about the situation.

"It couldn't be anything else…. I see…." He monologued to himself.

"Hellooo…. Darshan, don't leave me out of loop." Darshan snapped back into reality and turned to face him with his diagnosis.

"Normally, mortals shouldn't be able to defeat entities with greater volume of Prana in their Chakra than themselves. That can be applied for the process of banishing, which is applying one's Prana to forcefully subjugate the other. This is because of their racial physical limits in Chakra, there are some few exceptions in mortals as there are with the other entities. In short, no ordinary mortal could take down something like an Asura, Yaksha or even a Rakshasa for that matter."

If anything, Ajay wanted to shout at him why he forced him to undertake this test if he knew this fundamental. Another thought also occurred to him.

"Hold on… Then how were you able to take down greater Rakshasas like Bhaskar as Vasu said you did, and don't tell me that his clone wasn't powerful enough it couldn't suppress you." Darshan shook his head to indicate that it wasn't he case.

"While my inner Prana can't possibly compare to even the lowliest of the Rakshasa ranks, that doesn't mean I can't find other ways to supply the necessary Prana to fuel the Banishing Hex."

"Other means?"

"Mediums that substitute my lack of Prana, one such source of Prana sufficient for the job to be done is this." Darshan held out the object he picked up from the spirit's remains.

"A ruby?" Although he said that, he felt that it didn't quite have the texture of one. It was reddish-pink and had a clouded exterior of an uncut crystal. This crystal gave him a feeling of nostalgia as well, it looked too much like the rare and expensive variant of precious stone found in Kyrat.

A Blood Ruby.

"This… is lifeforce synthesized into crystal form. What my archives call a soul stone."

-Synthesized magic crystals?- Did the Demon Banisher records teach him a method of synthesizing the lifeforce of his defeated foes into crystals to use against more power foes? It explained why Darshan had always never seemed at home and was out all the time. He wasn't almighty with magic, his human physique was what limited him and yet he was a presence the Rakshasa dared not ignore.

"The only possible explanation for your apparent ease and undepleted reserves of Prana is because you aren't using your own. You're using the fragment of Yalung's Prana instead."

-So that's where it came from.- Ajay shuddered to think how powerful Yalung really was if this was all a mere fragment contained.

Darshan passed to him the crystal to his outreached hand, dropping it into his palm. After a brief examination, his suspicions were cleared.

"Its unmistakable, these resemble arctic Blood Rubies." From what Darshan gathered from that, he'd probably chanced upon it before.

"There is no such thing as Blood Rubies, what you saw was probably this." Darshan took it back and stowed it away in a bag full of similar crystals rubies but in larger size.

"It's not uncommon to find them in caves where spirits and other entities reach the end of their longevity." Or so he says.

Ajay could only fathom what kind of creature left a Blood Ruby in those dimensions, and what kind of resources did Darshan commit to defeating it for these power crystals he called soul stones.

And then, a thought occurred to him.

"Darshan, what's the biggest size Ruby you've collected over the years?" It concerned a particular specimen he'd seen before.

Darshan squinted as he tried to discern the meaning behind his words but retrieved one the size of a golfball. Ajay thought about what kind of creature yet again yielded that.

"And how much Prana could that yield?" Ajay asked sensibly.

"Enough to keep my fighting her for at least an hour with power to spare in sealing her. Unfortunately, she won't make it so easy for me. Her clones will take the hit in place of her and her spatial magic distorted my last attempt. I need to beat her to an inch of her life before I can cast the Hex. But this soul stone can do all of that…. Provided I'm alone against her."

-That powerful!?-

"Have you seen one of this size before?" Darshan was no fool to his inquiries.

"Yeah…. But a lot bigger." These words left Darshan without a moment to recover his expression.

"What?!" It was the first time Darshan showed surprise.

"How big?!" He demanded as he reached out and grasped Ajay's shoulders tightly.

"Jeez, calm down."

"How Big?!" He insisted. The fact that his biggest was actually his trump card in the final confrontation meant that if he even had another of the one he had, his odds wouldn't be so against him.

"(sigh)….. I dunno, its currently in fragments with the smallest about the size of a child's head, maybe." Now Ajay wasn't entirely sure if the Blood Rubies he liberated from Yuma's snow guards upon their icy mountain excavation was in fact not a jewel but a soul stone that Darshan talked about. But he was willing to wager that if he could bring it forwards, their fight against the unparallel Rakshasa might not be a last stand after all.

It was at this moment after Darshan recovered from his daze from hearing those words did a grin like never before escaped from his mouth unconsciously.

"It looks like our options have increased yet again, Ajay Ghale."

* * *

Han Feng read the newspapers at eight o' clock every morning in his workplace behind the family home in the backyard shed. A full eight days had passed since their resettlement into what was called the Lakeside Housing Estates, or what the folks called Little Shangri-La. A small haven with a vantage to the nearby forests and just beside Jalendu Lake, the feng shui was impressive here. It had been eleven days since what became the Canton Rebellion, there was no escaping what they did. Yet, no one was in the mood to be bothered by a defeated group or seek revenge for some past grudge. The looming festival for the Victory Parade was about to arrive soon in a few days, there was only good thoughts circulating the City.

He flipped the page as he placed the coffee mug to his lips.

"King reports resounding Victory to Committee." He announced the headlines to his cousin who was working on a furniture piece currently in progress.

As Han Feng had said, Pagan had indeed travelled to the Papir Capital to answer a board of enquiry hosted by the Himavana member states at Garud Durbar Palace. The one holding the torch for the alliance activities, Dhir of Papir was the Secretary-General appointed to open the enquiry.

They were naturally worried for the state of Kyrat on the account that it footed much of the ground work that defined this alliance. The protection which there airforce gave to their skies and the Military procurements they had placed with the Arsenals in the efforts to modernize their armed forces. Yinke heavily depended on Kyrati Air Superiority if they were ever invaded by their Superpower neighbour.

Pagan answered all that was asked of him and did not argue back, and so he had the support of many of the committee members like Ambassador Jagriti Tenzin and Crown Prince Manendra. One of the biggest questions was the presence of Russian and Indian Military forces assembled in Sagarmatha and other transit airfields to Kyrat. Pagan revealed a Military Division-Scale Mountain Warfare exercise which Kyrat had the honour of hosting this joint event.

He didn't specify the details of why he didn't inform the other members only that he'd suffered a concussion injury from the attempted assassination on his life during the Rebellion. Again, stating that he'd punished all responsible and ensured that it would not happen again.

This provided him enough of an alibi to get out of the frying pan. But the three states requested to join the wargames for learning purposes and he had no choice but to grant them that right. And so, Pagan came home with the notice that the Yinkian, Kumsan and Republican Army would be sending a few companies each to observe and partake in the live-fire exercise.

Han Feng read it aloud to his cousin working on one of the chairs ordered by a customer.

"Man, our country is really getting busy, ain't it." His cousin commented.

"…." Han Feng knew it was a lot more complicated than what the ignorant thought. As Gary had indulged him on the current events, the Russian and Indian forces where here to race against the Americans to find lost nuclear weapons of American-origin, codenamed Broken Arrow. A silent war was going to be waged behind everyone's backs, both sides determined to achieve their objectives. Oblivious to a fourth party who has been in this area longer than anyone. He had a brief meeting with Vasu who unveiled onto him highly sensitive intel that Ajay had drafted a plan to have the Rakshasa and Golden Path bump into the US expeditionary force. Either kill them all or absorb them, and they were going to pincer the US forces while the Golden Path attacked from the other side. The Russians and Indians were to station by the borders near Pakistan to cut off their escape and reinforcements from their reserves trying to cross the border. Russian wargame theorists suspected a force of five to ten thousand troops coming with reserves up to twelve thousand. They weren't sending any larger to avoid suspicious activity from the other western powers and media criticism. The Marshal had planned for the whole Jatayu Force to return. 1st Hussars would rotare with 2nd Hussars in tour duty at the Sino-Yinkian border. Having them away from Kyrat for a time would do them some good, Han Feng thought about his fellow soldiers.

"What do you have to say about all this?"

"I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you." He used the cliché spy phrase to make it seem like a friendly refute. His cousin laughed and also yelped from earning himself a virgin nick from clumsy and unattentive handling of sharpened tools.

"Didn't I tell you to be careful with the wood shaver?" He chuckled at his cousin's expense. His cousin laughed too.

Such a change in their relation, for many years their relationship was that of acknowledging one anothers existence with barely any interaction. Now they were coworkers and best of friends. Han Feng's interest in wood working was exactly perculiar to his family as several generations back to their earliest ancestor who arrived in Hong Kong from Guang Zhou was also from a carpentry lineage, somewhere along the family line an elder Sun told his descendants not to continue the trade of crafting as it had little prospects in the rapidly modernizing world. They took his words to heart and went about seeking other trades, among the most prominent was triad business which led all the way to Sun Kwan's generation. So it was ingrained in the household that undertaking carpentry in particular was generally looked upon with disdain.

Who would have thought that returning to their roots would be their saving grace, and who to lead them other than Elder son, Han Feng. A scorned trait turned into a gift, another of this his cousins named Cheon-Fan happened to bring examples of his work to sell at the market while she was applying to be an accountant at the National trust. She was very street-smart so dealing with a borrowed lorry, she had them throw the lot of furniture he crafted in excess from building house furnishings for the rest of the neighbourhood. She left with fifteen examples one time and returned with cash for each of the pieces. All of his furniture were made from high quality Himalayan Cedar he chopped from the forest, his earnings had kept the family from being in the red on outstanding upkeep.

"Han Geng, ngo mun zing zoi cam zaau jat go haak jan. (We have a visitor asking for you.)" His elderly uncle called for him who was inside the shed working with his cousin on the next order.

"Hai! Mn goi, Kauh fu!" He answered his Uncle who returned to the warmth of the house to play his chess with another old relative after delivering the message.

"I'll leave you to it then." He threw his gloves off along with his working apron.

"Han Geng, come on man! Don't leave me hanging with this!" His studious cousin complained to his new work life.

"You'll manage. Just make sure you treat that cut as well or it'll swell. Then you'll be in deep shit when we're forced to amputate." His cousin expressed a frantic look as he rushed to the nearby faucet to wash his hand. It only served to amuse Han Feng with his joke taken too seriously.

"College boys….." His younger cousin was one of the few out of country at the time before returning to this mess. His studies had been put on hold till he could support himself to return and finish his term, or would he, after returning to this life seemingly more difficult than his peaceful study environment in Quebec he might just give up.

"Coming!"

He hurried out to the front door of the large home his family had the privilege of staying in. He wipped as much of the sawdust as possible and wore his business smile.

"Good morning, how may help-…." He had expected a client, but instead he was staring down at the most unlikely person he had ever had the opportunity of meeting now.

Standing at his front porch in the military uniform of the para commandos was Jeevan. A silence brewed between their encounter, then Jeevan was the first to speak.

"Vasu sent me, I'm here to collect you."

* * *

He wasn't sure if it was a good thing, but for a change there was a good vibe coming from Darshan ever since they'd left the camp site. He'd already come this far in a full eight-day course in combating the supernatural. Ajay had just informed him of a possibility of acquiring the most powerful soul stone in the region, but after a short debate he told Ajay to let him acquire it.

He had the domestic affairs to handle now that he'd been exposed to demon hunting tactics and arts. Out of the training course, Darshan had given him a wooden sword, the Demon Banisher manual and Vedic scriptures, along with templates for specialized talismans which Darshan had developed himself for better efficiency or optimisation to a dedicated task than those in the thangka scroll.

He followed Darshan to his hut in the Pravyadh Village of hunters. Darshan came out of of his accommodation with a pack of his own things for a long journey and Ajay's weapons which he made him leave behind.

The slayer was rested in Ajay's hands giving him a renewed self assurance, as he looked at the vedic scriptures engraved onto the weapon he now had a feeling her understood them better. They were basically a circuit for channeling Prana into the weapon and in turn the bullets that delivered a potent anti-demon killing weapon. As Darshan stated, every living being has Prana just in different amounts. His theory was that through the wielder's desire to kill the target he/she pointed the weapon at would unconsciously channel the necessary Prana to inflict better damage through the Vedic scripture circuit to the Rakshasa than a normal weapon would. He had given a similar template for the talisman to the Arsenal a week back to engrave onto the weapons. Thought, they didn't require the kind of power that the slayer demanded and therefore had different statistics and characteristics. It was still a start in allowing the Kyrati soldiers to have a fighting chance.

Ajay passed him a sketch of the coordinates to the last know position of the Blood Ruby that he could recall along with a NAVIC receiver to easily navigate towards the final location. A satellite phone was handed for further contact.

"I'd recommend heading back to Lakshman first, hire a Sherpa at their associations' teahouse, they could save you some time getting up there." Darshan nodded.

"I'll do just that, here." He held out an object to place into Ajay's hands. When the object covered by his backhand came into contact with Ajay-.

… **.**

 **Ten Vedic Talismans**

 **Ten Sacred Guardians**

 **Seal As-**

… **..**

Ajay shrugged his head as the ancient medallion passed those familiar phrases into his head, they cancelled out as he focused on the reality in front of him.

"That's an unsavoury feeling, take it back."

"Hold on to it, it'll do you more good than it would to me."

"What's it for?"

"Protection."

"From her?"

"Or yourself." Darshan added with a wry smile before making his way towards the exit of the Village. As they passed the inhabitance, the villagers bowed with a hand to their chest. The kind of seniority and respect he held in this village was beyond any they ever gave to foreigners. Perhaps this made Ajay feel more at ease that whatever Darshan did, it would still not be so cruel as to subject the inhabitants of Kyrat to whatever fate he had planned against the Rakshasas efforts.

"I'll return in four days, then I'll let you in on what I plan to do in keeping Kyrat safe from this invasion and her ultimate motives." Ajay nodded in agreement and watched him leave the village.

Now, Ajay had "graduated" from the hellish training that Darshan had put him through, there was much to research on regarding the more advance demon banishing techniques that he had yet to unlock but he was getting the hang of it and was able to apply it now.

He wasn't sure about what had happened when he banished the spirit. It was both a first time he'd done so and complete the entire sequence for the hex. Even now, he could still feel residual power flowing through his spiritual veins as if lightning was coursing through it but not harming him. Such power, no wonder ancient mortal man could stand on the same footing as demi-gods like the Rakshasa.

Vajra picked up his bag with its mouth and awaited his instructions.

"Thanks, buddy." Ajay couldn't help but find it cute and rewarded the initiative with some pets.

He looked to the gate out of the Village where he should leave to meet with the rest on organising the Armies.

"Lord Badala?"

"Yes?" One of the hunters approached and saluted to him.

"The Matriarch would like to share her wisdom with your grace, would you allow her to keep you from leaving just a short while?" A few other hunters accompanied him, like they wanted to add to his presence in Ajay's eyes or he wouldn't be taken seriously.

"Alright, please take me to her." Ajay followed the hunter cadre to a large longhouse that served both as the residence of the Huntress Matriarch and the seat of power for the Hunter elders and senior-ranked warriors

As far as he knew about the Pravyadh tribe was that they were rainforest dwellers and at some point Pagan had saved them from an epidemic outbreak with his already low medical resources. He earned their eternal gratitude and their service as the most feared fighting force of Kyrat. Trained from young in hunting, fighting and killing, like the Spartans Hoplites. They had an edge over ordinary soldiers who signed up at the legal age of seventeen. Whom before had not known the act of taking another's life and lived the simple life of a farmer or tradesman. Even the former Royal Guard with its criteria of being of Warrior lineage, their families had generations who trained their descendants at an early age. Their mindset was already prepared for whatever training at the Royal Academy there was.

Ajay was brought to a smoking room, a scent of herbs was brewed by some old women in a cauldron at the centre of the room. But the person he was supposed to see was behind this large obstruction, smoking away at a pipe with her eyes closed.

The scent reached his nostrils and he caught a waifer of it, a pleasant scent of acorn and creamy cinnamon bark.

"Those Cameroon Oscuros do give off a nice whiff, at the cost of an ulcer if you smoke more than three a day." The Matriarch's eyes opened as she retrieved the slender cigar from her mouth stylishly, Ajay wondered what she looked like in her youth with that same sort of refine grace.

"Are you a habitual smoker yourself?"

"Can't say that I am, but around the big boys in the theatre of operation it hardly becomes choice to not breath in some of that local blend."

"Breathing in and from one directly and from the surroundings are two entirely different things, boy." She chuckled as she waved the hunters to leave.

"Even I know that at the very least. I knew a woman like you."

"Like me?"

"Figurative. She was akin to the Lord of the ghetto blocks, one of her favorite pass times was puffing away at the precious few Cohibas she had in her possession. So much so that the folks bought her cigars as presents, although they never did know which was her favourite." Ajay walked around the cauldron to face her properly.

"Still, she couldn't turn down a good cigar even if it had a different blend or flavour. So she enjoyed the variety over the years. Being that I was under the smoking age and to get caught by mom was terrible but by her?... well, it was a whole different affair that I won't go into. But if you send all that time whiffing it in, eventually you'll be able to tell what its composition is." She chuckled at the stage this short story ended up in.

"Like the one you're having is a Cameroon filled with a Tobacco grown in Khyber." She applauded as she chuckled away.

"Impressive, son of Mohan. Impressive." The fact that she knew of his origin didn't phase Ajay at all. She was after all a confidant to Pagan like Gary was.

"Although this woman, what was she to you in that regard?" It was a subtle inquiry, that he brought up her similarity to this woman he described. Then it was stating his impression of her and his stance.

"She was my neighbour and a good friend of my mother and I. She treated my mother like her younger sister and I called her Mama out of love and respect."

The matriarch took another puff as she faced the outside window.

"…. Love… and respect, eh? I see what Maya meant, whether consciously or unconsciously. You're a rather cunning womaniser if I ever saw one. Whether born out of habit or a desire to be loved in kind it is none of my concern."

Ajay raised an eyebrow at her analysis of him. Womaniser? Who was she talking about?

'But if you want to call me…. Mama. Then a certain amount of relation must be established with us long term." Ajay had a feeling like she was a pretty competent in politics despite their villages isolation from the outside world.

"In regards to that, I know next to nothing about you or the tribe for that matter. So you'll forgive me for denying your assumptions."

She laughed as she shook her head.

"Huntress Matriarch Jayama at your service, Lord Ghale." She formally introduced herself.

"Ajay Ghale, and Badala is the one holding the title of Duke not me." Jayama nodded and tapped the mat opposite her to indicate for him to sit on it which he did.

Ajay stared into her eyes for a moment as did she. Her appearance was weathered by age but her eyes still burned with vitality. Jayama was seeing something different in Ajay, she saw orbs of destruction but kept her composure.

"Maya mentioned something about you wanting the flute."

"That I did." She admitted. "She also said the transaction you made was for the son of Khati. On that, I cannot fault you."

-Like I offended you.- Was what Ajay thought but didn't say.

"What value does it hold to you?"

"Do you know why the Pravyadh can sing to the beast and call upon them to aid us?" She addressed a link between them and the flute.

"Our forefathers, blessed be their names. Carved their respective guardians into each hole to provide a tune to draw the kin of their guardians. That flute….. is none other than the same one lost for over millenia."

"I don't want to spoil the setting you made but I found it in a junk store." Thought her face failed to show it again, she was both shocked and saddened by the state of their most treasured item.

"Although, I'm interested to know how after being lost for thousands upon thousands of years you still remember that you had it."

"We have our ways, Ajay Ghale."

"Fair enough. But I don't think even I can get it back from the perso-… that monster I gave it to."

"Oh? The demon calling another a demon?... That's not something you hear everytime. I hope you can enlighten me on what it is that opposes you and in turn His Royal Highness that the Pravyadh tribe may do its part to show our ferocity."

* * *

He was supposed to be returning as quickly as he could to manage what little time he had before Operation Mímisbrunnr commenced, where the Russians and Indian forces moved to set a perimeter. This rat race decided the fate of Kyrat's future as it did turn the tide in an already brittle peace the world order held. But world peace was on no concern to Ajay or Kyrat, they wouldn't be sacrificial lambs to keep this distorted hubris going.

"Um….." Ajay stopped in his tracks as he stood face to face with the younger brother of one of his mortal enemies. Hesistant on what to ask of Ajay, knowing the status he held and the relation he had with Daisy.

"Take me to Daisy, now." He said in a stern voice, Riley didn't hesistate to rush to where the rest of his friends were.

He passed through the many densely packed houses and huts to one charming one by the river the villagers used for washing.

There, he saw all five of them. Noticing his arrival, a cheerfulness was in their actions. But his expression was anything but cheerful, and Daisy was the first to see that as she stepped forward to explain.

"Ajay, I-..eiihh! (bang)" Ajay lifted her by the collar and forced her against the brick wall of the house.

Everyone was so surprised they couldn't break from that stupor. In Ajay's eyes brewed anger, because Daisy had done something beyond foolish.

"You think this is some sort of game?... Play as many times and hope to bring back a fool that let himself get possessed?"

"Ajay, you know I can't just-…"

"Just what? Walk away from all of this? This isn't some test of courage or some adventure story filled with group camaraderie and fellowship. This is-… WAR!" He let go of her. Before he had left for training, he informed Riley of the predicament they'd entered and would be granted safe asylum by the NSA through a deal he made with Ahab, he even arranged the escorts to the airport and on transit. They were all to ship out when he began training. But here they were over a stupid fool's errand.

"And what are they still doing here? If this was something of your own voalition then why involve them?!" He pointed to the rest of the group.

"W-We stayed because we-."

"Riley, all of you. Shut up!" Daisy told him to hush as his words would do no good in convincing Ajay otherwise.

"Ajay…. I don't even know what to say to convince you." She shrugged her shoulders. "I've got nothing. But I know that if I leave here now, I'll regret it for the rest of my life."

"Regret for the rest of your life? Grow up! Understand that regret is inevitable in life!"

Oliver moved in to defend Daisy by intervening.

"Hey buddy, you need to calm-."

"Finish that sentence and I'll rip those arms off its sockets." Ajay intimidated him into backing off which he did reluctant and scared.

Ajay placed the slayers rifle butt on the ground and leaned on the barrel.

"So tell me. What's the genius plan you have in bringing back Jason Fucking Brody from that Hispanic psychopath!?" He announced in a sarcastic voice. His question was met with silence.

"Really, just a small hint is enough. I'm listening." He continued to Daisy's inability to answer.

"You hear that, fellas?... Nothing." He said to her friends. As he got off the leaning and walked towards Daisy.

"I knew a girl who was damn hell stubborn, but on the things to be stubborn about were all reasonable and within her grasp. Who would've thought that over the years she turned into this fool!" (pak)

And what followed was within Ajay's expectations. It was a weak slap but he felt the emotion behind it.

"Damn you, Ajay Ghale." She said half-tearing and glaring at him. Ajay was not phased as he stood inches from her face with his.

"It was enough that you troubled me on keeping you and your friends save in this hellhole. But you endangered the lives of my friends not once but twice." Her expression faltered as if she was trying to recall something.

"Hurk may be an idiot. But that doesn't mean I'll allow you to take advantage of him! He nearly-…." As Ajay was about to finish his sentence a short sharp pain rendered him speechless and grasping his head in pain. A rush of fragmented memories in the fight to rescue Daisy appeared within his mind. But it seemed jumbled up for some reason and he was having gaps in his memory as well he was having trouble remembering the final bit before his eyes shut.

Daisy reached out to grab him from his unstable footing, but he pushed those hands aside. And westled with the pain.

He wasn't sure why he felt this, but the haunting reply that Daisy gave to him shook his reality to a measure that a new kind of despair was to take root in his thoughts for the maelstrom to come.

"Ajay… Who's-…. Hurk?" Daisy's expression showed an uneasy trouble as she seemed to be in a similar state as Ajay. Struggling to remember something that should've been hard to forget.

The memory of the people he cherished were being wiped from not just him.

* * *

Author's Thoughts:

"Nothing to do with all your strength."

\- Joker, The Dark Knight


	119. Chapter 109 - Allies everywhere

The pain was like metal rods being stabbed into his brain, the trigger was recalling that day. He looked at Daisy and then to her friends, their expressions said the same thing.

Who was Hurk?

Ajay turned around and left immediately, to have some time to himself. Being here for another second was continuing the agony and pain he was feeling, of something that just up and disappeared. Like a gap began to take root in him. He picked up his bag and made for the gate that was opened for him by the hunter watchmen.

"Ajay. I-." Daisy reached out and clasped his arm.

"You're responsible for yourself from now on. Jayama may have let you stay from the time being but from today onwards, you can forget about asking for my help. If you leave the premise of the village, I will have the constables deport you back to the states. And if I hear that you hinder or endanger my men in any way…." Ajay shook her off as he glared at Daisy like he never had, in a way he only showed to foes.

"I'll kill you."

Daisy dropped to her knees in disbelieve. "No-…. Ajay….."

"You were right on one thing, Daisy Lee. The Ajay you knew before you left him, died. I am Badala of Kyrat, and you are all foreign aliens in my country soil. Misbehave and the consequences will be dire." He said to all of them in an aggressive tone. Ajay turned about and left not even sparing a glance back.

Daisy had the appearance like one of her main strings had been cut, rendering her completely unable to support herself upright. Riley had seen what their insistence of staying in Kyrat had done to strain the relationship between Daisy and her ex into an irreconcilable path.

No words could come out from his mouth to say how sorry he was, how sorry they all were. Patter of teardrops fell from her eyes and dampened the floor. Liza watched the entire episode and felt a strange feeling of nostalgia. It was exactly the same as when Jason had left them for the island of Rook, for a tribe that felt more connected than their seven years of close relation.

So, she took pity on Daisy's predicament and bent down beside her to lend a shoulder.

Ajay cared not for them anymore, if they got in his way he would kill them. And like a shackle of chains within him had broken.

Ajay had severed his Karma with Daisy.

He did not expect the next sensation to arise from it. A sudden jolt in power that channelled through his spiritual veins from a completely unknown wellspring of Prana. His spiritual awareness boosted to the point he could see a flow of Karma withering in the air and signatures of some living beings near him. But it soon became obvious, as he recalled his inner demon's words of caution.

"Karma can be used as a weapon, eh?"

In the forest, he took the long route by walking back to his city and people. His eyes felt a sting of saltiness as tears dropped from them, and a welling pain brew in his chest that only grew in strength.

"What a disgusting feeling…."

Far up in the mountains, housed in a certain valleys temple sacred grounds. A powerful entity who had been the orchestrator of much that was happening to Kyrat flashed open her eyes. She could sense the link of Karma that polluted his potential eradicated and on his own will. His path was becoming clearer and clearer, soon he would have all the provisions to fulfil the requirements. Then, the real war could begin against the Betrayer.

" _What did I tell you?"_

* * *

Returning from an intense training regime, the three men formed an unlikely trust in one another's combat abilities. Han Feng felt out of place here, before anything he was a Commander in the Armoured Regiment, vehicle fighting was his thing than what the other two were capable of.

One was a former Deva that specialized in field combat, the other was an understudy of Ajay, equally skilled and strong. But his interaction with them was nothing like he had expected. For one, Vasu was friendly enough to share techniques and to build on his close quarter combat abilities as it would be key to survival against the new breed of foe. Although Jeevan stayed indifferent as much as possible, he did provide him with directions in their street clearing exercise in the Urban Ops Centre as well as methods of gunfighting. He just didn't expect him to remain so quiet, he expected jeering and belittling as he deserved from a person he'd put at odds with his own family. Especially at the state of Han Feng's own family.

Sun Kwan had adjusted well to his position as an instructor in the PDF training school, a little too well that the militia command gave him the appointment as the Head instructor. Since his extremely valuable combat knowledge could be applied into the training regime for tactics and formations.

They had arrived at the Lakshman Arsenal on Ajay's orders, what was it about he didn't specify. But they wouldn't question him as it wasn't important to, so heading from Lanka to the City of Lakshman was a break from training. They hadn't heard from him since he'd left to meet with Darshan, only Vasu had a rough idea of what they were doing for the last nine days away.

"What have you been doing for the last two weeks?!" A voice of accusation rung across the Arsenal and make every of the workers stop to turn their heads in the general direction before the supervisory workers settled them back to work.

Vasu and the boys came into full view of the dispute going on between Ajay and Elina with Jamuna, Samar's apprentice.

"Are you saying that if you were here instead to run this facility, you could have churned out fifty thousand rifles in a span of two weeks?!" Elina defended her case and caught Ajay where his tongue was. He clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction.

"Both of you, in the office now! You're making a scene!"

"Jamuna, no. I want to hear it from him first."

"Elina!-." The newly-appointed chief armourer tried to stop her.

"Well? I'm waiting."

"Don't cross a line you can't walk back from." Ajay warned her of her place.

"You made me do that! These people are your employees not your slaves!"

Ajay walked over to a crate and pulled out a rifle.

"You see this, Elina? How much pain staking effort one of the workers put into building a complete piece with his hands all day. And how it used to both take and save lives in equal measure? Now….(crack)" He snapped the rifle with his knee and arms, which shocked both of them with the sudden action.

"The place I'm sending the Jatayu, you think they'll survive with a piece of junk like this? Which its only function left would be for them to shoot themselves!" He threw what was left at their feet.

"My lord…." Elina said with anger withheld.

"My men's lives are in your hands, Elina. Every weapon they're short of one more will die. Don't you feel proud? Knowing the kind of power you hold over peoples' lives now? Isn't that what you've always wanted."

"I wanted none of that!"

"Both of you ENOUGH!" The Chief Armourer shouted to end their petty argument.

"To the office, now!" She said as she dragged Elina and expected Ajay to follow.

""….."" Both of them quietly followed, wasting their breath further would do them no good. If anything, they only made a scene that created rumors on why the Lord urgently needed these strange modifications to the weapons done. These engravings.

Ajay was made aware of the three of them as Vasu approached him.

"Wait at Chang-san's workshop and I'll meet you there in a bit."

"Shall I accompany you at least, Elina can have a tempe-."

"Wait-….. at-…. Chang-san's."

"… Yes." Seeing that Ajay was in a foul mood, Vasu pressed no further and obediently took the rest to follow him to the designated venue.

"What was that all about?" Han Feng couldn't help but ask.

"I would like to ask the same thing." Said Jeevan in agreeal.

"He's redistributing arms with anti-Demon talismans which Darshan supplied in blueprint. From what happened, it appears things are not going to plan."

"I know Elina isn't the sort to slack off, the rifles come out in good order and number because of her stringency." Jeevan declared based on his many comings and goings from the Lakshman Arsenal.

"We all know. But it seems that Ajay is not too assured based on the calculations he's made. Worse of all, its making his functions detrimental."

"This coming from someone who used to act before thinking."

"I'm not one judge him for what he's doing, but at least I can see its causing him to lose focus on the smaller details."

"Are these Rakshasa really this terrifying?" Han Feng asked.

"You remember why the rebellion started, didn't you? But did you ask how he ended up in that position where the Rebel sympathy suddenly had the balls to rise up?" Jeevan posed him the question.

"…"

Han Feng found it strange that none of the high-level Rebel leaders never questioned this detail either, it couldn't possibly have been that he tripped and fell on his own. It was definitely done by someone or some lot. And apparently, it was these Rakshasa he'd heard about but never seen. Both of the men with him had a first-hand taste of their abilities and it showed during their training. They were more cautious of their surroundings than normal people were about situational awareness.

"And now, we're fighting the Americans as well. Two fronts, will they ever believe this if we told them?"

"It's better if they didn't, a man's fear can drive them to do crazy things without regard to his surroundings." Vasu was not far from Ajay's own assumptions about their interpretation of the Rakshasa as a serious threat to humanity and the measures they would take to ensure their survival.

As the door was left open for them, Chang-san greeted them as he'd expected their arrival. The three made themselves at home by waiting at the couch as he went to the pantry to brew tea like they were his clients, they technically were. Scattered about the floor were design sketches and half-finished design pieces. Han Feng wandered a little deeper and found sitting on a mantle was Ajay's armoured suit, half-damaged.

Fabric torn, ceramic plates fractured at places, metal grazed. The user really put it through its paces.

But it would soon be brought back to fully repaired status by it original designer, Chang-san. Chiffon may have designed and built the two previous iterations but Mumu had given complete authoirity in the mark three design and build. Even so, it seemed that the armour was beginning to lag behind its wearer in terms of performance, evident by the damage wrought not by sustaining hits from gunfire but manhandling.

"Thanks for the wait." Ajay arrived in the workshop to have their business done.

"Chang-san, the projects if you will." The arsenal's trusty designer of uniforms, armour and combat webbing went to the back of his storage to retrieve the items he'd been requested to construct.

"Are you alright?" Vasu asked Ajay.

"I'm fine. But Elina didn't seem to understand we're on war footing now."

"Can you really blame her? When she like the rest thinks the Civil War has ended and we're fighting some kind of secret war behind everybodies backs."

"…."

"So what the the result?"

"We have four thousand rifles at hand by Wednesday, even less hand-to-hand combat weapons."

"That won't equip all of the brigade." Jeevan was most familiar with the numbers.

"We'll have to distribute them three per seven-man section. That's the best we can do for now."

"That'll leave a-."

"I know it will! Don't keep reminding me, don't forget who drew up the works for Unit 58!" Ajay's mood seemed to stay in this continuous stream of angst and annoyance. Ajay cupped his hand over his head to cradle it.

"I'm sorry, Jeevan. I know you meant well. These threats are just being a greater pain in the ass than… well yunno."

"It's alright, I know you have a lot on your mind right now. Teacher."

"Thanks for understanding, buddy." The mood improved as Jeevan accepted the apology he gave.

"Might I ask what we are here to do?" Han Feng asked thereby asking their collective query.

Ajay gave a wide smile as Chang-san pushed the cases in via hand lifter.

"We're here to kit you out."

There were three cases, for each of them respectively.

"No way!" Jeevan suddenly got excited even before the cases were opened.

"Yep. My lieutenants' need gear and they're gonna get it." He opened up the one placed in front of Han Feng.

Revealing the contents shoved between foam into what was put together as a suit.

"You've managed to mass-produce it?" Vasu was no stranger to Ajay's armour as he'd struck it a few times.

"Limited production run. Sourcing for advanced materials isn't as easy as it looks, sir." Chang-san answered that.

Jeevan didn't hesistate to take out the pieces to wear it on.

"Um-… why me?" Han Feng was still in the mode where he didn't understand. But Ajay was nice enough to explain to all of them.

"When you were dying, I gave you a choice. Between a cursed life or an instant but free death. You chose the former, but that doesn't mean you get to live the same way as everyone else."

Ajay picked up his hand were a certain mark was found.

"This mark represents the seal upon the demon that lives within me, for some reason the Ghost Bear Guardian chose you."

"Me?"

"You probably have some sort of quality it deemed worthy of holding it. What this means, Han Feng. All of you…." He got their attention.

"Is that when we've defeat Golden Path and the Rakshasa. And if at any point that I show signs of deteriorating and resurrecting Yalung. You and the other seven will be the key in imprisoning the demon god again." He tapped his temple with his index finger.

A grave expression grew on all of their faces with the exception of Chang-san who didn't know what in the world was going on. He only cared about his creations much like Chiffon.

"But….. Hopefully, it won't come to that. We have a chance to stop them from destroying our home, but it'll take every fiber, every ounce of blood we have to beat them back. Be they human or Rakshasa. You have no idea how much I need you in this."

"You'll have it." Vasu took initiative.

"Thank you." Ajay patted his shoulder.

"… Ok. Now, can someone tell me how to put this on?" Jeevan struggled. The group laughed as he managed to get stuck between the sleeves like a child, Vasu went over to help him.

While Ajay helped Han Feng with the fitting on Chang-san's behalf. With his help, Han Feng was already half-covered by the armour on his upper torso. Because the armour shared its roots with Chang-san's Mk. 3 armour, Ajay could fit it as if it were his own armour Han Feng was donning.

Han Feng was quiet throughout, obediently raising a hand if he was told and inform them if there was something that required adjusting.

"Jeevan knows." Ajay said to him as his face showed doubt in himself.

"Saraswati has most likely told him."

"Did she tell you?"

"No. But if she didn't, that boy wouldn't be tolerating you right now. Perhaps he'd be more angry with me for keeping you alive."

"…"

"You should talk to him while you have the chance."

"About what?"

"Anything, how about you find out about Kanaan's habits from him."

"Wha- no! Why would I?"

"Because when the fighting starts, you'll need to trust your backs to one another when Vasu or I am not there. If you don't initiate a connection, you can only blame yourself for putting each other in danger. Do you hate, Jeevan?"

"N-no! I don't."

"Then get to it, then." Ajay said with a wry smile and pushed him forward.

Vasu seemed to understand Han Feng's arrival was to interact with Jeevan so he smartly stepped back and went over to Ajay.

"Reckless as usual."

"What can I say? From this point onwards, there are no straight routes. Only gambles."

"…. How sure are you we can win?"

"I'm not sure." Ajay said it plainly to him.

"The things I've learnt from Darshan, only serve to widen the gap between us and them. How do you fight demi-gods from legends. Who've fought and lived through more wars than our recorded history. Have knowledge that defies our logic, they know everything about us and worse of all we've not even seen them in person. We know nothing of them."

"….."

"So can you now understand why I can't even tell our odds?"

"….. Perhaps I should've rephrased my query. Will Kyrat be able to survive?"

"…. I don't know…. But before I separated from Darshan, he showed a hopeful expression that I hadn't seen before."

With a soul stone that size, there were many possibilities that weren't previously afforded to him. And maybe, just maybe. This invasion might just be repelled with Kyrat able to see another day.

-We must win this, we have to.-

* * *

The hangar was literally filled with Officers and NCOs from the three respective armies, around fifty with most of them being senior field and staff officers. The smallest group among them were the Russians due to the special nature of their soldiers being dispatched, followed by the India Army that send a battalion of Airforce commandos to accompany their mountain infantry division. The home team with the Jatayu Brigade and a division of Infantry represented Kyrat.

"Room attention!" Called out the Brigade Sergeant Major in the Jatayu. The Kyratis stood to attention as a roll of the highest authority figures entered the hangar podium. The two armies did the same out of respect.

"At ease, gentlemen. Have a seat." Ajay said while the four staff officers in the Russian and India Army waved to their groups to do the same.

"I'm glad to have all of you here and on such short notice. So I'll start of with the introductions. I am Badala, Duke of Lakshman. My official military post is 1st Kshatriyan Lord which is equivalent to a flag officer in the Royal Army of Kyrat in a theatre of war. The gentlemen to my left is Brigadier Sharma and his staff, the gentlemen to my right is Colonel Kuznetsov and his staff."

He paused to give them time to absorb.

"We've been called upon for a rather "under the radar" operation which I would refrain from putting under the same breath as Black Ops. I'm sure that all of you have read some briefing as to what is going on but I will update you on our most present intelligence."

They hid it from him in the darkness of the hangar with only the projector light, but he could see them as bright as day. Here was this fella not even in his thirties who happens to have a position of nobility and is trying to play warfare like the rest of them. But this was only exclusively shared between the younger of the foreign officers. Their NCOs and senior officers however, could see just from his eyes alone that he was no joke. Eyes that stored cruelty and death that they'd seen many times in the field. So they remained quiet.

Then came on the slides that showed satellite imagery of movement into the Kyrat border via Pakistan. Scouts and recon groups to be exact as the held the main troops in reserve.

"At 1300 Hrs, local sources reported advance teams trekking through the forests over the Western Mountains heading in a continuous but and linear path." For those who knew what that meant, it was a very serious affair. Because it meant they were heading to a specific place, like a site where the crashed bomber lay.

"They've stopped for now to await the arrival of their expeditionary forces which are about a hundred and ninety klicks from our first border lines-."

"I have a question." A sudden voice came from the audience. Some junior officer in among the Russians called out.

"I'll answer all questions in a later-."

"Why haven't we dep-." He cut Ajay which he deeply regretted doing much later.

"Later means you shut your fucking hole until I'm finished with the briefing, you little Russian fuck!" Ajay's voice chased him into silence. And made the Indians and Russians assess him in a new light they hadn't before.

"Don't interrupt me again." Ajay sent a glare that made the officer and those around him shiver. The Jatayu officers snickered at the people that looked down on Ajay out of ignorance.

"Now now, Sir Badala. There's no need to blow this out of proportion." Colonel Kuznetsov came to blanket his man who'd done wrong with a friendly smile.

"I hope your men are as serious as you are on this, Colonel. But I'll give you the benefit of doubt for the fact that Moscow didn't send you and your men here to clown around."

"Perhaps I should take over for a while, will that be alright, sir." The Indian Brigadier came forwards offering his voice. Ajay rescede by taking a seat allowing the Brigadier to continue on with the briefing on the numbers, location, direction and deployment.

"Back to you, sir." Brigadier Sharma politely passed the baton back to Ajay. Who got back on the podium and stared at the junior officer in the dark for a second before continuing his part.

"We have a lead that may bring us closer to the location of the device. Kudos to the IAFs ace pilot I might add." Giving credit to Pravi gave the fellow Indians a sense of pride for acknowledging his contribution.

The slide zoomed in on a blank area with only mountaneous terrain, making it impossible to access by ground vehicles. But all in all, it showed nothing of value in that location.

"Point 2153 on the local regional map. A 20 square-mile grid with a very unusual affect in this area. About a month ago, our combined arms Airforce squadron comprising of IAF pilots sortied to enact air superiority over our neighbour who were at risk of an invasion from the PLA. One pilot by the name of Lieutenant Kumar flew over this area whilst separated from his squadron during a patrol where his aircraft electronics failed. Thankfully, he had an advance warning from his co-pilot and entered manual control before passing through ground zero."

The audience quietly discussed.

"Since then, we've dispatched a few geologists who've determined it is an effect of a powerful magnetic field generated by negatively charged iron embedded within the mountains along with hundreds of years of thunderstorm buildup in that area. So in other words, gentlemen." They all could guess by now.

"This is the likely spot of where our prize crashed landed twenty odd years ago." The groups could no longer hide their surprise, even the staff officers he'd been chatting with earlier were hearing this for the first time.

"Now, onto the plan. As much as we would very much like to retrieve it and leave, I hate to inform you that its impossible. At least not until the forces in that area are taken care of or distracted. Right, questions?"

A hand raised from the the audience, this time a senior officer who remembered his manners.

"Yes? And please tell us your name." The man next to him stood up and listened to him whisper.

"Major Tarkov, Spetznaz GRU. Our sources have informed us that there are no immediate forces in that area belonging to the US." He translated for this superior.

"You're right on that one, Major Tarkov. But I wasn't referring to the US expeditionary force."

Now everyone was puzzled.

"You see, Kyrat has been at war with itself for as long as that device had been left in that area. You could say that the Civil war was a means for the CIA to cover the tracks in case the former Soviet Union wondered what were intelligence operatives doing out in this remote area. But like the Americans who manipulated our Nationalist rebels a lifetime ago. There is a force that has been pulling the strings to our fellow terrorist group in the region called Golden Path."

"Threats?" The officer translated for again for Tarkov.

"Let's just say they're an organisation who believe they're a group of… "mystical" persuasion."

"Excuse me?" Brigadier Sharma stood up from his seat as he'd never heard of any of this.

"Yeah sure, you're excused. The fact is that none of you have heard of them and so therefore shouldn't be a threat. I wish I could say that but being so near to their turf will grab their attention. Which is what I had intended to do with the US force. I wanted to orchestra their unfortunate meet with those charming lads."

"Who are these people?"

"To be entirely honest, they are the original owners of this entire region for over five thousand years."

"So they are an indigenous tribe?"

"I wouldn't call them a tribe so much as they used to have a city in the mountains once. Well, whatever the case you and your men will not directly engage this group. If you see them, don't stay in the area to find out how they'll respond. Aggression is undermining the genuine reaction they will take upon seeing you so don't… engage." He spelt it out to them slowly.

"Right, that's it. Report to your designated Hangars for aerial insertion tomorrow at 0500 hrs. I'd advise that you rest up now while you have the chance. For all we know this operation may exceed the original parameters. Goodluck and godspeed." He dismissed them.

The officers and NCOs didn't stay for long and that included the staff officer in the Indian and Russian Army. They would have to coordinate their strategy away from this group for the sake of isolating possible insider espionage, who knew if there was an American informant amongst them.

Ajay had already discussed the deployment with Brigadier Sharma and Colonel Kuznetsov.

"Will the senior officers in Jatayu and 38th Grenadiers stay back for a minute or two? I would like to share a few words with you." As he had asked, the Kyrati officers turned around and gathered around Ajay whilst the rest left to get some rest for the long day ahead tomorrow.

Ajay was about to start when he noticed that Brigadier Sharma stayed back alone.

"Can I help you, General?" The old Brigadier gave a friendly smile and nodded.

"You've done our country a service that I can never fully repay you for, by pushing our place on the earth on rival footing to those superpowers. But like many of us in Maharashtra and New Delhi, we cannot believe you're giving such a boon freely." Ajay had to admit, the old man was pretty wise and cunning with words without looking suspicious. But Ajay knew he was digging because he smelt something funny with this case of "original owners" to the Himavana region.

"Then to be entirely honest, the nuke given to you is only the byproduct of what we're trying to achieve."

"Which is?"

"Deterring them."

"As I thought, you clearly see them as a bigger threat than even the worlds most powerful army. Your men don't seem to fear the United states, but when you mentioned these inhabitants of "mystical persuasion"… all I could see was fear in their eyes."

"…." As much as Ajay wanted to, it wasn't worth telling him something he would only be called crazy for saying it. The less they knew.

"I've lived by the borders of the two of our countries for my entire life or at least coming to that. And till this day, I can still remember what my dear mother who was Kyrati by blood told me of her homeland." The rest of his officers listened in, both Ajay's men and his staff whom had noticed he stayed behind.

"I was always excited to hear about the lore that surrounded that place. And she always did have a story to share during nighttime just before bed. Kalinag, Kyra, she had all of them. She even had a story that not many Kyratis themselves knew about. Her fellow countrymen denied it to be even real as there was no signs of it being true. But when you mentioned that you were fighting the original owners of these lands that make up the Himavana states…. I couldn't help but match them to a certain race that she said had once justly rule over these lands before we humans turned on them."

Ajay had never expected that Kyrati lore would ever travel outside of its borders based on its limited history and influence. But apparently it was a cult classic to people like Sharma who lived between the Kyrati-Hindustani borders. Considering his age, he and his mother and possibly relatives had not been affected by the Civil War because they were Indian nationals. And perhaps, they held lore that not even the modern Kyratis had known because of temples in ruin and idols razed by Pagan's regime.

"My lord, are these two organisations one in the same?" The Old Brigadier asked.

"If they were, what would India's policy be towards us and said group?"

"I'm not asking you on behalf of my country, sir. I am asking you man to man, and I am prepared to accept the responsibility of learning the truth."

"And your men?"

"If they won't stay then I won't force them, but I am a man of my word and shall remain so."

"Sir, we're with you the entire way!"

"That's right, sir!"

His staff were hyped up about him abandoning them to save them and protested. Sharma chuckled and said no more, they'd clearlyt chosen the route they would go.

With such a turn of events, Ajay couldn't help but laugh himself. At a time like this, even the smallest of help was what he dearly needed.

"General, I'm not sure about your mother's version of our folk stories…" Sharma laughed at his expression.

"But those fellows in her stories wouldn't happen to also be called Rakshasa would it?"

* * *

Loud celebratory music played from the marching bands and colourful floats that passed by the large parade stands filled with a sizable audience, including a certain sovereign of the country.

Even with the seats filled, there were still people gathered around on the sidewalks and on the hill behind to watch the parade from where they were. It had been the first of its kind and a sight that many would never forget as a day when true peace and prosperity had arrived after so long.

While the groups that passed by were not short of colur and vibrancy, Pagan felt a little bored. What he was really waiting for was the Military Parade which had been saved for last, because there would be a parade commandant which would approach to ask him to inspect the colours and ranks before moving on. And having over two thousand men pass while saluting you was a feeling he wouldn't give to feel.

A commotion occurred as the crowd below parted to make way for a person surrounded by a good size of bodyguards to watch out for him and assist his shaky leg climb to where Pagan was seated in a special section given to him on the parade stand.

Said person reached closer and into the section of his seating with Yuma. Both him and Yuma got up to greet that older man.

"Hahaha! A pleasure to have you with us, my old friend."

"The pleasure is all mine, and thank you for granting this old man's selfish request. And congratulations Milady for the expecting son or daughter of Kyrat." Yuma nodded curtly to old King Surendra's blessing.

"Meh! Think nothing of it. Come! Sit!" Pagan pointed to where he was originally seated, the old man didn't hesitate to Pagan's refined gesture which was unexpectedly humble.

"I'll graciously accept your seat, then." The old man was assisted once again by the help of his bodyguard and a cane in his other hand. After much wobbling, he finally sat down nicely. It even made the surrounding audience worry for that very old man if he would suddenly fall over and die.

This old man was indeed getting close to the closing stages of his life, but he was very at peace with himself. For his legacy would continue on through is son, who would proudly bear the name Kumsa with honour. Soon he would pass the crown and throne to him but until then, the old man would proudly bear the title and name of King Surendra Kumsa. Pagan leaned against Yuma's seat comfortably and found another alternative to pass the time till his favorite part of the program.

"I guess you lost our bet, about you not coming to Kyrat in a million years." The old man shared a laugh with him on an old game they shared during Pagan's visit to Kumsa.

'But for you to even come here despite the bet must mean you have some sort of business that is of utmost importance."

"Aye, and I'm glad I came nonetheless. This place has genuinely changed since the last time I came nearly thirty years ago."

"Old friend, in that time alone your own Kingdom grew to what it is today."

"You're too kind, but forgive me in advance for saying this but hadn't this nation been entrapped in civil war for almost two decades? Yet you have managed to push it into taking the initiative of our union of states."

"You're too kind, your highness. But it is the efforts of the people that made this so." Yuma took her turn to speak up for Pagan as well.

"I see, forgive me for being too presumptuous." He honestly admitted, Pagan and Yuma often admired the old King's mannerisms that reflected what true monarchy was.

"You're forgiven, but do tell me. Old friend. What you've come here for, perhaps I can help you to quicken your search."

"Many thanks, Your highness." The old king cupped his hands.

"I'm looking for a rather unmistakeable subject of yours whom my Royal Guard affectionately call- do forgive me…. "the Demon."."

"Ohhh!- Aj-mugh!" Yuma quickly covered Pagan's mouth to muffle the name he was about to mutter accidentally.

"Thanks." He said as she retracted her hand and gave him a smile.

"Do forgive me for that- now, the person they are referring to is none other than my adoptive son, Badala."

"Badala…" The old Kumsan King rubbed the back of his old wrinkled hands as he murmured that name. to remember.

"Gary! Where is my boy? Can you call him to come here, asap?" Pagan called out to his personal assistant on the radio of his.

*Your Highness, I'm terribly sorry. He's currently briefing our "foreign" visitors on their stay here.*

"Oh- right! Do forgive me again, I forgot about his arrangement today. Perhaps I'll arrange a meeting for tonight then, over dinner. How about that?"

"Yes. That does sound lovely, if you'll have me."

"Of course we'll have you! I'll make the arrangements right away!" Pagan busily arranged with gary to have a guest over for the night. Meanwhile, Yuma was left with King Surendra.

"Might you have some business with Duke Badala, My lord?" Yuma asked politely.

"A-Aye! Well…" His old frail hand covered the top of his left that was under his long sleeve by reflex.

"It is in fact a matter of legacy."

"Legacy?"

"Yes, milady. It was an instruction being passed down by my ancestors for an arrival of such a person. Whom accordingly by their words passed on stated "reunite the lowlands"."

"I wouldn't deny that he had a big part to play in it." Yuma said to acknowledge his means of coming to Kyrat.

Upon hearing this, Yuma could help but think of it more like Surendra trying to give Ajay the throne of Kumsa. Which she couldn't really discount, but it also seemed to be something else she couldn't quite put her finger on.

Surendra looked down at his old hands, specifically to his left that held a rather iconic emblem on it. A tattoo if you will, of an animal that represented the Kumsan seat of power. A mighty grey elephant hurling its tusks in the air in triumph as the Kumsan kingdom had been in character enduring long and hard as the sacred creature had been.

"And I'm looking to return it to him."

* * *

Author's Notes:

Sooooooo tired, I'll edit tomorrow if i have the time. Peace out!


	120. Chapter 110 - Phantom Pains

Author's Notes:

Yesterday was my birthday, i enjoyed a delicious birthday cake in the company of my parents and sibling at their house. Took the entire day off as well.

A bit of updates: I started the Gate - Jietai Kare no Chi nite, Kaku Tatakeri story like i said i would. But don't worry, babies! RaK comes as 1st priority, it is however nice to do something else once in a while to prevent idea depletion and too stuck in one genre.

I'll be rolling out the subsequent chapter and the usual short together soon.

* * *

"Did I ever tell you the story of the Giant that became Rook Islands?"

"It's a really funny story my sister used to lure those weak-minded lambs into her flock. See, there was this Giant who was a peaceful muthafucka chilling under a lake. Contrary to the folk story that it ate anyone that came near to drink from it, they just didn't wanna share the lake with a monster like'im."

Brody sharpened his machete engraved with strange Rakyat symbols whilst he continued on with his story.

"So these little fuckers called out this powerful warrior from a certain northern kingdom. Now I wonder where could that be?" He played with his answer.

"Spoiler alert! He chops off BFGs head and somehow it lands on the ground becoming the Rooks. The warrior fornicates for days and out sprout the Rakyat people over hundreds of years. And that's where the story ends… or does it?" He said with a chuckle.

"Yunno, I used to believe in that shit once. Till I eavesdropped on my sister with the elders one day, by accident. And oh the things they taught her-..well… let's just say she had a different education program for us boys and girls. One of the biggest ancient scandals to rock those tiny islands, and then- (pop)…. Just like that, little Vaas Montenegro's dreams crumpled into thin air. Of course, they found me, and you know what happened next? They hunted me, because I knew the truth and they were afraid of what I could do with that. Can you imagine, them? Scared of lil' old me? They were afraid a kid could breakdown their hundred years of tradition… of lies." He laughed.

"So…. Like any smart little boy would do, I hid. Pretty good at it too, those adults who call themselves warriors hardly ever venture out from those shit temples of theirs." He snorted upon recalling their incompetence.

"Then they got frustrated and did something that I'll never forgive them for. One day, while I was still at large, I heard my sister call out to me. Asked me to meet her at the chasm with a lake underneath. I loved her, of course. And I knew she loved me. So I went…. And-…." (Bang) Brody kicked the chair as he stood up.

"Muthafuckas! And Muthafuckin Bitch!... She sold me out." A grin was permanently plastered onto his face that gleamed with madness.

"And who came swopping in like the greatest anti-hero there was then gritty Hoyt. Real fucking lunatic, him. He'd actually tracked and observed us because he wanted to sell us, me include to some really disgusting fucks over in the Arabian nights. But… like all silverlinings, he found little Vaas to be a bit interesting. See, he was having a problem with the natives in regards to land rights so it was a pain in the ass while you were making money and these fuckas were damaging your good and honest drug and sex trade. I had a problem with the Rakyat, so we had sorta the same goal. I knew their "sacred" locations and food caches, so moooving the clock forward, I hunted those Rakyat fucks but I never did get to my sister. Those elders were dead set on making it difficult for me, although they did pay with their lives. It was enjoyable while it lasted…. And then, that guy came."

He paced around.

"A big flabby pussy when I nabbed him and his hard outershell brother. But my sister seemed to have a soft spot for cunts, like I was years ago. And so, snow white became her soulja boy. Even now, I thought he was a cunt. But you gotta love that drive he had tryin to kill me, it was the funniest thing since. Like a gay guy getting beaten by a fluffy bunny. Ha!"

"Now….. where was i? Oh yeah. Giant scandal, she fed him with the same fucking lie like she did all those drifters that came there. And whaddu know. He actually turned out pretty fucking good and Citra saw that as well though she barely had any expectations. The next time I saw him and knocked'em out, I saw what she'd done to him. Jason Fucking Brody was to be her breeding vessel, that was some Nazi Aryan superman shit she was brewing right there in his ink and the stupid white boy didn't even know." Brody shook his head and face palmed remembering something so embarrassing.

"So you see, Jason reflected the warrior and I was supposed to be the giant. At least that was the story, but you wanna know the truth? That warrior was the giant's kid."

"There! I said it. Johnny killed daddy. And that fucking bloodline coarses through the Rakyat. So you see, all that talk about them being strong and powerful. It was all a fucking lie, they were nuthin but descendants of backstabbers. Now picture how lil'Vaas felt, who wanted to be an upright and noble warrior for his sister?"

"Its all fucking lies, man! All of it. But yunno what? They were right about one thing, the strong prey on the weak. They just couldn't tell the difference in strength."

Brody huffed as he felt like he told an epic, he downed a cup of water on his working table.

"So there you have it. Summary? The world is a fucking lie."

"Brody!" A voice called out whilst knocking on his door and opening it. A senior havildar came through.

"Mohan wants to see you."

"Da-tata!- Didn't I say that I'm busy? Tell'em I'll be there when I get there."

"Now, Brody! Just because you're a Deva does not give you the right to ignore Mohan's orders! It's already enough that you don't contribute to the routine labor."

"Hey man, chill. Haven't you forgot? I'm like your Demon magnet, there are a million-an-one reasons that guy literally hates me for what I've done and he'll be flinging everything away just to chase me."

"Whatever, get going."

"Alright, Alright-… jeez. What crawled up your ass? Snow? Or maybe "those guys" stuck a-."

"Just get to the temple sanctum! I'll have someone clean up after you."

"Thanks! You're the MVP!" He cheerfully left the interrogation chamber and dashed off into the corridor to listen to what Mohan had for him.

The senior havildar sighed and lamented why and when did this foreigner's personality change so much. It could only be him showing his true colours, he guessed. As he stepped into the room to get a better grasp of what was there to tidy, but mess was understating its actual amount of rotting remains.

Seated and tied up to a chair was a rotting corpse of a man that'd died quite some time ago. It was impossible to tell what he looked like because there was no skin, no hair, no eyes or anything left.

It only served to make the havildar shiver as he clearly heard him monologuing to someone inside this room.

But now, it was clear he was only talking to a dead man.

* * *

…..

…..

"My liege, you must reconsider!" One of the many of his subjects in the throne implored of him.

"I will not." He said with absolute authority, as his stroked his sister's head lying on his lap in tears.

It had been announced throughout the City, that the Princess was to be betrothed to the Yaksha Crown Prince. But it had not been her parents that arranged this nor was it her brother now king. It was done by her true biological parents whom were once hostages and had abandoned her for their own safety.

The subjects were unnerved after what their liege had done just recently and for good reason.

And on the same day as the announcement, the Yaksha spirited her away from under her current familys' noses to be immediately wedded at the Yaksha home grounds by the Luna lake, Jalendu. When the King of Akaash heard from his spies what had happened, he marched alone into the Yaksha sanctuary and blasted through their defenses one by one till he reached the ceremonial ground where the nuptials were to be exchanged. The Yaksha guard apprehended and caked the grounds with their blood from where he shrew them.

The Yaksha King fought with him one on one valiantly but his old age weighed in as a factor that deprived him of any hope of overpowering a furious Rakshasa King blessed by the Mountains and Valley. At a prime moment when her brother was about to finally subdue the Yakshas' sovereign, the Crown prince tried to backstab him. It was unfortunately not enough as his Astra gorged the Yaksha King's torso and delivered a mortal wound which would never recover, he swung the sword behind and cut across the Crown Prince's perfect features, permanently denying facial perfection to the Yaksha Crown Prince.

The next victims that entered his target were his sister's true parents which he smashed into pulp despite their immortal bodies. Only then did he depart with his sister in his arms back to their home.

"I am incline to agree with his majesty on this." The General of the East declared contrary to the mass of ministers vying for peace in the valley.

"You warmongering fiend!"

"How dare to try to upheave our thousand years of truce!"

"I wager you were the one who tickled the Yakshas' into being so audacious!"

They accused him on after another.

"You'd better hold your tongues before you try to accuse me. You clearly see that the Yaksha were trying to claim our lands and rights into Shangri-La by legal right of marriage with our Princess. And yet, you still press our lord to make peace with scoundrels! Damnable defeatists! I wonder who's the real traitor here!"

The adjutants of the General of the East quarreled with the ministers over what the right action to take. The other two Great Generals were seated in silence while one had been dispatched to access the situation with the apparent breaking of ties with the Yaksha Kingdom.

"…. Forgive me….. forgive me…." The Princess of Akaash cried herself to sleep on his lap repeating the same words over and over for putting him in such a difficult situation.

But all he did was show compassion and sympathy for her situation, being kidnapped and forced into a marriage she didn't want. As treacherous as the Yaksha were for pushing the boundary for more right over the lands they called home, it was one thing he couldn't forgive them for.

"Friends, brother." They ceased their jabber when he opened his mouth.

"Retire for the evening, in the morning I will brief you on our next point of action."

"Your Majes-."

"I said go home, Jagrva!" He boomed to his long-time friend and General of the East. His subject immediately stepped down and left respectfully. The Ministers and Generals did the same.

"Bhaaii (Brother)." He called to the General of the North who was the last to leave the throne room.

"Y-Yes, Bhaiya (Elder Brother)?" He said with honorifics dropped, the King shared a very special bond with the youngest of the brothers in his family.

"Take her to somewhere she can rest." He held their sister asleep out to the younger sibling of theirs to carry off and deposit her in her chambers to rest.

Left to his lonesome, he travelled in the dead of the night to the residence of the old Former King of Akaash to seek words of wisdom in a dire time and was surprised to see the Lord Regent there as well, his father.

"Your excellency, and Lord Father."

"We've been expecting you." The aged Rakshasa said.

Sharing the events with them both, the former king sighed and shook his head. His father wore an expression of worry.

"Are you prepared for the consequences?" The old one asked.

"When I struck down Lord Yaksha, I was already declaring war with them."

"Then do you know what is to come?" He nodded.

"I've sent Commander South Gate to confirm it. But I would wager the Yakshas' plea to the naïve Vanara and mortal men to aid them in liberating their Crown Prince's bride."

"…." The old Rakshasa nodded in satisfaction that he was at least aware and prepared for the worst.

"Lord Harish will unwittingly lead the apes to act as their frontline pawns, that stubborn ape doesn't listen to reason once he believes he's on the side of justice. And mortal man's Demon Banishers could not be more content with harvesting more soul stones from our corpses."

As he said, the monkeys would naively believe the Yaksha they were on the road to righteousness. Vanara Chieftain Harish already had an enmity with him for slaying his brother in arms decades ago during an invasion repelled by him. The Demon Banishers had an unhealthy habit of gathering soul stones from their remains to increase their powers on par with more powerful beings' magical might and spiritual sense. This new generation of Demon Banishers did not have the wisdom or temperance of the last, they only desired the build up of power and it was going to lead to their down fall soon.

"Then I wish you the very best of fortunes, I have also approached the seers on this and received a divinitation on your behalf." He couldn't say how lucky he was that this former king was so willing to guide him during his reign and even doing things in his benefit on his behalf. That being said, he did not believe that his fate was swayed by the machinations of others. He would listen to what the former King would advise him, and he would cut through all obstacles to attain the answer he was looking for.

"Let us hear it then."

…..

…..

* * *

The trek into the mountains helped to clear much of his thoughts until the fighting began. Ajay had climbed ahead of the rest who were down below still climbing at a slower pace. It gave him some time to reflect.

Reflect on whether isolating Daisy's options for help would finally send her on her way home. Jason Brody was a lost cause, the fact that he let that person possess him showed he didn't hold any regard for anyone any longer. He was ready to die, and Ajay was ready to give him what he wanted.

Pagan had actually called for him a day ago, but Ajay deliberately ignored it under pretext he was in the battlefield or publically known as a division exercise.

The armies would have sortied by now on their aerial insertions to paradrop a Battalion of Garud Commandos and an even smaller group of GRU spetznaz who'd been trained in the handling of portable nuclear devices. The Jatayu were also sent out ahead with Samson and his boys. De Costa apparently had training by NATO in handling similar US nuclear weapons the joint armies used to have in their arsenal, in all likeliness it was the same type of bombs.

Even with how close the Americans were from Point 2153, they had the advantage of flying into those zones via Ilyushin and Antonov cargo planes as well as with helicopter support. At this stage, the US forces were unaware of the movements of their forces as a result of a sudden electrical storm brewing over the mountains. It didn't usually happen this time of year so there was only one explanation.

The Rakshasa knew they were coming.

And it was in their nature to kill all infidels, especially conniving humans. They probably were aware of the metallic surveillance device called a surveillance satellite orbiting the earth at twenty thousand kilometres above ground. It worked in his benefit that the US no longer had ground intel and would end up resorting to depending on local inhabitants for information which would be varied depending on their communication skills.

The GPS and longwave communications had all been distrupted by that unnatural storm cloud looming over them. If an AWACS aircraft or UAV were in the area, its radar would also be disrupted due to its proximity to Point 2153. But Ajay had his forces prepare for such an event and the men were trained heavily before he began to issue state-of-the-art systems into their arsenal.

Unlike the highly mobile US army, Arjun had issued out copper-plated optic fibre lines to the three armies for telegram communication via morse code. It was the quickest way of updating their situation to visual signaling. The 17th Signallers Battalion had a big part to play in keeping the field command posts connected to the central command in Sagarmatha and the important job of providing the artillery batteries twenty klicks out on their fire missions. But they were now better off than the Americans who'd nothing but their skill to reply on. Perhaps the bombers might sortie, but they had no functional IFF to their friendly forces. It was a perfect opportunity to wreck havoc amongst their lines without them knowing and as such, the hunters had been deployed in vast quantity to kill off their recon assets.

Ajay had orchestrated the stage, now he only needed everything to fall in place and he could crush the US expeditionary force without their central command even knowing what happened until all they received was radio silence.

"I never thought this day'll come. You're fighting our own home now."

"Kyrat is my home, Kyrat is your home too." He smiled as Ajay indicated him as a part of his homeland.

"Maybe…. But I was born and raised in Montana, bro. I can't forget the folks there, it made me the man I am today."

"Did it? Then why were you floating around from the Rooks to here? If the states gave you everything you needed, why did you drift here looking for company and attention? They gave you nothing!"

"No, Ajay. They gave me everything that I needed….. The problem was me-."

"You are not the problem!" Ajay said in anguish.

"I'm glad…. that even up till now, you're still on my side." He stared out into the open of the mountain range.

"You're gonna kill'em aren't you, and they're gonna die because of us."

"They're soldiers, it's what they do. They die because some ignorant fool sent them to their deaths. Its their Commands' lack of understanding that not all of this world belongs to mankind that'll lead to their downfall."

"It didn't need to be this way."

"They were the ones that pushed it to happen." He argued.

"You know that isn't true, Ajay. You provoked their response because you couldn't forgive them for the hurt they'd done to Kyrat. You know that the fellas in power now had nothing to do with what happened twenty years ago."

"Their mantle of power, their responsibility. They enjoyed the fruits of what their predecessors' sowed. Can you really say the bear no sin? Because they didn't dirty their hands to get it?"

"Really, Ajay. Wasn't it you who said the sins of the father don't pass to the son?" Ajay gritted his teeth as what he'd said was true and yet-….

"A government is an entity created by the collective interests of the people over the decades. I'm taking revenge against that system, the modern beneficiaries are just collateral. If they expect to prosper from that system, they can also suffer because of it."

"You've really shut your heart on this one, eh Bads?" He smiled back sadly.

"I won't change my mind on this. And neither will it be for Brody."

He remained silent as Ajay had made his goals clear, he walked up to the ledge of the cliff.

"If you won't change your mind on Jason, then neither will I. I know that somewhere in here…." He pointed to his heart.

"Jason is trapped and needs our help to free him…. And now, you have the ability to free him." Ajay didn't need him to remind him of what his current power was capable of. It hurt him even more to see that he was carrying such a heavy burden beyond what Ajay himself could hold.

"How-…. How can you still say that after Daisy!-… Riley!-.. your friends have forgotten about you?!" But all he got in reply was a warm smile.

"But you still remember me, don't you?" Pain, it was the only emotion he felt.

"… It's not fair-…. That's not fair!"

"What hasn't changed is that I'm still the eldest of the three tatbros, Ajay. Of course, I need ta stop the two young'uns from killing each other." He got off the ledge and walked to a small pass, it seemed that his time had come.

"If you were in the same instance as Jason, I'd do the same for you." He said before leaving Ajay to his lonesome.

Ajay kicked a rock and shattered it with his strength alone.

What he listened to, only increased is bloodlust for the Americans and Brody.

"Ajay." A voice returned him to reality. He composed himself by sorting out his posture and expression again.

"I'm here…. What took you so long?"

"Sorry, we had trouble with the cart."

"Can I take point this time?" Jeevan complained after having to heft the cart up slope.

Ajay waved for him to do so as he went to the side of the cart and assisted in pushing it and the yak up the steep cliff road.

"Maybe if you get off the cart, the Yak wouldn't feel so burdened up the cliff." He said to the only occupant in the cart who pouted.

"That's rude, I'm supposed to be the "wife" of the trader and you're just his freeloading brothers and father." She said in regards to their cover story.

"What do you expect, we're only helping Jeevan because your upkeep alone is worth the salaries of four of us." Vasu and Han Feng shared a snicker at Maya's expense.

"Tsh… Ridiculous. I should've just followed the rest on the forest route." But it had been her choice to roll with them instead of the Hunter cadres moving in to distrupt the American scout and recon teams. Their bows made for silent kills and the inability to identify the attackers.

Maya passed a glance at Ajay whom was too busy directing their cart of "wares". She saw beneath the mask of his was a lining of distress hidden so well that not even the sharpest of eyes could discern. But she could, she'd been watching him longer than any of them had, perhaps even Saras wouldn't notice. It wasn't an affliction he suffered from in the form of physical wounds recovering.

These phantom pains had done their toll on his emotional fortitude, no charm, talisman, or emotional support could ever hope to patch it up tears so great that one uncareful step would send hims mental fortress crumbling.

But depending on the conditions, it would either unleash or trap the demon god forever.

* * *

"With all due respect, sir. The situation is Fubar." A captain shouted at his superior officer at their temporary base in the mountain range.

"You'll fall back when I say you fall back, Hunters!" The superior officer held the rank of colonel in the US army.

But the captain wasn't satisfied.

"I'm not gonna let you waste fifteen hundred men on some spooks assumption!"

"You don't even know the half of it, sonny." The hardy colonel wasn't backing down.

"Sir, with all due respect, you're an asshole."

"I know, and that's why they sent me. This mission comes down from the Commander-in-chief himself. So in case you haven't got with the program, we are finding that package. We are finding those sons of bitchs who threatened us. And we are gonna find this Badala and bring that bastard back!"

"So get your shit together soldier! Or a court martial'll be the least of your worries." He shoved the reluctant Captain of his Scout sniper group.

The disgruntled Captain packed his gear and stomped off out into the wilderness once more to rejoin his party. On his way out, he happens to pass by a caravan of locals being escorted in for questioning on the local environment. There were about five of them, four men and one woman.

They were now relying on the goodwill of the inhabitants to get intel on the surrounding if they had any hope to recover the devices now that the Navstar and their longwave comms hard problems penetrating that thick storm cloud that brew in this area. He had a dark feeling but he couldn't put his finger on it at all.

(bump) "Uh-Hey!"

"Owt! Khaki ssamanga. (do forgive me.)" One of the locals bumped into his should whilst he wasn't paying attention. The local went to catch up with the rest of his relatives, he gazed at the local for a while as he felt something strange about him for a moment.

"Hey." He called the corporal who was one of the few escorting the locals to the Command Post to pay them off on having ground info.

"What can I do you for, sir?"

"Where did they come from?" He pointed to the locals.

"Those guys are called Sherpa, there's like literally millions of 'em roaming around the mountains to trade for a living. I guess todays their lucky day, huh?"

"Yeah…." He didn't disagree, the Colonel would likely pay them handsomely to get what he needed to return on schedule.

"Hey, sir….. rumor're going around a bunch of Jarheads were inserted here months ago who're the ones who sent that signal."

"Where did you hear that?"

"A friend of a friend of mine told me." He shrugged his shoulders.

"Let's hope they stay as rumours, Corporal. For both our sakes." He said before leaving the camp with the supplies he'd picked up earlier. The escorting corporal had no idea what the officer was going on about he simply wanted to hand these locals over to the Colonel directly. Since one of them was the first to speak fluent English which made it a hell of a lot easier to ask the locations of the surrounding terrain.

The sherpa's entered after the corporal into the tent command post where their highest-ranking officer awaited them.

"Well, hello hello." The Colonel got up from his seat over the comms which were showing no sign of recovering and gave up for the time being.

"Tashi Deleg. Nge Min Vasu Nga Akaash surhau. (Hello, I'm Vasu. I hail from Akaash.)" The eldest of the Sherpa replied.

"Um…." The colonel turned to the corporal expecting an answer as to why he said they could speak English.

"My father says hello back, sir. I'm Jeevan of Kyrat." Said the youngest of them all whilst extending a hand to the officer.

"Pleasure, Mr Jeevan. I'm Colonel Patterson, US 75th Rangers. I just want you to know you have the gratitude of our country for doing this, we'll make sure you're properly compensated for the trouble." He shook the hand and turned to the rest of his relatives.

"Yeeb (Morning)." The Chinese one replied to Patterson's surprise, but then again it wasn't uncommon for there to be Chinese or Indians in the Himalayas as well.

"Uh- These are my family members. The gentlemen whom greeted you is my father, his acquintances call him Vasu. Over there is Han Feng my adoptive brother, my beautiful wife Maya-."

"Hahahahahaha!" The last one laughed continuously as Jeevan was about to get to him. The woman who was supposed to be the Sherpa's wife frowned when that one guy laughed clearly at her. The Colonel sensed something cruel about that laughter but tempered himself in tolerance.

"Is something funny?" He said as politely as possible.

"As a matter a fact, yes." Replied the last one to him and his guards' amazement, because of his clear-cut Brooklyn accent.

"No thorough cargo and body inspection, no path-finding and not even a hint of suspicion. Am I really encountering the elite forces of the United States Army? You grunts are so fucking naïve. Your friends are gonna be one-sidely butchered by them."

The guards raised their weapons to address the sudden appearance of a threat and further orders from their superior. But the people whom they thought were ordinary Sherpa grappled and covered their mouths. Overpowering them so quickly and easily despite them being the bulkiest and strongest of the Colonel's men.

"Scream or call for help and your entire camp will get annihilated." It was such a simple threat, but Patterson didn't doubt for a minute that what he said was true from the tone. So he sat back on the chair seemingly calm whilst the person disguised as a Sherpa paced around him.

"Who're you?"

"My name is not important, but what is is the next step which you'll take from here on out Colonel. Because you're not in Kansas anymore, and you certainly aren't in Pakistan. So I'll give you this one warning out of the goodness of my heart before you proceed onwards and invade my country." The Sherpa whom seemed to be in reign of the situation sat on his folding table in front of him.

"Pull back your forces and retract your claim from those warheads and I'll let you, your men and every US personnel stationed in Pakistan leave here alive."

The colonel's eyes danced as he'd not been told fully of the mission regarding the package and worst of all, his opposition was aware of the warheads presence.

"Do you-…" Before he could complete his sentence a hand clawed out and grasped his mouth to shut it.

"Do I what now? Know whom I'm dealing with? Absolutely. Because from the moment I sent that letter addressed to the President of the United States, the Kingdom of Kyrat-... I had already declared war on you."

The colonel was loss of words as there was a sudden recollection in his mind in regards to what this Sherpa who was clearly not one said.

A debrief at the Pentagon by the Secretary of Defense himself. A CIA categorized status "Leviathan" had threatened the security of the United States of America. It was the worst threat since Osama bin Laden, because this maniac was after a few nuclear warheads lost in the Himalayas since the '80s. What he wanted with them, they couldn't let him leave with those devices. He'd been on Langley's scopes since the most recent Chinese incursion into the Himalayas. They followed the Chinese named given to him, simply translated back into english as "Demon". Just like other status Ls that had codenames like Skinner, Jackal, Snow White, Kurozuka, Mistral and etc. There was a bounty on their heads each but no one was stupid enough to try assassinating them, each had a story so crazily insane that no lesser man should've survived and yet they did.

This "Demon" was placed on the top of the "Leviathan" catalogue and was someone based on the descriptions of one Force Recon Captain David Goh as someone they shouldn't have provoked. But he called that man by a name, and that name was….

"Badala….." When that name escaped his lips, the Sherpa who was Ajay in disguise grinned maliciously.

"Hello there. Seems Langley wasn't being such a dick as to keep that much from you." Ajay turned to his group and nodded. (Snap) (Snap) (Snap)

Went the necks of the personnel with the Colonel. He stared at their lifeless bodies for a moment before looking back at Ajay.

"Th- This isn't in my boundary to withdraw!"

"Of course it is, Colonel. You simply pull back your forces, I can't believe that you would actually care about your career more than your life. Not even the Chinese were this stupid."

"So I'll ask again. Pull back your forces, consider this karma for living in the states nearly all my life."

"You!-…."

"I'm gonna count to five, by the end of that count, I'll decide for you instead. Five."

Ajay didn't give the Colonel even a moment to think about what had just been said, he forced him to make a decision quickly for the sake of his men.

"Four…. Three…..Two-."

"Sir, I have a- wha-…. Intrud-!" An adjutant came into the tent uninvited and drew his sidearm after seeing the dead men on the floor and shouting for help.

(Stab) Maya stabbed a knife into his jugular and filled his mouth with blood as he collapsed. But this brought about the suspicion of the rest of the camp.

"It seems your men have done that for you. Too bad."

"So now what? You're alone in our camp." He said in the greatest of composures despite sweating.

"No, sir. You're all alone in our home grounds." Ajay replied.

"You won't get away with this, you may take me hostage but they'll kill you." He said to Ajay.

"Oh, I'm not going to take you hostage and neither are my forces taking POWs out of the eleven thousand gathered at the border."

"Th-Then-…hurrghhh!" Ajay grasped his neck and lifted him in the air with an inhuman strength.

"I'm gonna misled your main force into fighting our enemies for us."

"I'll never-….urgggghhh…" He struggled to say he wasn't going to hand him the codes to their comms.

"I don't need you to, Colonel. Your blood will tell me everything." The Colonel of the Ranger's eyes widened as Ajay brought his neck towards his jaw. And as Ajay bit down upon his soft flesh, digging deep into his neck. Fangs that hadn't been that length before stabbed right into his veins and drew out the lifeforce that defined him. In his blood, his DNA, and in that, the memories that made up the life of Colonel Arnold Patterson. From the cradle to his grave, these memories rushed into Ajay as he devoured them.

Everything from his family life to the Army conducts of formations and military procedures adopted by the United States Armed Forces. Confidential secrets, encrypted codes, all of the cards that the US Army had at its disposal in this region and at home. And even one meeting with the president himself. They were once his, and now they were stolen by Ajay. A man that they'd forced into becoming a monster to beat them. As Patterson weakened, he could feel everything that was happening as the memories flew by in his mind and vanished. He now understood why someone as tough as Marine Captain David Goh resigned from the Military after failing to convince them not to fight with Badala.

He tried to scream but his throat lost all its strength, so he withered continuously. Until he turned into a mummified corpse of a man before he was flung onto the floor.

"…." Everything he learnt about the Americans was within his expectations.

As appalled as the group was to what Ajay did, they knew he was even more disgusted for doing it. Yet, it was necessary for their plan to follow through.

"Let's mess this place up before the main force arrives."

By now, the camp garrison were gathering around the Command Tent to entrap the individuals that infiltrated their grounds.

"Get out with your hands up!" An officer shouted whilst standing behind a row circle encompassing the Colonel's camp quarters.

And as he requested, out came one such person. The men stared at the individual with adversity. Cladded in some sort of dark advance protective suit, donning a strange mask was someone that spelled he was the type to jump head strong into a fight. But they stayed their hand and fingers off the triggers until their commander said otherwise.

"I don't see those hands! And where's the Colonel?!"

"I don't need to, and don't worry about him. You'll be joining him soon." Ajay responded to their utter disbelief as he spoke in an American Accent contrary to the Geography and it wasn't a fake one but every bit natural.

He unslung his slayer that rifle them up and aimed with preciseness at his weakpoints, assuming there were any.

"Kill 'em." At these words, out of thin air materialized three individuals cladded in full protective armour and took the initiative by firing their weapons and charging at the soldiers.

(Babababaam)

"What the hell?!"

"Return fi-arrghh!"

By the time the first one initiated a retaliation against these suddenly appearing enemies, twelve had fallen. The whole area lit up with bullets and shouts to direct that firepower towards that stationary target and those assassins.

But as quickly as they appeared, a smoke screen from smoke grenades discharged and a combination of active camo fabric sewn into their garbs by Chang-san from the captured camo cloaks made them lose their targets almost immediately.

They would reappear to slay a few more men and vanish with the wind again, proving difficult for the Rangers to displace heavier ordnance to bear on a target that wouldn't keep still behind cover. So they turned it to the one target they could still see.

(Boom) (Boom)

Shots fired ripped apart those that it was pointed towards, killing the crew of the heavy weapons.

They tried to use grenades, they tried indirect fire from automatic weapons and large caliber rifles, portable LAW launchers. But he drove straight through the firepower and cleaved through them effortlessly. Ajay had built up a tremendous amount of bloodlust from his burdens that casted fear upon their souls inadvertently. And these unfortunate souls would have to make do as a means for him to release much of his fury to clear his thoughts for the road ahead against a more frightening foe and mislead the expeditionary forces' Main contingent straight into the enemies' backyard.

It was here that the beginnings of the Great reaping of man, though foreign to the lands had commenced.


	121. Chapter 111 - Hunting Brody

Author's Notes:

As usual, the short is attached to this chapter out of every ten.

* * *

The camp ground that once based the expeditions' forward elements in the form of Tier One Rangers was a burning wreck. It had been ravaged upon by four demons not a soul remained, those that ran were hunted like wild game even before they left the camp perimeter.

The horrors he'd seen. In Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, he'd been to them all and survived. But this…

He watched as an enemy superior in equipment, prowess, and grit assailed the camp and slaughtered over fifteen hundred men like farmers culling sheep. Those that died by bullets were more fortunate when they still had ammo to spend. Because after that, they drew their kukris and shrew his battalion. Then, hooded men came out of the forest to join the fray, killing them with precise shots from their bows. Some men survived but were poisoned and spasmed about on the floor due to the lost control of their extermities.

But these three warriors that appeared with him didn't move like any men he'd seen before, especially that one guy with the mask. He could only guess that the Colonel was long dead, these men had the intention of killing them and were confident in doing so alone which spoke a lot of their abilities. And the way that guy moved to slaughter his men, he could only guess where that confidence came from. If only he'd realized it sooner instead of thinking he'd surcome to fatigue like an ordinary man would.

"Why…." The last survivor asked on his knees before the orchestrator of this one-sided onslaught.

"Across this mountain range are over four million souls, good honest people and you were opening the gates for your main force to return hell to their lives. I'm simply doing unto you as you would do to them."

"We were just following orders!" Though he exhibited no physical response to those words, he could feel a killing intent rise from the demon that caused the surrounding ground to tremble.

"Orders… following orders… How many people who said they'd done horrible things because they were ordered have I killed? I've lost count, but I see what you're getting at… you don't even want to take accountability of own your actions….. then I don't have to treat your fellow soldiers or their corpses with a human's dignity." He returned an inhuman grin back at the Major with leaked of his malice and fury at the same time.

(Wheewwwheewwwheeww) The sound whistling could be heard from the projectiles flying over their heads.

"Right on schedule. I was beginning to worry the rocket artillery wouldn't deploy on time, but you can't look down on dedicated soldiers." He said looking at the time.

"W- What?.."

"I wonder how will your supreme commander respond to thermobaric rockets pummeling his unprotected troops. I can't believe your senior staff chose to conceal the nature of your trek into the woods when they knew you weren't dealing with militia but an actual army. Clearly Pentagon didn't put my Kyrati Army in their eyes. But I'm sure it'll bring him here to investigate, right where I want him to."

"You're-… you're a monster…." The Major said in Ajay's grasp.

"You took that long to realise. I don't think I'll have to worry about the rest of the expedition now. The Rakshasa will toy with you comrades, no- even the Exalts are enough." He said as he throttled the life out of the Ranger. (Crack)

He squeezed till his neck snapped and body fell limp, only then did Ajay threw his raggard corpse to the ground.

The rest of the hunters and his Lords gathered around him, including Maya who'd sat this one out due to the volume of fire the Rangers were throwing at them which she couldn't survive in. It wasn't a problem when she had the camo cloak with her.

"My lord, we had encountered Golden Path on the outskirts." The leader of the hunter cadres reported after clearing up the stragglers.

"Good."

"What now?" Vasu asked.

They took a look around at the destruction from drawing upon Ajay's demon power. A combination of shell craters and incomplete bodies of the elite reconnaissance element sent to clear the way for the US expedition in imminent arrival. He drew out his kukri and beheaded the Officer's corpse, sticking it on a branch that held it up.

"Now we leave them a message."

The rest were appalled but Vasu silently sighed and drew his blade as the rest did. Being familiar with Ajay's terror tactics, he could foresee the reaction the Main force would have.

Men only reacted in two ways when their comrades suffered terrible fates. They either cowered in fear, or they lost control of their anger and sought nothing but revenge. He could tell Ajay was hoping they would chose the later, they were after all the most powerful army undaunted by none. The indiscriminate artillery on their positions would at to that flame as they would wrongly triangular the Rakshasas' domain than their own forces. They weren't like the careful and patient PLA that wisely fell back. Nothing could stop them once set upon a foe, no men that is.

* * *

The ranger Captain didn't know whether to call it luck or an opportunity. After trekking through the forests, his platoon and many other scouting elements had reported via shortwave radio of attacks by savages with bows. Already, there were forty casualties, fifteen had been poisoned with some sort of neural toxin and were heading back to the forward camp. For an unknown hostile tribe to be killing them off one at a time whilst never revealing their locations, not even tracks. No one was able to identify where and what they were. If they had to guess, they stumbled into a territory of a hostile tribal community, but how were they to know. They couldn't even bring the bodies of their fallen back.

It had been frustrating beyond measure, they were just five klicks from the Marines' distress beacon to add to the nuisance. Until they came.

A militia group about the strength of a company, led by a foreigner of all things. And not just any foreigner but an American. His name was Jason Brody and the people he fought alongside were the Golden Path resistance.

For there to be a rebel militia out here, there had to be an oppressor. And they had just that in their Homeland of Kyrat, a tyrant King and a viscious lieutenant by the name of Badala. Almost when the Golden Path came to rescue their helpless asses, these "Hunters" left the field and harassed them no longer.

They were some sort of special pathfinder paramilitary unit highly respected in the Royal Army of Kyrat. The fact that there was an entire nation here without them knowing or at least not being told to them by their superiors to protect the nature of their mission here, spoke of the ignorance they held in this dangerous place where the theats were asymmetric.

Either way, the fact there was a local resistance cell here was good news indeed. They could now acquire intel they badly needed and to support an existing resistance to take down the regime. Not a bad foreseeable ending if he might add.

Most curious of all, was the integration of Mr Brody into their ranks. Apart from being very eccentric in his way of conducting himself, his prowess was testified by nearly all of the Golden Path members in his unit. And now, was the time to escort them to their camp to see what Patterson could do for them, that was after all his forte.

"I really can't get a read on you at all, Brody." The captain said to Brody who was walking alongside him.

"Just the way I like it. You Army boys were really out of luck to bump into those guys."

"I don't ever wanna cross them again." He admitted.

"They all exclusively come from a single tribe subjugated by Pagan decades ago. So chances of encounters are extremely slim, unless you're a high priority target, marked by Pagan or Yuma. It really wasn't your lucky day." The Senior Havaildar accompanying them said.

"What he said." Brody just added and chuckled away at the irony. Who would've thought there would be an entire army waiting at the borders to invade Kyrat.

Which glorious bastard sent for them? It couldn't have been Willis, right? There was nothing like shaking the odds beyond recognition, and adding the US army into the picture was doing just that.

"What?" The captain noticed his contemplation.

"Nothing, just thinking how fucked they are with you lot coming in." Brody smiled thoughtfully.

"I'd like to express how fortunate we are to have found you, Brody. I was beginning to worry about our odds, our long-wave comms and Navstar are completely cut off. Pentagon and Peshawar have no way of being updated on out situation."

"So you've been cutoff, hey?"

"Yeah, that's about right."

Brody was beginning to feel that Mohan was right about what could happen. He had to get to their supreme commander quickly to get them to stop venturing further into this "sacred ground". Or the Rakshasa will slaughter them. Mohan had no power of those beings and so it was all up to Brody to save his fellow americans from certain death. Initiating a friendship between them could help put the Kyrati Army in more dire odds due to international pressure.

"How far are we till your camp?"

"We aren't far, just a few klicks West should take us there. Look, we'll even be able to see it from up there." He pointed to a mound that he used as a landmark to back track to the camp since his GPS and Dead-reckoning module weren't working at all. The captain accompanied by Brody climbed the mound since he wanted to show him where it was roughly from their position.

But when they climbed up and looked out, he stopped smoke rising from where the camp was in beneath the canopy of the dense forest.

"Oh- nonononono! Corporal! Take platoon two and head around through the Southern entrance! The camps been hit!" When these words left his mouth, a serious look passed through his soldiers as they got sorted out and left the Golden Path whom were having thoughts about what had happened.

"Looks like we were a bit late." Brody said casually with a big smile.

The captain didn't want to bother about what was the meaning behind what Brody said, all he cared about was reinforcing the camp. There was barely any rifle discharges or explosions from where they were so it could mean the end of a battle or even a stalemate to whoever attacked them.

The last platoon accompanied by Brody and the Golden Path freedom fighters made their way with haste towards the camp hoping for the best. The captain of the scouts had high hopes, while Brody was a little more realistic considering the geography of this place. Perhaps the Rakshasa had gotten to them first, they were aware of the intrusion after all and had cancelled their connection to their satellites.

It was not long after a thirty-minute jog to the location that was the camping grounds of the Reconnaisance Battalion did they witness the horror in store for them.

"Wh-….What the fuck is this…..?" Amidst the crisped earth and ruined tents were a row of pylon stakes that led into the inner compound, as if to welcome them in. if that were all, it wouldn't have matter and their next priority would be to find where the other Rangers were. But they didn't need to anymore.

Presented on those stakes were the fifteen hundred heads of the US Rangers, their faces held horrified expressions as their last emotions were captured in a work twisted of art.

Some of the Rangers and Golden Path fighters couldn't control their stomachs and puked on the spot. The captain walked slowly but surely towards the Command tent entrance where a single stake was mounted. A stake holding the head of his friend and superior, the Major.

Waves of emotions passed over him as he reached out and closed the open eyes of his colleague. He didn't know whether to feel shocked that such inhumanity was possible still or angry that they disrespected the sanctity of their corpses.

Brody and the Havildar approached from behind.

"Who-… who could've done this?" He demanded the information from Brody as he grabbed hold of his shirt to stay up.

"Don't think there's a need to guess, this feels like Badala's handy work. Damn he did a fine job."

"Excuse me?..." The captain said almost stunned at what Mr Brody said, these were his fellow Americans.

Brody looked around as if searching for something while sniffing about. The Havildar was doing the same but it looked more focused with the Kyrati.

"This is fresh." He said as he touched the warm blood dripping from the impaled heads.

"Direction?" The Captain asked as he picked up and cocked his assault carbine.

"Mmm…. I'd say due North East. Seems we passed them."

"Tsk! Will! Gather what supplies you can find and we move out in ten!" A sergeant went about ordering the salvaging of ammunition and food supplies for a hunt.

Brody laughed at what he saw. "Wow! You guys are so predictable."

"Listen you! I was starting to like you but being that we found you amongst these savages, its no wonder you're so fucked in the head!" The Captain grappled Brody but lost grip as he slipperyly coiled out of the dead lock.

"Hey. I'm not the one who underestimated my enemy, if you really have to know…. All this was done by just five fellas."

"What?!"

"Count the heavy tracks that dig into the ground as if lunging from that position and you'll have around that number as they dash around chopping off your fellows' heads off." Brody said pointing to said tracks.

(Wheewwwheewwwheeww) The sound of screeching could be heard over their heads.

"Jesus! Those are 122 mil rockets!" The Captain exclaimed in shock. He saw some of the projectiles in a certain trajectory that matched where the Main Force of eleven thousand were assembled.

"Oh my god…." He was aware of how unprepared the expedition was to this sort of firepower in the mountains. They were all under the impression that the forces that were pinning the Marines by the Nukes were militia that formed an army, not a conventional army. And one to be able to deploy ordnance like this in the steep mountains had to have helicopter support.

"Hey, cap. You still with us? What will you do? Return to base and tell'em what happened or are you gonna chase the sunnovabitch did this?" Brody asked him as if giving him an ultimatum on what to do.

In a rational mind, he should be heading back to tell them what he had seen and of the contact he'd established. But after a serious of shellshocks he'd been experiencing far worse than before, his mind was clouded with finding who did this and pursue him. There were after all only five people, and he was two platoons and a company strength of the at home Golden Path fighters.

"Lead the way." He said to which Brody grinned widely.

"Finally, some balls at last."

The havildar who was watching sighed. If only for a minute, he released an expression of loathe at both Brody and the witless Captain.

How naïve and witless were these humans were.

* * *

The soft hum of the sub-systems powering let Pravindra know that his new ride codenamed "Tiger 1-3" was in motion to activating its engines. Pravi felt lonely, being the only pilot in the cockpit. He'd traded-in the Su-30 two-seater which he was used to for a state-of-the-art fighter being brought specially for him from the Russian far east aircraft plant of Komsomolsk-on-Amur.

It looked the same as his previous fighter, with the exception of only one seat. But that didn't say what was underneath the covers of its composite titanium shell. A powerful AESA radar that to detect an object the size of a tangerine at non-line of sight distances. An experimental engine meant for Russias next-gen fighter that would be called Su-57 when it was operational, but was placed in this one to act as a testbed. He'd gone for rounds in it a couple of times to find that the engines almost overpowered the airframe, a feeling he never had with the normal thrust capacity in his old fighter. It allowed him to manuever as wrecklessly as he wanted without compromising his energy.

Like him, Commander Singh and their other best pilot Astra had been placed in a special squadron comprising of most of their own Indians pilots, but also Russian Pilots under the callsign "Sokol". Pravi didn't know how to feel about this, only that the Russians were quite set on commanding the airspace and them acting in the way they saw fit. Their superior deemed it acceptable as they were taking responsibility of the situation. Their job was to provide protection for their fighter-bomber squadron who were going to go seal clubbing of the American troops that had unofficially wandered into the grounds of their "exercise" bombing points.

Commander Singh was not telling him why New Delhi was getting more involve than it originally had but it decided the future of Indias influence and power to come. The Russians seemed to be involved because the kremlin seemed to know something about what had been apparently they were searching for and wanted something else out of it besides what India wanted.

They had over twelve Su-35SM air-superiority fighters. What did the Americans have, F-15 Eagles and those rare but fabled F-22 Raptors. Astra prayed they wouldn't encounter the raptors and just the F-15s kitted for airstrikes to aid their ground forces. But Pravi was having a feeling that the pair of Raptors from that time would appear again.

*You look ready.* Pravi's comms went alive with Commander Singh's voice. He turned to the adjacent hangar space where said superior was already plugged in and awaiting the warming up of his engines.

"It feels weird not having a voice scream at the back of your head." He meant the co-pilot as a joke. Which made his fellow pilots whom had co-pilots in the form of Weapons officers laugh.

*It's a good day to fly. Tiger 1-1 to Sokol 1-1, we'll take to the skies first. Your boys can have the rearguard as we fly you into your drop area.*

*Khorosho (Very well). Please do heavy lifting for us.* The Russian Commander joked.

*Tiger 1-3, take the central runway. Tiger 1-2 take the third runway to the Right and I'll take the last. The rest follow by number after. Now sort out while I get permission from Control.*

*Yes, sir. Tiger 1-2 copies.*

"Tiger 1-3 copies." The rest hailed into the intercom their acknowledgements.

Pravi added some juice to the engine power and released his wheel brakes, allowing the aircraft to emerge from the hangar gradually and onto the tarmac to position on the runaway designated to them. The vibration of the Sukhoi rolling up to his destination was monotonous so he took a look at the newest accessory to his front glass LED display. Hung on it was Arun's family crest, a Garuda soaring into the sky. He'd recovered from his deceased co-pilot's locker back in the base, when he was done flying, he would make the trip back to his friend's hometown to tell his mother and father of their son's heroism.

He had to come back from this.

*Tiger 1-1 to all all squadrons. Control has greenlit out flights, we're clear sky all the way till our destination. Rohan says happy hunting. I'll see you in the air, lads. Out.*

Upon receiving the all-clear from the Control tower for a clear flight, Pravi's squadron mates took to the skies first.

"Lieutenant Kumar, Tiger 1-3. Taking off!" He revved the throttle to high speed and released the brakes on the wheels once more. The gradual hum turned into a powerful turbine noise as the air was converted to thrust sending the fighter soaring into the sky.

This was the moment he'd been waiting for, the time between taking off. Where anything could happen and the flight may not complete and it was left to chance based on the technicians' skill and his own flying prowess to stabilize the flight. Once he knew he was stable, the skies were as good as his. His trauma had prevented him from passing the flight simulation, but after much therapy and practice, he was ready once more to find those bastards that killed his co-pilot in a cheapshot from long distance without identifying themselves.

But now, they were about to fly over a very special zone where Radar wouldn't matter and neither would Radar-lock missiles. That was why he had the technicians load only two Infrared missiles like the last time and a full drum of 30 mil. He also had a gunpod attached underneath to act as a reserve for his 30-mil Semi-armor piercing high explosive incendiary ammunition.

For when flying over point 2153, they would be reduced to a pure guns-only dogfight.

* * *

Once again, Kamran was called upon to show his superior helicopter skills. Flying in a highly magnetized area caused avionics to fizz and disrupt, and gyroscopic inert navigation needle to spin out of alignment. It was especially serious if you flew the helicopter all digital. But in Kamran's case, he'd been born behind the control stick of a helicopter since his father had let him make the mail deliveries via buzzer minicopter at the age of ten. So he didn't depend of avionics to have a feel of where the ground was.

But that wasn't on Saras's mind at the moment the helicopter touched down.

"Hey, beautiful." The mischievious Paul called out to which she responded to the word beautiful like he expected.

"Your boyfriend's gonna be fine, trust Cousin Paul. I've seen lesser survive shit like what he's about to enter." Paul said with an assuring smile. And he was rewarded with a return smile from her.

"Thank you, Paul. Sometimes I forget, but he's still a flesh and blood human being underneath."

"Huh! Really, I thought Bad's was made entirely out of grit."

His neighbor seated across him next to Saras hit him on the head lightly.

"Calmez-Vous! (Can it)" Said his favorite lady.

"Eh, sure. Leave it to you chief. I'm boots on the ground first." He said as he walked across the compartment to the rear ramp that lowered. Kamran maintained the helicopter in hover over the ground about five metres as the forest density prevented further descent.

The rappelling ropes were lowered and down went Paul, followed by Ricardo, Samson, Luca, Emilio, Alberto and Stella. Accompanying them were three Russian specialists in nuclear devices and their superior, a GRU Spetsnaz Captain by the name of Anton. But they insisted on their callsign which was Irina One, Two and Actual. The name was to humor the irony of the job they'd been sent to do.

"After you, Cher." Michelle held out the rope for him as she attached her bucket and went down.

When all had departed the helicopter, Kamran flew off as quickly as he could to refuel and await their request for extraction which wouldn't be long. He'd be the one to tow those warheads at the end of his ride back to the base under fighter escort when they called it in.

And where exactly were they which Kamran deposited them was a relatively inexcessible valley from outside. This exact point was not far from the beacon the Marines set for their expedition to find them amidst thousands of square miles of mountains and forests. Ajay was the one calling it in based on intel he "extracted" from a Colonel of a reconnaissance element of the Division outside and closing in.

The Russians and Indians were initially confused why their main forces had been made to wait at the borders of Kyrat and fortify to prevent the Americans from escaping, as it would just incur their reserve forces to breach from the Pakistani side of the fence to free them. What they didn't know was that they weren't just entrapping the Americans but fortifying against something else. Only Brigadier Sharma of the Indian Army was partly aware of the strategy. Those expeditionary forces will never be able to contact their home base in time when "that" enemy emerged to devour them.

Ajay had managed to distribute much of his anti-demon weapons in small quantities to his own forces and special ammo to the Indian and Russian forces as he could. If they didn't have sufficient ammo for to put down the Rakshasa clones, then high explosives were still sufficient in damaging their temporary bodies.

The Kyratis numbered thirteen thousand, the Indians were six thousand and the Russians were a single Crack Mechanised Guards Regiment at Four thousand. With the topography charts and geographic intel available to them, their High Command decided on deploying armoured troops. It allowed them to bring heavy firepower to substitute their lack of anti-demon weapons even if they weren't aware of the enemy that would come knocking. The Kyrati Army was placed in the frontline to give the others time to process the thoughts on who the Rakshasa were. They did however had access to fire support not available before. Rocket artillery fifteen miles to Pacchim, along with howitzers batteries. There were bombers and ground attack aircraft stationed and ready to sortie at a moments notice. Some of the Mi-28 Havoc and Ka-52 attack helicopters were parked in a clearing as well.

But that was their job, theirs was to locate and retrieve the nukes. And a secondary mission of neutralizing renegade marines led by Staff Sergeant Fredrick Grilles, that marine held intel that could threaten their operations due to his long-term working relation with Willis. Technically, he had disbanded from the Marines had joined Willis as black ops operatives, not that it mattered anyway.

Up ahead was a clearing with no forest to hinder them any further, instead the ground was substituted with just rocks and the cliff of a mountain up in front.

Ricardo took point and began utilizing his pathfinding skills that was better than the rest.

After a short walk, he raised his hand to signal a stop. He bent down and investigated the ground in front of him. Sara and Paul walked in front.

"What is it?"

She asked as he fiddled with the dirt in front of him.

"Compaction in the ground that doesn't match half the journey were made. Whatever it was, something hit here pretty hard." He could only guess one such object falling down from the sky to do this to the earth.

"I still don't see no wreckage though." Paul said as it was the clear sign that the bomber had been here and Ricardo's assumption to be true.

"I'm just stating the facts, perhaps Sergeant Grilles and his men have cleared the area to mask its presence." It was also a possibility.

They looked around in the surroundings as well as the beacon, it was pointing in the direction of a cave not to far from where they were.

They moved to the direction of the beacon based on Ajay's coordinates on the GPS with silence.

"Do any of you smell an obvious trap?" Paul asked.

"….."

"How about you let me spring it first?" He walked on without waiting for a go ahead. Saras grasped his shirt to stop him.

"Oh? The lovely lady worries about me too." He exclaimed with glee.

"Here's a smoke grenade in case you get pinned." Contrary to his expectations, Saras instead encouraged him and provided him with a smoke grenade in case he got into trouble. Paul shook his head and chuckled sadly to himself.

"I'll take it gladly." He said without revealing any sort of complaint.

They took cover behind a defilade while Paul walked up to the opening of the cave where the beacon was blinking. Halfway to his destination, he received some unexpected assistance who volunteered to follow at the last minute.

"Always nice to have company." He said with a pleasant smile.

"Don't let it get to your head, imbécile." Michelle said as she walked beside him.

As they continued on their way, Samson and Alberto were eyeing the cliffs with their scoped rifles to watch for hidden snipers.

Paul had made this request as he possessed better instinctual senses than any of the people with them, these were skills developed in conflicts like Gaza or that one fateful time in Longinus's home of war-torn Africa. They were so well honed, he could sense if crosshairs were aligned to him or anyone near him.

Like the one currently on Michelle.

(Bump) "Hey! Wha-." He pushed her aside as- (Bang)

"Contact! Ten o clock, behind the boulder!" Ricardo traced the shot and fired suppression on the rough location where the shooter was.

(Bababababababaam….)

The rest behind the defilade added to that firepower. Samson and Saras got out of cover to quickly retireve Michelle and Paul.

Michelle ended up being weighed down by his body and collapsed with him. When she recovered and pushed him off of her, she found her hand smeared with blood.

"Paul?….. Paul! Wake you, you stupid bastard! Paul!" She shook him as he failed to respond.

"Grab his arms! Miss Roka, cover us!" Samson gave orders that could potentially save their lives. Saras did as she was told whilst Samson lifted Paul with the help of Michelle.

With the likely marine lone marine pinned behind the rocks. One of men from the Irina trinity took out a thermobaric launcher and blasted away at the boulder. The result was a shrapnel of rock flying all over along with with a burnt-up body falling from the heights.

"Urraa!" Shouted the Russian that fired the rocket, cheering his perfect shot. But none of them including his fellow Russians were particularly content with what happened.

They managed to bring Paul and Michelle back as quickly as they could, then Emilio and Stella begun first aid. But Paul remained unmoving.

"Paul…. Paul… Wake up, Paul!" Michelle was at the verge of tears as she shook him violently, detrimental to the two who were actually attending to his bullet wound.

"PAUL!"

"-Uph! I'm up, what did I miss?" He said as if he were just caught dozing off.

It made the few who thought Paul was a goner complete bewildered. Like a guy faking his funeral and appearing for it in person. Michelle was in a stupor for a couple of seconds before she turned away and walked a distance.

(Pakk) "Ow! Hey what the-." He got smacked by Saras on the face before she went off to be with Michelle.

Samson left to dispatch orders to the other boys and the Irinas' to investigate the mouth of the cave and the body to find clues.

"We don't know if he was trying to delay us to buy his friends some time, we need to act fast. Paul, stay here and wait for pick up."

"Urggh… No man. I'm going-…" He said struggling to get up, a bullet had pierced straight through his shoulder and out the back. Thankfully the projectile didn't cavitate or it would've been worse.

"Man, what the hell was all that about?" Ricardo got off asking as Stella continued to apply the blood clot agent.

"Buddy, you're too young if you don't know that it's not good to make a woman cry on your behalf." He said it like it was no big a deal and temporarily forgot his pain. Hearing that reasoning, even Stella stopped working and accidentally pressed onto his wound too hard.

"Ow!"

"Sorry." She returned to fixing his wound.

Ricardo took a while longer to recover then sighed. -What a man.- He thought.

"Just hand me the morphine shot and I'll be right as rain again." Stella looked at Ricardo worried, because she knew the extent of the wound but her husband nodded to her and she dug into the pouch to hand him said injection. He took it and didn't hesitate for a moment in stabbing himself with the shot and inserting the fluids.

"Thanks, you're a lifesaver." He said to Ricardo. "And you're an angel." To Stella and got up on his feet without even waiting for the effect to kick in. How many times had he done this before, and did he always come out this way? He was almost as monstrous as their boss. Paul ran up to apologize to Michelle personally and earned a few yells of warning, but she seemed to have more of a worried look than of loathe like usual.

"What a guy." Stella said to Ricardo.

"That's exactly what I thought. Damn, if I were a chick, I'd be all over him." His lady chuckled at his expression.

"We've got a nuke to find, so let's hurry." She nodded and followed him with haste to catch up to the rest who were already assembled by the cave entrance which led into the mountains. And ominious size that kind of said there was an entire cavern network underneath. They made their preparations for close quarters as best they did for the Marines that were waiting for them.

A little war going on amidst the chaos about to collide with the arrival of the Rakshasa upon the battlefield.

* * *

They followed the trail that was left by their target of opportunity. Half the group were on this venture purely to disrupt the Demon's efforts. The other half were thinking of exacting vengeance on behalf of their battalion being wiped out. Despite Brody's warning, they insisted. They clearly didn't know what they were getting into, still it was fun to watch hopeless fools try and fail at the cost of their lives.

Tracking Badala had its strategic advantages as well for Brody and the Golden Path. He could isolate him from whatever plans he had and keep him from commanding what forces were purposely luring the expedition onto whatever trap they had in place.

They'd been running non-stop for over twenty minutes and the trail was just barely noticeable but there. He had to admit, the Rangers knew their craft but they were still headed in the wrong set of objectives. Admirable foolhardy behavior, worthy of the title warrior. Not like that pussy who thought he was a warrior simply by picking up a machete and gun and becoming good at killing. Jason was a coward, these boys were the real deal. Brody almost felt sad that they were walking into certain death. But hey, that was their freedom to choose. And Brody treasured nothing but freedom.

They arrived at a clearing that seemed to be a result of a change of terrain, there was a canyon up ahead that led to an open space.

"…"

"What are you waiting for?" The captain asked.

"It's a trap!" He did his back to mimick a certain character in a space opera franchise.

"Just kidding, there's a whole lot of trees here so it'll be pretty ideal for use than the attacker if that were the case." With Brody's confirmation and his own assessment of it to be exactly as he said, he waved his platoons to take point.

Even as he said so, Brody was having a rather itchy feeling from the voodoo craft he wove of something magical in the area. It only reacted to the presence of something like Badala the last time or a Rakshasa General like that one guy he met.

The havildar who was walking a bit in front stopped where he was, the Rangers ignored him and moved on ahead.

(Click) "Huh?"

"Oh Fuc-(BOOM) The point man screamed before his body was blasted by the hidden pressure mine under his foot. Everyone hit the dirt when it went off.

"Shit! Doug's gone!" One of the Rangers reported to his nearest NCO.

"Damn it! They were expecting us to follow." The captain scorned.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that, cap." Brody said.

"Isn't it obvious!?"

"No, cap. I think you've got it wrong."

(BOOM) An explosion rumbled behind them on their origin path. The canyon entrance they walked through was blown to smithereens and the rock came crashing down sealing their exit from whence they came.

"They were waiting for us." Brody said in completing his sentence.

"Spread out! Find cover and set up that MG!" He begun to take reactive measures to the impending assault from everywhere. That was the response for ambush 101. The Rangers ran into action, whilst the Golden Path members were surprisingly still. Much to the Rangers' dismay, thinking they were amateurs or simply to stunned to respond to the trap sprung.

And then, as a group rushed to the nearest treeline. The whole line of forest caught fire and engulfed them with the trees that burned fiercely.

The captain watched as their only means of protection had turned into a death trap with walls closing around them. The fires spread till they became a full-on forest fire, the sound of wood crackle, the smoke almost concealing their front and the rising temperature.

"Target! Three o clock!" A Ranger happened to notice a figure amidst the flames, standing all by himself with the backdrop of flames sent a powerful message that he was the orchestrator of all this.

"It's him!" Brody said with a wild grin.

The Golden Path exalted fighters turned their weapons towards the figure and fired. The rangers did the same, but all they hit was a mirage to their disbelief. They ceased fire as they were merely expending bullets worthlessly.

"I'm shocked, Ajay Ghale. You put all of this on for me." Brody called out to claiming this was done for him.

"You and me….. we're one of a kind, yunno that, right? We're both monsters in our own class, the world, our own people reject and try to kill us. Even now, you're trying to escape from it, aren't you." The captain had left him to his deluded monologue, dismissing Brody as out right insane. He did his best to keep his men alive instead by gathering to form a firing circle that covered 360, apparently the Golden Path exalts were also outside of it and within their firing arc. Just went to show how much they trusted them now.

"Why do you still cling to your faith in people, when all they do is betray you?" Brody shouted to get an answer from him.

"… The fact that you put me in the same cloth as you… is utterly revolting. As for my faith, a little brat crying because his sister abandoned him and throws a hissy fit wouldn't understand."

It was for a split second that Brody's smile fell and filled with a twisted expression, but quickly replaced with the same annoying grin.

"Daisy told you, eh? Heard about your little tie-up you had with her years ago. And man! To think you were just a mechanic, sadly anti-climatic." He said to agitate Ajay into coming out. But the only response that came was an arrow flying at a hundred pounds worth of kinetic energy. He was too late to dodge as it struck him and pushed him a few metres from his original position.

"Urghh!" He could recover from this, but it still hurt.

"Huh?" Brody looked down and saw blood continuously dripping with no signs of recovering. That was when the pain really set in. He looked down at the arrow shaft, it had intricate Vedic texts carved onto it cancelling out the exaltation casted upon him much like the Devas.

Weapons fire erupted from distortions amidst the fire, but not noticeable silhouette could be seen. Killing some of the Rangers whom had no ground cover, until they fired back. Some shots hit something in emptiness and distorted. It appeared to be some sort of active camoflauge like in the movies, but they had trouble picturing such tech here of all places. Especially when there hadn't been any public developments of this sort of tech known to them. But there they were, with muzzle flash being the only physical thing giving their position away. The Rangers fired along with the Golden Path who were just as surprised that someone was attacking them with CNS tech.

"You feel that pain, don't you? There're a million ways I want you to suffer, Jason Brody. Or should I call you by your real name…. Vaas Montenegro!" Brody, or Vaas laughed so crazily he almost busted a gut even though it was just that which was penetrated by that heavy arrow.

"What did I tell you, we're two of a kind. We both hide behind masks, hermano! Now, show me what you've got!" He stood up limping whilst drawing his machete.

"Don't worry, I'll put you out of your misery!" He triangulated the voice origin to be at his back and turned his head to see an arrow leave his bow flying straight for Brody's head. With the power of its draw, the arrow moved extremely quick, almost reaching bullet speed but carried more mass and therefore more energy.

Ajay wasn't going to play around in a knife fight like he thought, he was going straight for the kill. And here, he'd misjudged the justice and honour fellow over the rage and contempt he felt for Vaas.

And just when the arrow was about to pierce his head. (Ping) Like glass shattering, a sound prevented the arrow from reaching any further. For an arm cladded in some sort of ancient gauntlet held onto the arrowand crushed it.

That arm belonged to the senior havildar that accompanied Brody and the Company of Exalt fighters.

Such a thing could be done to Ajay's arrow which had sealing rites carved upon it, that would make Rakshasa think twice before getting hit by it. Yet this person stopped it with his hand.

Only one sort of being could do such a thing.

"Which one of her lackies are you?" Ajay called out to the Rakshasa General who kept his identify hidden from even Brody.

"I am Purushartha, General of the Southern Gate." The Rakshasa waved his hand and out of thin air materialized a black staff or rod of some kind.

"Her highness might have instructed us not to kill you, but that does not mean I will do you or your comrades no harm, vessel."


	122. Chapter 111(i) - Know your enemy

Four days ago -

Like usual, the night was spent by a warm tinder fire with woods that gave off a rather calming sweet smell. Supposely rendering feral animals sleepy, just like Vajra who was yawning away and finally closed its dog eyes and slept peacefully.

The only ones awake were Darshan and Ajay, another long day of learning and crafting demon banishing techniques.

Ajay had learnt much about the Demon Banishing arts as well as of his own demonic powers in the process through a relative theory in one of the scripts. He first started with a breathing exercise to sense the flow of spiritual residue and the strands of Karma after Darshan performed a rite of passage ceremony for him and forcefully opened his third eye and chakra.

He could paint talismans and impart some spiritual sense into them to act as sensory devices, or weapons to be directed at an enemy of unnatural being. He could engrave runes upon wooden swords, bullets and blades to give the same effect of damaging them. He could control the flow of prana in his body to manifest strength in his chants. Mire, deflection, empower, divine sense. These were some of the basic spells that Darshan taught. But of all these chants, he couldn't quite do one of them. And it was the most important of them all, the 8th Demon Banishing Hex. It had one of the most complex nunciations out of the rest that were only a few words, the Banishing Hex was an entire sentence like out of a poem.

The spell used to deliver a killing blow to beings too powerful to defeat with magic weapons or talismans. There were drawbacks like an unusually long chant and absolute focus required. This meant that your opponent needed to be kept at a distance to use it, like they would let you. So Darshan had often mired or weakened them to the point he could not be reached in time.

When he finally got the hang of pursuing his own path in developing his demon banishing skills Darshan advised him less and less, so as to let him experiment and feel his full potential on his own. He had prepared a trial for him to come, to exorcise a spiritual entity that often lurks in caves in these parts. Much like the smaller tests but this one involved no intervention from Darshan and if he didn't kill it he would perish. If he could succeed in this trial it was sufficient to qualify as a Demon Banisher, albeit not as skillful as Darshan but enough to counter and deter the Rakshasa on his own grounds. And adding his own demonic strength into the picture to force multiply, it was a power that not even the Four Pillars would want to reckon with lightly.

And so, both of them were doing some last-minute preparations before the next day, Darshan sharpened his blade and tested the seals. Ajay carefully carved runic symbols onto a gauntlet belonging to his armor, to protect himself from whatever spell of curse was casted at him.

"We'll begin the tracking of your target tomorrow, make sure you have those seals and trap rigs done before breakfast."

"I'll finish it before we get some shut eye." Darshan nodded in acceptance.

"Darshan." Ajay called out, feeling the time was alright to ask.

Darshan put down the knife from sharpening and looked over.

"… What happened?" It was a simple question but it was only referring to one thing. His past before all of this.

Over the course of a week, Darshan had come to understand Ajay's earnesty in learning and was not opposed to his unwillingness to fight the Rakshasa to the death.

He looked up into the starry sky and gazed deeply as if recalling something.

"… What if time and space were irrelevant?" He posed that unusual question instead.

"What if the death of her brother and the fall of the Rakshasa hadn't even been thousands of years ago but just a few centuries or maybe even decades."

"Is that even possible?"

"Why gods and immortal beings don't age is because they don't heed to the flow of time or era like we mortals do. So what exists instead is an alternate path, another timeline." Ajay was shocked to hear him say this, could it be?

"You aren't the original Ajay Ghale of this timeline. Just as I'm not a resident of this era either."

"I'm sorry- what?" Did he say he was from another timeline? Ajay almost thought he heard wrong.

"Don't get me started, Ajay Ghale. You yourself come from a different time, so why can't I?"

"…. (sigh)… Fair enough…. So what happened?" Ajay was inclined to ask, Darshan stared back like there was an abyss in his eyes.

"…. We lost."

"I was a warrior of another version of the Kyrat that we know now, a place where Pagan had not arrived and the Devi bloodline prevailed." Ajay nearly fell over as Darshan immediately went straight to the point.

"… Even if the Kingdom wasn't as strong as it is now, it still didn't go through two decades of civil war to drain its resources or manpower. And even still, when we met out in the fields of Pacchim…. It was a slaughter. Imagine fighting an enemy that shrugged your bullets and overpowered you in hand to hand, then multiply it by tens of thousands of them when all it took was a hundred to wipe out our entire army." It was a horror that Ajay didn't want to experience next to his previous life of despair.

"Of course, the rest of the Rakshasa were busy as well…. Busy butchering the entire population to exert their wrath of a forgotten era upon us. We hid, we struggled, we resisted but they seemed to know where we were and swept us way like twigs. We did call out for help. But the other nations were just as frightened of them as we were, United States and the world nations fortified Pakistan, India called forth their hidden bloodlines, China dispatched their state Daoist priests. Together, they sealed us in with those monsters." A face of anguish and hatred for the foreign powers appeared in the form of lines on his face.

"Is that why all this time you didn't trust any form of foreign aid?"

"….." Ajay knew the answer to that question but still asked to be clarified on it.

"I just don't understand one thing, if she and the Rakshasa could overpower you back then without problem, wouldn't it have been easier to achieve their goal?" Darshan almost chuckled in sadness at the cruel response that Ajay gave with no tack, Ajay only wanted to know the history of the Rakshasa in hopes of finding a weakness to exploit.

"Yunno, out of all the others. None of them exhibit a personality like yours, it only confirms that your soul and memories have amixed with her Brother."

"'cuse me? Others?"

"From the moment you appeared in the Royal Palace that day, you didn't follow the route which the original would." Ajay had a moment to make a conclusion of what Darshan told him.

"…. You're saying you've encountered other Ajay Ghales' have you?" Darshan nodded.

"So… What happened to me in your-… nevermind."

"… You died fighting." Darshan answered his unfinished question of where he was in Darshan's timeline. Even if it was to be expected, Ajay wondered what life would have been like for him if the Devi bloodline prevailed as Darshan said it did and that Pagan hadn't come. Did that mean he had a complete family life?

"So you're saying that this isn't the first time she's tried to awaken him from me."

"Yes and No. This will be the last time out of the ten incarnations, if she can't bring him out on this last incarnate…. You. Then she'll never be able to ever again, her brother won't enter the cycle of reincarnation nor will his spirit linger. It will vanish just like she would."

"Again. How do you know so much?"

"Because I am the fourth incarnate…. Or at least I used to be." Ajay didn't notice but his hand had started to jitter, either because he was in shock or that he just couldn't accept how wide this world genuinely was.

"Not every incarnate was Ajay Ghale. Like me, our only common ground was that we'd had a fateful encounter with Yalung's bloodline."

"Hang on! Are you saying that you have this-."

"No, Ajay Ghale. I don't have it with me any longer, it was expelled. The inheritance of the Demon Banishers, I only discovered later." When Ajay heard these words, he slumped back against the sleeping bag of his. Just when he had his hopes about Darshan exporting the Demonic Powers in him as well. But this did explain why he knew what he knew on Yalung's essence and imparted upon him some forbidden techniques such as blood read. To steal memories from a victim's inner blood directly from the heart.

"When I first encountered her, all she was on about was a loving affection for a person whose soul inhabited me. Yet, she intentionally killed my friends, my brothers, my parents…. One by one in front of me, sometimes slowly, sometimes so quick I barely even processed it. And then-….. then came Jita and Lalita's turn." He clenched his hand around a pendant that Ajay couldn't see under the dim light of the fire.

"And when I finally broke, she found that the ritual failed yet again like the others had. Then….. I was discarded. Her cold gaze looked at me like I was some useless excess post-ritual, so her followers dispatched of me."

Darshan then turned to Ajay with a look like he'd aged a decade in a single night.

"Lalita…. And Jita….. Your wife and kid, right?" He slowly mimicked those names as if he'd heard them before but couldn't bring out enough synapses to recall. Ajay recalled him saying his wife had been expecting as well. The amount of cruelty against him, all because of a seed within him she tried to acquire.

"Why?..." He didn't understand why she'd done all of this, how would that bring her brother back?

"By breaking your spirit just as the corrupted Ancient Devi dynasty did to Kalinag. These raw emotions coupled with an unprotected soul are all she needs to encourage his return and possession of your body reformed as a Rakshasa."

"Is that even possible? Bringing someone from the dead I mean." This wasn't like chanting scripts from an Egyptian book of the dead to bring a mummy back to unlife.

"They're not omnipotent, but the possibility exists. Albeit slim with the kind of power and boons they might have. They're Rakshasa, not full-fledge Asuras or Devas after all."

They had a moment of silence among themselves.

"Tell me, Darshan. Against an ancient and immortal enemy, what chance do we have? I-… we're just as small state of humans that only just broke from the chain of civil war. We have the Americans looming over in search of their lost nukes." Depending on the answer, it was the definition of how they'd fight against the Rakshasa.

"So I've heard from Vijaya. You're trying to lure the Rakshasa into finishing off your mortal foes. I can leave you some talismans that might help you attract them to investigate from their boundaries." Ajay was pleased that Darshan was even willing to help him on this because Darshan had only thus far cared about killing Rakshasa and renegade spirits.

"Thanks."

"Mmm…. If we can take her down, we stand a chance at erasing the Rakshasa from history forever."

"How?"

"They've lasted this long because of their Princess and the boons which she holds, she's their emotional crutch as she is their only hope of survival against the Natural Law of the Mountains and Valley. If she isn't around, there's no point for them to continue living." He implied they'd commit mass suicide.

"Weren't they the original owners of these mountains? How did it all turn against them?"

"I'm not sure about the details, but it seems they lost it to someone they only describe by the title of "Great Betrayer"." It wasn't the most innovative of titles, but it didn't take what he or she did out of the equation to earn that sort of name.

Ajay reminisced the message Vel passed on behalf of her master, even though Darshan claimed it was merely because of the soul trapped in him that she viewed him that way. He was somehow convinced it wasn't entirely true.

"…. Meet in Shangri-La….." Me murmured.

"Shangri-la cannot be opened by them, that right has been stripped from them." Darshan said to his own self-questioning.

"But we mortals still have our qualifications." So that was why the Rakshasa were supporting the Golden Path. They needed them to break into Shangri-la and with the help of Mohan whom held the Kalinag Thangkas, it might not seem to be so hard after all. Ajay just realized how important the Kalinag thangka was now of all times. He'd have to make a trip through the caves to retrieve them once more, but according to his father's diary even he didn't know where Darpan split it apart and hid them. Only Ajay, both the recently deceased Reggie and Yogi knew, not if they could summon Darpan's spirit to ask them they might never know. Yuma had spent her entire life searching in a wild goose chase for the thangkas with all of her resources, so what chance did the Golden Path have.

Perhaps that was a bargaining tool he had to her for the time being.

So now, Ajay had a clearer picture of what he was up against and what were the likely objectives than he ever had before. It was him and the Royal Army against the Rakshasa and Golden Path, with the US expeditionary force as a third and unwelcomed party.

-Hang on!- There wasn't just three parties here.

"What if…" Ajay said with some hope to his question.

"What if we could get the Disciples of Yalung to fight them?"

"…." But Darshan seemed to have that taken into account.

"Do you know why the Disciples are the way they are and what turns them into those abominations?" He said almost sighing.

If there was a cricket now would be the time it made noise on Ajay's behalf.

"The "elixir" is nothing more than Yalung's blood containing corrupted memories of Kalinag's rage and fall. While there is some truth to the events that conspired, the hosts of this blood don't fully understand the incomplete blocks that make up the true events and so they become deluded with ony those repeated memories. Hence, the Disciples came into being."

"The last time I went up, there were no Disciples in that mountain."

"There are always Disciples, as long as the prison is there, there will always be ignorant fools that venture too far into those caves." Darshan stated like it was a fact.

"As for those abominations…." Ajay could only guess he referred to the Yetis.

"They're a failed attempt to ascend based on the visions of the blood. The result is a form that isn't truly ascended yet not entirely mortal either. They should've been crushed by the mountains and valleys. But somehow took a form that mimicked the Vanara monkey tribe, in doing this they aheeded to the natural law by inheriting the extinct sentient Monkeys' right to live in the mountains.

Ajay was surprised to say the least. That the Vanara tribe monkeys looked something like the Yetis he knew. Giant gorilla like apes or something close to that. It seemed that the half-baked ascended Disciples and the like which took in the elixir had adapted to suit the natural law without offending it. But apparently Darshan wasn't convinced that a herd of deluded people would respond to their requests.

"If anything, the Discples are a huge hindrance to the Rakshasas' plans. Being the way they are in an ascended form has made them more animal than sentient, hence they abide by their natural instincts. This means that the natural law can used them to banish the Rakshasa should they oppose it without their protection of the Princess." It was another affirmation that without the Rakshasa Princess they would surely perish.

"Rest up, Ajay Ghale. You have a long day tomorrow, I've gone through with you the entire process of initiation into the Demon Banishing order. Now, it is up to you to prove you are worthy of the seal." He held out that medallion that whispered to him previously. Ajay was inclined to refuse it.

He lay back against his sleeping bag and into the night sky, stars blanketing the dark and keeping the inhospitable night warm.

"We will win this, Ajay Ghale…. We have to." Darshan said one last time before turning in.

So much hope, this fella had. Despite the odds that even made Ajay's stomach turn. This guy no longer had the demonic powers like Ajay did, only his wit and the Demon Banishing inheritance. He was just a normal human being like everyone else. And yet, she and the Four Pillars didn't discount his abilities. Perhaps Darshan's willpower was still his most valuable asset, even if it was solely for revenge.

But Ajay knew, that when all this was done. Darshan might turn his blade his way. For if there was to truly be peace to Kyrat, the Demon of Kyrat should vanish along with all other monsters.


	123. Chapter 112 - Sleeping Beauty Aurora

Author's Notes:

School holidays coming on the 18th onwards, so will have lots of free time apart from the day job and likely lots of time to do RaK and my new story, God of Cookery.

* * *

Here he was with Brody finally in his pocket, and then this damn Pillar was in his way. Purushartha was his real name, and he was the General of Akaashs' South Gate. But none of this was worth a damn to Ajay, he was in the way of his prey and it was a bloody nuisance.

"What worth could she possibly place on that puppet?" Ajay inquired on why he was protecting Brody.

"Anything that keeps you occupied and away from disrupting the flow of our plans." Was his reply.

(pow) (pow) Ajay ignored him and fired a quick succession of arrows at Brody with the help of his automatic loader.

But Rakshasa Purushartha stood in the way and used his lance to swat the arrows out of the air. A rather loud report from the deflection occurred as the arrows embedded with runes were smashed into bits by his weapon. Clearly, it wasn't ordinary and might be on the same league as that broken sword Vasu carried with him.

"Tsk!"

"Dude, I dunno if I should kiss you or-." Brody was about to go on his annoying monologue when an aura shot out from Purushartha to silence him without saying anything.

Ajay was now fixed onto a target not of his chosing.

"Right, I'm buggering off! Take care of 'em, will you? Woop!Woop!Woop!Woop!..." Brody tried to make a run for it as he jumped through the flame walls. Now, Ajay was really furious.

And ignored the Pillar once more by trying to pursue him. And once again, the Rakshasa disappeared from his original spot and appeared in a flash in front of him.

"GET LOST!" Ajay swung his blade down as the spear wielding Rakshasa whom responded with the turn of his lance to have the pommel facing him. He then launched the shaft at him, with the pommel going for his throat. Ajay's reflex kicked in and he tilted his head and turned his shoulders slightly to avoid the lance by a millimeter. Ajay kicked up towards his torso to which the spear twirled and knocked his leg and himself into the air. Ajay backflipped gracefully and landed on two feet.

It was at this point, they had crossed swords and were stuck in fighting one another till someone quited or died.

"Jeevan! Get Brody! I don't care if you kill him, bring me back something!" He roared over the clashing of blade and strange metal staff.

The younger man was a world about why he picked him instead of Vasu who would've had more experience. He didn't realise his own potential, and like Brody he was young which allowed him to be inventive in bad situations.

"I'm on it!" He shouted back over the fighting. Vajra instinctively felt the need he was in and accompanied the fellow seal guardian.

The Rakshasa was annoyed he directed his focus elsewhere whilst they were engaged in a duel. "This arrogance will cost you!" He hurled the lance at Jeevan who was running with his back turned.

(Boom) A shot rung out from Ajay's most powerful range weapon and knocked the lances trajectory off Jeevan's torso and stuck itself to a tree trunk. The tree uprooted from the force of the lance that javelined into its trunk

"Don't think you can just turn away after you pulled me into this!" He exclaimed to the Rakshasa.

Now, the Rakshasa General had all his attention onto Ajay, he reached out into thin air somehow calling the spear back into his hand through an invisible traction force. The lance freed itself and returned to its master. Purushartha looked down at the shaft of his lance and found its highly-detailed carved art to be blemished by the place the slug hit it on. He frowned as he didn't want to believe what the General of the North Gate told him about that weapon, but seeing if for himself he knew it wasn't ordinary now.

Vasu and the rest were fighting with the Golden Path exalts, whilst the Hunters had a small skirmish with the remaining Rangers whom were trapped like all of them were.

"Why!? Brother?!"

"Working with the demon?! Have you disowned your comrades?!"

"Don't waste breaths on a traitor, kill him!"

The Golden Path converged on him one after another with gun and blade, not fearful of being shot due to their warped nature. Vasu was forced to reveal a new trump in the form of the newly acquired sword with a broken tip. He sliced through one of the fighters and he lunged back in surprise as his body began to delay rapidly and his wound became ashes as he disintegrated slowly and in an agonizing way. It made the company think twice about approaching him, for here was a weapon that could kill them regardless of state.

The Rakshasa General was distracted for a moment when he too saw the blade in his grasps that was unmistakable.

Ajay used the counterstrike technique of the Four Seasons Pandemonium fighting art to push the attack from before back at the Rakshasa and ended up in a blade lock. He was in a bad match up with his short kukri against Purushartha's long lance

"I didn't want to believe it when Lord North Gate said it fell into the hands of a damn mortal."

"What can I say, the sword probably found him worthy." Ajay taunted.

 **[How can he be worthy?! He is but a mongrel!]** Purushartha unintentionally reverted back to his original tongue from the anger that flustered him, Ajay understood every word thanks to a talisman on his persons that did sort of translate it in his mind.

Ajay took that moment of loss focus to slap a talisman onto his torso.

"Mire!" He called out to the talisman to activate its hidden ability.

"What in heavens?!-..." Purushartha was completely bewildered at what he just saw.

Ajay changed to the offensive and used the Third Form of the martial art to penetrate the harden flesh of the Rakshasa. Ajay shoved the blade into his shoulder neck area downwards to impale the possessed body's heart behind the ribcage. Unfortunately, his kukri was too short and it only did significant damage to the less vital organs. It was sure to have hurt like hell but this was an entity almost immune to pain.

The Rakshasa didn't let him proceed any further than that as he released a restraint on his body that was felt by everyone in the area. The shockwave rippled the air and an uncomfortable sense of distress was felt by everyone still human or close to it. The talisman caught fire and burnt to ashes, overpowered by the supreme might of the being it tried to deter.

(Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr) A tremor rose in strength.

Static erupted from his body and engulfed the entire area with a mild shock of electricity. The Rakshasa General lifted his rod into the air and chanted as the ground rocked apart.

 **[I never would have expected the day that you, a vessel would connive with the likes of Demon Banishers!]**

"Whose fault do you think that is?" Ajay said as he sent two more flesh slugs his way. (boom) (boom) (crash)

It was as if a glass wall had been hit by those slugs and shattered some sort of null defense. Ajay switched to his wooden sword and kukri in dual wield as he approached the Rakshasa.

Purushartha flung his lance in front of him, sending the earth crackling and the ground uprooted to hinder Ajay's charge.

 **[Slaughter Moon!]** Rakshasa Purushartha shouted with a finger pointed at him to direct the curse his way. Ajay had already begun to murmur the Vedic texts to protect his body.

"Break!" Ajay shouted back on his advance, the Karmic threads were blasted out of existence. Purushartha was getting a better grasp of his Demon Banishing powers, he had initially thought it wouldn't be a problem as the Princess had bestowed upon him and the others a boon that would suppress his inner demon. The only thing that was physically on par with their real bodies.

 **[Asure Sky!]** At these words, Purushartha cast a more powerful spell over the battlefield. In an instant, as described by the name the sky around them turned asure colour. All the light of the sun was robbed by a drenching cold of the surroundings. Asure Sky was an area of effect magic made possible by the Rakshasas' naturally high Prana reservoir. It didn't kill nor curse its targets in the domain of its circumference.

It made those that stood in it have their very souls tremble with fear.

Fear can even paralyze a grown man, rendering him immobile indefinitely. Fear weighed down their hands of aggression and destroyed their resolve to fight further. And so, everyone else within the immediate area, Ajay's men, the Army Rangers, the Golden Path exalt fighters and even Vasu was frozen stiff. While some of their minds were defiant to this will, their bodies refused to cooperate. A cold and dark will seeped into their extremities and killed the warmth in their bodies.

Ajay didn't move either, but stayed there whilst the Rakshasa General approached him.

"Know the difference between heaven and earth, filthy mortals!" Purushartha roared and lifted his lance towards the Rangers.

"You first, treacherous wild dogs." Lightning struck down from the heavy storm clouds and were gathered by his ancient lance.

The Rangers were wide eyed, they had never seen anything like what they'd saw just moments ago. When that bastard they were chasing fought with that Havildar utilizing inhuman reflexes and were having some sort of spell battle as well, was the only way of describing what they had been doing.

"Die!" He pointed the lance downwards towards them, and a rain of lightning from the sky fell down upon their position.

A flash of light so great that it blinded all who looked in that direction temporarily, screams rang out and died quickly. When the lightning hail had subsided, all that were left were smoking crisps of bodies burnt into charcoal. Both remaining forces bore witness to the awesome might of the Rakshasa, only increasing their fear of him.

"You…" He turned directly to Vasu.

"Put down that sword."

"Take it-… off my cold dead-… hands!" He said back in defiance as he struggled to regain control of his shivering body.

"Very well…. Then die!" Purushartha did the same to Vasu and cast the lightning hail upon him.

The lightning snaked down from the sky and struck at its next victim.

(Bang) Instead, there was a sound of it bumping a window. (Bang) (Bang) (Bang) (Crash)

The lightning struck what blocked its way repeatedly till the barrier that blocked its wrath cracked and dispelled. One last lightning strike remained as it flew to annihilate the supposed victim.

(Ping) Impact from the lightning cleared away the smoke caused from its predecessors' attacks and revealed that it had yet again not struck its target.

But was deterred by Ajay's gauntlets, protected by runic symbols he spent a good amount of time to carve painstakingly. They worked differently from his other weapons, for it was his last defensive option. It didn't rely on talismans or spells, it ran purely on Prana. The deflected lightning struck the ground and neutralized.

Purushartha stood stunned but not for long. To break through the Asure sky spell once cast had nothing to do with his identity as a demon banisher. Even a fellow Rakshasa would at least shiver from its effects. It meant only one thing…

"Your dead set on taking the life of my comrade over a fractured memoir of your lord. There will come a day, not now-…. when Vasu will be the one to kill you with his own hands." He said putting down his raised cross arms and leaking a bloodied smile from the internal damage received from the lightning he wasn't immune to.

There was no presence that Ajay Ghale feared.

* * *

Cave, that's what they though this was as first. It was more like a cavern system with catacombs, for the group that travelled through the narrow passages with a chasm looming next to them this was highly disadvantageous for them. Good for the remaining marines though whom they outnumbered.

The beacon device was no longer functioning because of the highly magnetized surroundings, even the flashlights flickered once in a while due to the magnetic field screwing with the electrons passing through its circuit from the batteries. The same could be said for their reflex sights and thermos cameras.

Ricardo and Irina-Two took point, Paul followed behind them as back up. Despite his injury and their warnings, he was strangely untalkative now and more dead focus on the task at hand. Samson and Irina Alpha stayed back in the protection of the rest due to their knowledge of nuclear devices.

Samson claimed he was taught to arm a free-fall type nuclear fission bomb under the designation B61. Used in the event the then-Soviet Armies Elite Armoured Corps rolled over West Germany successfully and tried to cross The Rhine to get to France next. The Russian specialist with them, Irina-Alpha was a former Strategic missile troop specialist in charge of mobile ICBM assets the Soviet Union rotated to keep the Western powers on their toes in contrast to their stationary missile silos. The key similiarity they had was that the systems they dealt with were all analogue, gear mechanisms that triggered the explosion as opposed to the more modern digital systems that communicated via a micro processor or optic fibre.

It had been some time since they entered the cavern to bear witness to the high ceiling and hollow surroundings.

"Nothing…. Did we just get lulled into a dead end?" Luca asked.

"No. These tracks are fresh, someone was running about here quite a lot." Said their squad leader Allegretto.

"Maintain trigger discipline, no explosives. We don't know the fragility of this cave." Saras said.

"You a geologist or something?" Irina Alpha asked.

"Civil Engineering, Imperial College." Was her answer, so Irina Alpha was assured that her assumption was quite well backed. Not that he'd seen her works in Kyrat before.

They followed Ricardo's tracks as he led them safely through the narrow passage and disabled some of the claymores along the way.

The light of the entrance was beginning to fade and instead another light was seen at the far end, a skylight in the roof provided light to one of the more spacious parts of the cavern if they ever saw one.

And lo and behold before them at the base of where the light shone was a collection of wreckage, not the entire craft but a black matte wing. It was a good start as it meant that they were in the right place.

Irina-Two approached ahead of the group to investigate the wreck without permission. (Click) "Chyort voz'mi! (Oh shit)"

"Don't move! Wait till I get there." Ricardo shouted to him as Irina-Two stood out in the open with a pressure mine right under his feet. The Russian specialist obediently waited as his eagerness nearly cost him his life. The rest took cover and scanned the area as Ricardo took out his tool kit and approached carefully, there was no telling if there were more than one.

"To think the first to approach would be a Russian. This was exactly as Langley feared." Came a voice from everywhere, echoing about.

"Sergeant Grilles…." Saras murmured.

"I heard that sweet cheeks, and it ain't sergeant no more. It's senior operator Grilles now, you tore up Ben-gee didn't you?" They assumed he was referring to that sniper of his.

Ricardo had just made it to where Irina-Two was standing and begun to inspect what type of land mine it was.

"Pretty cool, ain't it? You'd never expect an aircraft of that wingspan to fit into a cavern this narrow. When Willis brought me here, he told me that it didn't drag along the ground and come to a stop here. It pierced through the roof of iron ore."

"Gimme smokes!" Ricardo asked of them, Saras nodded for them to throw a few canisters of smoke to conceal their location.

"I'm no science geek, but I know that for something to penetrate over a hundred millimetres of rock and metal, you'll have to be going at speeds not possible for a simple bomber. Mach 3, was what he told me. Mach 3! How many aircrafts in the vast US Air Force fly that fast and carry nukes at the same time? My brother used to be an aircraft model hobbyist, yunno. Every week, was a new plane he'd be working on. Mom and Dad would spend a ton of cash cause he was the apple of their eyes, not a dead beat like me. But from all that blabbering he would go on about with those military planes, I could somehow remember them like the back of my hand." Grilles monologued to them for reasons unknown.

Saras had already dispatched a three to locate the source of the voice while the stood to cover Ricardo.

"SR-71 goes Mach 3 and above, but it only does reconnaissance. XB-70 Valkyrie does too and can carry bombs like it was supposed to, except….. this one ain't as big and it doesn't have the right shape."

"He's stalling us. We have to hurry." Saras whispered to Samson and Irina Alpha who took off to assist the three in their triangulation of the voice.

"But there was this one time my little bro was working on a personal project. Made with parts of other aircraft, because at the time there was no model set for this plane he made. It was an X-plane that didn't exist. But if it did, it would be the most technologically advanced air delivery weapon system ever conceived for its time. It would go faster than any other plane in existence, leaving interceptors in the dust… the even missile couldn't catch up to its hypersonic speeds. Radar wouldn't see it 'cause of the high-tech Radar absorbent material coating the airframe. There was only one type of aircraft theorised to do all of that…. Aurora."

"Got it. Let's get out of here." Ricardo said to Irina-Two as they left the land mine to get into safety. (Bang)(ping-BOOM) A bullet flew true to its target and struck the exposed landmine, setting off the explosive. An explosive shockwave resounded through the enclosed environment, engulfing Irina-Two and Ricardo within proximity of the fireball.

(rrrrrrrrrrrrr) The cavern shook from the explosion.

"RICARDO!" Stella ran out from cover but was held back by her senior.

"Muzzle flash! Three o clock! Fifty metres!" Luca called so to let the rest know he found the location of the shooter. They let out a suppressive fire to allow Michelle and Luca to attend to the two they lost sight of.

"Ricardo! Dio Santo! Where are you?!" Luca shouted through the clearing smoke and bore witness to a severed hand, where his heart stopped at the sight.

"(Cough) (cough) Here!- (cough)" He turned to find Ricardo badly grazed and smoking but intact.

"Thank god. Huh?" Michelle sighed in relief too soon.

Lying on him was half of Irina-Two shielding him from the blast. Their first casualty had been taken, and a very valuable member who was critical to the safe removal of the nuclear device.

"…"

Ricardo ran a hand over the open vacant eyes of the soldier that protected him. "I'll never forget this, Fratelli. Grazie." He whispered into the dead man's ear. He dug into the man's boot, cut the shoelaces and retrieved his ID tag before leaving the body.

"Aurora…. Willis never acknowledged its classification to me, but seeing it for myself I could only confirm with my own eyes that it really was that fictional X-plane. Pulse scramjet engines allows a maximum of hypersonic flights, delta-winged for lift, bomb bays that carry up to 10 tonnes of goodness. And when I took a peek at the cockpit-…. Well, that's just it. There wasn't any." Grilles laugh echoed from a yet untraceable location.

It was nine people now, looking for one and the remaining four that went with him who showed no signs of being around. And that was really worrying.

"To be honest, I never knew there were drones back in the '80s. Certain no super top-secret stealth bomber jets that Huey showed me. Guess you can't discount those labcoat spooks from trying."

His monologue was a nuisance, as it was a lesson on why the CIA were so desperate to cover this up. It was no wonder, it was pinnacle technology that their likely foes would pay billions to learn even a bit about it.

"If you're stalling to wait for those Ranger boys, you're wasting your time. They're all dead." Paul did some taunting of his own. And he was met with an eerie silence, Grilles was listening alright.

"….. Well….. I guess that's Army for you. Like a bunch of fuckin idiots. No matter, did ya really think I depended solely on that to escape this shithole?"

As they spread out in their search, they encountered more pieces of the crashed "Aurora" strategic stealth bomber that Grilles explained.

Saras turned to Irina-Alpha who looked back with a very calm look.

"You knew, didn't you?" Irina-Alpha slung his weapon and leaned against the walls.

"… October 12th, 1987. Mishelevka Station detected an anomaly making consistent routine patrols around our Turkestan Military District, what is today's modern Kazakhstan. High Command was aware of the Americans black project via espionage in their Lockheed aircraft plant. So they devised a trap to force that aircraft into our airspace and threaten the pilot to land. We made several mistakes that day, one was that we were under the impression it was a manned aircraft, the next was that any of our aircraft or air defence missiles could apprehend it. But whoever was remotely operating it had been cautious in his approach, despite the blockade we set, the aircraft chose the most unlikely route of escape through the unpassible Himalayas."

Saraswati didn't notice she'd been biting her lips. It was more than what Ajay and Maya had uncovered, this was the final piece it which set this conspiracy of Kyrati Civil War into motion. The Russians had been indirectly responsible for this madness as well. Was this why they went into a more comprehensive dialogue between their nations and had even provided materials and support thus far? Hoping the will of Kyrat would be lenient on their past action?

"And then it disappeared from our radar entirely, from then on we knew not if it had successfully left or not." Irina-Alpha finished his short summary.

"Our Lord will hear of this." Saras said without any tone of anger or delight. It made the Russian laugh uneasily.

"Yes…. He will…." Russia was no longer in its former state to be leveraging Kyrat like the other superpowers. If Ajay chose to cut the aluminium supply, it would be catastrophic to their re-emerging industry.

"We'll worry about diplomacy, later. For now, we need to kill Grilles and the rest of the Marines."

"Alright."

"We still need your expertise to handle the bomb." Irina-Alpha nodded and unslung his rifle to prepare for the worse that Grilles had prepared for their company.

"What's the readings on your Rad Monitor?" Ricardo came back to ask.

"Under 5 Rads, its here but not near enough." Irina-Alpha said after checking said device.

"Let's split into two groups, one with our dear Russian and the other with Samson."

"But Grilles-."

"He'll be near the nukes, that's for sure. But no matter what, we can't rush this or we'll pay with another life." Paul answered Saras.

"Alright, I'll accompany Paul, Michelle, Irina-Alpha and One."

"I guess, I get the family then." Responded Ricardo with a wry smile.

"Good luck." Ricardo nodded and went with his fellow Condotierri.

They split and when their separate ways through the caverns. Michelle took point despite Paul's fervent demand he be the one instead. They returned to the original routine of advancing slowly but surely, and in no time at all there were signs of the wreckage they'd been looking for.

A wreck about seven metres in span lay out in the open not far from where they'd found the skylight, it wasn't hard when there were skid marks on the ground and pieces of titanium and radar absorbent material lying around.

But this time, they were a little more cautious. Paul positioned behind a column closest to the wreckage of all of them.

-Stay outta sight, he's mind.- He motioned with his hands. The rest were expecting a plan to take him down together but instead, he ran out into the open.

"What the-…. Paul! Damn it!" Saras said as softly as she could and turned to look out for an attack.

(ping) Paul begun hurling grenades into every opening he could see surrounding their vicinity. (BOOM) (BOOM) (BOOM) The grenades went off one after another, which shook the cavern but not sufficient enough to cause a collapse.

Saras wanted to shout at him but he seemed dead focus. What he'd been trying to do was narrow the possible areas of attack upon them. Now, there were three points of entry that could facilitate a hit and run attack. His eyes darted to and from each and every entrance. Then Paul made hand signals for them to flank around to the left most entrance he was expecting to flush Grilles out from.

"Is this how you'd imagine yourself ending up? Buried in a foreign land?"

"Hell. I don't care where I get buried. If I were a corpse on the roadside it won't make a difference."

"Good." Paul took out two tear gas grenades and threw them into two of the points of entry. And fired his gun at the last as he advanced. He knew that before engaging his training, Grilles like the other Marines he'd seen fighting relied on their instincts first. So Paul made Grilles's instincts turn against him. Forcing him to displace. (tap) (tap) (tap) the patter of his feet sprinting gave his position away as he burst from the tear gas ridden area to new cover.

Paul fired at him on clutch as Grille ran to keep himself moving and fired on the move as well. Together, they ran parallel whilst running forwards. Grilles braked behind a column to misled Paul as he came around to find him once more. Grilles came into full view with his rifle already raised, Paul loosened strength in one leg to slide beneath the line of fire.

(Babababamm) His magazine emptied into the air instead of the target he'd intended for.

Paul positioned his rifle to face Grilles who realized he was at a bad moment to react. (click)

Fortunately for him and unfortunate for Paul, the latters rifle experienced a malfunction and refused to cooperate. A misfire had occurred due to the dampness of the cave affecting the cartridge primers of his Colt Carbine.

Grilles turned his weapon towards Paul who used the butt of his rifle to knock it out of his hand and reached into his holster to pull out his secondary, Grilles did the same. And it became a showdown with who had the quicker draw.

(Bang) (Bang) (plop)

A grazing shot struck black operator Grilles on the leg as he stumbled against a column. He fired his handgun fiercely at Paul who ran to take cover. From the bad location, he was in whilst shooting back on the move. But Grilles had focused his entire attention onto Paul that he forgot about the rest of the party. Paul had forced him to rely solely on instincts and because of that, he could not plan ahead.

(ping) (plop) He looked at his feet to see another grenade freely thrown despite Saras's warnings. Grilles dove from cover to get out of the blast radius. (BOOM) Rock shattered in the surrounding area once again. But had flushed him to finally into the open.

Grilles stumbled to get up as he found his leg a bloodied mess, but he had more pressing matters so he reached for his fallen rifle.

(Click) A rifle cocked after a fresh magazine was loaded. Pointed at him by the one that made it happen. Grilles gave up on fighting, he'd seen how crazy Paul was. Using explosives in such tight confines and against an expert like Saraswati's instructions. Even he knew this place would collapse at any moment. Paul had done a trick to the explosive grenades he threw, which he made air burst rather than impact the ground and tremor the floor. So the foundation of the columns and support pillars were not compromised as much as they thought.

Paul carefully approached flanked by the rest that had approached due to the duel that was going on between them.

"End of the line." He said as he holstered his handgun cowboy-style after blowing the muzzle.

"For me that is. But this is just getting started, this country'll suffer for killing our boys…..(huff) And you've made it happen."

The rest had gathered around after Grilles had been mortally wounded and unable to continue, Paul watched him whilst the nuclear device specialists approached the main portion of the craft. Ricardo screened for booby traps but there were none. Irina-Alpha's Rad monitor went up to 15 Rads as he stood near the craft, it was still safe levels but he wasn't sure of the decay the warhead had undergone behind the bomb bay doors. So they stepped back and allowed the experts to don their CBRN warfare suits before proceeding.

A power saw with an auxiliary power unit became instrumental in cutting the doors away. Watching all of this take place as they left him to die slowly, Grilles laughed in the background.

"What gives?" Paul asked.

"How many devices do you think were stored on it when it flew? Who do you think its target was?..." By now it was no surprise how Aurora ended up here. A drone this age flying through an area with a highly magnetized field would distort even the most durable of instruments, like the gyroscopic stabilizer.

"From the moment we opened those doors, there were four of 'em. Big ones, the type we'd use against a Major city….. Hey!... Maybe they were targeted for Moscow… Beijing? I'm not an airman so I wouldn't know."

But Paul did. If he was not mistakened, nuclear-armed devices and aircraft had a Permissive Action Link anti-tamper device. Most came in the form of combination locks, while others depended on a keycard. Attached to that device was a communication circuit that relayed the appropriate coordinates of the drop location. Perhaps that Black box would reveal who the targets were, suffice it to say they didn't want anyone knowing.

"Got it. Help gimme a lift." The power tool had done its job, now they had to heft the hinged door of the bomb bays aside. It had previously been welded shut by the Marines. With much effort, the cover was put aside and revealed the bay to all of them.

"Those-…. Those are…."

"Free-fallers. Cavolo! They're B83's." Only Irina-Alpha and One knew what were the designation of the weapons residing in the bomb bays of "Aurora"

"Levels are manageable." With that said, the three of them took off their chemical suits and gas masks. It seemed they contents hadn't leaked which was good.

"Each of these bombs have around One megaton yield, enough to burn Kyrat to a crisp and irradiate the Himavanas for decades." He said to Saras as they continued to break into the bomb cover to access the PAL interface.

Paul approached like the rest of them did to inspect the nuclear bombs still latched to the internal bays. And where his heart pounded at the sight of only three bombs inside the internal bays with a single rack missing one.

"Is this all?"

Paul went back to where Grilles was who grinned with a bloody smile.

"I've done all I can. The rest-…. I'll leave to the lads… By the way, where's the Captain and Perkins?..." He asked with strength waning.

"We shipped them back."

"Huh!… those two aren't soldier material… they just can't ignore the ugly truth… Thank You….." It was all Grilles had left to say, after that he let everything go. And died in a place that no one would ever venture ever again. Paul scratched his head, a little weird this guy that abandoned his comrades had left thanks for letting them live their lives.

The rest were really worried now. They had spent a good amount of time delayed by Grilles, so there was no telling where the other Marines had run off to with the last nuclear bomb. How did they carry a ton heavy bomb on their own?

"They couldn't have gone far with it in this kind of terrain. I suggest, you have Kamran pick you up and get a search party rolling to find them. I'll stay with One and remove the Blackbox and the triggers." Samson suggested.

"Ok, we'll assemble at the pickup. We'll have Kamran swing around in an hour's time to help with the retrieval of the rest of the devices. How does that sound?" Samson nodded to Saras's plan.

She unraveled a topographic map as they begun to look at the possible routes that the Marines would have taken with the device towards safety which was Peshawar, Pakistan. The US military base.

Paul was busy searching through the pockets of the corpse for any clues as to which direction the marines were headed in. He went through the combat harness thoroughly and was disappointed to find not a single clue. Until, he reached the shirt pockets and found something that seemed a little off.

A seed of some fruit Grilles must've eaten to sustain himself without supplies and rations for a good long while. He went over with the seed to where the others were in a heated and uneasy discussion of where they might've gone.

"Can you narrow those options to places with this fruit?" Paul said holding out the seed for them to see. Saras took the fruit seed from his hand and investigated the features.

"It looks like a loquat." She began to rake her brain for possible locations.

"We're looking for a place that isn't affected by the winter nor snows, preferably a valley with good soil composition and less density in the forest." Ricardo gave his assessment based on, Saras and a few others looked at him.

"What? (sigh) Before all of this, horticulture was my thing." He said before going back to the map.

"What about here?" Irina Alpha pointed to a place that had just the right flatland conditions for there to be a considerable growth of forageable loquat plants.

Unfortunately, the expression on Saras was anything but content that they had at least found a possible lead.

"That's where Ajay last reported in.""

* * *

"This can't be happening!" One soldier expressed his disbelief at the things they'd seen.

"If you can yap your mouth off then help Collins blow an extraction point near us!" His superior told him as he walked up to the hill to get a better vantage point of the situation that had befallen them.

"And where's that air support!? I asked for it last year!" He called to the radio dispatch.

"Radios are still dead, sir! Last I heard from 31st back in the rear was they're engaged."

"Engaged? Out here?! Do they take me for some kind of fucking idiot?! Who joined the party, the Indians?" He said sarcastically.

"With respects, sir-…!?" His superior who had a bronze star upon his shoulder grabbed his shirt and pulled him along to witness the battlefield over the ridge they were behind.

"Take a look at that, Lieutenant!"

Chaos. The entire valley and mountain side were filled with burning trees and the strong odour of death looming about. Below in the valley, was a defensive line being formed as thousands of men made a retreat from the enemy unknown.

At first, when he'd received word of the attackers being strangely dressed in pale blue plain on their dark skin wearing strange masks, he assumed they bumped into some savage local inhabitants. He tried to get word from his reconnaissance element, commanded by a friend in the Rangers but in vain. He sent some boys to check, and they relayed to him distressing news.

The entire Ranger Battalion had been slaughtered. "Slaughtered" was the word used by his scouts as they converged. Since the nature of their mission was to pass through this place and these tribes weren't recognized by anyone, he thought it fair to erase them from existence. An eye for an eye, the lack of long ranged comms and satellite imagery was still prevalent and highly irritating. He sent two regiments to sweep the area for the rest of the division. Ten minutes later, there were no reports from them and a few stragglers came running back to tell them of a terrible tale. An enemy that jumped out of thin air and attacked them, impervious to small-arms and were cleaving through them like they were animals in a slaughter house. Doing other strange things that could only be described with the word "magic". Men bursting into flames, poisonous air that suffocated them, winds that impaired their vision. All sorts of reports were being passed down the line as they advanced further until he decided that enough was enough. The situation was different and they had no forward intel at all. He called in a napalm strike on the valley ahead but as of yet, they hadn't responded due to a strange magnetic storm. The reports of casualties increased till out of the fourteen thousand only nine thousand were left.

It was inconceivable!

How could he lose this many in only thirty minutes of losing contact with Patterson? There was something going on here, and he shouldn't stay around to find out. So he and his staff unanimously voted to abort the mission to retrieve the nukes from the black site and the suppression of the local Kyrati government.

Helicopters were called in to pick up his men from the ridge line his command post had been established.

The fighting below at the defense line had worsened to the point that there were detonations just fifty yards from the hastily dug trenches. Mortar batteries had been emplaced to provide local indirect fire support and was doing a mighty-fine job at blowing to hell whatever was charging out of the forests to kill his men.

"Take a good look! Those are our boys dying out there because you can't put that horn to your ear and yell like your life depended on it! They're dying because of your incompetence!" He shoved the Lieutenant to the ground as he took out some binoculars and observed the fighting.

"Sir, helos are im- wait! No! It can't be!" Another radio dispatch showed shock on his face.

"Speak to me, son." The radioman looked at him with a strained face.

"They've been engaged by some unknown force using Russian designated SAMs on them!"

"Jesus Christ. Of all the times and places….."

The Brigadier placed a hand to his head and sighed. What he and the general staff thought was the perfect opportunity to avert the attention from the Middle East with "capturing a madman who threatened the President of the United States with stolen nuclear weapons" was now looking to fall apart heavily. They should've seen this coming, it was a provocation to bring them into this trap.

They knew too little about this place and hadn't even established any local assets to draw intelligence because of the urgency of the operation. Despite the warnings from the Marines sent back on "goodwill" whom they took their advice as hot air and "too long in the mountains" kind of talk.

All because of a letter that reached the White House. Worded taunts had been the death of over five thousand men on this very same day. A letter that challenged them on their ethics and openly revealed the existence of the nuclear weapons which the CIA had kept swept under the rug. The NSA was conducting a full branch sweep of those involved in an '88 operation long ago. Two names came up, Willis Huntley, MIA. And Paul Lynch, MIA. Both case officers last reported to have been in this region months ago.

The sender of that letter was titled… "Badala, 1st Lord of the Royal Army of Kyrat."

He'd heard much about him from interrogations in the CIA over a catalogue known as the "Leviathan" a compilation of monsters that were impossible to terminate and extremely dangerous. Yet, none of these status Ls had ever done as he did. Threatening not just a nation, but the most powerful nation in the world.

He had quite the infamy as well. He major feat was sending back the PLA response force at the Tibetan border. Singlehandedly repelled the rebels in his country. Invaded and subjugated a neighbouring state. There were strange reports of under the combat prowess section, having killed a Tiger with his bare hands. Fought in a gladiatorial arena and shred a Rhino with a knife. The codename "demon" was aptly named.

As he'd been occupied in an internal debate about what should have been done before this reckless campaign even started, he felt a sudden shift in the battle taking place at the defence line. He took up his binoculars and observed the front.

"Defense line reports, cannot hold! I repeat! Cannot hold!" The radio dispatch told him.

But he could see for himself, he saw the defence line soldiers turn and run as a tidal wave of those savages ran them over. He saw a soldier empty a full mag into one before getting his head torn off, he saw a masked savage point to a retreating soldier who burst into flames without explanation.

"Dear god…" They weren't savages, they were monsters.

"Sir? Orders!" His adjutant came back from the front and seemed to want to ask for a withdrawal.

"Have the reserves form a red-carpet for our evac. Set charges to blast the LZ after we get the hell out. Full retreat gentlemen, and have someone tough as nails stay behind to act as cover."

"Aye, sir!" The radio operator was just about to send it in when a cold feeling engulfed the surroundings.

"Leaving already? Hmph! It doesn't matter where mortal man hail from, they're just as equally cowardly in nature." Said a foreign voice to their own.

The armed guards turned their rifles towards the intruder within the camp. The intruder had the form of a woman, but the feeling coming from him was anything but earthly. The Brigadier's instincts were telling him that he was in great danger just by being near her.

"Or perhaps I speak too hastily, no… you are even worse than the Kyratis."

"The fuck are you!?" He called out. To which she sighed.

"Even your mannerism is uncouth. Are you truly even a threat to men of the Himalayas?" she said playfully behind the garbs that hid her face and a pair of katar blades slid out of her garb into her hands. Presenting a real and credible threat to the officers in the command post.

(Babababaam) One of the guards didn't wait for anyone to tell him and fired his carbine at her, the rest followed suit. A dreadful feeling washed over them as she visibly grinned and kicked off the ground passing by a soldier who dropped his rifle as she passed. His head fell to the ground moments later.

She laughed playfully as she danced through the gunfire like it was no challenge, swatting away those that were in her line of motion. Running her katar in either of her hands through the necks of the guards.

And in five seconds flat, all of the armed personnel had perished. The personnel in the command post who had previously done admin jobs of relaying orders quickly armed themselves to apprehend her had died as quickly as the armed men if not easier.

She pulled her katar out of a man's skull and tasted his blood, standing still as if to savour the taste or something.

"Worthless…. This one was a foot soldier after all." He stepped back unconsciously at the inhumanity.

"Who-…. What are you?" The Brigadier realized he'd been the last to remain alive in the command post. He checked the outer perimeter of his command module to find the guards outside were in a worse state than those inside.

She disappeared from her previous distance and closed the gap in a blink of an eye, wrapping her hand around his neck and lifted him off the ground.

"I am the General of the West Gate to Akaash, Narmada. And you…." She ran her cold hand across his aged face.

"Will be the undoing of your insolence army for crossing the sacred boundary that predates your heritage." She opened her mouth and gorged into his neck.

"AHHHHH!-…" He screamed as she tore out a huge chunk and spat it out like it tasted horrible.

"Disgusting." She changed her options and drew back her hand before thrusting into his chest. Piercing fabric, ceramic armour and bone with an easy thrust. A wet and gory sound echoed as she dug deeper and deeper in search of the organ she was looking for.

"Ah!" Her hands clenched around it and pulled out from the Brigadier who died of shock. Held in her hand was a still beating heart. Her nail ran across the heart causing it to cut open from its sharpness, the bleeding heart let out the purest form of blood there was in the Brigadier's body. She held it over her mouth and drank from it.

In performing such an act, she acquired everything US Army Brigadier Ryan Farragut held as the most precious possession of all. She stole his life memories. She learnt the troop formations, the operation that had been conducted here for a superweapon that man had wielded not too long ago, but a lifetime for the mortals. A weapon that mimicked the power of a Deva's Astra but not quite in the same fashion and not nearly as powerful even at its weakest. Highly effective upon their own kind, this weapon was built to kill other mortals. She snorted at the arrogance they held because of this weapon.

Pride was what filled this man's character, proud of his achievements, proud of his family, proud of his country. But Rakshasa Narmada felt another strong emotion dwelling in his blood, a newly felt sensation he developed just recently and had nothing to do with her or the rest of the Rakshasa. It was the fear they held for the vessel who threatened them with the very same weapon they used to threaten the rest of their human kind with. The vessel had done the most absurd, he lulled them into this deathtrap whilst acquiring the very weapons they once built.

A smile appeared on her handsome face as she pushed her hand into the soil and murmured a curse. A shockwave burst from the ground which she touched and did something the victims of the Rakshasa didn't need on top of the attack from these demonic entities.

Their dead rose upon their two legs or whatever limbs they had to support themselves with as they limped towards their former allies in hopes to join them into their ranks of undead. The restless undead had vines snaking into their bodies as if puppetry strings to keep their bodies in motion. Joining the ranks alongside the Rakshasa were the recently deceased comrades of the American forces. It sent genuine shock down their hearts, their only thoughts were either despair or a tiny hope of getting out of this hopeless situation alive.

Narmada had the peace to reflect on the memories and coincidences between her King and the vessel. Since she was no longer needed in this battle her subordinates could fight on their own. Fighting innumerable odds on their own, with undaunted spirits.

"How interesting?... It was just like old times, was it not my lord?"

* * *

Somehow, they were glad that they'd been restricted by the magic hexing spell that Rakshasa Purushartha cast. Because it prevented them from getting involved in that hurricane of exchanges that both the Demon of Kyrat and the Rakshasa General sent at each other. Also, they got to watch something spectacular as it was frightening.

Because there existed a being that was truly inhuman in his ability, invincible, magic-wielding and had a cunning intellect. But worse of all for the likes of Golden Path, was that the Demon of Kyrat who was inherently human was fighting on equal grounds to a monster. Not firing from afar, but clashing with a kukri and a wooden sword against an ancient lance that was imbued with lightning element. Every contact of the blade sent not just sparks from friction, but a beautiful arc of electricity. The lance was responsible for such an action.

Did Ajay get shocked by that lightning lance? He maintained his footing to the ground without jumping about. Or he would feel the full surge of the electric instead of the ground neutralizing it for him. The surrounding vegetation was burnt up due to the flurry of clashes that ignited the ground tinder and set it ablaze once more.

Ajay had a feeling that Purushartha's weapon was an Astra like the broken sword that Vasu wielded, but inferior in quality to even that incomplete blade. Nonetheless, powerful. He had a theory that the electric storm now brewing over their heads was more than likely to do with the said lance, which showed the magnitude of its power.

-The Rakshasas' "Lightning" General.- Ajay chuckled at that thought, it sounded like a name that fitted him quite well.

Thinking that Ajay wondered if the other three had an element that they excelled in. Which would make him retract his thoughts of humour entirely because it wouldn't be funny to have a "Flame", "Blizzard" or "Earth" type Pillars to combat. Yet as he thought about it, the more it seemed like a possibility. Why did he have to jinx himself? Perhaps it was a couple of jolts he'd received one-sided from Purushartha's attacks.

(Boom) He drew and fired the slayer to put some distance between them. He was astounded to see the Rakshasa actually take a few steps back when his gun was drawn once more. Darshan's fiddling had tuned it to be a dangerous weapon to the likes of the Rakshasa as well. The slug impacted the ground and ricocheted at Purushartha due to the distance, impacting his torso and burnt the clothing off him. It revealed an ancient breastplate protecting the wearer, one of the many life-saving boons. And why was a clone utilizing so many artefacts?

Ajay reached down for his talisman pouch.

-Half full.- Or half empty, depending on how you looked at it. Both were just as bad, he'd wasted a good amount of talismans that took him a few days to mass produce only to buy seconds in maintaining the status quo.

Purushartha halted his assault for a moment with his eyes closed as he received something, like what Darshan's talisman of communication did. Purushartha looked his way and smiled wryly.

"Cunning. You forced your enemies on us to clear for you."

"Whoops," Ajay said without a care.

"Fighting their forces will make no difference to our strength. That I can assure you."

"You're not looking at it from my point of view, now I don't need to worry about fighting on two fronts," Ajay stated with a grin.

Purushartha snorted with ridicule. He was done talking and sped towards him at bullet speeds that a normal human's eyes couldn't keep up with.

Ajay rolled to the side as Purushartha stood where he used to. The Rakshasa was about to kick off when he felt a weighty sensation and looked to his feet. "Mire!" He had stepped upon another talisman. Purushartha raised his lance to stab down into the talisman to burn it like once before.

It did however buy Ajay precious moments, as he raised his finger to his third eye.

"My will is the mountains…"

When Purushartha heard this phrase, he worked seriously to break the talisman. But after burning it fully, he found that there were layers of protective barriers locking him within their circumference. He swiped his lance across to destroy them one at a time as quickly as he could.

"My karma is mantra…" A voice resounded with neither loudness nor quiet but was heard by every being in the area visible.

Purushartha roared as he sliced through one of the last remaining layers Ajay had schemingly planned underneath him.

"Banish all creation against nature!"

 **[As if I'd allow it!-]** (Boom)

Ajay used the last shot of his slayer to deter the Rakshasa for a few seconds more.

"8th Demon Banishing Hex!" Ajay roared out the final phrase much to Purushartha's horror. He was really capable of using all of the Demon Banishing magic, even when his demonic nature should have caused rebounds.

Purushartha ignored hesitance and thrust his lance at Ajay who pointed towards him with equal lethality.

"SEAL!" At his command, a thread of Karma flew out of his finger towards the Rakshasa general, passing unhindered by that ancient breastplate armour he wore and through his tough skin towards the clone's soul. Piercing it and grabbing hold of Purushartha's spiritual sense imparted into the clone. Somewhere up on the mountains, a stationary figure vomited blood while in his meditative state. Ajay had suffered an equal amount of rebound, causing him to puke out blood as well.

However, he didn't catch fire or disappear into ash like with what Darshan did. He was however on the floor unable to fight anymore, the Slaughter Moon hex dispelled and released the spectating Golden Path and Hunters from that spirit invading curse. Regaining control of their motor functions once more.

Ajay walked around and loaded his slayer with two fresh rounds before pointing it the defeated Rakshasa's way.

"(Sigh)….. I've misjudged you, Ajay Ghale." He said to announce his defeat.

"You're damn right you have!"

"You're all that we've hoped for and more…" Purushartha gave a smile that makes even Ajay uneasy about.

"Whatever, go back to whatever hole you came out from," Ajay said before unleashing both rounds into Purushartha. The anointed rounds dug into his flesh and caused an expansion which forced the flesh to puff like a balloon before exploding into a rain of blood and gore, leaving only a pair of legs up to the hip. When the body showed no sign of regenerating, Ajay huffed a sigh of relief and turned to his next victims.

Realising that there was no longer a Rakshasa to deter this demon of a man, the Golden Path came to know what was true horror.

Back in the mountains, a figure's eyes opened from what had been a long meditative cycle. His clone had been utterly annihilated by the vessel known as Ajay Ghale. The figure was not like the clone which mimicked the features of a mortal human. This was Purushartha's true self, he got up from his cross-legged position and walked towards the chambers occupied by his benevolent monarch. The veiled figure was accompanied by the human apostles which she kept in her service and company. The vessel's father and the orphaned girl. He paid them no mind as he got on one knee before her, she waved for them to leave her alone with the General of the South Gate.

She looked towards her faithful general thoughtfully.

 _[You have met him?….]_

[That I have… your highness.] They spoke in their ancient tongue

 _[And?...]_ She awaited his answer, he had previously doubted the probability of their plans turning out well. So she dispatched him out to find out on his own.

Purushartha nodded.

[He just might allow the ritual to succeed. That strength of spirit was unlike anything I've ever seen before.]

She smiled as she received his approval in this venture, allowing her full support from her military council.

 _[You have done enough, Purushartha. My dear friend, save your strength till we are ready to proceed. Thank you for your council.]_

Purushartha bowed as he got up wobbly, he just couldn't hide how much damage he took internally from being severed from his clone. But his monarch took notice and demanded he rests and recuperates less the damage become permanent.

[My thanks to her highness.] He said before walking backwards respectfully.

A brightened mood overcame her, she could not hold back the beautiful smile she once held a lifetime ago. She clutched the small pendant mirror in her hands once given to her by her brother.

" _The boy is becoming so much like you. It is for the best when you merge….. It will be as you promised…. I will free you, Bhaiya."_

The once-youthful and full of spirit young lady she once was, begun to resurface. For she couldn't hide her excitement or elation.

The thousand years of yearning would finally end.


	124. Chapter 113 - Machinations of Others

Author's Notes:

(WARNING: Chapter filled with extreme violence and acts of inhumanity)

You have been warned.

* * *

"Seal!"

The cavern lit up once more as the intruder to a sacred temple blasted his way through the seventeenth enchanted statue protecting the Vanara sacred grounds entombed in ice.

As Darshan found out from the hieroglyphs, this was a mass burial grounds for the Vanara apes. Built by the sentient apes as a means to preserve their history and culture beyond their own civilization. In hopes that a distance descendant of the Vanaras would find and add it to the history anals, if only they knew that they would be the very last Vanara tribe left on Earth.

The guardian statue carved in the likeness of the warrior apes crumbled to the ground, the demon banisher hexing magic denying its existence upon the earth. Darshan was given a moment of respite once more, he recovered his stamina and circulated his prana by meditating.

Never in his wildest dreams would he have known, that in the icy mountains here was a Vanaran reliquary. The apes tended to avoid the cold, appreciating the humid weathers as was in their nature. Since it was thought that, the last place to find this treasure site would here. Darshan was not sure how Ajay Ghale had encountered the Vanara treasure he called a "Blood Ruby" from his original timeline. But these ancient structures and the presence of traps and sentinel guardians proved there was something here of value.

The stone statues had activated due to his ill will upon coming here to take what belonged to the vault. And had to do with the stone sentinels sensing the presence of a Demon Banisher. Humans and Vanara apes hadn't been on the best of relations here in the Himavanas, even when they collaborated with the Yaksha to dethrone the Rakshasa.

Ajay Ghale gave him the original coordinates to the rough area, then his spiritual sense picked up this place. What he walked into was an underground vault which the Vanara kept their most prized possessions. From jewels and sacred artifacts to weapons of war, perhaps even an Astra wielded by their ancestors. Darshan tried not to get his hopes up, he noticed from the floors and tables…..

Someone had been here, and he had been sweeping and cleaning this place of all things. Most unbelievable was that fact that not even a single jewel or gold coin was taken from this place. An old caretaker or a generation of keepers? Even the most loyal of servants would run off with as much as they could carry when their masters had perished millennia ago. This one was recent.

Darshan looked at a stone dais that sat in the centre of the chamber, on three stone podiums were each a stone idol of crouching monkeys. One covered its ears, another covered its mouth, the last concealed its eyes. Like these three idol statues were the tiny kings of the reliquary. There was a lingering scent of that person as well, it wasn't Vanaran but in fact human.

More questions piled up where he didn't need it to, he was only here for one item and that was what he'll leave here with. This was the eighth chamber laden with precious treasure, and he was no closer to finding what Ajay Ghale claimed was here. He didn't doubt for a second that Ajay Ghale would lie to him.

He proceeded on to the next internal chamber, likely storing even more valuable objects of value to the Vanara. Instead of stone walls, it was marble and had gold letterings upon the walls telling great epics of the mighty Vanara tribes.

Darshan took a moment to study the hieroglpyhs, in hopes of narrowing down the location of the soul stone or at least how to deactivate much of the traps ahead. But all he found was a last log hastily inscribed upon the walls by a Vanara scribe who had turned into a skeleton leaning against the wall. He wasn't the only one, there were over a dozen guards standing watch over the room. Their mummified remains stood guard here, Darshan sensed their spiritual essence had long dried up, leaving truly empty corpses.

The text on the wall were of the same ancient script writing shared by every other race in the mountains, yet they couldn't settle their differences.

"Prince Varish, principle chieftain of the Vanara allies with the Yaksha of Jalendu and Demon Banisher Patriarchs to free bride the of Lord-…..hmm…. the Crown Prince of the Jalendu." There was a slot for a name but it had been defaced by claw marks that matched the ape's hands.

Darshan had a similar story being told by the Demon Banisher 8th generation Patriarch before his incarnate will vanished.

-Do not trust the Yaksha….. not in this generation and the next…..- Were the words hastily inscribed in blood with all the hate in them by the Vanara that died unable to complete the hieroglyph.

"…." This too was similar. Patriarch White Tiger told him the same thing, it was the machinations of not an entire race but a single individual. That was the foe of which was the greatest enemy of the Demon Banishers. But that enemy was not his concern, his care was only to destroy her.

"Eternal Heaven…" Darshan had unconsciously murmured this name of which the Demon Banisher Order cursed to the end of days.

(rumble)

And in response, the reliquary tremored like a pressure vying to escape from this bottleneck. Rock and stone slabs dropped, worrying Darshan of the integrity of the vault. However, he was assured by a central pillar on the outside of this chamber that kept everything up. What instead happened, was that the wall lined with the hieroplyphs began to crack and fall into shambles.

And lo and behold, a hidden passage presented itself. However, Darshan had his wits about him. For it was by no accident that this phenomenon occurred because of what he said.

 **[Who dares utter that name?!]**

A formidable aura came crashing down on the surroundings at the tone of the voice. Rock and skeletons were crushed into dust with the weight forcing upon them. Darshan's talisman of protection cracked and broke in an instant, he pucked out blood at the same time.

This power, though installed by the being no longer in existence was sufficient in overpowering and killing him. Darshan plotted to the ground as the intense aura suppressed him, he looked up using his third eye to find the source of that aura. Through the half-wrecked wall, within a treasure chest enlaid with gold and jewels. Inside was the source of all this malice.

The blood ruby.

It was even bigger than Ajay had described, a footballs size. As elate as he was, it still stood than the this presence was emanating from the soul stone itself. It still possessed a discarnate will.

 **[A demon banisher? BEGONE!]**

As loudly as the voice boomed, a gust of wind blew Darshan off his feet before he had any time to use countermeasures. He was sent right out of the chamber in which the precious soul stone guarded by the discarnate will by a repelling force until he was quite a distance from the entrance of that chamber.

He got up to his feet and observed the surrounding for any misfortunate follow ups, but he was answered with silence. The discarnate will pushed no further, it simply wanted him to leave.

Quite generous for a Vanara discarnate will when original owners of that will were not especially on good terms with Demon Banishers of old. Perhaps it that will was dwindling away slowly with time, even still he could not fight it and be sure he could triumph with the preparations he had and those he left out exclusively for her.

Not alone that is.

* * *

Never in their wildest dreams would they have believed what they were currently witnessing. Curious that each culture had its own lore and at the same time the concept of magic. But how were they to know, that there first sort of contact with magic came in the form of something out of a fantasy novel. Lethal. Like heavy infantry and cavalry reacting to the advent of firearms, and trench soldiers to the tank. Both sound and appearance were equally frightening.

A fog covered wherever these monsters closed in, devouring anything that entered the boundaries of the fog. Screams of those unable to get away in time added to the intense atmosphere. They'd lost contact with Command, the recon elements and most of the heavy weapons that were the only things that seemed to deter these things ever so slightly. Now they were just a mere mob of five thousand running for their lives towards the West where the borders to Peshawar lay, where it was safe they told themselves.

That was until they entered a clearing with a ridge like the one they'd fought it out with these monsters without artillery and without air support that was being delayed or cut off because of this weather. What awaited them there was a trench line so intricate, it had to have been done over three days, yet they had only come through this way in the morning.

"What in god's name-!"

"Hey! Heyyy! Over here!"

"Pete! Shut up! We don't know'em!"

"Of course we do, they're the fucking POF!"

One of the forward Companies were the first to make contact with this trenchline, laden with soldiers in an unfamiliar uniform and some that looked similar to specops black and-..

"Hey-…. Does that look like Spetzna-(Crack)." (plop) The corpse hammered the ground after a high-powered round went through its skull with explosive gore.

"Jesus Christ!" The troops begun to fire back as the trenchline twinkled with muzzleflash.

"Cease fire! Cease fire! We need to get out of here first!" But the Company commander's words were not heard over the gunfire of both sides.

"Goddamnit! Fourth platoon take right flank! Second take left!"

So, the first encounter between the "joint exercise group" and the US expedition began. Being in an unorganized and unfavourable position that they were, it was not long before they decided to surrender themselves when ammunition had been depleted.

Four thousand nine hundred soldiers walked in a line following their last remaining senior field officer holding a white flag. But there was no officer from the defensive trench line to greet them and accept that surrender.

There were only machine gun and rifle barrels pointed in their direction, heavy weapons such as 40mm Bofors guns and mortars which stood within their emplacements. This unknown force could only be the army of which the country they had been invading, if so. It was a hell of a time for them to show at such inconvenience without facing them at full strength.

"Is there someone we can talk to?" He called out to the silent armies. A closer look, they could see a mix of Asian, Indian and even Caucasians, mainly wearing Russian Spetznaz uniforms. Both the officer and the men were just as baffled as he was, their highest commanding officer, a flag officer by the name of Ryan Farragut was MIA, most likely killed.

"They want to talk now because of a knife to their throat. Moments ago, they were marching proudly into our country to take advantage of us and deprive us of our peace. Is this a game to you, coward?" They could sense the hostility in the voice of Raja, now a newly promoted Brigadier thanks to his latest exploits in the rebellion. Things weren't looking settling for the US army.

The Americans remained silent and looked back a few times, to ensure they weren't imminent. Just trying to let him have his say before they were disarmed and taken into protection as per Geneva Convention.

"You want to surrender."

"Yes… we would." The commanding officer said with unease.

"We are the Royal Army of Kyrat, you are trespassers. You are a military force that entered by force. You are invaders! Am I wrong?"

The Commander and his near five thousand didn't answer him.

"AM I WRONG?!" Raja shouted in response.

"No!-... No, you're not." He answered back hesitantly as he checked his rear even now and again.

"As soldiers of this nation. We destroy sympathy for rebellion, we crush terrorism at its infancy!" Raja turned to the soldiers that were his countrymen.

"And what did we and will we do to invaders?"

"KILL!" Roared the loudest voice of all, belonging to Er Hu as he waved his sabre in the air.

"""KILLL!-…KILLL!-… KILLL!"""" Echoed the Royal Army of Kyrat as they waved their weapons in the air.

"What the fuck-…." The expeditionary forces were getting nervous as both sides were seeming to close in.

"Listen! We don't have much time! There's-."

"Rakshasa." Raja cut the urgency of the officer with what was the name of that foe they faced.

"…. Sorry?"

"It seems you've met the Rakshasa, just like Lord Badala said you would."

When the officer heard that name, he shook. That was the man in the briefing he had with the Brigadier, the category L codenamed "demon".

"What?" It begun to sink in that said Demon had lured their entire expedition into a cruel trap that decimated them into almost nothing in such a short time.

"American. I don't hold it against you, but like yourself, I'm a soldier. I follow my orders just like you did to your apparent demise. My orders from Lord Badala of Kyrat and His Royal Highness King Min of Kyrat… our duty is to exterminate all invaders to the motherland."

All guns cocked at the ready, to execute them en masse. Including those of the Indians and Russians

"Sunnovabitch. This is against treaty!" He shouted as he stepped back at the hostile intent like the rest of the soldiers did.

"Treaty? Are you thinking of now to fall back on treaty? Geneva, Hagues, United Nations, Human Rights. If everyone followed these guidelines, why is it we always find you Americans the ones breaking the rules first, even though you set them for the world to follow by example?" Said a belittling voice right behind the expedition who emerged from the forest alone.

The expedition forces stood on alert and turned his way. But even with such danger, Ajay wasn't deterred at all, simply waltzing cheerfully forwards. There was a strange sense of irritation, that their target was right in front of them, yet they could do nothing. Not with the lack of firepower they had right now. Not that they felt like they could kill him right then and there. His armour was blood soaked, giving a dangerous aura of something terrifyingly inhuman that fear gripped their hearts and stayed their hands.

"How you try to put humanity into war is utterly hilarious. This level of ego. In the very first place, war should've never been allowed to occur. And your presence here has assured a war between our countries, soldier. Good job."

"Mr. Badala…. We give up. I'll take full responsibility for all of this, so just my men-."

"You said you would surrender, yet you're pushing the terms of it on me?" Ajay said in a not so friendly way. This chasted the officer once more, he had never fallen into a situation like this. They had never had to do anything that lowered their dignity and have to beg for their lives.

Ajay took out a flag, it belonged to the camp he had previously attacked and thrown it to his feet.

"The only people I'll accept surrender from are folks without identity, no home, and no country. What you call refugees. If only there was some way you could convince me and them that you would renounce your identity as Americans and as soldiers of the United States." He said with disdain.

All of their hearts thumped at such audacity. It was clear from the demands he was making on their only chance of survival. He wanted them to step on the star-spangled banner, renouncing their identity and destroying their pride in the process.

The soldiers and the officer were just stumped for words. Some had their mouths gaping, others were gritting their teeth as such a humiliating task.

(Ahhruggg) A war horn blasted from the forest behind Ajay, as a fog closed in.

Seeing that sight made them unsurprisingly scared. The Rakshasa were announcing their arrival to face the army assembled before them. They weren't below signalling their own arrival to their opponent. The same could not be said for the US expedition that trespassed on their sacred grounds and had what was coming for them.

"Oh god… here they come!"

"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" They had used up their weapons and will in fighting the Kyrati trench to get through in vain. Now they were hapless to the monsters outside of a human wall that denied them free passage.

To the officer's disbelief, some of the men rushed to the flag and stepped on it without hesitation. He knew some of them as friends and fellow subordinates but for them to forsake their country over their own lives and families… yet he couldn't blame them for the situation which the demon in name and action forced upon them. More and more of them threw down their arms and trampled the flag until there were almost every soldier remaining which did so. Including himself, he had too much riding at home to die here.

But instead of the desired result. "Raja, did you get that on tape?" Ajay called out to the Kyrati officer from before. Whose subordinates held up for him to see. He had filmed their humiliation to show to whomever he wished. But at least now they could live, would they be forgiven for stepping on their own countries flag? Perhaps.

"Good. Kill them all." Ajay said coldly. The rifles were raised again, and the commanders within the joint armies held their hands on standby to give the kill command.

"Hey! Hey! What the hell! We did what you asked! Let us go!" The officer shouted whilst pointing his gun to threaten Ajay who went back on his word. "P-Please…." He pleaded meekly.

"Did what I asked? When was I ever your Commander-in-Chief? All I did was tell you of our situation here and what might've been nice. And you willingly stepped onto your own flag, renounced your identity and country. You renounced the service you were loyal to, you disgusting pieces of shit!"

Behind him, figures emerged from the fog. Frightening figures cladded in a golden mask and blue paint over their pale skin. Standing in their midst was a woman cladded in the same ancient armour as Purushartha under a garb cloak. As far as movement was concerned, they stood just out of the mist and waited.

Ajay gave them the eye not to interfere and they respectfully waited. Such an action was shocking to the expeditionary members and to the foreign members of the joint exercise group.

This also gave the joint armies a look at what they were going to face next. They seemed to stay where they were, waiting for Ajay to finish up.

"While I did say that treaties are a nuisance and are troublesome, you and your boys have just made life easier for me. You are now not part of any standing army, you no longer hail from a country, and are therefore not protected by treaty. There is only one definition for you and your men in particular…." The next sentence he used to describe them, completely shattered their defiance.

"You are all now armed terrorists wreaking havoc in a civilized world."

The gravity of the way this demon had put it made their feet go numb. The way he distorted the ways of moral. It was just as they had done, or at least their Commanders in Pentagon had used to justify their invasions of other nations in peacetime. It made them realise how foolish they were. He had humiliated those that trampled their own flag on camera, he had led the expedition into a trap that decimated the entire expedition or was about to.

There were no words that came out of the officer to fight for their case any longer, just eyes of despair. Looking up into the air, hoping that he would wake up from the nightmare he'd stumbled upon like the other five thousand.

"If you have anyone to blame, it is yourselves for being the losers. After all…." Ajay raised his hand to give the all clear to execute them by firing squad.

"War does not determine who is right… Only who's left." He swooped his hand down, commanding his forces to unleash hell upon the men he'd broken in spirit. Firepower rained upon them and cut them down mercilessly. Like a forest of meat being cleaved apart by a harvester raining multiple calibres of shell cutting the stalks down into chunks of meat.

It was at this moment, after three hours since contact. An entire expeditionary force of twelve thousand was completely annihilated.

Somewhere amidst the trenches was the officers that rudely interrupted Ajay during the briefing, thinking he was an amateur playing soldier. After witnessing this level of cruelty, malice and deviousness that could only be described as the devil incarnate. He shuddered to think that he had such a confrontation with this demon. And yet the Kyrati soldiers looked at him still with awe. To do what no man would dare to do and make the most powerful armies get on their knees was an empowering sight from the perspective. He was very well on his way to becoming a god of war and grim reaper alike.

(Ahhruggg) The war horn blew and the Rakshasa, no longer waiting for anything charged towards the trenchline with an ancient ferocity and an unearthly battlecry. The joint armies fired their weapons and lobbed their grenades the Rakshasas' way as they charged up the steep incline of the ridge. But they did so with the fog closing in to mask their approach.

As for Ajay, the Rakshasa simply ran pass him like he was Moses dividing a sea of Rakshasa.

Ajay walked through the road of corpse and shattered flesh towards that woman cladded in armour who stepped out from the rampaging monsters. To Ajay's surprise, undead moans could be heard through the fog in which engulfed his area and wherever the Rakshasa were. As the newly deceased corpses rose up from the ground and joined the Rakshasa to boost their numbers on top of the existing corpses gathered from the Rakshasas' own butchery of the expeditionary force. She stood flanked by one particular undead American, this one was a one-star general with a hole in his chest. She had apparently got to the biggest cheese amongst the expeditionary force first and deprived him of the highest authority in the field and the intel which he held.

"Thanks for waiting," Ajay said casually.

"Ney. You did us a favour by clearing that garbage." She spoke to him in an uneasy yet nostalgic familiarity.

He was looking upon a woman with boyish features but had the look of a warrior. Cladded in the same ancient armour as the previous general, she was the one leading this army.

"….. I guess its customary for the generals to clash in any battle once or twice." He said over the fierce fighting going on behind him.

The salvo of explosive shells slammed into the ground where the Rakshasa were, blasting them off their footing but not killing them. The small arms fire did less, or so the Rakshasa were thought to believe. As some had succumbed to bullets engraved with talismans of sealing, damaging their clones and causing internal damage to the real Rakshasa out far. The armies were quick to realise they would be at a disadvantage if the fog followed the Rakshasa to conceal their position. Artillery was called to unleash thermobaric charges into the fog to blast out the mist and reveal their locations. Ajay was thankful they were seemingly holding their ground against these monsters for at least till the bombers arrived.

"Ajay Ghale, born human and initiate of the Demon Banisher Order. The one you call a vessel." Ajay gave his introductions to the woman that just stood still with a shocked expression from his earlier monologue and his current mannerisms.

"No…There are just too many similarities…" She shook her head instead as she said to herself.

"I'm not your lord, Rakshasa. I am your enemy."

"…No, Ajay Ghale. You were never our enemy to begin with but our last final hope." This one was a little different in her approach compared to Purushartha.

"If your hope means depriving it of my people, then you've placed it on the wrong person." She visibly bit her lip at his words that struck deep. And then she nodded as if accepting the situation as it was, any further conversation was wasted breath.

"I am Narmada, General of the West Gate. Prepare yourself, Ajay Ghale!" A pair of katars shot out from her robe into her hands and she kicked off the floor. Closing a five-metre distance under a second.

(CLANG) Sparks flew off the contact between the ancient katar and Ajay's kukri engraved with runes.

This was the moment in which he'd prepared the armies for against a more powerful foe. If he was successful, he would get away with heavy casualties, if not then he stood to lose everyone and everything to the machinations of an immortal being.

* * *

The scenery was serene, it was the tell-tale sign that something was going to happen which would break the tranquillity of the atmosphere.

His intuition told him this even when he flew in a tight formation with the flight groups Tiger and Sokol. His duty was air superiority and escort of the fighter-bombers currently with them on route to blasting the hell out of the target area with daisy cutter bomblets. Somewhere behind were the close air support aircraft of Frogfoots and Tucanos catching up to them to provide on-the-call air support as opposed to their one-time drop. Carrying a carpet bombing payload. Sokol 1-4 and 1-5 manned the Su-34 bombers while everyone else was operating Su-35SM, true dogfighters.

The radar crackled and fizzed, indicating their proximity to Point 2153 and this nonsensical storm cloud brewing in the lower atmosphere that prevented low-level flights. So they flew above the clouds to avoid the storm.

*Two Minutes to delivery. Eyes out, this place is too calm.* Sokol 1-1 informed them, it made Pravi wonder if he had the same level of intuition as him.

Even with the powerful AESA radar built into his plane, the storm had rendered his beyond visual range awareness to zero. Leaving his spatial awareness to what he could see from the glass cockpit, however, Pravi was not deterred. If anything, he was elade, because if he couldn't use Radar-guided missiles then his enemies couldn't either.

The tall mountains could be seen even at this height over the clouds, it put things into perspective as to where they were. The clouds in the higher parts of the atmosphere were hindering much of his frontal vision as it did the rest of them, but at this level, it provided concealment till the drop area. Then they could be assured that the bombers wouldn't have to worry about manoeuvres and could switch to an ECM role in decaying the enemy fighters' combat efficiency with their Electronic warfare pods whilst providing up to date data for the rest of the squadron.

Pravi was almost in a sleeping mood, the long trip without any action and the soft hum of the pressurized cockpit added to a comfortable atmosphere. He kept his emotions in check and his heart rate steady to keep his focus on when it was necessary. He expected to go 9-G beyond the limits of his flight suit and his own consciousness boundary.

The foe he was hunting had a superior turn rate and thrust to weight ratio, it was both faster and supposedly more agile.

*Tiger 1-4, I saw movement Northeast, West bound. Bearing 130.* His team mate reported.

*Alright, Tiger 1-1 here. All units maintain formation, Sokol 1-2 and 1-3 will accompany the bombers 1-4 and 1-5 as the escort. Tiger will divide into groups of two, 1-3 and 1-5 will be led by Sokol 1-1. The rest will follow me and take the high altitude.*

The mic beeped in response as each member gave their response.

*Play nice, Tiger 1-3.* Commander Singh told Pravi personally.

"Tiger 1-3 copies." No quirky comeback from him this time, he had a dedicated mission here. And that was to protect the bombers to their location, that meant distracting or destroying the opposition that might prevent that from happening.

SADEC had already reported before their flight of five fast movers entering the airspace, but that didn't mean "those" warplanes. Just the more visible F-16 from the signature they gave off.

*Sokol 1-1 to Tiger 1-1 tells me you're his lucky charm. I hope you'll bless me with the same fortune here.*

"Not if it has anything to do with wishing your mother-in-law dead." He was sure the Russian Commander was laughing behind the comms as he saw him move from his cockpit.

*Let me know if there is anything you find weird, ya? There's never enough intuition needed in flying, Tiger 1-3.* Sokol 1-1 said over the intercom between their fighter escort group.

"Yes, sir."

As their squadron leader dictated, they separated into two fighter groups. One to watch over the bombers from a close enough distance and another to maintain overwatch over them all from the highest point where they had the height potential energy advantage.

Once again, the trip became long again. Affording him time to think about the events that transpired a day ago. Saras had met up with him to tell him something important. "I love Ajay, and I want to spend the rest of days with him." She said without any lies or tricks. He was a little shocked to find out that Badala was actually Ajay Ghale, her fiance. For some reason, Pravi didn't feel as upset as he would have been a while back. Why was that so?

It wasn't that she had been deceitful to him, neither did she give him a cold shoulder to his constant wooing. It was the feeling of how he would have a life to fall back on, while Arun and his family would still be without a whole one. This wasn't about revenge for him, this was about reinstating Arun's honour, to allow his resting soul some dignity. So, he just smiled back and said, "I know, may the gods shower their blessings on you both."

If he couldn't have her as a wife, it wouldn't be so bad to have her a friend still. He heard from Arun, chicks always went for guys near more attractive ladies. So Saras was adding points to his attractiveness. He rubbed his chin just thinking that.

But still, thinking back on it all. Badala was not a simple guy either. Commander Singh said he was becoming something of a burning star in Central Asia. New Delhi could not believe that his plan in uniting the ragged neighbouring states into a single alliance and fended off the Chinese on their own. The international community was hearing rumours of a "Demon" in Asia, scrambling correspondents to fetch a story. But as of late, the four big nations were suppressing the flow of information.

Perhaps he was living in an age of legends after all. He could see why Saraswati chose Ajay over himself. Any girl would, although he was sure that wasn't the reason Saraswati stuck with him. The one he fell for wasn't so cheap a woman after all. Plus, he couldn't really be mad since he was trying to steal another man's wife. He now knew he was attempting to do so with the wrong guy to mess with, and worse of all Ajay knew of his intentions. He confided to him clear as day.

He sighed, thinking how to communicate with Badala a.k.a Ajay on a personal level now. They often shared a drink or two at the officer's mess when he came to pay a visit to the Air Base. He chuckled just thinking about it. Ajay wasn't such a bad friend to have either, he rescued him from the Chinese when he fell captive as well through a fault of his for ejecting over Tibet.

"Maybe he'd introduce me to so hotties. I'm sure he'd have a few that hover around him. What do you think, Bhaiya." He said with a smile as he tapped Arun's medallion. The necklace gittered about when he pushed it, Pravi was about to return with his mind back in the game when he noticed the reflection on the stabilizing pendant's shining finish. A shadow was lurking behind him.

His instincts hammered at his heartstring and fired his reflexes as he pushed down on the throttle and slammed the control stick to the side performing a hard right barrel roll.

(swoosh) An infrared missile flew right by, missing its opportunity to an easy kill.

"Bandit on my six! Fox Two missed by an inch!" Pravi shouted into the comms as he levelled the fighter and maintained attack speed. His comment woke the hell out of his fellow wingmen and his squadron.

Two shadows flew right by him. They were too quick to tell what they were, but Pravi could make some assumptions from those speeds they were going. Plus, they weren't using afterburners but going supersonic on their own normal power. Only one opposing force could fly supercruise.

*All group, maintain visual contact and watch for additional boogies. Sokol 1-1, you have first blood. Happy hunting. How copy.* Commander Singh gave priority to Sokol 1-1 and Pravi to pursue.

*Roger, Sokol 1-1 moving to engage.*

*Tiger 1-3 and 1-5. Go right bearing 060, we're going to give them something to harass.* Sokol 1-1 led them as he veered right breaking the formation. Pravi followed as his wingman while Tiger 1-5 accompanied Sokol 1-1 on his left wing.

"Tiger 1-3 to all fighter groups, my early warning system didn't read the missile. Take caution in flying." For whatever reason the siren didn't go off when the infrared missile flew towards him, he could only guess that it was due to the regional disruption again.

*Tiger 1-3, what was your visual on the target?*

"Two very unfriendly boogies, Foxtrot Two Two."

*…. Roger. Tiger 1-3, break or stay in formation it's up to you. Do what floats your boat.*

"Roger, Sokol 1-1. I'll stay in formation." Today Pravi would surprise them, he would be a team player for the fight against the Raptors.

A dogfight occurred with the fighter escort who broke off from the bombers to engage. Not the raptors though.

*Five boogies! Foxtrot One Six, tail markings say PAF. Do we engage?* Astra asked his Commander.

*They're willing to accompany the Americans in this farce, I'd say they had this coming. Engage, you are all weapons-free.* He announced to the squadron as he maintained overwatch. They had the numerical advantage on their side, even though they had two priorities whereas the USAF and PAF had only one which was to destroy them.

*Pravindra. You're on your own on this one. Do yourself proud.* His Commander had the utmost faith in his abilities.

"…. Yes, sir. Tiger 1-3, engaging Raptors."

Returning his focus to the picture, the Raptors were working in a pair. And they were very good at playing hide and seek amidst the clouds. With radar gone, it didn't matter if they had stealth coating or not. This battle was returning to the days of turboprop dogfighters where they didn't rely on early warning systems or radar to detect enemies.

"What's the plan, chief." He asked Sokol 1-1, his current group leader.

*We fly low, the Americans follow the Energy-Manueverability Theory too closely. As long as we present ourselves as an excellent target they will seize the opportunity. We don't have to worry about AMRAAMs in this kind of heavy ECM environment.* Sokol 1-1 gave a reasonable assessment and plan.

"You heard the boss," Pravi told his fellow pilot Tiger 1-5.

*After you, hotshot. Randhwa, what's with you being a team player?*

"I just stand a better chance of surviving if they expend their missile on you guys," Pravi said cheekily. Sokol 1-1 and Tiger 1-5 swore at his joke.

But follow the plan they did. Flying in an open sky, beneath the dogfight happening between the fighter escorts and the PAF. They didn't fly far from the bomber detail as if to pretend they were flying to flank the F-16s.

*Be calm, don't make sudden movements.* They did as they were told while keeping an eye out for the moment they were swooped upon again. Because if they reacted in time to avoid the attack, they would lock on to their attackers throughout and have them by the tail throughout.

"Movement eight o clock!" Tiger 1-5 exclaimed as he peered out vigilantly.

*Easy. Do not break formation until the last moment.* The group leader gave the orders.

Pravi could see it now. Closing in through the clouds behind them 30 degrees up. He could see the shadow through the thick clouds. This was clearly not amateur pilots flying that type of high-profile hardware. These were qualified pilots. He reminisced the story his commander told him a while ago. About how he as an amateur pilot had been put to face Pakistani veterans, this instance were quite similar.

*They're moving in for an attack!* Tiger 1-5 was a little nervous.

*Steady. Wait…. When I give the command, 1-3 will climb, 1-5 will bank left and I will bleed speed.* Pravi could already imagine the scenario the Russian set for the boogies on approach

He gripped the control stick and throttle hard but did not push it yet, waiting for the go from a person he only flew with for a week and was made to put his life in the hands of. He wasn't even a fellow Indian, an ally but a foreigner nonetheless. But they had a common goal, it was to provide air superiority for the ground troops to finish their operation and for the bombers to annihilate the marked target.

*Steady.* Sokol 1-1 was ultra calm in such a riskly moment. He needed them to expend a move for their group to gain a bearing on them rather than react now and get blasted in response when they were clearly in the crosshairs.

The Raptors were closing in inch by inch, determining that their group were totally unaware of their presence and drop their guard in the wrong places. He waited for the Raptors to pierce the clouds in which the IRST would not be hindered by vapour to send their infrared missiles on their way.

Time slowed down, and what would be only five seconds felt like minutes. Pravi forgot about looking behind and closed his eyes. He trusted Sokol 1-1 to make the right decision at the right time. It was the only way they'd stand a chance against two of the most fearsome warplanes ever conceived.

Pravi felt his mind sink into a cold dark place, so tranquil he felt like he would fall into a deep slumber if he remained. And yet, there was this disturbance approaching to their rear, his eyes were shut and his head still facing front. But he could sense a presence, their presence. Two nose cones popped out from the clouds.

*Now!* Pravi pushed down on the throttle to accelerate, while pulling up on the control stick. Causing him to feel high-Gs as he climbed up to gain energy. Tiger 1-5 veered left as Sokol 1-1 told him while the leader himself performed a cobra maneuver to bleed speed. Two fighter planes with a trapezoidal exterior bursted through the clouds fully to find an object on a collision course with their planes and broke up into two flying in opposite directions, they flew right by his warplane and realized to late they'd been tricked into breaking apart from each other.

*Khorosho! Tiger 1-5, you and I will chase the left boogey. You'll be my wingman. Tiger 1-3….. The right one is all yours.* A grin appeared across his face.

*Show me what your Commander kept praising you on. Happy hunting, Sokol 1-1, out.*

Pravi eyeballed the Right turning Raptor he was given full privilege to kill and turned to engage in attack vector. He'd been given a one up advantage, he had the energy, he had the speed to pursue too.

It was time to erase the Raptors invincibility in air-to-air combat.

* * *

If there was any recollection of the Great War of the valley thousands of years prior, this would have been a recreation of that war between man and Rakshasa with the absence of the Vanara tribes.

A war for heaven.

Technology-cladded man versus enchanted weapon wielding immortal Rakshasa. To their disbelieve, they had not advanced much since the assault started. It had to do mostly because of the trench design, a formation designed by Saras to eliminate any opportunity for rushing charges to break through or flank around defensive formations. It was an intricate hexagonal design of mazes that resembled the layout of a tortoise shell, each "bump" so to say were an encirclement of troops and each encirclement was protected all around by other encirclements on their six sides from attacks to the rear.

That was not to say they didn't suffer casualties, the Rakshasa only needed to swipe their blades and a mortal no matter how protected would be sliced in half. Not everyone was equipped with an enchanted weapon or ammo. Even still, the put up a brave front as they emptied their magazines into the Rakshasa vanguard that stumbled because of the explosive weapons like grenade launchers and 40mm shells blasting them into suppression.

The Russian and Indian forces were initially shaken by the seeming invulnerability of the Rakshasa enemy. But seeing their Kyrati counter parts fighting with an almost feral nature, they assisted in providing firepower in places they couldn't cover. If they let up, it would mean the death of them. That was certain. Brigadier Sharma of the Indian Army stood in the front to keep his soldiers in high spirits and motivated to fight. Kuznetsov commanded the fire support and directed fire missions to keep as many of the Rakshasa pinned, while the motorized forces used heavy ordnance to keep the enemy peppered. If they were normal human beings, this firefight would've ended in seconds. But when there were undying monsters, unscathed by normal weapons and hordes of zombies rising from the dead Americans and of their own ranks from those that had fallen. It was a little bit of everything they could contribute was keeping everyone else alive and in the fight.

Somewhere else, a certain someone was having a one on one duel against his enemy. A female general which was unusual considering a very conservative or ancient was a better word to describe them. Still, it was clear how she won the position of Pillar from their Military order and the respect of her fellow Rakshasa now gorging themselves into his armies.

He had a little idea of how the Rakshasa woman's weapons were used and had a speed advantage to his kukri that was only a single weapon, opposed to Purushartha's lance that was weak in close range but devastating when he had leverage. Even so, her swings carried an inhuman force and like Purushartha, her presence had a cancelling effect on his demon powers.

They were extremely quick that his eyes almost lost sight of the katars as she jabbed and slashed them at him.

(Clang) (Clang) She was beginning to understand first hand, that even without the demonic strength he wielded without the boon interfering with his channeling of power into physical strength and agility, he was a serious threat with that strange martial art style he used. He was gaining the upper hand by neutralizing her strokes of their power and unleashing some of it back at her to great effect. This style seemed to work best at sending the attacker's strike back at him. Narmada was quick to step back to regain footing and time to assess that style and counter it.

The zombies gathered in between them to hinder him on her behalf.

(Boom) (Boom) shotgun and zombie weren't a friendly mix. He fired a prepared buckshot-type ammo at the approaching zombies who turned into paste. As they came apart, vines that crept around their bodies dissipated as if no longer satisfied with the blown-out chunks of meat left.

She stepped back in caution to the weapon he just unleashed, that gave Ajay the initiative to advance and he did. Changing back to the kukri, Ajay kept up a relentless assault with the third form of Four Seasons Pandemonium to break through her defense. His knife grazed parts of her armour where normal blades would have cracked or broke.

It was at this moment which Narmada sensed something wrong about the blade which Ajay wielded. It had a familiar scent to those blades wielded by those people, a poisonous compound to Rakshasa. Fatal if left untreated if she was cut, but would Ajay give her the time to seek a remedy? She wouldn't even let him get the chance to cut her with that blade.

He folded his fingers to form a diagram, with the index pointed at her. It gave off a menacing feeling to her especially as he channelled his prana into the spell he was about to cast at that moment.

"You-… you wield Demon Banishing magic?!" She exclaimed in surprise. Even though Ajay did say he was a Demon Banisher, perhaps she wasn't paying attention.

Ajay's only reply came in the form of a finger raised at her feet.

"Mire!" A circle glowed as a formation of talismans cleverly hidden before her arrival revealed themselves and locked her in the same way it locked Purushartha.

"My will is the mountains. My karma is the mantra. Banish all creation against nature! 8th Demon Banishing-."

 **[Do not underestimate me!]** (rumble)

She exclaimed asshe raised her hand commandingthe ground beneath her to shake anduproot. The formation was compromised and she had free reign once again.

She stood on a newly erected plateau as the zombies poured out of the forests and gathered around to hinder his path. Ajay felt the full blunt of the hex rebounding and caused him to vomit blood, took out the last of his talismans and flung them to the floor in from of him. The talismans unleashed a wall of flames that prevented the zombies from getting through without getting burnt to a crisp.

Ajay threw smoke grenades that had a special compound around him to conceal his location. Narmada stomped onto the ground sending small shards of rocks flying into the smoke to chop down whatever was hiding inside.

In response, two wooden blades flew out of the smoke towards her. She snorted as she waved her katar to knock each one out of the air to harmlessly drop to the floor. Three arrows came flying from the smoke again which she frustratedly parried out of the sky with careful precision.

"Now I see," Ajay said as a matter a fact behind the smoke cover. "Short and quick defence. Then, how about this."

A bayonet-kukri jutted out of the smoke along with his silhouette, but seemingly farther away from his hand. Narmada could see why that was so, he had attached the kukri onto a bayonet lug on his slayer to act as a polearm.

Ajay thrusted the polearm at her in a new style of combat from previously. Swiping and stabbing to make her exhaust her interval of movements and strike when she was open. Narmada held out better than he had imagined. She wasn't a Rakshasa Pillar General for nothing.

(Clang)

Narmada found she was being pushed back again, not being allowed to counterstrike when he'd been delivering the blows non-stop. He had robbed her of the initiative, a disadvantage due to his longer reach of weapon available to him now. She didn't underrate him like Purushartha did, but even still he was difficult to contain like she'd hoped.

All she could do was deflect those thrusts until by a flute chance her katar was wedged between the bayonet lug and the kukri laced with poison. Ajay was unable to bring the polearm down upon her, and she didn't have the reach to use the other katar in her arm to slash his torso with.

They ended up being locked together. Narmada tool a glimpse at the battle raging on between her fellow Rakshasa and the mortals who were surprisingly putting up a far better fight than those foreigners. If anything, she admitted their courage to fight knowing who they were. But as it stood, they were but man. Limited by the strength and endurance of a mortal couldn't hope to beat stamina-free demi-god entities, even if they were only clones of their true self in hibernation.

"To think they would follow you into a battle knowing their chances of survival as next to nothing. I have to commend them for possessing such spirit even my fellow warriors might not have."

"Who said this was hapless?" Replied Ajay calmly as he exerted force just as she did. Again, she was baffled where he got this strength if the demon was being suppressed.

"How can it not? Look around you, Ajay Ghale." Ajay didn't need to see, more zombies emerged from the forest to fight alongside the Rakshasa. Almost something out of the living dead novels, a horde was gathering.

"And?" Ajay answered to her disbelief.

"Come with me, and I will promise to spare your soldiers. Surely you cannot be so narrow in your strategy to not see the likely outcome?"

"And neither could you, take a look at where your kinsmen are." Narmada was inclined to look after he claimed it was not over. But all she saw was the Rakshasa in a very tight concentrations due to the firepower keeping them at bay. The zombies were a whole different issue. But even now, she failed to see what Ajay had planned for them.

"Looks like there's a lot of things you need to get familiar with, this world ain't like before. That brigadier's memories should tell you what comes next." Ajay had pieced together that she had at least absorbed that zombified flag officer's memories before he turned.

Narmada was hesitant to keep her guard in case he seize the opportunity and access the memories to gain some insight of what he was talking about. She opened up some memories.

Air power, the ability to provide unmatched firepower to ground forces where other ground-based systems could not at the same speed. Carrying payloads of munitions over distances and superior volume to artillery shells.

"Air-… strike…." She murmured after finding out what he had intended. Ajay smiled mischieviously as she found out. His watch had also said it was the appointed time and had gotten the confirmation earlier when Purushartha was no longer putting clouds over their heads to block the signals. That did however mean that the US satellite would've been watching what was happening here.

The roar of fast movers closing in could be heard, in the distance he spotted the Su-34 bombers and their wingmen making a carpet bombing run onto where the Rakshasa were. Flares had been thrown at the Rakshasa positions and laser designators for guided free-fall bombs had been marked when the armies saw the bombers coming. Narmada turned back to Ajay, she was now clear of what kind of potential those bombs had and was confident to say the least that nothing would change.

"You've seen what kind of firepower you bear that we can shake off. What difference would that make?"

"None, of course." He answered to her bewilderment.

"Then why do you still look so sure it is not the case?!" She had to know. Ajay didn't answer, instead, he let the payloads being dropped answer her query.

The bombers flew pass and dropped their munitions upon the designated targets with great accuracy.

And for a millisecond of silence, the whole earth thundered and the ground blossomed with large bright orange fireballs.

(BOBOBOBOBOBOBOOOOOOM) The Rakshasa and zombies alike were engulfed in the flames of thermobaric fuels from the daisy cutter formula being dropped upon them.

And then, there were screams of agony unlike that of them being shot by the enchanted rifles and bullets which only stung greatly. These were dying screams as the liquid fuel burned their skin off and vaporized their flesh and bones.

Narmada was stunned by this sight alone, what she expected was not what had happened. The clones perished like they were ordinary human beings subjected to the same weapon.

"Impossible-… how-."

"I only had eight days to find a solution to beat you, and producing enough firearms to do so wasn't going to happen. But that didn't mean I couldn't enchant a single big one to go boom on all of you at once." It was as Ajay said, he could mean the production numbers of anti-demon weaponry. So he enchanted a few single items that could. He enchanted and drew diagrams upon the metal shell of the daisy cutter bombs being loaded onto the bombers. Thereby blessing the fuel-air explosive with demon sealing properties. Effectively making a anti-demon bombs.

When the flames subsided, the scorched earth was filled with the charred remains of the zombies and the Rakshasas' powerful clone manifestations. Proving Ajay's point earlier.

Ajay took the lack of her focus as a chance to break free from her lock, he detached the kukri and twirled it in his hand as he thrusted towards her. Narmada acted on quick reflexes to save her from the stab. Narmada delivered a kick to his torso as she jumped back when she had cleared the distance, although she felt a warm sensation on her shoulder and looked. A cut had appeared on it thanks to the blade Ajay held, the knife that was laced in poisonous compounds capable of killing her clone as well. Ajay was on the ground puking some blood from that powerful kick and the wounds from earlier, he wasn't able to dodge most of her katar attacks. She was really good.

Although it seemed like they had entered a tie, neither of them were in any state to continue the fight. As battered as Ajay was from two fights, Narmada was dealing was a slow poison that required her return in order to heal.

"I will withdraw here." She told him her situation without hiding any ulterior motives.

Ajay wasn't sure why he slackened naturally at her comment like he could trust in her words. But he no longer pointed his gun or knife her way as she took a step back. The zombies around them that hadn't been in the blast areas crumbled to the ground as the vines detached themselves from the corpses and herded over to her from the ground.

"(huff)… Quite the trick you'd got there." Ajay said whilst performing an emergency measure for his bloodloss with an enhanced perception syringe to keep himself vigilant.

"This isn't even a fraction of what I can do, Ajay Ghale." She replied as she turned about.

"I'm not done with you yet." Ajay spat out some blood as he unslung his slayer.

"But I've done what I came for."

"Like what? Fail to beat my men?" He tried to taunt her with the apparent inability of the Rakshasa to deal with the Kyrati forces the same way they dealt with the completely unprotected US expedition.

But all she did was chuckle.

"No, Ajay Ghale. The purpose of this mobilization was not for those foreign insects, nor your Kyrati subjects. It was for you and solely you." An unnerving feeling welled in him at her words, it made him feel like this entire plot was simply a child's endevour to them.

"(Ssssss)Ahh!-…."

A burning sensation could be felt on his arm like it was being branded, he clenched his teeth and held his arm as he fought the pain. When it subsided, he removed the armoured gauntlet and rolled up his sleeve. Branded onto his forearm was a maze of intricate symbols, there were ten slots that centred around a chakra wheel design. And in eight of those slots were avatars of which were certain animals he'd 'conquered' and some he did not. Tiger, Badger, Rhino, Bear, Wolf, Dhole, Dragon. Seven animals in total had filled the empty gaps.

"You might have had an ulterior motive in pulling us to here to finish off your mortal rivals, but that does not mean that we did not have one of our own," Narmada said with satisfaction before she turned to disappear into the forest.

It was at this point that Ajay had realized what was the meaning of this place to the Rakshasa who called it a sacred ground. Since his entry into this place, there had been an abnormal signature of prana flowing through this place. He thought that it was a place for mystical beings to restore their spiritual energy, but he was only half-right. Because the Rakshasa have been here so long, it wouldn't be wrong to assume that they had spell formations placed here to increase their absorption rate or assist in their cultivation to a higher plane.

In other words, they were walking right into their spell formation. Everyone of them were potential victims to whatever ploy the Rakshasa would employ. I.e. A massive slaughtering moon hex would curse every human being here to damnation. The Rakshasa had no real need to deploy their army. But they did so because of him, because it would bring him right here where they needed him to be.

And now, they'd gotten closer to their objective. By applying upon him the necessary preparations for "that" ritual.

* * *

Author's Notes:

Enchanted Anti-demon Daisy Cutter bombs? Think Holy hand grenade of Antioch.


	125. Chapter 114 - Summoning a Witch

Author's Notes:

Lot of bloodshed and spinning of moral compass from me recently. I'm doing God of Cookery to get out of it and take a break.

* * *

*Do you understand the gravity of the situation, soldier? At this moment, we cannot send any heli evac at this time to extract you once you're done.*

"Yes, sir. We do."

*As brave as the four of you are for doing what you're about to do. You must understand that this must not be traced back to us. Am I clear?*

"We hear you, sir." The marine looked to his squadmates who gave him a look that they were accepting the consequence of this mission.

*I'm sorry to say that this cannot be on the record as well, your families will never know of what happened to you. But we will do the best we can to set them for life.*

"Thank you, sir."

*No, marine. Thank you. It's this kind of initiative that won't be forgotten. Your country owes you greatly. If we could buy your way into heaven, we'd throw the whole budget at Saint Pete.*

"That's a nice thought, sir. But we know what we're about to do will never be forgiven." The Marine Corporal, Grilles's subordinates had escaped with one of the nukes on a makeshift wooden sled. They went to the camp site which was supposed to be their rendezvous point with the Army Rangers, only to find the camp burnt to the ground and some heads on stakes. They dug through the unrecovered possessions looking to acquire a long-range communication system from the camp and to their luck they found one in working order. Their first call was to none other than the Pentagon to speak to the highest authorities on what be the next course of action.

Who would answer but the secretary of defense himself, who informed them of the situation that transpired. The expedition sent to support them had been annihilated by the Kyrati Army and some other monstrosity that appeared on satellite imagery. From the photos and thermal scans presented a serious threat they had not met before. Because twelve thousand soldiers were butchered under fifty minutes of first contact as the remaining expeditionary force reported before being killed.

*…..*

"Yunno, sir. I'm beginning to feel kinda relieved we built these things." The corporal tapped the nuclear bomb with his free hand.

*(Sigh) And I never believed the President and I would actually authorize this… It's been nearly seventy years since President Truman made that decision which shaped our world today.*

"With all due respect, sir. I may just be a grunt, but even I know that sacrifices have to be made." His comrades placed a hand each on his shoulder to show they were with him on this suicide mission.

*Fair enough. Take this down, it'll be your nuclear verification.* The corporal tapped his buddy for a pen and scrap paper to write with.

*Now, assuming the verification code on the bomb is right-.*

"It is, sir. We're looking right at it."

"Ok… Romeo-Oscar-Zulu-Charlie-Tango-Tango-Lima-November. The authentication codes, 560020 Foxtrot-Echo." The corporal wrote it down with his fellow marine to check it and double confirm.

*Set the for a two-hour delay, that should give you enough time to get out of dangerous dosage radius by foot. You do cardio?*

"If I wasn't a Marine, I'd be in the triathalon, sir."

*Marines… Good luck and Godspeed.*

"Semper Fi, sir." He said before the radio went dark, like the conversation never happened at all.

The corporal turned to his fellow Marines who gave an emotional look, he remained quiet for a moment. As if to pray for the unfortunate souls that lived in this region. Only months ago, he had been part of a platoon sent to extract a rogue agent. Now he was ordered by the Commander-in-chief to vapourise this part of the earth and these monsters along with it. If he lived to see tomorrow, he would have recurring nightmares of today and rightly so. He was going to live in torment for what he was going to do, they all were.

"Let's go to work." He said picking up his rifle and squatting beside the Permissive Action Link interface that winded to life after a plunger was cocked to turn on a manual battery which turned on the priming system. The system had been recovered from the stash as an interface for programming and setting the fuse of the bomb if needed.

"… Zulu-Charlie-…. Tango-Tango-…." He murmured as he pressed the keys on the keyboard and stopped when he heard something in the distance.

The sound of something beating the wind.

"That's a helo!" His Marines went into alert and looked for a vantage point. Climbing over the ledge of a cliff.

(Bop-bop-bop-bop) A full-sized helicopter appeared out from under them. And filled the air with a deafening chopping of blades in the air.

(Brrrrrrrrr) Paul depressed the trigger to the minigun, chopping down one of the Marines that didn't react quickly enough.

"Wyatt! We've got company!" The other marine fired to suppress the helicopter manned by Kamran.

* * *

Pagan never thought this day would come, a day when the people would approach him with both respect and gratitude, a genuine to a forced expression of thanks. This was the abilities of a person who had the qualities of a King, yet left it to him.

He found his coffers always filled with money while the people and the lands were continuing to grow and develop. The army was changing with Arjun, the intrastructure was developing as Ajay pumped money into it, the hygiene and standards of living were sky rocketing thanks to Amita and Noore's implementations into health and agriculture. The main source of revenue was no longer just solely on the Northern Mines but also through a build up in commerce in the Dukedom of Lakshman.

Pagan chuckled to think that the once barren land became a small city in under a year. It was even funnier to think he was being portrayed as the one responsible for all of these changes, Ajay took no credit for this. And so, Pagan the tyrant became Pagan the benevolent in the eyes of Kyrat. There was word going around that he had been put under a categorization along with the other lords of the land as the "Trimurte" (Three forms) of the Kyrat, much like the trinity of supreme Hindu deities. He represented the "creator", the founder of the Min Dynasty. Yuma fell under the lines of the "preserver", for her efforts that cemented the founding of their kingdom under their rule. And Ajay, there was no need to say who he stood as. The "destroyer" of idle and domestic squalor. But also, the renewal of growth and prosperity from his culling. This namesake rumor was spread apparently by the historians' guild in Lakshman, Ajay had rebuilt their library for them and they seemed grateful enough to make a biography of him.

And where was the maker of all this change? Away again, fighting he had no doubt. The pretext was a military exercise in the West with the Indian and Russian forces, but when did an exercise have live ammunition being cycled to the airbases to be delivered there. Judging from the scale of the troops being sent and the ordnance gary made him sign the approval of dispatching to those units, he had to make a guess that Ajay and perhaps Arjun were secretly fighting to exterminate some force that had been responsible for much of the strife that occurred in Kyrat before and just recently. Mohan's masters as Ajay described it.

But from his own experience, Mohan was never the sort to be commanded by another, let alone bow his head. He didn't bow his head any lower than was needed to the late-Devi king either. It wasn't that Ajay never told him of what that threat was, it was more like he was afraid to ask. There, he said it, so sue him!

A mastermind that brought the dead back to life, made the Golden Path survive this long through unusual techniques that made the fighters invulnerable to small arms. Ajay was literally the only defence against this threat that the other three states didn't seem to be entirely aware of. At least that was what he thought.

"Looks like this old man still has some brain cells left after all." (tap) (tap)

Surendra made a checkmate onto Pagan's "general" with his "cannon", after gobbling up one of his protective pieces to his general. Chinese Chess was one of the few games most people knew around here through the Chinese scholars of old that travelled through Yinke.

Pagan looked thoughtfully at the playing board and smiled with glee.

"And here I was worried you wouldn't even make that move." (tap) (tap)

He moved his "cavalry" piece to kill off his "cannon" an in doing so also trapped Surendra's "general".

"Checkmate."

"Hmph! Looks like you still have it in you too!" The elderly king stroked his beard as he let out a hearty laugh.

"I'm really sorry about this, Surrie." But the old king waved his hand as it was a trivial matter to him.

"It'll give me the excuse to enjoy a few days off duty plus give the young one a chance to run the country for a bit." He replied to Pagan's apparent amusement, he was admitting to skipping out on his duties as a King, on that he could empathize.

"Although, that's not what I meant. You were here for the boy, right?" Surendra put down his cup of tea after taking a sip.

"I mean there has to be a reason why you want to talk to him personally as opposed to a letter."

"…"

Surendra's expression was unreadable.

"Something the matter?"

"It appears that this story has never been told to you." Surendra couldn't blame him, he was not part of the Devi bloodline so he wouldn't have known. He got up and rested against the railings of the balcony. Pagan followed him to the palace lounge balcony.

"This is a tale passed down from one monarch to the next, to some it is merely a long tale. But I'll let you be the judge of that." Pagan was amused, it was a story time.

"There was once an almighty Deva who remains unknown even by the earliest of scribes. This deity built the mountain and valleys we call home, and he built it as a means to resolve a Karma dispute between himself and the Rakshasa. All enmity was gone after he gave them back a home after their former one was destroyed. Some say, that place was none other than Lanka. But again, it was cryptic."

Pagan took a swig from his whisky flask.

"It has been said, that the new lords of this land also had the only material passage into Shangri-La, the lands of enlightenment paradise. And that is how we mortals came into this land, our numbers were so great we formed our own kingdoms. Soon, other races arrived in number in the hopes of attaining enlightenment through the gates of Shangri-la."

Pagan could tell that when there were migrants coming into the country declaring their own sovereignties in his land he would go berserk and order their eviction by force.

"As you can imagine, there were wars because of this. The Rakshasa fought with the races on equal grounds, but us… we were but simple mortals. We did however have one thing that allowed us to remain a force to be reckoned with. We knew them as spiritual exorcists, the Rakshasa, Yaksha and Vanara knew them as Demon Banishers."

"Demon hunters?" Pagan could relate as there used to be Taoist mediums that profited from people's superstition. His father, Gang Min was one such person. Praying to the God of War, Guang Yu for magnanimous rule even though he was the farest from it. Just as self-important prick. When a place was "haunted", the mediums were sent there too.

"So did they send them on their way to hell or something?" Pagan chuckled.

"As a matter a fact, they did."

"Where did they come from?"

"No one knows, but it was rumoured they were apostles of Yama himself. Either way, the other demi-god entities feared them especially the Yaksha. You see, unlike us who are miles away from comprehending our nature and attaining Nirvanic Rebirth into a higher plane. The other entities were all half a step from the moment they were born. This was the disparity of birthright. But being closer to possible ascension also seperates the spirit from the body, this was what made them vulnerable to the Demon Banishers' powers especially."

Pagan took the time to absorb it, it was a fairly interesting story thus far.

"So where are they now?"

"Gone. Disappearing from the annals as well as from knowledge, except through the word of mouth."

"And your father passed this down from his father and so on. How many generations has it been then?" Surendra just smiled.

"Many."

"Quite the story, Surrie. I'm not sure what to think of it though."

"I believe your son is a successor to the Demon Banishers." Surendra stated what he thought about Ajay and partly explained why he was here.

"That's some claim, Surrie. I know that he was christened the name demon for asthetics sake but if you're trying to mesh it without concrete evidence then it wouldn't matter."

"Then what would matter if he was one?" Surendra posed this question to Pagan as he seemed a little defensive of Ajay.

"…. Good point." He gave in. Surendra smiled curiously.

"You've changed, Pagan."

"Who do you think made that possible? Don't tell me I've fallen to a spell of his." Pagan joked.

"I fear, Pagan. He might have the same destiny aligned to him as the ill-fated Demon Banishers." Pagan was no longer smiling at those words.

"That is why I'm here, friend. I have something that will help him fight against it." Surendra rolled down his sleeve revealing a tattoo of an elephant with vedic runes surrounding the circumference of it.

"Are you-…"

"No. Heavens no! And I'm glad I'm not."

"So….."

"From what my grandfather told me when I was but a child, a man by the respectful title of Patriarch Wise Head came in need of help and our humble ancestor came to his rescue. He and nine others had sealed away Yalung." There was a pretty iconic effect from the word Yalung used on the populace, including himself.

"Yalung as in-."

"Yes, Pagan. That Yalung. He told our ancestor of the message and legacy he wished to pass down to a particular person. Whom he described as the one that would unify the mortal kingdoms into one. Does that sound familiar to you?" Pagan knew how this story would likely correlate with Ajay's actions resulting in the unifying of the scattered states' interests.

"And you're willing to give up your kingdom to him?" Pagan said it as a joke but Surendra's answer surprised him.

"If it will free my bloodline from this curse, then I'll happily give it." He rubbed the tattoo on his hand.

Pagan sighed and shook his head.

"That boy's been shouldering that kind of weight this entire time, it sometimes makes me feel foolish to be the sovereign."

"Nonsense."

"No. Its true, Surrie. I'm sitting here enjoying a vacation with you while he's out there fighting some mystical enemy with what?- His barehands and willpower? I'm depriving him of his own peace for my own sake." Surendra smiled, it wasn't every day you got to see the "King of vanity" talk about taking action.

"So what will you do then?" Pagan paced about thinking about what he intended to do.

What could he do to make life easier for Ajay? If there were anything he excelled in, it was negotiating and politics. But there had already been the workings of an alliance put in place what more could be done.

What would be better than an alliance and coalition economically and politically?

"… We must unify." He turned to the King of Kumsa.

"Aren't we already unified?"

"No. You misunderstand, old boy. No longer an alliance." He raised his index finger to signify one.

"One country." Was what he meant.

"I'm sure, Dhir and Tenzin will be pleased." Surendra said sarcastically. Pagan was talking of assimilating all four states into a single country, then who would take the reigns?

"It still is possible for you and them to retain your positions as heads of your states. But we will unilaterally be under one flag, same laws, same currency, equal civil rights and benefits. Four Kings but One Ruler."

"You'd better tell them you have an idea of who will be the candidate first, or they'll tell you to forget it. Papir's bureaucracy has deeply penetrated the workings of politics, and lets not even mention Yinke who is just recovering from that War, barely."

"I did some calculations out of boredom one time, a comparison of joint fundings to individual fundings. Yinke would recover faster if we sew our wallets together, Papir bureaucracy wouldn't lose out either." He took out a calculator from the drawer to redo the calculations and wrote them on a piece of paper for Surendra to see, not that Surendra had a similar understanding of economics like Pagan did.

As Pagan spoke more about a unified Himavana, Surendra felt quite excited though he hid his emotions. He would never have thought he would live during the time it came to pass the legacy down to the one his ancestor spoke of, he had never dreamed of the day the Himavanas would become whole once more. This was the genuine wish of thousands of ancestors of old. Five generations of the Kumsa Principality-then Kingdom had tried to do so by marching into Papir and Kyrat were met with defeat. The other states had done so before but never achieved this feat.

And now here they were, at a point where they were in good enough relations to consider such a bold venture as to reunite the mountains.

"A federation of Kingdoms."

"But will Tenzin and Dhir accept?" It was the most outstanding problem if they were to adopt this new system of governance. Dhir was a democratic leader as Tenzin was socialist, while not power hungry like their predecessors. The interests of the Himavanas might not be equal to the interest of their individual states, because they faced very different obstacles. Papir was facing high unemployment, Yinke was suffering food shortage and depended heavily on Kumsan granary exports.

"If we don't try, we'll never know."

"Good. Good! We shouldn't let old age detriment our abilities." Surendra nodded happily in approval.

"Old age? I'm still as fit as a fiddle!" Pagan responded with a smile.

"Sure you are, I'm sure lady Lau can attest to that." Surendra and Pagan shared a laugh or two.

It was undeniable they felt young again, the rush of excitement channeling blood into their old bones giving it new energy.

"…."

"Something wrong?" Pagan sensed Surendra pondering on something.

"It's nothing, just-…. (Sigh) I hope my son does not take this the wrong way." He could only be referring to Crown Prince Manendra, his heir. "You could see his genuine excitement of suceeding the throne."

"Only if you hide it from him. Come on, old boy. Let's discuss with them further at your place."

"Mine?"

"We can't have those two see Kyrat as dictating every move in this new alliance, can we? You can return to carefully explain to your son as well. I'll leave a message for my boy to meet us at your place." Pagan was already setting his mind on something.

"Gary!"

"Your highness?" Gary came as quickly as he called.

"I'm accompanying His Majesty Kumsa back to his domain, let's say…. Tomorrow?" Surendra nodded.

"Tomorrow it is. Tell Ajay to meet us in Kumsa, and tell him not to let two kings wait on him." He said before taking the Kumsan King out with him for a walk outside.

Gary bowed as they left and sighed. Keeping the King ignorant of Ajay's actions that were shaking the world. That seemed pretty nostalgic.

It reminded him of Mohan.

* * *

Memories flowed through his mind, stolen memories of a soldier loyal to his country. One had smiling faces of a woman and three children. One was in College, one in middle school and the last in kindergarten. Pure wonderful memories, these images were what gave Arnold Patterson, an Colonel of the 75th Rangers the strength to do what he needed to do to ensure their safety from threats foreign.

Ajay shoved those memories into the back of his synapses to review more critical data. Army deployments and procedures, classified intel on the expedition to Kyrat, not forgetting the mission of the expeditionary force. Secure the nuclear weapons and fabricate evidence of category L "demon" and Pagan Min for the smuggling of stolen nuclear weapons. Where no WMDs were found in Iraq, the same could not be said this time in Kyrat. It was a political decision made by their Commander-in-Chief, the President ordered it so. He couldn't deny that the United States were being sidelined in their eyes to the Rakshasa threat that was ever present. But that didn't mean he could let them continue to hinder his progress here whilst dealing with the more powerful enemy. To do that, he had to make them realise that their treading here has caused a major upset in the balance and any further actions will result in political backlash. He had all the evidence he needed to crush the current administration in United states, or blackmail them if he pleased.

He did however prefer the former as much as he desired the latter to make them fear him. With the actions of the administration caught red-handed and blamed, they could renew relations with the rest of the world and end that ridiculous farce. That being said, those nukes will never exist in their archives ever again, while India would have one and he would have three to use against anyone that tried to endanger the sovereignty of Kyrat. So this was the feeling of holding onto weapons capable of bringing countries to heel, it inevitably inflated one's ego.

When the odds are against you and still end with a win, it is considered a crushing victory. But when the chances of survival are almost nil and make it through alive and well, this could be counted as a miracle.

Ajay had gambled the lives of over twenty thousand men in a direct confrontation with the immortal enemies of Kyrat and won. The outcome of this battle was the death of the twelve thousand-strong US expeditionary force and the routing of the Rakshasa.

But Ajay made one fatal mistake. What was a win to him wasn't necessarily a lost to them. If anything, he had just accelerated their plans to the next phase. They were one step ahead of him and he thought that he could outsmart them. His overconfidence had cost him dearly, even when he knew they were veteran warriors who fought more battles and wars than the entire length of Kyrats founding.

At this rate, they would achieve everything they hoped for and Kyrat and its people will die in the crucible of this scheme. Millions would perish, not just Kyrat and its neighbours. He'd seen the extent of their hatred towards the rest of humanity and the extent of their powers, Purushartha and Narmada were proof of this as well as Darshan's story of his timeline. This ritual was meant to release Yalung's bindings to awaken her brother's soul hidden within. And knowing the story about Yalung's rampage, he could only imagine who was the one that would massacre everyone in its way indiscriminately. The worst part was yet to come in that awakening of the demon god, it wasn't called the god of slaughter and blood for nothing. The world would meet together to destroy him without realizing that they never had the ability to kill it. Infuriating Yalung into crossing the oceans to exterminate all human life. There wasn't a Demon Banisher alive now that could seal him like the ten Patriarchs did.

Ajay turned to look at his men and the armies up on the ridgeline. Celebrating like a war had just ended, embracing and patting one another despite their foreign relation and difference in standing army. This battle had forged a bond between them they simply could not forget unto the end of time. Ajays eyes met with Er Hu who was standing on a mountain of charred corpses. The Hunic warrior let out a wry smile and raised his sabre into the air.

"Badala!... Badala!... Badala!..." Er Hu cheered out in tempo to have the army join in. They didn't take long to understand and the Royal Army of Kyrat cheered out his name at the top of their voices.

""""BADALA! BADALA! BADALA! BADALA!""" Soon, the other armies gave in to the cheering and joined in. The cheering echoed throughout the valley they were in and the earth trembled.

Ajay was left to feel this unfamiliar feeling of receving gratitude in such a strange way that it made a smile creep up on his face. These mountains were truly where he belonged and these people were none other than his people that deserved all the love and protection that he could give as a warrior of Kyrat and the mountains. He could see only one option in ensuring that foreign third parties no longer interfere with the war between the inhabitants of the mountains.

He would have to commit the most atrocious act against humanity. He had to slaughter millions to show the world that there was a monster that roamed the mountains and make them understand that no weapon of war could destroy it. Only in this way could he save the lives of millions within the mountain and valley as well as billions outside from the monsters that lurked within.

Ajay looked down at his blood-soaked hands, his vision began to overlap with a past memory through the eyes of the demon god himself. Through Kalinag's eyes, the memory of his as he slaughtered the people he vowed to protect over an undying vendetta.

He understood what he had to do. Ajay thrusted his fist into the air, to respond to the armies who gave a cheer at his acknowledgement, oblivious to his actual thoughts from afar.

"I must become the demon."

*Aquila. This is Chariot. We-(bababababaam) (Brrrrrrrr) Found the last one. Engaged with the last of the marines, they're arming it! I repeat! They're arming it.*

His entire body stiffened at Michelle's voice telling him that his worst fears had become a reality. But would he just sit still as they were doing their best to stop them from doing so?

"Hang tight, I'm coming! Have Kamran call for Rohan for a fulton extraction at your coordinates. In case we can't stop it, we can at least bring it out of the region. Tell'em to get a crazy pilot."

*Alright. Please hurry!*

Ajay did not wait around nor explain to the armies why he commandeered a quadbike and drove off into the woods.

Time was of the essence, the third party which had been sideline had seen the devastating power of the Rakshasa and were now responding in the worst possible approach. By showing the strongest hand possible in neutralizing the threat. A hydraulic press to crack a nut, if that analogy didn't explain the situation enough that it was overkill then there was nothing equal in explaining what was really at stake.

It was at this moment that a thought that wasn't his own had spoke its piece within his mind, and yet he couldn't deny what it said even if he wanted to. He knew that at this moment, that self-declaration was beginning to take root.

 _-Human Mortals….. So fragile and meek, it is these instances where one ponders…. there is no empathy for them. To fight over scraps and call themselves Kings over filth. Only sympathy for their poor and lowly birthright.-_

* * *

The group didn't just rappel down the helicopter, they didn't wait for Kamran to even stabilize the chopper for a smooth touch down. There was too much riding on just four of them. The marines fought with a fierceness like their entire life energy was thrown into one moment, sparing none even for a narrow opportunity to run from the blast radius.

Kamran remained airborne to provide oversight and fire support from the .50 minigun on his door. But his IR warning picked up a lock, they managed to find a Stinger left behind by the Rangers, so he loitered at heights and distances where the portable missile launcher couldn't get a reliable ping.

"I'm flanking!" Ricardo ran out of cover to displace as they put out a suppressive fire. But the Marines weren't amateurs, almost every standing army had nearly the same combat doctrine and tactics as one another, so they could almost see what he and the rest were planning and counter appropriately.

"Hurry up!" Another marine fell to explosives used to flush him out of heavy cover. The group took that opportunity to advance on the defilade the nuclear device was seen in being calibrated by one of the marines. They were gonna use it.

Michelle told Ajay over the encrypted comms channel who was rushing his way towards here to reinforcement. "Stay down!" She told Irina-One, the only one with them that had the expertise in disarming the nuclear device.

Mounting the ridge into the defilade Paul took the first step over the slope. (Bababaaam) "Argghh!" And got shot in the shoulder.

"Paul!" He rolled down the slope on their side injured but not dead, although he was out of the game.

(Ping) "Damn assholes." He released the pin and safety lever of a grenade, holding it for a while before throwing it in the general direction of where the Marine that had shot him was.

(plop)(BOOM) There was no time delay for the marine to kick it away, so he was vapourised by the incendiary bomb. When the smoke cleared, the last remaining Marine saw the burnt corpse of his last friend alive.

"Do you even realise what you're doing?" He shouted over the slope where the Corporal was.

"Do you know how many people you'll kill? They had no beef with you and yet you're gonna blast them out of existence!"

"I have my orders!"

"Fuck your orders, jarhead! You're no hero! You're a fucking mass murderer! Your country is full of criminals!" Even when injured he kept the Corporal talking so that the rest could regroup and attack while he was distracted.

"Shut up! What do you know? Did your boss ever tell you about the monsters that lurk here?! Did he tell you how they singlehandedly wiped out a division?"

Paul was not the one to talk, but he did hear about them engaging in battle with an enemy callsigned "Rakshasa". He guessed was Golden Path, but to think that same militant group could destroy the mighty United States Army, perhaps in a better scenario it might've been possible. Unless, the Rakshasa weren't Golden Path, he did say monsters after all.

"Haven't the slightest clue what you're saying."

"Hmph! Of course not, you're just a merc. It doesn't matter, it's been done." Hearing that from him, the group decided it was now or never. They stormed from different sides of the defilade so that he would not be able to engage all at the same time.

He turned Ricardo's way and fired as they all did. His shot grazed him whilst they peppered him with 5.56mm FMJ, the corporal fell in a bloody heap against the hardcase of the nuclear device. He knew his time had come as he had foreseen not getting out of this place even if the was out of blast radius. He was a mass murderer as they'd said, whatever remained of Kyrat would definitely chase him all the way to hell if they had to.

He raised a hand holding a grenade with the pin out which made the rest grind to a halt. They knew that if they let him, it might damage the console to work on the bomb. Then, they'd have no way to secure it.

"This is- (spit) it…" He said with a bloodied smile.

"Oh man….. hahahahaha!... What a trip! Whoo! (cough) (cough). I like the way you look, it sorta redeems all that shit this fucking country put us through."

"So you're gonna punish them this way, is it?!" Michelle shouted.

"No. I'm just following my orders like a good soldier, these consequences aren't solely mine to bear."

"Let's just agree to disagree. Alright, you have the trigger to the bomb as well. So, what do you want?"

"What do I want?" The corporal looked at Saras like she was joking and laughed.

"Why else aren't you destroying yourself and instead engaging with us in conversation?"

"Huh….. good point. Perhaps I just need some gratification before I see you all in hell." In these final moments, he couldn't feel anymore fearless than he did now, the pain from gunshots had gone numb and he knew he was just seconds away from death from bleeding out.

(Pip) (Pip) (Pip) They could hear a timer tick and to their horror, they saw that the bomb had already been activated. What's more, the digital clock was set to what appeared to be thirty minutes, not the three hours they'd agreed on with Pentagon.

"Is this what you truly want to be remembered by?" Saras pointed out to the corporal.

"Mmm, yep! Me and the boys have made our peace with ourselves. Everything else is secondary, it doesn't matter that we kill millions or not, its what happens at the end of the day. If the US is the victor than that'll be all, if it costs every single soul on this damn country so be it! We are the greatest country in the world, everything else is trivial!" He went on a final rant that even Saras couldn't reason with, he was beyond bargaining now.

"But….. if you ask me if I'd do it even if Pentagon didn't authorize it, then yeah I would."

"Va te faire foutre!" Michelle threw a swear at him that they weren't familiar with.

"I couldn't agree more." He turned to the voice that directed it and saw the mastermind of their woes standing before him as his final moments. His right hand holding the grenade loosened to release the catch but a hand of steel grabbed hold of it to weld it shut. Another hand grabbed the corporal's chin and pushed up exposing his neck to the demon of his worst nightmares.

"Ajay…" Saras called out.

"Uh!-…" He never would have expected his final moments to feel terror all over again, but it had been made a reality as Ajay had sealed the only way for him to die as painlessly as possible.

"You want to die blowing up, do you? Let me help." (crack) He bent his arm till it cracked and gave way causing the Corporal to scream.

"But first, I'd like to know how to turn this off." Ajay opened his mouth and bit down upon his exposed neck to draw blood from him that was already dangerously low.

This act caused the group to be partly shocked and partly frightened by his actions that he claimed he was doing. Drawing blood just like a vampire of the story books. This was the forbidden act of Blood Draw, an ability shared with much of the demonic races and minorities such as himself.

Behind the excruciating pain he felt, the corporal could sense his memories being stolen as it flipped through his eyes at that very moment. Even so, he forced a madden smiled as he laughed maniacally after Ajay had finished.

"Did you find what you were looking for?...AHahahahahahahahaha!-(smash) GURRGHH!" He looked down at his body to see that his own hand had been forcefully smashed into his chest. His eyes widened as Ajay held onto the safety catch of the grenade he held which meant-.

Ajay grabbed his ragged body and threw him out of the defilade. (BOOM)

Since they were standing in the protection of the defilade, they sustained no casualities.

Ajay stared long and hard at the bomb and its ticking timer. "Ajay-." Saras called out again.

"Irina, get to work!" He called for the Russian to come over to defuse the bomb while he still had the chance to.

"Michelle, contact Arjun and tell him to enact immediate evacuation of everyone to the Mines and Sagarmartha bomb shelter!"

"Uh- yes!"

"It doesn't need to be everybody, just get as may as possible." Ajay said as he stared wearily at the bomb which he knew from the memories of the corporal was undefuseable in this armed status. After the codes pentagon had given him had gone through double confirmations before keying in.

Saras came over to embrace him, she could see that worry in his eyes telling her that he knew no way of stopping it. Ajay sat down against the slope next to her, holding her hand tightly. His eyes, tracked Irina-One who was working on the bomb like his life depended on it.

The rest took a seat just like Ajay, there was literally nothing they could do now.

The timer was now at fifteen minutes.

"Still not done?" He asked Irina-One who looked white as a sheet as he fiddled with the console wires.

"Michelle, that transport!"

"No reply from them! Even if we account for the sortie time, it won't be en-."

"Don't say that!"

"Then what do you want me to say?!" She shouted with tears flowing from her eyes, she knew what the outcome was for them. No matter how tempered she was before, the sensation that you were going to die in a massive fireball was a real-world shaker.

Irina-One continued to fiddle with the bomb but from the look of it, it seemed he had no idea himself.

"Ohooiet! Ohooiet!" He cursed to himself presenting to everyone he had finally given up.

Ajay exhaled and walked back to Saras who tried to put a brave face on with a smile. Ajay slumped next to her and looked at the nuclear bomb still ticking off.

No words were being said, she only held out a hand in which he held. Ricardo had an intimate moment with his wife, Michelle approached Paul to tend to his wounds.

"Huh… special treatment, eh?" He said with a great big grin.

"(sigh)…. Hopeless oaf." Michelle responded with a genuine smile before applying a paste onto his gunshot wound. But Paul held her hand instead.

"It wouldn't matter anyway… What I'd like instead is someone to hold. Take it as a dying man's last request?" Michelle wanted to laugh, but at this moment, what was one hug. So she gave it to him.

"I'm sorry, Mon Cheri. I just hope your daughter is alive and well." Paul said with earnesty. Michelle felt a welling in her emotions.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?..." She said in a half-laugh and half-teary state.

Ajay was there to bear witness to all of this, but he had nothing to say to Saras and she could accept that. This was the end of the line for all of them, plain and simple.

Although, not all of them at least.

"Ajay?" Saras asked as he stood up and let go of her hand.

"Kamran." He tapped the comms to life.

*Yes, Ajay.*

"Is it possible for you to fly out of the blast radius in time?"

*You mean by myself?*

"You know what I mean."

*Even if I dumped all the ammo and non-essentials and revved her to the max, I couldn't carry all of you to avoid the heat wave as you described to me. Plus, there's that EMP pulse that'll send me crashing down as well.*

Ajay pressed his comms once again.

"… It doesn't need to be all of us. Just Three."

"What-…. Ajay?" Saras got up with a look filled with anxiety.

"You don't need to fly all the way out, Kamran. You just need to fly back to the mountain where we found-."

"Ajay."

"Those nukes in, the granite and iron ore mountain walls should provide sufficient cover from both the blastwave and fallout."

"No-…"

"Can it be done?"

"Ajay!"

"Kamran!" Ajay continued to ignore Saras as he called upon his friend to do for him one last favour.

*Yes-… yes it can. I'm descending now.* And just as he said, Kamran loomed overhead trying to descend as quickly as possible.

Ajay turned to the men who knew whom he had arranged for to leave. And said their goodbyes to their women. They gave him a curt nodded before he looked to the nail-biting Irina-One.

"You join them on that chopper out." He said to Irina-One's elation as he gave a crisp salute and eagerly awaited Kamran to lower the ramp.

Now, he turned to the hardest part of this task. Embracing him from behind with such a strength that could not be easily plied off.

"Saras."

"Don't say another word. Don't-… I beg you-."

He moved around to give her an embrace from the front.

"I think I've found a way to solve all of our problems, but-…. I'm not sure if it'll work."

"Then let me stay at least!" But Ajay shook his head.

"What I'm about to do, I don't want you to see it." He held onto her hands and his fingers played with the ring on hers.

By now, everyone that should've boarded had done so already, Ajay wasn't sure how easy it was for Ricardo to break from Stella but he managed. There were no words from Michelle, only tears. She wouldn't deny Paul his dignity as a man or dead man to come.

"You're lying!"

"Saras, look at me! Look here." He held her head to face him. Hers was dripping wet, lines of tears falling to the ground without end.

"…. I will make it out of this, I promise! If you believe in me then I will return!" There was no answer as Saraswati wept in his arms even though she was reluctant to believe it. But her hands were no longer locked around him tightly, so he took this opportunity to carry her to the helicopter as dragging her was time consuming.

Michelle made space on the passenger compartment for her to have a seat next to Saras as Ajay placed her there.

"Being with you every second has been a blessing. If we do make it out alive, I want nothing but to send the rest of my days with you." Now it was just a hand latching on to his that was all that held Saras physically to him. She wouldn't let go even though her strength had weakened greatly.

"Trust me, Swati." He said to her in a new affectionate name with a convincing smile on his face.

"Trust in me." More tears fell as he slipped out of her fingers one by one.

"Trust in me, this once."

"Ajay…."

"Kamran! Good luck! Now get out of here!" Ajay said as he jumped out from his low-level hover.

"AJAAY!" She shouted over the loud beat of the heli blades. Ajay could hear her just fine as he watched the chopper fly off at maximum speed.

"And if I fail, I hope to find you again….. In the next life." He twirled the ring on his finger.

When the chopper was out of sight he felt hands rest on his shoulder, belonging to the two men that were left with him. No words of thanks would better describe the expressions they gave to him for giving their sweethearts a chance to survive.

"I guess I can die happy now." Paul voiced out.

"We're not dying here just yet, Mr Ferenc." Ajay said with an assuring grin.

"What?" Both of them didn't actually think he was being serious here.

"Is this some sort of joke? Haha!-.. don't tell us you're superman and you'll carry the nuke to outer space!" Paul said jokingly as it no longer mattered.

But Ajay's eyes showed a hope that wasn't- shouldn't be there. Was he really telling the truth? Ajay didn't answer while they followed him to what appeared to be a long-range comms unit used by the Marines.

Ajay begun to dial the encrypted codes to gain secure line access to a certain facility in a far away region.

*This is the President, here. Is there anything else we can do for you, soldier?* The receiver thought he was going to talk to the few brave marines that carried out his orders to the death. He received a call from Pentagon that he should pick it up to at least thank them since they were calling again.

"I don't believe we've been formally introduced, Mr President. You know me by the CIA codename "Demon" while the folks here call me-." Ajay turned the comms on loud speak so the rest could hear and talk with him.

*B-Badala.*

"Heh! I'm surprised that you remembered. I'm just calling to let you know that war has officially been declared."

*What garbage are you on about?!*

"I know you authorized the arming of the B83 nuke in their possession. You handed them the codes after all, and systems don't lie. It's ticking away as we speak."

*Is it? Hmph! Then I'd like to say, go fuck yourself!* The man on the other side said conceitly.

"You seem to know a lot about that yourself, so I'm gonna help you with that."

*Cut the bullshit. I know why you called, you want to know how to disarm it, right?*

"It can't be disarmed. That's the beauty of it." Ajay knew from the memories of the corporal and Colonel Patterson that this was true. The other side kept mum, embarrassed that he knew and he couldn't get a few whimpers or tears from him.

"I'm calling because I want you to remember my voice, that when I make a claim I mean it. Just like that letter I sent a week ago. Now tell me, Mr President. Did everything I say in that letter come true?"

He could hear the other side cringing even though he was surrounded by his cabinet in the oval office. A week ago, a letter from a certain someone challenged him to the race for the nuclear weapons lost during a classified stealth project known as Aurora, the urban myth of the Blackbird's successor which happened to be a nuclear delivery system as well to provide first strike capability. He said that whatever troops he sent he would not hear from again, the nuclear weapons he would use when given the chance and he would be helpless to stop it.

Now all of those were true, the only thing that wasn't accounted for was them actually arming one to blast Kyrat off the map. This was the strategic advise from his general staff in concerning the relatively unknown entities that wiped out twelve thousand soldiers in an instant.

*So what do you want? An apology?*

"No, Mr President. Just so you know, my army has already beaten back the Rakshasa that your forces couldn't contain. Just letting your general staff know how incompetent your soldiers are in the face of such a foe." He mocked them, to which the lads with him chuckled away. They got to see one last good show. Which was someone mocking the worlds' most powerful individuals over a phone call.

"Say hi, guys." He told the two with him.

"Kiss my ass, Mr president! From Israel with love, muthafucka!" Was Paul's answer, not a very grown-up way of saying screw you.

"Vaffanculo! It means go fuck yourself! Figlio di puttana!" Ricardos was short and nice.

*I've heard all you've needed to say, but in the end I'm just listening to a dead man's rant.*

"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure, Mr President. Its at times when the least expected things happen that they happen to you. Like in this case, you think you'll wipe out all your problems in five minutes. But what if by some reverse fortune, instead of us being annihilated….. It became you." Ajay said in a dreadfully intimidating aura that ignored the logic of radio waves.

*….. Nonsense.*

"I'm gonna make you a promise, Mr President. Like the one previously, and you can be sure its genuine. It will happen. Are you ready to hear what it is?"

The other side was quiet, but it didn't mean they weren't listening.

"You reap what you sow. You used nuclear force on my country and my people, so I'll use it on yours. In fact, I'll be using the very nuke you ordered primed on your people." He was not there to see the insane grin on Ajay's face that Paul and Ricardo saw. The more he acted in this way the more they suddenly felt hope in their hearts he really did have a way of saving them.

*Absurd! I'd like to see you try!*

"Wow, look at you go! And I thought you said you were speaking to dead men." Ajay laughed at him again. He could just imagine him boiling behind the seat of his.

"When you finally understand the weight of your crime against humanity and your own people before mine, you will despair to the end of days. And I'll be there to watch you scream into the void. When I'm finished with my war against the Rakshasa, I'll be coming for you and the states next."

Ajay ended by turning off the comms. The three of them remained quiet once again as the only sound that could be heard was the timer now at three minutes.

Ajay inhaled and breathed out to calm himself as he got up and walked to the top out of the defilade. While he did tell Saras he had a plan, he wasn't even fifty percent sure that it would work. Because it wasn't he who would be dealing with this mess. He was outsourcing this, his only hope of saving the Himavanas from a reign of terror from the nuclear blast and subsequent fallout…..

Was the very enemy he was fighting against.

"I know you're watching!" He shouted into the sky, hoping for that someone to appear.

"You knew that this would happen, but you just wanted me to ask you!" there was still no sign of response, but Ajay didn't give up hope so easily.

"You want me to owe you a favour and that's exactly what I'm willing to do!... WITCH!" He voice echoed throughout the valley and yet no reply came. Ajay bit down onto his lip till it bled.

"WIIIIIITCH!"

"WIIIIIIITTCHH!"

He continued to shout at the top of his lungs, the other two were suddenly feeling like he'd lost it but didn't stop him.

Ajay laughed in a self-defeatist way as his plea was not met.

"You didn't send me those fragmented memories so I could sympathize with your current state. You hoped that I would remember something important."

"Something that I know can never be forgotten through the ages….. like your brother promised. Well, I do remember it. From the moment I saw you in my dreams, I don't know how but I knew it like I'd lived with you my whole life anew."

His spiritual sense picked up nothing arriving, but he knew that this person was listening.

"And if you don't come out now, then I will never call it out in this life or the next!"

Ajay gathered all the energy in his body, the prana to amplify his voice a hundredfold. So that it would resound throughout the mountains and reach the tallest ice peak of the Himavanas.

"COME OUT! I NEED YOU-… ESHAAAAAAA!"

(BANG) No sooner did he call out that name, did a black hole burst out of non-existence in front of him.

Stepping out of this black hole was that individual that had followed his every footstep. Watched him grow, watched his every move. She had sent fragments of their memories, but never whole nor ever mentioning her name.

But even so, in his heart, he knew it from the moment he was born. Because he was incarnate of her brother, the memories were wiped clear when returning to the cycle of reincarnation. Not all of it though, there was one fragment that hung on stubbornly through the end of time and against the strings of fate.

She came in her white satin-like gown with a hood over her head, but not hiding the strands of silvery white hair. The black hole disappeared behind her as she walked towards him. Paul and Ricardo were just too stunned to talk and scared that they backed off.

But they were astounded nonetheless, for they saw her hands were so fair and smooth that it almost appeared like a work of art as they reached up to pull back the hood and reveal the unnatural beauty that was her complexion to those two mortals that hadn't known better.

It was an appearance that could be fairly given the title of fairest of them all, and the most beautiful being in existence. Their hearts pounded always like reciprocation hammers, and they tried with all their will power to look away to save themselves from the spell of bedazzlement.

Saraswati, even Maya hardly came close to her. It was terrifyingly so that their inner conscience was telling them to look away which they did as they huffed to regain composure.

And yet, when Ajay looked at her he felt the strongest feeling of nostalgia than he'd ever felt before. As Darshan had pointed out, his and her Karma thread were bounded stronger than any other relation he'd had.

It was so strange, to know and yet not know this person.

The witch he knew as Esha looked at him with an unfamiliar warmth that triggered streams of memories she'd not imparted into him, but were locked away in the deepest recesses of his mind. He blocked them out with his willpower as there were a time and place for that, now was not such a time.

Now was the time he bargained with Rakshasa Princess Esha.

* * *

Author's Notes:

Wanna know how powerful is a nuke and what are the aftereffects of it on the lands and inhabitants?

There's this site that does just that, I'm not saying the name for security reasons (PM me). And I am obligated to remind you not to visit the site in populated places of interest or in an airport. If you use their wifi, be ready to get arrested cause they'll know the instant you serve that site.


	126. Chapter 115 - Now I am Become Death

"I've been asked whether in the years to come it will be possible to kill forty million american people in the twenty largest american towns, by the use of atomic bombs in a single night. I'm afraid the answer to that question is yes."

\- J. Robert Oppenheimer

* * *

They thought he descended into insanity, calling out to his invisible guardian angel to help him. The concept of magic or mysticism in Ricardo and Paul's eyes up till this moment were just folklore or fantasy stories they read as children in troubled times. But she was no angel.

The appearance of the woman he called Esha proved them wrong, as she appeared out of thin air from some kind of magical rift and presented herself with an ungodly beauty that stunned them solid.

Added upon these emotions was an uneasy sensation that accompanied. An Aura that said, "do not get between me and him", and they were obligated to sit this one out.

Ajay stood before her silent as ever, he had been wrestling with an influx of nostalgia. And strangely enough, the Demon Seal Darshan bestowed him rattled within his pocket on its own.

….

….

 **Blood of the enemy unspilt**

 **Kin of Eternal Heaven**

 **Nemesis of humanity and of Rakshasa**

 **The conclaves of Patriarchs sole desire**

 **Destruction of all ties to Eternal Heaven-**

…

… **.**

Ajay shook those thoughts that recited in his head, there wasn't a single moment he didn't want to be near this device as it always had something to say about everything mystical he encountered. Although, this time the voice in his head wasn't calm as usual, it chanted fervently in an aggressive tone like it was insisting he kill her off, as if he could.

Ajay understood that it was useless to dabble with her, he should just get straight to the point. Now especially with the timer at three minutes.

"Help me transport this device and I will make it worth your while."

Esha didn't answer him immediately, she took her time walking closer to him and reached out her slender porcelain hand. She placed it on his chin as she inspected his physical traits. Ajay felt an unnaturally chilling hand contact his face as she moved it to rest on his cheek. He did nothing to resist or oppose.

"Help me send this to a place of my choosing, and-…."

" _You will help us find the thangka of Kalinag?"_

Ajay wanted to say if she knew then why did she force him into this state, it was precisely what she wanted him to do. Lately, he'd been falling into traps set by them one after another. What his peers couldn't see but he could.

" _You cannot imagine how overjoyed I am to hear you call upon me by that name."_

" _Call me out again?"_ She requested from him with a face that pleaded of him.

Ajay wanted to refuse, but he was in no position to do so. He was asking her to deal with a problem he couldn't, the least he could do was show humility. That was what Pagan taught him, even though he was the furthest from following with those words.

"Was that the name your parents gave you, Esha?" He said it whilst inquiring.

A warm smile matured on her beautiful complexion that hardly seemed aged at all, this was the quirks of being immortal in both longevity and youth.

" _My honoured father and mother would never dare of calling me by my name directly, even though it was their right to do so. It was my blessing to have such loving parents in place of my true blood parents, it was a shame I was not born from them instead."_ She scowled just thinking of it, yet her face didn't lose even a hint of beauty as she did so.

Then her expression returned to warmth as she looked upon him again.

" _But you were the only one that dared to."_

Ajay wasn't sure if she was referring to him or her brother.

"Am I Ajay Ghale, the vessel or am I your brother?" He wanted to know what he was to her.

" _You may not have felt it, Bhaiya. But I've watched you your entire life, from the day you entered the cradle till this very moment that I've waited for so long. To me, you're both."_

He couldn't read her expression at all. Ajay had a deep understanding of human psyche, but she wasn't a human being. She was something else, her expressions went beyond what a human could do and uncomfortably so. Was this why humans had naturally felt beguiled by these entities so easily in the past?

"No….. I knew. You watched from afar but did nothing, not because you didn't want to…. But because you couldn't."

For the first time in so long, a tear fell from her eye. In her heart, she was as ecstatic as she could be. Ajay decided he needed to be straight with her as it would help sort his emotions as well. He had to make a stand somewhere in this.

"I don't know if you'll succeed in whatever you're planning, but I will say this. I will stand against you with every fibre in my body, until there's nothing left. If not, I wouldn't be my mother's child, my father's son. Ajay Ghale."

A sadden smile appeared on her face.

" _Mmm. I know you will, and I will do everything in my power to do otherwise. In whatever you chose to do, do not lose heart. These were the words you left for me long ago, and now I pass them back to you, my dearly beloved Bhaiya."_ She said resting her hands upon his once more, now those hands had a warmth that wasn't present before.

It had not turned out the way he had expected, however it had affirmed something in him. That they were now on the grounds of mutual respect for one another. He knew for a fact that they would not resort to underhanded practices, and neither would he as it would be detrimental to his peoples' growth in spirit and values. That was the most important quality he wished would take root amongst his fellow Kyratis.

" _So what will you have me do for you this once, Bhaiya?"_ Ajay was sure she knew, but asked out of consideration and etiquette.

"I will help you find every single piece of the Kalinag thangka. The only map to the passage way into Shangri-la. On this I swear on my name as Ajay Ghale." He begun to understand why she'd recruited Mohan and assisted the Golden Path in their conquest. It was all for the Kalinag Thangka, the heirloom of the House Ghale. No one knew of its location, not even Mohan. But he did have a rough idea of some places Darpan hid them after passing it into his care.

Ajay on the other hand knew where they were hidden from Yogi and Reggie's maps bequeathed by Darpan a few months before he died which they proceeded to use as wrapping paper for their substances.

"In exchange, I want you to take this to a certain place I had in mind."

* * *

10th Carrier Strike Group was just being deployed after its maintenance cycle had been completed. The ammunition stocks and retinue of sailors were all fresh from home port in Virginia. Flagship CVN-75 had finished its nuclear fuel rod resupply and was operational for another twenty or so years till the next resupply.

Deployed within the Carrier strike group acting as its carrier escorts were four Arleigh Burke-class Destroyers, a Ticonderoga Cruiser and an attack submarine of the Seawolf-class with all the appropriate support vessels. And their latest addition attached to their formation, USS Zumwalt. The first of the DDX line of surface warfare optimised warships awaiting full-fledged commissioning. It had been attached with their Carrier Group to study the mission parameters of the new class of warship built to attack land targets.

As reluctant as the Carrier Group commander was, a Rear Admiral. He had been given expectations to follow, so allowed Zumwalt to proceed with the shelling of that backwater country called Kyrat based on satellite imagery and GPS coordinates all throughout the week.

To their surprise, they learnt that all Tomahawk cruise missiles being launched had been intercepted, every one of them till Zumwalt's magazine went dry. The labcoats and evaluators were satisfied with the performance of the ship, but the flag officer was troubled that instead of deploying the full might of the strike group, they were wasting strategic advantage over an executive order from Pentagon and the Joint Chiefs.

Then news came in from the top, that the Expeditionary force they'd ferried to Pakistan and into that place had suffered 100% casualties, not a single survivor. Their mission was to launch reconnaissance flight groups over there to assess the outcome of a nuclear strike in the region. To ensure that whatever the nuke was primed to destroy had done its job.

The staff of ship officers scowled at the use of nuclear force in this time and age. What could possibly justify the use of that weapon right now. The fleet commander was of the same mind, he however had his orders to fulfil.

"Sir, I have Indian flagship Vikramaditya and its escorts hailing us. They're demanding we drop anchor and await their further inspection." Tensions were rising from the plethora use of nuclear weapons, such that they were now locking down onto every force related to the nuclear weapon in Kyrat. It was reported that a week ago, the Indian armed forces and Russian ground forces were conducting a mountain exercise in that region. Did they get caught in the radius of the weapon?

That was not his prerogative to know or act. He was only meant to keep his fleet intact. Pressing the microphone to all loudspeakers on board the Carrier and on all escort vessels.

"Men. This is your Rear Admiral speaking. A few moments ago, I had received word from the President that we have been brought to Defcon Two and that the President has authorized a limited nuclear strike on the hostiles of the Himalayan state of Kyrat. Obviously, the decision to use nuclear force is a very serious one. We are still unsure of the exact nature of our opposition, but based on data gathered by the expedition and from satellite imagery. We believe, our planet is facing an imminent and very real threat. Whatever happens in the next few minutes, I know that each one of you will perform your duty with honor and professionalism. Now, all hands to battlestations. In the next twenty minutes, I want every available bird on this tub in the air." With his commands given, the sailors and officers scrambled to make ready all aircraft on board the carrier for immediate dust off. The flag officer exhaled exasperatedly, it was a little hard to imagine days ago, he was having a nice conversation with US Army Brigadier Farragut, the supreme commander of the land expedition. With the confirmation of survivors down to zero it meant him as well.

Defcon Two, the preparation stage to use nuclear weapons. What sort of intel did Langley pick up from their satellites to confirm the outcome of twelve thousand soldiers in an instant and report such a thing to the Joint Chief of Staff to decide this sort of option?

Still, orders wer- (siren) The alarms went off wildly in the bridge where he was.

"Status!" He demanded.

"Breach in the reactor room, sir!"

"What? Get me engineering, I want a full report and explanation of why our core is on meltdown!"

"Sir, it-… it's not a meltdown… We have intruders in the reactor room!"

"What in gods-…. How the hell did anyone sneak aboard this vessel?! Let alone enter one of the most secure chambers?! I want answers and I wanted them yesterday!" He shouted at his officers who dispatched the security details to apprehend the intruders.

"Bring me a video uplink!" He demanded.

"Aye, sir!" A bridge operator sent a video feed directly to the Captain's screen in front of his seat.

"Holy-…." What he saw was a black-cladded figure with a mask on his face standing next to a woman clothed in a white gown. The black armoured figure stood around a blood-soaked reaction control room filled with the corpses of the nuclear engineers looking at the camera.

*Hey. Nice ship you got here.* He said with a grin.

"Who the hell is that?!" He demanded from his bridge crew and security officer.

*Wouldn't want anything to happen to your ship, would we? Anyways, don't mind me. I'm just here to drop off something your expedition left behind.* He said as he stood aside revealing a device sitting in the middle of the control room.

"What the hell is that thing?"

"Oh my god….. Sir!-…. That's a B83 hardcase!" His air traffic commander informed him, having experience behind the deployment of such devices.

"What?! Where did that come from?!"

"It's not in our inventory, sir!"

"I know that! That's why I'm asking, why is it there?! How did they bring it on board without a single person noticing it! How!?" Nobody could answer him, no one could explain such a freak phenomenon.

*In case you're wondering what I'm doing here with your bomb. Well, I want you to know that when you go to heaven or hell, the person who armed this bomb was your boss. You have about-…..* He looked at the timer on the interface.

*Fifteen seconds to pray to your god. But a little heads up for those new…..*

An explosive sound appeared behind him as a swirling black hole opened up in the room.

*I won't be listening.* He said chuckling away sinisterly before entering the rift along with that woman, leaving behind not a trace of his existence save for the object that belonged to them ticking away.

"Dear god-."

The fleet commander and his bridge staff barely had any time to do what he said as a pure white light engulfed them and grew to such proportions it overlaid not just the carrier's circumference and all of the vessels that comprised of the Carrier Strike Group, but anything within a five-mile radius.

Sailors on deck were fried in an instant, munitions detonated from microwaves cooking them off on-deck and inside the magazines blasting the hulls of the warships into scraps of metal shrapnel flying in every direction. 7,380 personnel didn't even know they had vanished from the earth by the very pinnacle of weapons in their own military's arsenal. The carrier, the cruiser, the destroyers, even the submarine looming close by experienced what was the full effect of nuclear weaponry at one megaton used on a naval fleet.

But there was only one group that survived to witness this horror of destructive power unleashed upon a naval force. The Indian Naval Squadron complementing Flagship Vikramaditya, who were miles away from ground zero and out of the danger zone of the nuclear blast and fallout. They emerged onto deck to stare up at the bright mushroom cloud that dominated their forward portside as the fleet turned around to avoid possible radioactive clouds carried by the winds.

They knew not what had happened as an obvious use of a nuclear weapon had detonated amongst the carrier strike group. Before, there was no sign of ballistic missiles entering the earth's atmosphere, not that the US fleet wasn't capable of intercepting it on its own accord. Which meant it was a surface detonation.

It would be a day till New Delhi would piece together what had happened after a phone call from a certain mountain demon. Before then, they had never taken him seriously. Only to the point that they acknowledged he was an "earth shaker" to their Himalayan region.

But now they knew, he was truly terrifying. The Chinese patted their chests in relief, knowing that had they proceeded further, they would suffer a similar fate from this guardian entity protecting the Himavana's called Badala. And like the Chinese and Americans, the Indians' too coined a name for him.

It came from a passage within Bhagavad Gita, once quoted by the father of atomic bombs, Oppenheimer.

"Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds." The commander of INS Vikramaditya recited in his crews' stupor.

And so, the demon became the destroyer.

* * *

Twenty Minutes Prior to Detonation –

Three of them upon two of the Raptors, he should be thankful there wasn't any more than these two. Yet, one more than one was somewhat of a formidable force multiplier. This was what he'd realised in the previous engagement with the raptor pair, he was damn sure that this was the same pair that killed his partner. Because if it wasn't, then they were in for a world of hurt to come.

Luckily, he had the present advantage of being at one of the Raptor's tails engaging him. And as Sokol 1-1 had said, the pilot made very little manoeuvres that would compromise its energy. Not that it would lose it so quickly with its ability to supercruise without afterburners, a function that was unique to F-22s at present.

He kept his IRST pointed at his prey to let him know he was IR locked for the time being, but Pravi never fired his IR missiles. Partly because with the energy the pilot had he could take evasive action successfully, and partly because he wanted to gun him down.

(Brrrr) He fired a short burst to zero in on him making the Raptor fly vertically in order to out-turn him and switch places.

Pravi decided he would patronise him, so he let him lose out that energy and appear behind him. When that happened, he immediately received an IR lock from the Raptor's Sidewinders. But Pravi took no evasive actions he built up momentum till he was at 1.8 Mach, outpacing the Raptor.

(Piiiiiiii) Laser warning alerted a missile launch as the sidewinder chased his engine exhaust.

Pravi hit the throttle to ascend, jettisoning his extended fuel tank as well. The missile chased after him but Pravi was not watching the missile, he was observing the Raptors next move. Seeing that no possible evasive action could prevent that missile from hitting him, the Raptor pilot disengaged to assist his partner against the two Su-35s that were Sokol 1-1 and Tiger 1-5.

The two mentioned had chased their Raptor with no luck on their side despite advanced tactics employed. The Raptors still had an edge to their modern fighters, it wasn't a game changer for nothing. It was literally a symbol of US air superiority, and it would not easily fall to the likes of a hastily assembled joint squadron.

*Oh shit…..* They saw the other Raptor come behind Tiger 1-5 ready to take him out and free his partner from engagement.

Tiger 1-5 received an IR lock which he responded by releasing countermeasures.

"Don't break from me, Tiger 1-5! I need you to keep me covered or we'll both be dead!"

As reluctant as he was, he listened to Sokol 1-1. But he was having trouble believing the reality of the situation. Pravi, Tiger 1-3 might've been shot down.

His warning lights blinked as the Raptor pursuing him had him in an IR lock with relative ease.

*Madarchod! He's fired! Deplo-(static)* A fireball ignited behind Sokol 1-1 as Tiger 1-5 was blasted into oblivion. He only saw the flash and not the pilot eject as he turned to focus onwards with the Raptor he was pursuing stubbornly.

He did all he could to shake the one chasing him while keeping the crosshairs on the one in front, but as it stood he was bleeding energy faster than usual. Making him an easy target for missiles.

(Piiiiii) An IR sidewinder flew from the Raptor behind him towards his rear. Which he quickly released flares to counter, thankfully luck was on his side as the missile whizzed away from his aircraft and swirled in the air aimlessly.

But his sensors were still picking up a lock from his pursuer. That wingman was doing all he could to free his buddy and was focused on solely that. But that would also be his eventual downfall.

(Brrrrrrrrrr) 30 mm rounds shredded the F-22 behind Sokol 1-1 from above as a Sukhoi dive-attacked it. The Raptor burst into flames and engulfed its pilot.

*Yeeeeehhhhaaaa!* Shouted the cowboy who faked his death.

Sokol 1-1 and the Raptor he was chasing undoubtedly stared in shock as Pravindra took the first actual Raptor kill in history.

*Tiger 1-3 here to support.*

"Better time than any, 1-3. Give me cover while I kill this one."

*Roger, 1-1.* Pravi stayed close to Sokol 1-1 as he continued to pursue the Raptor. Seeing his comrade ablazed and without backup, the pilot decided to disengage and fly home.

This proved to be a fatal mistake in the account of this Raptor pilot as well. As he was flying away from Point 2153, meaning they were flying out of the radar jammed area. Sokol 1-1 and Pravi flicked their Radar on to begin detecting the Raptor for their more advance complement of weapons.

*I have a target, it's really small but I'm taking it. Tiger 1-3, converge and force his energy to deplete. I'll disappear for a moment.* Pravi could see it as well on the screen, it was almost undetectable but it was there.

"On it." Pravi pushed the throttle to the max and chased the Raptor from his position as Sokol 1-1 began to ascend to get a better vantage for firing his beyond-visual range missile but kept his radar off so as not to alert the Raptor to his position. He flew in a diagonal position, giving the impression he was bugging out.

The Raptor pilot was late in realising his Radar returned into operation and seized the opportunity by turning around to engage. Pravi could only guess that it had been equipped mainly with radar lock missiles under its bomb bay for this mission. So it had its capabilities seriously imparted by the radar interference, forcing the pilot to rely on guns and IR sidewinders which it had less of. The situation was bad for both of them, however they had the advantage of numbers to outmanoeuvre it. Forcing the Raptor to pay attention to two targets at all times.

(Brrrrr)

The Raptor flew right by him as he fired a salvo head on as it started to make a high-G turn to get around him and make Pravi fly on the receiving end of his missile array. Radar lock was already detected from his warning system that the F-22 had him on lock.

"I'm gonna give you a 45 second window, you either take it or I'm dead." He told Sokol 1-1.

*Copy.*

"Here we go."

He made a high-G barrel roll as the F-22 had almost had him in his sights and it chased after him, hoping to finish him off before dealing with the last pursuer to return to base.

His 9G turning was aided by the new engine and airframe, but there was only so much a person could withstand from fainting at that level of G-force. A good pilot could stand thirty seconds, Pravi had pushed the envelope to forty-five. In doing so, Pravi was throwing the Raptor's radar lock in overshoot. Unable to keep up with his high-turning angles, realising the severity of leaving this pilot alive to harass him further, the F-22 continued to chase him using its outstanding performance to keep up with Pravi.

It was highly impressive, both the pilot and the machine. Pravi saw a few times it almost overtook him and made itself a target for him because Pravi was slower than it in acceleration. If only India could produce something as elegant and outstanding as this craft, there were few things Pravi wouldn't give to fly in that sort of aircraft just once.

"Arrrrrrrrrghh!"

Pravi's mind struggled to keep up as the G-force was causing his consciousness to blackout, yet there was still no sign of Sokol 1-1. The Raptor somehow was still able to keep track of him just fine, it was proof that this wasn't the machine that was brilliant but the man or woman flying in it. But Pravi would not be outdone this day, Sokol 1-1 said he'd arrive so he believed he would. He never valued team work as much as now, he had always seen his fellow pilots as a hindrance or decoys. Now, he was feeling exactly how they felt with his antics. He could only summarize that feeling in one word.

Tough.

It showed his comrades were extremely tolerant of him and made him feel very lucky to be flying with them as his wingmen. "Bring it on!" He continued to expend energy he built up with high turning manoeuvres at a constant 9Gs. It started to exhibit signs of physical damage to his body that the G-suit couldn't mitigate, his blood vessels in his eyes were popping and he bled from his eyelids.

Looking from the back mirror on the canopy, he could still see the Raptor chasing after him. Seeing such a thing made Pravi laugh fanatically at the sight. He realised he wasn't fighting just some dude who got to fly a Raptor.

He was flying up against a kindred spirit.

His literal American counterpart. There was a rush of inexplicable ecstasy that was coursing through his body, the excitement of the dogfight.

"It's you! You're the opponent I've been searching for!" Pravi said over the open channel, hoping the Raptor pilot would hear him as he laughed maniacally.

(Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr)… (Brrrrrrrrrrrr)

To his surprise, 20mm rounds were being fired his way but were overshot due to his turn. The Raptor pilot was getting frustrated, Pravi only laughed more as he saw more of him in the pilot.

He no longer cared of Sokol 1-1 would come or not, he just wanted to go against this pilot and see how far he could go against him.

Pravi had lost significant momentum from his turns and would soon be helpless to the Raptor's onslaught, this was evident from the longer ping sound of that the radar lock warning was giving him before he avoided it.

"Guess it's time!" He steadied the aircraft in level flight with the Raptor coming right behind him as anticipated. The radar lock was now dead on from the Raptor's weapon suite.

It was at this moment that Pravi hit the brakes to let Raptor fly by him, the Cobra manuever which Sokol 1-1 had used previously to force the Raptors to split. He dealt with another moment of G-force acting on him from the sudden braking with his aircraft nose raised and put it down to return to level flight. But to his surprise, the Raptor was still behind him.

The Raptor pilot had in that very split second made the decision to do the same manoeuvre with made him entirely spent of energy like Pravi was. But he had the advantage of being the attacker, and could finish of Pravi with ease thanks to Pravi depleting his.

(Piiiiiii) His radar sensor went wild with warning.

Pravi knew he was done, but he didn't feel upset at the outcome. It was the most enjoyable experience he'd had. And it made him feel grateful to be able to fly against this pilot who had bested him at his own game.

*Missile away!* Called Sokol 1-1 as he fired his active radar missile at the Raptor spent of energy.

Seeing no other alternatives for himself, the pilot ejected as the missile swooped in to blast the F-22 out of the skies.

*Uraaa! One for the Motherland!*

"Great time to pop in, 1-1."

*Ahd. I came anyway.*

"Thanks, I was at my wits end back there."

*No worries, Tiger 1-3. Drinks on me when we return, ya?*

"Sure, any time."

Pravi looked back at the falling wreckage of the most outstanding opponent he'd ever had. He could make out a parachute falling down to the earth as well. He checked the map temporarily to find out where he would drop in. Somewhere in the region where the Army was fighting against the enemy codenamed "Rakshasa" as well as the US expeditionary forces. If he was lucky, he would be able to get rescued by his fellow soldiers as they fell back.

For god knows if infantrymen found downed pilots, the most unfortunate things could happen that would make being sent to a POW camp appear more generous. Pravindra said a silent prayer for the wellbeing of the pilot he'd come to respect.

*Tiger 1-1 to all units, remaining PAF boogies are disengaging and returning. Engage and destroy, do not let a single one return.* Pravi was a little surprised by his superior's tone in which he delivered that message. Not the usual calm under pressure sort.

*Sokol 1-1 to Tiger 1-1, that is ill advised. We are twenty miles till the Pakistani border, invading their airspace will create tension.* The Russian commander became the substitute for that.

*Then why are they here!? If you will not assist then Tiger group will pursue on their own.*

"Tiger 1-3 here. Sir, with all due respect. We've accomplished our mission and we got ourselves a bonus Raptor kill.* Hearing this on the open channel sent waves of chatter over the net. Pravindra hope that this was enough to dissuade the bloodlust that his Commander was experiencing. Which was weird, considering he was always the calmest. What in the world had triggered him?

*From this moment on, I cut my ties to the IAF.* Tiger 1-1 declared and shook their worlds as he turned and pursued the PAF fighter group.

*Shit, what the hell!-..* Astra cursed.

"Tiger 1-2, what happened?" Pravi asked.

*I dunno, he just murmured something about that F-16 pilot and broke formation leaving us to fight the rest.* From what his fellow pilot gave him to work with, Pravi had one wild guess about what had happened.

Commander Singh had found his squadron's killer, the one from the Kargil War sixteen years ago.

* * *

Ajay felt like there was barely a second that passed when he walked through that spatial rift. Such that he was in time to see the bright light of the nuclear weapon he sent back detonate and create such an unusual phenomenon. Even when they were over a thousand kilometres from the Arabian Sea. A spectrum of lights was seen in that general direction.

"Paul. Do you want a souvenir?" The fellas noticed his return right behind their backs along with that entity they had the jiggers from standing in close proximity to.

Paul shrugged his shoulders that he was alright with anything, Ajay passed him a base cap he looted off a deck officer he shrew. Placing it in Paul's hands who stared at the emblem on it.

"CVN-75….. USS Harry S. Truman. Holy god-…." Ricardo looked up to Ajay to affirm what he'd done.

Ajay simply gave him a wry smile, but it gave the impression of a hungry wolf to him. Paul was simply content with the free headwear.

From there, Ajay's attention was back to Esha.

" _Five days, bring them personally to Akaash."_ Ajay nodded in agreement, he promised her the Kalinag Thangka and that was what he was going to get for her. It might've accelerated their plans by a mile, but it didn't change the fact that she had singlehandedly saved over thirty-four million souls' in the Himavanas alone. Even though she was an enemy of the mortals on the mountains, this was still her home as it was to every Rakshasa that fell under her protection. For this alone, he was eternally grateful.

"…"

" _As long as I am there, no harm will come to you."_

"Tell that to Sabal and Purushartha."

" _If they dare to I will-!"_

"Just joking." He said with a smile, he knew they wouldn't dare act wildly in her midst. If it were other people doing this to her, she would've smite them.

" _Pfft-…"_ Instead she let out the most pleasant-sounding giggle. Completely destroying the façade of a powerful entity above humanity. Ajay was suddenly inclined to chuckle along with her until she laughed and laughed to tears as she wiped them from her eyes.

The more he saw this side of her, the more it made him internally conflicted about what he knew of her.

Contrary to what he felt and what she said, Darshan had a much darker story in relation to her which he believed were her true colours over a mask of deceit. But as far as he'd conversed and fought with the Rakshasa, their very being was above underhanded play. They still had a code of honour they abided by as warriors and they didn't shame it. Although that would also be subjective as there was that one fellow they call the Great Betrayer who was of their kin and a highly regarded individual as well. His betrayal triggered a turning point in their war against their favour till their eventual defeat.

"I guess, this is it, huh?" He talked about this sort of small measure of peace from their truce before they went back to being enemies.

" _Mmm. At least till you've given me what was promised."_

"You'll know if I would break it." Ajay turned around.

"…. Esha." He called her in a tone of inquiry.

"Why me?... What criteria makes me an incarnate of your brother? Is this a curse because I didn't live to the expectations of my former life? Why must I suffer over and over? Tell me it isn't because you're the one doing it but fate pulling the strings." Ajay looked at her with weary eyes that seemed like he would crumble at any second.

She looked like she wanted to open her mouth but sealed it and shook her head.

" _You will know the truth when we see each other again in Shangri-la."_

Ajay placed a hand to his face to cover the anguished expression he had and looked away. Getting a hold of his emotions, he nodded in a reply.

"Goodbye, Esha."

A sigh rang out like an eternity had shattered.

(BANG) The spatial rift opened once more with a flick of her hand and she walked forward, ready to leave.

"Ajay!" He turned to the voice of Vasu that called out to find him, Maya and Han Feng had arrived.

He thought Kamran would pick them along the way and find shelter but it seemed they had lost contact at some point so naturally he didn't mount a search with so little time. He didn't know how he was going to explain to them that a nuke was about to be set off.

The portal was still left swirling from what Ajay heard behind him and he turned around wondering why she'd stayed. A look of distress passed over her as she stared in the new arrivals' direction. Particularly at one person, it wasn't Vasu she gazed at with pique.

Ajay sensed something wrong when she didn't leave and proceeded to raise her hand towards them. Vasu had his wits about him when the individual showed hostile intent.

 **[Azure Sky]**

A chilling aura passed over them and froze them in place.

"What're you doing?" Ajay called out in distress.

She ignored him for the first time, sending a powerful traction power to draw that individual towards her.

The one that came flying towards her was Maya.

Scared out of her wits to have something like this done to her in such a fashion. A talisman flew out and struck the floor before Maya, creating a barrier that prevented her from slipping any further into her gasps.

" _Bhaiya!-."_ She stood surprised when looking to Ajay who pointed his slayer her way.

"Whatever your reason, I don't wanna hear it. She is the one person you have to get by me if you want to deal with."

Her face hung full of anguish that he turned against her, her teeth grit when the gun was pointed at her.

" _You do not understand even a fraction of what you are doing!"_

"Don't-….. Just don't…"

" _She will betray you! It is in her bloodline!"_

Hearing this sent him into a stupor. "….. What?" Those words came out not believing what he just heard.

" _So that is what you have been planning, 9_ _th_ _Demon Banisher_." She seemed to have made an assumption based on the situation. She lowered her hostility and disabled the spell of paralysis by fear. Returning control of their bodies to them all.

" _Then heed my words and heed them well! Our enemy, your enemy is he and those that bear the Eternal Heaven Bloodline. She may not bear grudge against you today, but she will eventually. She is born from Eternal Heaven hence her life has been decided for her."_

She passed a warning to him as she walked closer to the spatial rift. Looking Ajay's way once more, she said one last thing to him.

"" _Eternal Heaven fears the Asura, but relishes the Demon." Do not fall as so many others have, or this world will truly become theirs."_ She said with a strong bearing, hoping that he got every word of it.

" _Farewell until the next, Bhaiya."_ Disappearing through the spatial rift and closing forever.

A silence stalked through the valley as five other souls besides Ajay were robbed of their speech and thoughts to what had taken place.

This wasn't the first time he'd heard that name, the medallion had said the same thing. Just as that name was an unfriendly to the Rakshasa, so too was it for the Demon Banishers. A mutual enemy, yet both sides were still at each other's throats.

"Eternal Heaven… bloodline…." Ajay murmured as he met face to face with Maya who was confused by what she'd seen.

Ajay went over to confirm Maya's wellbeing, reaching a hand out to her to be helped up. She accepted it readily and asked.

"Who in the world was that, Ajay?" As hungry for answers as Ajay was, Maya was just the same.

"Mohan's mistress. And don't ask me what she meant, I haven't the slightest clue."

He said before tapping his radio to inform all forces to regroup and fall out from this battlefield, for they would return home victorious.

At the same time, he dialled in Jeevan. Hoping to get an update on his chase with Brody.

Immediately, a message was sent to his phone.

"….."

"What is it?"

Ajay showed her the text. Jeevan was unable to grab or kill him, but he was able to narrow his temporary hideout within a sacred cave on the mountains with a dilapidated bell tower nearby. The local police forces had cordoned off the area and set a barricade to seal him within his hiding place.

"Shall we go?"

"No, I'll handle this myself. You and the boys need rest, after what just happened here you won't wanna hear what the lads have to say." They were an inch from death by nuclear fireball and they didn't even know.

"Are you gonna kill him?" When Maya asked that question, Ajay had a sudden reoccurrence of a fragmented memory. She stopped as she saw he was feeling a physical pain.

"You alright?"

"….. I'm fine. When Darshan comes back, do me a favour and ask him what she meant by your bloodline. He's kept enough shit hidden from all of us this long, if he isn't going to share every bit of detail then I don't wanna be included in his grand design."

Maya was under the assumption he was in cahoots with darshan and therefore denied knowing, but knowing him this long she found it was not the case. She nodded and left with the boys to seek extraction.

Meanwhile, Ajay gazed at the picture Jeevan sent to him. It was a rather common looking place like many in Kyrat. Caves were often prayer sites to the local deity after all. But from closer examination, Ajay could see that this particular cave wasn't as ordinary as everyone thought it was. Ajay had a new mission that coincidentally needed him to visit it as well.

Because deep within, that seemingly ordinary cavern housed one of the five Kalinag thangkas.

* * *

Author's Thoughts:

(Master Chief) "Permission to leave the station, sir."

(Lord Hood) "For what purpose, Master Chief?"

(Master Chief) "To give the Covenant back their bomb."

(Lord Hood) "…. Permission granted."


	127. Chapter 116 - Slaying Giants

It began to spread like wildfire amongst the communities in that area. Jason Brody, the foreigner who aided the Golden Path insurgency had taken refuge inside the mountains opposite Delta Barracks on the other side of the old deserted town of Banapur.

The police had cordoned off the area with barricades to prevent people from entering and leaving. They were not going to let the crazed killer "Snow White" go, the SWAT-style special duties police officers were sent into storm the cavern and were not heard from again, highlighting the danger of this individual the Demon's apprentice chased all the way here.

It caused such a scene that many of the civilians gathered around the outskirts that were barricaded to have a look. Joining in to assist them were the Military forces from Delta Barracks garrison.

"Look!" A quadbike went at maximum speed creating a dirt cloud behind it. Reaching closer to the southern barricade guarded by the regional police inspector, the figure became clearer. It stirred their excitement about their otherwise ordinary days, a blessing nonetheless from the old days of civil war.

Climbing off the quadbike he appropriated from the paratrooper forces was Ajay fresh from the battlefield out at the borders of Kyrat near the Akaash valley in the mountains. Blood had dried over his armour and body, permeating a heavy killing aura that kept many back even from their distance away. It was at times like this, the people finally understood why the charismatic Duke of Lakshman had a name like a demon attached to him.

"Inspector." Ajay greeted the highest-ranking police officer in the area.

"My lord. As you can see, we've barricaded the area as instructed by Captain Hamal. Our stations' officers are watching the East and Western exits, while the Royal Army is monitoring the Northern side. They have provided snipers as well to give overwatch."

"Inspector, while I don't hold any authority over yourself and your officers. Jason Brody is no mere fugitive, we've lost over three hundred soldiers and fighters to this psycho. We're not letting him loose again." Ajay wanted to highlight to the constables the danger of attempting to arrest Brody. He wasn't going to do that, so neither should they.

"Understood, my lord. We'll take your sound advice."

"If he leaves this area and you see him, if your powers as an officer aren't sufficient I will vouch for you killing him." Showing the policeman that even Badala wasn't above the law was important in keeping the natural order of the internal affairs. If military officers were above the law like before, there was no reason for the police to do the same and they'd all fall into a state of corruption not dissimilar to previously.

"Thank you, sir! Um-." The inspector was wondering why he entered through the barricade and towards the cavern alone.

"I heard from the police channel, you haven't heard from your Special Duties Unit for some time. I don't want to rain on your parade but I'm preparing for the worst. This time, I'll be sufficient on my own." Ajay told the one in charge of the barricades as he unslung his slayer and dropped in two fresh cartridges of buckshot from close quarters.

The inspector seemed to want to object but this was the Demon after all, so he made way for him to enter unhindered…. Almost.

"What do you want?"

"Watching you attempt to kill a tatbro, how can I sit by and watch?"

"Then just sit and watch! That's all you've been doing all this while hasn't-." Ajay experienced another attack on his mind, an unbearable pain as fragments of memories flowed by. One pertaining to him rescuing him from Golden Path when he'd been beaten to a pulp by Sabal, Vel and… Brody!

"What… what have you been doing?... huh?" Ajay turned his way, but his mouth was shut tight without a response as he just stood there.

"Bads….."

"You think I know a way of rescuing him from his situation but to tell you the truth I don't. After all this time, why hasn't the real one fought back for control of his body? I don't need to dwell on why, he's made his choice. All of our efforts have been wasted, now there's no Jason Brody. Only that pirate in control."

Ajay checked his equipment as he climbed the steep cliffside towards the cave entrance. He took a Vector Kriss PDW that was slung to the quadbike and hastily carved some talisman runes upon the bore of the weapon. Brody was technically an "exalt", so he wouldn't be easily killed by normal small-arms.

"Killing Jason won't bring Kamala back."

Ajay's hands stopped in place from where he climbed with the assistance of a rope.

"….. It won't… But it'll prevent more from ending up that way. So are you gonna lecture me on how that won't be the case?"

"…"

The figure following him remained silent for a moment.

"Of course not, even you are aware of the danger he poses to people in general. How many lives has he taken? The longer he lives, the more lives will be lost. Brody has gotten what's coming to him. This was the Karma he arranged for himself, both Jason and Vaas."

"You know that isn't true. I'm afraid, that when you kill him…. You're killing a part of yourself as well."

He said before disappearing. Ajay clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction as he continued down the narrow path to where he found an article of clothing that matched his own armour by the entrance of the cave. It provoked him into picking it up and identifying what was seemingly familiar looking.

One of the ceramic plates from Jeevan's armour, shell cases were lying around indicating a fierce confrontation that led into the cave.

Ajay took out a flare and lit it as he ventured deep into the dark cave. The only sound that daunted the narrow walkway was the constant dripping of water from the ceiling. He had been here long ago, so he was kind of familiar with the layout if anything.

First, he was going to remove the opposition and assert Jeevan's status. The Kalinag thangka was the last priority.

The deeper he went, the more it became clear Jeevan had it tough. Lying around against the walls were the special duties police officers with machete-sized holes through their kevlar jackets. Their ammunition stripped from their persons. The rifles they were using were mostly Israeli X95 Micro Tavors which were imported from Israel and given to the police forces to fit their duty rifle requirements, so it was fair to assume that Brody got his hands on one as well. Not that it would matter unless he hit a critical area his armour couldn't protect. Ajay was more concerned about Jeevan.

This place had become a spider's lair, and the spider could pop out anywhere at anything.

Ajay wasn't the type to fall for jump scares, that still didn't mean he was going to let Brody get that fall on him. His talisman count had been reduced significantly during his fight with the Rakshasa, such that he was left with only two talismans for dispelling spells.

(Sniff) A pungent smell began to creep in as he ventured further, he could not see the smoke permeate the surroundings, an incense was burning somewhere. The brewed scent smelled similar to a certain compound of hallucinogen that proliferated the region in the past. Gurus and monks used to indulge in this stuff while no one was looking.

But this concoction smelt different.

-Shit.- He knew he shouldn't be breathing it in, but he wasn't so vulnerable to these sorts of narcotics. At least not the common stuff that those two Brits used to play with.

(cough)(cough)(cough)

He was sorely mistaken about the potency of this stuff being smoked within the narrow confines of the cavern. He was starting to see double-vision and knew that he wasn't truly immune to this stuff.

He saw a figure in the dark, upon a higher ledge in the cavern looking down at him.

"You like it? Made it especially for you, Hermano."

* * *

The Airbase was filled with a triumphant mood, this was mainly to do with the armies that had returned. At least three-quarters of it had.

The pub had already been packed with soldiers depriving the pilots of a means to celebrate their long-awaited victory. Especially since every pilot had survived, although the number of aircraft that made it back was a different story altogether. Pravi had also broken a record for bringing his plane back intact. However, it was not all sun shine and daisies for them.

His commander had been restraint upon landing by members of the Indian Army Provost for actions that went against the initial plan. Right now, the charges were down to court-martial for attacking the Pakistani aircraft on their own soil. While there would be some talks as to why they had intruded Kyrati airspace, that was no reason for him to do the same. He had engaged a small flight of F-16s over a residential area. The debris of his kills fell and injured some civilians, now both sides were inquiring and acting. As it stood, he could be kicked out of the Airforce for this one act.

He could see them walk into a Dornier aircraft, awaiting clearance to take off. Cuffed and escorted into the aircraft, Commander Singh made no attempt to resist as he was brought on-board. Pravi and the pilots walked over to give him their respects for the work he'd accomplished thus far.

A provost stood in the way as he got closer.

"I want to have a word. So please piss off, dog." Pravi had in his own right declared war with the Military Police who flung his baton his way. A cross-jab to the throat had him fall on his back, the rest of the provost came to aid their fallen comrade.

"Enough!" Pravi's superior shouted. "Lieutenant, while I appreciate your efforts to bring me before the court. Allow me a few minutes with the lads to clear things up." The provost officer nodded and gave him free space to approach Pravi and the Indian and Russian Pilots.

"Sir-."

"This is my responsibility for acting recklessly on a one-man vendetta. I'll happily receive it, knowing that I let my old friends rest in their graves even a little easier from now on."

"You mean you-.."

"Not quite what I had in mind, same airframe and markings. Different pilot. I'm afraid I've worsened the situation here for Kyrat and you lot."

"Don't say that, you led us this far. Sir."

"And now, it's up to you to lead them. The court will not let this slide lightly so returning here might not be a possibility."

He, lead the squadron? What was his superior saying? A hand rested on his shoulder.

"Today, I've heard a lot about your exploits and your ability to surpass your own demons and limitations. That is something I still need to work on, with whatever time I have left. I'll leave the squadron in your care then."

He said as he took steps back and the provost came in.

"One last thing, I heard over the comms channel. A rumour that Badala had used nuclear weapons on the American naval fleet."

The surprise was evident in the pilots and provost when they heard this.

"It's just as a wild uneducated guess. But that man's likely next move is to destroy every US presence in the region, including that in Pakistan. Even if it meant threatening our rivals into extradicting them with the nuclear weapons he's amassed." Pravi was getting jitters just from hearing this, Saraswati's partner was like a ravenous tiger with a hunger unsatiable. Or Atilla descending on the Ancient Romans.

"You have two options, you either request Command that we pull out. This way we no longer become liable to whatever consequence he's gotten himself into."

"And the other?" Commander Singh chuckled as he was asked for the other alternative instantly like the first wasn't really an option to him.

"The other, you stay the course and fight alongside our Kyrati friends. And share a bond that might never be relived for ages to come, until we can see the end of this path. But that also means you will have to dirty your hands and this may include nuclear delivery duties." The group was silent when they heard him say this.

"Chose wisely, Prav. You're now the leader of the Squadron." The provost brought him on board the turbo-prop aircraft that was already moving off the tarmac to the runway.

He wasn't sure if he would see him return as the squadron commander to take back his post. But now a new weight of concern passed over Pravi to the new job he'd been given.

"Did he just put Prav in charge of us?"

"I think he did. Padma, we're really scrapping the bottom of the barrel here." His fellow pilots had a laugh at him. Pravi flung his hand which they dodged playfully and teased him.

"Leader! Leader! Why're you so ruthless?"

"Quit the drama, get back to your rooms and rest." He said in a slightly authoritative voice unconsciously.

"""Wwwwwooooooouuhh!""" They cooed as he was showing himself to be the big man. An empty can came flying their way, they dispersed and jubilantly went to the officer's mess to have a drink. Probably putting the tab on him for his promotion to their "glorious squadron leader".

"I promised you a drink, did I not?" Pravi looked behind to see Sokol 1-1 approach him, the Russian Squadron Commander who went by the name of Simonov.

"Hope you don't get me to try any of that strong stuff you and your boys have been making old Alex struggle to concoct the last few weeks." Their poor bartender was made to serve out of the usual orders of drinks with exotic cocktails which the Russians' demanded.

"Oh? But from what I hear, he's already perfected the flavour to our liking and has received our officers' seal of approval. Now he's earning big bucks."

"You mean Rubles."

"One man's paltry is another man's treasure."

The Russians had been paying old Alex the exact amount for his drinks and services, except in Rubles. Because he had never specified the currency when the Indians' used their rupees but equivalent to American to avoid confusion. So they were drinking at his bar at their interpreted price, not that he ever addressed this problem. He was a very meek person. So the Russians' took advantage of this brief period of "cheap" drinks. The mercenaries and Indians were cursing, not because they were playing foul. But because they hadn't thought of that earlier.

"You do know that Alex is Badala's favourite bartender, right?"

Hearing this made Commander Simonov turn white as a sheet, Pravi chuckled internally. There was literally no one from outside who wasn't afraid of the Demon of Kyrat. The exploits were seemingly unreal with a person who had such a pretty-boy face and iconic brooding eyes. However, many veterans including Commander Singh and the mercenaries have mentioned he had the eyes of a person that has commited mass murder and atrocities. He decided he was going to trust their instincts on that one.

"I'll pay for this one, just don't order one I'll pass out in front of the guys in a single glass." He would need it, the Russians had literally drunken Alex's Vodka and craft beers stocks dry. They owed him a pretty sum, at least a Regiments worth of drinks.

Simonov laughed heartily and patted him on the back, he wasn't ignorant to the silent kind deed Pravi did for him.

"You need to come to St Petersburg when you're on holiday. I would be more than happy to show you a taste of local hospitality not available to tourists."

"I'll put a raincheck on that. Now, enough dallying. I'm not sure if they'll be anything left besides baby champagne after the events that have taken place." Simonov chuckled just thinking about it.

They headed to the officer's mess that seemed to have a line forming outside with NCOs and technical officers who accompanied their officers into the mess. Hopefully, they'd give them a special "heroes" discount for the work everyone knew they did.

"Stop or we'll shoot!" A commotion took place at the nearby hangar as boxes were tossed in the way of the Kyrati military police who pursued a person cladded in a pilot's flight suit, from the portions he could tell was that of a woman. There was no way to cover those luscious curves on that one.

However, Pravi was not on the privy knowledge that there was another female pilot besides Michelle and another one from UAE who was currently retraining in India with Sukhois. Pravi approached them to see what all the fuss was about while Simonov had a funny feeling about what was going on.

"Guys. Guys, is there really a need to point the guns at lady here?" Pravi entered the audible distance and took the attention of the MPs off the pilot onto him. In that spilt-second, he didn't expect the next scene to take place.

"Drop it! Unless you want blood on your hands!" She latched her arm around Pravi from the back and pressed what felt like a combat knife against his neck.

"Woah! Woah! Hang on, what's with all the hostility?!" Pravi was too dense to figure out the situation. Even Simonov who had come over and pulled out his Makarov on her from behind knew what was the scenario.

"Lieutenant, that woman is a POW." He said to bring clarity to Pravi's baffled mind and explained the MPs situation in those few short words.

Pravi turned and looked at her and then to the patch on her arm. There was an unmistakable American Red, White and Blue flag emblem stuck to her arm. Along with a unit patch of a swooping Bald Eagle titled "Fighting Eagles". The pieces fell into place as he realized the significance of her presence here.

"No way…" He declared in an excited tone which baffled even her.

This woman was more than many ways likely the Raptor pilot he shot down with Simonov.

And he believed it was more than the machinations of fate that brought him to meet his kindred spirit.

* * *

"You've always been a slippery one, you think this narcotic will stop me from tearing that head off its shoulders?" Ajay scanned the cavern walls as he continued to venture deeper into the caves in the direction he knew he was heading. Somewhere around, Brody was circling him.

"Oh, what's this?" His answer was met with a response and a cackle-like laughter.

"Daisy's not gonna like what you're gonna do, hell she might give her frowny face on this one, Ajay."

"That boat has sailed between us, shit for brains. If she were here right now standing between you and me, I wouldn't hesitate to put a slug through her to get to you."

"Owwww….. Dark, Ajay. Man, those Rakshasa fellows were right! You really are losing more and more of your humanity by the second." Ajay was not affected by his attempts to throw his focus off with anger. He wasn't a raging bull as Brody thought he was, he was much colder and more calculative than the former would anticipate.

"That makes two of us, although you hardly had anything resembling that of humanity, to begin with."

"Hermano, I'm more human than you could possibly imagine. At least more than you."

Ajay kept him talking as he lay tripmines along the way, with the darkness to hide those tripwires it would make them more difficult to detect until the last possible moment. If he could detect them, then it would at least slow him down during a pursuit out of the cave. He would bottle him in without room for Brody to escape again.

He looked down the last of his talisman papers, the other one he placed right at the entrance as the last remaining measure to catch him. Knowing his connection to the occult, it should influence him the most.

"Then you should've known better than to invite a monster here." Brody gave a sinister laugh at his remark.

"It's quite refreshing hearing you refer to yourself as a monster."

"…" Ajay pulled out his slayer and awaited the next move by Brody.

"You know hermano-."

"Don't call me hermano." He said in a powerful voice of intimidation whilst leaking a dangerous aura.

"Oh come on, Hermano-." (Ting)(Bang) Ajay interrupted by throwing a flashbang above him.

When whoever had been watching opened his eyes, Ajay was gone. He was no longer within the control of the situation.

"Playing hide and seek, hermano? So who's it?" His words were met with emptiness as to give away his position was pure folly. Only shadows passed by occasionally.

"It'll be a good old hand-to-hand, you 'n me. 'specially while you can't use those demonic rites." If Brody wanted to fight him on equal ground, he was dead wrong. He didn't need the demon to crush him to bits.

"I know you want to gut me where I'm standing, Ajay. I can feel your negative waves just radiating off the walls. So come out and lets make that a reality, I wanna see what kinda guts keeps you afloat in this farce you call home." Useless taunts that did get on his nerve only by virtue that Brody was extremely irritating. Ajay had prepared more traps around the place to limit his movement to this cavern section exclusively. He knew Brody's style, luring his opponents to get provoked into a square match when all he did was learn from every engagement and steal that strength. He maxxed out on escape reflex so he could live to die another day. From Daisy's story, that's how Jason had built the strength to confront Vaas and subsequently Hoyt. From jobless grad student, to CIA classification category L subject.

Ajay had a theory without proper evidence and merely a feeling from his previous engagements. This was the affect of a Rakyat talisman done by that Citra witch doctor and then "perfected" by Esha or Mohan. Brody was effectively a learning computer, the more he fought the stronger he got. To think the original host of the body would let a mere spirit possess him, he would be so sick of life that he didn't believe he should live another second on earth.

Just like how Ajay felt, once upon a time.

-For what its worth, killing you will free you as well.-

Ajay told himself as he prepped a White Phosphorous charge onto the ground, one of many he'd been placing around the area. He intended to flush him out once Jeevan was located. Placing the final charge, he went off to look for tracks that would locate his younger friend.

He found one such trail while incognito as he found blood trails that reacted to a small solution of diluted accelerant compound Noore gave him to breadcrumb his warriors with altered blood. When the blood fizzed in reaction to the accelerant but not explosively like with his blood he knew he was onto something.

It seemed that the pathway was leading him in the direction of where the library was, the one that held all the ancient scrolls and one particular piece of the thangka. Did Brody know the value of the treasure found in this area or did he treat it like random junk? He felt that him coming here was by no coincidence.

Until he entered the chamber filled with prayer seats, scroll cabinets and candle stands. And where the statue idol of the patron deity was, Jeevan was tied against it unconscious. Ajay immediately went to assert the condition of his apprentice, moving carefully to avoid any traps Brody had placed. But there only seemed to be Jeevan, the furniture and the thangka lying in front of him like bait.

He proceeded to untie Jeevan down, he wasn't sure how Brody had overpowered the younger man. Most likely with trickery and guile, as usual, that freak never engaged in a proper fight unless he knew he'd win. And he was sure that with Jeevan's prowess, he would have to think carefully about his moves in a duel. This gave Ajay more reason to blast him on sight with the slayer.

Jeevan slumped onto him dead cold, he had been heavily sedated from the looks of it by an unknown substance that even Ajay was unaware of. When Jeevan was thrown over his back in a fireman carry and ready to extract, Ajay turned to the thangka and reached down to retrieve it.

And it was here that his assumption about Brody's ignorance to the Thangka in the grand scheme of things came to light.

(puff) A huge bellow of smoke from a tripline triggered by retrieving the thangka was blasted into his face.

(cough)(cough)(cough)

This time, Ajay was genuinely caught by surprise. He should've seen that coming, but Jeevan was more important than some animal hide drawing, and he was assuming that Brody had the same impression. If not, he wouldn't have made Jeevan so presentable. But he did it to lower his guard around other things.

(Cough) (cough) (cough)

Ajay begun to cough non-stop, the concoction had entered his lungs coating it with a very dry solvent which caused this reaction. The more he tried to clear it, the more his fluids increased the flow of it into his bloodstream.

Ajay began to wobble about with Jeevan over his shoulder as he tried to maintain a level footing on exiting. But then, his body too felt heavy like lead and his vision became blurry.

"You fell for that one as I'd expected." He saw a figure at the entrance approach, in double images due to his compromised ability to stay focus.

He did his best to place Jeevan down as carefully as his body came crashing down.

"I need you to take a nap, hermano." Said the grinning Brody.

Ajay reached for his mouth and bit down on his hand till it bled to wake himself up, which had only achieved some measure of pain and wariness. He reached back and pulled out the slayer, pointing it as Brody. However, his aim was unsteady. (Boom) That didn't mean he wouldn't take potshots.

The figure appeared at the corner of his eye, successfully dodging a shot that wouldn't hit him.

(Boom) Ajay fired the second barrel in hopes to get lucky, although luck wasn't on his side this time.

"Man, you're as helpless as a baby in a crib, hermano. I could really kill you now if you weren't so precious to me!" He laughed. Ajay weakly reached out his hand and grabbed Brody's leg so tightly, he felt it would break under that vice-like grip.

"sssssss…. Now that's power! That's what I want from you, hermano. I can't tell you how sick I am to send another second in this pussy boy's body. I feel sad every day, like a fucking emo. I bet a body like yours is vibing with energy and all the protein a boy should have." He reached down and removed Ajay's hand that weakened in strength as well.

"That's right, hermano. I'm upgrading to demonic strength. Night! night!" Ajay fell into a deep ummovable slumber, vulnerable to the machinations of Brody for the first time. It was from this moment on, that Ajay would begin the fight for his own self within himself.

* * *

Pagan was surprised to say the least, the last time he'd been in Kumsa it was on transit to Kyrat during the days of the exodus. Back then, it was as he would have imagined. Total rural environment for miles, reminiscent of the Guang Zhou farming communities during the days he was back in Hong Kong and visited the mainlands.

It was no surprise why he chose not to visit again. But this was entirely what he had not expected, the Capital City was as busy and industrious as Lakshman. Most proliferant around the areas, were the grain exchange depots. Where the numerous farming communities exchanged their seasonal harvests for money and other necessities which keep the communities and towns afloat. This was made possible by the simple system which had been implemented by the Crown Prince during his early years of taking office as the Agriculture and Commerce Ministry appointments. It was no wonder, there were so many changes and why all seemed good in Kumsa when the heir apparent to the Kumsan throne was a capable leader and showed promise in governing.

And why there was always an easy and lightened mood about Surendra, King of Kumsa. Pagan understood the feeling pretty well that he could relate to Surendra just as easily. Although he didn't want to say it, Pagan felt luckier to have Ajay as the son he never had. Ajay, was a cunning tactician and manipulator of human emotions, it was surprising how he could always give such a genuine smile to him without being weighed by the guilt of his actions.

If Manendra were thrown into the same situation as Ajay into handling Kyrat, Pagan was sure he'd sink beneath the dirt. How would he handle the cunning of the Kyrati Nobles, the visciousness of the Cantons, and ruthlessness of the former Royal Army and Guard while managing the Lords that seemed to have their own agendas?

That's why the Kumsan Crown Prince couldn't be measured on the same level as Ajay who was obviously way better. It is no wonder Pagan felt not a smidgen of inferiority to Surendra or Manendra Kumsa. Again, not comparing, he clearly wasn't!

Against the Palace Guards' wishes that he stays within the Kingdoms' palace, Pagan walked out into the streets with almost no guards. Except for his old friends of the Prachin Vyadh tribe, what everyone knew more commonly as the Hunters. They were quite content with the lush and bountiful greenery in the area that defined the fertile soil of Kumsa. Plenty of opportunities to forage and hunt, and with their skills, it was almost not even a challenge.

Kumsa had been overlooked by many superpowers, the ancient Hindu kingdoms, the British East Indies, himself and the Cantons as well as the United States. Because besides a ton of rainforests to provide lumber and rice fields for the staple, Kumsa had literally nothing. Where Yinke had coal, Kyrat had Rubies and rare earth metals, even Papir had a salt mine. These were more appealing territories to the foreign powers, and so there was always strife in those places.

It did, however, become the resting point for all these great armies to proceed on into the other states, as the rice stocks could replenish their food supplies instantly. In ages past, the Devi bloodline and Papir principality had a strong grudge against the weaker state for letting the invaders through, not that they could do anything to stop such formidable adversaries, to begin with.

Kumsa was the only state to achieve autarchy, the state of self-sufficiency. However, without trading rights to its neighbours and lack of influence to engage with India, it had no potential to grow any further. So it remained small, but the people were happy and so were the monarchs of old.

He could see why Surendra was eager to bring his kingdom out of this sort of state of limbo even if his son was making a little bit of progress in his own right. And with Pagan's political muscle and cunning, it was possible for the honest King.

"Pardon, sir. Are you by chance, the King of Kyrat?" One of the kingdom soldiers asked seemingly on behalf of the people that looked at him with awe.

"…Yes… How did you know?"

The soldier dug into his pocket and pulled out a newly minted note, a Kyrati Rupee with his face on it. Since the alliance, the flow of currency and trade had begun to spread throughout the states.

He unconsciously smiles in the same way the thousand dollars note smiled and got the surprising reaction of the people who talked excitedly. It was like he was a museum exhibit they'd never seen before.

"It is His Royal Highness Pagan Min!"

"Milord, we thank you on behalf of the Arora Community!" One young labourer said as he bowed low to him.

"What ever for, sonny?"

The labourer dug into his pocket and pulled out an empty medicine bottle, he got on his knees and bowed lower.

"Your medicine saved the life of my young siblings from an early death. I dunno what the name of the disease was called, tet- tetaus?... I thank you in the name of our king." He struggled to say what Pagan was assuming was the disease tetanus, dangerous for children to be having.

"I-.."

"Your lordship also provided us with vaccinations so that our children may grow healthily!" Another claimed.

"Milord, is it true what the magistrates say? You will be building schools for both us and our children?"

They thanked and inquired of him one after another, that Pagan had lost the flow of the conversations. As they poured in and surrounded him.

All these things they had said he'd done for them, he did none of that. Could it be, that this was Ajay and Noore's doing? Noore distributed the medicine and vaccinations to them without cost, Ajay offered to build primary and vocation schools for the humble Kumsans' behind his back and had deliberately used his name to glorify his image?

He didn't know how to answer these people or to accept the praise for this work for the first time in his life. It felt so empty it was not his to claim and yet joyful, that he had such loyal subjects to do such deeds on his behalf. They had won the Kumsan peoples' hearts in the name Pagan.

Their excitement turned to fright when one particular farmer had approached him too close to giving his thanks that the Hunters dived in and placed a kukri to his neck, ready to slice it at a moments notice.

"STOP!" Pagan shouted to his hidden bodyguards, just as he was about to run it through. Blood dripped from a very small cut as the farmer shivered till his bladder couldn't hold back the liquids. Pagan looked around to see the people fallen back and frozen stiff shaking as he was. He could see fear in their eyes, as the hunters' eyes moved around scanning for possible dangers amidst the crowd that had tried to use this congregation to assassinate him at their convenience.

"Your Highness-.."

"Fall back, Naga! Until I say I need you to protect me!" He scolded the Hunter Leader in a furious tone. The hunters bowed apologetically and retreated into the shadow of mini smoke bombs that they threw on the ground.

Pagan reached out to the farmer that had been assaulted for getting too close, the farmer was becoming fearful that if he approached Pagan any nearer, they would take his life for it.

"Friend, I'm sorry for the misdeeds that my warriors have done to you, please forgive me for that scare." Pagan apologized humbly to earn the man's interaction once more. He showed his trust by reaching out and Pagan held firmly to bring him to his feet. He pulled out his silk handkerchief and wiped the man's neck, he had the man apply pressure to it with the handkerchief to hold the blood.

"Keep it, take it as a gift for your troubles. My good sir."

All it took were these words said meaningfully to the farmer to win back the crowds enamour with him. They kept a distance but not uncomfortable far or near as they thanked him for things he didn't do for them. After much interaction with the folks in the area, he went into an eatery and asked for a quiet corner to rest and ponder about the things he heard today.

"(Sigh)….."

The more they told him about the things they didn't initially have, even things as basic as a clean drinking water supply, electricity, utilities, small affordable luxuries like even a soda. The more questions floated in his mind why didn't they have these if they were a prospering autarchy which could feed themselves. Such that their harvest was so bountiful they could sell their crops all year around.

Could it be that the Crown Prince was hoarding and underpaying them? If so then wouldn't the King have known? He didn't think so based on both of their personalities, they were magnanimous to their people and their people knew it. But what weren't they doing right?

Clearly, education was severely lacking here. So were the supply of basic necessities. Yet they needed to be involved interregionally, but for some reason Pagan felt that if they were to be integrated into this new Himavana Federation he theorized, they might not cope with the rapidly changing environment. Which would lead to long-term damage in their ability to contribute to the new nation and their confidence in their abilities. The other states would be equally feeling inadequate and vote to oust the Kingdom of Kumsa for holding them back.

Why he cared for them was because they would soon become part of the same nation and part of the country's interests. It was like a country bumpkin entering the big city, there were major differences in social and cultural standings and beliefs. A country was founded by the peoples' collective desire for there to be one, and if even a fraction thought differently it meant that the ideal was doomed to crumble at any time.

He poured some of his whisky from a night flask in his jacket into the coffee, hoping it would wash away some of this cynical behaviour. But it did nothing to wash that anxiety away.

"That looks tasty." Pagan turned to the speaker who turned out to be a gorgeous thing standing beside his table.

Pagan held it out to her without worries if she was intruding, as he found in Kumsa, the concept of social class distinctions was not evident or rather they were never taught it. The Monarchy hadn't enforced it either and ruled with humility, they were more like parent officials than actual monarchs. Like Surendra said, his bloodline came from humble roots before becoming the first king of Kumsa, with a little help from that ominous group of exorcist warriors' senior.

(cough)(cough) She was caught by surprise by the potency of the drink.

Pagan ended up chuckling at the sight.

"Not what you expected, right?"

"But it smelt lovely from down there." She pointed to the lower floor of the eatery to which Pagan raised his eyebrow.

"You could smell from all the way there?"

"Hehe! I've got a pretty good nose, have I not?"

"Ah, that you do. I once knew someone who could tell a cuisine from afar. Coming from the kitchen downstairs, she'd spoil the chef's surprise everytime." Pagan chuckled just thinking about the good old days.

Him feeding a one-year-old Ajay at the dinner table with Ishwari, he was a substitute for a father and husband as they were a substitute for a loving family he never had.

"Really, and I was under the impression I was one of a kind. Who was she?" Her smile was like the summer which Pagan found delightful in its own right.

"She….. she was someone special."

"I see." She could somehow read that she was no longer in this world.

"Well, are you going to just stand there or are you going to have a seat?" Said, Pagan.

"Who me?"

"Of course, you've taken a drink out of my cup. The least you could do is have a chat while I fetch for some more." He exclaimed as he pulled the nightcap flask out of his pocket. He waved for the waiter who came over with haste.

"Two cups of coffee, and some snacks for the young lady. Your house speciality." The waiter nodded to the simple order and took her leave.

Have him take the initiative, she was forced to take a seat and indulge him for a bit of his time for intruding in his.

"So who do I have the privilege of having as a guest at the table? And where are my manners, I'm Pagan Min, despite all humbleness in appearance I am 'that' Pagan." The young lady with the raven black hair giggled pleasantly at his attempt to have humility from his introduction.

"You're not from around here, are you?"

"No, Pagan. I'm not."

"And that accent, it sounds Southern Kyrati."

"Good guess, even though I have never grown up in Kyrat."

"But your parents are from Kyrat were they not?" She smiled in a way that was awkward in facing that inquiry, Pagan was quick to see that her family circumstance was complicated.

"I'd like to think of them as a mother and a father sometimes, but they are both born in Kyrat."

"Then you should call them that."

"Why?"

"They were the ones that raised you to become this beautiful young lady I have as a guest before me. I think they've earned the right to be called as such."

"Right?" She was under the impression it was imposing on their freedom to call them that.

"Well, it has to be consentual on both ends. It usually starts with someone, maybe you might be that someone who starts it. I mean, you love'em right?" She wavered thinking about it for a moment.

"I-…. I do."

"Mmmm… That was weird, usually, you won't hesitate when you love someone." He decided to take advantage of this moment to tease her.

"No-… it's just, I don't know if he feels the same way about it."

"He? The man of the house."

"It's my mistress who runs things."

"Oh, I see. It's a matriarchal society, where the woman is the dominant one." For some reason, the way he put it made her laugh out right.

"Unfortunately, that man is in servitude to my master." Pagan realized his mistake quickly, still, he was quite surprised that apart from the Prachin Vyadh tribe there were societies where the women were the leading figures, granted there were a few communities like the Eastern Huns that were very respectful of their women elders.

"Yes, that would be rather weird to hear you call them mama and papa in front of their peers."

Pagan contemplated about it in a way to solve this societal riddle, it at least gave him problems to think about.

"You look just like him…" She murmured without paying attention to whether he heard it or not.

"Mmmm? Sorry, who?"

"No- Nothing. Just this guy I met during my trip to Kyrat. He broods when he thinks."

"Ah! Now a story about a guy, my, what an adventurous young lady you are." He said smirking.

"I can assure you, it is nothing of that sort. He's, well he's someone special to my mistress."

"I see, but you know what would be really sporting?"

"Your coffee and snacks, sir."

The waiter came over and placed the snacks and beverages before them. Pagan gave him a nod to acknowledge his efforts.

"What would it be?"

"Knowing the name of whom I'm discussing life issues with." He said with a broad smile matching the Kyrati Rupee and making a few other clients in the eatery turn and wonder where they'd seen him before.

She turned red as she realized she'd not even introduced herself while he had.

"I'm terribly sorry, I was just so caught up in what you said about having parents its just-."

"Its fine, at least you had people who loved and nurtured you from young. While I had something more akin to a dysfunctional band of crooks who call themselves father, brothers and sisters."

She was quiet as she realized he had a sensitive past on that topic they were on about with her insistence.

"As my tailor always says, that's ancient history. Let's talk about the future." Pagan managed to turn the mood around.

She reached out her hand in front of him and spoke her name.

"I'm Ashna."

Pagan looked closely at her eyes and did not grab hold of the hand for a while. But he eventually did after he gathered what he needed from her expression. He smiled as he shook her hand firmly and said.

"Your expression says otherwise."

He knew that wasn't her name and that she was lying. But who cares.

* * *

…..

…..

This dark place he woke up to was not unfamiliar. And as he regained consciousness of his surroundings, lights flickered over him as if on cue, like he was on stage.

Ajay took a look at himself, as a lightness daunted him that had never been there before. His armour was gone, his weapons were too. He found himself dressed in the same jumper and jeans that he came to Kyrat in.

A walkway began to light up in front of him, encouraging him to follow the trail. Then like television screens had flickered on, the walls that defined the narrow pathway ahead flickered with images of his life thus far. Stretching from Brooklyn all the way to the battle at point 2153.

"Quite a life you got here, Hermano."

"Brody." His wits were restored and what had transpired previously before entering this state.

"Man all these things, all that tough guy and scary monster acts thus far…. To think you were just a scared little boy crying for mommy and daddy. It would be boring if it wasn't true, but I can see its more pathetic than anything."

"….. Reading my memories doesn't mean you get me."

"Ha! You're only saying that because I've read all there is to know about you, hermano."

"You've really earned the hatchet for this one, Brody." He couldn't let him leave what appeared to be his subconsciousness.

"Oh on contrary, Ajay. I've already done some of my voodoo magic on your ink. Now our minds are fused as one." It was disgusting to imagine them merging together.

Ajay ventured further until he entered a strange tropical landscape ahead. "Sis!... Where are you!?" A kid appeared before him calling out to a sibling that didn't exist. That kid didn't resemble a Himalayan but more of a local from southeast Asia or central America. The kid cried as he called out in vain.

-This is-…..-

"Hey! No peeking!" The voice called out angrily.

Ajay realized it as clear as day, these were his memories. Vaas's memories of childhood. And it was here that a conniving plan concocted in his head. If Brody could access his memories as easily as a flick of his fingers….

(click) A stream of memories that appeared in screens came before him, all of a certain someone.

"What the hell?!"

"Heh! So there's a trick like this." Ajay smirked.

"How the hell'd you-."

"You're in my subconscious, MY subconscious. I can do whatever the hell I want. Besides, if you have voodoo, then what makes you think I don't have anything?"

He could feel a presence reel somewhere within the subconscious layer of his mind.

"What an idiot you are, Vaas Montenegro. You put me in the same cloth as Jason, and that's where you'll pay!" He thought of a certain object and willed it into existence. A highlight of a demon hex floated before him and took a formless image of Vedic characters.

"8th Demon Banishing Hex…. Seal!" In this reality, he decided he didn't need to complete the full spell and nunciate just the spell title. Because this wasn't the real world, he was not bounded by such complexities.

A shriek could be heard and then a rumbling resounded.

(Rumble) The world in his subconscious shook and vibrated like a great earthquake. The black void shattered around them, revealing yet another area of which he had not an idea of. It wasn't a world created from his memory, but Vaas's.

An ancient temple loomed before him, reminiscent of the ancient temple structures like Angkor Wat. A storm cloud brew overhead with a threatening wind pattern.

And who should he find puking blood at the steps of this ancient temple than Brody himself? Or rather, his image began to fizzle and switch between Jason and a mohawk fellow in a sleeveless. Ajay was guessing this was none other than the infamous pirate that threatened the lives of Daisy and company.

"I have to admit, you're dumber than I thought. You could trap Jason because he didn't have countermeasures. But I'm not without such countermeasures!" But he wasn't ordinary, he was a demon banisher.

These sorts of tricks wouldn't work on him. No matter how powerful the spell or hex, if Ajay possessed a strong enough willpower, he could break through anything. He could see the lines on Vaas's face, meeting with a failure which he could not recover easily from.

He willed it, so the presence of his demon Banishing magic appeared before him.

"I guess, it'll have to be suppression after all." He said spitting out the last of the blood in his mouth.

The stormclouds swirled towards Vaas and gathered around him and his body began to glow with an orange light. Similar to lava that matched the ground that seemed to light up the same way.

Vaas started to grow in such proportions he no longer resembled his former self, but began to morph into a demon with glowing eyes and a red face that resembled a mask like Ajay's, it roared its first cry. His skin crackled and blistered till it no longer appeared human but stone-like. Opening its mouth to reveal the hot magma brewing inside which slewed all over the earth beneath this fifty-high giant. Just as Ajay wished for demon banishing magic to appear in this reality, Vaas willed himself to become the giant of his Rakyat lore. For if no man could beat him, then he would become no man. The giant was the most powerul creature that Vaas could think of, and his will reinforced the giant's powerful physique and aura till it matched the descriptions of the giant of legends.

In completing its manifestation, the giant rose to its feet and crushed the temple beneath its foot. It pointed down to Ajay and smiled devilishly.

" **Your soul and body are mine!"** Its mouth tried to mimick human words but sounded as inhuman as possible.

Ajay smiled with a delight he hadn't before, he could see the end of the route here. To get back to reality, he had to kill this giant. He didn't seem to be able to draw out the demon's powers even in this subconscious world, but that didn't mean he didn't have other means of achieving that goal.

Closing his eyes. He thought, therefore, it became real, the Schrodinger's cat metaphorically.

He opened them to find his wargear strapped upon him, every bit of it from his armour to his weapons.

The giant looked surprised and furious at the sight. Clenching its molten hands and flinging it his way, an unbearable pressure built up around where he stood as the fist came closer to impacting the ground beneath Ajay and squashing him like a bug.

In response, he reached into his back and pulled out the instrument which would give two reasons why that giant fist would never pummel him.

(Boom)(Boom) Two powerful shots rang out and impacted the giant's hand and exploding against its fist. As the fist had halted in momentum, the fingers on the molten giant began to crack then crumble to the ground, the giant wailed in pain at the effectiveness of the slayer on it, a magical entity.

Now a ravenous smile leaked from Ajay's mouth.

For he was about to show to Vaas, that by bringing him here to try and use his past to haunt him and break his mental defences…

He got more than he'd bargain for. The hunter had become the hunted.


	128. Chapter 117 - An Eye For An Eye

(rumble)

The giant slammed its feet in an attempt to crush him, Ajay departed by vaulting away. As the foot came crashing down upon the floor, the giant found its leg to be mired by something keeping it from lifting up. Ajay had left one of the talismans there to hinder the giant's movement.

(Babababbabaam) He fired the Vector randomly at different points of the giant to find weakspots.

The bullets weren't nearly as powerful as the slayer and struck the rocky surface of the giant or ricocheted without much effect.

-Torso, none. Arms and legs, none. What about the head?-

The giant stood a good fifty metres towering over him and from the angle he was in it didn't seem like he would get a good shot at the face.

-I'll need to bring it down.-

The giant pulled its leg till it wrenched the leg free from the talisman by pulling the ground with it to set it loose upon one hapless man. It belched a whole stream of magma across at Ajay cutting off one section of agility space then cased another to lock him into a smaller area.

Ajay willed another set of shots for his slayer to create an opening for him to break this encirclement, loading the more dangerous slug and firing it at the giant's head. (Boom) (Boom)

The shells impacted the giant's head and blasted away a portion of its cranium causing it to stumble. Ajay used his grapple hooks and tether wire to escape at rapid speeds by using the giant to pendulum out. When he appeared behind the giant, he threw a stick of C4 at its feet in the hopes of toppling the giant as it exploded. But the giant only wobbled before regaining footing.

The giant glared at him with ill intent as it begun to do something, the clouds descended from around its body towards the surface and popping out of the wind were smaller versions of itself, serving as ground troops to maneuver Ajay into position to strike hard with its cumbersome physique.

He turned the vector PDW to cut them down into size as quick as possible as the giant's palm came flying towards him again.

(Boom) (Boom)

The shots took huge chucks of the giant's plam but did not stop its momentum as it learnt from its previous encounter.

"Mire!" He said with a finger pointed at the palm. The palm still came but at a slower speed, giving Ajay precious few seconds extra.

Using the grappling hook and wires to anchor to the rubble and evade the falling palm. The giant turned to face him and crunched its fist, what happened next was the ground shaking and bursting with hot lava.

"You never learn do you, Vaas? I told you not to compare me in the same breadth as Jason. I'm not an impulsive brat like he is. I am the worst conceivable nightmare you could possibly think up. And best of all, you're now in a place where none of that starscream-style withdraws won't be a problem." Ajay stared at the giant fearlessly.

"And to prove it to you…." Ajay took off his ammo bandoliers and dropped his guns, pulling out the only weapon he would need to kill the giant.

The giant looked down in shock temporarily as he saw what was in his hands, a mere kukri.

"I've heard tons of names I've been christened, Vaas. But this was one of the oldest names from a time where you never existed here. Before mantle of "Demon" made its way into my life." The kukri twirled in his hands as he approached the giant head on.

"The Royal Army used to call me….. "Son of Yalung". And since then, I've done everything to live up to it."

The giant walked forward to meet his triumphant bravado with physical intimidation, while Ajay adopted the latest of the stances in Four Seasons Pandemonium. The final of the Royal martial art forms that Ajay had comprehended from all that had happened till now, the winter form.

The inspiration that allowed him to understand the poem was of listening to Darshan's story and his own understanding of the Rakshasas' circumstance now.

The giant didn't believe him and thought it his lucky day that arrogance had made a fool out of him. It clamped its two hands together over its head and brought it down with all the force it could muster. Force that would not only smash Ajay into pulp, but shatter the earth around him and the giant as well. The two-handed mace came crashing down like a metoer as it headed directly for its alone target standing strong and brave in the face of adversity.

Ajay dug his heels into the ground and gripped the pommel of the kukri in an unusual back handed way, like he was going to make a 180 swipe horizontally.

Ajay understood that it was not the forms that granted the power to strike more formidable foes with. The strength of Four Season came from the resolve of heart in a representation of the four seasons. Warm, cold, cool, and intense. It taught the warriors a valuable lesson in the way of the blade and fist. That staying in one ideal would not help in defining a warrior's path, he had to understand others' ideals and respect them as if his own, to be open to diversity. Only then could he use their strengths in the places that his own ideals would shatter in face of adversity where the others won't.

"The end to eternity, the requiem to all…." His stance ready and awaiting the right moment to strike at the falling boulder of fists.

Winter was the ice cold that froze everything into eternity, hoping that it would never fade away as all things bounded by time. But like the circle, Kalachakra. All things must go in a cycle. Here was the contradiction. If winter ends all, then how would Summer, Spring and Autumn repeatedly exist once more?

So what if, winter did not destroy matter nor froze it. But protected it from all the harm in the cold dark void of space, until the arrival of spring.

The absolute defense. And as the saying went, a good defense was a good offensive.

His hands tightened till there wasn't a fraction of movement in his arm to ensure a millimeter cut across the surface his absolute defense will break the strongest offensive power of the giant.

Wind blasted at him from the pressure of the meteor coming down and blowing away the air in the vicinity. But Ajay didn't need to inhale any more than once, he'd already attained all the breath he needed and was just waiting for the right moment. And as if time had slowed down, Ajay could see the expression of the giant, smiling away in delight behind its stony set of teeth. Yet, his eyes were close this entire time.

He relied upon an ability no warrior had, the third eye of the demon banishers. The closest a human had cultivated to ascension on their own strength. To see without seeing naturally and relying purely on one's perception of Prana flowing through space.

He could sense the threads that connected the giant to himself, the Karma that bound between Ajay and Montenegro. A polluted thread filled with hatred and envy, it was what allowed Brody to achieve higher powers by drawing on their shared karma.

And if he knew the best way for their Karmic thread to sever, it was through giving up every sentience of revenge upon Brody. Ajay would just crush him because it was necessary.

The combined fists were about five metres from Ajay's face looking up against the pressure that pushed down. When he unleashed an attack that had never been seen by the eyes of the many that claimed to have mastered Four Seasons Pandemonium but never completed the fourth and last form, Winter. This was because the final form could not be achieved by any mortal human being, Ajay understood this. This legacy martial art had been passed down not by a human mortal but from an immortal entity.

His blade and hand swooped across with such gentleness, it almost seemed as if he were waving it lazily. However, that slash contained an enormous amount of force condensed into a thin jet that when he had finished the full arc of his swing left the presence of the blade and flew towards the joint of the giant's arms.

(Slice)

An almost unnoticeable disproportion formed on both of the giant's arms at its elbow joints, much to the giant's ignorance. That enormous pressure expanded having no longer restricted by a medium and blew all of the wind in a single direction upward towards the stormy sky and blasted a hole clear.

(BANGGGG)

The giant looked down to see both hands to the elbow were sent flying into the air and slamming into the ground behind Ajay due to their enormous tonnage. There were no words that escaped the giant's mouth as he saw what should've been impossible for a person, a human like him. But then, it remembered what it had said to Ajay and what Ajay didn't deny.

That Ajay was losing the reigns of humanity and becoming something else entirely. That is why he could think up such audacity when not bound by what defines a human's strength. Because he wasn't afraid to give it up for something else, he could venture beyond the human limits.

Even though its extremities were recovering on its own at rapid speeds. The giant stared down at the little demon banisher with a sudden welling of fear, Vaas was fearful of the demon that looked up slowly, a ravenous grin appearing on his face.

"Devouring a giant would never be easier."

* * *

Pagan didn't think talking about work would be all this enjoyable. His guest at the table surely made that a reality. She didn't do much, just listen. But listen well she did, albeit munch on the snacks like a hungry chipmunk.

Wherever she was from, her "master" was pretty stringent. He wondered if she was some sort of clergy of missionaries. He really didn't ask, he didn't need to know just like he didn't need to inquire her real name.

But as he watched her talk, a strange nostalgia passed over him. Her mannerisms were strangely familiar, annoyingly so.

"So will you do, Pagan? Avoid the issue and it would only fester, fight on and you'll face trials that threaten the stability of the region. It becomes a manner of which poison would you prefer." She said before biting down on the cake.

"…" But she was right, both pathways were equally treacherous. If he avoided the topic of bringing in the union of states, then they would continue with their boring existences… for a time at least. In a decade, the geopolitical situation in their region might undergo radical changes that would cause the states to decay and die out. If he called for a unification, there would be a million issues. Military, Economic, Infrastructure, Agriculture, Religion, Industry, Health, Education and worse of all, Administration.

Who was going to lead this new sovereignty? It couldn't be him as the idea of him becoming more powerful than the other rulers and kings was the equivalent of Kyrat subjugating the other states into its kingdom. He would have to pose free election and here began the problem. Yinke was socialist, Papir was a Republic and Kumsa and Kyrat still followed old-style monarchy. Differences were already to the core and it was what threatened the foundations of a united country which he would christen the Himavana Federation. Was his idea truly a naïve one?

"Which would you choose, if given the choice I mean?"

"Forwards I guess, if I fail and become a fool it is better to be remembered a fool that tried than not remembered in the history books at all."

That answer made Pagan laughed at her but more at himself, an ordinary girl was better at making decisions than him.

"Thank you, dear girl. You don't know how much your words have changed the region."

"Words with their weight in rice cakes." She said licking the sauce from the dumblings off her fingers. Pagan found his afternoon to be most enjoyable, in fact as fun as when he and Yuma were introduced to Bhadra.

At the exit of the eating house, where they were supposed to say their goodbyes. She spotted her company in the distance.

"Thanks for the snacks."

"You've earned it, dear. Thank you for hearing an old man out, I know it can be boring to listen sometimes."

"Not really, don't undermine your own esteem and beliefs. That's what Master says, you can be an eternity away from your goal. But if you know it will happen, then an eternity is worth it."

"Your master is a peculiar one, Ashna. But I guess I have her to thank for her wisdom through you."

"Mmmm." She nodded as she threw the hood over her head.

"Ashna, take this." Pagan dug into hs pocket and held out his hand. She reached out with hers and he dropped into her hand.

It was a silver bracelet with sapphire gems hanging from it, her eyes sparkled at the quality of the jewellery given to her.

"This is-….."

"Think of it as my early wedding gift to you, whichever lucky bastard gets his hands on you this will give him additional reason to pamper you for life." Ashna reached up and gave him a peck on the cheek.

"Thank you, Pagan…. And I'm sorry." The last part was strange to hear as she didn't wait for an inquiry as she left.

Pagan watched her dash through the crowd towards a figure in the distance he could not quite make out through the densely packed streets. But when he did, it was the back of a man. He could see her talk to him in a casual tone as if he was a travelling partner. Was this that person she called her master's servant who had raised her?

Pagan gazed long and hard in that direction, he couldn't make out the face as it was turned in the opposite direction. But even then, when he looked at the person's back a strange ominous feeling welling in his stomach. His conscience was telling him against searching any further as he pushed through the crowd to find out who that person was, or who he was beginning to think it was.

But reaching the end of the crowd, those two had already disappeared.

Pagan grit his teeth as he became sure of who he saw and realized the whole scenario before him. It was unmistakable, that upright posture he took, the scar he noticed on the lip.

That was Mohan.

Recalling the words of Ajay, Mohan served a powerful entity unrivalled to the apex of weapons humanity could bring to bear. Piecing these points together, Ashna served this entity too, he was conversing with the enemy. His instincts were telling him that she had been intentionally sent to talk to him about his worries, meaning they wanted him to rebuild the mortal kingdom within the mountains. For the first time, Pagan felt how terrifying these entities were.

For Ajay to fight on level with them, exhibited traits that made him beyond unparallel. The Himavanas were oblivious to how lucky they were to have this general on their side and fighting for their sakes. Because if for even a moment he was taken from his duty, these mountains were in trouble.

"My lord. A palace guard approaches." His hunter informed him the events in advance from the shadows.

And as he had reported, a palace guard from the Kumsan palace ran without stopping.

"Your royal- (huff)…. Your royal highness!"

"Catch your breath first, son." The palace guard took a few deep breaths to calm his body before giving Pagan a very unsettled look.

"I come bearing information relayed directly from Kyrats fortress Lanka, sender is Marshal Roka."

"And?" Pagan awaited the message as the palace guardsman came closer to whisper into his ear with the most unnerved tone.

"…. Badala had confronted the American forces and has-… has used a nuclear weapon upon their naval fleet."

* * *

The giant dispersed hundreds upon hundreds of smaller "grunts" to keep him pinned, but all Ajay needed to do with swipe them aside. This was a subconscious world, he wasn't restricted by fatigue and could call upon items however he wished.

This was how he would win the mental battle between himself and Vaas Montenegro. Although, he was starting to believe that killing the giant was not the ending as he got closer to triumph.

The sneaky bastard wasn't always one directional and often left traps for those that could only go in one direction. That was how he fooled Jason many times.

Ajay paid special attention to his surrounds to find the criteria to force the pirate out of his subconscious state. Vaas had paid a pretty price to try to possess him, by preparing this area for his arrival. When intoxicated by that sleeping agent, he didn't kill him but dabbled with his mind instead. Voodoo magic was about the spirit, therefore if he could overpower Vaas's presence he could purge him.

"8th Demon Banishing Hex!... Seal!" Another wright of karmic threads slammed into the giant causing it to reach for its chest as if experiencing a heart attack. The reason he didn't need to complete the whole verse is that he did so speechless and here in the dream he willed he would not suffer from backlash or failure of the spell. Hence, he was able to shorten it till this extent which even Darshan dare not do after years as a senior Demon Banisher.

When the minions approached, he shrew them with that same form that sent vacuums of air slicing whatever crossed its path. Ajay was clear this martial art wasn't developed by humans, therefore it would never reach its full potential and why the many generations had failed to comprehend something that would have taken years beyond the lifespan of a mortal man to understand. The Winter form was equally impossible to use as a human being, it required both strengths of another type of entity and a mental fortitude not found on normal humans.

But here, he was able to affirm this theory and apply it where the laws of physics didn't apply to him. However, in the real world. He would never be able to use it as himself.

Unless he could use his demonic powers being suppressed, Ajay would wield a power that could not be matched physically.

The closer he converged upon the giant the more frightening it was. Correction, frightened. As Ajay had gone at it with no projectile weapons but his knife, that he wielded a magic that could deny its voodoo powers and truly bottle him in one place to be exorcised. The will that controlled the giant recalled the old folk tale engraved deep in his mental psyche.

The warrior that shred the giant with his knife, bearing a tatau. A symbol of his power. Mirrored onto this demon that charged foolhardily through the horde of minions with a kukri knife in hand and a tattoo of the ten vedic talismans that defined his power.

" **No-….."**

Ajay butchered the minions who were equally terrified and hesitant as the giant was. He used the grappling hooks to shorten the distance and anchor onto the giant's body to swirl around to the giant's eye height.

The giant swatted its hands like he was a hornet annoying it. He disconnected the cable to his grapples just as the hand was about to catch the wire and pull him down. He landed on the base of the hand instead and ran up as fast as he could. The other hand appeared to crush him against its shoulder where he was currently at.

"Mire!" Ajay said with a finger pointed and a talisman shot out at the incoming hand. The hand slowed down considerably as he was now on the shoulder completely and in line to where the head was. More minions appeared upon the giant's shoulders to prevent him from harming the head, it was doing everything to keep Ajay from attacking what seemed like a vulnerable point.

"…"

But they could do little to slow him as he sliced through their stone like bodies without issue, causing their corpses to disintegrate.

And as the last minion in his way fell, Ajay moved onto the giant's head knife in hand in that dangerous form.

The giant opened its mouth and bellowed an entire stream of lava upon its right shoulder where its assailant was. It indiscriminantly singed all of its minions left behind as well, leaving a red molten rock mess of its right hand.

Ajay was nowhere to be seen, so it thought him dead. It released much of its guard when it barely sensed the former intimidating presence.

(Slice) A vacuum of pressurized wind passed through its head blowing its head clear off after a time delay.

(BOOOMM) The head spun in the air and smashed the ground in front of the body which remained standing for a moment before forcefully disintegrating.

Ajay's boots slammed into the stone slabs and broke them on his fall. He walked over to pick up his slayer and loaded it with two bullets as he approached the head that fractured to reveal a naked man curled up inside.

"Urrgghh…." The Caucasian man moaned as he half-woke in a fluid like he'd been suspended in a tank of goo.

Ajay jerked the action of his slayer to close as he walked closer with a dangerous vibe that awoke the receipient trapped in that giant's head.

"Jason…."

Said person looked up at the two barrels of the gun.

"..(huff)…. (huff) I'm free…?" Ajay observed his behavior without saying a word.

"Y-You're Ajay, right?" He asked in a partly confused state. Ajay neither acknowledged nor denied, he looked around at the devestation with a seeming state of focus. But his gun was still facing the figure of Jason.

"I can't tell you how grateful I am for what you're done….. I- I've been watching all this time even though I couldn't do anything."

No response to his words were given.

"Are you figuring a way out of this place?"

"Yes." Ajay finally answered for once.

He turned to the reserved Jason and grinned deviously. He stomped down upon Jason's torso pinning him to the ground.

"It's simpler than I imagined."

(Boom)

He pulled the trigger and sent both shots impacting Jason, causing his body to implode into a cloud of red mist.

Ajay gazed at the mist coldly.

"How many times have I told you, Vaas? I'm not dumb enough to fall for this sort of crap, I'm surprised you were dumb enough to think up. Are you that desperate?"

The red mist gathered hastily formed a half-complete body still in construction. Ajay had already prepared that to defeat Vaas it would take more than felling a giant. This was a person who had magic on his side as well. The muscle sinew cladded skeleton with eyeballs looked furious and in pain at the same instance. That Ajay had foiled yet another of his iterations.

"Let me put it this way. Have you seen a Lion hesitate to maul a Zebra because it looked helpless?" Ajay laughed at his attempt in mockery. With a burst of energy, he thrusted the kukri into the half-reformed skull.

"WaaaaaahhhhHHHHH!" The living corpse wailed in genuine pain, for if it were a normal knife it was still an imaginary item. But Ajay poured true vedic rites into the blade like all other weapons he used against the supernatural. This caused the threads that forcefully latched onto Ajay by means of voodoo to attach Vaas's spiritual entity to Ajay to sever, causing terrible damage to his spirit during its medium transfer.

"It's against nature." Ajay said before twisting the blade to break the skull and with it the soul that rested in it. The skeleton melted along with its sinew while the world around him rumbled as the ceiling of this subconscious state collapsed.

It was time for Ajay to return to the land of the living.

…

…..

* * *

His eyes flashed open almost in an instant, like he was simply slipping from one conscious state to another. Ajay hefted himself up and found himself in the chamber where the Kalinag Thangka was.

He found needles poked around his chakra point at his navel and proceeded to remove it delicately. It wasn't the only strange item surrounding him, there were candles lit around the circumference of a chalk drawn circle that enclosed around Ajay's lying body. These were the preparations Brody tried to make to ease into the ritual to possess his body. What motivated him to do such a thing was beyond him, he wasn't a nut like him to begin with. Perhaps it was power that he sought from his many battles with Ajay overpowering him. This didn't seem very in-line with the Rakshasas' plans and was probably a rogue operation he pursued behind their backs. Like something of this scale could be hidden from her eyes. Brody was being too naïve of the real power Esha and the Pillars held. The forms they'd meet thus far were merely clones built to resemble humans and infiltrate the society without compromising their missions. It was also to keep in cohesion with the rules of nature within the mountains that the mountains had denied the right to live within it.

Jeevan was found about five metres from him, lying against a cabinet of scrolls. Ajay proceeded to check on him and took out a vial of smelling salts he took from the dispensary at home and waved it under Jeevan's nose. The later slowly but surely woke up to the irritant and regained consciousness of his surroundings.

"Where is-." Ajay stopped him from getting up by resting his hands on his shoulders.

"Sit this one out. Brody's left."

Ajay looked at the desk which held the thangka, only to find it missing.

"…."

Brody must've taken it to redeem himself, so that he wouldn't leave emptyhanded.

(BOOM) A distance rattling of the walls indicated someone tripping on the tripmines he lay near the entrance, that meant that he was still in the cave.

Ajay reached down to pick up his slayer on the ground and shouldered the vector PDW.

"I'll get help for you soon."

"No. I'll go, nothing's wrong with me. Tsk! I let that prick trick me one too many." So Brody had done something underhanded to subdue Jeevan.

Ajay passed the micro tavor rifle Brody left behind to Jeevan who accepted it as they turned to leave this place. At the exit of the chamber, Ajay picked up a scent of blood permeating the wall and looked down to see a trail of blood stretching from a place where his target vomited from internal damage.

(BOOM) Another bomb went off.

"What was that?!"

"I set traps to keep him here if he tried to weasel out again, that's the last explosive tripmine. I have just one more trap talisman I left at the outside. We should be able to reach it from here." Ajay led the way quickly around the corridors he was familiar to on their way to the outside. It was easy to spot the exit from Jeevan's point of view too, there was a breadcrumb trail of blood dripping. It indicated a pretty serious wound that Brody sustained. Although, Ajay was sure it was all internal due to the nature of their fight previously. It may have been caused by a backlash of his failure in whatever ritual he was performing.

He heard gasping in the tunnel in front of him.

"Brody?" Ajay called out as he fired at the running figure that tried to escape limping because he had been stuck in a Mire talisman.

"Gargh!" Went the target, indicating that at least one round impacted him.

"Tsk! Should've brought hollow-point." Ajay complained as he reloaded.

"I want to confirm, we're not arresting him." Jeevan asked.

"Did that look like I was?"

They doubled out into the entrance of the cave where they were greeted by the sunlight glare, taking a moment to adjust. Ajay could hear the crumble of rocks on the slope below and stood at the ledge to find Brody scaling down as quickly as he could.

"Gimme that!" He took Jeevan's weapon which had more range than his Vector and switched to single shot.

(Baam) (BaamBaam) (Baam) He fired single shot one after another that hit the dirt and sometimes Brody's extermities that had been damaged from a backlash and rendered his status somewhere between immortality and mortality.

Ajay latched the grapple hook and descended with maximum speed as he pursued Brody who was now rolling down the cliff as he slipped.

"Inspector! Those snipers!" Ajay called out to the inspector who was at the checkpoint staring at the scene and woke to his words. Brody was running in the direction of the trees while Ajay chased with Jeevan close behind.

(Bang) (Bang) Two shots resounded from high-powered rifles. One struck the rock and missed, the other hit the target dead centre. Brody collapsed onto the ground as the kinetic energy of the shot transferred into his body.

Ajay reached the base of the cliff and disengaged the anchor to his grapple with Jeevan following suit. As he proceeded onwards, a commotion occurred at the checkpoint. Where three persons exactly came running through towards where Brody fell.

(Babababababaam) Ajay fired his Vector on full-auto at the ground between them and Brody. Making them stop in a halt.

"Inspector, arrest these fools!" He told the lawman as he arrived beside them, he and a few constables grabbed hold of them as they struggled to get free.

"I took you for a stubborn idiot, but you proved me wrong, Daisy Lee."

"It's not his fault!" She shouted behind the hands of the police officers as Ajay proceeded onto a grieviously hurt Brody.

"Turn around, fool." He told Brody who was lying with his back faced to him. When Brody refused to comply, he kicked him on the side to have him face upward.

Blood foamed out of his mouth which was void of any smile, only a look of fear about him. This wasn't Brody that was scared, this was Vaas. Even so, he put on a brave face.

"Look at you, all angst and hate… Knowing what I took from you is enough to know I'll remain a knot in your every day after this!"

"Nah. From tomorrow onwards, no one'll remember was Jason Brody let alone Vaas Montenegro."

Brody squeezed his gut that had taken internal damage that wouldn't heal, this was a consequence of the backlash.

"But you will, you'll remember what I did. Through and through, causing your woman to die in that stronghold. And the person who did in your partner when you were taken away."

Ajay blinked as he felt a welling pain in his head from thinking back that day, images begun to rush by as he held his head in pain.

"Did-… in?"

Brody looked at Ajay for a moment before laughing hysterically.

"You can't even remember who it was? Hahaha! The one that killed Hurk is me."

"Ajay!" Jeevan noticed he was kneeing in agony.

"Killed… Hurk?" Then what was the one he'd been seeing all this while? The one who kept pleading him to refrain from killing Brody. Was that all just an illusion produced by his mind to cope with the loss? Did his inability to accept Hurk's death create that version that only he acknowledged while the rest forgot?

Brody got up to his feet slowly as he was ready to make another break for it. A grapple hook swung around and tied him in place, he cried out as it burned him due to the augmented nature of the tether wire which Ajay had painstakingly carved tiny runes into.

As for Ajay, he clenched his teeth and soldiered through the pain he felt everytime he recalled that moment. He stared at Brody with all the killing intent he could muster, fueled by the memories of Kamala's death and the recently restored fragments he couldn't accept. For Ajay had subconsciously denied Hurk's death until this very moment. All this while, his mind had created a projection of him so that his mental state wouldn't crumble. His head pulsed with pain as he forcefully recovered all those memories of that day, from the moment he collapsed till the time he was skyhooked by Darshan out. That memory his subconscious hid from him. It was a brief moment, that he'd opened his eyes to see the opening to the cavern and saw a body lying against a wall looking at him. It was the figure of Hurk smiling and giving him some thumbs up, before he pressed a detonator to destroy everything in the cave with him.

He ended his life so that Ajay would be safe.

When this memory returned to him, he felt all the grief build up inside as he stowed it away for one last deed.

"I remember…." Ajay raised his head and looked in Brody's way.

He pointed in Brody's way, who was continuing to cut the wires with his kukri. He didn't give up at living at all.

"My will is the mountains…."

"Hey! Get back here!" Daisy had broken the blockade and ran off to assist Brody in cutting the wires while Ajay seemed not to intervene.

"My mantra is my karma." His voice carried a strange power that could be heard as clearly as being next to everyone when he spoke it.

"He's doing something, you'd better hurry up!" Brody told Daisy though he didn't know the nature of why she helped him. All four of her friends were there to assist as they sawed the cable with Brody's machete. "Hurry! Hurry!" Brody sounded nervously as they worked as fast as they could, oblivious to what was really going on.

"Banish all creation against nature.." He opened his eyes and stared at the karmic thread that linked him to Brody.

"Got it! –Huh?..." Freeing Brody, she thought would save him. And then a fast hand grabbed hold of her and took her hostage. (Bang) He shot Riley in the leg and pointed Liza's way as he held a knife to Daisy he used as a human shield."

"Your move, bastard! Kill us all if you dare!" Hearing this last moment attempt to threaten him, Ajay sighed exasperatively as if Vaas was truly ignorant and stupid. Did he think he would use the slayer to blast him and the collateral kill or wound the rest? He didn't want to return any answer, doing so would just let him live a moment longer.

He was going to kill Brody, but first. He was going to destroy Vaas. He understood clearly what his version of Hurk had meant by save Jason, it meant exorcising Brody of Vaas.

"8th Demon Banishing Hex!" Brody felt all of his hairs stand as a build up of power like nothing he'd ever seen floated around Ajay. The power to banish Rakshasas used to banish a meaningless existence which clung to a witless soul.

"Wait!- No!-... I'll tell you everything I know! About her! About their plans!" At this moment of peril, Brody pleaded his last. But realized from the look on Ajay's face, it was hopeless.

"I don't give a fuck! Seal!" Ajay shouted the word that would subjugate the Karmic thread that was linked to him and to the person he targeted it at. Which in this case was one of the two souls in Brody.

"NAAAAAHHHH!" Brody dropped the knife and gun, screaming to the top of his lungs as his soul was being dragged from it. Ajay found the root of what anchored Vaas to Brody and said the words to destroy it.

"Burn!" Brody caught fire to everyones' disbelieve as Ajay used what Darshan did to all entities in harvesting them into soul stones.

As the flames blistered, so did the soul of Vaas Montenegro who screamed soundlessly as his last remaining footprint on the mortal realm was burnt out of existence.

Vaas Montenegro had finally been vanquished.

They watched as the body which belonged to Jason was immolated in an azure flame. While they watched, Ajay went over to the inspector.

"Take them to the airport, if they refuse to get on then hand them over to Durgesh."

The inspector nodded and went over with the constables to remove them from the scene. As they arrested them, Daisy shook them off.

"Why?! Why did you do that?!"

"Don't ask stupid questions, you don't even know half of what Brody did, even if he was controlled by Montenegro! Besides, I'm not done with him yet." This answer confused her and the rest who heard it.

"Not done yet?... What's left-.." Her voice halted as she saw the azure flames die out and what remained was Jason's body completely unharmed by the flames.

Ajay moved to finish what he'd started, with the original owner having regained his body.

"Ajay-… AJAY! It's not his fault! It's not his fault!" Daisy clearly wasn't slick enough to know he didn't care what she had to say about it, he'd already made his mind up to punish Jason.

Said person awoke as if he'd experienced a terrible nightmare.

"Jason! RUN!" Daisy shouted along with her friends.

He got up on his feet as he saw the grim reaper approach him with gun and knife in hand.

(Boom) A shot was fired that held a slug, impacting and eviscerating his left hand into a spray of red mist. He dropped on his side as he felt an imbalance from losing it.

"Stop! Goddamnit- stop!" Daisy screamed as Jason clutched his loss of arm in pain.

Riley could see his brother at death's door and took the heart of bravery as he wrestled with the policeman for his rifle.

(Bang) He successfully wretched the rifle from the policeman but had made him discharge a shot into his head, Riley had killed the lawman. His friends were shocked beyond all recognition, including Daisy. He stumbled at the sight but made his mind since he'd gone this far, and pointed it Ajay's way.

"Drop the gun-."

When he aimed down them sights, he realized that Ajay was looking back at him with an expression of anger. It didn't say much, but Riley knew why it was so. It spelled out…

-How dare you kill my officer!-

(Boom) In retaliation for what he'd done. The slayers second shot was fired, which struck his torso with the full force of the .700 nitro.

(Plop) The broken remains that was once Riley fell to the ground.

Seeing this sight sent lightning through those that had once known Riley Brody. Daisy looked on at the pieces of flesh of the youngest of the Brody brothers, gone.

As for the last of the brothers, his mind reeled at the sight of the blasted remains. Memories of himself and Riley since childhood till his estrangement past his mind. Then he woke back into the cold hard reality

"aaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAHHHH! RIILLLLEEEYYY!" Screamed Jason in insanity.

The assailant was quiet as he loaded the next set of rounds, not phased by what he'd done.

"You….." Jason picked up the fallen machete.

"You-…. I'LL KILL YOUUUUU!" He leaped with the machete swiping downwards. (clang)

His nemesis wore a fearless grin as he parried Jason's knife that held a different vibe from Brody or the late Vaas. It held the full strength of Snow White, the knives were locked in place sending sparks as they rubbed against each other.

"That's more like it!"

* * *

Daisy had never expected it to turn out this way. She looked at the expression of horror that was planted on Riley's corpse face with guilt like no other.

"This is my fault…." She didn't know if there were tears running down her face or was it just raining upon the face of Riley. Running her hand over it to close its eyes, she hugged the head as she cried out his name.

(Clang) (Clang) (Clang) "Raaaargh!"

Meanwhile, someone else was expressing his emotions in a different way. Battering Ajay with his machete repeatedly until it no longer resembled any form of combat, but him simply batting him with the machete. Ajay was calm, but frightfully calm that it intimidated anyone that was nearby.

Jeevan watched helplessly as he'd just killed the brother instead of Jason. But while, Jason saw it as manslaughter, Ajay had acted vengefully for killing his fellow Kyrati which the brother had unnecessarily gun down and then pointed at him. He didn't need to think on that one.

"He asked for it." He said in a cold tone to Jason, only to unfuriate him further and send a fury of clashes his way. But for every strike that Jason sent, he delivered a counterstrike which cut Jason's body and weakened him further.

Jason was fighting at a serious disadvantage with the lack of a hand and the loss of blood but fight with an unseen before zeal that even Ajay thought carefully about as he exchanged blows.

His form was full of openings, such that when Ajay kicked the knife out of his hand he bull charged to bring Ajay to the ground with him. Unfortunately, he was not of clear mind. So couldn't comprehend what was Ajay's next move.

"Puah!" A knee struck his nose and toppled him backwards. Then a hand grabbed his collar, a hand belonging to Ajay which steadied him from falling.

"You killed-… YOU KILLED MY BROTHER!" He bit down upon the gauntlet, hoping to chew through his hand. Until a fist struck him on the jaw and dislocated him from the gauntlet and made him plummet to the ground, exhausted of energy. However, Ajay didn't stop there.

He pressed a knee onto his chest and raised his hand behind him.

"Gurrgh! (Crack) Gurrgh! (Crack)" He struck Jason repeatedly with his fist that carried an unrivalled fury. Each hit minused the life out of the recently freed Jason.

"Now you know how it feels… to lose a brother!" He clenched his fist once more and delivered a critical blow to Jason whose head struck the ground and lost all will to get up and all hope of beating him.

Ajay got up and picked up the fallen slayer once more.

"You took way more than just my tatbro, Jason. But I forgive you just this once, so in return…. Just die for me, will you?"

He pointed at Jason his weapon that robbed the life of all and added to its destructive power. At this point, Daisy wasn't one to jump in between and intervene, she had too much to deal with. Jason stared at the gunbarrel at first with hatred, but then his eyes went clouded with despair and heartbreak as tears flowed non-stop. He was a wet mess, but he'd truly given up on living.

Ajay should have just pulled the trigger right then and there, but the more he looked at those eyes… he was suddenly reminded of when Sabal had once taken his life, what he felt moments before he died. The more it was so, the harder it was to execute the deed even though he was dead set on it previously.

Here a choice was presented to Ajay, clear as day as the barrel hovered in-line with Jason's forehead. There was no right or wrong in his actions for whichever he chose, he knew this very well. There was only fortune and consequence. So the question was…..

Kill Jason or Spare Jason

His hand tightened around the grip of the slayer and his index finger depressed the trigger till it passed its breaking point. And out of its twenty-inch long barrel came the answer to that question.

(Boom) A report of the slayer decided the fate of he who had offended its master.

Or did it.

* * *

Author's thoughts:

(On Ajay and Jason fight)

(Kira Yamato): "ATHRUUN!"

(Athrun Zala) "KIRRAA!"


	129. Chapter 118 - Sealing The Mountains

Author's Notes:

Been a while, been fiddling about with getting it right. I'm dedicating the next few days to finishing up the next chapter of God of Cookery.

* * *

The shot that should have ended the saga of Jason Brody in tragedy rung through the cold mountain air.

But instead of an eviscerated paste, the shot was wasted into the air. Those around watched and wondered why he had not killed Jason Brody as he had wanted.

But fired upwards.

Ajay wanted to know why as well. He had both hands on the slayer to deliver judgement at point blank.

So why was his gun facing away from his intended target?

He felt a sensation pull it away from that direction when he depressed the hair-trigger. Not a sensation, but a feeling of bodily warmth. A hand had grabbed hold of his wrist firmly and pulled his shooting hand from the supporting hand, thereby imbalancing his shot.

He turned to look at what had wrenched his gunshot away from its intended target and was left with a gutwrenching pain in his heart. He was not sure if others would see what he was seeing, he didn't care because he saw it clearer than any other. It was the one that everyone had forgotten as conveniently as the winds.

It was a manifestation of the eldest of the tatbros.

Doing what he had promised he would do, by protecting his sworn brothers even if it meant from themselves. He stood holding Ajay's arm with a firmness of stone and a gaze that held providence. A dignified stance that was a farcry from his usual wayward behavior, but only Ajay knew because he was the only one left who remembered Hurk.

Seeing a manifestation of the one whom had been assailed by Brody appear to protect his killer, said to Ajay that his halucinations all this while had not been fake, but an actual spirit of Hurk telling him his wishes.

(plop) The slayer fell out of his hands and struck the ground with a heavy drop as Ajay stared flabbergasted. But not as stunned as the crowds of Kyratis and Daisy with her friends to see a translucent figure preventing him from delivering the final blow.

-Why does… he look so familiar?- A thought ran through her mind as well as her friends.

Ajay said nothing as he looked at the figure that went against the laws of natural to intervene. The figure returned a meaningful look at him and shook his head, telling him that it was enough.

"Enough?... Then what would you have me do? Because after all he's allowed to happen, he must never be allowed to leave, is that what you want for this fool?!"

The figure turned his gaze towards Daisy and friends, more specifically to the remains of a slain kidbro. A sigh rang out from this manifestation as he looked towards Ajay with sadness.

-Enough..-

It had not said a word, but Ajay could understand what he meant. Proceeding further had no gain, and so the rage in Ajay subsided. His hand naturally let go of its strength and resolve to kill, so the figure released its hand as well. It smiled as Ajay proved to be able to grant him this one favour even in death.

It walked over to where Riley's corpse was and reached out its hand. And to his friends' disbelief…

A hand reach out from Riley's remains of the same translucent light. A new figure left the corpse and rose out from it, bearing the same semblance to the recently deceased.

"Riley…."

The figure joined Hurk and faced the officer he had slain in life and bowed. As if to show a sign of respect to the person he's wronged in life. Then they turned to Ajay and without a word being said, he did the same for Ajay. Although this time, it was even lower. Only Ajay understood what it meant, like actions spoke louder than words.

-Please spare my brother.-

The figure resembling Hurk bowed together and changed the meaning to-

-Please spare our brother.-

"If he lives, then it'll be incarceration for life. Is that really worth living if even he doesn't want it?" He asked the figures who gave no response other than bow lowly to him.

A silence daunted over the area as no one spoke to the event that was taking place. Ajay looked at Jason, curled up in a ball of inner despair and completely oblivious to the situation around him that had transpired.

In a way, Jason had already died in the heart.

Now all that was left was a shell of a man that awaited death. Just like Ajay had been, a long time ago. Ajay sighed and with that…. He released all his enmity to Jason Brody.

"Whether he finds a reason to live, that'll be up to him…." These were the words that vanquished his corrupted Karma to Jason.

To his answer, the figures bowed and smiled contently before disappearing with the wind.

Ajay walked over to the Inspector who remained in a daze.

"Take them to Vyatha Prison."

"And those civilians, My lord?" He said looking over to Daisy and what remained of her friends.

"Them too, but don't treat them like inmates. The events that have transpired over the last 24 hours has made them enemies of the state. Keep them in protective custody until the crown can figure out how to let this case simmer down." The inspector nodded and dispersed his constables to take them to the police vehicle.

"Inspector, let me know the name and address of your constable so I can pay his family respects."

"…. Yes, lord. Thank you." Ajay nodded and watched as they took Daisy and friends along with a cuffed Jason into the vehicle convoy.

Jeevan came over after he had more a less gotten over what he'd seen.

"Is it really alright? Letting him live I mean."

"…. (Sigh)….. As much as I'd like to tear him to pieces, that husk of a man can't harm anything now."

Jeevan could understand that at least.

"Who the heck was that? And why does he feel so familiar?"

Ajay looked at Jeevan with a weary but calm look.

"He's my brother."

(Bang) A cracking sound erupted from beside the departing police convoy as a spatial rift not dissimilar to the one which summoned Esha appeared. A sudden build up of dark clouds loomed overhead as it announced that an entity that was not welcomed had intruded into the land of the mountain and valley.

 **[How feeble, vessel. If you will not do the deed then I will.]** Called out a voicecarrying an ethereal presence, strong and unrelenting.

The people stared at the spatial rift and saw a shadow emerge, a shaft was flung out sending sparks as it flew towards its destination.

(stab)

And impaled Jason. Piercing his torso and slamming the ground was an ancient lance crackling with arcs of lightning.

" **We have seen everything you have done, insolent puppet of a man. Such as placing your selfish interests above our collective ambition, for that you are not allowed to live."** Said the owner of the voice as it spoke to the dying Jason and reached out a pale blue hand to pull the lance out of his corpse.

Everyone stood rigid against their inner fears that begun to show from the entity that had appeared suddenly before them. An entity that all recognized from the old Kyrati folk tales told by the grandparents at the fireplace from the family thangkas.

"R-….Rakshasa….." Murmured by some, and by Ajay whom could recognize that lance from most recently.

"Purushartha…. What the hell are you doing here?!"

The Rakshasa turned towards Ajay whom was the first to recognize him.

" **Orders from her highness, eliminate all variables that deviate your fate."** Said the eight-foot-tall pale demon in ancient armour as he twisted the handle of his lance, causing more physical damage to Jason's organs.

" **Every variable."** He gave utterance to whilst looking at Daisy who shivered at the sight of the massive demon looking her way with a certain profound killing intent. Ajay's heart went wild as he sensed what the Pillar General was going to do.

"Damn Pillar! Don't you dare, we have a ceasefire in effect!" Ajay came charging in after retrieving his slayer.

" **Hmph!"** The lance was pulled out violently from Jason and his body sent flying towards Ajay who caught it but was sent flying with a mortally wounded Jason backwards due to the yield of the throw.

"Oppfff!"

Ajay felt the force was like being struck by a bus, condensed into the dimensions of Jason who also attained internal injuries. This was nothing like the former iteration Purushartha sent out to represent him during the battle at point 2153.

(Crack) He finally came to a halt when his back struck the wall of the cliff and he puked out blood.

(Babababababaam) The roar of gunfire erupted from the armed police officers was directed in the Rakshasa's way. They didn't need to determine if he was friend or foe, he assaulted their lord so it was enough justification to take him down. Even if it was against Ajay's wish they do so, for only he and Jeevan knew that they didn't stand a chance if he was serious.

The civilians fleed in horror as a firefight broke out between the monster and the police convoy who fired their assault rifles his way in vain as his skin showed no sign of pain or discomfort to the 5.56mm rounds.

Not deterred, they used heavy machine guns and rocket launchers at him, and Purushartha just stood there and took it. It was a silent way of saying whatever was thrown his way did almost nothing.

Then, he simply raised his lance towards the sky.

 **-[Azure Sky]-**

And at those ancient words uttered from his mouth, a spatial domain burst out from his chakra point and engulfed the immediate area where all those that challenged him lay in. But this spell was different from the ones that they had used as clones.

This was the full power of the Azure Sky domain at peak strength from the Rakshasa Pillar General Purushartha.

The world surrounding them was dyed in a blue sky, and every living thing was frozen stiff due to their senses turing against them. The sense of fear had locked their bodies rigid. To add direness to an already diresome state, some people collapsed on their kneels as their mental state was in disarray. Screaming and crying at the top of their lungs the atmosphere had turned to that of a nightmarish landscape roamed by the mad.

With everyone as helpless as a baby in the crib, Purushartha swung his lance and cut down several bystanders with arcs of lightning that manifested into physical force.

Purushartha gazed dauntingly over at Daisy, the source of the foul karma that affected Ajay's path. He raised his lance at the ready to drive it through her.

(Boom)(Boom) As the lance came forwards, two shots struck the spear tip, diverting it away from Daisy's head.

Purushartha continued to have intent on completing his mission, so he wanted to bring the lance down to crush her.

But then, a strong grip clutched onto his spear tip preventing any sort of momentum build up. The owner of that grip stared at the daring Rakshasa who came at the risk of the mountains crushing him for defying its natural law for being so powerful.

"You Damn Pillar! If you wanted a fight then you have it!"

* * *

Once again, all remaining were made to bear witness to how the demon fought. First it was against the notorious "Snow White" terrorist, an epic amongst the mercenaries. Now it was a living demon from folk tales like Ramayana. It seemed from the short dialog that Demon, their lord was aware of their existence as they were of him.

What sort of world had this become? Where fantasy became reality.

Daisy's mind was in a mess. She knew Ajay during her teen years, he was a strong fighter with street fighting techniques that could brawl with the neighborhood thugs. But what the hell was this?!

She could barely keep up with the movements, the scary pale monster thrusting his spear with Ajay reacting with a reflex that was always a hair's breadth from certain death. A strange style of martial art that had such a grace, that didn't seem humanly possible.

When comparing it to the fight between an angered Jason and him, this was like nothing she had ever seen. Nothing of the likes that any of the people trapped in Purushartha's spell had ever seen. Ajay most certainly had the ability to kill Jason whenever he wished.

Because he possessed qualities to fight on par with a demon.

Jeevan was stricken by the effects of the spell much to his dismay, despite the confidence he had in his strength of heart, he could not break the curse like his teacher did.

There was no moment to pause for Ajay, his opponent was stamina-less and had swings and thrusts like a hydraulic mechanism due to the precision of Purushartha's skill with the lance. But Ajay was still innately human at the moment, for something within Purushartha's possession was cancelling out his ability to call forth the demon blood.

Ajay was running on limited aids, he'd used a considerable amount of talismans during his encounter with Purushartha and his colleague Narmada until he had only one left. His slayer was on a limited supply as well, not that Purushartha gave him the chance to draw it. He couldn't be gulled into taking a shot from that weapon even for his true self.

Ajay found that even with the four seasons pandemonium to grant him the fighting chance against the General of the Southern Gate. Purushartha possessed a wealth of strange techniques and stances that he didn't use when he was a clone. It was silently telling Ajay not to look down on his ability and position he rose to above the rest of his kinsmen.

Ajay quickly found himself on the losing end. And this was affirmed when Purushartha locked his kukri in place with his lance guard.

" **It is indeed a strange art, but I have finally understood its core and roots."**

He broke contact with Ajay and stepped back. Ajay took this moment to control his breathing, he didn't like what he was being told by the Rakhsasa. His intuition was telling him something was bad when Purushartha spun his lance around and presented him with the backend of the lance while it was balanced between his armpit.

Ajay took the initiative in advancing as there was no better opportunity than to put him on defence. And this was where he'd made a fatal mistake when Purushartha didn't thrust his spear like before but brought his back pommel up to meet Ajay's kukri.

(clang)(crunch)

In quick succession, he pushed back Ajay's hand and opening his front guard, before delivering a nasty strike of the pommel against his chest. The ceramic matrix of his armour instantly broke upon the force applied to it. Ajay had also felt the force pass through his body and hurt his internal organs as well.

He barely had time to cough out the blood as Purushartha threw in a few more moves to add to the chain of attacks when Ajay swiped his kukri on reflex.

(clang) (crack) "Arggh- (crack)." Again, when Purushartha parried, he sent a powerful counterstrike upon Ajay with no time to react. And when Ajay reacted to get distance between them, he'd employ that strange tactic again to great effect. Ajay was sensing something familiar about what he was doing to him, those moves were strangely familiar I some way.

-Son of a bitch!-

Ajay realized what it was, Purushartha was replicating Four Seasons, specifically the third form he'd been using on him all this while. In just that short time, Purushartha had comprehended it despite its incomplete form.

" **Do you take me for a fool?! I've fought more wars than your wretched kingdom first formed its foundations! You are thousands of years too early to defeat me, vessel."** Purushartha snorted as Ajay was half-kneeling vomiting out blood and part of a meal he had before the mission.

He pointed his lance at Ajay as a warning.

" **Stay down, do not make me beat you more than you already deserve."**

Purushartha said before turning to finish the job he was sent to complete. A hand latched around his ankle, preventing him from moving any further towards his frightened target.

"She's done nothing to deserve your judgement….. So why does she need to die because of me?"

" **You think this is about you? Clearly you are unaware what kind of detriment she is for polluting your karma. Look back and remember, vessel. We lured you to the mountains not to kill you but sever it."**

"…. Over something like that? I have done everything to sever it!"

" **Then why is she still here, interfering with your actions? Why do you still hesitate to take action when you are near her? The demon we know would have dispatched of that filth from the moment his mind was stuck to it."**

"Demon you know?... What do you know about me?! What do you know about being mortal? Do you wake up everyday worrying about your mortality? Wondering if you and your family will have enough to eat to live and the next day thinking the same thing?! What do you know about being human!?"

Purushartha lifted his leg and Ajay lost grip, hitting the ground and smearing it with his blood.

" **It is as you say, I know next to nothing about being a helpless, pitiful creature called man. That is why their fate is to look up to the stars and pray to a god that does not even care for them. That is where you differ from them."**

Ajay struggled to get to his feet, using the blade to support his weight as he got up.

" **Look around you, under the effects of the spell they cower where you stand and fight."**

"Its in our nature-."

" **Precisely! In their nature to be cowardly, did you not fight those outsiders in the same way. Did they not cower before your blade, your army, your threats?... If you are human, Ajay Ghale. Then why is it only you who still resists and fight?"**

He could see Purushartha was trying to play with his words to contradict him, when had he ever shrunk from a challenge like this or deny it?

"Who said it's just him who can fight?" Purushartha naturally looked towards the owner of that voice.

Only to find Jeevan standing at ease with an assembly of soldiers likely from the Delta barracks garrison. Their presence being able to resist the Pillar's spell showed the fortitude behind their spirits, similiarly to Ajay.

They didn't fear him.

"Royal Army! Kill!" Shouted a field commander.

A volume of concentrated fire streamed towards the Rakshasa, scoring little to no damage. Yet they fired and advanced towards him like any other foe. It surprised even Purushartha to see individuals whom even their ancestors had cowered to the effects of Azure Sky choose to stand up against him.

" **I have the utmost respect for all of you, human mortals. You aren't the demon's army for nothing. Let me repay your valiance in kind!"**

Purushartha charged with his lance twirling and shrew one of the soldiers that got too close. Ajay, on the ground had never expected something like this to even occur. He was well aware of the principle behind Purushartha's magic thanks to Darshan, but to actually beat the spell with spirit alone….

He didn't know whether to feel proud of his armies who had undergone a revival from its days as the despicable Royal army he knew and fought against. Or despair, throwing themselves into unnecessary danger over something that neither of them really understood the meaning behind.

Their firepower pummeled his body and did make him yelp in pain from the ordnance being flung at him. They began to call in artillery and vehicle fire support as they grabbed the civilians to safety, at least they wouldn't allow unnecessary casualties and Purushartha pursued none of them who did so, only those that pointed their guns his way.

"For Kyrat!" When he reached melee range, they didn't back away or panic. But drew their kukri and swung it his way. Purushartha would simply wave his lance and decapitate them in the most horrific manner.

Ajay fired a syringe into his bloodstream, a volatile cocktail which he would risk overdose if not careful. However, at this moment any sort of assistance was greatly appreciated. It was the invincibility concoction which he had once claimed gave the Golden Path those inhuman abilities, numbing him to massive punishments without removing all of his senses entirely.

Jeevan had entered that mess somewhere between the twentieth soldier he'd killed in under thirty seconds, fighting desperately at that. Purushartha instantly sensed the difference in him to the ordinary soldiers.

" **A guardian?... Huh! All the more reason to destroy you."**

 **-[Slaughter Moon]-**

He cast a more powerful iteration of curses than employed previously. The curse flew towards him, ready to detriment his performance.

"Break!" Ajay launched the last of his talismans to dispel the curse whilst he stepped in once more despite injuries.

"Ajay-…!"

"Let's tag team this, you take the openings!" He flung the slayer towards Jeevan for him to use.

"Aye!"

As he charged forwards, he picked up the fallen machete to dual wield alongside his own kukri before entering the fray.

Men were still peppering the Rakshasa but with single shots as it engaged in close combat with the two of them in a display of sword and spear martial arts.

Ajay understood how dire the situation was despite keeping the Rakshasa in one place. He had literally no alternatives in banishing him back to whence he came. This wasn't a clone, this was the real deal. It meant he had to kill him to stop him, based on Purushartha's personality he garnered not the type to back down even if he was inches from death.

-How do we beat him?- Sounded an exhausted but willing Jeevan over a trans-talisman he was given to pass through long-range.

-We can't, not at this stage. But we can banish him.-

-How?-

-He shouldn't be here, it's against the natural law of the mountains. Something- some boon of his is allowing him to be here, but it can't last forever or else their seclusion in the Himalayas wouldn't make sense.-

Purushartha sent an arc of lightning Ajay's way, which he countered by plunging a blade into the ground to neutralize the effects of the powerful lightning that struck him. He still received a tremendous amount of damage but at least he wasn't out of the game yet.

-We have two options. One is to weather that boon till it runs out of magic which could be days, or we force him to unleash more powerful abilities that exceed the boons limit. I'm doing the later.-

(clang) (clang)

Ajay wasn't using Four Season any longer, after Purushartha developed a counter on the spot he didn't dare to let him beat him so easily as before. So Ajay relied on a different style of fighting, the one he cultivated since his arrival to Kyrat. It had no fix pattern, it was not limited to a certain range of movements and gave great flexibility. Most importantly, it was random. Preventing Purushartha from getting a bead on it, and quite frankly annoyed him that he was using a dirty style of fighting.

(Clang) (Clang) (Boom) A shot from the slayer created an opening as the Rakshasa was most cautious around that weapon.

Unfortunately, he was unable to bring out the full power of his potential against the Pillar. Because that was all it was, it didn't focus on a single pattern and so therefore could not dedicate a certain amount of force to one discipline. The Pillar was always an inch away from delivering a fatal blow.

Ajay used the grapple anchors to maneuver in ways that weren't permitted, giving him only a limited amount of agility compared to the relentless Rakshasa who was getting extremely annoyed by his presence.

Then Purushartha made a feint that caught Ajay off guard. He let go of his lightning lance that had always kept them at arms length, making Jeevan think that he had knocked it out of his hand. He moved forwards to take the shot when Ajay saw the ruse.

"Stop!"

Purushartha kicked the falling spear back into his hand and thrusted the spear tip towards Jeevan.

(crack)

He instead struck the breach of the slayer used to block the critical blow and effectively rendered the gun dysfunctional.

(Bang) A catastrophic explosion in the chamber occurred next due to the blockage and blasted the gun in half.

The Rakshasa swung his spear down like a club to flatten Jeevan with, a strike that would end his life in an instant.

Before Ajay pushed him aside and took the blow for him.

(crack) (crack) (Bang)

The lance contacted both blades, machete and kukri which couldn't handle the tension and broke.

He received a formidable force to the face protected by his mask that fractured under the force of the hit. Ajay slammed head first into the dirt ground, creating a small dust cloud.

When Jeevan awoke for being shoved aside, he stared in horror as a blow meant for him was taken by someone else.

"AJAY!"

Ajay couldn't feel his extremities due to the continued effect of invincibility, but that didn't mean his body wasn't in tatters. He was in just as bad a shape as when they laid a trap for him on those mountains.

Given his distance from Purushartha, the soldiers intensified their firepower at the demonic entity once more. This time, with the combined might of armor that had entered the scene. Tracers of 40mm and 90mm high explosive rounds were sent his way, knocking him off his feet. Purushartha let out a roar of anguish.

 **[Tsk!- Insects should stay in the dirt!]** (RUMBLE)

He raised his lance into the air, influencing the clouds above him like before. Although, this time there was a typhoon that rolled out, complete with a dance of lightning.

 **[G** **araj mera aavesh, bijali mera shakti. Virodhee mera shatru oan ko tu marega.(Thunder my fury, lightning my might. Bellow the storm, my enemies you shall smite!)]** The pillar murmured a chant which developed the storm into a full blown local hurricane.

The Royal Army stubbornly fought with him like they intended for him to feel the full wrath of humanity. Purushartha's disbelief was thrown out of the window, they were fighting him head-on despite Azure Sky still in effect. He gazed at a battered Ajay.

He could see potential problems for the bulk of the Rakshasa Army who were at odds with the natural law. To fight soldiers of this quality and tenacity presented a real threat if they were to keep their powers within the laws of the mountains.

 **[Shaivi Stormcall!]**

Purushartha took the reins of the weather and held his hand out towards the resilient Royal Army sending the power of steel and explosive his way. He clenched his hand and the earth around him trembled, arcs of electricity danced around the lance which was the source of his medium.

The next thing that occurred was out of anyones' expectations, as an all-powerful force of attraction pulled their weapons away from them. Specifically, anything that was metal.

This included the armoured vehicles nearby firing at him. They were lifted off the ground and tumbled his way. As they were raised over the canopy of the trees, Purushartha released his hand, and the magnetic forces dispelled. The vehicles came plummeting to the earth, striking the ground with a thundering volume. Some detonated due to a sensitive munition load being thrown around.

But Purushartha had proven a point, he had effectively disarmed every soldier of their weapons. They stared helplessly as they had no means of fighting back now. Although, Purushartha wasn't going to kill unarmed warriors he held in esteem. He was just going to kill one person who was endangering their plans. He was now no longer hindered by anyone so walked his way to Daisy.

Where she had run off to, she did not. She had made her way towards where Ajay lay, breathing difficultly due to a collapsed lung, fractured ribs and a blood clot forming in his head. He was facing the sky now daunted with stormclouds, yet he was not thinking about how he'd spend the last moments of his life, but instead finding a way to beat Purushartha back to the Himalayas.

Daisy's eyes locked onto that form, it reminded her of when Ajay had been beaten an inch of his life to protect her. She realized that once again, he was doing so because of her. All because of a bond of relation they had years ago. Then, his dismissal of assistance in the Hunters' village was again to protect her from her recklessness. She reached out and took hold of Ajay's hand covered in his own blood.

"I did this to you….. I never learn." She chuckled with a sad smile. Purushartha saw she made no attempt to leave nor cower so he approached with confidence in completing his mission.

"Perhaps…. I'll go where Riley and Hurk went…." Ajay who listened to her but couldn't respond because of the blood foaming in his mouth instantly knew what she was intending. She'd given up on living to end this all, to end his suffering.

The Rakshasa was now five steps away from her getting closer.

Ajay continued to stare at Purushartha despite his heavy eyelids.

Wasn't there something he could do?! He wished he could get up, he had packed more talismans to deter him, he wished he could summon the demonic blood of Yalung to fight the Pillar off even just for a minute more. Every step that Purushartha took closer was a step closer to her demise.

-Goddamnit…why do you have to do this to me?! I've already severed my ties with her what more do you want?! Did you want me to forget her as well?!-

And that's when it hit him, relating back to the words of his demon iteration. Memories were karma. His memories of Daisy, was his karma to her. Her death meant the end of that path, what the Rakshasa was trying to do. He was going to destroy the one good memory he had during his youth.

Daisy seemed ready for that lance as Prushartha loomed over her and raised it in the position to execute her.

Ajay realized that there was one way of saving her.

But the cost of this way meant that he would forget her and everything good that went on for those seven years of living. He had to ask himself….

Were the memories of her worth more than the real thing?

Ajay's hand tightened around Daisy's who had resided to dying to end all the death around her and save what remained of her friends.

Ajay had a long hard look at Daisy's eyes, as he prepared his heart for what he was about to do. He didn't have weapons, he didn't have talismans, he didn't have his demonic blood power, he didn't even have his knife to fight with…

-One person remembering is enough.-

But that didn't mean he had nothing to fight with. He had just one weapon left which he could use for a short burst of power.

Purushartha said nothing as he aimed his lance for Daisy's jugular, giving her a quick and supposedly painless death.

" **Return to the cycle of rebirth a better person."**

He said wishing her all the best in the next life. After raising his lance and driving it down- (thung)

His lance stopped just a millimeter away from her nape, a force that could stop a Rakshasa Pillar General like himself.

Purushartha traced a hand that wrapped around the shaft of his lance just behind the spear tip. A hand that was drenched in blood but began to bellow a viscous black flame pouring from the open wounds.

Daisy looked at the one that had halted the instrument of her demise, someone who should've been lying on the ground in front of her but was standing up once again to fight for her life.

A calm and tempered look appeared on Ajay's bloodied face as he clutched the lance which crackled lightning at the offender that grabbed it. An aura burst out from him and engulfed Purushartha's Azure Sky, overpowering it and crushing it with the weight of its own might and freeing those still trapped by it. Instead, a red domain overlapped the blue sky. In it held a mysterious power that bleed a warm and sad feeling. The tempest from Purushartha's recent spell still remained though. Where blood of the dead touched the earth, black flames ignited as it had on Ajay's body. Brimming with an ethereal force that exceeded the natural law, bringing him closer to that power that defined Purushartha since birth. Placing him on equal ground to the Pillar for just a brief moment.

" **Ajay Ghale… what did you do?!"** Purushartha looked unnerved by the changes in the surrounding. Though close by, the flames didn't burn her. They held no form of heat or cold. Ajay smiled as he looked at Daisy one last time that he could remember all the times he'd gone through with her.

"What I needed to send you back."

" **You- you do not mean you-..!"** Purushartha stared in shock when he made sense of what Ajay had done.

As the demon part of Ajay had once advised to him, Karma could be used as a weapon. To allow mortal heroes to fight demi-god entities. Karma was its fuel.

And Ajay used his relation to Daisy, all seven years of cherished memories as a medium for the prana to fight the legendary General of the Akaashian South Gate.

Ajay flung the lance spear tip aside and sent Purushartha flying a few feet back. He gave one last look at Daisy who stared at him like he was a deity with complex emotions. But it began more chaotic when he passed by her to fight Purushartha with seven years of Karma, for he said something that would forever ring in her mind though she would not yet understand till this battle ended.

"Farewell, Daisy."

* * *

Humanity often associated names to describe a certain trait of an object or a person. Like Saladin the Victorious, Jeanne of Arc the Messenger, Attila the Scourge of God. As in Ajay's case, Badala the Demon of Lanka. But these were only descriptions that would allow a layman to relate the person's traits and personality based on a name.

But at this moment, Ajay whom they knew as Badala was exhibiting traits that didn't describe but matched that of his title. A demon.

For evidence, he put an eight-foot pale skinned Rakshasa General named Purushartha at odds with his just his fists. Blazing with blackened viscous flames was the demonic powers thought to be suppressed, however were circumvented by Ajay's costly sacrifice.

"Get the civilians to safety!" Jeevan grabbed hold of the collar to the field commander who stared at the scene of a Rakshasa fighting their demon with his barehands. Waking him and his retinue out of their stupor. So they rushed to bring out those that couldn't get out on their own, it was clear from this fight they would do no good as they were without weapons and even with them.

(thung) (thung) The sound of his fist striking the shaft of the lance as Purushartha was being pushed into the defense by Ajay wielding a strength on par with his. Ajay advanced with the initiative, every step fractured the hard ground, every fist strike created a sonic boom due to the velocity he sent it at. Uprooting the trees and throwing tons of gravel into the air that even the tempest that brewed wasn't capable of.

Jeevan watched as he brought Daisy and her friends with the help of the soldiers. House Hamal once had a priceless thangka like every warrior clan did. House Roka and Ghale had one as well, it was unfortunately destroyed by a careless Sugun whom their father easily forgave. To them, they held no value to artifacts of the past. Theirs was a painting of a Rakshasa General fighting with a Yaksha Warrior, two demi-gods clashing in a fury of exchanges. Their aftershocks crumbled the mountains, fractured the earth and shook the lakes. The scene was counterpart to the fight between a blazing demon versus a Rakshasa Pillar.

With a strength that could match Purushartha, Ajay reemployed the third form of Four Seasons. He didn't have to worry about the overmatch of the Rakshasa's strength anymore. They were level in physical might. But Purushartha had a lance with two arms worth of length, Ajay had no weapon but his gauntlet fists.

(Bang) Regardless, he pummeled the Rakshasa with a will to destroy him.

" **Ajay Ghale, if you can still reason stop this at once! You do not know the danger of wielding this power under the regions of the mountain and valley!"**

"You ask me to do something you couldn't do when I asked for the same!"

Purushartha twirled his lance and had a fluke hit to Ajay's gauntlet with the spear point, it tore the ceramic and fabric like it was moist paper. Grazing the arm that healed in an instant as the black flame covered and healed it with an incredible metabolism.

" **Is she really worth this much?! That you would destroy yourself over?!"**

Ajay's hit sudden grew in strength, that it pushed Purushartha back a few inches and made his hands numb from the vibrations against the lance. He had brought out Ajay's fury.

"What the hell would you know?! My life is hell and you force me to give up the one memory of peace in my life!"

"I had a ceasefire with Esha! And you dare to use her to justify your own personal excursion!" The Rakshasa trembled slightly when he heard Ajay call her by that name. It was a tell tale sign he was getting closer to the state they wanted him at.

How foolish he had been. To see his liege return in tears and think she had failed to convince him in some way. To venture out on his own accord to seek revenge for what he did to their Princess by destroying the one with an unstable Karmic connection to Ajay. Worse of all, Ajay became aware of his line of thoughts in just this short time.

If he wasn't a human mortal but a Rakshasa, Humanity and those Yaksha whoresons would cower at the might he could bring. Fighting when it was needed, promoting collaboration when it was peaceful. Being valiant in battle and merciful in victory. He was in every way, an incarnate of the Rakshasa King and of Demon God Yalung.

The Rakshasa needed him more than ever to restore their place as the rulers of the mountain and valley which was stolen from them by treacherous backstabbers.

Purushartha realized that his actions put his willingness to help in jeopardy, he was building enmity between him and the Rakshasa which the princess had done much to work against.

Ajay took advantage of Purushartha's regret to push him to his limit and surpass the natural laws limit that boon could protect him from. He knew the Rakshasa was more powerful than currently, he could feel he was holding back still.

So before the natural law intervened, he had to make Purushartha as culpable as himself before the natural law.

(Bang)(gong) Ajay sent a hook punch towards Purushartha's chest, banging against his ancient armour and rattling it. Purushartha went flying in the air like a bullet, tearing the forest as he flew, before striking a stone boulder with an imprint of himself on it. Ajay leaped a hundred metres in a single jump, slamming the ground in front of him.

He breathed in and adopted a stance which he had recently learnt in the mental world built by Brody. The form that couldn't be used by humans because Four Seasons hadn't actually been developed by someone of mortal origins. The last and final form, Winter strike. The beginning is the end.

He didn't have a weapon to act as a medium, but he wondered if his fists empowered with this inhuman strength could substitute. He retracted his arm like a gun cocked and ready. When he was mentally ready, he fired his fist with a rifled motion along with the body stance of the Winter Form.

The result of this strange self-taught stance was a vacuum created at the centre of his fist that was sent out with the force of his physical might channelled by the form. The leaves and branches on the trees rattled as a singularity was launched at an unsuspecting Purushartha.

This fist bore no magical properties, nor elements. This was just a fist being shot at the Rakshasa. Yet the move had defied the natural law with its power to push physics aside.

A vacuum shot not dissimiliar to the vacuum slash from the original blade style was shot at Purushartha. When it contacted him, a crushing feeling daunted upon his chest that dented his armour and wrecked much of the intricate engravings. But that was pale in comparison to the damge it did to the Raksasa, for it negated the protection he had by passing through it as if it hadn't even been there in the first place.

The Pillar dropped to one knee and pucked out blood. Eyes widened at the strange move that exceeded even his own comprehension. But that move, he'd seen something similar in the past.

 **[Paragon Fist?!...]** He whispered to himself, but Ajay caught word of it.

" **Where did you learn that Deva art?"**

Ajay made a mental note of what he'd said, as it pertained a possible clue to the origin of the Four Seasons of Pandemonium.

"Try countering this!" Reference to when Purushartha had once copied his third form strokes.

Ajay sent three more strokes his way. Purushartaha reacted quickly and waved two of them off with his lance with great difficulty before having to take the full brute force of the third. Purushartha was struck a few steps back. Once again, suffering from the first use of the move he called Paragon Fist had done to him. Purushartha held his chest in pain, greatly injuried by Ajay's recent development of the Four Seasons he made up.

He had beaten Purushartha to a point where he hoped that later would finally unleash a power to get the natural law's attention. But the Rakshasa showed no sign of wanting to fight back, he was difficult to read. And cautious like no other, Ajay was concerned about how long this state would last for himself.

And just as he thought it, a powerful divine sense engulfed the area. A familiar feeling as he lived and breathed in Kyrat, yet more powerful than he had even imagined.

Ajay was sensing the natural law of the mountain and valley had arrived to dispense judgement. Purushartha stared in fear, fear of the natural law he cheated. His face looked especially glum as Ajay guessed was the end of his boon's powers to hide his true strength. The natural law had come for him.

" **By the gods…."** Purushartha clasped his chest in pain as he seemed to have no way of running from the natural law. **"You need to run!"** He warned Ajay for some reason.

" **It's not here just for me!"** Purushartha was concerned for the livelihood of Ajay because of his importance to their plans.

Purushartha lost control of his influence over the weather as he surrendered it, and Ajay's crimson domain poured over to fill the gap.

However, the lightning and thunderclouds from Purushartha's latest spell were destroyed not by his domain, but the Mountains responding to an existence that shouldn't be within its domain. Specifically… Ajay's existence.

The lightning of the natural law crackled more dangerously than before and struck down towards Ajay. A lightning that judged him for wielding a power he shouldn't.

A tribulation lightning.

Even Purushartha looked up in fear, at the lightning he would have to face had he not possessed the boon that his princess had given him. But now that it had depleted, he too would have to face its wrath if he wanted to return to Akaash.

Ajay was not such a person. He pointed to the sky and pointed to his third eye and said-.

"My will is the mountains…. My karma is the mantra…" His voice carried with the winds, in a powerful daunting tone despite his use of normal tone.

" **Fool! Are you certain of your death?!"** The Rakshasa's warning was meet with a deaf ear as Ajay continued to pour the prana he wielded into the spell. He couldn't just turn off this power that flowed through him, he had to expend it to exhaustion.

"Banish all creation against nature…." Ajay stared fearlessly into the sky towards the divine sense that controlled the mountain and valley.

The natural law was stunned, an inhabitant not an almighty Deva or Asura dared to strike back at it. It hurled a powerful bolt of tribulation lightning through the clouds towards its aggressor.

Ajay raised his hand with his fingers pointed defiantly towards the heavens.

"8th Demon Banishing Hex! SEAL THIS MOUNTAIN AND VALLEY!"

* * *

The writ of banishing hex struck the tribulation of lightning dead centre in a tug of war fashion. It was the natural law versus the fragment of Yalung empowering the Banishing Hex.

This was something no Demon Banisher had ever thought to do nor dare attempt. To defy their own home was a sacrilege beyond reconciliation. Ajay was beginning to become an existence feared by humanity and magic entity alike.

The point of impact sent sparks so bright it was like a second sun had appeared right before them. Purushartha stared in shock as Ajay had challenged the very force that they avoided offending in every way. No one would dare do what he did, not the Princess, not even the current ruler of the mountain and valley during his pre-ruler days. Something only a Deva or Asura were capable of, but they were not in the presence of such lowly beings or earthly concerns as they inhabited the true heavens.

Ajay's extremities bleed profusely as he wrestled an omnipotent presence by himself, even if this presence was only a fraction of its will it had dispatched to apprehend them both. And just as Ajay was in worse shape than alright, the tribulation lightning wobbled and seemingly wanted to disippate at any moment. But Ajay's unrelenting willpower poured all of his prana from the sacrifice he made into powering the banishing hex. As he did so, he could feel moments in his memory slip by him one last time. Burning at an astronomical rate, months that went by were now going at the rate of seasons. Those seven years were like a lifetime to him.

Yet, he poured it in as his survival depended on it. The tribulation lightning was hell-bent on annihilating him as its presence was waning. It was everywhere, but it couldn't be here all at once. It did all it could before it faded, just as Ajay did channel everything to survive.

His resolved was forged in many contemplations and many battles that defined the most major part of his life in Kyrat and the Himalayas. The weight of his responsibility to the lives of his people and the Himavanas. He protected the inhabitants of the Himavanas even if it meant turning on the will of the mountains itself.

His body rapidly healed as fast as it continued to bleed, further depleting the reserves of his energy to stay awake and alive to fight the tribulation lightning.

And just as he seemed to drop from the loss of blood and strength, the tribulation lightning vanished into nothing as it had spent itself. The clouds rolled away and cleared the sky, his own demonic domain disappeared when he had lost his sudden strength. The blacken flames over the blood extinguished to the absence of prana that allowed it to exist.

Ajay returned to his previous bloodied state, albeit weaker than before. Collapsing in exhaustion before Purushartha who had witnessed something he had never seen before in his natural life. To do something even he was incapable of, how was he even capable of doing this. Combining the prana of the fragment of an Asura with the incompatible essence of the Demon Banisher Hex. Made a fearful combination, with powers like this Purushartha was beginning to see the potential for Ajay to be the bane of Eternal Heaven's existence, the presence it feared greatly.

" **Ajay Ghale, you are truly an enigma."** The result of his efforts had not only saved himself but had also covered for the Rakshasa. It appeared that Purushartha owed him as much as he was reluctant to admit it.

(Bang) A spatial rift opened, no longer blocked by the natural law of the mountains. Purushartha was leaving, he no longer needed to kill his target if there was no Karma existing between them now.

He looked at Daisy who was the first to approach Ajay to help him while the rest of the people were recovering from what they'd just witnessed. Daisy looked back at the Rakshasa, worried he might do something now that he was unstoppable.

Instead, he flung an object towards Daisy who caught it. A traditional pill, she found as she looked down at it.

" **Administer it to him on my behalf."** He said before walking through the rift that closed behind him the instant he was through.

Daisy did not doubt for a second that this wonder pill would help aid in his recovery, so she popped it into his mouth. Ajay weakly swallowed it as he sensed what was in his throat which gave off a medicinal aura. The instant it was swallowed, a restorative power flowed through him and recovered his broken bones, punctured internals and affected meridians that had been damaged during the crossfire with the tribulation lighting.

Daisy noticed the soldiers, civilians and policemen approach respectfully. Even getting down on one knee or kowtowing before their precious lord. For an auspicious people, his status became something of a venerated deity. Equal to the deification of God of War Guan Yu during the Chinese Three Kingdoms Era. To them, he was an existence that fought and beat both an ancient Rakhasa and the ethereal presence that was their home.

Ajay's eyelids twirled at the harsh glare of the sunlight that was no longer blocked out by the clouds. Jeevan had arrived too, having returned back with the remains of Ajay's treasured slayer. He was sore about the destruction of the weapon but was glad that Ajay had survived and was in a better state than before. He was covered in tattered armour and caked in blood, however his entire exterior was spotless of injuries. That was a magical medicinal pill for you.

Ajay opened his eyes and got up. Observing his surroundings calmly and noticing an aura of venerance amongst the Kyratis to his dismay. They were witnesses to only the opening salvos of the coming wars, yet it had thrown their days of normality out of the window with this single encounter.

"Ajay," Daisy called out softly and Ajay looked at her for a moment before proceeding over to where Jason was.

When he investigated the state of Jason, he was surprised to find him still with a pulse. Albeit too weak to save through natural methods or medical science.

"….."

He was simply surviving on a thread of his life with a hole in his chest, yet his eyes were filled with both anguish and despair. Ajay felt slight pity for him, this was a life which Hurk had come back to intervene and save. He wasn't going to disrespect that existence now, even when Jason was as harmless as he was now. No matter how much he hated him, it couldn't compare to how much he despised himself for the things he'd done and would continue doing.

"Kill me….." He said as he saw the grim reaper looming over him.

"I took your brother like you did mine, I wouldn't call it square 'cause I still fucking hate you. But-… I don't think you deserve to waste the life your brothers gave theirs to save."

Ajay grabbed Jason's reluctant jaw to open it.

"From this day onwards, you won't be allowed to take your life unless I say you can. You'll live a long and cursed life, because I need the help of "Snow White" in the fights to come. I don't care if you find another meaning to live, I will only provide you with the means." Ajay chanted a sealing hex as he bit into his thumb to release a drop of blood. That droplet, he let fall into Jason's mouth.

Jason moaned in pain and shifted around as he wrestled a presence that entered his body. Eyes restored of their colour and his wounds begun to heal rapidly, his Tatau burned away from some invisible force and was replaced with vedic scripts that encircled a sigil of a Wild Dog, a Dhole had chosen to reside in him.

"Jason?!" Daisy saw him return to a state of recovery and approached to check him physically. Her heart was filled was joy at the sight and patted him about.

"Daisy…?" He recognized her for the first time since awakening. She nodded her head with a pleasant smile on her face. Seeing that face made Jason emotionally caught in complex feelings, he began to tear as he wasn't sure what to feel. Reaching out for him, Jason dove to cry in her arms. It made her drop a tear as a feeling of liberation had swept over them. They were finally free from the emotional shackles of conviction.

"Jas."

"Jason, bro."

"Jason…" His friends arrived earlier and reach a hand out to place upon his shoulder to let him know they were here.

Ajay seeing this emotional reunion chose to keep out of it. He walked over to Jeevan whom he placed a hand on his shoulder to tell him it was alright and he'd done well surviving. He also showed a new immunity or resilience to the Azure Sky domain spell which was a self-improvement.

"Sir, what do we do with him and those Americans?" The Field Commander of the Royal Army soldiers asked.

Ajay dwelled on the thoughts, he had previously said they would be locked in Vyatha Prison because they were a nuisance. But now, with a conscience to Hurk's wishes. He was going to employ Jason Brody's strengths in their fight against the Golden Path and Rakshasa. A happy employee was better than a fearful one.

"They're guests."

Ajay wrote on a piece of paper and signed it before passing it to the officer.

"Escort them to the Little Shangri-La estates. Pass this message to Housing Estates Councilor Sun Cheon-Fan and the town council, she'll settle them in with all the appropriate necessities and take them off you." The officer took the note and respectfully saluted.

"And report along with your Companies to the WarSpec depot tomorrow at 0700 hrs."

"Sir?" the officer and his soldiers were baffled.

"You showed some real skill today, Major. Some traits that even I didn't expect your men and yourself would have. It would be invaluable to have you in the Jatayu."

To hear that they were being transferred to the famous Jatayu Para Brigade made them jump internally. They saluted him in unison, to which Ajay returned the salute crisply. They had earned his respect, even that of the Rakshasa Pillar Purushartha, they were something else.

Ajay wanted to return home, he was beyond tired and wanted to return to the arms of a worried Saraswati. Maybe take a hot shower and have Bhadra cook him something to eat. He was sure, Jeevan was in the same mood since the start of Operation Mímisbrunnr. A lot of things had happened since then, he was emotionally tired as well.

Ajay approached Jason and friends for the last time to tell them their situation.

"I've asked the soldiers and their CO to bring you to a temporary housing estate to stay in. Nice place by Jalendu lake the residence call Little Shangri-la. Until our affairs with the US are clear, you're welcome to stay there."

"Can we go home instead?" Liza asked even though it didn't seem likely.

"I've caught Willis and tortured the fucker, he's let me onto some really disturbing news. A conspiracy if you will, between the United States in the '80s and the then-Soviet Union. Real icky CIA dirty business. He wasn't lying when he said he erased your names from the profiles, or that you're on FBI's wanted list."

"Jesus… What's the charges-.. I mean in us to the FBI?" Steven asked.

"Affiliation to known terrorist Badala, responsible for the massacre of twelve thousand US expeditionary soldiers and nuking a Carrier fleet."

"Whoa! Whoa! What?! We don't have any affiliation!"

"Of course you don't, but NSA have it up to here with me in mess from them shitting their pants at what I've done. They need every bit of intel they can gather, even if it means your involuntary services are applied." Steve's face dropped, prospects of their own country torturing them for information was horrible.

"Like I said till this blows over. You're free to stay."

"Can't we just find another country to stay in, say Europe?" Oliver tried asking.

"Assuming Interpol and the European secret services aren't looking for the same thing. I would advise against it."

"Then when will we be able to return?" Daisy asked with a look of inquiry.

"When the government finally decides to deal with the tragic loss of tens of thousands of a certain president's failure in his term. As well as his incompetence for authorising the use of nuclear weapons in Kyrat."

"I'm sorry what?"

"I think he said, the President authorised a nuke to go off here."

"No- I heard what he said- but-….. why?"

Ajay ignored their conversations and made his way home with Jeevan.

"Ajay, wait!" One of them ran towards him eager to give out what she was hoping to let out of her chest.

"I don't know what to think about Riley, I know it can't be forgiven but I will for what you did. So…. Thank you."

"Your welcome, follow the soldiers and get some rest." He said in a monotonous tone void of care or emotion. Daisy found it strangely peculiar for him to be speaking like she was a total stranger. Until a feeling of unease hit her as she watched him leave. She had to ask, she needed to know whether what she thought the meaning behind those last words he said were what she thought they were.

"Ajay!" She clasped his sleeve or what was left of it. A look of annoyance came over Ajay as he was delayed from returning once again. It only served to arouse her suspicion and her anxiety of what was true.

"Do you know who I am?" Her heart beat swiftly as she awaited a response.

"Who the fuck are you?" He said at his limit of patience and only to have her fears proven real.

* * *

"Seal the mountain and valley." These words were heard by every entity who inhabited the place the insolent voice dared to challenge. The minor spirits trembled as some being was attempting to suppress natural law that had defined their lives. Some spiritually sensitive human mortals such as the Huntress Matriarch and Hun Shaman Shili heard the spirits tremble. Darshan heard it as clear as day.

The Rakshasa inhabiting the valley of Akaash was perturbed with the exception of Crown Princess Esha who was more pleased and calm than the rest. While Purushartha had done something she hadn't asked for, it had nonetheless given excellent results. Ajay had rid himself of the karma that weighted on his purity of strength and showed to them someone of his class and level was capable of challenging the heavens. So why should they be so different in their quest to usurp the right to rule back from the current rulers?

Those current rulers who lived in debauchery within the gardens of Shangri-la heard that voice better than any other being did as they audited the way the natural laws of the mountain and valley should be for over tens of thousands of years.

This included the King of the mountain. Peering down at the two beings who fought with one another and now had to fight his natural law to survive.

Next, to him, the Arch Traitor watched thoughtfully with a look of disdain.

 **[I look forward to the day he and the Princess return. Hopefully, your royal highness feels the same way as I do?]**

The King of the mountain did not respond but smiled viciously from his Shangrilan dais of paradise as he watched the one that would challenge him for the crown to rule over the mountain and valley. For he had planned extensively for the divinitation that he would be usurped by a mortal for as long as they had separated. He was confident in proving this prophecy wrong.

Just as he had with Kalinag.

For if he couldn't, then he wasn't worthy of the name Eternal Heaven.


	130. Chapter 119 - Before them in chains

…

…..

 **Three souls bound as one**

 **The Rakshasa, he holds the ultimate animosity**

 **The Demon, he disdains yet relishes**

 **And Asura, he dreads forever more**

 **For resolve to seal the mountains**

 **Might to topple, undo his Shangri-la**

 **Inversion of fates undecided**

 **The Asura becomes a Demon**

 **Demon becomes the Asura**

 **Ten Vedic Seals, Ten Talismans**

…

…..

* * *

He had always heard of how majestic Jalendu Lake was at night, but in all his time here he had never truly had a chance to visit. The moon and stars luminating the surrounding, reflecting against the lake truly brought out an auspicious feng shui. His current visit was neither a joyous one, he was standing at the shore of a cremation ground.

"…."

He hated places that held religious significance, it brought out strange prophecies and memories of a former incarnation that should've have crossed the rivers of the underworld to be reborn. He couldn't remember the last time he had a good original dream based on the events that occurred in the day. Especially near shrines to the local deity, Darshan told him never to mention his and her name. Because it represented his belief in that construct entity and his acknowledgement of it as a god. Real Devas and Asuras from the ancient passages didn't require worship to survive or define their providence, they existed before the conception of man and played a part in it as well.

He'd fallen into a trance whilst burning some effects at the crematory grounds.

A funeral ceremony for the loss of a friend, a brother that no one could remember. He had sponsored it along with the other minor cremations of the police officers and soldiers that died today. Including a ceremony for Riley Brody, attended solely by his friends and elder brother.

A mourning of the forgotten.

But where friends and family attended for their departed loved ones, there was only Ajay who attended for his tatbro.

There was no body to bury, so he collected his affects from the locker of his to burn in the pyre. Ajay believed in no god, not Christ the lord, nor the Hindu Deities including the local patron god. But if there was one kind enough to provide his brother's soul a place in paradise, he would be forever grateful. He was down to the last item, the bandana the goof wore around his head. He had the sudden urge to keep it, hoping he would be watched over like in the case of Kamala.

"Will I forget you too, in time to come?"

Ajay had access to his journal, the only written account of his life. He knew fighting Purushartha had destroyed something worth its weight in Karma converted to Prana. The latest to be forgotten was a woman in Jason Brody's group, a former acquaintance named Daisy Lee. Some ex he knew in Highschool. Now, all he saw was an annoying woman bothering him. As irritating as the feeling was to have lost something he knew not, this was the reality of what was left to appreciate. Worst of all, he felt no grief from losing what was precious to him. His prospect of falling from grace was becoming certain.

He stowed the bandana around his belt, hoping this remembrance piece would bring him some luck.

"Perhaps I should wash it first, god knows how long its been in that locker." Ajay had a light chuckle to himself.

"Hey." Called out one of the persons which he'd only just tried to kill four hours ago.

Ajay stood up and dusted his lap of ash.

"Lieutenant Hamal will pick you up at 0700 hrs in the morning for a debrief and a run through of what to expect. Tomorrow you'll be training in fieldcraft with the military trainers in Lanka. Rest early, tonight."

Ajay walked off as he had nothing else to say to Jason.

"Umm… Hurk, was it? I don't real- gurrrgghhh!" Jason dropped to a knee and wrapping his hand upon his chest in pain. His hand that was lost had magically grown a new stump from the chopped off one.

The author of this pain was Ajay, clenching his hand into a fist in front of Jason.

"You have no right to speak that name, Jason. It might be by providence that you were saved, but that doesn't mean I won't let your life tumble into a living hell. From the moment you consumed my blood and lent this life, your ass was mine. When I say you fight, you'll fight. When I tell you to die, you'll happily take your own life for my advancement. And most importantly….. Don't ever say that name in front of me. Am I clear, Jason Brody?"

Ajay released his grip and the pain resided from Jason.

"Now go back with your dumbass friends."

He said as he walked off. Jason was still recovering from his pains as he shouted out.

"You killed my brother!" He said whilst gasping for air.

"He killed my officer. And you killed mine."

"You know he didn't mean it!" Ajay scorned at that convenient word.

"There's no such thing as did or didn't mean to kill here, Jason Brody. Are you saying I should give him a sympathy pass because he felt sorry about what he did? Or Pity you because you're sorry for all the shit you've pulled? There's just the act of him murdering my fellow Kyrati."

"I'll never forgive you-." Jason crawled with every bit of fibre he could muster, until he reached Ajay's feet which he crutched hold of with his hand.

Ajay gripped his hand once more to tug the Karmic thread between them, torturing Jason's soul which he could not physically grasp himself.

"You know why I hate you, Jason? Because you've never taken accountability for anything you've done. It might not have been you moving those limbs, but you let Montenegro use you. Be it Hurk's death, your possession, your friends' predicament, even your brother Riley's death…. Never once have you told yourself, it was my fault. To think my soldiers fell to a person like you, the very thought disgust me!" Ajay brought a foot down upon his face, plying his hand off in the process. He stomped on Jason repeatedly till the latter was coughing in pain, no longer showing any signs of resistance. He had the agony of his tortured soul to contend with.

"You don't have the right to forgive anyway, you aren't my friend or my ally. You're nothing but a puppet, when I'm done with you, I can just dispose of you at any time. Get that into that thick skull of yours, dipshit."

After Ajay turned and left, he released his hand to give Jason some respite. It was at that moment when he encountered Daisy Lee who was heading in his direction.

"Ah-….." she suddenly went quiet when he appeared before her. Although, Ajay didn't even spare a second glance as he headed to the jeep to get home.

This alienation was a sting in her heart, as she watched his back leave her. In a sense, Ajay was leaving her just as she had years ago. There was no Karma between them left.

She wiped her swollen eyes before the tears fell and went to where Jason was last headed. If she was not wrong, they were in conversation.

But when she arrived at the pyre.

"Jason!" She found him on the ground clutching his chest and huffing.

She took a kneel and brought him up gently.

"Daisy?"

"Hey…. It's me."

"….. forgive me…"

"Yeah. Alright."

"Forgive me…. Forgive me….." Jason repeated over and over as he cried. What he truly meant was the predicament he had put them in, he had no excuse for their sufferings because of him. And now, Riley was gone. He was the last of the Brody brothers. Ajay may have forgiven him on behalf of Hurk, but that didn't mean he had to regard him as a friend, let alone a person. Ajay had killed Jason Brody, so he saw this Jason as but a mere shell kept alive through a mysterious blood.

"I forgive you, Jason….." Daisy embraced his head lovingly.

She looked with wet eyes towards the direction of a jeep driving off into the distance. That person had literally fought a demon to keep her alive.

-….. I forgive you….. Ajay.-

* * *

The Kyrati War Machine had returned and all men and fallen had been accounted for. The toll was heavy for the frontline Kyrati soldiers, it was a price for fighting an enemy they knew almost nothing about.

But they had been given commendation, for their survive sparked hopes of finding ways to combat this Rakshasa menace that literally devoured the US expedition in less time than it took for the battle to end. They had actually been on losing ground, but something had happened which marked a turning point in their battle. The loss of the enemy commander, officers and men suspected it was likely Badala's doing. A quick decisive strike to the head of the beast crippling all of the Rakshasa in their entirety.

Casualties were three depleted battalions that could not recover their numbers quick enough, so an executive order was given to merge them into other groups. The Indians Mountain regiments had suffered just as badly, as had the Russian Spetznaz. There were no wounded, only deaths. Their enemy had cursed weapons and poisonous arrows which no cure was available to them, but these were amongst the least cruel of ways to die. Death at the hands of physically manifested lightning or blood boiling were the more excruciating of the lot. It had quite the psychological effect on the troops fighting then.

Even when he wanted to return home, he wasn't allowed to. His next stop was Sagarmatha Airbase, where the representatives for the three armies were awaiting an explanation from him.

He however had another issue to attend to, which was the failsafe codes to reconfiguring the three B83 Nuclear Bombs via PAL. The memories of the US Ranger Colonel ran through his mind as if they were his own. This included the procedure of handling the weapons which he had had a brief training on before being shipped over by the amphibious vessels attached to the Carrier Fleet.

From Ajay's stolen memories of the US colonel, he could recall a debriefing in Pentagon. Aurora was a one-part program to the 1980s Reagan administrations' attempt to reintroduce strategic bombers. Around that time, the Strategic Defense Initiative was a go. Research focusing on Ballistic Missile Defence was perceived as rendering the ICBM weapons obsolete in the decades to come. They were sure the Russians would build a counter or counterpart to said initiative they dubbed "Star Wars" program. When that happened, the United States wanted to have the edge against then-Soviet Union. If SDI was the shield, Project Aurora was the silent assassin blade.

The solution was a stealth bomber that evaded detection through a combination of stealth and speed. To reduce the risk of detection, Aurora had a rather interesting delivery method being supported called "slingshot". Flying at stratospheric atmosphere, Aurora would make a hard turn in the general launch direction and "hurl" its payload coupled with is hypersonic speeds. The free-fall bombs would fly at distances exceeding most longe range missiles without any propellant even being used. What guided the free-fall bomb to the target was a Navstar guidance kit, a predecessor to the modern GPS and JDAM kits. For '80s technology, it was thoroughly ahead of its time. United States definitely deserved the title of most powerful, most influential for building and fielding this formidable craft.

It was understandable why the board directors in Lockheed Skunkworks and Langley freaked out when it disappeared over Point 2153 and crashed. Billions of dollars in taxpayers, along with strategic assets attached to it. If Russian didn't have their hands over it, China would since it had been in border disputes with India since both nations conception. Still, to have live nuclear weapons for a test run spoke much about convincing the bureaucrats to fund such a mega project. The memory of the colonel was just as surprised.

And so, two sacrificial lambs named Huntley and Lynch were sent to "clean up" because they couldn't afford to have footprints tracing back to United States. Creating political unrest in Kyrat to cover their destruction of Aurora and the Nukes recovery. All should've gone to plan, however Willis and Lynch did not expect the arrival of Pagan. He and the Cantons quickly ended the war between Nationalist and Royalist parties with their superior equipment and better trained men. With promise to installing the last Devi bloodline member upon the throne the two spooks were at their wits end. Then Pagan executed the last Devi royal family member, severing the bloodline forever. He stepped onto the throne and created the new Min Dynasty.

Willis recruited the help of his father in fighting Pagan's regime, supplying weapons and equipment to his small outfit of loyalists that became the Golden Path. Pagan's initiative to conceive the Royal Army was something unheard of at the time when a rigid caste system prevailed. Labourers, farmers and tradesman enlisted in his Army to received better treatment and a better future for themselves. So the Kingdom was able to contend with the numerically superior partisan forces of Golden Path.

At some point of time, Lynch got cold feet with the stalemate looming between both parties. He blew the wreckage without checking the contents and misled partisans to chase Willis saying he was a double agent. While Willis was trapped and running for life, he returned to Langley to give the final report. Lynch's life was secure, Willis returned to find his status in a crisis and the betrayal he'd experienced. He was demoted and sent to the South East Asian Regions, jumping around from Thailand, Singapore, Phillipines and finally Rook Islands.

And what an ambitious set of targets "Aurora's" Primitive A.I. had been assigned. Three possible attack strategies had been pre-programed targets had been set, and in eachattack vector were several points of attack within that region. The country to hit first priority was of no surprise, it was Russia which was then-Soviet Union. The targets were industrial centres and capital administration of Moscow, Sebastapol and Kapustin Yar. In order of the Capital, the Black Sea Fleet Dock, and rocket launching/advance research site. The other attack vector was China's Beijing, Tianjin and Nanjing province cities. Their Capital, their largest port city and their Eastern Military Command.

The last one was something they didn't expect or understand. It was a combination of two countries, they were India and United States own ally Pakistan. The areas targeted were the Northern most regions in a long line that denied Chinas Western District army at Chengdu from mobilizing into the oil rich Middle East. These sites were in the Jammu and Kashmir regions not far from the Pakistani and Indian Capital cities.

For the Cold War era, the strategic planners of the pentagon were really paranoid and vicious. It was a behavior that even Ajay didn't truly understand. On the outside, they wanted to be everybodies friend and hero. But inside, they were as insecure about their own freedom as they were under the belief that there were no allies, only interests between nations.

The Indian delegation stormed out of the room after learning this. Angered by the true nature of the United States administrations. Not a single one didn't share the foreign minister's sentiments. They have come on a request from Badala to personally collect the Warhead which would be reverse-engineered in the Mumbai Labs under their renewed Nuclear Program to uncover Second-stage nuclear fission, the true thermonuclear weapons. They boarded their Ilyushin airlifters together with the Garud Commandos who acted as escort for their precious device.

Ajay stood at the tarmac to see Dmitri off as the Spetznaz soldiers boarded their airlifter after loading their equipment and dead on board. The Russian tried to maintain a composed face after his reprimand. Saraswati had told Ajay the story of how Aurora first ended up in Kyrat to begin with and Ajay was not pleased to know that their Cold War affairs had been responsible for triggering Kyrats Civil War that cost over two hundred thousand deaths over the span of twenty-six years.

"You and Moscow knew all along, didn't you? Because nobody asked so nobody needed to say anything. Is that the kind of working relationship you want our countries to adopt from now on?"

Ajay silenced both him and the Russian Delegates from the Kremlin, they had no way of rebutting his accusations like they planned with justification. He was a power-hungry warlord that held their important import of aluminium used to feed their industry, that was what was in the reports from Dmitri were. But Ajay in person was anything but just a warlord, Ajay himself wasn't sure if it was really his intimidative stance or the Demon's aura that was frightening them, he suspected it was the latter. They were Russians after all, a petty country warlord shouldn't have been a problem to the bureaucratic puppeteers of the powerful Kremlin.

"Kyrat will not be as petty as Moscow perceives it to be, gentlemen. But she will not tolerate betrayal, you keep that in mind." Ajay had sort of forgiven them from this sentence and relieved a massive amount of tension amongst the Russian officials in light of the bigger picture which was Kyrats future. Months ago, he was seen as a mere warlord of a failed state whom they pressed Dmitri to have extort. They were finding that over recent events, he was becoming a figure in Central Asia that had a notorious reputation that grew at such exponential size. He was someone who spat in the world's most powerful enforcer and crippled their offensive in Central Asia. He was the man who nuked a US Naval Fleet. The story was absurd, but satellites confirmed nuclear detonation matching the yield of an American Arsenal B83. How he smuggled it on board, they dare not ask. Nor about the Rakshasa. Whatever was going on in Kyrat, they wanted no part in it. Their Spetznaz would tell them the horrifying account of how they nearly died to the undying Rakshasa monstrosity that Kyrat was to contend with. Yet there was an assurance that the commercial supply chain wouldn't be disturbed by them, Ajay's guarantee was based on a claim they had fought the Rakshasa for generations.

So in their assessment, Kyrat was filled with monsters and human beings on par with such inhuman forces. Although, Ajay made them promise not to speak of the Rakshasa force and feint ignorance. Making the US claims of a "greater evil" invalid and put their silent advance in question by the international community.

"So what now?"

"You're the intelligence operative, you tell me." Ajay grinned as Dmitri smiled back wryly.

He pulled out a nightcap flask and two cups which he handed one to Ajay. Pouring the liquor into the cups.

"Nostrovia."

"To good health."

Ajay got to taste the goodness of Dmitri's special recipe drink he promised the last time. They drank the shot cup dry and Ajay pulled out a bottle of his own.

"My turn."

"This is-…"

"A secret hospitality that Duke Badala of Lakshman gives exclusively to friends." He poured the Baijiu and they dunked it down as quickly as it was poured.

"A little sweet for my taste."

"Oh how you wound my brewer's heart!" Ajay laughed.

"But drink has a rare precious character that cannot be found anywhere else in the world."

Ajay wondered from the way he said it if he was referring to the drink or him.

"It is a privilege to have been in the company of a man of your caliber, Badala." Dmitri held out a hand. Ajay reached out and took the hand, but unexpected was that he pulled Dmitri towards him and hugged him. Dmitri chuckled away as they broke off, not expecting this kind of friendliness from an arrogant warlord.

Ajay pressed the bottle containing the rest of the Baijiu against his chest, insisting that he keep it.

Dmitri took the beginning steps towards the cargo jet that awaited his boarding.

"What will you do now?"

"What I need to do. Cement boundaries with my neighbours and get rid of all potential threats while they're administration is in disarray."

"A word of caution then, I may report to the boss, but he makes the ultimate call. He will act in the interest of preserving the status quo."

"I get it, I'll spare a few of them." Dmitri shook his head, not sure if he really got it or took it to heart.

"May the holy father watch over you. Friend." The ramp closed as he entered the cabin. The engines flared, and the jet took off from the tarmac.

Ajay cleared the runway so that other aircraft awaiting take-off could leave without obstruction.

* * *

Ringing the bell of his own house was not really his style, but he wanted to announce his arrival than scare the other habitants of the house. Indeed, he heard the patter of feet running towards the front door. Upon the opening, who else was eagerly awaiting his return?

"I'm back." He received a warm embrace from Saraswati.

"What did I tell you?" He chuckled as she kissed him.

"Fool….. I would rather have waited with you."

"I know, but let a guy look cool once in a while."

"….. Promise me you won't let that happen again."

"I won't." His answer was unhesitant which pleased her.

Ajay embraced her without moving from his location, and let time drift by them.

An hour later, he was sitting by the fireplace chowing down with the rest of the residence on some hot soup brewing on the stove they sat around. Noore, Saraswati, Bhadra, Maya and even Ashley whom came over with her guardian. But she was too young or so they hoped to understand the flow of the conversation. As Ajay updated them on the outcomes of the battle at the Northern Mountains. What were the details of Operation Mímisbrunnr to Noore.

As he'd expect, Noore was out of breath just listening.

"Oh my god…." She put a hand to her face, just thinking about it was giving her a headache.

"Aunt Noore, what's a Raksh-…asa?" Ashley who had been listening but not fully comprehending the meaning of some context asked her.

Noore was in no condition to answer the sweet Ashley, less she lash out at her accidentally. Seeing this, Bhadra volunteered to take her away to go to bed early.

"How much did you lose fighting what's his name?" Noore made it especially important to keep tabs on his mental health and what stage was his deterioration at.

"Book says I've lost memories of Daisy Lee when fighting Purushartha."

"How much?" Ajay looked at her for a moment.

"All of it."

"Jesus…. Did you take my words for shit?!"

"I don't know how to answer that."

"Don't answer it, just act!"

"If I hadn't act, she would've been paste. Purushartha got what he wanted in the end."

"I think he got a little more than that."

"…" A worsened condition was a win for the Rakshasa after all, it was a gauge that told them how soon their lord would arise from him.

"How much more are you gonna sacrifice?" Noore said as she rested her head against the wall of their house.

"If necessary, all of it." That fact that he could say it in front of them without hesitation was greatly wounding.

"That's the level of preparation and resolve I have to complete this task, with Darshan's plan we just might make it through and survive, all of us."

"Darshan? Didn't you tell me weeks ago, he was the last person to trust? Now he's the last hope that we have?"

"Be that as it may, Darshan was preparing for this very moment sixteen years or so, maybe even longer. He knew they'd come and he's prepped to take the head of their highest authority."

"And somehow that's gonna stop them? They won't take revenge?" Noore became objective, the princess was the apple of their eye after all.

"Without her, the Rakshasa lose their protection from the Mountains. That's an instant death sentence."

"Again with this mountain and valley crap. Your telling me that the very ground I'm standing on decides my fate as long as I tread on it?"

"I felt it, Noore."

He said with stricken eyes that quietened her franticness.

"When I reached a level that I could fight on par with Purushartha, I felt a presence emerge from everywhere, it saw us and pointed its might towards me. Purushartha cowered before it, literally. Him, a Rakshasa of over thousands of years old, fought against thousands of demi-gods. When it struck down, it was like it sent an entire mountain my way to crush me. If I didn't learn the demon banishing hex, I couldn't died right then and there."

"Let's leave this demon stuff aside for now, all I can gather is that its pretty potent against these Rakshasa, right?" Ajay nodded, it was quite mind boggling for someone of a medicinal background who believed in the wonders of medical science.

"I wanna know more about what she said, Eternal Heaven. Any idea what that means?"

"Only guesses, Esha apparently treats this Eternal Heaven as a serious threat. She said that Maya was something along the lines of being a descendant of that entity as well."

"You're assuming Eternal Heaven is a being and not a place."

It caused gazes to be directed Maya's way, uncomfortable to the stares, she turned away. Ajay left out certain parts that even he had trouble understanding, like betraying him was a nature based on her bloodline.

"I'm no demi-god. I was born of flesh and blood parents. My father was Paresh Kadayat, my mother might not be Bipin's but she's still a human being."

"We're not doubting for a second that you're human, Maya. Perhaps this was thousands of years ago. You know how the folk lore always tells of gods descending to have families. Who knows if you might be the distance descendant of those fellas, anythings possible."

"So what's your make on Eternal Heaven then, can that being help us against the Rakshasa?" Noore tried thinking all options.

"I don't know, something deep down is telling me that Eternal Heaven's worst than her. It's just a gut feeling, it feels to convenient to depend on another being. Rakshasa are bad enough." Which part of him was having the bad feeling, the human part, the demon part or the Rakshasa part?

"And you were saying I'm a descendent of this thing." Maya puffed.

"Sins of the father don't pass to the son."

"She certainly didn't believe so." Of course, she didn't. Ajay recalled the look on Esha's face, it wasn't anger or pain like when Ajay defended Daisy.

It was fear.

Not the type that she was frightful in his presence, but rather what he was capable of. If Eternal Heaven was really a good fellow, he'd be clashing with the Rakshasa for disrupting the essence in the mountains. His best guess that being was in Shangri-la, the place the Rakshasa wanted to go. But then, how would they fight with Eternal Heaven? It didn't make sense, less…

"She wants me to fight him." Ajay came to the conclusion quickly.

"You?"

"Not as I am now, but as Rakshasa King Ishaan." Ajay had mentioned before the objectives of Esha and the history he confided to Noore everytime another dream came. There wasn't a being that wasn't afraid of Esha's brother, the former overlord of the Mountain and Valley.

"You guys are tired, what say we turn in early. Lunch at Utkarsh? Heard they have a burger joint just newly built called the Hungry Yak Shack. And I could use a whopper." The girls laughed at the name, but he was right. There wasn't any point in dwelling on the subject, for tomorrow then.

Noore went to take Ashley home from Bhadra's room, Ajay saw them out. Ashley, too tired to jump around went to the car in advance.

"You want to speak to me about something, what is it?"

"The Rakshasa intend to turn this place upside down when they make their move." Ajay confided honestly to Noore as her right being his accomplice.

"I'm thirty-seventy the Kingdom will survive."

Noore sighed as their odds were not in their favour.

"Well, we shouldn't be complaining if we've got a thrity percent chance."

"We, but not you."

"….. Excuse me?" Ajay watched Ashley climb onto the jeep with her short limbs all by herself.

"What will you do about Ashley's future?"

"…I don't know."

"You can only do one thing, Noore. Be Pagan's Vice-Lord of Shanath or be Ashley's Mother."

Noore looked at him strange like she had a feeling he'd done something without her consent.

"I've arranged with the Airbase, in two week's time you and Ashley will be off to Switzerland." Noore stared at him was disbelief.

"Who gave you the right to decide for me?" But Ajay just smiled back and rested his hand on Noore's shoulder.

"You've done enough for us here, Noore. In fact, you've done too much. I promised you I'd find a means to keep you living and she's right there sleeping in your ride. But in the days to come, this place will be no place for a child like her. Kyrat is going to ignite into a battlefield once more."

"Into a Civil War again?"

"Into a fight for survival." Ajay pulled out a pouch which Noore took and untied the string to see the inside contents. What she found were passports with fake IDs for herself and Ashley, a bank book with its account fund in the hundred thousands and an address to a house located in Zurich.

Ajay reached out and held Noore's hands.

"You need to do the same, fight for your survival. I'm expecting great things from you, Stephanie Messerli." He began calling her by her alias already.

Ajay left her without waiting for a response, he had made the choice for her. There was no need for Noore to spill anymore of her life blood into this place after it robbed her of it once. There was no point in her fighting alongside him in a desperate battle for survival only to forfeit her life. She was the last of the original companions of his former life left. Hurk was gone, Noore didn't need to lose hers as well.

"How sure are you she'll take up this offer?" Saras asked him from the veranda chairs.

"Mother's do their best for their children. If mine took me to the States when things were still awry in Kyrat. Then Noore should be no different."

"…"

Ajay sat on the bench with her looking out into the night sky and the dazzle of the lights in the streets below. A hand rested on his, he turned it to hold hers. He could feel the cold silver of the ring around her finger, letting him know of how far his relationship had progressed with her. And of how much his life had meaning now, just as Noore's had found hers.

"I'm scared, Swati."

"What are you afraid of, Ajay?" She answered as she was there to listen to him as he sought closure.

"Scare of not being myself. Not being the Ajay that you love and turn into Ishaan of Akaash, the one that Esha loves."

"I can remember those moments, every time something belonging to Ajay Ghale slips, the memories of that former life start pouring in. I'm slowly becoming hi-." Ajay was halted by a finger.

"I think I understand where you're going. But then, if you knew this why did you still throw it away to save Daisy? Its as you said, you're willing to use all of it to get to the end. And if you really do forget even me…"

"Please don't-." Saraswati hushed him again with her finger.

"I won't. Karma isn't memory, its just a string of fate entwined. Treasured memories should be stored in the heart." Both hands cupping the side of his head, her gaze met his.

"Maybe if you wish hard enough, your memory of me might never vanish."

"….. Or, if I make a memory so unforgettable it'll stay no matter what." A pleasant expression returned to his face.

"See? You've got that hang of it."

Saraswati looked at him eye to eye.

"Wanna make that memory now?" Saraswati wore a sly grin at his most recent suggestion.

Ajay pulled her in as he lay back against the lying chair. Saraswati giggled at the action, Ajay blinked for a second as he suddenly reminisced something a long time ago. From a time that should've been forgotten. Fragments of a memory when he and the woman called Daisy closed a gap in their relationship at the school pool.

"Something wrong?" She judged from the surprise on his face.

"No. I was just thinking, maybe you're right after all." Perhaps not everything the demon inside him said was true. About the affiliation between Karma and memory. I little bit of hope returned to Ajay as he thought about that. That smidgen of hope was all he needed to keep his strength of willpower strong.

"Tomorrow….."

"Mmmm?"

"How about we pay a visit to your parent's house?"

Saraswati knew the significance of what that visit meant. It meant taking their relationship out of the shadows and going public with it. He was intending to ask Manisha and Arjun Roka for permission to marry their daughter.

"Am I being asked for hand in marriage by Badala or Ajay?"

"Which do you prefer?"

Saraswati playfully put her finger to her lips.

"Two suitors. Badala, the Demon of Lanka. Handsome, famous, rich."

"And then there's poor Ajay Ghale." Ajay chuckled to himself as she directed the portrayal of how things would go in a story telling fashion.

"Not a cent to his name, lives in a house on a hill, and his father is the most wanted fugitive… but brave nonetheless."

"He took on the mask of Badala to demonise himself for the sake over everyone else. He fought and beat the Golden Path Eight Devas, sent back the Chinese, manipulated the United States to certain doom and contends with the Rakshasa. All for the tiny state of Kyrat and its eccentric sovereign. Which do you think I'll accept his proposal?"

"Fair point."

Ajay was about to suggest turning in for the night when lights appeared over the hilly path towards the homestead. A convoy of vehicles were making their way around the hill that the homestead was on.

"I've not been around for the recent developments, is a highway being build along our frontyard?"

"Well, I've been at the Royal Fortress so….."

Ajay watched as the convoy, seemingly lengthy was making its way not bypassing them but heading towards their house. It was night so only the silhouettes could be seen. But from the engine noise of a diesel and general size of the vehicle he guessed they were the army's new MRAP Marauder troop carriers. Only the Provost and Snow Guard had fully fielded them thus far. Ajay stood up from his seat as did Saraswati as he made his way to the front of the porch to greet them. For whatever business they had.

The vehicles parked in a horizontal line, and the soldiers poured out from the back and stood in a formation in front of their vehicles like they do during inspections. Ajay had no trouble seeing in the night, but he noticed the most perculiar thing. Which was the assortment of soldiers in this unit. Because not everyone was Royal Army, there was another group accompanying them, they were the Papirese Republic Guard.

The Papirese officer came forward on behalf of the contingent to speak. Ajay was noticing a very grim atmosphere amongst the Kyratis, they weren't giving off any ill intent as Ajay sensed for any suspicious activity from this large group gathering at his house.

"A bit late to be sightseeing, right gentlemen?" Ajay figured them for tourists.

"Lord Badala….."

"Yeah, that's me buddy." The Papirese soldiers walked and surrounded him.

"By order of the Secretary-General of the Himavana Alliance we have been warranted to arrest you."

One soldier came to cuff Ajay, but a hand latched around his neck and lifted him away. The Papirese soldiers turned their weapons on Ajay. When that happened, the Kyrati escorts turned theirs on the Papir soldiers.

"Stand down! Captain, order you men to stand down!" The Papirese officer asked of the liason who accompanied him here.

"Not until you do the same."

"Captain-."

"You damn, Papir dogs! Who do you think you're pointing your gun at!?" The Kyrati liason turned his weapon on his own Papirese charge to his disbelief.

"Captain, we have orders, you have orders!"

"Dhir's word means shit to us! You came to arrest him, that does not warrant you threatening his grace!" The Liason officer spoke with fierce loyalty to his own lords.

"Boys, relax." Ajay called out as he waved his hand for them to lower them.

"Your Grace, they're here to-."

"Yeah, I heard. No need to intimidate these greenhorns with your gritty veteran persona they know you guys are tough. I do too." The escort convoy soldiers lowered their weapons. The Papirese soldiers were hesitant to lower theirs as well, but they had yet to receive an order to do so. And because of that, they received an eyeful of hostile glares from the Royal Army soldiers.

Saraswati came to his side ignoring the soldiers.

"Colonel Roka…." The Kyratis recognized her quite easily and couldn't help but talk amongst themselves, mostly about her natural beauty or how lucky Ajay was and the usual nonsense.

She faced the Papirese Officer.

"What are the charges?"

The officer was hesitant to indulge as he was simply told to bring him back to Garud Durbar.

"I am Colonel Saraswati Roka of the Kyrati Royal Army Defense Committee, I demand the details of your presence here in the autonomous region of Lakshman."

The officer was baffled, he was not aware of the territorial boundaries in Kyrat.

"What she means is, what right do you have to come to my own territory, demand that I follow you all the way back to the Papir Capital and stand trial based on Papir Laws." The officer hesitated no further.

"L-Lord Badala is to stand trial for the charges of War Crimes and-….. asserting Dictatorship over the Himalayan states under the pretext of Alliance."

"Oh? That's last bit, not what I expected."

"Who pressed these charges?" Saraswati asked a different question instead.

The Kyratis looked grave as they heard her question, knowing who it was.

"I asked you a question! Who pressed those charges?!" She physically manhandled the Papirese officer to the point that even he felt intimidated by this gorgeous officer.

Although, Ajay too had a little idea of who would be so bold to put him on trial. It had to be someone who held great righteousness in his bearing and believed heavily in law and public order. And most importantly, the moral compass.

So the Papirsese officer's response wasn't so unexpected.

"The charges were pressed by Lord Marshal Arjun Roka."

* * *

The most awkward of bunches, were those Papirese Guards.

Even when he agreed to accompany them back to their state, they had to depend on him to ferry them home. For everyone was now aware of the arrest of Badala of Lakshman by the ambitious Himavanan Alliance council. The checkpoints to the Airbase scorned the papir guards, Rohan wasn't willing to lend them an airplane to take back and even when Ajay told him to provide one, they made them sit in the cargo hold by the aircraft personnel while Ajay was given the comfort of the airlifter's pilot suite and lounge with Saraswati who insisted on tagging along. The Kyratis were showing every bit of resentment towards the Alliance by making life difficult for the guards that had been assigned the least honourable task of arresting their national hero. Ajay had to invite them into the cabin, because the trip would be a while. They were thankful, but pushed further into awkwardness.

Saraswati was quiet throughout the journey, but that didn't hide her resentment towards her father. It was seen on her face clear as day, Ajay told her not to frown because it was ruining her face. Brooding was his speciality. Instead, he had her distracted by playing a game of poker with the Papirese Guards. The Officer refrained from playing but the men were all for it. Until they found their pockets emptied by Saras of Papir rupee currency. About enough to stay at an inn for a few nights until this case was settled.

Ajay found himself in admiration of her ability to seek out opportunity and use it to her favor. He really was lucky to have even met her in the first place, in his last life there was no such chance encounter. His actions in supporting Golden Path had ensured that. Upon landing, the guards' attitude had become greatly respectful and brought him to the place of which he would be judged.

The council was waiting.

He was once again surprised by the sort of facilities that palace Garud Durbar had available to the Papirese government officials. He stood in the centre of a court auditorium, used by the Papir government in passing bills and other government decisions from the House of Representatives Chamber they were in.

Today, there were not just Papir ministers and bean counters. But every other member state's high ranking officials from Kumsa, Yinke and Kyrat. The agenda of this court was one of great importance to the fledgling alliance, brought into shaky situations repeatedly by the person standing in the centre accused of asserting dictatorship over the Himavana States.

The accused stood trial to a gauntlet of important government MPs of all states including their heads of states. Dhir of Papir, Tenzin of Yinke, King Surendra Kumsa and King Pagan Min of Kyrat who wore the gravest of expressions since he was brought forth…..

By none other than Marshal of Kyrat, Arjun Roka. Who filed the charges against the accused standing in cuffs, Ajay or as they knew him, Badala, Duke of Lakshman.

It was the most self-discuss topic amongst their peers, his fellow Kyrati had turned him in right before their sovereign. It represented a strife within the powerful state of Kyrat and its seats of power. Crowding the exterior of the court chamber rims were several hundred officers from Kyrat and Yinke. They had come to voluntarily stand against the charge placed upon him.

But all this would not have been possible if Ajay had not willingly come on his own accord. To follow the Papirese Republic Guards that had come to arrest him and bring him before this court. Because if he wasn't willing, Ajay would never have even allowed this hearing and trial to even take place. No one was capable of arresting him, no one would dare to press charge against him with the prestige of his deeds to back him, no one believed he was killable.

While the hearing had yet to begin, the participants and audience were in a fierce argument between whether Ajay had too much power over the military forces and was effectively a dictator over their states. Or if he was still the hero that repelled both Chinese and American Invasions.

Word of the battle at point 2153 had reached every member states ears and what was the aftermath of his victory. They were afraid of him to say the least. Afraid of a man who was willing to use nuclear weapons upon an enemy. This was why there was even any notion of a hearing and trial.

Ajay looked over at the rigid Arjun, seated with a stoic gaze towards the front. He smiled at his accuser who quickly stared front not to meet his gaze. Arjun took it as one of his sadistic tendencies, but the truth was much simpler and innocent.

Arjun had always represented moral justice within the Royal Kyrati Army, even his counterparts in the neighbouring countries knew of his reputation and virtue. It was for that reason he didn't advance far before Ajay came in. To rise to the pinnacle of power, virtue was a setback in politics. Ajay's theory on Military Organisation strength was to build it based on strong values that were enforced by its strongest appointment, being Arjun. From there, there was no reason to commit actions against moral when they followed by example. This enforcement should've been applied to Ajay as well.

Whereas, Ajay had never been part of the military. But when called upon to do the dirty work, he took up the job that would allow Arjun to proceed cleanly by sweeping the ugly truth aside. Whether Arjun knew of his intentions or not, didn't matter to Ajay.

Ajay was glad that someone still had the courage to stand up to him the right way. To Ajay, this was important in the foundations of character building of the people. A country that didn't fall upon examples of values, bravery or character was nothing more than a collective interest. An organization, a corporation, a system.

"Order in the court!" Dhir slammed the mallet against the wooden stopper to create the cliché courtroom command for order. The audience naturally quieten down as the court begun its proceeding.

"Duke Badala of Lakshman, Commandant of the Himavana Alliance coalition forces. You stand in trial on the charges of War Crimes and asserting Dictatorship over the Himalayan states of Yinke, Papir, Kumsa and Kyrat."

"Your Honour, I would like you to define your interpretation of War Crimes." Ajay cut in on his speech.

"Our term of War Crimes here in Papir constitutes any acts of indiscriminant killings, torture and violation of human rights laws."

"Right, thank you."

"Your welcome, now we-."

"I have done none of those then." Ajay interrupted Dhir as he stood against the charge. This response shocked the jury and audience as he denied it though most were aware of his cruel actions.

Ajay turned to an attorney that was assigned to him and seated next to him as well.

"You're fired. Take a hike." The attorney hesitantly got up and left as he was gazed at by Ajay. Recovering from that sentence, Dhir asked him.

"You openly deny despite evidence?"

"You don't have any evidence, you have assumptions, hear say and rumours. Your accusations are based upon an emotional insecurity of the recent geopolitical changes that affect our states and their continued state of normality. I just happen to be in the centre of where it always happens."

"So you're saying you took no part in the changes?"

"Of course I did. It was within my jurisdiction to act against all hostile intent against the interests of the Himavana Alliance. Even if it means incurring aggression from a superpower like United States or suppressing aggression from within. Lastly, your definition of War Crime is a constitution in Papir only. It does not apply to me regardless if I am Kyrati or representing the Himavanas."

The court room participants broke out into a heated discussion, some jeered at Ajay even. Mostly because of national pride being stomped upon when he shunned the judiciary of Papir right in front of the court.

"I will have order!... Your Grace, while the universal court system and legislations have not been centralized into one entity among our countries, you are still on Papirese soil."

"Was my charge commited on Republic soil?"

"N-No, it-."

"Then you have no right to bring me on trial. This becomes nothing more than a mock trial of finger pointing." The judge of the court could not fault him on this, but if only Kyrati law applied to him, Ajay was still invincible to accountability due to his sure backing from the sovereign and queen consort, this was where they wished he hadn't mentioned. Pagan chuckled lightly as Ajay showed he had the flow of conversation on his side.

"But let's say we did apply the laws of Kyrat here, I would still not be guilty on any level."

"On any level?! Your sin can be found in the mass graves of innocent civilians you ordered the butcher of!" Arjun spoke against him for the first time.

"What is your definition of innocence, Marshal? A bystander? A person who chose not to involve himself from political matters? Someone that says he takes no part but houses the very rebels that butchered other innocence, tortured the King's men and ransomed the loyal subjects?! That sounds a lot like the person who stuck to his own morals but ignored everyone in need around him. That's just mere self-righteousness."

Ajay looked around at the court seats, silent and appalled. He left Arjun feeling flustered and angered when it was referring slightly to him.

"What you gentlemen really want to ask is if I feel any guilt from the killings to which I say, I have none. Why should I feel sorry for the bastards that turncoat against our nation, sold us out to foreign forces, and stripped our people of their right to define Kyrats future? How many have I killed in these wars? Thousands alone, tens of thousands by my commands. Young, old, men, women, children and cripple. I have curled many countless and I will continue to do so. I am responsible for shaping the way you gentlemen have it nice up on those seats, I am responsible for putting you there to govern our lands in unity. So if you ask if I have the time to feel guilt or sympathy, then my answer is still no. I am here, not because you demand it so. But because I chose to come here."

The audience jeered at him as he expected, it took a mass of provost guards and the judge's orders to shut them up.

"Is this all you wish to put in your defense?" Dhir asked calmly.

"No. Your honour." He turned to the audience as if to address them again rather than just Dhir.

"I'm not doing this for anyone's sake, not for Kyrat, nor his royal highness if he will forgive my insolence. My actions are mine alone. I want Kyrat to prosper, I want the Himavanans to hold their heads up high for generations. I want the world to stop looking down on our existence as a pitiful excuse for nations! We are capable of so much that you gentlemen could hardly believe, our people are willing for change, our soldiers are brave, our civil servants are just and loyal. All these aspects don't come together at once ever so often anywhere or anytime, so the fact that you chose to withhold this potential is the crime that I see all of you have commited instead!"

Pagan smiled lightly, Arjun was of a sour expression, he was still convinced that Ajay had a silver tongue and it was not his true intentions. But it was shaming the members in the court and pushed the weight of the conversation in his favour.

"You question my actions and the means of which I justify myself. But did you ever ask what would happen if I hadn't acted?"

(thang) Ajay pulled the cuffs and broke the links with ease and with an inhuman force that shocked the crowds stiff in their seats. They shuddered as he approached the front of the podium where the four sovereigns sat. It was his way of indicating to them and the guards that they truly had not hold over him.

"If I didn't take up the appointment of Marquis from his Royal Highness, would Lakshman be founded or will it still be the Valley of Death? If I didn't challenge Golden Path, would they have routed into the mountains?"

He walked to the front of Tenzin.

"If I hadn't pushed Golden Path would they have turned to their Shining Way compatriots? I would never have known or cared for what went on in Yinke. Forget about reinstating you, let's talk about Yinkes future with China. When I visited your city, I saw squalor where it should have been clean and standard, poverty when every man was equal, gang violence, corrupted officials and law enforcement, radical military officers. I saw the makings of a failing state that even Kyrat hadn't plunged into. The only destined route is the Annexation of Yinke into the People's Republic of China. Some of you might think it's a good thing to be a part of a bigger country. So easy it is to cast aside your former identity as Yinkians and become Chinese. But did you see it from their angle, do they really believe you are fellow Zhong Guo Ren (Chinese Nationals) or just a conquered land?"

Tenzin had nothing to say, Ajay wasn't directly accusing him on anything or saying he was in the position as Premier because of Ajay. Ajay walked over to face the judge of the hour, Dhir.

"The Republic has had a rich history of bloody revolution, you know the consequences of external intervention in a civil war. That's why you've always took the neutral path in external affairs, you aren't wrong. But events that require your attention can't be ignored any longer, you are part of the Himavana lowlands as well."

"What are you trying to get at, Badala?" Arjun spoke coldly.

"I'm assuming all of you are aware of the nuclear incident, am I right? Well, I'm going to shed some light on the events that took place and evidence to support it."

He looked back to the public seats again to address them.

"These lands that our forefathers founded our territories didn't belong to us originally when they first settled here from the Indus Valley. The mountains were built and inhabited by the Rakshasa."

The crowd broke into loud yells and jeers as well as arguments.

"Order!" Dhir shouted to quieten them once more. He looked at Ajay with a serious light.

"Your grace, you have better give an explanation for this."

"Don't worry, I will. But for now, we'll put the Rakshasa thing aside, because it doesn't just involve them."

Dhir sighed and rested back to give him to chance to talk.

"Your honour, you're not going to allow this scoundrel to continue to feed us with this crap, are you?!" Arjun was incessed by Ajay's answer just moments ago and wanted to silence he for good.

"Shut up, Arjun! You damn stubborn-!" Pagan suddenly yelled out as he'd reached the limit of his tolerance. How could his own general bring up a trial without passing it through him first? No matter how right he might be, he was disrespecting the throne.

"Your Highness! I will ask you to refrain from any further remarks. You are in the presence of the court, your subjects too are here. Do not let them see the unbecoming of their King." Dhir handled it tactfully to which Pagan retreated and sat back on his seat. Pagan was reminded that there were cameras streaming this live to the national television as they spoke.

"Lord Badala will be allowed to explain himself as well as defend his own case, even if it pertains multiple accounts and evidence to form a single supportive construction. When it is your turn, you may speak and pass evidence to support your stand against him." He said to Arjun who nodded in understanding.

Dhir waved a hand out for Ajay to continue, Ajay bowed curtly to thank him for the chance to speak unhindered.

"To some, it is a mere story. But to a select few during Operation Mímisbrunnr, the covert ops in disguise as a training exercise, this became our reality. I'm talking about why Kyrat plunged into Civil war."

The Kyratis were in a silent discussion as he mentioned something quite proalific in their history.

"October 12th, 1985. Soviet Union chased a classified stealth bomber under the designation "Aurora" over the Himalayas. Passing over point 2153 which possessed a strong electro magnetic field, caused its flight systems to malfunction and crash there. This plane represented a significant asset base to the US government that funded it, as it was not just a reconnaissance drone, but an active provisional nuclear bomber. It had a payload of four armed and ready B83 free fall nuclear bombs. One Megaton yield each."

Shock rushed through their hearts when they heard of such a tale.

"Not allowing such a dangerous asset to be found by the Russians, the CIA dispatched two young agents by the names of Willis Huntley and Paul Lynch. To cover their tracks, they insinuated the Nationalists to rebel and gave them the tools and training to usurp the throne. But it doesn't stop there, on the same year they stormed the Devi Palace and massacred the Royal family."

As they went heated discussion again, Ajay pulled out a USB drive and placed in on the judge's desk.

"This contains the testimony from both as well as pictures of their written plans and authorization documents from Langley." Torturing broken people wasn't his style, but he got what he needed from them. He recalled a stash that Willis dug in Meh Teh once, he was surprised to find all of the files necessary to stand against them.

A projector was hastily setup and played the images before them. As Ajay explained the importance of each of them. Once he was done he turned to Pagan.

"Without your permission, I declared War against United States. Forgive me for not speaking sooner."

Pagan waved his hand.

"Forgiven. In view of the bigger picture I would have done the same. Good thing you taught them a lesson."

Ajay smiled.

"Although, they're far from having paid for the consequences yet. They still owe us a ton of reparations which I will get from them eventually."

Pagan chuckled despite everyone elses' dismay at his foolhardiness.

"You may have the right to defend Kyrat against them, but what right did you have to nuke them, to order the mass execution of thousands who had surrendered as per Geneva." Once again, Arjun was the advocate to the accusations against him.

"I have two questions that'll answer your questions, Marshal. One, what gives anybody the right to use nuclear weapons on millions? American President Truman did so on the Japanese. My actions are no different. As to the protocols of Geneva, what good is a law that is only enforced by one side?"

Ajay took out a cartridge round and held it up.

"These are hollow point tip rounds we scavenged off the US expedition. They can't pierce body armour as well as normal round do, but on contact with flesh has nasty excruciating aftermaths. They're banned for military use by both Geneva and Hagues Convention, yet the expedition was using them. Thinking they'd encounter unprotected people and disorganised militia. Besides, when we caught them they renounced their allegiance to US on "camera" so we gun them down for being a dangerous gathering of armed terrorists." Arjun turned blue, to think he ordered a firing execution of the US soldiers.

"If any sort of sympathy I handed to them, it was coup de grace. They had encountered the Rakshasa and sustained heavy casualties without support."

"Again, with this Rakshasa! Have you not enough of this nonsense?!"

"Marshal, while it does sound very fantasy-like I wish it was anything but a reality. But here's a point that'll prove their existence."

"You want to know why I used the nuke upon that American fleet, but I have to inform you that it was not by my choice to have done it. I was forced to do it, because the President of the United States had told a rag-tag bunch of Marines to arm it to go off in twenty minutes from when we encountered them. And where did they arm it? Well… right where all of you are standing."

Now, it was not just the audience that was in shock, but Arjun and Pagan as well.

"What?!"

"Unbelievable! So then-."

"Badala saved us?.."

It was at this moment, that everyone felt like idiots. Accusing their saviour, who saved over thirty million lives with their selfish assertion to rule on their own without his guidance.

"I still don't understand…. How did you then shift the armed nuclear bomb set for twenty minutes over thousands of miles to where the American Fleet was?" Arjun pointed out the one piece that didn't fit.

"When we found it, there was around five minutes left. But here's my proof for the Rakshasa's existence."

"Are you…. Saying that the Rakshasa-…. Sent the bomb to them?"

Everyone was quiet. But the question floated around their heads was obvious.

"Why?"

"Because this is their home as well, to let the Americans taint it with the nuke was never an option to them."

No aircraft, no matter how fast could travel three thousand miles under the time he had been allocated. It wasn't humanly possible, even if he was lying and he did transport it. Under twenty minutes it would still be impossible. The only explanation was a mysterious power that could transport the nuclear warheads elsewhere, and where better than those infidels that dared to bomb their sacred grounds.

He was sure, that the Pentagon and Washington were wondering the same thing. How did he transport a nuke that distance when they'd armed it. The question to that answer scared them the most, it highlighted the possibility of Ajay pulling that ability off perhaps a few more times. If he wanted, he could send them back all three warheads primed to seconds and ready to go off in any of their capital cities back in the states or any of their naval fleets loitering the area. Of course, he had no such ability, but it didn't stop him from letting them think that.

He wanted them to realize the vulnerability of their farce and admit defeat or he would make life more of a living hell to recede with face still left for them to hold their heads up high.

"Are we to understand that you had dealings with the Rakshasa leadership, then?" Ajay nodded.

"After the battle, I discussed a short ceasefire with their Crown Princess."

"How long do we have?" Pagan asked.

"A week till the Rakshasa Pillars attack, first wave will consist of the Golden Path, followed by their clones."

The Kyratis were nervous, as it implied their country was going to receive the blunt of the attacks. The vengeful Golden Path accompanied by vicious Rakshasa warriors.

"Clones?"

"They're reserving their strength for the big one."

"Why-… Why didn't you bring this up to the committee sooner?!" Arjun shouted angrily, he knew the strategic disadvantage of fighting an enemy with only a week of preparation.

"Would you have believed me? If the Demon of Kyrat sprouted tales like Rakshasa without evidence, you would all take me for a deranged fool."

All were quiet in the presence of that remark, because it was the truth. Dhir talked with the other council members who were the heads of state and after a short consensus he stood up to address them.

"The committee and myself will discuss further. We will take a break here. Court adjourned." Dhir accompanied the four state leaders into a back room where they discussed their workings.

Surendra looked Ajay's way until their eyes met. He gave an old smile before entering the discussion room in the back.

It was at this time that the courtroom became as loud as a marketplace of discussion. Ajay looked around calmly and had a look over at his accuser standing firm in his beliefs. He sighed and shook his head a little. Arjun may have been right, but right didn't make up everything in the world.

Then, a figure approached Arjun, bearing some features of resemblance to him.

"Daughter-(smack)." The old man's face glowed from the rather hard smack. His own flesh and blood glared at him not as a child to a father but as if he were a hopeless fool.

"How dare you." Those three words rattled throughout the Courtroom and ceased all discussions.

"This is none of your concern. Go back before you embarrass yourself." Arjun replied defiantly.

"Huh! Like you are right now?"

"Daughter, my patience wears thin."

"Does it now. I'm absolutely stunned by the gall you have to do what you're doing now."

"What I'm doing is for the good of the state." He insisted adamantly.

"You really aren't grateful at all, aren't you?" Saraswati looked at him like she'd lost all respect for him. It hurt him deep within as she would never have shown this or done such a thing to the father she admired.

Her hand grabbed hold of his rank of Marshal on his insignia rank.

"You're wearing this spotless uniform with pride because he had to clean the filth on your behalf. Haven't you learnt your lesson after your conscience betrayed Mohan first then destroyed his family next?"

She shoved him back in resentment.

"You make me ashamed to be called your daughter."

Arjun's rage had suddenly reached a point which even he did not think was possible, his hand raised naturally to deliver a harsh reprimand physically upon his own daughter. Saraswati did not brace for the slap but welcomed it as a means to sever he ties with him.

But the slap did not come, for a hand had grabbed hold of his wrist and prevented it from reaching her cheek.

"I think that'll be enough for today, Swati." Ajay said to her.

"You can't be-."

"You might not respect his decision, but that doesn't give you the right to shame him in front of everyone. You aren't his liege, you're his daughter." Ajay let go of the hand as he knew it would not reach her now that Arjun's anger had quickly subsided.

"I'll be done with this in a jiffy, this was never a trial to begin with." Ajay said with a thoughtful smile to ease her worries. Saraswati receeded as well and stepped back away from them, she went around the seating piles and waited.

Ajay returned to his seating area.

"Don't get the wrong idea. You have my thanks." Arjun declared.

"I'm not. I hope you know she didn't mean what she said. Like you, she can be prone to sudden impulses as well. Nobodies perfect."

"Damn it. Are you even aware I'm pressing charges against you?" He scorned.

"Of course, Arjun. You're doing a very brave thing here. You've proved to everything that even I am not above the law and am not unapproachable or unaccountable to mandates which we set out. To be honest, I was expecting this day to come sooner or later. And I was hoping it would be you."

"Are you right in the head?"

"Maybe not, but I want you to know. I don't hold it against you for doing this. You are Pagan's right hand and conscience. You always have been." Ajay took to walking back to his seat after making Arjun feel awkward in his.

"Yunno. It's really a coincidence, I was just thinking of visiting you and Madam Roka this afternoon." Ajay chuckled thinking about it as he returned not a moment too soon.

The councilors had returned from their discussion and the break had ended. The heads of state sat on their seats and the jury quieten down. Pagan exchanged a look of relief with Ajay to say the talk went well.

"Case resume. Lord Badala of Lakshman. Do you have anything further to add to your previous defence."

"None, your honour." Ajay answered firmly as he'd placed down everthing he had to give. He braced for their final verdict.

"Very well, then the court has made its decision."


	131. Chapter 120 - Legacy of Karmic Severing

One day ago -

"Y-You can't be seriously thinking of doing what I think you're doing, right?!" Boomed a desperate voice in the presidential suite accommodation for the King of Kumsa.

"This is the sole dying request of our clan's benefactor and our duty as men of Kumsa to honour our words." The King rebuked.

"That ancient request? Nobody even knows who he was or cares less!"

"But there are, the young Kyrat Lord has shown us proof they exist. It was as Patriarch Wise Head of the Demon Banisher Order had foreseen. The Rakshasa have risen again, and they will bring destruction upon us all."

But the young prince would not hear of it. He was frustrated, that his father clung to this old tale like temple commandments.

"That was just him worming out an excuse, you see how he tries to justify everything he'd done in court yesterday?"

"I expected more from you, my son."

"It's called pragmatism and being realistic. There's no such thing as Rakshasa here, only a demon of a man." The King shook his head sighing.

"Is it because of this?" The King raised his hand revealing the mark of an elephant tattoo cicrumferenced by vedic scriptures. The Prince shuddered for a moment which indicated he was spot-on.

"You believe in our forefather's ceremony of succession, yet you do not believe in the looming threat."

"That crest is a symbol of our rule. Giving it to that-… that demon is equivalent of giving our Kingdom to him!"

The King looked at his son with disappointment, he believed the crest was a right of succession. As Surendra's father had passed it to him as did his father and so on. Those that bore witness to it believed it was the secrets to rule and the authenticity of their domain in Kumsa. But the truth was far from it.

"I'm going to quote what Badala once mentioned to Lord Min. Since then, it has radically changed him for the better. The Kingdom is the people."

Manendra gave a stricken look at his father.

"As long as there are people in Kumsa, there will be a Kingdom to protect. The people chose their leader, it is not for a mark to decide that."

Surendra looked at the mark on his hand and sighed at the misunderstanding it caused to his son.

"This mark has been a curse on our family for far too long."

"You call the mark a curse when it has brought us prosperity and longevity?"

"That is the curse. We can never be more or less, we're restraint to holding on to the mantle."

Surendra looked out the window with a bright smile.

"At least that was what I thought. Until Badala came and fulfilled the prophecy the Patriarch left us. My son…." He reach out his hands and placed them assuringly on his shoulders.

"This legacy belonged to the Patriarch, its been calling out to be returned to its rightful owner."

"Rightful-…owner?"

"The one who unites the lowland realm of humanity undone by the demon god." Surendra bit into his lip just hearing his father rant on about it.

"If I do not return what is his. I'll be letting our ancestors' expectations down, I'll be letting myself down for not being a better person than I am a King."

"Fathe-."

"No, son. While I'm still king, I will make the final call. For once, our Kingdom needs his protection. And we'll at least give him the correct support to fight on our behalf." Surendra was ready to leave.

"You're willing to trust a demon over your own son?!" The Crown Prince shouted as he

"I trust our ancestor's beliefs before even my own. If I don't, then what has our Kingdom being made upon all this while? I love you, son. But I will carry out our family's long running will. After this, our family will at long last be free." Surendra said before leaving. He was too glad to notice the expression of grief that was the Prince's face.

(Crack) A vase was thrown at the floor from its stand.

Pushed over by a bloodshot Manendra. His mind was a mess.

"If he hands over the seal to Badala, I wonder what your people will think?" A voice taunted him from the shadows.

"Who!-." He spun around with a sabre pointed at the neck of the assailant that had appeared.

"Don't worry, I'm not here to harm you. In fact, I'm looking to be friends with you my dear prince."

"Who are you?! Guards!"

"I would avoid calling them."

But the door burst open and in flooded the guards who converged onto the assailant. "Arrest him!"

Manendra ordered and anticipated them dragging him out but their footsteps and even their motion was halted.

"What are you doing? Hurry up and-."

(splat) The guards had blood splurting out of their necks as the collapsed to a bloody heap.

It was almost unnoticeable, but a thread dirtied with blood allowed him to see the entire room covered in threads. A woman was standing at the corner with most of those threads woven around her fingers.

"Tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk! That's not a good way to start of first impression."

"You're the one to speak."

"My dear, Vel. Context." He said to the woman's retort.

"Who's your dear, creep." She didn't want to be here, but he couldn't even manage this himself. So Mohan sent her to guard him.

"What do you want?!"

"I want to be your friend, my King."

"I'm not your king."

"No. Not yet, but you will be."

"That is not certain."

"Oh? And why isn't it? You're the only son to Surendra Kumsa, shouldn't you be taking the crown as it is rightfully yours?"

The prince remained quiet.

"Why are you so uncertain of your own coronation to King, dear prince?" He approached closer to him until he was at his ear.

"Is it Badala?"

Manendra stepped back hesitantly. The crook smiled delightfully.

"We have a common enemy, dear Prince. The demon Badala. If only he appeared at the right time and disappeared all the same. Then you wouldn't have to face jeopardy of losing your title and regality to a common man."

"Shut up!"

"These are just facts, my dear prince. Kyrats nobility has been eradicated to the bone because he was allowed to act against them and prosecute them. Not even the Canton noble families were left. So what do you think will happen when your father passes his blessings onto him than his own son?"

"… Who are you?"

"You already know who we are. Who else has been whispering into your head that this would have eventually come to fruition?"

Manendra became afraid, that his dreams were known by this individual.

"There's still a chance for you to rule Kumsa as King, dear Prince."

"What are you after?"

Sabal gave his signature charismatic smile of assurance and a guarantee of success.

"Like I said, we're looking to be friends with Kumsa."

* * *

Present -

Under house arrest, there was nothing much he could do. The Papirese Government was nice enough to grant him accommodation in the presidential suites instead of a prison.

A multitude of events happened which put the trial under complication. For one, the entire industrial cog of Kyrat grinded to a halt as workers went on strike to establish their protest against the injustice. Workers protested, soldiers abandoned their posts to return home, union groups refused to cooperate. Pagan had to enact Martial Law and declare on national broadcast that he would return with his subject personally.

Ajay-… more specifically Badala was both a hero and a demon to the population of the Himavanas. Kyratis venerated him, Yinkians were inspired by him while some did despise him, Papirese were fearful of his expansion, Kumsans were the most annoyed by his actions for disrupting the long enduring peace they'd lived in. By such actions like the destruction of an American Expeditionary Force and Carrier Strike Group.

It was audacious of him, to act so recklessly to endanger them with bigger monsters out there. They were afraid of American and UN retaliation most of all. But Ajay had taken steps to ensure that such an event was far from happening. Because while he was forced to wait here in idle, a series of events had already been set in motion.

The story had already hit the headlines in international news agencies around the world.

"Himalayan "Demon" devours US armed intervention"

"Nuclear Winter in Arabian Sea, May God Rest 10th Carrier Strike Group." And Ajay's favourite headline news of all time…

"Madman in White House arrested." To be honest, he laughed so loud that the guards came in expecting assassins or something along that line.

It was clear to see what had happened. The President had been betrayed by his own people in the White House and Pentagon. They were not willing to take the fall for his authorization of the Nuclear device upon the Carrier Strike Group as the mass media was aware from that point. So they unanimously decided to frame him as a lunatic in power and quickly deposed him.

Russia and India expressed their profound condolences over the tragic loss of sailors to the detonation. Intelligence communities were all ablazed with the word "Rakshasa" trying to source the meaning behind it. But both countries had taken measures to suppress word and deny existence of the beings known from scriptures as the fabled Rakshasa. This were intel only a select few were aware of.

For the time being, the American Vice-President took over till the reelections would resume at fall. The President now former-president would spend the remainder of his life going from one courtroom to another over the crimes he had commited, his treason against the land of the free. Rumours were that a certain woman candidate stood the highest chance.

Of course, Ajay had nothing to do with it. How could a nobody thousands of nautical miles away from even the closest state influence politics in Washington at his whim? Ajay did however play one of his cards, a favour from Ahab. Supporting this candidate from the shadows to be the next President of the United States was the powerful private conglomerate known as CNS. By elevating her to Presidency, CNS would be overlooked for their future underhanded deals and weapons research that exceeded moral boundaries. They would become the next supplier of the US armed forces, selling them their guns and equipment and at the same time virtually owning the army.

The benefits to CNS and Ahab were greater than they were to Ajay, but he still had them act in the way he wanted. The old man now had no choice but to hold respect for the way Ajay operated and leave his region alone. They were both crooks of the same breed after all, nihilistic megalomaniacs. By leaking his collective evidence of Langleys' scandal in Kyrat, the Nuclear incident adding to over twenty thousand casualties of a war nobody knew existed till now. It was the worst covert military disaster since the Bay of Pigs Invasion of Cuba. In exchange for the favour, the second advanced suit soldier was returned. One Captain Dane Ostergard, now only Dominic remained in his possession. The mass media received a story they could publicise at their disgression, so they chose to demonize the current administration and forced Congress to scuttle their hopes in the administration to save their skins less they become implicated as well. They sent their president forwards as a sacrificial lamb to the merciless media, he would be grieving for the rest of his mortal life. Perhaps suicide was a better option for him now.

And so, Ajay toppled the Kingdom of the world's most powerful man at his own game. But his plan to ensure the Himavanas had cemented its standing in the world had not yet been complete. He relied on Ahab to help get him in touch with a certain party in Pakistan, for this was where he'd make sure the US would never come to Central Asia again. Measures were being taken to have the stage set, but Ajay would have to wait until this trial was over. Then he could mobilize the Himavanan Army to carry out one last "intervention" before focusing entirely on the Rakshasa threat.

Unravelling the scrolled-up hide of leather up on the table, Ajay began to study the piece of the Kalinag Thangka he recovered at the site where he fought Brody then Purushartha. All he saw was an unimportant piece of history, nor was he having that strange trance he experienced the last time. Perhaps if he gathered all five pieces it should give a clearer indication. After all, it wasn't originally broken up. That was Darpan's doing on his father's orders to protect the Kalinag Thangka.

Thinking about it, he never would've guessed he was a distant descendant of the legendary Kalinag. Ironically, from archived events of the Civil War, Mohan had never implied he was scion of Kalinag, the Legendary Hero of their folktales. That should've done a considerable deed to his reputation and brought more supporters. Some doubts crossed his mind as he recalled the images of a half-warped Kalinag wrestling with the Banisher Patriarchs in their last stand. Was his family hiding something because they were aware of this reality? That the heroic Kalinag and the demonic Yalung were one in the same. His father said it himself.

If so, then his resonance with the Asura trapped under the mountain was linked by blood. He was fated to turn up at Hajura Amako Hatama, because one of the keys to unlocking the essence of Yalung was one of the same blood. The reason why he had no abominable mutation like the "awakened" was precisely because of their blood match.

Ajay sighed, to think that fate was really being predetermined for him.

"Eternal Heaven." The almighty being supposedly in Shangri-la. The Rakshasas true enemy and their intended vanguard in assaulting Shangri-la was him or rather the Demon.

Ajay meditated to gain better control over his Prana whilst harbouring these thoughts and reflecting upon them.

(knock) (knock)

"Does it really matter if you knock?" Ajay posed the question to the guard outside, he was their prisoner, not their guest. But the guard nonetheless awaited the word to open.

"(sigh) Come in, what is it this time?"

The door opened, revealing not just the guards but an old man who had been in the council seat for four. He was King Surendra of Kumsa.

"Your Royal Highness…" Ajay wasn't above greeting him. He noticed he wasn't alone, some of his royal guard accompanied him, fearing for their liege's life for waltzing into the abode of the demon.

"Forgive me for visiting at a time like this, young one. But I just had to meet, I've been waiting quite patiently in Kyrat for you only to learn first hand how busy you are."

Ajay waved to the coffee table to show him to have a seat and gazed at the guards. The bodyguards trembled as their eyes met his.

"Leave us." Surendra ordered as Ajay ordered the guards from outside to fetch him drinks worthy of a king his guest.

"My king, he's-."

"Lord Badala will do no harm to an old man such as myself. You have my word on that, leave us. I wish to discuss some private matters that I'd rather keep yourselves ignorant to for your safety."

Having put it that way to his guards, they gave up on pursuing further and left with the door behind them. But waited behind the door if anything bad happened.

Surendra sat down at the appointed seat for guest, Ajay went over to scavenge for anything in the mini-bars or pantries to serve as refreshments.

"I paid a visit to Kyrat recently, and I'd have to say. You've really made quite drastic changes since the Devi families rule."

"A lot of people keep saying that. But in truth, I just point them in the direction I want them to go. Kyratis are naturally quite driven, you just need to let them know that there's something at the end of the tunnel."

The old king chuckled.

"You're just as Pagan said you were. A very selfless lad whose actions are misunderstood as tyranny."

"I don't deny that I've done a lot of horrible things….."

"You do however put thought in your actions, which is better than most have done in the past or present." Ajay handed him a cup of Chai.

"But most importantly, you take responsibility for your words and actions."

Ajay's eyes met with Surendra's and stared for a long while.

"What can this hot-blooded fool do for his Royal Highness then?" Ajay approached the topic of the Kumsan King's meeting him.

"Do you recognize this?" Surendra unraveled his sleeve and unbuttoned the clasps of his vest.

When Ajay saw it, his eyes widened for a moment before composing himself. He saw a hieroglyph of an elephant, not dissimilar to those around his arm or those that bore Guardian Animals on theirs.

"As I thought, but to be safe. I'd like you to tell me what you see."

"Your Royal Highness, what business do I have with that mark?" Surendra laughed dryly.

"I expected more desire, but perhaps I am mistaken."

"Desire?"

"I was wrong to judge, Manendra was wrong as well." He lamented to himself.

Ajay remained quiet as he monologued.

"We, the Royal Family who bear the name Kumsa and the country bears ours have a benefactor over a thousand years ago."

"Ok?"

"He was a grieviously wounded elder which our humble Ancestor nursed back to health at the expense of his own lifelihood. The Elder was thankful and left our Ancestor with a reward of riches he would never have laid eyes upon. Riches that would allow him to become lord of his own land. Our grateful ancestor granted the Elder a favour for this windfall and he took it. This elder is only known to us as Patriarch Wise Head of the Demon Banishers."

Surendra noticed a light in Ajay's eyes when Demon Banisher was mentioned.

"You're one of them, aren't you?" He asked with a smile.

"I'm not sure if I can be counted as one."

"I see, but you are aware of their existence at least, their purpose."

"….."

"I'll ask again, do you know what this is?" From the way Surendra phrased it, Ajay seemed to get that even he didn't know what it was for. The old man had a look that was eager to know as it would lay some thoughts to rest.

"…. It's a sealing hex to Yalung. One of ten sacred guardian talismans casted by ten Patriarchs of the order." Surendra's eyes widen in awe of the power the Patriarch possessed. To imprison the demon god, spoke much of his supreme and the fortune that their ancestor had in meeting and putting him in favour.

"How long have you lived, Your Highness?" Ajay knew it was a blunt question, but he had some knowledge from Darshan about the nature of those seals, which was to alter the nature of its bearer. Just as it did to his retinue of fighters.

"Long enough, I suppose. This unnatural longevity did give me the chance to see my grandchildren grow however." He said with a thoughtful look.

"So…. Will you take it?"

"Excuse me?"

"Was it not your mission to collect them?"

Ajay continued to hold a baffled look.

"The Patriarch said that he who unites the lowlands should bear the talismans."

"I think you've misunderstood, your highness. These seals aren't meant to be brought together, they're supposed to be scattered."

"So I may pass it on to you then?" Ajay noted he seemed eager to get rid of it.

"That would be highly inappropriate."

This remark shook the King as he looked up in disbelief.

"No- I didn't mean it that way… What I meant was, it must not be brought to me."

"I don't understand."

"….. I seem to have part of Yalung in me." Surendra was awed by what he heard but understood the point Ajay was carrying across.

"So giving it to you-."

"Might break a seal. I already have enough on my hands as it is with the Rakshasa. I don't need the demon god coming down those mountains to begin a second reign of terror."

"….So he's real…" Surendra murmured silently to himself.

"Curious, my ancestor insisted that the seal was meant to be passed down to you."

"Maybe it was interpretation." Ajay suggested.

"How about I recite it to you? Then you can judge for yourself." The king got all excited suddenly.

"Ok, sure." Ajay listened attentively.

Surendra cleared his throat and drank some Chai to moisten his pipe. "Ahem! (cough)…. Right."

He reflected on the words passed from Kumsan King to Kumsan King.

"Valley fractured to the rampage of the bloodied one, valley awhole by the reborn. Unseal the asura…."

"Unseal the asura?" Ajay was having funny thoughts about what was being said. Why would a demon banisher patriarch want to unleash Yalung after sealing it? Surendra was unaware that yalung was also referred to as an Asura, only Ajay knew.

"Eternal Heaven fears the Asura, yet relishes the Demon."

"Eternal-….. Heaven?!" Surendra noticed that Ajay wasn't unaware of that name but in reality, he was genuinely surprised to hear it mentioned.

Ajay was deep in reflection. This was the second time he'd heard that name. Once by Esha as a warning, and now as a prophecy by a Patriarch of the Demon Banishers a thousand years ago. Eternal Heaven, enemy of the Rakshasa and….. of the Demon Banishers?

That thought was concluded from Patriarch Wise head's intentions to release Yalung once more. As if the Demon Banishers had been deceived by a high-plane entity like Eternal heaven and manipulated into sealing Yalung.

Yet, Darshan had specifically warned him about the seals. Unless Darshan was deceiving him as well for his own ends. He had been using him a lot, even during the trainings. Darshan simply didn't trust anyone but himself. But there was also a possibility that the Patriarch was batshit crazy after performing the ritual of sealing. After all, how could ten humans seal a god? Darshan's laws of Demon Banishers was made clear. Humans didn't have enough Prana to seal away a being stronger than them. What kind of resource did they expend on sealing an Asura? It couldn't have gone well, it might have even cost them their lives, or in Wise Head's case, sanity.

Ajay had no way of knowing-…. Actually, he did.

He dug into his pocket and drew out the demon banisher seal Darshan gave him, the annoying mind whispering jade seal medallion. The moment he pulled it out in line-of-sight to Surendra's mark, the seal rattled violently.

 **Ten Vedic Talismans**

 **Ten Sacred Guardians**

 **Seal-…..**

Ajay covered it with a cloth and it lost sight of the mark. Surendra watched in amazement to the item that reacted to his mark. It proved that his ancestors were not wrong, there was really a mystical world out there.

Ajay stared at the mark and pondered about it. He looked at his own courtesy of the Rakshasa ritual site, the circumference of his arm held the Bear, Tiger, Badger, Wolf, Dragon, Dhole and Rhino. Three missing slots were edging him to fill the gaps, the Kumsan King's guardian could be the next one.

Darshan was against him collecting the seals. Yet a banisher patriarch was for it. His instincts were also siding with the ancient Wisehead, but Ajay learnt long ago not to trust his curiosity sometimes. What really annoyed him was that everyone that knew something was hiding it from him, so he had no choice but to discover the secrets of the ancient kingdoms himself.

Deep down, Ajay had a feeling that If he left it alone, he would regret it somehow.

-Screw it.-

"Alright, I'll take it."

* * *

Surendra witnessed Ajay paint a diagram upon the floor with salt with a section missing for someone to sit upon.

"You seem to know what you're doing, have you done this before?"

"This circle gives me a look at your Chakra, likely where the Sacred Guardian rests. Because it has a life of its own, it may not want to come out. Well, we'll see. And no, this is the first time."

Surendra was surprised by his confidence despite the experience amounting to zero in this sort of thing. Ajay handed him a piece of thread which he wove around his wrist over his mark and had him sit in the centre of the diagram.

"I'm very sorry to have forced this upon you." The Kumsan King felt like he had imposed on him rather than benefit him in any way.

"What made you think that?"

"I always believed that from this mark, could only come good omens. It was responsible for keeping our sovereigns healthy in rule and immune to poisoning. The mark had also guided me in the way to rule."

"Drink this." Ajay handed out a bottle which Surendra obediently drank.

"What is it?"

"An elixir that'll cure your osteoporosis." The King was surprised Ajay could even determine his prevailing ailment despite not being of medical profession and do so without apparatus even.

"Mmmm, I feel better already." He said as the fluids went down his throat and a cooling feeling followed.

"I lied."

"What?"

"That's just a flavoured drink from the minibar. But you believed it would helped you, so you drank it. In truth, the drink did nothing. It was your body that made you feel better." Surendra understood Ajay's analogy immediately.

"Your family was always capable of ruling, Your Highness. Hopefully, your son will realize that in time." Ajay said with an assuring smile before he went back to completing the diagram around himself as well.

Surendra watched silently with admiration. The young Kyrat Lord was capable of so many things. A celebrated soldier, a cunning politician and bureaucrat, a benevolent and manevolent leader of men, even possessing medium abilities and a deep philosophical understanding. He didn't act his age at all. It was like he'd lived even longer than Surendra himself. An aura of mystery still lingered about him, who he really was, what was his true intentions for Kyrat and the Himavanas.

Surendra was convinced however, the Duke of Lakshman would do no harm to the Kingdoms but seek a prosperity for them. Surely if he was to rule Kumsa…

"Can I make another selfish request?" Ajay gave no response, but it didn't mean he wasn't listening.

"Will you succeed me as the King of Kumsa?"

Hearing this, Ajay sighed instead of becoming flustered.

"Can I ask why would you think such a thing? Not to mention, what will you even tell you son?"

"If Kumsa were to be annexed into Kyrat it might bring our ideal of a united country into fruition. As for Mani, I will take the responsibility to inform him as much as it would displease and let him down." Surendra studied Ajay's body movements for signs of agreement, but found none.

"I have no idea what you've discussed with his royal highness. I'm a subject of Kyrat, period. Frankly, I don't think merging Kumsa with Kyrat is the right thing to do either."

"Why?"

"Your people becoming our people might be too much for Kumsa. I mentioned this before, your kingdom like ours was founded over a thousand years ago with the bones and blood of our ancestors. Just like you believed in your ancestor's words to find me, they're no different in believing in the sovereignty and freedom in your Kingdom. Take that away from them, and Kumsa will truly be lost in here as well." He tapped his chest where the heart was to exaggerate with his hands.

"….." It was a matter of national pride that simply couldn't be discarded.

"But I will keep an eye out for a neighbour."

Surendra was greatly relieved to hear that, he took the measure of expressing his gratitude by bowing. But Ajay prevented him under pretext that they were already under influence of the formation he drew, but it was simply respecting his dignity.

"I'll begin now, it'll take a while. First, you'll fall asleep and by the time you wake you should be free to move. Just don't disconnect the thread or I'll be in trouble."

"What about you?"

"I'll still be in dialogue with Wise Head's guardian sigil, it might have adversity with someone bearing imprints of the one whom its master seal with its help."

"…. Alright, I will do as you say. Good luck."

"Mmm." They both closed their eyes and relaxed themselves.

Ajay chanted the vedic scriptures from the Banisher Manual he'd been forced to memorize by heart and repeated until both himself and Surendra had fallen asleep into a trance. While his body was asleep, his consciousness was still wide awake. He traced the thread with his divine sense till it contacted Surendra's mark of the Elephant.

…

…..

 **[Who art thou?]**

An authoritative voice boomed in this dialog room of consciousness accompanied by an elephant's call, his talisman helped translate it into an audible language he understood. Ajay turned around in the dark void and saw a giant ancient elephant with eyes burning with intelligence.

"Ajay Ghale, friend of Kumsa. I've a dozen other aliases and titles but I'll go to the one that really matters. I'm an initiate of the Demon Banisher Order."

 **[The order? Hmph! What good did those geezers do for my master? They swore oath as brothers yet banish him when it should have been demons!]** The elephant bellowed angrily, threatening to crush him where he stood.

 **[Begone!]** It wanted him gone to leave it in peace. For whatever happened between Patriarch Wise Head and the rest of the order seemed to be a falling out.

"The order is gone, I and another inner circle member are the only ones left."

 **[Gone? Then good riddance!]**

"The Rakshasa are coming." The elephant stomped closer intimidatingly.

"You respect your master, Patriarch Wise Head. That can be seen clear as day. But I have no idea what went on between him and the other Patriarchs."

 **[You lie-.]**

"No, I don't, Guardian. Its been over thousands of years since the order perished with all nine patriarchs. My brother was coronated by the will of one of those Patriarchs."

The elephant seemed greatly distressed about what he'd been informed.

 **[What became of them?]**

"They sealed away, Yalung. A rampant Asura that was tearing up the mountain and valley." It showed some form of grief when hearing this, but turned to Ajay with resolve to ask him.

 **[Why have you come then, Ajay Ghale? You would not come all this way to inform me of such.]**

"I need you to confirm something for me."

The elephant made a sort of gesture that seemed to resemble a nod but with the trunk.

"When the Patriarch bestowed you to the first Kumsa ancestor, he told him of a prophecy."

 **[And the order laughed and belittled my master! He knew all along, he told them of his divinitation, but they refused to believe that warrior would turn.]**

"Warrior….. are you referring to Kalinag?"

 **[That was his name, yes?... So they managed to seal him in the end, just as he predicted.]**

"You'll have to explain to me, what do you mean he predicted?"

 **[Valley fractured to the rampage of the bloodied one, valley awhole by the reborn. Unseal the asura. Eternal Heaven fears the Asura, yet relishes the Demon.]** The elephant guardian recited for him.

"That part, what do you mean unseal him?"

 **[What else do you think it means, unseal him!]** The elephant said cross with him that he couldn't even understand simple instructions.

"Perhaps I didn't make it clear when I said Yalung- Kalinag tore up the mountain and valley, poisoning it with his blood and all."

 **[Young one….. I see. You came to discern the truth.]** The elephant found his inquiries to speak for his ignorance, Ajay was a little surprised by its intelligence for a sentient animal spirit essentially.

 **[Do you know what we are?]**

"Sacred Guardians?"

 **[Beyond that, fool!]** He ended up being reprimanded for taking so long to understand.

"Look, long nose. I'm here because that old man you're residing in pressed me to take you out from him." The elephant looked at his eyes and studied them.

 **[Impossible….. You?]** It seemed to be in some sort of inner monologue.

"Me what?"

 **[Quiet! I am not speaking to you….]**

It was murmuring away on its own before it turned back.

 **[How many?]**

"Excuse me?"

 **[How many have you gathered within you. The others.]**

"About seven, why?"

 **[Seven-….. Already?]**

"Speak to me, buddy. What did you mean what are sacred guardians? Aren't you just some spirit animal the patriarchs keep around?"

 **[Impudence!]**

The elephant stomped and shook the void. Outside, Ajay puked blood whilst still in trance.

 **[We are the threads that wove to make Yama Paashastra!]**

"The what?" The elephant roared in agony from Ajay's continued ignorance.

 **[How can you not know one of Lord Yama's sacred Astra!]**

The elephant sighed exasperatively and rested his trunk over Ajay's head. A stream of events passed through his mind.

A vision of the underworld, Hell.

In the hell forges worked a blazing being with an intimidating face, slamming his hammer upon threads that seemed metallic in nature. Raising his azure hand, the threads bounded together to form the weapon of judgement, Yama Paashastra. The life severing lasso, used by the King of the Underworld himself, then by Rakshasa Prince Indrajit of Lanka, the son of Ravana. Life of the lasso was transferred from hand to hand by the will of its original maker. Until it fell into the hands of a human mortal, a devotee of Yama. That man was the 1st Generation patriarch and founder of the Demon Banisher Order. To broaden the order's power, he broke up the original threads to grant each of his ten students to form a lesser version of the weapon. These ten would become Patriarchs of their own. These patriarchs increased the power of the Demon Banishers even in the absence of the 1st generation patriarch. But unlike their master, they could not rebind the threads to form the Astra it once was. Soon, they made the pilgrimage to Shangri-la and made camp in the mountain and valley which would become their home and final resting place. While understanding the mysteries of the mountain and valley in their search to enter Shangri-la without the Rakshasa's consent, they chanced upon another means to increase their potential.

One Patriarch had been in meditation to comprehend Nirvana and had stumbled upon a route to cultivate. The path of the mountain and valley's inhabitants, born and a part of it. Ten majestic creatures that they lived alongside. Each Patriarch comprehended an animal with that particular mindset and focus of its nature that it represented their character. And so, it became part of their ruling sigil. Using the lassos to channel this cultivation had also changed the nature of the fragment of the once powerful Astra and began to have a mind of its own. The threads turned into what Ajay was looking at before him.

A sacred guardian of the Demon Banishers.

"Awesome intro story. Back to the point, why did Wise Head say unseal the Asura?"

As frustrated as Ajay had dissed the origin story it shared, it indulged him on the reasons that Ajay wanted so bad.

 **[I do not know.]**

Ajay wanted to fall over but instead had a smug look on his face that irritated the elephant.

"You sure you didn't just forget?"

 **[We elephants do not forget.]**

"Ololololo…. I thought you were supposed to be part of an Astra?" He teased.

"But if you didn't forget, then don't tell me-."

 **[Fine! I do not know, is that not what you wanted to hear?!]**

"Yup. That's all, no lies." Ajay was satisfied with the response without ulterior motives. The elephant guardian was stubborn in nature and arrogant, but a little gullible as well.

 **[Hmph! Now begone.]**

"So I take it you're not going to join me? Like the rest."

 **[Gather like a herd of sheep? You wish.]** Technically, it was a zoo around Ajay's arm, but he kept it to himself not to upset the elephant any further.

"So you're gonna stay in this old man till he dies?"

 **[Better than with you]**

"Fair enough, One last thing."

 **[What?]** The elephant was extreme annoyed with his presence.

"What happens when all sacred guardians are gathered into a vessel to supplant Yalung? Does it strengthen the seal or weaken it?"

For the first time, the elephant gazed at him seriously.

 **[Ajay Ghale, you told me no lie about being a Demon Banisher Initiate, correct?]** The elephant took threatening steps towards him, even Ajay's sixth sense was going off blares and whistles.

 **[Are you a traitor?]**

"There's no one left to betray." The aura died down instantaneously.

 **[Fair point.]**

The elephant gathered its thoughts.

 **[The answer is that the seal will weaken only if they are gathered in a vessel with a fragment of Yalung. Now….. answer me, do you possess such a fragment?]**

Ajay nodded. The elephant looked at him with sympathy.

 **[Forgive me, young one. I judged you before seeking to learn more about your circumstance.]**

Ajay didn't know what to say about the change in attitude 180 degrees from it.

 **[The fate that awaits you is more horrible than you can imagine. Even so, as a dear friend and companion to my master. I will advise you to abide by his prophecy.]**

"Why should I?"

 **[Fate is a funny thing. The more you run from it the more likely it will happen. But if you find the strength to face it, catastrophne may yet be averted. For you have fulfilled the prophecy but have decided your own fate by your own actions.]** For once the elephant tried to play the wise one's role.

"Very well."

 **[You learn quickly, I am impressed. Then I shall do the same.]**

The elephant raised its front leg towards Ajay, a Vedic seal formed on the stump of its foot and pointed to Ajay.

"Weren't you a little reluctant a minute ago?"

 **[Then do not give me reason to change my mind! (sigh) I just might regret being taken by an annoying runt such as yourself.]**

"Too late." The sacred guardian ignored him as he focused to transfer over.

The vedic symbols grew to such proportion that it encompassed them, all those scriptures had been compressed within the sacred Guardian.

 **[As instructed, I shall also pass to you the legacy of Patriarch Wise Head.]**

"Wait. Weren't you that legacy?"

 **[I'm honoured to be thought of as a legacy. Hmph. Maybe being around you and the others might not be so bad after all.]**

Ajay felt his arm heat up and was sure that the same was happening in the real world.

The elephant was already breaking up into glittering stars as those balls of light embedded themselves upon his hand.

 **[Recite after me.]**

"Alright? Let's hear it then."

 **[Born from ashes, return once more…..]**

"Born from ashes, return once more."

 **[Cycle of karma unbound, undone.]** Ajay was having a sense of nostalgia. It couldn't be-…

"Cycle of karma unbound, undone."

 **[Righteous will uncontested, banish this writ of karma.]** He could feel the momentum build, with every sentence, the aura grew stronger.

"Righteous will uncontested, banish this writ of karma."

 **[4** **th** **Demon Banishing Hex, Karmic Severing!]** The sacred guardian bellowed out said spell for Ajay to send out.

Karmic Severing. The laws of nature dictated that karma between two could only be severed by those two individuals. Yet, this Banisher magic presented a way to cut ties between anyone. Longtime friends could become enemies at a moment notice, or enemies becoming friends. A banisher magic with the potential to change the world. Of which the Human psyche had no defense against. This was the all-powerful 4th Demon Banisher Hex, Ajay had been unaware that there was even a preceeding magic to the 9th Banishing Hex that did not resemble it at all. 4th Hex was no predecessor, but one of potentially ten other Banisher Hex Magic series.

The mental image of an elderly man with a dignified look he could only guess was Patriarch Wise Head, showed him the movements to accompany the spell. The vision then pointed to the sky. Ajay did the same, this small space represented the recesses of which the sacred guardian resided. Therefore, if he were to cast it here, he would physically sever the karma between the Sacred Guardian and the line of Kumsa. Freeing the Guardian from this place and Kumsa from the Guardian, he repeated after the vision.

"4th Demon Banishing Hex, Karmic Severing!"

(Snap)

….

….

* * *

Just as Ajay had said, Surendra awoke to find Ajay still in the trance meditation. He was able to move freely but only within the circle and with the thread still attached. He waited patiently for Ajay to complete the transfer. At one moment, Ajay spewed out blood from his mouth that greatly worried him, however the expression on his face was still the same calm look. So Surendra trusted in his ability.

He had the chance to meet with Saraswati who returned to the room from gathering intel, only to find them in this arrangement. A short explanation was all she really needed from Surendra, although she was not completely satisfied that he was flinging some other burden upon him like that.

Then suddenly, Surendra felt a burning sensation below his wrist where the mark lay and witnessed the ink of the mark fade slowly but surely. When it had fully vanished, he felt an ethereal presence leave him and whisper something to him to which he smiled and thanked the entity for protecting his family for generations. The thread that linked between himself and Ajay caught fire and quickly broke, then patterns began to form in the empty slot of Ajay's intricate tattoo of the sacred guardians sealed within. An elephant took its place in the circumference of Vedic scriptures.

Ajay's eyes flashed open and immediately checked the tattoo on his arm to confirm that Patriarch Wise Head's Sacred Guardian was there.

"Well? Was it a success?" Surendra asked him.

"… I've severed the karma between Kumsa and the mark, I also took back Patriarch Wise Head's legacy."

"Good! Good! Wonderful!" The old King was celebrating to tears, a great emotion of joy had overcome him. The Kumsa Family were finally free to pursue their own destiny, unhindered by karma sowed with the ancient Demon Banisher Patriarch.

"His Highness gave me a rough explanation, did you find anything within?" Saras asked.

Ajay shared with her the things he'd found out from the Sacred Guardian, including the part of a prophecy that Wise Head told the Kumsa Ancestor. Unsealing the Asura, freeing Yalung.

"Why would he say that?"

"I have no idea, not even this fella could tell me that despite how he claims to be almost akin to a companion to him thousands of years ago." He said as he tapped the elephant marking on his arm feeling a rise of annoyance from within.

"…Still…. Yama Paashastra?"

The highlight that caught Saraswati's attention, when notions of an Astra were indicated. Ajay hadn't really thought about it much until now. When he realised that collecting the ten Sacred Guardians was equivalent to gathering the threads that made up that ungodly weapon.

"Do you know what it is?"

"Do I know what it is? Its the life severing lasso, used by the King of the Underworld, Lord Yama. Legend says it forfeits the life out of anyone it is used upon unless they're the Trimurti."

"Anyone, huh?" Ajay dedicated some thought process to it. A weapon that could kill anything under the three principal Devas of the Hindu religion. No wonder the Demon Banishers were so powerful during their time for being mere humans. Could this weapon be used to keep the Rakshasa at bay from destroying his Kyrat? Esha possessed a multitude of boons and treasured artefacts belonging to the old Kingdom of Akaash. It was fair to say, she had Astra weapons in her stock as well. But at least, Ajay didn't feel so barebone without anything to protect his people with.

Ajay felt strange that his first thought wasn't to kill Esha with it and end the conflict between the Rakshasa and humanity. He was starting to grow sympathetic to their cause even though he was an enemy and a victim if this continued on. Yet, deep down, something was telling him that he was wrong somewhere. That Esha was doing what was best for him. He didn't know, she gave off a different feeling from the rest of the Rakshasa. She had features more humanly than the rest of her kind, almost as if she wasn't actually a Rakshasa at all.

And how much did Darshan know of all this? His lack of communication was what led Ajay to distrust him more than others he'd call enemies. Darshan's motives were obscured in a veil of darkness, it wasn't solely to slay Esha. That was what Ajay felt.

And now, Ajay possessed the legacy of Patriarch Wise Head. The 4th Demon Banishing Hex, Karmic Severing. The power to end relations and destinies between people. He could fortify the bonds between the Himavanan states whilst causing a rift between the United States and its Allies. How well would it work on the Rakshasa, Ajay wasn't sure. For now, he would keep it hidden as a trump. Even from Darshan. And if dealing with Darshan wasn't as he expected, he could sever it as a moments notice. Ajay realized from just these thoughts and the convenience of this spell showed how formidable and how dangerous it was, what were the consequences of using this hex spell? Ajay had yet to find out.

He looked at the jubilant Surendra, sharing the joy he experienced to Saraswati and the guards that entered the room baffled by the sounds. Ajay had sort of figured out why the line of Kumsa had maintained its standing for so long, and a critical component to this was the 4th Banishing Hex.

As the sacred guardian watched over Kumsa ancestors till this moment, it had wielded the 4th demon banishing hex inheritance to destroy the Kumsa families' bad karma relations and kept good relations to a certain extent. It was double-edged as they would never obtain true good luck through relations or the hex spell would sever it. It partly explained why Kumsan royalty had always distanced themselves from the affairs of the lowland Himavanas. When Papir had a revolution insinuated by British East Indies, the Kyrati Civil War and Mountain Wars with the Hunnic tribes, Yinkes velvet revolution by Shining Way. And the minor wars conducted against one state versus another to reign supreme.

Ajay decided to keep these thoughts for after he had dealt with the trial and mobilization.

"Men, have a seat with us. Someone bring a bottle of champagne!" Surendra entered a celebratory mood and became generous with his own Royal Guards.

"Badala, any fine choices? Colonel Roka?" He asked the two.

"Dom Perignon?" She suggested to him as he talked to a butler that walked in.

"What the lady says."

"Yes, your Royal Highness. We have ranges from '69 to '06."

"Get the best! I will prepare returns for the palace when we're done." The butler nodded and bowed as he left.

"Is everything alright?" The old king asked as Ajay had a distant look on his face.

"I'm fine, your highness. Just reflecting on the weird things, the guardian mentioned that's all. He's a stubborn one."

"Don't let these thoughts dwell too long, did you not say you received a legacy item from your orders' patriarch?"

"It was very beneficial, so rest easy, your highness. You didn't inconvenience me one bit, it was worth the risk." Surendra was only glad to hear from him this and went to celebrate with his guards.

"Have someone bring my son over!"

"Your Highness, the Crown Prince informed us he was returning home to the Velvet Palace."

Surendra sighed but did not remove that smile from his face. He was not aware of Ajay any longer. It irritated Saraswati a little to know that this ritual had cost Ajay in some way yet Surendra was celebrating for having it passed on to Ajay.

"Are you really alright?" She inquired from him personally.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just more questions that need answering. I wasn't lying when I said the returns were great."

Saraswati decided she was satisfied with just this response. There was no point for them to dwell on what could have been. She ran her finger over his left arm where the talisman tattoo was inked, a new slot was filled, bearing a new resident that she hadn't seen before.

She was ever so cautious of each marking. As Surendra had once said that the mark was akin to a curse. He might be eternally grateful, but Ajay was carrying seven other marks of different animals before his. What type of strain was he carrying already? Ajay made no indication of pain for her to tell.

"Join us, Badala! At least for a few glasses."

"If we're gonna join you, it'll be all the way." Surendra was extra ecstatic, he planned to have Pagan join as the toastmaster. The guards around Ajay's place were not deterred, if Ajay remained in Garud Durbar it was alright for him to roam the places unrestricted.

"How about it? It's on the Kumsan King's tab, this one. At least you can tell the kids, I drank with a King." Ajay asked her if she wanted to go or not.

"Even though I meet one on a weekly fortnight basis? Our own king. (sigh) I guess for the company."

They gathered on their way out to head back to the King's suite when a butler was walking with an entourage all holding samples of Dom Perignon champagne as he had requested. Ajay wasn't sure why at that moment in the corridor when they encountered each other, he was feeling something wrong with the setting. It was not just him, Saraswati was another experienced fighter so she could taste an aura that spelt of a battlefield imminent.

"That's not the same butler as before." She said with her guard up.

"Ah! There's the booze." King Surendra Kumsa walked forwards to collect one of the bottles from the trays held by one of the waiters.

Ajay sprinted forwards and snatched a rifle from one of the Kumsan Royal Guards. The guard barely had time to process as Ajay fired the first shot at the butler's head.

(Bang)(Bang)

Double tap, to the head. From the sudden change in the flow of things, the servants holding the liquor acted the way Ajay and Saras had foreseen. Dropping their trays covered with cloth and pulling out weapons upon them.

The man he'd shot got up without many indications of pain inflicted from the two neat wounds in his forehead.

"Protect his highness!" Ajay shook the Royal Guards into action as he entered first into the fray. This was the worst time to be fighting them for Ajay, all of his equipment was left in the Homestead during his arrest. He was left with the Royal Guardsmen's old L1A1 SLR rifles used for personal protection.

Ajay had expected their firepower to be directed at him, but half of them pursued Surendra protected by the Royal Guard and Saras who decided to keep the Royal Guards in check against this powerful group of assassins.

He was unable to prevent three enemies from passing by him as he grappled one of the Exalts and snapped his neck. Exalts were not immune to losing brain activity entirely, that was why the Royal Army had been forced to use explosives and heavy weapons .50 cal and above to properly kill them. And they didn't have weapons or ammo for days, while the Golden Path ranks might've fully restored to at least thirty thousand strong. They didn't have to recruit from Kyrat anymore, that was the advantage of having someone as charismatic as Mohan to lead. Even if he wasn't really the one pulling the strings, the Rakshasa just might let them be the inheritors of the earth when all were annihilated. But by then, the earth would be so barren there was nothing left but their hopeless pride.

"I never pictured Kumsa for Mohan's enemy."

Sensing the hopelessness of the situation, they hadn't expected the Demon to be accompanying the Kumsan king. The one taking point had shown too much suspicion and acted rashly, compromising their stealth. The fifteen fighters in disguise made no comment and split up to make it difficult for Ajay to pursue all fifteen. Ajay ignored them and went to where Surendra and his Royal Guards were making their run.

"Security, Code Red! Protect King Min!" Ajay yelled into the security contingency line on his cellphone before dialled for Kamran. Hopefully, the Kyrati Royal Guards would already be on their way to Pagan's suite to form a protective guard around him.

They had reached the outside of Garud Durbar Palace and were running to the motor pool. Hot on their trail was an increasing number of hidden sleepers that gave chase.

Three followed them and went around the bend only to be surprised by Saras, who emptied the clip of the battle rifle into the unfortunate soul in front. Using his body to shield her from the others as she heaved the corpse with fleshy remains for a head onto them. Grabbing her sidearm and firing off rounds repeatedly into the second exalt's head. The Royal Guards of Kumsa fired a volley at the third fighter whose body was peppered with 7.62mm NATO but after shaking off the damage to his body, he bull-charged them like he hadn't even been shot.

"Protect his highness!" The Captain of the Guard shouted as they positioned in front of the charging fighter like an American Football defensive row.

"Garrgh!" "Arrhh!"

But the fighter ran them over like bowling pins and reached out for Surendra. He missed his target as Saras knocked him aside and out of trajectory. As the fighter got up to his feet, Saras picked up a fallen self-loading rifle and fired at his head in a continuous stream of single shot rapid-fire. The fighter fell to the ground with a smoking head filled with holes.

"Madarchod!"

"What the hell was that?!"

"I could have sworn we shot him like thirty times!"

The Royal Guards were suffering from the reality of the Exalt Fighters' augmented strength.

"Colonel Roka-…"

"We need to move now, there's no telling how many there are." She cut a nervous Surendra. Many thoughts ran through his head, but most of all…. Why was the Kyrati Golden Path terrorist group after his head?

The Royal Guards picked him on his feet and gathered around in a box formation to protect him. As they made their way through the courtyards to the motor pool they cautiously scanned the perimeter and took slow cautious steps. Saras took the point and scouted the sections ahead, making them a little ashamed to be depending on her so much. But she had proven to remain calm where they panicked at the sudden ambushes, and she took them down with ease with careful tactical manoeuvres and close combat which the Guards weren't as well-trained.

It made them realise the disparity between their forces once more. The Kyrati army might be fighting this sort of enemy on a daily basis, while they were standing in idle around the Palace courtyards and being the arbiter to the staff for palace traffic. They were being outmatched by a woman.

As they approached the motor pool, they could hear a firefight in their direct path. Carefully peeking around the corners, they spotted Golden Path sleepers in plain clothing charge up to the demon himself to take him down. Ajay had overtaken them by virtue of the second floor he was on that had straight access to the motor pool at the time he wasn't been chased.

He knew this was where both parties were headed, one to escape while the other to ambush. So he set up a perimeter full of traps and aids using the weapons and equipment he collected off the dead sleepers. The Golden Path arrived first, mustering in the motor pool before planning an ambush, only to spring the trap set for them. Already, their numbers that added to the deceased list were at thirty. They were hard to kill but not unkillable with small-arms. They heard Ajay had been arrested, but never had expected him to be in Garud Durbar instead of a Papir prison. So their simple mission had turned awry, or so they were made to believe as Ajay helped himself to the blood of a Havildar to gain instant intel.

They numbered around fifty a unit without knowledge of which other units they were operating alongside. Maintaining absolute secrecy, but they did have a common mission.

"Liberate Kumsa from tyrants." This was the mission they were given by Sabal.

Ajay had not the slightest clue how the Kumsan kingdom could actually contribute to the Golden Path beside manpower. So it could be an assimilation plan to absorb the population into their ranks.

Surendra and his guards arrived at where Saras and the Captain were to witness the fierce firefight between the Golden Path and the Demon. Even by himself, the amount of dread they had for him was enough to break their morale easily. Word went around in the ranks of the Golden Path that Badala made an actual pact with Yalung, the presence of the Rakshasa provided the belief that it was entirely plausible.

When the last of the Golden Path retreated to find help from other units. They came out to meet Ajay and requisition a vehicle to escape on.

"Didn't you discuss a ceasefire with them?"

"With Esha, I did. Apparently, the Golden Path don't count." He said as he chambered another round in the G3 rifle he picked off a dead fighter. The Captain of the Guards appeared before him with Surendra.

Ajay tossed the keys to him and pointed to an MRAP marauder vehicle which he'd found from the motor pool manifest. It had been brought here as a VIP escort vehicle for Dhir and Pagan as they traversed the roads to meet the border village chiefs.

"Wouldn't it be better to evacuate his highness by helicopter?" The Captain asked.

"I've evacuated his Royal Highness Min by heli-evac already. I will not put both your sovereign and mine in equal jeopardy. It'll only make for a juicier prize for Golden Path. We'll take His Highness to the airfield directly with this." Ajay put out the plan for them. The captain was reluctant and a little offended he prioritized Pagan in such a way when his own lord was the one in danger. But Surendra persuaded him against it and to abide by Ajay's suggestion. After all, they had the company of the demon with them.

"Mount up. Have one guy man the minigun. The rest of you appropriate some ammo from those guys who don't need it." He said pointing to the dead Exalt fighters. The guards did as he instructed and confiscated the ammo and weapons from the dead fighters.

Ajay passed a look at Saras before teaching the basic function to turn on and run the MRAP to her and the Royal Guard how to operate of the turret mounted minigun. Surendra sat in the centre comfortably as Ajay latched the harness belt across him.

"Why would they come for me? I don't understand."

"Neither do we, but I'm not gonna wait around and make it easy for them. When we've brought you to the airfield, I'll arrange for a flight to take you to New Delhi for the time being to wait this out."

"Was this something to do with what we did?"

"Not even close, once we've cleared out the Golden Path in hiding here in Papir, we'll survey the other states and then you can return home." Surendra left his safety entirely in Ajay's hands.

"Then I shall trouble you again." Ajay nodded curtly and took a bulletproof vest from inside the MRAP to provide some minimum protection against firearms as well as other munitions.

When all were seated inside, Ajay went to the front passenger seat next to the driver and climbed the step up to get in. And just in the nick of time as the Golden Path came over the walls for another attack on Surendra's life. Where were the Papirese Palace Guards all this time? Ajay had been in the room for a while, so he didn't know. They should've been patrolling wherever he passed on his way out. Ajay didn't want to think the worst, he had the life of the Kumsan sovereign as the highest priority now.

He closed the armoured door just as bullets fell and struck against the hull.

"Let's get going." He told Saras to roll out. The MRAP revved up with the power of 300 horsepower, accelerating forwards. Up ahead, technical trucks came into view and positioned themselves to block the way.

"Hit the gas!" (vrrrrrrrrrr)(BANG) The chassis of the technicals were shoved out of the way as the MRAP came roaring out on its escape. Rounds impacted the armoured hull and cracked but not penetrate the ballistic glass.

(blare)(blare) Saras pressed the horn and blinked the lights to tell the civilians on the road to move out of the way.

(bump) Something hit Ajay's side of the MRAP and it didn't match the bullet impact or stuff hitting the side of the vehicle as they ran over some stall baskets.

Suddenly, Ajay's passenger door opened, and a hand reached in to pull him out. Ajay swatted it out of the way and kicked the leg that was balancing of the steps of the door. To his surprise of who had been the one to latch onto the MRAP at 60mph.

"Ajay Ghale!?-….. you again!" Sabal expressed disbelief to find him with Surendra in custody.

Ajay used that moment of hesitation to shoot his hand resting against the door and made Sabal flap to stay on the vehicle. As he was falling back, Ajay grabbed hold of his arm by the wrist.

"I really wish I could find a better time to kill you." (Bang) Ajay said before putting a slug between his eyes, Sabal fell back. But just as he was about to clear, his hand naturally gripped onto his vest tightly and pulled him along with him out of the vehicle.

"Ajay!" Saras called out for him as he left the vehicle. But kept her foot on the gas as she could not stop to pick him up when the hazard in the town they were driving out of was getting higher by the second. So she sped off on her original route, leaving him behind.

Ajay and Sabal crashed into a stall vendor for fruits which broke Ajay's fall, but Sabal ragdolled being shot in the head previously. Even so, Ajay wasn't convinced he'd die that easily. True enough, Sabal got up as if he'd been asleep and turned to Ajay which he glared with hostility.

The Golden Path fighters mustered in to close off his escape since sabal was with them to contend with him.

"Arghh. Fuck me! You're really starting to piss me off. If you want me to kill you that badly, then one can of whoop-ass just for you, coming right up!"

"You're surrounded, you insolent fool!"

"You really shit on the name Ghale, don't you? You admire my father but try to kill his son. Do you see the irony?" Ajay said with a grin.

"You don't deserve to be called Ghale-… You don't deserve to be his son!" Sabal shouted in a feral way. Ajay was beginning to miss his slayer which he would've discharge upon Sabal right about now to silence him everytime he flapped his mouth.

But Sabal was kind of right, in the given situation he was indeed surrounded. He had none of his wargear on him and his opponents were Exalt fighters. He didn't have sufficient armour or weaponry to deal with them. Thinking about the situation, Ajay let out a laugh that unnerved the Golden Path around him and irritated Sabal.

"That'll be your last laugh."

"Unfortunately, no."

"Give up and I promise you a clean death!"

"You are the farthest person from keeping promises, we've been through that over a dozen times."

"But you have not enough firepower to combat us, no escape room to hit and run-.."

"But that doesn't mean I don't have a trump."

Ajay stood in a stance he'd just learnt recently.

"You are all fools, you should have at least had Rakshasa accompany you, but now I'm not gonna let any of you leave here alive."

Hearing this absurd remark made Sabal laugh maniacally and the Golden Path followed. Yet, Ajay held a crescent-shaped grin that nobody was able to notice.

"Born from ashes, return once more.."

Sabal noticed his unusual sentence and hadn't sensed anything yet as he thought he was murmuring a death poem. A common practice amongst Golden Path before battle.

"Cycle of karma unbound, undone…" His men noticed it was very strange for a poem.

"Righteous will uncontested, banish this writ of karma!" His words carried an ethereal power that shook the world around them and they felt their hearts in jeopardy.

"Ajay Ghale, what are you doing?!" Sabal wanted to know what he was planning. He had not seen Ajay since the time in the mountains he was beaten to an inch of his life. He was not aware of the changes Ajay had undergone. So like him, none of the fighters was aware of his identity as a Demon Banisher nor what it meant to be one.

Ajay had found a strangely convenient time to put the new banishing hex to the test. And who better to try it on whilst taking baby steps towards use against the Rakshasa than the Golden Path Exalts. Ajay pointed his finger into the air but pictured the threads of all the fighters through his third eye linking to him and someone distant in the general direction of Akaash, he could only guess was Esha or the Pillars who bestowed them this power. Ajay smirked at Sabal before turning his attention to completing the spell that would rob the Golden Path of the strength that made them invincible in one fell swoop.

"4th Demon Banishing Hex, Karmic Severing!"

* * *

Author's Notes:

Exams again for Early November will be a while till the next chapter.


	132. Chapter 121 - Himavanas Ablaze

Author's Notes:

Short break till next exam the following week. Next chapter in progress.

* * *

-Karmic Severing-

The writ of Karma that linked them to the Rakshasa was severed, as an immaterial blade sliced through the thread like a hotknife through butter. The Golden Path collectively felt a nauseating feeling, some lost their footing, some vomited on the ground. But together they knew Ajay had done something. Sabal was surprised the most, everytime he was an inch from punishing Ajay, he would unleash some hidden card that would turn the odds.

Physically, nothing had changed amongst them. But Sabal sensed a dreadful feeling, he couldn't feel that link he had to the Mistress, his obsession. Almost as if something had robbed him of his connection to her.

The Golden Path fighters were slow to realize this as they laughed one after another that Ajay's trick had done nothing in the end.

(Babababababaam) Ajay wore a voracious expression as he fired fully automatic at the fighters whom didn't even try to dodge, knowing they couldn't be killed that way.

Or so they thought.

As the rounds struck their bodies and fell them one by one where he unleashed a full magazine upon them. They realized that they were no longer immortal. Ajay rushed forwards to the nearest fighter, cackling diabolically as he swept his captured kukri down into the man's face and cleaving it apart.

"ki-Kill him!"

The Golden Path were sent into shock by the events that took place. When they turned to Sabal for actions, he was already shouting for them to kill him or they would die with him. The loss of their greatest strength greatly impeded their ability to fight with a clear mind, to suddenly be thrown back into mortality. On top of that, they were fighting the demon himself. For Ajay, it was child's play. Dispatching them one by one with precision shots from his G3 rifle. 7.62mm NATO did the rest for him, one by one they fell like flies until the initial fifty became twenty in just a minute.

They began to flee in separate directions, though Ajay was looking for only one person.

"Oh Sabaaalll! Where are you?" He called out as he loaded a fresh magazine into his rifle.

He knew he was somewhere around, but keeping silent to stay hidden.

"Quite the ironic twist ain't it, Sabal? You don't need to hide, your powers are still intact. I left just yours remaining to give your weak bambi legs a bit of courage."

Hearing this Sabal stood out of cover. Ajay suddenly laughed at the situation.

"Wow, how naïve and conceit are you to believe me?"

He stricken as he realized that he could have lied.

"Just kidding, I want you to fight for your life. I severed something else to keep her from watching, that's all."

Severed something. These words washed through his mind that Ajay had ascended into a new realm that rivaled the Rakshasa and possibly the Mistress herself. He was now becoming nothing more than an insect to be crushed but an unsuspecting shoe, Sabal wasn't even an annoyance to Ajay anymore.

"Is that all some kind of game to you?" He asked with caution and dread.

"Of course not, but that doesn't mean there aren't any winners and losers in this fight. There are still gambles, and fights left to chance to decide. Your Golden Path mischief is an unfortunate nuisance to my plans. Actually….. I'm curious. What does Golden Path stand for now? If you were to return to Kyrat, would you be welcomed with cheers and open arms? Or would you be seen as invading traitors?"

"It's all your fault! Y-You've poisoned the people's minds with decadence and greed! You've toyed with people's lives-."

"Let's agree to disagree, shall we? You aren't the one to talk for the twenty thousand that died under your command and stupid strategic decisions. I mean, Amita was smart enough to break away from you to save what she could of Golden Path worth salvaging. When everyone gave up on you, what did you do instead of accept responsibility? You hid behind my father for protection."

"I-…. He accepted me for what I am!"

"Maybe, or perhaps he thought you'd be a useful tool to re-enter Golden Path with, who knows. Do you really think of yourself so highly that you can't even see other's using you like you did them? But you know what, Jason might be equally dishonest and cowardly, but at least he has a conscience to admit he's wrong whereas you don't seem to have it at all." Sabal's mouth twisted as he figured something of his own in this exchange of insults.

"You're angry because of Kamala, in truth I wished I had a more satisfactory way of torturing her had you not arrived. And I'm sure she would have been screaming your name. Soren! Soren!" He mimicked a cry for help to get on his nerves.

"You misunderstood, Sabal." Ajay said with a dangerous grin that was not at all phased by his taunt.

"Kamala's death is indeed my fault. Because I didn't dispose of you sooner, I intentionally kept you around ranting. Believe it or not, you were doing a better job at pulling Golden Path apart alive than martyred, and it's still true to this moment. Because unlike everyone else you act on instinct, and only animals depend on that to live. Do you see the similarity there?"

This made Sabal boil like never before, even in this situation he had the time to mock him cleverly.

"But my real beef with you has always been you, Sabal. Just you." Sabal was baffled, they had never met before, not that he had ever conversed with him unlike when he was undercover as Soren.

"You're the type of bastard that'll warmly assure a brother but stab him in the back when it suits you. There is no place in Kyrat for a weasel of a man like you." Ajay said with a serious expression as it had a deeper meaning to it to himself than Sabal, in fact.

"YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO JUDGE ME!" Sabal charged in wild abandon with a kukri in hand.

"Seal!" Sabal stood rigid where he was like a statue with knife reaching out, he gazed intensely where Ajay was walking towards him. Once again, he'd been deceived by the power that Ajay hid.

"There's a tide that's coming, Sabal Rajput. And you've decided to side with it instead of your fellow man. For power? Fame? Fortune? I honestly don't care. But it's my duty as a Demon Banisher to vanquish all who stand against nature, including myself." Ajay wrapped his hand around the nape of Sabal's neck as he placed his kukri against his chest where the heart was.

Sabal's eyes leaked blood as they became bloodshot dancing about to the imminent death blow to him. Then, the sealing spell broke free. He wrestled Ajay in pitting strength, but Ajay hardly seemed strained as he focused the blade against his chest.

"Consider this an end to our Karma. For old time sake, I'll let you in on a little secret as well. The one that created Badala.."

"Nghoo- no!-… I can't-….. can't die!-….I-I…I will not- Ah-.."

His knife slowly plunged into his chest passing through his ribcage and into his heart.

"Ah-..ah-….ahhh-…."

The healing factor worked vigourously to restore it but if he were to lose function of it entirely he would surely die.

"Was none other than you." (shruck) He twisted the kukri to do maximum damage and destroyed his beating heart. Pulling out the blade, he swipped it across Sabal's neck at an untraceable speed.

Sabal's eyes strickened with fright, despair and regret all at once. Were on Ajay but eventually gazed into the sky then onto the ground. The head tumbled onto the ground, giving way to the fountain of blood gushing from the neck.

Ajay stared at the corpse's head with his eyes unwilling to accept death.

"You've been avenged, Ajay Ghale."

Ajay turned back to the direction Garud Durbar was. The presence of this many sleepers and within the palace itself spelt trouble within the Capital City. He worried little for Pagan's safety. Just as he thought that a shadow landed next to him from the rooftops.

"Naga. Status." The Royal Guard Hunter reported the situation of Pagan to him.

"His Royal Highness has been safety evacuated via Route D. On the Royal Helicopter." The rest of his group dropped down from above. One hunter handed Ajay a duffel bag which had a considerable weight to it. He opened it up to find his armour and what remained of his kit from the last fight with the Rakshasa. A note from Maya demanding he acknowledges this as a favour. Likely for more animal friends interaction.

Ajay couldn't help but smile, it was good to have these things around even if the foreseeable threat at present was limited to Golden Path and rioters.

"Thanks." Ajay began to strap on the pieces of armour slowly. The hunter leader awaited him.

"And what of the Papirese Government officials?" He got him talking while he changed.

"President Dhir and the Papirese cabinet have barred themselves in the library in Garud Durbar. The Yinkian delegates may be found there as well. Latest intel reports riots breaking out throughout the city, cause unknown. Golden Path numbers, unknown. Suspected formation based upon sites attacked is a Regiment worth."

"Sabal was leading an attempt of King Surendra Kumsa's life, we've yet to uncover the reason. Any news of his son in Kumsa?" Ajay shared some intel in exchange and inquired about Manendra as well, for he was a committee member of the Himavana Alliance.

But the Hunter Leader shook his head. He was finished with donning the armour and down to his empty harness for ammo magazines and grenades. The only weapon left on it were his heavy carbide composite kukri and the compound bow with modified arrow loader. A couple of semtex tip explosive bolts amongst the mix but that was it. He'd lost his trusty slayer to Purushartha's attacks. The pieces were lying on his workshop bench, looking to rebuild it back to working order if it was still possible. He didn't give it to the Armorers or Samar's apprentices because of the Vedic matrices carefully carved in by Darshan when he held on to it. That weapon was his responsibility, he would let the slayer return to doing its job in time to come.

"What are the forces available to us here?" Ajay said as he satisfied himself with what he had on hand to do this simple job of quelling unrest.

"His Royal Highness insisted our cadre stay behind to guard his grace, forgive us for being too late." Ajay noticed the other Hunters ensuring the Golden Path corpses were really down. Some civilians hiding within the shophouses peered out to investigate the silence of the firefight but quickly dove back in after distant explosions rattled the earth. Ajay and the hunters were not ignorant to the seriousness of the collapse of order here.

"Water under the bridge. What other forces can we rely on to restore order to the City? It doesn't have to be Royal army units or soldiers."

"We spotted a police station five blocks west of here that was in a skirmish with rioters."

The prospects for Papir were not sounding good. Racketeers, ill opportunists, men and women dissatisfied with the way of life here were taking advantage of public disorder and the inability of the government to maintain martial law. They were fanning the flames which the Golden Path had set lit with mere tinder. For a place that hadn't experienced unrest for perhaps three hundred years, it was a challenge for the armed forces and police here.

Ajay took out a medallion representing his office as the Commandant of the Himavanan Alliance Armies and handed it to the hunter.

"Approach the police chief inspector and tell him Badala will take responsibility in restoring order. Authorise the use of deadly force on armed assailants and non-lethal to aggressors. Set up a triage there to protect and consolidate the physicians."

"And if he refuses, my lord?" The Hunter Leader was just being realistic. Ajay was recently convicted of war crimes by the very country he was trying to save.

"Then leave him, show it to the nearest military garrison. And if it happens again, find anyone willing to protect their innocent, even if the soldiers don't comply get the people." Usually Ajay would never have involved those that weren't qualified in handling a situation, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

The Hunter Leader understood the desperate measure that needed to be taken.

"If you do find willing volunteers tell them this."

"Kyrat will not let Papir fall into ruin, we will do our best to shelter the innocent and provide sanctuary. But this is your country, your city and your people. So… do not give us the pleasure of bragging rights." For once, the emotionless hunter couldn't help but smile wryly at that remark.

It didn't sympathize or baby them because they were too weak to take care of there own. It said that Kyrat would support them and encouraged them to take the reigns on their own. The Hunter bowed as he took his leave.

"Where will you be, your grace?" Ajay HK-slapped his commandeered G3 rifle to send the bolt home.

The sounds of shouting and screaming throughout what was once the peaceful City of Papir had daunted the smoking streets.

"Wherever I'm needed."

* * *

Sagarmatha Airbase was operating at full capacity despite the lack of targets. Technicians were loading up the armaments on the Sukhois, Su-25 Frogfoots and A-4 fighter-bombers. Even the AWACS C&C IL-76 was fueled along with the other transport airlifters, all equipped for long endurance flights with external fuel tanks.

The men knew something was approaching, but their superiors were keeping a tight lip on this. Perhaps only the very top was aware of what was really going on, not even Base Com Rohan.

Pravindra was awarded by the Air Command at home, Vir Chakra for his feat in defeating "American Air Superiority" as the headline news described back in India. The F-22 Raptor was the embodiment of that supreme reign over the skies that the United States had held since the concept was around.

Pravi was greatly concerned by this move as Vir Chakra was a wartime medal. Did that mean that India was on a war footing with the States and their usual Himalayan rival? The Russians had left him an equally ominous gift left in the hangar. A prototype warplane that was planning limited production under the designation Su-57, built as a working prototype of the variant which the Indian Air Force was to receive five years down the road. Pravi didn't like it, it was as if they were coying them to carry on with the way things were intentional. Central Asia blazed on the international geopolitical landscape like never before. The technicians were already painting it in the colours of grey and black, and a logo of the sky wolf.

If he had to guess, they wanted him to deliberately fly into a dogfight with Indias greatest rivals, then use the combat data from his flights to aid in their flight and attack software development. They must've been impressed with the data from the time he fought with the Raptors, perhaps that was why they took that fighter back. And why he was personally assigned on this warplane by high command was because they also intended to acquire that data feed to improve the quality of their pilots and airframes. It felt like a really dirty way to do it, even so, he complied with the order.

He did however acquaint himself with it and found various faults despite apparent advantages for being more advanced than the previous airframes he flew in. For one, it was using the same engine as the Su-35 he flew just recently, yet because of the bulk of the airframe it gave a poorer thrust-to-weight ratio which in turn gave poorer energy recovery. Shorter range and engine lifespan. Its avionics suite depended heavily on other aircraft in the area to provide tactical information then the idea of operating lone wolf, and to carry the same number of missiles and bombs as before it would be at the cost of his stealth characteristics as the hidden bomb bays couldn't carry enough. This airframe was more troublesome than his good old two-seater Sukhoi.

Perhaps the Raptors faced the same design flaws, he'd have to ask the pilot on his free time. Lieutenant Olivia Lowde, service number 91-433-854, 27th Squadron. The pilot that took him hostage for a brief period and tried to contact Peshawar Air Base in Pakistan where she flew from. At that point, he was rescued by Michelle Dachss who knocked her out cold. Like any good soldier, she refused to cooperate with the interrogators. She even spent ten hours straight with Paul just talking on and on, sometimes repeating the stuff he just said in an attempt to agitate her. But she was good, it appeared that piloting wasn't her only natural talent. The interrogators laid off physical torture for the moment because she had experienced severe blood loss from a shrapnel sustained to her thigh. Even then, she tried to escape after waking up cuffed to a medical cot.

His fascination grew for her more and more. The most interesting characteristic about her was her style of a dogfight. Unlike her colleague or the Pakistani pilots who favoured missiles and BVR combat for all the right reasons. She tried to use the Raptor's 20mm Vulcan cannon on him, and not once but several times. Olivia was an old fashion dogfighter, much like him. His reasons for gun only dogfights were because guided missiles took the fun and danger out of fighter to fighter combat. It made many of his colleagues to heavily dependent on guided weapons to do the job for them, missiles weren't always available and in large quantity. Unlike the Americans who seemed to have missiles for days.

He reached the brig where the MP spotted him from a mile away coming forwards and opened the bars inside in advance chuckling as he did so. He knew he was here for one thing.

"Thanks, Anjan."

"Courting an inmate of a cell, what would your dear mother and father think?" The Military Policeman teased as he shook his head.

"Bhai, it's just an exchange of conversations. That pilot flew a Raptor and she almost had me a couple of times."

"And you still haven't had enough, so you're going to offer yourself up to her now, eh?" The MP laughed even as Pravi raised his hand at him as he made a munching motion to describe what she would do to him.

Pravi entered the brig without much difficulty, to be honest, he shouldn't have been here. However, his status symbol and elected post as the squadron commander gave him these sorts of perks to enter and leave restricted areas. Just the other day, he was allowed to drive to the Hungry Yak Shack through a Black zone without being pulled over. Of course, he didn't investigate what was inside, there was no point in him knowing.

Soon, he arrived at the dilapidated cell occupied by the newest POW. There was no answer from the figure lying in the cot. "Hey, it's me again. Brought lunch and a little bit of cold malt beer to go with it. Local stuff here is pretty nice." He sat on a stool next to the bars as he slotted the food through along with a bottle of Shangri-lager.

Pravi took a swig of the bottle before munching anything to wet his throat and encourage that the drink was authentic. He noticed a newspaper on the floor inside the jail cell and picked it up.

It was The Tribune papers from India. Headlines were "Rising Mountains." With a caricature of the former-American President standing before a caricature of Badala in his combat attire, cowboy showdown-style. Only to shoot himself in the foot and getting accused of incompetence by home. In any case, the losses were stated to be around twenty thousand. India accused the States of indiscriminately attacking their mountaineer forces during an exercise. The States wanted to deny but were facing scrutiny from the loved ones of those that had died. Twenty thousand was no small number, every one of those soldiers and sailors at least had an extended family. The tension was rising so greatly in Central Asia that the US Congress was deciding whether to pull troops out from Peshawar or not. India was on poor relations as it stood, they were most displeased with the nuclear incident outside their waters. Pakistan was also demanding an explanation as to why nuclear weapons were brought over in the first place. Badala had indeed trapped the US government in a gauntlet of international scrutiny and pressure. Pravi patted his back with the pilot's luck he had to avoid being on the receiving end of Badala's schemes. That guy was terrifying even before all this.

Pravi was sure that was not what affected her actually, he flipped over the pages.

"I officially don't exist." The jail cell's occupant answered.

He now understood the odd silence. For days, she'd been shouting and screaming to be let out and how they'd regret it when the Green Berets came. She was in the air providing air superiority for the POF fighter-bomber squadron sent to blast the air defences in Kyrat. Only to encounter the Tiger and Sokol joint squadron. She hadn't been aware of the ground development even after her capture, thinking they would be in Sagarmatha over the weekend. So it was hard to accept that they had lost on so many levels.

"You should eat before it gets cold." Was his only reply.

"…."

"Are you gonna die of starvation in a prison without hope for rescue?" His comment spurred her to stomp forward and retrieve food from the basket as she begun wolfing down on every bite.

(cough)(cough) Ended up choking on the bread only to be relieved by the beer handed to her.

She gulped down hard on the bottle, letting the cold malt rush down her throat and sooth it immediately.

"Are you here out of pity? It must be fun to watch a woman's defiance melt to zero then toy with her, huh?"

"Woman, what do you take me for? Some kind of sex-crazed pervert?" Pravi sighed.

"I'm not a part of what the Kyratis do to you. I'm just flying for India."

"Then why is it you're visiting this cell more times than those-…. Those monsters?"

-Monsters?- He could see visible fear on her expression but was she referring to the interrogators or her general idea of the Kyrati Army itself.

Pravi dug into his pocket and pulled out an old picture. A black and white photo of a handsome man with a gorgeous moustache.

"That's my Uncle. He's one of the last true gun fighting pilots in the entire IAF."

"Your role model, I'll assume." Pravi nodded. Although she had a harsh tone, she still bothered to answer without cursing or swearing like before.

"I flew my first plane when I was ten, a crop duster in the family farm. And that was when my life changed. But my uncle didn't leave it like that, he was a really eccentric guy. On certain days, he'd borrow another plane and we'd have an air battle royale."

Suddenly, her interested was piqued by this "battle royale" and how was it done if there were no weapons involved.

"We threw paint bombs at each other." He said with a smile as he reminisced the good old days.

"You threw paint bombs at a moving target going at least 120 miles an hour…" For the first time, she had an impressed look.

"… How did you steer the plane at ten?..." She murmured to herself as there seemed to be a gap in that logic he could fly a plane at that size.

"Books on the seat and metal pipes to the control pedals."

"Jesus Christ…. Did you hit your head as a child?!" Pravi saw no flaw or fault in that experience but others had told him that by common sense, his Uncle should've gone to jail for allowing him to do such a thing or even supporting the idea of him flying at that age.

"But that did give me an advantage of advanced study to flying before any real pilot. When my feet and arms grew into the cockpit, I could make the bird turn on a dime. While they were in flight school touching their first simulation stick, I was doing stunts for the local air shows to clock the hours."

"Oh my gosh…" Hearing this unetiquettical story about a child flying a plane was a bit out of her window of calm.

"Yep, you got shot down by a flying circus clown." He said with a mighty big silly grin. As embarrassed as she was, Pravi's constant provoking made her break out giggling then laughing. "Well, technically, it was Sokol 1-1 that shot you. You were chasing the clown."

"… Hey, Pravi, right? Why do you keep coming here?"

"I have an important question I would like you to answer?"

"Alright, I think I'm in the mood to answer just one. So what is it?" Indeed, her mood had flipped over from the one that was rebellious or in angry to that of a light conversation partner.

"Why didn't you shoot me down?"

"…Excuse…me?" Olivia was just too shocked to answer his blunt question.

"I counted the seconds, it takes minimum 2 seconds to spool the M61 Vulcan, a fast reflex of 0.4 seconds to press the trigger and acquisition of 0.001 seconds. Yet, you gave me five-second windows on two occasions." Pravi had a serious expression that was void of any of that humour or friendliness from before.

"I-…." Olivia was frightened by the sudden change in mood and his expression. He became a totally different person on this matter.

"Was this your first combat mission?" Olivia was too tongue-tied to answer verbally.

"Have you ever shot down or earned an airframe kill?" Olivia shook her head.

"Oh, good! For a minute, I thought you were one of those arrogant pricks that fly because they think they can win because of tech." Pravi's smile was visible again.

"I do wanna ask either way, why was it that you used your gun on me than a missile? I'm pretty sure you had at least two sidewinders to do the job." In a radar dispersing environment, only the IRST tracker worked and so did IR missiles.

"….."

Olivia walked to the corner of the cell with the barred window. Thinking about his story to stave off the unfamiliarity, she wondered if it was worth telling him.

"Promise not to laugh."

"Why, is it that funny?"

"Cross your heart on whatever god you worship, then."

"I don't worship any god." It was a lie, Pravi didn't want to swear on any deity for such a trivial matter.

"(Sigh) Then make sure you don't spread this."

"Ok. I promise."

She hoped that perhaps through establishing a friendly relation she would be able to keep tabs on what was happening outside. Instead of remaining ignorant till the very last second like when she read the newspaper a day ago.

"I think the idea of missile-to-missile combat takes the sport out of flying."

"Yeah?" Pravi found it not even worth a chuckle.

"My instructors back in Langley threw a news article for us and said. "This is the future of air to air combat. Two nerds behind a joystick in pyjamas duelling out thousands of miles away from each other. People will get bombed by them at a touch of a button. At the end of the day. They go to bed with a clear conscience and without going through actual formal pilot training. This is the future of air combat because of overreliance on drones and guided missiles."."

"So your hand behind using the gun was merely to keep some essence of what dogfighting was." She shrugged her shoulders.

"Maybe I just wanted to at least have a feel of what would gunfighting would be like. Down the road, I might not get the chance to try again."

Pravi had read on some magazines before. Drone technology was quickly catching up to replace certain manned roles. They could perform precision bombing and reconnaissance without fear of losing a pilot. Soon, drones would have a supersonic capability and without the restriction of handling G-forces that held humans back. They would take over the air superiority role in time to come. Then, manned-combat flights would truly end for their kind. America's aviation industry, microprocessor technology envelop, and funding allowed this to happen in the decades to come. When men and women like Pravi and Olivia would be relegated to the staff officer post instead of behind a stick that was the main reason they joined airforce.

"That hardly seems worth joking about."

"….."

(clang) Olivia looked up to see Pravi unlocking the bars with a lockpick.

"What are you doing?" (click) The door opened after some fiddling about by him.

"Follow me." Olivia was hesitant to follow him, not sure of his motives behind freeing her when she did threaten him before.

She followed him cautious of the surroundings as the cell was left vacant. "Where are we going?"

"Just a short excursion, that's all. To get some fresh air." She wondered if Pravi had a screw loose or something, to allow a POW to leave just for some "fresh air".

As he approached the checkpoint to the exit, he placed a cap on her head, removed her badges on her jumpsuit and the red, white, blue flag as well. Whilst putting on police shades.

"Good, Anjan's finished his shift."

He approached the replacement MP and signed off his name on the logbook for visitors and handed it back to the MP. The soldier held out the book to Olivia, thinking she'd also signed her name as a visitor.

"Your senior said it was alright if just one person signed." Pravi made up an excuse on the go. The MP nodded and allowed them exit by pressing the solenoid lock to the heavy reinforced door out of the brig.

The moment Olivia stepped out of the brig, she realized she was free. But where would she go in this unfamiliar territory? As far as she was aware, there were no US military forces in the area. Nearest was in Peshawar, all the way in Pakistan. But this outing at least allowed her to get a bearing of where she was. An airbase at least 200-300 acres, lined with airlifter hangars and hardened bunkers, a control tower and AESA radar were nearby as well. She hadn't thought much about it during her first attempt to escape. But seeing the activity around the bustling airbase, she wondered how the intel could miss this. Her last intel was that the IAF was guarding this airspace, for how could a "savage de facto state" as described by the penpushers have this sort of infrastructure. The brass had been lying to the men and her. They were invading a country.

"Here we are." Pravi brought her to a hangar and flipped the switch. Standing before them, were half-a-dozen Super Tucano turbo-propeller attack planes neatly parked within.

"Lupus Caelum and we use these for the CAS role alongside the Russian Frogfoots. But on our spare time and exercises, we use these as trainers."

Olivia looked around confused but had a weird feeling there was a purpose to being here. Pravi went over to unlock the glass canopy after retrieving an ignition key from the armoured box.

"No….." Olivia was half-unbelieving that he was so reckless as to do what he was planning. Pravi turned around with a smile as he swirled the keys in his finger.

"Like I said, we're going out for some fresh air."

* * *

They had left the city behind and entered the country roads, this was easy to tell from the unpaved roads. The 4x4 suspension kept the ride surprisingly smooth for the most part. Saraswati at the wheel was wary of the road ahead, they were still a distance away from the airfield where the protective squadrons were based. She had a Royal Guard take the wheel while she called the Airfield Intendant to send support their way.

"Fifty miles away from the field and a flight of helicopters on their way." She informed the VIP they were protecting.

"Would it not have been better to wait for a chopper then?" The captain insisted once more as he did in Garud Durbar.

"And add the risk of being shot down during take-off? Did Badala already explain to you? We don't know the strength of the Golden Path within the Capital City, so we can't take the air route within maximum security and assurance that the place is safe." Saras tried to be rational in her explanation but she had her doubts about the outcome.

If Golden Path were acting alone without the support of the Rakshasa this time, how long had they planned this for? They should've known to prepare for Ajay since he was in the vicinity. The lack of Papirese Guards and patrolmen in the streets worried her greatly. A thought matured in her head, one without proof but terrifying if true.

Golden Path had assimilated Papir entirely.

It was true that the Papirese were fearful of Ajay's potential as a dictator, but he'd proved many a time he would never go that route. His presence in the trial justified that very reason. He denied those charges like anyone had the right to even if he was a little strong on his wordings. She refused to believe that President Dhir had betrayed them, she was sure of it.

But this meant that Golden Path theoretically had sleeper and recruitment cells deep within every one of the Himavanan nations. Just because Mohan didn't take them the direct approach didn't mean he hadn't taken actions behind the scenes. They operated akin to a genuine terrorist organization.

Saras locked her phone preparing to return to the driver's seat.

"By the gods!" Came a remark from the passenger compartment. Saras glanced behind to see the Royal Guards of Kumsa gather around one of their own's tablet PC which played a news streaming of something.

The Captain pressed the loudspeaker for all to hear, including their King.

*…. With this, Kumsa declares its annulment of alliance membership. By my authority as King Manendra of Kumsa.*

Surendra reached out to frantically take the tablet from his men to confirm with his own eyes what he was hearing and seeing.

"Why…?"

*Kumsa hereby allies itself with the rightful rulers of Kyrat. Mohan Ghale of the Golden Path movement.*

"Shut that tablet, there's no point in getting bogged down by it." She told them as they were letting the news affect them too greatly.

-Tsh!... Mohan Ghale.- Saras clicked her tongue in dissatisfaction.

The Rakshasa was under ceasefire, Ajay was sure they wouldn't break the agreement. However, Golden Path did not fall under this category, they were loyal to Mohan and they were innately human. So it could be none other than Mohan who was acting.

But to turn Manendra Kumsa against his own father in a coup de tat, how was he able to do so? How would the Crown Prince of Kumsa so willingly join him and declare this statement to regional news live? The Himavanas was falling back into Civil War once again, not by external intervention but you its own people. What could they do to rectify this? Saraswati had no idea, this was beyond her own abilities to find a solution for.

It was going to be a long ride by land vehicle, so she searched around from the driver's compartment for anything to make the trip more comfortable. A portable radio set was found in the front dashboard, belonging to the original driver of the MRAP wherever he was. She turned it on and it played the preset channel frequency it was on previously.

*Radio Free Kyrat here, back with more hit songs to broadcast here today on "Western" Wednesdays. Our latest request from a listener somewhere in Sagarmatha….. "Hey, Bhai. Love the hits. Me and my girlfriend were watching this action flick from those imports on date night. What would be a cool escape music as the protagonist runs for his life in some smart way?" Hmmm…. Well, bro. I think I know which track you're referring too-… let's see.-di- hey! Ch-Chotu- don't touch those brownies! Ullu ke pathe! Nooo- no! (crash) Ahahaha! Hey, boys and girls! Yeah! So here's Hocus Pocus by Focus. Wow, just saying that-(mumble)…."

[Hocus Pocus plays]

Saras had no time to question what sort of wanton madness that was going on in hit radio DJ Rabi Ray's studio when-

(Crack) The windshield in front received a nasty large-calibre slug that was meant for her yet was stopped by the ballistic properties of the ceramic glass.

She scanned the area whilst putting the peddle to the metal and revving the Marauder MRAP to top speed over the bumpy road surface.

"Manned that mini-gun! We've got company!" She shouted to the man who Ajay gave a demo on using said weapon mounted on the vehicle gunner cupola. The Royal Guardsmen opened the small firing ports and slotted their rifle barrels through. The gunner chambered the 12.7x108mm minigun and spooled the gears to spin the barrels ready.

"There!" The Royal Guard Captain pointed from the Commander's cupola to their 3 o' clock where a convoy of technicals was closing in through the thick vegetation. They bashed through the bushes with the aid of a truck with a modified snowplough to allow their technical fleet ease of travel through the inaccessible. Those technical trucks were armed to the teeth, equipped with improvised plating but also weapons from the DshK Heavy Machine Guns to Recoilless guns. One gun-truck had an entire troop of RPG rocketeers in the back carriage.

(crack) (crack) Multiple hits from a plethora of machine gun rounds struck the ballistic glass repeatedly. The rockets came whizzing by in swirls as they had been defective.

"They're firing at us, ma'am!" Shouted the gunner.

"Then shoot back! Madarchod!" She didn't believe she had to even tell them this.

(Brrrrrrrrrrrrr)

The minigun chambered in 12.7x108mm, rounds the size of Tabasco bottles struck and annihilated a technical that mounted an anti-aircraft gun called a ZPU-4. A nasty weapon which could penetrate their armour with ease and instantly kill them in a hail of 14.5mm fire.

Seeing their fellow rider blown to smithereens by the MRAPs firepower, they began to disperse.

"YEAH! Did you see that?!"

"Keep an eye out, they're just spreading out!" There was no way that they were done, she needed these troublesome Kumsan guards to realize that quickly. Because unlike them, Golden Path was more competent.

True enough, they reappeared all around their 360. The gunner fired the minigun at one of the targets only to shred vegetation that blocked his view.

"Keep this thing steady!" He called to below.

"You do your job while I do mine! If you can't even hit a target 50 metres, then change with someone else! Because you can't shoot for shit!" It was adding to a headache, protecting a VIP whilst babysitting his almost incompetent guards.

The gunner traversed to an unobstructed target to gun him down. But with the movement of the trucks, it was difficult for him when they moved in a pattern that made him hesitate between several opportune targets.

The Golden Path fired repeatedly at the gunner's turret to disable him, but he was protected by a thick gunshield. His colleagues fired through the firing ports to little effect other than to let the enemy know they were wasting bullets.

Saras knew she couldn't depend on the combatants in the back. A technical attempted to send a boarding party as the gunner's turret was facing away. The turret had a slow traverse and could not protect the flanks with both sides at the same time.

She jammed the wheel to the left, sending the MRAP to slam the technical which flipped from the superior weight class of the Marauder.

"Garudsang, where are those escorts!?" She shouted into the communications module mic.

*This is Garudsang AirCom. Gunships and armed convoy on the route. ETA to your navisat location, 15 minutes. Hang in there, Echo Charlie 2-7.*

As the gunner dispatched the third technical that presented a significant threat to the integrity of the MRAP. The revving of a combination of dirtbikes and quadbikes rolled into view through the narrow thickets, each hand a rocketeer on their back.

"Take them out before they do damage!" She reached behind while one hand was on the wheel, and pulled out

(Brrrrrrrrrrrr-clack) "Huh?-…. It-…. It's jammed!"

"They never quit!"

"Shit! We're going to die!"

"Shut up! You're the bloody Royal Guard of Kumsa! And you're showing how damn unreliable you are in front of your king! If you can't contribute, then SHUT UP!" (screech) Hitting the brakes and sending the MRAP swerving around 180 degrees then hitting the pedal on full speed reserve. The front of the Marauder was now facing the bikers to their surprise.

(Brbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbr)

Opening the driver's armoured door, she pointed an M249 Para rested on the door frame at them and fired a barrage of 5.56mm ammo. Her boot was kept on the accelerator whilst one hand on the steering as she fired burst shots at the drivers of the bikes and cut them down one after another. Proving that she was more effective than the minigun as aimed shots killed the riders and took the rocketeers with them in a tumble to destruction. When the road behind was cleared out, she got in and closed the door. (screech) The MRAP was swung around back to the front on route to the airfield.

Surendra and the Royal Guards, in particular, had been utterly silenced by her. Making them reflect on their attitude and how she did everything on her own.

"That was badass, Colo-."

"Shut up!" She told the person seated next to her who should've been the one to attend to the defence of the vehicle while she was driving. She partly blamed the music for wrecking her focus, that upbeat music had little sense at all other than put her on the edge. The Golden Path assault squad became part of the receiving end of her releasing steam.

It was around five minutes since this assault began, for reference the whacky music had ended. Everyone was silent within the Marauder as she had asked. Surendra sighed in relief watching his guards wear glum faces. He understood it wasn't easy for them since this was their first combat situation. But he was glad that Badala had left a very capable officer to protect him…. And his guards. He believed they were in some sort of lover's relationship with one another which was ironic since her father was the one pressing charges.

"I'm sorry for the rough ride, your highness." She got off apologizing to him, a little sorry for tossing a frail old man in the back of the MRAP around with her driving.

"No! Not at all. Thank you for doing your best to protect me!"

Saras was now concentrating on the road as there could be more obstacles on the road ahead. The minigun was jammed and those behind didn't have the technical or even basic know-how on clearing the weapon. If Ajay was here, which he should've been had he not been dragged off by that nuisance, this travel would've been a breeze. She didn't want to stop either because these attacks had proven that it would be a big mistake.

Indeed, she did spot technical trucks from her rear mirror, but they were just tracking her to keep tabs on her current location. Likely to requisition the rest of the forces lying in waiting up ahead and set a proper ambush.

Saras understood from that broadcast, that the Crown Prince was usurping the throne and aiding Golden Path. It required Surendra dead to have full control over Kumsa. She didn't want to think how heartbreaking it must be for the King to be betrayed in such a way.

(Screech) Coming over the ridge of a hill, she was presented with a man-made barricade swarmed with Golden Path fighters behind sandbags and barbwire obstacles that blockaded the road in a hasty attempt.

She had only enough time to react with jamming the brakes which she thoroughly regretted as it killed the momentum that could have been used to smash through that weak barricade. Now she had none.

"Get out with your hands up!" Demanded the commander behind the blockade.

"Shit! Look what you've done!"

"Silence!" The King snapped at his own guards for words that were not necessary at this time. Saras remained silent as she accessed the situation and thought of ways to get around.

"Come out and we promise no harm will come to you! We only want Surendra Kumsa!" So it was confirmed that they were after the king's life.

"Captain…." She called to the Royal Guards' leader.

"Y-Yes?"

"Behind us, the forest should provide you and your men some protection from gunfire and visibility."

She shared her plans. The Royal Guard Captain looked behind, there was indeed the forest that lay there just 100 metres from them.

"When I reverse back there, take his Royal Highness out and head to the high grounds due South-West."

"My dear….. What are you intending to do?" Surendra sensed something off with her plan that didn't include her.

"Someone needs to keep them company." She motioned her chin to the blockade.

"By yourself?! That is suicide! What would Badala think?!"

"I can take care of myself, your highness. Before I'm Arjun Roka's daughter and Ajay's wife, I'm a warrior of Kyrat."

"Then come with us then."

"You'll travel better without being followed."

"Damn the gods! Then I'm staying!" He sat firmly on the seat and grabbed hold of one of the rifles and inspected it.

"But-."

"How can I-… Surendra Kumsa. KING OF KUMSA run with my tail between my legs and let the woman of my benefactor shield me!? I decline! If I die here today then so be it! I've fulfilled my clan's purpose and honour. Period." Surendra took all right to advise from her without even giving any further implication for him to flee here. Saras smiled awkwardly at the stubborn might of Kumsa.

"The rest of you, you are free to leave. Don't waste your future on a dead end like me." He forgave his Royal Guards for contemplation escape with or without him.

His Royal Guard showed hesitance in leaving him with a conviction in their hearts. But their leader spoke on their behalf and renewed their vigour.

"Your highness, with all due respect. We were born and raised in Kumsa, to turn our backs on her would be the greatest sacrilege. Our future is with Kumsa, our future is with the line of Kumsa."

As so, the guards remained loyal and courageous even in times of direness. Proving to Saras that even the Kumsans had a little bit of fire in their hearts as well.

The comms radio beeped for her to pick up a message. She reached for the mic and pressed it to hear the voice after she responded.

While they had been discussing their options in the Marauder, the Golden Path had grown anxious and advanced slowly but carefully to capture the occupants within. And that was when they heard a distant chopping of the wind.

(BOBOBOBOOM) The lengthy blockade erupted into a row of blooming fireballs as explosive projectiles struck the defences from behind.

More explosions blasted the parked technical trucks wielding heavy weapons into blazing hulks of metal with the power of the 80mm rockets tore them to shreds whether they were Exalts or not. The 6th Heli-borne Dragoons had arrived, a pair of Mi-28 laid down a heavy suppressive barrage as the new fleet of SuperPuma transports hovered in closer to dispatch their elite heli-borne assault troops. Seeing the reversal of their situation, the technicals who had trailed them all the way here had sped off to escape the dangerous Havoc gunships. But ended up being pursued by a Ka-52 attack helicopter equally well-armed. One of the newly acquired heavy armed scout helicopters meant to provide the Havocs with up to date battle intel and mark targets for them.

Those at the blockade were given no quarter as they fought for their survival even if it was slim. Because the Kyrati Army they knew now, would take no prisoners affiliated with Golden Path. Especially these men of battalion six who had previously been defending Baghadur for over five months against repetitive invasions from Sabal's Golden Path forces.

Surendra witnessed the swiftness of their execution in fighting the physically superior Exalts by using a combination of good tactics and attentive use of communication. He took a side long glance at his Royal Guard who stared in awe at the fluid motion of their disciplined actions. Where they previously had a complex of inferiority to the better trained Kyrati Army, now they had been inspired to take after their ally and neighbour to be just as good in time to come.

The meaning of Royal Guard of Kumsa now had more meaning to them than it had before. In time to come, Ajay might have to rely on forces not just his own.

And Kumsa just might be one of those allies who would stand by him.

* * *

"My brother, it was decided from birth you would be born to rule over this realm. The seer of Jalendu Temple confirmed this as the truth before your birth. Our family has hidden this from the people in the hopes that you may be kept safe till your time. It is your destiny, I am just content with paving the way for you, even if what I must do exceeds moral boundary. Remember, Sabal. Do not let others take what is yours. You are Sabal of House Rajput, but you are also the one and only son of the mountain."

He wished he'd followed his elder brother's words more closely, his death had sent him on the path to reclaim Kyrat. Everything had gone as foreseen, knowing that he would rule was where his confidence came. But then everything crumbled when he had experienced the first defeat, the demon of Kyrat given him his first wound.

Something burned deep in his heart like never before, as a wave of nostalgia had struck him. A memory that he had not experienced in this life but in a past life. A memory of yet another who stole from him his path to prominence and had given a scar that would forever taint his being.

This was the fuel that burned Sabal's hatred to that of a thousand years worth. But he had a prophecy that would assure his victory, so he wagered everything. And lost everything in turn. This fashion repeated itself over and over until he died the first time. Then, he questioned if the prophecy was even legitimate. But by being alive, he would be able to see it through, so he had faith in himself that it would be true.

Until he fell under his blade again. Every push seemed harder, every trial was beyond all hope. And so, the gap kept widening with every encounter. Once, he had met him in the forests near Meh teh, at his mercy. His delays had cost him the one and only chance he should have killed him and be done with it. Until it was almost impossible to do so on his own. Devas fell to him, superpowers cowered in fear, and now he rivalled the Rakshasa.

This world that should have belonged to him, was promised to him since birth. Was now a world that belonged to Badala-…. Ajay Ghale.

Now, he was reduced to the state of a severed head. With the immortal physique, struggling to keep him alive for every moment longer.

-Why god!? Why must you be so cruel!?-

-I have done everything in your name! Memorized the scriptures, sung the hymn of grace, worshipped you my entire life! Where is the glory your seer promised?!-

 _-That one cares not for his flock. Not for five thousand years, not ever. This realm is his and he dictates that you die upon receiving Ajay Ghale's blade.-_ Hearing the voice of the Mistress of the Rakshasa, Sabal was filled with elation.

-Mistress… save me….- The last thoughts in his brain losing consciousness and falling into death screamed.

 _-You cannot live a man in your present state. But that does not mean you cannot live again. Just not as a mortal man.-_

-Anything. What good was a life in servitude to those idle others?! You saved me once, please save me again! Save me, and I shall dedicate my new life to you!-

A chuckle could be heard in the recesses of his mind upon hearing his desperation.

 _-And what if you were to become like us? Rakshasa in form and in heart.-_

A long silence approached.

-Then so be it. To hell with humanity!-

A laughter rung out in his slowly dying mind so great that it shook his psyche.

 _-So be it.-_

His body burst into flames and melded together, this emerald flame, however, did not resemble a normal fire. It bellowed no smoke, the viscous flames ate more and more of the earth around it and grew in size till it encroached the entire street which Sabal had fallen prey once again to the demon's blade. A seed was planted within him from the day he was revived, just like every other Exalt Fighter. But for Sabal's case, his destiny mixed with this seed and nourished it. Making him stand above other exalts on an entirely different realm although not reaching the strength that was of a Rakshasa but close to what had been done with the Devas.

This seed affixed to whomever it was planted in would seal their fate to a certain path. Just as the "elixir" did to the Disciples of Yalung. So will it to the exalts of Rakshasa Princess Esha, for in the process of exaltation. They were made to drink a black liquid, Rakshasa blood. And not just any Rakshasa blood. But "his" blood.

 **[REEAAAAAAHHHH!]**

A tremendously powerful skriek dominated the city that was the new battlefield. Making all heads turn to the bright emerald blaze that dominated the outskirts of the city where Surendra had escaped certain death.

(crunch) An eight-foot talon emerged from the flames, smashing the ground under its enormous weight. The foot resembling that of a bird was cladded in an armoured skin with a bronze finish. The rest of its humongous body was revealed as the flames dimmed. A towering monstrosity had been born in the land that held the entity it resembled with pride and reverence. Garuda, the might celestial bird that the centre of Papirese politics Garud Durbar borrowed its name from.

Except for this entity, with eyes ablaze held a perverse image of that powerful representation. This entity was unlike anything man had seen for thousands of years, but perhaps one person would recognize it. Not from his own memory, but of a vision where he witnessed the epic of Kalinag. This entity was the final expression of the Rakshasa invasion of Shangri-la faced by Kalinag.

Flapping its metallic-like wings for the first time, a maelstrom kicked debris of rubble from the damaged buildings while the flames died out from suffocation. Kicking off from the ground, despite its obvious size and bulk. It defied gravity by taking off into the sky, heading on one direction.

 **[RAAAAAAHHHHEEEAAA!]**

This was the embodiment of the Rakshasas' will.

* * *

Author's Thoughts:

Spoiler to next main chapter:

…

Bur-ning, City square

Anarchy, everywhere

Duel-on, Palace roof

Rakshasa, Demon God….

SEPHIROTH!

…


	133. Chapter 121(j) - Dining with an Old Foe

Once they held power absolute, now they were living amongst them as citizens sworn to Kyrat. Some couldn't believe the change, others couldn't accept how easily the Demon of Kyrat and King Min had pardoned them despite all they'd done. Because many had been victims to their reign of terror not too long ago. They were none other than the Canton minority, the exodus of families that supported and served Pagan during his journey to Kyrat tweny odd years ago. They stood on a level above even the ruling class of nobles of Kyrat as untouchables in the more glorified sense that they were above everyone save the King himself. Racial bigotry was ever prevailant in any given society where more than one cultures were forced to live next to one another as neighbours. Always blaming others for their own problems.

It did not however, dishearten them from what needed to be done. They picked themselves up, adopting newer characters of humility and worked to earn their place in the society reborn in Lakshman. Sun Kwan to lead them as a representative and Han Feng's apparent appointment as a Kshatriyan Lord. A title that had many expectations such as the defence of the sovereignty and the duty to protect beyond their own wellbeing. This was both the blessings of Pagan and the curse of the Demon placed in one role. With these figures to protect their existence, the Cantons thrived in their new environment with a purpose to their lives.

Even they had a way and cultural experience to contribute to their adopted home. Because of their educated background, they filled in many of the banking positions in the National trust and Min Bank. Desk jobs that required extensive bookkeeping were jobs which the Cantons could reliably handle. There would come a time when Kyrat would forgive them for their past transgression, but they would have to work to it in the meantime and hold their heads high hoping for the future.

It was sad to say that Bipin was becoming more like them than one would expect. He for one, stayed in a house within the Little Shangri-la estates that Ajay had given to the Canton and Military Rebels. The rank of Major hadn't completely worn into Bipin. He felt like he didn't earn it, especially since he had supported the Canton Rebellion, even though he was forced to.

If any reason he was able to continue his career as a military officer it was by the grace of Kshatriyan Lord Badala and Marshal Roka. Having acquaintance with these two powerful figures had absolved him from the military charge of treason. Pagan had even submitted him a pardon in gratitude to his father's service. His battalion was saved from the same fate in light of their strategic importance and the contribution the Cantons had made in the past to assist the commissioning of Kyrats second armoured battalion sheathed in technology that hadn't been available to any of the other Himalayan States including India and Pakistan. Now this battalion was his to command, Samuelle had left the military since she no longer needed to abide by the condition to save her mother.

"Here's a warm one on me." A caucasian woman in her fifties handed him a cup that smelt of honeyed tea.

"Oh! Thank you, Charlotte." She had been so considerate for giving him refreshments after working tirelessly at maintaining the upkeep of the 2nd Hussars. Especially with the influx of newly developed weapons to counter this new Rakshasa threat.

One such weapon was leaning against his desk, a sample piece and pre-production prototype commissioned by Ajay. It had some roots stemming from Badala's iconic double barrel that everyone feared and awed. A weird single-shot bolt action gun with a straight-line recoiling design like an M16 and a picatinny rail for a red dot to make quick acquisition shots. This weapon was quite wieldy for a gun chambered in .700 Nitro, the same cartridge fired by Ajay's slayer. What was the motive behind this construction? Ajay had difficulty producing modified weapons existing in their arsenal to counter the Exalt and Rakshasa threat looming.

So he commissioned a special weapon to fill an anti-material role in close urban environments where heavy weapons couldn't always be brought or used within narrow corridors or streets. These were lessons learnt when fighting Exalts and Rakshasa in Xue Lue and Lanka. They could be used for other material destruction purposes and for dealing with Rakshasa using the limited in-supply "silver" bullets being blessed and marked by Ajay and Darshan personally. With its weight being manageable as a grenade launcher, this weapon christened the "Slugger" by the Hussars was tactically useful enough to serve alongside their kit. Issued one per infantry section.

"Don't work too late, or you won't have time for Sam."

Life with Samuelle and her mother was not as he'd expected. To experience this sort of closeness with one's family members was a feeling he was unused to even when the orphans at the Khati Mansion were considered family. But it was a nice feeling. Charlotte Beaumont stayed with him and Sam in the same house among the residence of Little Shangri-La estates as did nearly all the former Cantons.

"I'm doing my best here, believe me."

Charlotte sighed and patted him on the shoulders.

"Some times this old lady just wants to hear "Yes, mom! I'll take care of your daughter and love her lots." She tried mimicking his voice and accent with a humourous approach to it.

"That's a terrible impression of me." Still, she chuckled.

"But not inaccurate. Right, shy boy?" Bipin was forced into an awkward emotion, he wasn't used to expressing this sort of feeling with others, not even his sister. She was fond of provoking him as her favorite past time, she didn't act her age since they stayed together.

But considering her activeness in the past akin to an old woman at her deathbed, this was a tremendous improvement or miracle. Her was happy with this new life and that's all that mattered. Contrary to what most people thought about a foreigner living here, Charlotte had been here since Samuelle's birth nearly nineteen years ago. Her story was something of a tragic romance in Vancouver almost twenty years ago, a relationship with a young George Min, the son of the late Guan Min. The Min Patriarch had much expectations for his only son to abide by so kept him a close distance from his sight at all times. Even when he studied in Canada like most of the Cantons did because of a large Cantonese Hong Kong community there doing the same for their children.

He met Charlotte in a café she worked in and George frequented. Sam's father sought Guan Min's blessing but in vain, so he tried to runaway with Charlotte but failed. Brought before the ancestral hall in the echelons, they accused her of bewitching him and wanted to kill her.

To his surprise, the one that stopped this from becoming a reality was none other than Pagan. Back when he still represented the Min Family as the head. Touched by their love for one another he pardoned them and warned Guan Min against harming them. Being as wayward as he was, Pagan set for them both a rule.

"If love is what binds you two, then the place shouldn't matter." He requirement was that they both remain in Kyrat. When he told this story to Ajay, his impression was that it wasn't as kind and benevolent as they thought Pagan was and had a crueler meaning behind it.

Nevertheless, both happily accepted with hope for the future. And they did, till Sam was born a year later. They enjoyed another two more years before tragedy struck. The 98' Offensive by the Golden Path Devas. George had been in what should've been the safest place at the time, the Royal Fortress which had been besieged without the support of the Royal Guard Regiments loyal to Yuma. But fate was decided that Charlotte and three-year-old Sam would live life in cruelty from then on. The loss of her husband did not shake her exclusively, it had done a number on Guan Min as well and his mental condition. Though he was disappointed with George on many occasions, he was still his only son. Just like every other father and mother that loss their sons to Golden Path on that day.

It was the day when the Cantons gave up on their leader who sat in the Royal Palace hoping perhaps the Golden Path might succeed and claim his head. So that he would be free of this wretched place. Guan Min, Sun Kwan and Richard Khoo would form the Canton circle to usurp the throne when the time was right. With Yuma to lead them, or so it should've been. Until that man came to Kyrat, the one that supplanted them as Pagan's right hand.

Having no one to rely on, life was hard for Charlotte as the Cantons regularly scrutinized her and talked behind her back for being a deceitful witch or fox. The servants of the house were equally as horrible towards her. Charlotte hung on with the only hope in her life left, Samuelle. The only remaining legacy of her love between herself and her husband. Doing her best to raise her with loving care and taught her the value of love, friendship and character.

"Sam went for her medical screening, I thought you should've accompanied her at least."

"The hospital is just five blocks away, Charlotte. Plus, she told me I didn't need to come."

"That's what they always say, still you should follow." This sort of logic was what confused Bipin. Contrary to Charlotte's character Sam was honest and blunt which often worried the mother of how she would find someone special with sort of attitude. She was relieved that Bipin was that someone.

In truth, he'd known all along about Sam's gender since the Academy days. That was the only time he lied to Ajay to protect her gender.

"That demon fellow making you do more work again?"

"No, Charlotte. This is just the logistic reports for our unit."

"Yunno, I wouldn't mind you calling me mom." She said with crossed arms.

"I only need one mother, and she gave birth to me." Charlotte huffed exasperatively for him not getting the point. He was truly as obstinate as Sam, they were like a pair of twins.

(Ding Dong) The doorbell went off.

"Ah!"

"Expecting visitors?" Sam's appointment with Noore hadn't finished so it could only be someone else, or a delivery.

"Yes, I've been expecting them."

"Them?"

"A bunch of Americans staying at 32 Khati Crescent."

"Americans?" From what Bipin knew there shouldn't be any Americans alive in Kyrat due to their current war status. All except a certain group.

(Ding Dong)

Charlotte was already on the way to the door. "Coming!"

The door knob was turned and opened the way in for the guests that Charlotte had been expecting.

"Darling!" Charlotte was ready to embrace them and greet them with a cheek kiss.

"Hey, Charlotte."

"Hello."

"Nice pad."

Bipin put down his pen and went out to see who he was already guessing who it was.

"Bip. This is-."

"I know. Daisy Lee, Liza Snow, and Keith Ramsay."

"It's Steve." Steven corrected for the hundredth time everyone kept mistaking him for the sodomized victim in Stockholm getting treated.

"Where's Oli?" She expected the fourth member of their group to be with them.

"He-…. Went on a spiritual adventure." Liza made up an excuse.

"Yeah. The spiritual journey with assistance from Mary Jane." Steve joked.

"Well, that's a shame. Come in, please."

Bipin pointed to where the lounge was for them to go to.

"Oh, and who would you be?" For some reason, there was another person with them that came late. Charlotte had inquired just in case.

"I'm with Daisy and Liza, just came a little late 'cause of some training I had. By the way, I'm-."

Before he could answer however, Bipin was standing out front with a murderous expression and a pistol to his chin. Curiously, that person made no attempt to deter him.

"Bip!" Charlotte was shocked to say the least when he pulled out a gun on one of the people affiliated to Daisy's group.

"Jason Brody. "Snow White". Damn disgusting name if I ever heard of."

So it was, that his home had one of the first visitors in a non-existent housewarming.

* * *

He would've rather been back at the office working on finishing the reports. But Charlotte's insistence of him following the etiquette of attending to guest be obliged. So here he sat at the dining table watching the couple Liza and Steven get a free cooking lesson from Charlotte and help out with dinner.

He was forced to patronize Daisy and Jason as penance for pointing a gun at his face. If it was just Daisy, he could entertain. But Jason too? He had a grudge with Snow White just as every other soldier in Kyrat did.

"Three hundred soldiers…." Bipin murmured the number that he'd killed throughout his alliance with Golden Path. He made sure Jason heard it as well.

"(sigh)… So how did you guys meet?" He turned away from Jason as looking at him only set off fuses in his mood. If he was on this sort of terms with Jason, then what was the magnitude of Ajay's relation to Jason whom he blamed Kamala's death once on?

"Just a stroll through the market district, Charlotte approached us and helped us bargain with the vendor till he gave us a good price on a couple of figurines that caught Liza's interest."

"Nothing in life is free dear, but that doesn't mean you pay the asking price." Charlotte said over teaching the couple as she overheard them.

"How were we supposed to bargain with that Hong Kong fellow? He spoke almost as fast as a machine gun." Jason commented.

"My dear Jason. When I married George, I practically became one of them. Conversations with them? Mou Man Tai, Jing Jai." Charlotte showed off her impressive multi linguistic skills with a short but properly pronounced phrase for no worries. Being amongst them, she could quickly pick up the dialect like she knew native French and English.

Though Bipin didn't like the grouping arrangement, seeing Charlotte's happy expression light up to this degree from a simple interaction with people other than her daughter was something he felt she deserved. So he tolerated Jason for the time being, for her sake. Bipin brewed the coffee while half were attending to the casserole they were colaberatively oven baking.

"Major Kadayat, are you by chance related to a Maya-." Daisy tried to initial a conversation with Bipin to kill the awkward atmosphere.

"She's my sister." Too short and blunt to continue the flow, not that Bipin enjoyed it.

"Forgive me for being a little forward about it, but… you don't look alike."

"Most siblings don't. Biological Science can be a real bummer sometimes."

"I majored in Human Bio in LA a few years back! Its where I meet these fellas. Jason over here was a hopeless party king then, not like his elder brother."

"Thank you for the compliment." Jason said sarcastically.

"You're welcome. I still remember, and during the holidays I'd-…." She suddenly stopped as she recalled a fonder but now painful memory. She wrapped her fingers together as she tried to fight back welling sensations. Jason comforted her with a hand to her shoulder, which she nodded to thank for the consideration.

"…. How is he?" Bipin needn't ask who she was referring to.

"He's on trial for war crimes by the Alliance."

"W-War Crimes?!"

"Small matter, just the council getting jittery because he involved them in some serious shit with United States and they wanted to know that they still called the shots." Being in politics this long, he could tell what the Himavanan Alliance was thinking easily. Ajay's presence was in fact causing a current imbalance in evenly distributed power. Where the heads of state were the highest representations of their membership. But Ajay was a presence onto his own and his allegiance was with Pagan.

"You don't seem that worried, maybe I shouldn't either." Daisy quickly calmed herself with this line of rational thought.

"Actually… what I meant to ask was-… is he alright, physically? Mentally?"

Bipin had heard of the latest saga. The pursuit of Brody, then the confrontation with Rakshasa Purushartha. Bipin was just starting to recall those words that Ajay disclosed to him on his condition.

"Karma is memory. Prana can be acquired through karma. Karma can fuel power." Ajay played a dangerous game against enemies without human boundaries. None of his friends could do anything to stop it. Not even Saraswati.

"He's alive and kicking if that's what you're asking."

"I see…."

"I'm sorry to hear that he forgot about your relation."

"Hey!" Worried that his comment was insensitive Jason's new founded protectiveness over Daisy had spurred her to shield her from the painful truth. But daisy waved him away.

"Relax, Jas. It wasn't a hostile comment."

"I am sorry that it had to happen." She apologized to herself. Bipin knew that it wasn't easy.

"He did get what he wanted out of it however."

"Excuse me?"

"Ajay isn't the type to waste strength on something worthless. The fact that you're siting here alive and well proves that those years with you were at least worth you living for real rather than in his memories." Daisy hadn't thought of it in that way.

Ajay had sacrificed his memory of Daisy for the real thing, for her safety.

"Thank you, Major. That was really meaningful."

"If anyone I should pity, it would be Saraswati. Knowing how he is would he really burn his Karma with her as well?"

"That demon fellow kept saying that as well, what's this deal with Karma?" Daisy was hoping he would shed some light on it.

"Karma is both a destiny and an interweaving line of sharing fates. For example, this mere conversation we are having here is accumulating Karma between us."

"Or my relationship with Ajay." She threw in another example.

"That was what the Rakshasa was probably trying to destroy if you were his target."

"…"

"The fact that he didn't chase you after meant that there was no Karma to sever anymore."

"Just what has Ajay got to do with these Rakshasa?"

She had deliberately soften her voice, but hoped to learn more to ease her unrest. Bipin seemed to let on more than she had originally thought he knew of the situation. How close was Ajay to this man, she had no idea.

"What is it said in the Christian Bible? Father, son, holy ghost is one in the same?"

"Kinda the same thing. You've heard of the legend of Yalung, right?"

"Recently. A little." Bipin was satisfied with just the basic outline she understood.

"He would be something akin to a fragment of that blood thirsty god, or so they say."

"And what do you believe, Major?"

"I don't believe in the legend like those monks do. But recently these Rakshasa do give some credibility to the existence of an entity that they call Yalung who had once divided our realm into the modern Himavanas. For what purpose he serves to them, not even Ajay could answer that question as of late."

"…." Daisy accepted this was as far as she could dig.

"So the people treat him like a god, then?" Jason asked out of curiosity.

"No. But they do idolize him for bring them out of a shitty and danger-ridden live." Bipin did not know when he was suddenly ok with answering Jason Brody after all this.

"Dinners ready!" Charlotte announced. The table was being set by those that had been hanging around while the chefs of the hour had the time to rest their hands and legs and share some light conversations. When the table was ready, Charlotte even brought over one of her Red Wines to share with the red meats.

After a short grace to her lord god, thanking him for having wonderful guest at her table they dug in. Liza and Steven proud to have cooked a meal for everyone for the first time that didn't turn out burnt or tasting weird like before.

"Such a shame Oliver boy, couldn't come and have dinner." Charlotte sighed.

"That guy's fine with snacking on a few leaves. No need to worthy about Oli's diet, he's fine." Steven set another hidden joke which his partner giggled at.

Bipin ate his share in piece, leaving some in the fridge for when Sam came back.

Charlotte was interacting heavily with the Americans, more so that she usually would. Perhaps speaking to people who she could relate to because of similar upbring that she felt this comfortable. Bipin did his best to allow her to fully savour this day.

"You should really share more with them, Bip. I'm sure they'd want to hear about you as well."

Bipin put down his utensils and wiped his mouth with a tissue.

"I don't have really a lot to go on myself. Maya is the only family I have left, I'm in a relation with Charlotte's daughter and the rest is Military work. Classified stuff."

"(Sigh) There you go again. So blunt and unsincere." Charlotte smiled sadly.

"Come on! Share a little more!" Jason initiated a pro-couragement for him to share.

"Yeah, I'm sure there's a story about how you got to know, Ms Beaumont right?" Liza was more interested in the romance involved.

"It doesn't need to be about work." Daisy said since he said his work was sensitive.

"So there you have it, all the worthy listeners! Now we just need to story teller to tell his saga." Jason continued. It was at this point that Bipin's cool snapped.

"Oh- You want a story, right?" They nodded and applauded.

"Alright, how about this one then? August fifth, I comfort the widow of Corporal Sen and sister of Private Hari after news of their deaths were released. A bouquet of flowers, a medal of honor and a pension slip to live out the days in loneliness…."

"Um-." Bipin was telling an uncomfortable tale but the tone he used prevented them from cutting in to stop him.

"A seven-year-old boy I took to the zoo on behalf of his late father because he wasn't around and the mother didn't have time…."

"Or a young girl who was proposed to by a soldier and promised to live the rest of their lives together for eternity. He just needed to serve for two years to afford a house to live in…."

"Bip." Charlotte wanted to stop him as he continued on with these discomforting tales.

"I have fifty-seven other of such experiences going from door to door of these peoples' house. And these were only for men from my unit." Daisy and Charlotte notice that he was intentionally staring Jason's way.

"And you know what, they have in common, Jason? They all have pictures of their son, husband and brother mutilated corpses tied to something being sent to them a day before the registry releases the news that their loved one was killed… by Jason Brody, Fucking Snow White!"

Daisy quickly got between Bipin who approached Jason with a dangerous aura. "Major, perhaps you haven't heard. But Jason wasn't who he was when he did those horrible things."

"Really…." Bipin went into his study and scavenged some items before returning. He held out a bunch of photos that had writing on the back.

"Dear dearly beloved, I want you to know that your husband whined and squealed your name while I stuck needles into his eyes…" He recited what Brody had written out to the family member of one of the mutilated corpses on the back of the photo like some sort of sick memory lane experience.

"Bip, stop!" Charlotte prevented him from taking it any further.

"You think because you can't remember means you didn't do it. Whose hands took their lives, Jason!?"

Jason was faced with another victim of his reign of terror as Brody.

"You are one the highest level of priority threats to neutralize list. You have a bounty that could afford their own land so that we could put you on an electric chair to fry you in front of all those victims family members you tortured for past times!"

"That fact that you can still put up a smile after all that shit is what ticks me off more than I can chew or tolerate even for Charlotte's sake! I'm sitting and having dinner with the fucker that massacred all of those soldiers and people! And he's so ignorant of what he did that its like all those deaths were some sort of bad joke."

"You're a fucking piece of garbage, Jason! I wish that Ajay put a bullet in your skull when he had the chance! Not curse you for eternity!" Bipin blew off all the steam that he'd accumulated since the evening on one go, and nobody stopped him.

Seeing that he'd ruin the mood on his own violation, he excused himself.

"I'm sorry, Charlotte and the rest of you for listening to what I've said. I'll leave you to the rest of the evening."

"Where are you going?" Charlotte asked worriedly.

"Since I didn't follow Sam, I think I'll pick her up this time." He said with a wry smile. Before turning to Jason. He flung a bunch of metal towards him which he caught on reflex. Looking at the object in his hand, he found what the metal pieces bunched up were.

ID tags.

"You don't need to visit their relatives, you won't even make it pass ten of them before someone murders you, I guarantee it. Ajay remembers all the names, so you shouldn't be any different."

Bipin took his coat and Sam's as he left through the front door.

"Jason. I'm terribly sorry for Bip's impulsive words, that boy sometimes doesn't take care in the words he says and makes them some really horrible. Come over and enjoy the rest of dinner, I'll even make you a special treat as a welcome back gift from us." Jason tried to force a smile as he took his seat. But his face held a heavy expression as he looked down at the ID tags that Bipin threw at him. And he knew that these were not even a fraction of that number.

Daisy's hand rested on his shivering hand whilst everyone tried to maintain a calm face as they restored their order of conversation previously. She said nothing, but this simple act assured him that she would be there to protect him whether he would face these obstacles or not. Though he could have not said anything, he felt that Daisy really deserve to hear it from him at least once.

"Thank you. Daisy."

* * *

Bipin went out into the cold night in the direction of the hospital. He passed the busy streets of the shopping district and waited at the lobby of the hospital after confirming the appointment room she was in. Sam was almost about done with a mandatory X-ray for bone density. Bipin reflected on the events that led him from his desk to reprimanding Jason in front of his friends and perhaps also ruining Charlotte's rare acquaintance.

Could he have gone on without saying the things he'd said? He could have, but then Jason would truly be unaware of all those he'd hurt as Brody. He didn't kill them outright, he tortured and mutilated those soldiers who took the scouting role in reconnaissance of the Golden Path bases and Vyatha "City of Pain". These were only just the victims that they knew of.

"Hey. Finished my medical report." Bipin looked up and found Sam looking down at him who was deep in thought. She was dressed in a light dress with her hair no longer tied into a neat bun like before. Since she left the Army, she could freely dressed as she pleased. He handed her the coat which he brought her for the cold night.

"Hey, I came to pick you up."

"You know that wasn't necessary, right?"

"I know. But then mom said I should, so here I am."

"So you're here because mom said so?" She pouted.

"I'm here because I wanna be." He held out his hand as he stood up.

"Let's have dinner, shall we?"

"Sure, let's go home. I'm sure mom has cooked up something nice." She said as she took his hand.

"I meant for just the two of us, outside." Sam looked at him briefly and smiled and decided.

"Ok."


	134. Chapter 122 - The Goat's Prophecy

"Huh!" The head abbot of Chal Jama Monastery woke up from a violent dream that he had, sweating droplets of cold sweat from his entire body.

"Abbot Archan, is anything the matter?" His sleeping disturbances had alerted the patrolling monks for the night shift.

"Rise the other abbots, I wish to address them over a vision!" He hastily got out of his quilt covers and got dressed. The young monk did as ask of him while he rushed over to the scriptures archive searching for a certain scroll reading that matched the dream he had.

It had been forty years since he had taken up his vows, naturally the archives were a place he would venture during his past time to reflect upon the experiences of his predecessors and historic events kept in safe hands. Forty years, he had memorized almost all of the scriptures and their writings, having read them over dozens of times. For before his appointment to head abbot, he was but a scriptures monk. His predecessor had been slain by the Demon's apprentice to take responsibility for housing Golden Path and weapons within the mausoleums.

He counted it lucky, they had not decided to raze Chal Jama over this offense and let the other monks and scriptures remain. Archan believed that even Badala was aware of how deeply their faith was rooted into Kyrati society and the act of destroying religion would raise brows of his moral standing. But he was wrong, when news of his expansion came and wiping out of a City just to show the Chinese Army their intentions. It was clear that they were spared on a whim.

The monks prayed fervently day in and day out for answers to this new regime. They were afraid of loitering and wasting a day in meditation or even seen dozing off. He had made it clear that the moment they stopped acting like clergy, he would remove them. Archan didn't want to be afraid of man, he only wanted to fear god. But even he shivered with just the mere mention of his name spoken casually by a worshipper.

But this time, it was different. He had received providence.

Archan held onto the scrolled-up thangka that he brought to the meeting place. The abbots greeted him and he to them. The priest of the former-Jalendu Temple had a place amongst them as well. Badala had razed sacred Jalendu as an act of war against the Golden Path movement and expression of his disdain towards ritualistic practices that restraint liberty. Clearly, his idea of the ritual for the Tarun Matara living with him was not like the rest of the people. Just who was he? No-….. He knew who this was. That was part of his vision.

"The young one has given us a rough idea. What is it you wish to share with us, brother Archan?"

The Head abbot unscrolled the thangka. Once it had belonged to one of the warrior families, till that clan faded into non-existence. Its last descendant donated it to Chal Jama centuries ago.

The classic art style of over a thousand years ago had not changed. So it was easy for them to interpret what kind of message the paint depicted.

"This-…."

"Is something the matter?" He asked of one of his colleagues who stuttered and turned purple.

"It cannot be…. So-… Dhami was telling the truth." The abbot placed his hands to his face in regret.

"What is it brother Guna?" Archan inquired as he seemed to have seen this image before.

The abbot looked at him gravely.

"Do you recall the goat killer?"

How could he not? It was the talk of the monastery over eight months ago. It was relatively quick but an incident that their clergy hid. Because they suspected that the culpit for the Yalung Mask murders was one of theirs. Or at last he used to be. Brother Dhami of the Eastern Wing Shrines. When he was excommunicated by the abbot of that shrine on suspicion of murder of his fellow brother, he left and joined the Royal Guard. A while later, it came out on the news. Corporal Dhami, the Yalung Mask murderer. Their Dhami.

"You cast him out because you suspected he was responsible for killing his fellow monk, correct?"

"Yes, but it's not the suspicion of his murder that we excommunicated him for." The other monks were curious as to what was the reason.

"He- We had though he'd ranted blasphemous words. We had no idea this scripture truly existed!" The abbot of the Eastern Wing was truly ashamed.

Head Abbot Archan was not surprised. Not even he would have been able to finish the archives in his mere lifetime, then what of the other senior members of the monastery. Less likely.

"What he said was…. Anarchy in the mountains. Rakshasa and Demon God shall clash upon the highest peak and meld a new star in the ashes of what remains."

All including him, stared at the thangka. And exactly as he'd said, it was painted upon the ancient scroll.

A giant Rakshasa in the form of a Garuda confronting the bloody-handed demon upon a triangle mountain. Their minions fought their own war below. A depiction of a second sun was placed right between them to represent the new star to destroy all that remained.

The Head Abbot trempled slightly, it was exactly as the Eastern Wing Abbot had described and how his own vision had been bestowed upon him.

"We have wronged our brother." Archan declared to which the other abbots nodded.

"He prophesized this impending disaster before we were aware, yet we mocked him and cast him out only to be slaughtered by the Demon to fabricate that story about his killings."

"That Demon cannot be trusted!- It can't be that this Demon and the one here are one in the same?"

The abbots discussed heatedly as that thought stuck in their heads.

"The other day a worshipper had come praying about Badala, she said in his trial he had apparently mentioned something about Rakshasa in the mountains."

The hairs stood on the head abbot. In his mind and in his heart, the coincidence and similarity were just too close. The head abbot was sure.

"By the gods….. It is him!"

"It can't be-… then Kyrat-.."

"Will be met with oblivion…"

The silence daunted amongst the clergy of Chal Jama.

"We must not allow this to happen." Head Abbot Archan ironed out his resolve.

"How?"

"We reject the Demon." Archan was fearful of the Demon, in fact he was absolutely terrified. But before his fear were his responsibilities as the head of the organization. God was on their side, he would surely protect them from evil no matter what form. Even if that form was the unstoppable force that drove Kyrat out of pain and suffering.

"Will that not also mean rejecting Pagan's rule?"

"It is for the people!"

The Head Abbot was putting them through a rather difficult time, they wished he would have just stayed silent. But this crisis was happening whether they wanted it to or not.

"God is with us, my brothers. Just as Kalinag had vanquished the Rakshasa and our lord had banished Yalung. We, humanity will prevail!" Archan adopted an aggressive stance to motivate his fellow clergy into action. The monks began to discuss on their actions, the unanimously decided on one thing in their plans to save the people from their destruction.

"From this day forth, we who are loyal to the one up high invoke the Eternal Dharma!" Archan took a brush and drew out the characters of this ideal upon a canvas paper for his brothers to bring out with them to rally support. Eternal Dharma was their ideal of holding the orthodox ways of tradition more tightly and closely. The only way, they could be saved. When god came down to safe his worthy flock, they would be among them.

The monks had cemented their stand to oppose the Demon of Kyrat for the sake of the inhabitants. They would protest before the seat of power, they would hold their heads up high as they demanded his death to quell the imminent prophecy from happening. Badala must not remain or the calamity will appear.

"Go forth and warn the people of our divinitation! And may the gods protect you, my brothers!" The Head Abbot dismissed the abbots and senior monks who blazed with fervent spirits. The High Priest of Jalendu stayed to share a few words.

"Is what we're doing the right thing?" He asked the High Priest, he had slight conviction that he was doing nothing more than stirring trouble. What if he was wrong?

"I can only say, trust in your vision and faith, my son. If "his" providence has foretold of this event to come, then we must not cover our eyes from the truth. We've failed Brother Dhami and allowed him to succumb to the Demon's fangs. We must not commit the same mistake." The old priest rested his hands upon his shoulder to assure him as he left.

But Archan sensed another emotion swirling in the old Priest's eyes. He truly did not care for what they were about to accomplish, only the end means of this act. All he wanted was to strike back at Badala for robbing him of his holy grounds. Even so, Archan needed the power of Jalendu's most exalted one to convince the people that this was indeed a divine providence.

"This is for the people." He convinced himself once more. Many worshippers had come to Chal Jama not to pray for themselves but for Badala's continued glory and safety. Because they believed that the man who took the persona of a demon to do horrible things that man would not do against fellow man for their sake. The proof of this was the end of the Civil War and peace attained in the Himavanas.

Archan didn't want to believe it either. But his dream had a very special visitor from up high, this he left out from his fellow clergy. For it was being instructed to him not to reveal "his" nature or form. Archan had been given a sacred duty to save his people from calamity with promise of entry into paradise that was Shangri-la. The face of that which passed this message resembled the paintings and the statues that dotted throughout Kyrat. He neither confirmed nor denied who Archan thought he was, but gave him a gift. The honour of learning his true name.

Archan clenched his fist as he stared out into the night with the same fire of zeal that he'd passed onto his fellow monks.

"By your word, Lord Eternal."

* * *

The sight of him was enough to drive them into a surrender, they weren't going to take their chances testing the strength of the demon of Kyrat any times soon. The Papir Police went in to apprehend the anarchists and disarmed them of the weapons thrown to their feet by Golden Path to stir up trouble. They hated to admit, the war criminal Badala was a great asset to have in restoring order with minimal collateral as possible. His mysterious hooded soldiers disarmed the armed troublemakers with skillfully shot arrows to the limbs to disable them. No one would die by their hand.

Ajay rounded up some constables to accompany him to get the people to assist them, for he had zero credibility here. They found civilians barring themselves within their residence, they escorted them to the police commissions compounds for additional safety. Ajay had managed to find a physician and his staff, a businessman willing to lend workers and manpower, a courier service that would provide trucks to evacuate civilians and carry huge bulks of relief aid that was on its way.

There was however, one party that were not spared from his blade. And that was Golden Path. The policemen and Papirese Soldiers garrisoned in the City needn't do a single bit of fighting off these terrorists. They left it entirely to Ajay, or rather… they were afraid to get in his way.

Ajay rushed and shrew them like a tiger amongst a rabbit herd. They did not know how he could so easily kill these powerful warriors whom reported to have been shot multiple times but did not fall. Just content they were not his enemy now, rumours of him were all proven true and false before them. It was no wonder those that stood against him fell so disasterously. He was a monster on the battlefield.

Without Sabal to even try leading them, they were but a few gangs of armed men scattered around the City. The Hunters may not have possessed sufficient ability to take them down, but they had in their person a laser designator for calling in guided missiles for precision air strikes upon the Golden Path who gathered in a single location. Somewhere in the airfield Garudsang was a Spike NLOS launch platform that sent missiles to designated areas. The Hunters that guarded Pagan had such clearance to those fire support elements. Word on the net was that Surendra had been safely escorted into the airfield for extraction to Kyrat where it was slightly safer than here. The same mode of transportation was arranged for all of the delegates of Papir and Yinke who were hold up in Garud Durbar.

Ajay returned to the steps of the palace and killed the Golden Path groups that were loitering the premise searching for VIPs to kill, thereby creating chaos without their leadership. In truth, Ajay didn't understand the move that Mohan had made. It made things all the more terrifying, a strike on the Capital of Papir had to serve some sort of purpose other than to cause just a disturbance. Ajay couldn't put his head around it with the evidence he had, there was no way Sabal would've told him anything even tortured.

(Bang)(Bang) (crack)

A double tap to the head of the last remaining survivor of the group of Golden Path Exalts he found in the palace. Ajay found that while they were almost immortal yet immune to damage, they weren't immune to neural-poison that constantly kills them or shock to stop their heart. Which is why blunt trauma from high-powered weapons always killed them instantly. But in the range of small arms to bear against their equivalent, they were still outmatching any soldier in terms of strength.

Ajay focused using his third eye to look for signs of distress in the essence of the air, a tell-tale sign of someone seeking refuge. Garud Durbar was a place of historic significance, so there was at least a few hidden rooms. He looked in the most sensible spot to find them in the library.

"Channel Holmes…" He flipped his investigator mode on and looked around. The fireplace, the shelves, the furniture tossed from their original area and a cabinet lined with all the wine glasses. The one feature that even during his return from Yinke to be commended had always baffled him as the one furniture that didn't match the area. Sure, there would be some who wouldn't give to have their favourite spirit and red wine by the fire while reading. But it seemed that the cabinet of alcohol glasses and decanters was hastily throw in as a last-minute adjustment. He looked more closely to the cabinet, even feeling around it.

Looked at the feet of the cabinet, he noticed horizontal scratch marks to its side.

"…"

He continued to feel around the cabinet until- (click) (vrrrrrrrrr) He triggered a mechanism that dragged the wooden cabinet aside albeit loudly against the stone floor. Behind it was a corridor passageway, not unexpected at this point for having a secret mechanism to the cabinet.

Ajay walked through it without worry even when it was completely dark within. In the distance, he could hear voices. Not surprising as they were shouting and arguing with one another. The light at the end of the tunnel became more visible. And the closer he got, the voices quieten down as they heard his footsteps. Coming into the light, he could see a safehouse-like structure where they were. With a radio, stacks of food supplies and other necessities. Meant for anyone that meant to live out his days in hiding. In this case, the twenty-four individuals here were the most likely ones to occupy that role.

"B-Badala!" Dhir exclaimed surprised to see him here and in combat fatigues. The papirese soldiers had their rifles in a half-ready position, unsure whether he was friend or foe.

"The riot has been quelled. The Golden Path are dead, take back control of the situation." He told them.

His answer gave great relief to the delegates including the Papirese members of parliament.

"What happened out there?" An MP asked without considering the situation carefully.

"Go see for yourself." Ajay didn't bother to answer his request in full, he hid here and still dared to ask from him how was things fairing outside. In fact, they all were. If Ajay didn't know Dhir's personality he would have associated him with them as well. But the president of Papir represented the heart of the government body, he could not afford to be killed.

"With their leader dead, the Golden Path have routed. I've gotten the help of the Police Commissioner to restore order through Marshal law. But the rest, your people will have to sort out. I've already called in for relief supplies." Dhir bowed out of gratitude.

"What of King Min and Kumsa?"

"His Royal Highness has already been evacuated, Surendra Kumsa is being escorted by his guard and Colonel Roka."

"Saraswati?!" Eavesdropping in on the report, Arjun had come over.

"I originally intended to be amongst them to take Surendra out, but I bumped into Sabal. And he pulled me off, so I ended up here."

"And you let them travel through the countryside without additional backup!?" Arjun wrapped his hand around his collar and clenched it with his fists and he manhandled Ajay.

"Marshal Ro-!" Dhir was stopped by a hand raised by Ajay.

"Tell me then, Badala. If you loved my daughter, then why did you let her go out in harm's way?! You've always done that! All I see is her being used in another of your machinations!" As these words passed through, an eerie silence passed over as a powerful and intimidating aura struck and filled the atmosphere with dread and unease. Catching them all off guard, and turning Arjun especially pale as he saw the type of expression Ajay released only for a moment. His hands let go as they lost strength all together, Arjun had struck more than just a nerve unknowningly.

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that, Marshal. For both our sakes, I hope you don't ever bring this up with her either." He said it like a suggestion, but it weighed of a threat.

"You-.."

"She's fine."

"And how would you know?! You didn't anticipate Golden Path being here!"

"Maybe if I wasn't kept from working things might've been different. But really, who can say." Ajay dusted his front of the dust that fell from the stone roof.

"Don't forget, she's not just some any old how Colonel loitering around and tooting her rank for benefits, she's Saraswati "Freaking" Roka. Your daughter. She's been doing anti-insurgency mission way before we had real Special Forces units. Have a little faith in your own flesh and blood. Or are you implying that you don't have faith in yourself or don't trust in Swati's abilities?"

"That does not change the fact of what you've done."

Arjun was starting to have trouble finding why he hated Ajay or found a reason to oppose him, something kept edging him on to do so, he believed that it was his own intuition that he'd always trusted.

"Swati told me stories about your nature. Its more than just stubborn on the surface, there's an ulterior motive behind this. She also told me how you destroyed Mohan Ghale with a single sentence." Arjun had his breath taken from him when he talked of the incident that triggered the fall of Mohan from leader to rampant fool.

"I honestly believed in your spirit as an example that should've been set in the Army. But don't you know when enough is enough?"

"I-… didn't mean to-…"

"The end result was that you created the rift that broke Ishwari and Mohan's bond forever. You caused him to go nuts and kill Princess Lakshmana, and Ajay Ghale lost everything." The look that Arjun had was as if he'd advanced over twenty years of age. The light in his eyes was trembling.

"Is that why you're so stubbornly restricted Swati's own choices? Because you felt that this betrothal to Ajay was all you could do as penance for taking his everything? You wanted me to stay away so that Ajay Ghale, somewhere in Kyrat would have a chance to meet and fall in love with Swati." A hand wrapped around his collar in turn with the sound of knuckles crunching.

"I just hope-…. I don't want to believe that you raised her and loved her only for just this, Arjun. Because if it was true…. (crack) I'm gonna kill you." For the first time, Arjun saw a face of both pain, anguish and rage all in one package from the boy as he crunched his knuckles till they cracked. The fearless and wicked demon who showed no remorse and laughed at his enemies' downfall.

He could no longer look at Ajay in his face. A multitude of reason and anxiety poured into one moment and battered the older man.

"Is it wrong to sought redemption?..."

"Only at others paying."

"Swati is my daughter, my pride and joy. There's no doubt that I love her more than anything. Why can I not give her to the son of my Brother who I too love? So that she would experience the same."

"Stop using Ajay Ghale as an excuse! Your happiness isn't hers!" Ajay roared angrily for good reason, he'd taken off the mask and thrown it violently on the floor as he announced this.

"And what do you know of Ajay Ghale?! You never even seen him, nor know how he looks. You've not checked in on him like Pagan had for twenty-five years! You know nothing of what he'd been through! Watching Ishwari slowly die a little bit every year when we grew up and took care of her as she did to us. We didn't belong in the States, and we didn't belong in Kyrat… we had nothing and the one thing we had we lost forever!" Arjun watched as Ajay exhibited another emotion, crying. But he quickly wipped them away, Arjun was pushed away.

"I don't need you to try and repay back what you made us lose, Arjun…. Nothing you give can ever substitute our mother, our father and complete our family."

"Because you're doing it at Swati's expense. I will not let you do the same to her."

Arjun opened his mouth wanting to refute him, but Ajay posed him a question that was unsolvable in this case.

"If you were faced with the same instance with Ajay as you did with Ishwari and Mohan. Would you still stay true to your righteousness? Or will you break them over a debt of guilt?" The nail was struck, Arjun was trapped in the paradox of his beliefs. Justice was blind but fair, family love too was just but if he was to choose justice in this instance, he could not choose family. And vice versa.

"RAAARRRRGGHHH!" Arjun screamed madly as he covered his ears. Overwhelmed with pain and emotion. And was reduced to a miserable heap crying against his hands.

The delegation was made to watch these two settle their differences with what they should've done in the very beginning. This trial was a whole waste of time in Dhir's view, all they needed was closure with one another. But the rift and difference in their beliefs caused this rift to form and the Marshal's distrust in Badala's motives.

"Forgive me-…. forgive me, Ajay….for- forgive me, Badala boy…." Arjun wept in front of him.

"If Ajay were here I'm sure he will…. But I cannot, I will not, Arjun Roka."

Arjun looked up in worry about what he meant.

"I will never forgive you for pushing your peace upon him and her in the way you did. So remember that, Arjun. Let this thorn remind you that not everyone in a world of piety and honesty can be as perfect and just as they want. I hope that you'll have more sympathy over them as you would your own children."

Ajay walked back from whence he came, meeting Dhir at the exit.

"I can give you temporary asylum while Papir patches itself back in order."

"Then I will be leaving my people here?" He refused.

"Golden Path may attack again, and as per alliance ruling, I can't deploy troops in the City to fend them off. This needs to be Papirs responsibility."

"…."

"Sir, with all due respect. Join his grace to Kyrat." One of the elderly and well-respected minister of the left spoke up.

"How can I just up and leave?"

"We will stay behind to ensure that the Capital is running properly. Until we can truly ensure that all other Cities have returned order, we will give you the soonest time to return."

"Please, sir. Trust in his excellence." The other MPs supported the Left minister's idea that backed Ajay.

Seeing this determination to return Papir back to its state of normalcy, Dhir agreed to their best course of action, which was to ensure his safety. Dhir bowed and gazed at his MPs strongly.

"I will be back, please stand strong and steadfast!"

Ajay waited for him at the library on the other side of the hidden passage where it started.

"I'll be depending on Kyrat this once."

"We won't disappoint." Dhir accompanied him on route to their ride out.

"Look, son. I'm not one to judge in a family's affair but, perhaps you were too hard on the Marshal. Aren't you yourself answering on someone else's, Ajay Ghale's behalf?" Ajay smiled.

"Me and Ajay are a lot closer than anyone else thinks, you could say that we're one in the same mind."

Ajay arrived in the compound area where the elevated and extended helipad was based. In full view of the surrounding City due to Garud Durbar's build on elevated grounds. In the distance, he could already hear the distinct rotation of rotor blades. There, awaiting the helicopters' arrival. Dhir and the cabinet of ministers who came to see him off were made to witness their smoking city.

"What kind of leaders are we?" Dhir questioned himself before the destruction wrought while they were safe in the hidden passage.

"The type that'll make this right again." Ajay's words gave Dhir some strength to know what he needed to do.

"Your Grace, I assume you've heard what had happened in Kumsa."

Ajay looked at him baffled.

"Crown Prince Manendra has mounted coup de tat and has allied himself with Golden Path." Hearing it for the first time was hard to believe.

"Can you prove it?"

"He announced it on broadcast, did you not hear it?"

"…." He wasn't exactly putting his ear to the radio while fighting the Golden Path in the streets.

"What will you do to Kumsa?" Dhir wanted to know what sort of judgement Badala would pass upon Kumsa at a time like this, where desperate times called for desperate measure. Ajay was quiet for a moment to reflect upon an answer.

"To the people of Kumsa. Who is King, Surendra or Manendra?" Ajay instead possed that question.

Dhir knew what that meant, the Kumsans had to sort out their own mess just as Kyrat and Papir had done to their own states.

"I'll only carry out what I'm needed for. Destroying Golden Path and the Rakshasa in Kumsa." Dhir respected his decision.

"The trial-….. I think we can forget about it now." Ajay chuckled at Dhir's response.

"Still going on about it, I thought that after Manendra's crazy declaration everyone would've forgotten about it."

The helicopters appeared in the far distance, approaching closer as the dawn approached. The silhouette of the NH90 Royal Helicopter was here, accompanied by a fleet of Super Puma helicopters. Ajay took out a coloured smoke flare and dispersed it up on the roof with green smoke and illumination to indicate a safe area and where they were.

Arjun approached the helipad after slowly arriving and waited by the edge of the pad for his ticket back to the Royal Fortress. There was no meaning for him to remain, he had duties in office to return to and Ajay respected that.

"You really beat sense into that poor man." Dhir commented on the Marshal, Ajay made a glance to access Arjun's condition as well.

"He's important to our Army's military honour integrity. Men like him are too earnest at their job at being good leaders than powerful ones. Being the cruel despotic one is my job." No one would ever decide to just take on the burden of being the dark side of politics, it wasn't good for one's health neither was their anything to gain from this. Just like how they'd accused Ajay conveniently for all of their troubles and anxieties. This was Ajay's purpose, to funnel all of the negative emotions towards him, so that others could focus on building a better place without scrutiny.

"…. You really take your job seriously."

"The fact that you acknowledge it, is enough."

The helicopter manned by Kamran landed and opened the doors for the VIPs to board. Ajay went next to the cockpit window where Kamran was to dispatch orders.

"Take President Dhir and the Marshal back to the Royal Fortress! Remember to tell control, you're entertaining a head of state." Ajay said over his throat mic on his mask to dispel the racket of the rotorblades chopping.

*You're staying?*

"Someone needs to. I'm gonna find out why Golden Path were after Surendra specifically. Who're those boys you're flying with?"

*Task Force Agni. Helicopter Squadron Efreet. And 6th Dragoons, they rescued the Kumsan King and the Colonel before asking to accompany me to help out the Papirese. From what they heard, the Capital was hell.*

Ajay switched to the intercom local frequency that was locally broadcast about the Royal helicopter.

"This is Badala. C.O. of Task Force Agni, Colonel Magar report."

*My lord. Lieutenant-Colonel Magar, with the 6th Dragoons Battalion, reporting. Two-hundred and forty men heli-borne troops strong, sir!*

"Colonel Magar, leave a chosen Platoon to provide support to the local authorities here and to liason with fire support. Have your unit divide accordingly to the remaining cities. They are not to engage any armed assailants hailing from Papir. Golden Path is their only viable targets."

*Understood, sir! Deploying 3rd Platoon to assist, Lord Badala. Company O.C., comply.*

*Captain Tharu responds ready and willing! 3rd Platoon deploy!*

At his command, the super pumas closed in on the ground. Releasing over fifty soldiers that rappelled down the hovering choppers and closing in before matching towards the Police Commission with the aid of a Papirese Republican Guardsman.

Dhir had already buckled himself tightly with the assistance of the door gunner, Arjun was just climbing aboard.

"Badala-.." He turned around with a face full of anxiety.

"Your daughter was the best thing that's happened for me. Even if you don't give me your blessing as a father, I'll still marry her and do everything to make her happy." Ajay said wearing a wry but friendly smile.

"….." Arjun felt his lips curl naturally into a smile as well as he replied-..

"…. To a rascal like you….." He said shaking his head whilst chuckling.

Kamran waited patiently for Arjun to take his seat as he wouldn't be able to take off safely if he didn't. At that moment, no one was paying attention up on high. As all focus was on the ground where the city was still tearing itself apart.

That's when it came.

A shadow passed over Kamran's chopper only for a moment. That single moment Ajay felt his hairs raise and within his pocket, the Demon Banishing medallion rattled more violently than ever before.

Ajay had looked up to see a huge shadow eclipsing his view of the sun coming down hard. Ajay reached for his mic button and yelled into the comms.

"Contact up high! Choppers, evasive action, NOW!"

 **[RAAAEEHHHHAAAAAA!]**

A powerful shriek pierced their eardrums and put those not used to long sounds on their knees. The shadow was gigantic in size and proportion, came swooping down and only growing as it reach out its claws for the closest helicopter.

(thrug)(BOOM) A loud sound of metal renting of the main rotors of the helicopter colliding with the shadow and followed with a loud explosion as the shadow had struck it with sufficient power to set off its fuel supply.

The wreck fell to the earth in a fireball and collided with the buildings below. And the shadow stayed in place, admiring the work it had done. Watching all those faces of despair and disbelief upon those little people down below.

But its glowing orbs cast its gaze directly at Ajay as it marveled the genuinely shocked expression of its one true hated enemy. How could he not be in shock from that sight of the figure hovering over the ground through a denial of physics. That figure wasn't any ordinary figure either. It was a figure that he had never expected would truly come out of where he'd last seen it.

It was the last boss of Shangri-la.

The embodiment of Rakshasa.

* * *

Just who was Pravindra, she wondered. To have successfully brought her all the way out of multiple layers of security within the brig, take to the sky in two A-29 turbo-prop aircraft and gain flight clearance without termination from the Air Defense sites. She had never dared to escape by air with those SPYDER SAM sites in operation, there were reports of Russian Pantsir triple-As killing the POF F-16s that flew too low during that bombing mission.

*Two more minutes, and we should be in the clear without mountains hanging in the way.*

*(Sigh) Your idea of fresh air.*

*Do you not like it?*

*No complaints here.*

Her transition into the Super Tucano was not difficult as she flew a Cessna back in the states as military trainers. All she needed to know were where the instrument placements were.

*We're here.* He told her over the intercom. Finally clearing the clouds, she was exposed to a whole cloudless sky luminated by the full moon up on high. He breath was taken away by the sight of stars blanketing the night alongside the moon that did not seem like night at all.

*Right, now we can get to it.*

*Get to what?*

*We're gonna have a rematch.* Olivia was astounded by what he had just said.

*Weren't we just getting fresh air?*

*We've already come out this far, what awaits us back in base is a reprimand.* Her mind was a mess to the antics of Pravi, he was really difficult to read. None of his actions seemed to have a logic behind them that made sense in the same way as she viewed it. The same could be said for his flying mannerisms. A combination of turns and strafes that didn't follow standard doctrine, made him a difficult target to predict his flight path and apprehend.

*We're gonna correct what you should've done in that dogfight.*

*Excuse me?*

*I'm 80% sure that you had more than one opportunity to down me, Lieutenant Lowde. But something was stopping you from doing so, and it was true for that battle.*

Olivia was silent on the comms as she didn't know how to answer his question if even she didn't know her own problem.

*You're afraid to dive.*

Pravi gave an answer which she found strangely coincidental in her inability. It sounded stupid, for a pilot to not be able to fly downwards during combat to perform manoeuvres.

*Some part of you says that if you lose your energy, you won't be able to recover it again.*

No answer didn't mean he was wrong either.

*In piloting nothing is certain, I'm sure your instructors have said the same thing over and over again. You can be a "by the book" kinda girl, but never let the enemy read you or he's just gonna make life more difficult for you.*

She knew what he was saying, it was how he had exploited her weakness by taking frequent baitings only to find her still up top like the king of the mountain where it was almost impossible to engage with her style of combat which was dogfighting with the guns. If it had been a missile scenario where radar wasn't impaired like back then than it wouldn't have been an issue to finish him off easily. But the entire point of the trip here was to school her in gunfight.

*Trail after me.* He said and she decelerated behind his plane. Since this wasn't a jet, there was no issue of running behind his jet lash, causing an engine deprivation of air.

Pravi took his plane down a simple attack vector, being the only ones in the sky she felt no threat. Olivia took her plane into the same descend, trailing close by. Pravi took his plane for multiple turns and shakes which she followed without issue.

*Not bad. Alright, now for the fun part.* He increased speed and was almost out of sight from them. Olivia did her best to catch up, the whirl of the propeller accelerated.

*I want you to shoot me down.*

*Are you crazy?!*

*Don't worry, these planes are loaded with a special paint mix bullet in the .50s. they're a pain to wash off so we don't ever like getting shot because the losers have to wash all of the airframes.* Olivia never believed they would be so reckless, not even the US air force would do something like this. What if the paint impairs their vision around their canopy, then they'd not be able to see their surroundings. Or if someone loaded a live round amongst the paint shots. Even the engine could get fouled and get damaged.

Olivia didn't worry about these things as he was already gaining the advantage to strike back at her from behind. She chased after him, but now she could follow his pattern, having accompanied him in flight.

*Don't be afraid to fire a few shots even if you overshoot me, your systems aren't gonna to tell you exactly where the shots will land. That's why missiles are relied upon so much. Use those shots to zero-in for the next opportunity.*

She did as he said and chased him in his Split-S maneuver. When her target was lined up, she depressed the trigger.

(Brbrbrbrbrbrbr) A stream of .50 paint shots flew, since there were no tracer rounds visible she had the helmet thermal to see the stream of fire.

But it hit nothing as Pravi's plane disappeared right before her in a dive. She turned her stick to follow after him but her body just stiffened on reflex, not under her control at all. Pravi saw it from the back of his cockpit, the fatal body reflex that cost her a move in the air.

*If you won't attack me, then I will.* He attempted to come around her during this stumble. Olivia quickly fought back for her position as the aggressor and him as the defender. She chose rolls to keep herself in a good position whilst Pravi choose an aggressive combination of lag rolls to come just next to her and a rolling scissors to come right behind her.

Her laser warning was beeping like crazy, even without missiles on their pylons, the IR module was still marking her in line with his gun. During her entire career, she had rarely been out turned and outmatched. Only being the one doing the damage because of her swift and efficient attacking prowess and her leadership skills in having wingmen who covered her rear and gave her utmost security. It was this sort of performance that gave her a ticket with the Raptors and special mission targets from Special Activities Division. But down here, she was alone. Pravi was revealing a weakness which she had struggled to conceal for so long and worked her hardest to erase.

*Dive, Olivia!* Pravi's voice over the comms shook her, she depended on the voice to lead her out of the jeopardy she faced. Trusting the voice, she took a dive for a defensive spiral to outrun her opponent who was still close by and on her.

*Don't climb! That's a certain deathwish!* Just as she was about to climb on reflex to restore her height and energy advantage the voice advised against it.

*Then what-.*

*Under cartwheel. Go!* She honestly didn't know what to say. Normally, one wouldn't go lower than they already were, nor would they perform a manoeuvre that put the pilot at risk to other aircraft in the area. But here, they were alone against each other.

She did as he said and wrestled the high-Gs and vertigo of turning around. She almost lost sense of direction, it was an equivalent of a tumble. Pravi did the same but told her something else while he was in the midst of following her.

*Now climb!*

Pravi had just come about and was pointing his plane straight up like she was. A considerable distance lay between them.

(Brbrbrbrbrbr) Pravi fired a few shots to motivate her to make subtle movements left and right. With the aircrafts facing upwards, it was difficult to angle in a way to get his sights on the target. This was what he was trying to make her understand. (Brbrbrbrbrbr) He kept firing short bursts to keep her ascending.

-Now, what will you do?-

Olivia who had been depending on his instructions till now panicked with no directions given to her. She understood that from here on out, she was on her own. Trying her best to maintain her calm under pressure, she looked for alternatives. Pravi's guidance in the pattern of flight she took just now showed that even with almost negligible energy to fight, it was still possible to outmanoeuvre your opponent. Energy manoeuvre theory which she'd studied in in the flight school was meant for modern tactics, mainly with the use of missiles over guns.

Yet, the gunfighting Pravi beat and outmaneuvered her in the most advanced fighter of this generation. Her air forces' way wasn't wrong, but neither was Pravi's. There was more to air combat that she had previously thought, it was more than just a cold calculative set of strategic moves and tactically correct maneuvers.

With the assurance, she had been given over the situation and guidance by a fellow kindred spirit she commenced her counterattack. She did the exact opposite of what Pravi had first told her to do, a somersault upwards. Coming around, she gained significant gravitational potential energy and lost it with speed downwards. But now, she was facing Pravi head on. The move was so quick that Pravi acted on reflex and moved out of the climb into a steady flight. But now, she was right behind him.

Presented with the clear rear end of his plane, she squeezed the trigger, sending a salvo of paint shots striking his glass canopy with a thump. Bright orange that stained his rear was even visible in the night.

A smile crept onto his face. She had conquered her own weakness on her own. He was sure that Olivia was feeling an inexplicable feeling of satisfaction from being able to surpass that flaw on her own.

*Knew you could do it.*

*…. Thank you, Pravi.* A meaningful thanks was sent his way.

*Right, I think that's enough fresh air for today. We'd better get these planes back or the technicians will feel Rohan's wrath.*

Olivia accompanied him on the route back to the base. She was still visible distance from Pravi as she flew it in his direction. The ecstasy of the moment had subsided and she had been thrown back into the situation of being behind bars.

Or did she.

She was out of the prison and in an aircraft just a few hundred kilometers from the Pakistani border. She looked at the fuel gauge, it was a quarter full which wasn't a problem. So now it was a question of whether she ws ready to leave or not. Olivia felt the guilt of betraying this pilot who had not only given her a liberty that no military organization would offer their prisoner and had helped her conquer one of her most fearful weaknesses all out of good will. The Pilot Ace Pravi was an enigma.

If she left now, he would face the music of assisting her escape. There was no way he could apprehend her with only paintshots loaded so nothing stood in her way. So why was she taking so long to decide where the old Olivia would have just turned tail and run?

One end was Freedom at the cost of integrity and her honor, if she left she would have repaid good karma with ingratitude and she would remember it for the rest of her life. On the other end was nothing good for her by rotting in a prison for the sake of an enemy, with no confirmation of whether combat search and rescue teams would be dispatched. It would be easier to declare her MIA and possibly KIA behind enemy lines.

The roll of clouds on the exit came in front of Pravi as he flew home.

*I had my suspicions, but now I know it for a fact. You are a natural-born pilot, Olivia."

A silence on the comms was all he got.

*Olivia, you there?* He had no visibility through the clouds so he was not able to confirm her whereabouts at that moment.

Only when the clouds cleared did he find himself flying alone in the sky towards Sagarmatha. Somewhere in his heart, he knew that this would happen. He had given her the means of escaping so of course, she would take it. He wasn't sure of what would the penalty he would receive for this offense. What would happen to him for aiding in the escape of a high-value prisoner of war, allowed the appropriation of an asset the Super Tucano and had given her privy sensitive intel such as the dimensions and capacity of Sagarmatha to an enemy?

He'd probably lose his wings. And yet, he didn't feel all that bad. In a way, Olivia was a student of his. And her future in the skies might just be a credit to himself. There was no answer for a long time on the comms, so he assumed that she had genuinely left.

Even so, he pressed the talk button on the comms and said….

*I don't regret taking you out in the skies, maybe you think I helped you. But in truth, you helped me by letting me help you. This squadron leader stuff really isn't my style, I'm just happy to soar in the air. Who knows…. maybe the next time I might get a rematch and lose to you. I hope you'd do the same for me.* Pravi had said his piece to the empty airwaves. Preparing himself for the whooping he was going to receive.

*I highly doubt it.* Returned an answer on the comms. Pravi was surprised out of his shoes, he looked around but no contacts could be found, until a Tucano came rising beside him from below to his wing.

*You might not even live to tell the tale.* Said the individual in the glass cockpit of the other Super Tucano with a smile that could be seen even in the night.

Pravi laughed at the control of his plane. It was the idea that she would actually be willing to return with him back to the place she was being held. Thinking about this whole excursion, it was one of the most ridiculous things he'd ever done besides a few.

*I don't know about that, I've got my friend Arun watching over me.*

*Heh! Your wingman wouldn't be so lucky if I even get a go.*

*He-…. Was my weapons officer.*

*….. Was?*

*He's gone.*

*I'm sorry.* Hearing her say that he suddenly laughed again. He laughed because he recalled once, Arun declared that if he were to be killed in action, he would want it to be by a beautiful woman. But of course, how many Armies had female pilots in fighter aircraft?

"You hear that, Arun? She apologized. Now are you gonna forgive the beautiful lady for shooting you down?" Pravi murmured to himself not realizing that he'd left the microphone depressed.

*Hey, Olivia. Let's take this on a pass over the control tower.*

*(Sigh) One last prank before you face the music?*

*You mean we, right?*

*I'm just a POW along for the ride. Geneva says if I escape I'd just get incarcerated again and again till the war ends.*

*So cruel.*

*Look on the bright side. At least, I'd have an interesting fellow inmate to talk to.* Pravi laughed again dryly.

*Interested enough to talk to me, huh? I like that.* Considering her previous aloof behaviour to him it was a transition.

*Don't wag your tail so excited, my little puppy.*

*woof woof!* He followed on with a little humour.

Their conversation was overheard by the control tower who found their activities to be without explanation. Olivia landed on the tarmac with Pravi in tow. As they made a stop near the hangar, MP vehicles with their police lights moved in and halted near them. MPs flooded out the rear and surrounded the two planes.

One MP on the microphone demanded they exit with their hands behind their heads.

From their point of view, they were baffled when two of the pilots. One was their prisoner of war, the other was the celebrated Lieutenant Pravindra Kumar were laughing away as if they, the MPs weren't a bother to them. The escort leader ordered them to apprehend and cuff them both.

"Hahahahahhaa!..."

"Hahahahahahaha!..."

They still laughed at one another over some sort of funny conversation joke they had no idea was about. But had tickled their funny bone till they were almost out of breath. It would be days before Pravi's release would be secured by Badala. Until then, he would laugh and chat with Olivia in the brig. One of the rarest occurrences of companionship with the most unlikely of individuals.

The enemy who became his friend.

* * *

"Why" only froze him into inaction like the rest had been subjected to, as they saw what Ajay had only seen from a vision of Shangri-la.

"Kamran, get out now!" Kamran responded by rising quickly as he could.

"Royal Army! Kill this monster!"

The miniguns whirled and unleashed spreads of heavy caliber cartridges upon the newly arrived foe. The helicopters dispersed to gain some ground to evade as they came fired upon the hovering monstrosity.

Tracers from the infantry down below were sent upwards at the giant bird-like monster. Rocket pods unloaded upon the Rakshasa monster, the massive firepower was being unleashed onto one single target loitering in one spot. The heli-transports tried to dump all of its troops for fear it would perish along with its entire troop complement.

At this point, the loudness of the battle between the Battalion and the flying Rakshasa monster was turning heads from all parts of the City. Be it anarchist or law enforcer, they all heard the terrifying sound of the monster and suddenly lost all motive of arson and restoring order to run for cover.

As it hovered over ground where all could clearly see for the first time what the Royal Kyrati Army had been fighting all this while.

*Lord Badala! Allow us to help you!*

"Negative, Colonel Magar. Leave the squadron to take care of it, you and your men help as many to seek shelter! The rules of engagement still apply, kill the Golden Path!"

*Yes, sir!*

 **[RAAAEEHHHHAAAAAA!]**

(BOOM) The Rakshasa didn't seem to be affected at all by the 12.7mm API rounds, but seemed slightly shaken by the limited rockets that were fired at it.

Ajay pointed at it and performed the most powerful hex to get the Rakshasa's attention before it demolished too many of his helicopters. He was fully aware of the consequence of using it upon a beast bigger than him.

"My will is the mountains… my karma is the mantra." But as he was halfway through the spell, the Rakshasa sensed the built up of Demon Banishing magic and turned directly toward him. The giant bird-like monster swooped in a strafing run towards him at inhuman speeds, now he had its attention.

Ajay fired his G3 on fully automatic to get its attention. When the monster swooped to pick him up with its claws, Ajay vaulted out of the way and it struck air before trying to rise up to its original altitude.

(BOBOBOBOOOM) The Rakshasa received some rather heavy volume of firepower exceeding what the Super Pumas had. Tracers of 30mm rounds and 80mm rockets pummeled the beast and distorted its steady flight, a pair of Havoc gunships flew pass. Hoping to draw its attention to them instead.

"Gunships! Maintain distance, ground that bastard so it doesn't take flight!"

*Roger. Grounding big bird. Over.*

"Badala to all units, Task Force Agni and the Papirese authority. Cease crowd control activities at once and begin mass civilian evacuation to local shelters! The enemy is upon us! Single target, extremely hostile and dangerous. The Rakshasa is a 15-foot Garuda-type, immune to under 20 mil. All ground forces are not to engage unless in an emergency situation. From this moment, the target shall be designated as Griffon." He chose a respectable name for its abilities without having too much of a psychological effect upon the troops, so they could fight with a clear head without being too overwhelmed. The channel chattered with response complying with him, while others were dispatching orders to do as he said, evacuate the civilians regardless of their stance.

Ajay looked to a radioman of the 3rd platoon that came to join him previously for hunting Golden Path. They weren't the priority now, they'd most likely take the opportunity to escape with their lives while the Griffon drew their attention.

"Contact, Sagarmatha Command and tell'em to dispatch CAS, for an anti-armor mission. Authorization codes: Echo 44-2376-93 Charlie." The radioman went to work while the soldiers went to look for anyone nearby to help evacuate. Mainly, the ministers who had been out to send Dhir off. Ajay had lost sight of Kamran but was sure he'd left.

(BOOM) The Havocs frustrated the Griffon as it attempted to chase them in their odd formation of random-like passes. So it went for the easier prey in the form of the Super Puma transport helicopters.

"Tsh!" It was a sore loser.

Ajay drew out his only weapon that he believed would have some limited affect on it. The compound bow deployed and automatically pre-strung an arrow.

As the Griffon Rakshasa gouged itself upon the burning metal of the wreck it carried, the Havocs made another strafe. But this time, it flung the wreck towards one. The pilot managed to avoid getting smashed inwards completely by the flying wreck. But lost a whole tail rotor causing the attack helicopter to spin out of control as it descended.

It became quite obvious with the faux-Garuda's mentality. It was quite narrowminded in its rendition of destruction. Only focusing on aggressors that dealt heavy punishment upon it. The Griffon wanted to return the favour tenfold by wrapping its talons around it and squeezing it to death.

One current example would be the recently crashed Mi-28 havoc gunship and its two pilots who were getting out unscathed thanks to the armour body of the cockpit that absorbed the crash.

 **[RAAAEEHHHHAAAAAA!]**

But they were in for trouble, as the Rakshasa came for them in retaliation. (crack) The hefty monster crashed the rubble underneath it upon landing as it hobbled towards the crashsite.

(pow) (BOOM)

An explosive bolt detonated against its armoured cheek, causing it great agony compared to the other weapons due to the talisman drawn into the semtex bolt. It traced the trajectory back to where up on the roof tops were a figure that brought its rage to the maximum. The reason it was now what it was.

It instantly forgot about the helicopter gunship pilots and turned towards Ajay. A distance of around fifty metres was not much for it to reach him.

Ajay lit a flare and waved it around to get its attention. A maneuver that seemed pretty effective on dinosaurs.

"That's right, you giant turkey! Come get this delicious birthday cake."

Ajay turned around and ran. The Griffon Rakshasa pursued on foot, waddling through the confines of the streets and destroying much of the windows and property laying around. The streets had many routes, so it gave Ajay many opportunities to hide but it also forced the Griffon to move in a direction of his choosing. As he made sharp turns with it just ten metres behind him, the Griffon couldn't suddenly change direction and tumbled but got up swiftly and bought Ajay additional time.

"You better be ready when I'm there…" Ajay murmured in regard to his plans.

Ajay turned the next alleyway and straight ahead was the city square. This city square was roughly the dimensions of Moscow Red Square. Just a kilometer of wide open space with paced roads. This was the place he'd chose, for it would allow fire support to fully bear upon the Griffon with minimal collateral damage and endangerment to the population. It would be at the cost of the brickworks and the old baroque-style fountain that dominated the centre, but it was acceptable.

The Griffon Rakshasa came rushing through the buildings with no regard, when it tried to take off into the air, the remaining Havoc unleashed a barrage of anti-armour missiles that hurt it gravely. Ajay had lit flares along the way to guide it towards him as it seemed to be directed in its path by mere instinct alone.

It spotted Ajay and moved in to attack him. As he waddled forwards, it leaped in the air and shook its wings sending down projectiles flying out, metallic quills that shot like a rain of arrows towards him.

(pow)(BOOM)

He acted upon reflex and fired the explosive arrow just in front of him. The detonation blasted the dangerous feathers away from their original trajectory, Ajay only had to pay for the power of the blast of his own arrow warhead. A shot of morphine helped to numb the pain ever so slightly without him losing total feeling.

The Griffon pounced upon him, determined to flatten him with its talons. Ajay fired his grapples at the fountain and winded the tether wires at maximum speed. The motor saved him from becoming a pancake.

He retracted back to where the anchors had been embedded, which was the fountain itself. Looking down, Ajay saw that one of the engineering sections had indeed followed his instructions. He reached down and picked up an object.

"We can keep this up all day, and you wouldn't be closer to getting hold of me." Ajay taunted.

 **[RAAAEEHHHHAAAA!]** The Rakshasa he dubbed "Griffon" gave a fierce response. Its powerful shriek had a piercing effect on eardrums, covering his ears did very little to mitigate that cry.

(Bang)… (Bang)….

The Griffon's feet smashed the pavement as it closed in cautiously. Ajay strung another arrow and shot it dead centre.

(BOOM) **[IIIIEEEEEEEEERRRAAAAHHH!]**

The talisman engraved explosive arrow caused the Rakshasa Griffon great pain. But didn't kill it at all. Ajay dropped into the fountain well filled with water. Placing his hand into the water and murmured the scriptures of consecration upon the waters to use as a weapon.

The Griffon recovered from the painful explosive arrow and bull charged its way to where Ajay was. He did not make any indication of moving as he was still chanting to render the waters. The Rakshasa became sure of its ability to crush him as he made no attempt to escape.

The closer it got, the more nervous he felt but had no choice if he wanted to ensure success. If his arrows weren't enough to kill it, then he needed another way of causing great amounts of damage on it to expose a critical point in the monster.

He'd tried to previously determine the nature of the Rakshasa with his third eye. But all he could see was a large shroud of opacity. There were no Karmic threads spreading out from it either so Ajay had no way of determining the exact controller of this monster. But the biggest question was why Natural Law wasn't intervening to eradicate it, this creature was clearly against Nature. Something wasn't right. It was clearly Rakshasa work, but even with the Rakshasa they had a limited window in being here. This monster was clearly on par with a Pillar or even greater.

He was forced to deal with it directly.

(Bang)(Bang)(Bang)(Bang) The Rakshasa got closer and closer, until it was just looming over him.

(Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr) A stream of bullets struck and ricocheted off its body. The tracers linking back to the Royal helicopter, which should've been off depositing the VIPs.

-What the hell?!- Whilst maintaining the chant, he pondered upon the reappearance of Kamran.

Looking up at the side door of the helicopter, he saw Arjun using the minigun to distract the Griffon.

*Whatever you're doing do it fast!* Ajay had no time to answer him as an interruption in the spell would have a terrible backlash.

(Brrrrrrrrrr)

The rounds bounced off its armoured feathers, causing no damage other than irritation. The Griffon leaped into the air and flapped its wings.

 **[REAAAAAHHHH!]**

(BOOM) The distant Havoc gunship fired another salvo of millimeter wave radar missiles at the Rakshasa to keep it on the ground. But the Griffon pulled through and flapped its wings on the spot faster.

It created a vortex that swirled around it, drawing debris up from the ground to whirl around its mini-hurricane. Kamran nearly lost control as he too was being sucked it, but managed to wrestle his chopper free with some skill and focused on stabilizing his aircraft as best he could.

Ajay enunciated the final hymn and stood up from the waters and pointed to the Rakshasa.

"My will is the mountains, my karma is the mantra… Banish all creation against nature." His voice was carried with the winds of the hurricane that the Rakshasa produced. All those in the area heard it as if it were a P.A. announcement.

"8th Demon Banishing Hex! Seal!"

The invisible lightning trailed towards the Rakshasa monster and struck it within its centre. The Griffon suddenly seized and dropped to the ground.

"Puucckk!" Ajay sustained significant internal damage from casting that spell, vomiting a fountain of blood into the water as well.

The Rakshasa rolled in agony before getting up in pain and turning once more towards Ajay. Now, it didn't care what other distractions were around. It could feel that its life string was nearly severed by this person, but he was just off by a certain level to completely seal and destroy it. Even so, it had sustained very critical damage internally that the healing factor was working vigorously to restore.

It stomped its feet, kicking off the ground and charging towards the fountain while he showed weakness.

*Get out of there!*

But Ajay seemed not to have heard as he stayed in that crouching posture. The Griffon charged on. And just when the opened beak of the Griffon dived down to grab hold of him. Ajay raised his concealed compound bow was string drawn and released an arrow into its mouth.

(BOOM) A muffled explosive detonated from within the Griffon and it fell clumsily into the statue that dominated the centre of the fountain. (splash) (sssssssssss)

Falling body into the fountain waters that begun to burn it all over, the Rakshasa could only groan in agony as it was too weak to get up in time.

Ajay had used the grapple to clear the area and his eyes meet with the Rakshasa that held both shock and terror in one widen look. In his hand was a remote detonator to 200 kilos of C4 laid around the circumference of the fountain.

"Bye-bye." (click)

(BOOOOOOOOM) Like a volcano had erupted from the central city square, an orange fireball blew upwards where the C4 had been carefully made to direct. And in its blasting pathway was the Griffon Rakshasa that disappeared into the fires.

 **[REEAAHHHhhh-…]** The shriek died down until there was absence.

The helicopters loitering in the distance closed in to clear the perimeter and evacuate the wounded civilians and law enforcement personnel while the skies were clear again.

*You did it! Boy!*

"We did it. (huff)."

*Hang tight while we come pick you up.* Arjun was already directing Kamran's movement.

He wasn't sure what happened to Dhir as there was no comment on him.

"You should've taken Dhir straight back."

*Leaving you here alone to fight this thing?*

"I had it under control."

*Yes, I'm sure you did.*

Ajay was in no mood to argue again with Arjun. What baffled him was why he came back here.

*We've dropped Dhir at the airfield to return by fixed-wing. The Marshal felt that it was safer than traveling by slower helicopter with this monster around.* Kamran disclosed why Dhir wasn't with them. But why they were really back here, Ajay didn't want to imagine that Arjun came back here to support him, it didn't match his personality.

Either way, the Royal helicopter came down in an approach to pick him up.

In truth, Ajay had no energy left to continue this venture of questioning Golden Paths actions here. He needed to mobilize a force to liberate Kumsa back for Surendra and bring Manendra in for questioning. He needed to know what his father was planning because it was in line with what Esha wanted. It meant that she wanted him to fight to gain control of the entire Himavana realm where the ancient lowland kingdom ruled. Fulfilling Wise Head's prophecy.

*Come, let's go home….. And we can talk about my daughter's future over dinner.*

At first, Ajay thought his hearing was off, but after Kamran reacted as well to prove that he was correct. Ajay broke into laughter because just moments ago he was against his interaction was Saraswati. The thought of him supporting an idea of discussion was out of character for someone as stubborn as the Rhino of Kyrat.

"….. Ok."

*Hey, can I come?* Kamran buggered in unusually.

*Why in the world?*

*I'm practically suited to be his best man!*

"*That's not decided yet.*" Both Ajay and Arjun answered in unison.

*You wound me, Badala. After all, those quick drop offs I've done for you.* He said in a joking manner.

"Huh! I thought that it was your job, and you didn't really care who you-." A shadow came out of the smoke of the devastated ground and swept down to where Kamran was descending.

(Crash) The shadow smashed his tail fuselage and sent him flying about in an uncontrolled crash landing pattern.

*Mayday! Mayday! (static).* (BOOOM) The helicopter spun and crashed into the buildings of the city square's perimetre. But Ajay was presented with another problem, he saw what the shadow was.

 **[REAAAAAAHHAAAAA!]** A blast of wind cleared the smoke and presented the aftermath of the powerful controlled explosion. Only giving an undesired unsatisfactory result, the Griffon was still standing.

* * *

Large graze marks tarnished its armoured body but other than that it was still standing and healing with difficulty. The dangerous combination of viscious "Blessed" water and a lot of high explosive had been very effective upon it.

Ajay rushed over to the downed helicopter to assert the outcome of Kamran and Arjun. The Havoc gunship noticed it was still standing so it strafed it with its limited supply of anti-armour missiles till someone could bring out heavier ordnance or come up with another plan.

But the Griffon seemed fixated on him specifically and waddled after him, and fell on the ground as it realized its left leg had been blasted so badly it barely resembled a leg. The only part of the Griffon that didn't seem to heal. Even so, it limped towards him no matter how slow it was.

"Kamran! Arjun!" He arrived at the crashed NH90 used as Pagan's personal helicopter.

"(cough) Ajay-…." Through the cracked glass cockpit, Kamran was bleeding badly.

"I'm here!"

"..It's coming…." He informed what was behind him.

"Where's Arjun?!"

"He-… in the back, knocked out."

The door was crushed in an awkward angle, preventing him from pushing it aside. He took out his kukri and smashed the joints to release the door entirely. (Thung) The passenger compartment door came falling down was a metal thump and Ajay entered the compartment in search of Arjun. As Kamran had said, he was unconscious against the harness of the seat. The door gunner had been crushed between the other door which the helicopter leaned on and was not so lucky to survive.

Ajay immediately grabbed hold of the Marshal and pulled him out of the wreckage.

"Ajay…. I think I'm stuck…."

"I'll be right with you!" He said dragging Arjun to the inside of a house and running over back to the chopper.

"No-…. Just take the Marshal and go….. I'll be right with you."

"I said I'm coming for you!"

The Rakshasa continued to limp his way. But all Ajay cared about was getting Kamran out, he reached the cockpit and wrenched the cockpit door out of the way and witnessed the real damage to Kamran from the crash.

"There's no escape for me….. Ajay." He said out of breath from his heavy breathing. His face was extremely pale as well from the loss of blood. And the loss of blood was from where he'd sustained that immobilization.

A beam from the helicopter's frame had pierced right through his thigh and pinned him into the helicopter. Ajay tested the integrity of the beam and if it was come free.

"AArrghhh!- Stop! Stop! No more!" Kamran was feeling too much pain from him moving the beam, so he switched over to breaking the lower portion of it.

(thang) (thang) He tried striking it with his kukri without much progress.

He put it away and used his bare hands, calling upon the demon's blood to tear the metal apart. And as he did so only render the metal sharper. The bent metal cut his palms through the gloves, but he persisted. Until blood poured from his hands.

"It's useless.."

"Shut up! Grrrrrrrghhh!"

He was trying to bend solid titanium alloy with the thickness of a soda can. He had considered chopping off Kamran's leg instead, but the point of entry was almost to his pelvic area meaning it was impossible to cut beyond killing him instantly.

"Goddamnit- break!" Who would have thought that the hardest metal meant to protect them during a crash had been the item that trapped its pilot instead. Damn those aircraft designers, he thought to himself.

"Ajay.."

"I'll get you out, I promise!" But Kamran knew there wasn't enough time.

 **[REEEAAHHH!]** Behind Ajay lit up orange as a trail of fire was sent just next to him and melted the houses. The Griffon spewed flames at him because it became complacent in limping towards him when Ajay made no indication of moving from his spot. Kamran was there to witness the flamethrower in all its glory, the house instantly caught fire and its wooden structure crackled where the flames ate the wood.

"….."

"Take Arjun and go." Ajay had no intention to leave him behind.

"….. Did you ever consider me a friend, Ajay?"

"What do you think I'm doing! Rgghh! Of course! Raargh! (thung) Rarrgh! (thung)." Giving up on bending be pulling and squeezing. Ajay attacked the metal beam repeatedly with his fists.

A hand reached out and grabbed him by the harness.

"Stop shaming my death and get the hell out! Or you'll be next!" Kamran shouted at the top of his lungs.

"As if I'll allow that! You said you wanted to come be my best man, right? Fine! Then be one! Live!"

Another stream of flame struck the tail of the Helicopter on their far right, but showed that their location was being zeroed in by the Griffin.

"Ajay-."

"I'm tired, Kamran! I'm not losing another friend to this Rakshasa bastards!"

Another hand grabbed hold of his arm as it retracted to slam the beam again, a bleeding hand that showed Kamran that Ajay truly wanted to free him with everything he had.

"Hey man, it's ok. It's alright, Ajay….. I'll stick with you one way or another." Despite the despair of his situation, Kamran gave him the most meaningful smile he could muster. He said one last thing to Ajay just as the Rakshasa spewed flames their way. And then pushed Ajay aside with all the force he could muster into saving him from the same fate as him.

"Gurrgh!" Ajay went skidding against the floor as the flames struck downwards and engulfed the entire chopper.

Ajay recovered and stared at the cockpit area where Kamran had been only to find it occupied by flames that were burning out of the cabin. His mind reeled as he recalled Kamran's last words.

-As long as one of us lives, our legacies, our stories will pass on. Remember me. Ajay.-

 **[REAAAHHHHAAAA!]**

The Griffon shrieked in triumph as it annihilated another one of his companions that its true enemy seemed to value. It turned from Ajay lying on the ground towards its handiwork for a moment to bask in its glory since its rebirth as the apex of Rakshasa. Then turned back to finish off its helpless prey that it was dying to finish off slowly. There was one problem, however when it turned back….

Ajay wasn't there.

(BANG) **[RREAAAAAAAA!?]**

It shrieked in a combination of surprise and formidable agony as an inhuman force struck it right in the breast and hammered its entire body into the ground from just the yield of the strike alone. And yet, as it looked around with its incredible reflexes, it could not see nor detect what had struck it without its knowledge.

(BANG) As the second strike from the unknown assailant was delivered, in came a terrifying aura was cast over the circumference of the city square. In an instant, all the flames that had been sent by the Griffon were extinguished and a sphere of crimson sky engulfed the local area painting the sky blood red. The fountain that had contained Ajay's blood and the metal around which cut himself on blazed with a blackened immaterial flame.

(Crash) The Rakshasa codenamed "Griffon" fell on its back after receiving the follow-up strike to its beak. The Rakshasa shrieked in an untellable agony, its brilliantly shiny armoured feathers in the areas it was hit had fractured to the point that the blemish would never be restored. The Rakshasa could not recover from these hits and it increased the daunting feeling of death that had matured way before it had been reborn.

It could not see its assailant, it could not sense its assailant. But it felt its rage, its instincts told it that it was going to be crushed by this force that had entered the field. It turned to face the assailant based on its instinctual sixth sense of imminent death. And its orbs fell upon a figure that looked like its true enemy, yet did not sense like him. Engulfed in a black viscous flame that felt like an enormous well-spring of Prana was used to fuel its voracious appetite.

The expression of the individual held no pain, no remorse, no rage, an emotionless face. Yet, it bled off an insatiable Anger.

The Rakshasa had felt this emotion before, somewhere in its former life. But could not draw out that memory quick enough. A memory imprinted into all descendants of man born within the Mountain and Valley. For the one that created this memory was built out of pure dread and terror cast upon humanity in its prime. This feeling of absolute fear…

What it sensed was the embodiment of Yalung.

* * *

Author's Notes:

Anyone still remember when the Goat declared his vision? Back in Chp 6 in the very beginning, such a long time ago. Oh Boy.

Author's Thoughts:

On the Kyrati Banashuri clergy:

...

Heresy! Heresy everywhere!

\- Lord Inquisitor Fyodor Karamazov (If the Emperor had text to...)


	135. Chapter 123 - Son of the Mountain

Author's Notes:

Experimental Super long chapter. Three times normal size. Just seeing how it feels that's all.

* * *

(BANG) Another vacuum struck the Rakshasa square in the centre, only this time it was harder. Armoured feathers were blasted apart revealing the softer inner flesh also made out of an unearthly metal.

 **[REEEAAAHAAAAA!]** It wasn't able to see the strike even as the attacker was standing perfectly still in front of it. Following the hit was the sonic boom of the strike sounding off only after a time delay, until there was nothing louder than these hits. People stopped what they were doing as they heard a sound of metal being banged followed by an agonizing inhuman shriek. The Rakshasa sent out a fury of metal feather projectiles at random, hoping to hit something but scored no hits.

Arjun had woken up to find himself inside of a burnt house instead of the chopper which had crashed. The loud bangs had stirred him from unconsciousness and he peered out of the charred window. There he saw the source of the racket.

The Rakshasa monster which had still not been killed by that trap explosive was being pummeled by a shadow. It transitioned to casting its flaming breath indiscriminately for area of effect to hit his untraceable attacker. He also noticed the unfamiliarity of the blood red sky that covered the area, he looked for both Ajay and Kamran back at the charred helicopter but only found the remains of a burnt body in the pilot's seat where Kamran used to fly from. Ajay was nowhere in sight.

(BANG) Arjun watched a black flaming figure attack the Rakshasa in a relentless melee assault and wondered if he could be thinking and seeing wrongly.

(crash) As the Rakshasa tried to fly away, another hit dropped it to the ground, slamming into a crater carved from the impact of that formidable force that struck it. A shadow phased between Arjun's sight and where the Rakshasa had crashed.

Arjun carefully peered at the figure to make out the appearance and in his shock, he found behind the translucent black flames was the uniform worn by Badala.

The figure of Badala appeared over the Rakshasa in a single blink of an eye. Stepping over its body laying to the side gasping in pain, oozing with blood from its wounds. Staring down into the orb for an eye that looked up in terror.

"How did it feel to be above everyone? How does it feel to have be beneath someone?" Cold words were spoken to it, whether it understood human language or not, he didn't care.

A hand reached down and pushed the Rakshasa against the gravel, causing the earth to shatter under the already humongous Rakshasa Griffon.

(crack) The harder he pushed down, the more the armoured body of it began to crack and damage it further than any weapon had.

 **[IEEEEEEEEEEEE!]** The Rakshasa cried out in a genuine agony unlike before.

The hand of its aggressor dragged its wing and body against the pavement before tossing it up into the air. And at the same time- (rip) (gush) Tore the metallic wing off it as the rest of the body flew towards Garud Durbar and created a long trail of blue-purplish blood.

(BOOOM) (crumbled) Smashing upon the roof.

The embodiment of Yalung tossed the wing casually aside and kicked off the ground under him which created an instant crater from the amount of force that was applied. In an instant he flew in the air and landed hard onto the tiled roof of the palace near the Rakshasa.

The red domain was carried with him, emulating only around where he stood. From one of the many panicked civilians' perspective, there was no red sky unless he were in its range. But those inside suddenly experience a terrifying projection of a blood red sky that horrified them.

The Rakshasa lifted its head as if beaten so badly that it could not walk again, he approached the Griffon step by step at his own pace.

(Swipe) Seeing its chance, the Rakshasa ended its feint and swept its tail horizontally to smash him.

(Slash)(Crush) A vacuum slash decapitated the tail portion and rendered it without another limb again.

 **[IIEEEEERRAAAAAAAHH!]**

It used its remaining wing to attack with everything it had, but at this point it was just desperate to keep him from it.

He leaped directly above it and shot out a clenched fist, containing forces that transcended human and inhuman limits. What Purushartha knew during his encounter as the Paragon Fist.

Flattening the Rakshasa Griffon against the tiled roof which could surprisingly hold both its weight and their heavy blows.

Staring down at the Rakshasa, about to finish it off. A sudden build up of stormclouds and ethereal presence gathered over the Capital City of Papir. Lightning instantly danced around from the instant megastorm that materialized.

The Natural Law of the mountains had come once again to judge those upon it.

The one that it had come to destroy for exceeding the natural limit was none other than the Embodiment of Yalung himself. Lightning struck down in a chain of powerful lashes from above, striking the roof of Garud Durbar without regard. And yet, it did not strike him despite standing close to another being that should have been against nature. In fact, it deliberately avoided striking near the Rakshasa at all costs. The Embodiment of Yalung was no fool to the Tribulation Lightnings intent, since the beginning of his onesided pummeling of the Rakshasa he had observed the nature of the Rakshasa. It had no obvious Karma to the Rakshasa kind despite its current form, but within it where the heart of its host was. There was an incredible destiny, this providence was what the Tribulation Lightning could not smite.

For if it did, it would not have the right to exist for destroying one with such a fate to the Mountains. The Embodiment of Yalung was unaware of that importance, he however learnt something else. That the soul pattern was similarity identical to that of an old deceased adversary, it matched that of Sabal.

Here he was escaping death in another form, giving up humanity to live on. Another disdainful act that the Embodiment of Yalung loathed. But there were more pressing concerns for him at the moment. For the embodiment of Yalung felt his power waning, the Karma it chose to burn was less than when he'd sacrificed the childhood memories of Ajay Ghale.

The Karma of a friend named Kamran.

Against his final wish, Ajay Ghale had given up his karma to Kamran. His encounters with the helicopter pilot had been almost inconspicuous, yet the importance of Kamran's abilities to bring him to battlefields quicker than any other was a deciding factor of victory. So it was Kamran's contribution to the turning points that defined the fate of Kyrat and in turn the strength of Karma sown between him and Ajay. The Embodiment of Yalung basked in one of the last few memorable moments as it was about to shatter and burn.

A memory of Ajay and Kamran in the carpool of the Palace having themselves a smoke break. Kamran shared a thought of his wish in Kyrat. That there would be more pilots like him to fly and compete against. He chose the life of a helicopter pilot because he could be free of burden in the sky and he could go wherever he wanted.

"Would be nice to have a race."

"I thought you didn't like competition for airspace."

"Yeah. But at least it ain't as lonely as before. If there were more people in the skies, I'd still be at the top. I'd let them know that these are Kamran's skies."

This memory entered the voracious appetite of the demon as it kept his state rolling. The Embodiment of Yalung's fury reached new heights. The tribulation lightning would judge a fragment of Yalung that exceeded natural boundary, himself. That was fine by him. But it wouldn't kill this bastardized version of a mixed entity that Sabal had chosen to exist as even when he'd taken the futures of others within the bounds of nature. Those with amazing destinies ahead of them like Kamran and Kamala.

The Tribulation Lightning and Natural Law were frauds! They weren't justice, they weren't fair! They were biase unrelenting tyrants! The Natural Law wasn't protecting the inhabitants of its domain.

It was oppressing them.

The angrier he became, the greater the concentration of Blacken flame grew. The more fuel he burnt and in turn, Prana and Karma. The tribulation lightning could feel the burning presence even greater than before, it did not hesitate to destroy him and struck down with its mightiest blow. But he did not want to banish its existence as he had before. It would only reappear when he chose to release all restraints once again. Continually reminding him these was a heaven over his head and a god he should be fearing.

The Embodiment of Yalung wanted to put the Natural Law in this place. In a way that it understood that it was no longer in the boundary to suppress him.

"8th Demon Banishing Hex. Seal!" Called out without the complete enunciations, a powerful banishing spell struck not the Tribulation Lightning, but the Rakshasa.

Freezing it in place, helpless to everything. He reached down, grabbing hold of the Rakshasa's remaining limb and tossed it into the air towards the incoming bolt of lightning. The lightning bolt saw what he had done and tried to divert itself away from the one with the powerful fate no matter what form it took.

He pointed to the sky between where the Tribulation Lightning tired to avoid the Griffon and shouted out-.

"4th Demon Banishing Hex, Karmic Severing!" Again, without the complete spell being enunciated, the karmic blade flew true to its target with the intent to sever.

The Tribulation Lightning was astounded by his actions and unsure of the intent, as the Rakshasa clearly had no Karma which could be severed. But then, the immaterial Karmic blade passed through the Rakshasa and went for its true target.

The Tribulation Lightning.

* * *

Hitting the bolt and causing it to distort slightly. But it did not sever the Karma between the Tribulation Lightning and the Embodiment of Yalung as one would have expected. It severed the Lightnings Karma to the Rakshasa. Its belief in the host's destiny and its vow not to strike any semblance to the Son of the Mountain.

The Tribulation Lightning now saw what the Embodiment of Yalung had done to it in such a cunning way. With no restraint to hold it back, the tribulation lighting followed its default nature. To destroy all against Nature. And that included the Rakshasa in the form of a mighty Garuda before it.

Seeing an imminent danger, the Rakshasa flapped its remaining wing to try and get clear of the Tribulation Lightning's wrath. That's when he punched out his hand and sent the Paragon Fist technique. A vacuum resembling his fist fired off at the Rakshasa, slamming it towards the Lightning with greated momentum.

(BOOOOM) Contact between the lightning and the body of the Rakshasa Griffon created a blinding light that resembled a second sun.

 **[IEEEEEEHHAAAA!]** Screamed the Rakshasa Griffon, bellowing a death cry.

The Rakshasa was burning to the Tribulation Lightning power that was meant to kill the Embodiment of Yalung. Its armoured scale-like feathers turned to a crisp and broke off brittely as ash from a dying fireplace. Leaving its charred featherless body to rough the remaining elements of the Tribulation Lightning that had not finished. Even when it was reluntant to smite it, the laws of the Tribulation Lightnings nature was absolute.

The Lightning of Natural Law gazed down at the Embodiment of Yalung and remembered its appearance, for it knew that the encounters with this demon were far from over. A new thread had formed a link between the Tribulation Lightning and the Embodiment of Yalung, a thread of Karma.

When the lightning had depleted, the stormclouds dispelled and returned the sunshine to the City. Levitated in the air as it received its unjustly punishment, the cracking form of the Rakshasa dropped to the roof. Much of its charred remains gave way and vanished in the winds.

"Huh! No! NOOO!" Roared the black-sotted figure of a man that emerged from the ball of ashes that were the remains of the powerful form, staring at his form in disbelief.

"One should be content that you even recovered a human appearance even after that deal with the devil."

Sabal shuddered as he turned to the burning entity who was talking to him. He was aware throughout his rebirth which could not have been called one if he reverted back to a human and a live on at that. But to think that Ajay Ghale was a genuine fragment of the Devil known as Yalung, the way he fought and the way he called upon these godlike powers. There was no mistake.

Ajay Ghale was a Son of Yalung. An existence that made the Mountain and Valley tremble.

"No…. Please-…"

The Embodiment of Yalung closed the distance in a flash without him even blinking and wrapped his hand around his arm and yanked ever so slightly.

(Rip) Tearing his arm clean off.

"AHHHHHAA!" Sabal screamed into the skies, echoing throughout the city.

"That was for Kamala." (Rip)

"AAAAAAAAHHH!" Another hand was ripped off.

"That was for Kamran." (Crunch) A powerful kick smashed the leg of Sabal and turned into a bleeding mess. He'd lost his ability to scream from the mounting pain. Falling against the tiles of the roof with an expression of great agony.

"This is for Lanka."

A hand jabbed down and dug into his last remaining leg from the thigh. The embodiment of Yalung swiped his hand and tore off the last of Sabal's limbs. "aaahhahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-….." A silent scream emerged from his mouth, yet Sabal was still alive where others hand simply died from shock. His will to survive was stronger than anyone else.

"And this is for all the lives you used as a stepping stone." Even after the cruel act of severing his limbs till he was nothing more than a limbless handicap, the Embodiment of Yalung's anger could not be sated nor reeled in.

From his new comprehension through the Demon and understanding of the essence through the Demon Banishers' scripts. He was able to discern that Sabal represented the morning star of the lands. What was oftened called the Son of the Mountains, there had only been two other entities that bore than name. One was Rakshasa King Ishaan, the former King of the Mountains. The other was his usurper Eternal Heaven. Making Sabal equivalent to the "chosen one".

For this, the Mountain and valley's natural law would allow this monster to hurt its own people. He was not going to stand by and let that happen. He wanted to know, even with this knowledge, what was it that defined a Son of the Mountain.

The Embodiment picked up the bloody heap that was Sabal, struggling with every breath and helpless to his raising of him. The embodiment of Yalung glazed with amber irises into the frightened eyes of the Son of the Mountain.

"You forced this upon me. I paid a nasty price to render you in this form, so in return….."

Terror gripped and overwhelmed his own anger of Ajay Ghale or his pathetic state, all that mattered is that he would live. But this demon would never allow that to happen again. He would kill him again, and make sure that he wouldn't have a soul to recover or revive once more.

"Let me devour you!" Before any response was given, the embodiment sunk his tear into his neck. Tearing out chunks of meat that added agony over and over, the Embodiment continued to gouge out flesh and devour it in a way that no meat was left. The embodiment didn't care if it was inhumane nor if he was seen doing it. He would make sure that not a scrap of Sabal would be left.

While being devoured, the blackened flames of his body lashed out and crisped Sabal's flesh till it was white, the victim himself had his eyes turned up in white feeling more pain than ever before.

But in his pain and waking moments of death eternal, an ancient memory unlocked within him. A memory of a past life, rushing into his thoughts clouded in pain. Mixing with his current experiences and life as Sabal, he realized all that had been happening in the background.

-So that was it! ESHAAAAAA! You are disgusting deceitful whore! I curse you and the Rakshasa! The day you enter Shangri-la will be the day of a repeating nightmare! He will stop him! He wouldn't let you take his kingdom from him!... HE WILL STOP YOU!- Sabal roared in his mind in hopes that the one he cursed would hear.

For through these past life memories, Sabal realized the significance of his birth. He was a Son of the Mountains, the most blessed of all creation under the Mountain and Valley. Second to none but the King of the Mountains himself. He was in fact an equivalent to a crown prince, and the mountain his throne in time to come. The Tarun Matara, his vessel to cultivate and achieve a higher plane to stand on equal ground to the Lord of the Mountain himself and succeed him. That was the purpose of those maidens for generations.

But that was not all he saw, he witnessed a vision of a reality where Ajay Ghale had been aiding them, the Golden Path against Pagan instead. The terror of Kyrat used against the forces he fought alongside. Destroying everything in his way, wiping every obstacle that stood between him and his ally Sabal. De Pleur, Noore, Yuma, even Amita and finally Pagan. And so what happened in the end? That version of him turned on Ajay Ghale at his most vulnerable and claimed it all. He won.

It was at these images and the speed of his mind processing due to the closing curtains of death that he suddenly came to an epiphany.

That version of Ajay was this one.

The resentment of Ajay against him, his distrust of Golden Path, his allegiance to Pagan and his knowledge of Kyrat all confirmed it. And by coming here, he'd taken everything away from him in revenge.

A cold dark laughter rung in his head in a more diabolical tone than before when he ascended to that freak form of the Rakshasa. When he was still ignorant.

 _-Now you know the gravity of the circumstance, Son of the Mountain. Your despair is equal to "his" despair. He will take everything from you too, Eternal! Just as you did before, the cycle shall be complete! That Karma may never be erased so long as it has yet to be repaid. The seers have already foretold, Eternal Heaven fears the Asura!-_ Her voice spoke to both Sabal and the other one.

 _ **[Yet he relishes the Demon.]**_

An eternal ethereal voice from the depths of Sabal's waning mind answered back by completing the prophecy. Implying that their war had not ended, and there was still a possibility of reverse fortune. It had happened before when they failed to save Kalinag from becoming the Demon.

Sabal knew that he was done, there was nothing that he could do at this point. Only hope that the voice that had answered would at least do one thing for him.

-My lord….whoever you are… Make him suffer…..- The last of Sabal's conscious mind amidst the devouring faded, his soul and body had taken too much damage beyond repair. A consequence of the Embodiment of Yalung tearing out and beginning to eat his heart, where the richest blood existed, and the purest memories were stored. By doing so, the embodiment of Yalung also absorbed the memories of Sabal past and present via Blood read. Sabal was truly dead.

The embodiment of Yalung sensed the presence of Sabal's soul devoured and destroyed, there was nothing left of the body worth salvaging. He also felt the presence of the demon's power fading, the last of the Karma was burning to its very end. He reverted back to his human state, as Ajay Ghale. Filled with exhaustion and burning muscle fibres from overworking.

Ajay could barely get up and felt his consciousness fading slowly. But he hung on, he still had one more thing to do before he could close his eyes easy. Taking out the knife, he cut his arm and engraved upon it the initials of a name.

Taking satisfaction that the next time he woke, something could remain even when he couldn't remember.

(plop) Ajay finally hit the deck of the roof and went into unconsciousness.

By the time the authorities came to retrieve him, the civil unrest would have been qwelled and actions taken to aid Papir Republic in its active recovery. Among other concerns.

Such as a religious unheaval.

* * *

…

….

Battles raged on throughout the mountain and valley, there was no peace to be found anywhere. Because no one was at peace, all were bent on vanquishing the tyrant King and liberating the Crown Prince of the Yakshas' bride-to-be. Stolen at the last moments of the nuptials, he charged in on his own and shrew the bride's parents, fought and wounded the Yaksha King and diminished a bulk of the Yaksha warrior ranks singlehandedly.

They were justice, they were the alliance of man, Vanara and Yaksha. But the road towards freeing Princess Esha of Jalendu lay in defeating all four Pillars of Akaash. The Western Gate Army fought the Vanara. The South Gate Army led by Purushartha fought the dreaded Demon Banisher Order as the Humans' vanguard. The Eastern Gate Army had the pleasure of fighting the Yaksha head-on, the bastards that coerced the inhabitants of the Mountain and Valley into confronting the Rakshasa.

Ishaan trusted his most loyal friend and General to show the Yaksha their place. Even if they could not withstand the assault, the Northern Gate Army still stayed in reserve. Commander by the King's youngest sibling.

The biggest battle was waged in the lushest forests to the West where mountains of the Himalayas lay, inhabited by all manners of creatures, with fruit and berries ever so bountiful. It had also provided the Vanara sufficient protection against mounted units forcing their infantry to face the powerful Vanara warriors in hand-to-hand, one on one. Due to the confines and denseness of the forest.

"Burn that forest, let the apes decide whether to stay hidden and die or come out an die." The dispatch to Narmada saluted and left to inform his Commander of his orders.

"Now all will know, how precious the Princess truly is." The Regent of Akaash lamented.

"To us."

"Only if we reign, however this alliance has struck a nail in the keystone. They know that this forced situation where we rule can be undone. If this alliance falls then another will rise, and so on and so on."

"That is for the future."

"Our former liege, the old King. He made the error of believing we could speak of peace, even equal terms with these treacherous parasites!"

"Lord Rakshasa is never wrong. If indeed it was a mistake, then our presence here too is one." The King still remembered to call him respectfully as the liege of the Rakshasa, retired or not.

"Order will eventually return as it always does." He affirmed to the Lord Regent.

"Only if they are put in their place." But the Lord Regent would not back out.

"Why do you not call upon the Mountains to smite them instead of sending good lives to waste on the battlefield?"

"They came looking for a fight, we will answer them with the same."

"Then why did you depend on the Mountains to rescue Esha? Why did you smite Lord Yaksha, slaughter his companions and kill her father and mother?"

But the King remained silent.

"I can never understand you! Why do you insist on traditional ways? They are animals, slaughter them as they are!"

"And prove them right?!" The King shouted back.

"What do you think they want? To be righteous in their cause! I will not have them in the right!" The King walked up to whispering distance of the Lord Regent as this war council.

"I am ashamed to have even heard this from you, esteemed father."

"How can you even say of such? They stole our daughter, your sister from our own city and forced her into marriage! Those two ingrates that ran and left their child in our hands to kill in their place! Then, they stole her again to sell her for their advancement! If that is not behavior of animals than what is?! Would the Mountain and Valley tolerate such parasites?!"

"I am the Mountain and Valley! What matters deciding their end fate is mine and mine alone!" Roared the King once more, his father the Lord Regent was taking this matter too personally. Esha was after all his precious daughter, adopted or not. The Lord Regent finally stepped back.

"I am King of the Mountains, Royal Father. While there are subjects under the protection of these mountains, this includes them. Then I will act as a King would."

"You are naïve…" His father mumbled away not believing in his ideal. His father, the Lord Regent was a firm believer in Rakshasa Supermacy over the Mountain and Valley. Was it not the Lord Deva who built it for them to begin with?

"You have a daughter to attend to, see to it." The King dismissed him with that answer. The Lord Regent shook his head and mumbled in frustration. His own son had the power to destroy them at a flick of a finger and he does not. What more could displease him?

He was a decorated war hero himself, a battlefield terror, but not magnanimous in victory as the Old King noted. The former General of the East Gate always despised the Yaksha in all their vanity. Now too old to fight out in the front, he gave his advice based on his experience and left. He passed a glance at the young General next to him, also of his blood, before departing.

"Maybe esteemed father is right. These Yaksha are so bold they would break the age old pact."

"Are we better than them? Brother?"

"Are we?" the King chuckled at his answer.

"Not sure yourself, how can you call yourself Lord Father's son?" The King said laughing in a friendly and casual way to his younger brother.

"Alright, we are better." He answered.

"Then we should show them we are. If there is no one left, then who would we affirm this to?"

"….." The King rested his hand on the North Gate General's shoulders.

"No one wants to be wrong, but there need not be only one right. We will work together one day."

"Who would work together with us?" His brother answer half-believing it was possible.

"I have a feeling, man."

"Man?" He instantly broke into laughter.

"The lowest of them all, were it not for those vile Demon Banishers they would be nothing. Their mortality is lesser than my coming of age trial."

It was easy to look down on man, the weakest of the Gods creation yet favoured most. Time and history had proven so.

"Yet, they have progressed this far on their own. The lower valleys reign cities of theirs appear in the blink of an eye. They achieve so much in such short lifespans. Truly, if we were the same, we might not show the same brilliance." It was weird to hear the Mightiest King under the mountains praise the weakest of the inhabitants.

"Humanity has a fickle nature."

"Then, we should teach them a nature they can accept wholeheartedly, guide them in a likeminded path. Their journey here was for Shangri-la after all, was it not?"

"(Sigh) If you love them so much, why not marry one of them?" It was merely a jest on his part, but the King decided to play along.

"If it would make them realize we stand on equal ground."

"Do not joke around! You would break Esha's heart!" He said in a stern manner, he knew his sister's feeligns better than any. Even their brother the King.

"So I should be a king without consort then?" He said smiling.

The Northern Gate General could not answer, it was a king's duty to continue his line after all.

"Why did you not take her as one?" It was a question that rung in everyone's mind. They knew his affection for her was the strongest of all, if not he would not have done what he did to Jalendu.

"You ask quite the obvious question."

"What is it then?"

"I have never once seen Esha as not family." The barrier of moral that he placed between them, because he was her brother and she was his sister. His brother understood it was because that was their relation since the beginning.

"Even if she happily would not refuse, I cannot take myself away as a brother who loves her to become a husband that loves her." The General of the North Gate had no choice but to agree, no sibling should become spouse. Or the foundation which civilization was built upon would fall. Perhaps if civilization and society were different then it would be in another reality, but this was this reality.

Even so, the General of the Northern Gate felt that no crueler fate had befallen them. A fate even of their own choosing.

"However, I will not take any consort before her, so I will take none."

"You cannot, Brother!" He knew that a king had a duty.

"I am the King of the Mountain, brother. I may do as I please until I am no longer King. When the time comes, I hope the Mountain and Valley will pick another young and brave warrior to wield this and led our kind forward." He patted the sword in his sheath.

"Urgent report!" A limping dispatch with a blood trailing behind him knelt before them gasping.

Bearing the flag of the Southern Gate Army.

"What has happened?"

"The Yaksha attack Lord South Gate and after pincering him with the aid of the apes!"

"Some managed to slip past the Eastern Army, did they?" The King nodded for his brother to move in to aid the Southern Army.

"M- My Liege!-." But the dispatch seemed to have more bad news, or he would not be hesistating to tell it.

"Speak!" His brother demanded.

"Th- The Eastern Gate Army-… They-….. They aid the Yaksha!"

Not even the King could hide his disbelief. The unexpected had occurred, where not any General had turncoated but, he had. His closest companion and ally throughout his campaigns, his brother by bond.

"Lord East Gate has betrayed us."

….

….

* * *

 _ **[From now until the end, you shall be Son of the Mountain]**_

…

…

His awakening was slow but without ailment. He found himself in a rather comfortable bed, judging from the layout and design of the room he was in a medical facility. He looked under the sheets, he was still in his tattered armour. Worn by the formidable power unleashed upon a certain individual.

It meant that he had no injuries they needed to treat, just a cot to give him a place to rest up. Climbing out of the bed was not issue, he wondered if he was still in Papir or back in Kyrat.

Ajay flexed his arms and legs to make sure his body was ok, he also did a check of his mind. By browsing through the diary of his, that's when the memories of the event that transpired hit him. This included the stolen memories of Sabal.

"Son of the Mountain….."

The ambiguous title given by the Priest of Jalendu to the Rajput family, a title confirmed by Esha and his own understanding of the occult. Sabal's fate had been predestined, to lead Kyrat. Or so the priests were made to believe from divinitations. His role in Kyrat was just as prominent as the Tarun Matara. And Sabal was aware of this lineage. Which implied the reason the former Sabal in his last reality tried to kill him was because he was a potential obstacle in his rule. Ajay felt that he'd truly let down everyone in that reality including himself, he created his own nightmare.

The Son of the Mountains had the qualification to become the King of the Mountains, effectively the ruler and the one who controls the Mountain and Valley and its natural law. That was why the Tribulation Lightning dared not strike Sabal, but it had not expected the power of the Demon Banishing Hex, a strand of an equally powerful Astra of Yama to disable it. Fueled by Yalung's fragment putting it on par or even greater.

There was some kind of invisible war going on between the ruler of the Mountain and Esha. They were playing cards against one another or building up trumps, and his people were being caught in this crossfire.

Ajay looked down at an itch on his arm. The door opened and in came Kyrats highest ranking officer.

"Marshal."

"Badala…" Arjun walked over and sat on one of the chairs on the side of the bed with he'd risen from. Staring at him whilst Ajay checked himself and equipment.

"How are you?"

"I'm fine."

It was clear to see that he was, Arjun was here for another reason.

"What was that?"

"What day is it?" Ajay asked instead of answering his question.

"The 11th November." It was next morning.

"What's the situation with the City?"

"That can all wait, I want answers first. So tell me, what in the world was that?"

"I won't have a clue what you're saying if we don't follow the same picture."

"How did you beat that monster?" Hearing this from Arjun, Ajay laughed freely at his expense.

"Monster? I thought the Marshal of Kyrat only acknowledged one monster sitting before him now."

It silenced Arjun in the most awkward of situations.

"… It was my fault to judge and distrust…. I'm sorry." He said in the most humble and sincere of apologies.

"Apology accepted."

"So will you tell me what that was and how did you do what you did?"

Ajay rubbed his chin, to be honest he had not indulged Arjun on these matters of occult precisely because it would be detrimental to his focus in managing the Army. He was running it and could ill afford to micro-manage.

But Ajay figured that this far, he shouldn't keep Arjun in the dark or he would ill prepare the troops to the actual calamity. So he revealed the existence of the Rakshasa, their purpose and collaboration with Golden Path, the Ressurection of Mohan and the new nature of the Golden Path. He also told Arjun about his own nature, a fragment of Yalung.

Arjun was greatly stricken by the truth that was told by Ajay, the incident today had supported it. But to have affiliation to the Demon God that everyone knew, it worried Arjun more than before. The folklore was told to him as a child and it ingrained into his thoughts that Yalung was a Devil through and through. But Ajay completed one secret that undid all of these thoughts.

He told him of how Kyrats greatest hero of legend was also the Demon God or became one. When Ajay had finished his story he walked to the door and left Arjun to ponder and absorb what he'd learnt today.

"When I return to the Royal Fortress, meet me at Yakshini's Peak complex. I've something to show you."

He stopped at the door as he remembered something.

"Do you know anyone by this name?" He held out his arm with sleeves folded to show him a name inscribed on it with a knife.

Arjun casted a look of disbelief on him.

"If you could do me a favour, will you find his family and tell them for me that Badala remembers Kamran?" Ajay said with a smile before leaving a stunned Arjun.

And so, Ajay wandered out into what appeared to be Sagarmatha Airbase, he was back in Kyrat. Nearly three days had passed since the battle of point 2153, what was now being called the North Valley Invasion. On international news, this was a Bay of Pigs-like invasion sponsored by the CIA that ended in tragedy for the US forces involved. Including one freak detonation of a nuclear device upon a Carrier Strike Group. Officially, they had bumped into the exercise forces of Russian, India and the Himavana Alliance and engaged them. Questions were being raised why the US forces were there without declaration and the use of active military force to invade the less-known state of Kyrat. The US government was faced with a deadlock and eliminated from the playing field in Central Asia due to Pakistan removing rights to bases in their lands. UN could not protect them as they went against every principle it stood for, having no choice but to condemn its own Permanent Security Council member. The Russians were clearly relishing the feeling, the Chinese watched as the avoided a possible disaster themselves.

But for how long before the United States acted in their new approach, an approach of even greater military might. They were the most powerful force on the planet, that title couldn't be stepped upon by an insignificant military power and one dictator. Ajay just needed to show them the error of their ways. Was it possible to survive US intervention? Present history proved it was all a matter of powerful friends, military might, and international and local appeal. Cuba prevailed in the '60s, Vietnam repelled US and the pro-American forces, the ongoing urban battles in Iraq and Syria showed a stubborn resistance that said they would not yield to foreign powers. If Kyrat and the Himavanas didn't fight for theirs, they would be pushed around and forced into a state of sub-servience.

He needed to commit one more act to show that no treaty could save them, could stop him from doing what he would do and they'd better stay away from the Himavanas. He had to show that attempts to exploit them would result in consequence that even International pressure could not save them from. He was the Demon of the Himalayas, he fully embraced that fact. But he would have them do the same as well.

Arriving at the Air Command Centre where the Chief of Air Force was filling away his reports. When he was seen by the staff officers, they gathered the relevant documents to the table for him to process. Ajay browsed swiftly through the papers provided to him and got a better understanding of the picture.

The commanders of the operation were awaiting his instructions. Ajay put down the final report and they became eager to hear from him.

"I won't be able to partake, I have another business to sort with our domestic enemy." Was not to their expectation from. It honestly worried them to not have him at their mens' side fighting.

"Sir, I do not want to discount this but if you aren't with them-." Rohan wanted to dissuade him from attending to other affairs.

"I won't let them go alone. I'm leaving all three Kshatriyan Lords to accompany the ground forces."

The officers discussed this change in strategy by means of switching out strategic figures. The absence of Badala at their mens side where his presence often associated with victory was a huge favor.

"Vasu will accompany 6th Mechanized to link up with YLA Republican Guard at the border. Han Feng will stand by with Lieutenant Colonel Nagash for the paradrop to neutralize their Airbase. Jeevan will go one day in advance to establish contact with the local resistance." They agreed that having those three would be an asset, from the reports they heard about their feats.

"Jason Brody- no. Snow White will storm the US embassy and capture its ambassador." The staff broke into protest.

"This will be a test to Brody to prove himself to the Army. I'll have a group survey him."

"My lord what if he rebels, he is after all an American. He could disclose sensitive information all together and no one could stop him." Their fears were justified, but Jason would do no such thing. He would ever be unable to go through with it or he would do it. Because Ajay had a link to Jason, he could tell when he was up to no good and before he could lay a hand on one of Ajay's men. Ajay would sever his Karmic thread and kill him instantly.

"Jason brody won't, on this I'll swear to you. He'll die before he even thinks of turning his gun towards our soldiers. I have an assurance."

"My lord, if I may. How sure are we the Chinese won't act in favour of their allies?" Another officer asked.

"I've already had a side deal with them, they won't act and they'll even persuade their friends not to interfere. Whether that advice follows through is another matter entirely." That underhand deal, he was honestly not surprised. The Chinese were a voracious and ambitious lot, if not for the stubbornness of Indian military might, they might've continued their expansion throughout the Himalayas besides Tibet.

But beyond forced friendships, there was one thing that the Beijing wouldn't mind. Which was another party punishing the United States and Western powers in particular. The Chinese might be friendly on the surface to the Western world but it still held animosity for events like the Boxer Rebellion, similarly it resented Japan for Nanjing. It may have been ancient history, but they never forget deeds, good or bad. When they reached a state of power to rival the West, they would strike back and make them feel the same despair their ancestors felt long ago. The sweetener to their deal? Ajay handed them full custody to the wreckage of Aurora. Thirty years old, it still held basic roots to stealth and advance aviation technology that wasn't available to the Chinese. For a Hypersonic stealth bomber was a strategic asset they couldn't turn down. Kyrat had no use for it with their level of aviation industry amounting to zero. However, this still didn't make them friends. Beijing respected that and would think twice about an invasion of Yinke in future.

Ajay observed his officers' expressions for doubt, there could be none for this sort of mission.

"Sir, to clarify. Are we not taking prisoners? Does this not go against human right?" Ajay smiled, but the officers got a more dreadful impression which was not his intention.

"I'm glad that you still ask that, Major. But we are at war with United States….. War. The pleasantries of sympathy and humanity only come after a peace treaty. We've not received word from any embassador, so its safe to assume Washington still wants to continue where we left off."

"…"

"But if you want to take prisoners, then I'm fine with that." He said to the officer with a moral conscience.

"Sir?"

"What war has no spoils? If any of those Americans surrender, you're free to take them back as… well, spoils of war." They were shocked to hear him say that, their magnanimous and righteous lord was insinuating the legality of slavery.

"Sir, I must protest. No democracy-."

"No democracy? Have you ever read history? Greece, the founding nation of Democracy had slavery. America itself a democratic nation had Black Slaves, even till this day there is still a form of slavery. The world just calls it by another name to hide the sham of it. So when you tell me about what's right based on the world's opinion, you don't know what the fuck you're even talking about!"

The officer was chasted for angering him.

"Pass it down to the men. Men, women, children, whatever. If you don't want to force others against their will then just kill them like you're supposed to, Major!"

The Major looked reluctant as ever.

"Let's have a bet then, shall we Major? We'll conduct as social experiment for our men and see what they think." He looked up to Ajay.

"We'll see how many of our soldiers bring war trophies home. If I'm wrong and not a single one brought one home, then you can have the pleasure of saying that I was wrong."

Once again, Ajay had left the staff shocked by his atrocious actions against fellow humanity. This was not the first, the North Valley Invasion was the same. Some officers watched as their men fervently followed his ideal of being cruel to the enemy. Even when fighting the Golden Path, there was a modicum of respect for them as rebels. But to foreign invaders, the Demon was truly a demon.

So concluded the brief update on the plans of Operation Hai Ba (Two Sisters). The significance of the name stemmed from the Vietnamese Trung Sisters, Trung Trac and Trung Nhi who rebelled against the Chinese Empire to gain independence for their Indochina state. Motivated by revenge against the Chinese parent officials of their land who murdered their husbands. Kyrat was in a very similar situation when the CIA, a lackey of the US government had intentionally plunged Kyrat into Civil war twice.

"I have another matter to report to you, sir." Rohan came over to whisper to his hear as the other officers were discussing amongst themselves on how to prepare for this. They were willing, but they would hear each other's opinions first.

"It can wait."

"I'm afraid not, sir. With no disrespect." Ajay turned to hear what Rohan had to say. And listened to the story of how Pravindra took an enemy pilot for a "joy ride".

Ajay rested his palm on his face. "Release him. The penalty will come afterwards."

Rohan didn't argue, he dialled the phone to the brig officer to do as Ajay had said. "Where is that pilot?"

"In the brig, sir."

* * *

The Brig MPs let him through with no questions asked, no logbook signed or any other formal security check or procedure. There was no mistake on who he was. He both built and owned every brick of this place after all.

Ajay made a turn through the corridor to one of the cells led by an interrogator flanked by MPs. He entered the corridor cells and spotted two figures conversing between bars. One spotted him right away and called out.

"Big bro!" The prisoner opposite was wondering who secured his release. The MPs moved forwards and opened Pravi's cell and uncuffed him.

"Geez. You didn't have to come all the way here to see me out."

"I'm not here for you, clean yourself up. And get briefed, or did you forget who Commander Singh put in charge of Eagle Squadron?"

"Uh- Hey! Then who are you here for?" Ajay answered him not, but pulled out a chair and placed it in front of his cellmate's cell.

"Olivia Lowde."

"It's Lieutenant Lowde. Service number 91-433-." The US pilot answered.

"Makes no difference if you're a grunt or flag officer. I am Badala."

"You are… Badala?" She seemed stunned to hear him speak in a Brooklyn style of accent, implying he was American or at least used to be.

"So, Olivia Lowde. How shall we execute you?" Ajay dragged a chair from the back and placed in out in front. Pravi was standing stunned by his first sentence to Olivia.

"Bro. What are you-."

"Your sentence has been revoked, it's time for you to leave!" The MPs grabbed him and tugged him out. But he managed to slip through.

"Let me stay and listen." He pleaded to Ajay with a seriousness in his eyes that was rarely there.

"Then sit and listen." Pravi just gratefully sat and listened to the conversation that would take place as Ajay spoke to the Prisoner of War.

He turned back to Olivia with a gaze that shook the enemy pilot's psyche of mental defense.

"Perhaps I should list down the options then. Option one, the least painful and only a moment of agony. A cyanide pill, Pagan's spies always leave some lying around. The greatest show of mercy I can provide."

Olivia wanted to open her mouth, but the pressure he released had made her meek.

"Option two, a firing squad. You can enjoy the last request for any meal you enjoy, a hamburger, a steak. Even a three-course dinner."

The second was no more "merciful" than the first. Olivia kept quite for the time being to seek options to live.

"But if you're really afraid of death, then option three might be considered." There was something wrong with his smile that was ever so frightening.

"You can spend a lifetime locked away in Durgesh Prison, a charming spot high in the winter mountains the Snow Guards there call "Little Siberia" If you aren't in the mining camps, then you'll be placed with a first-class view on the penthouses. A place where the Warden stashes away all those criminals and exiles worst than humanity itself, your fellow Americans Agent Willis Huntley and Director Paul Lynch are enjoying themselves right now." Ajay got up from the seat and placed his hands on her cell bars.

"Where you'll have only the cold winds to accompany you, truth serum regularly pumped into your body just because. Not even Rats want to be there, soon you'll turn to yourself for company. But if you can still reason and understand your own despair before your mind breaks, freedom is just a leap of faith away. Four thousand feet down into an icy abyss, because Durgesh has no walls, no railings or bars." He placed his finger to his head.

"Its here that keeps our inmates locked up."

"Th-That's against treaty! I'm being held against my will without proper treatment! You can't do this!" Olivia sudden broke from the spell of fear and voiced out expressively.

"We are far from recognizing treaty as we are under accordance to it. United States foreign policy is now in the gutter, and Lieutenant Olivia Lowde along with every Pilot and soldier within the Expedition has been disavowed by the US armed forces."

"What?!"

"Did you not read Operation Switchblade's contingency procedure?" Her mind raced as to how he knew the details of the operation better than she or her superior officer did.

"In the event of a failed assault, all personnel are to be disavowed/charged with treason against the Commander-in-chief for acting out without orders." Ajay recited one of the paragraphs that indeed existed in the mission folder read by the US Ranger colonel he absorbed memories from. How much of their intel had been leaked, she wondered?

"It's not all that surprising since this was a black operation. You aren't the only soldier your government has betrayed here in Kyrat. A little while ago, Force Recon was here as well. Half joined us and returned back home alive, the other half that stood against us… well you get the idea."

Olivia was quiet as she was not sure of what to do, she constantly cast her eyes towards Pravi hoping he'd speak up since he showed some kind of influence to the Demon of Kyrat.

"Consider your choice of poison my highest regard for your position as an enemy officer." He said sitting back in the chair. Death, was not an easy word to accept when presented as a choice. Olivia felt the despair pressuring her into relinquishing her loyalty to country.

"…I-… I have valuable information." She said painfully.

"I don't need your intel. And I don't need your interference, I'm only here to give you the respect to choose your mode of execution." She looked up wearily and afraid as the interrogator already stepped forwards to unlock her cell.

"Wait! Please! I-….. Your mercs….. let me join them!" Olivia had learnt much from Pravi's big unconfidential mouth as Ajay could understand without looking at him.

"No thanks, my company doesn't accept renegades anymore." After what happened with Coriolanus and the turncoating of 2nd Squadron, the Air power had taken a massive toll. Even Pravi was silent, he lost Arun during that sortie.

"Give him something, Olivia!" Pravi said frantically. "I know him, he'll really follow with his words!" Ajay remained silent as he noticed Pravi had some sort of influence over her with intrigued him because he wasn't exactly charismatic even amongst his fellow IAF pilots.

'My lord, if I may…..."

The interrogator leaned over and whispered to him the details of Pravi's regular trips here. Hearing about this, Ajay couldn't help but want to chuckle.

"Heh! That's cute."

"So, Pravi. When are you intending for the wedding to happen?"

"Big Bro! Please, I beg of you." Pravi went on his knees in front of him much to his surprise.

"Need I not remind you, Pravindra Kumar. That this is an enemy pilot. I've had a little look at the flight logs, do you know what her previous flight record was?"

Ajay squatted down in front of him to be at the same level as Pravi.

"Confirmed kill of a Su-30MKI wandering fifteen kilometres within the Pakistani border airspace. 5th October."

"That-…" Pravi was frozen solid as he realized the significance of that date. It was the day of the Canton rebellion. The day he destroyed 2nd Squadron by himself and when returning home from finishing off Winnefred Coriolanus, he was attacked by two F-22s. They had been dispatched because of the commotion of the dogfight between him and 2nd Squadron caught on the Pakistani radars.

Pravi turned to Olivia. The one that had been directly responsible for the death of his co-pilot and friend with conflicted thoughts.

"Ironic, you nearly allowed Arun's killer to escape. The one you swore to kill in air-to-air."

"Pravi…" Olivia looked at the mess that was Pravi's expression.

"Even so…." Pravi spoke.

"I forgive her." Ajay crossed his eyebrows at his words.

"Will you do the same? Will you give her a chance to live?"

Ajay's silence didn't mean he didn't agree, he was merely reflecting on what he said. In truth, he was surprised by the reckless Ace Pilot's growth, he was sure Saras and Commander Singh would have been happy to hear.

But now, he was left with the problem. The life of this pilot determined the resolve and eagerness of his Air superiority trump. A woman had once again been the reason for this. How weak men were to the natural wiles of the opposite sex. Then again, so was he to Saraswati and Maya.

"Olivia Lowde."

"Y-Yes?"

"The decision is yours, chose my options….. or his alternative." Hearing his agreement to his pleas brought excitement back to Pravi who thanked him incessantly, even though it wasn't his life that was on the line. But he would give up his pride for someone else, that was still admirable to Ajay. So he couldn't hate Pravi no matter the case.

Olivia was not ignorant to this and she understood her own situation as Ajay had stated. Operation Switchblade did have this contingency in effect if it failed. She stubbornly refused to accept that the military would also accept a failure till the newspaper arrived. She knew that the CIA and US government would do all to remove all loose ends. If she returned to the country, whether escaping or returned, she might be gunned down or imprisoned for life in a maximum security to silence her for good.

"Please…. Let me work with you." Her said bowing her head.

"Ok. But I have a few company rules."

"Ok?"

"You are a part of Lupus Caelum, but you will be subjected to the Military Law of the Army here." That was number one indicated by his first finger.

"You will respect the Ranking officers of the Royal Army like they are your superior officer." That was number two.

"…."

"If you mutiny or murder a fellow colleague, I will make an example of you."

"I accept."

"Hang on, don't go accepting so quickly. I haven't listed out all of the things so don't sign a contract without reading terms and conditions." He chuckled at her sense of urgency.

"You will be under suspension for 48 hours so that Chief Khalid may screen you and assign you a unit. Everywhere you go, if you don't call in with him every two hours. Khalid is going to consider you a hostile and I'm going to dispatch the Hunter Cadres upon you. And believe me, there's nothing they couldn't track down for me."

"So… it's like a parole then."

"In a way. In consideration of your fighter pilot career-.."

"She can join me!"

"Easy there, tiger. You're more excited than a boy who got his first Nintendo. She might fly American series of jets, but whether she can transition is another question. Chief Khalid will decide that." Olivia got the impression that Badala was like Pravi's parent than an older brother. Their relationship was not very clear, but it seemed that Badala still depended on Pravi in some way, most likely to assert air superiority.

"Let's consider after that suspension the start of your career, so the mode of payment will be fifteen grand of American Green equivalent monthly wired to a Swiss account. You get an allowance of eighty thousand rupees to spend on basic necessities and such."

Olivia was shocked by the amount, nearly thirty percent more than her pay grade at her commission rank. Considering her forced option, this was unreal. Almost too good to be true.

"I want to hear it, Olivia Lowde." Ajay said to her.

"Please… let me join?" She wasn't sure what he meant.

"You know what I mean, I want to hear you renounce your allegiance."

Olivia stepped back shocked and silent.

"Bro…. don't you think that's a little harsh?"

"As it stands, she's working for us but also working against us. I'm not gonna tell you it's easy to abandon a country that gave you your wings, you need to decide between loyalty to the death or shame in living. If you want any comfort from knowing, your country has the liberty to discard you and eleven thousand other soldiers at a mention of a word. You're free to remain loyal to that sort of bureaucracy that sends its soldiers out for war profittery."

Harsh words of reality hit her in her predicament.

"I tell you what. I don't need you to say it, I want you to show it." Ajay whispered to the interrogator and he nodded. Leaving the cell area to carry out Ajay's orders.

For fifty minutes, they sat in the cell not talking to one another. Olivia prepared herself mentally for what Ajay had in store for her.

The door slammed open and in came a cuffed individual with a bagover his head. Two MPs threw him onto a chair and cuffed him on it.

Ajay got up and walked to the bagged prisoner.

"Pravi, wait outside. She won't be long."

"But I-."

"Wait outside!" Pravi cast a look of worry towards his friend before leaving. Ajay had given her the opportunity to live, all she had to do was take it.

Ajay rested his hand on the prisoner's should as the MPs opened her cell and made her sit on the seat parallel to the Prisoner and Ajay.

"This is Paul Lynch. Director of the East Asia Theatre in Langley. He had a bright and colourful history in Kyrat before his leapfrog career in the CIA. He and his friend instigated Civil War in our country not once but twice. First with the Nationalists leading to the assassination of our previous monarch and Royal family. The second time when they supplied Golden Path terrorists." Ajay took off the cloth bag to reveal a heavily scarred face from all the torture he'd been made to go through over the week.

His mouth, however, remained tapped as Ajay didn't need him to flap it. Ajay waved his hand to the interrogator who took out his sidearm, a .44 magnum revolver. Olivia suddenly had vibes of what he was going to ask of her.

"You want me to kill him?"

"No, dear." Ajay dropped one bullet into the chamber and spun it.

"I want you to gamble your lives."

"MMMMHH!" Lynch screamed behind the tap as hard as he could. Olivia shuddered, he wanted her to play their chance of living against each other.

"Why?..."

"You have a fair chance of surviving as much as he does. Regardless of whose sins are greater, that's what I call fair."

He stood between them and held out the gun.

"So, who goes first?"

Olivia's mind was in a chaotic state, she never imagined how terrifying Badala was. Much talk amongst the expedition was on to what sort of person a category L was. Some had seen one, but the descriptions they gave were nothing like this.

Paul scream was muffled but implied he wanted to go first, his hands were cuffed forwards, so Ajay placed the revolver in his hands. He bent down and whispered into his ear. "Be careful where you aim, alright?" He patted him on the shoulder again making him flinch and pulling the trigger. (click)

Olivia's heart jumped as the trigger was pulled.

"Your turn." Ajay pulled out the gun from Lynch's hands and placed it in hers.

"Don't waste your shot."

Olivia had the gun in her hand but no matter what, she couldn't point it at Ajay because somehow deep down she felt that he was hoping she would.

Then she surprised even him with her choice. (click) The gun sounded an empty chamber which meant that she would not die, as she had placed it against her chin instead of at Lynch like what he did instead.

"Let's make this interesting, shall we?" (rip)

"Aaahhh!- God!" Ajay tore the tap from Lynch's mouth to let him speak.

"Paul Lynch, this is Lieutenant Olivia Lowde of the 27th Squadron. Olivia Lowde, Former-director Paul Lynch. Lynch as you've heard, the one that survives gets to go scot-free." Ajay left words of encouragement for the other party.

"I have friends in high-places! They can reinstate you!" Lynch immediately declared to her.

"I'll make sure your name is wiped clean of charges! But this requires your sacrifice!" Ajay didn't need to say anything as he watched the drama play. He did however put his revolver back in Lynch's hands.

Olivia was beginning to see where this was going. This was how he would put her strength in loyalty to the test. If Lynch only pointed at her and she to herself, then it was sure that she would die. The chamber was clicked twice, meaning there was a five-probability chance at least that it would go off.

"Oh, by the way. I didn't check if it was a six-shooter or a five." Ajay corrected himself.

(Click) "Damn!" Lynch unhesistantly pulled a shot at her without any further justification, he only cared for himself.

"Right, you now." Ajay put the .44 into her hands.

"Do it, Lieutenant! For your country!" Lynch insisted, ignoring the stress in her face.

"By the way, is it true that in Langley they kidnap your spouse and make you chose between shooting them or not?" Ajay asked to sidetrack the horrible vibe he created between the two American officers.

And to his surprise and Lynch's shorten delight, she did the same by putting the gun to her chin and squeezing it.

(click) Twice was the devil's charm.

"God fucking damn it! How lucky are you?!"

"Alright, here's to you." Ajay placed the magnum revolver in Lynch's hands again.

"Sir, I-…." (click) Again, he didn't let her say a word and fired the gun again. But was rewarded with a dry click indicating another empty chamber.

"Wow. Four empty, I've not seen this much luck since Yogi and Reggie!" Ajay said with an impressed expression.

The gun was now in Olivia's hands, the pressure was harder as it could be a possible shot in the chamber. Ajay had purposely misled them in their idea of whether it was a six-round chamber or a five-round one.

"Come on! Do it! You'll be a hero, I guarantee it! Your family will hear the story of the woman that saved my life!" Lynch encouraged her, but her reaction was different. Deep down, she desired life more than anything.

"I think I left one part about Lynch's biography. You see, Operation Switchblade was the ultimate contingency in the event someone, moi…." Ajay pointed to himself. "..Intended to reveal the scandal of their failure. Or rather the failure that Lynch pushed on Willis while he ran home and framed Willis."

Olivia was shocked to hear that.

"Th-That's not true! Lieutenant, do you believe me or a monster like him!? He's lying! Lying I tell you!"

"Spooks are always complex fuckers. None of that James Bond level of espionage any day. So, Olivia Lowde. Will I get a new employee, or will the United States get another nameless hero among their hundreds of thousands who didn't even get a medal for their bravery or 21-gun salute?"

Ajay patted her with a warm smile. "Remember, this is what you'll choose."

"Lieutenant, listen to me! I carry vital intel that determines the fate of Central Asia! The White House needs to hear this or they'll face imminent doom! You know what needs to be done!"

"I was pretty sure I got everything out from you, Lynch. I can't say I'm surprised at all. Hmmm… hey, Olivia. Did you know he was selling military secrets to a military hardware corporation, so they could stand a better chance in the bid for the next generation weapon systems? How much big bucks did you make on the side, Lynch? I'm curious, better tell me while you still have one chance."

"Shut up!" (slap) Ajay responded to his demand for silence with the back of his hand.

"We're waiting, Olivia." The person who had the revolver fiddled around with the gun as she contemplated her decision that decided her life. She had three tries all together, two of which she had proven her loyalty under adversity and risk of death. But her fingers were losing their strength as it reached her third and possibly last round.

Her face had an expression of absolute pain and suffering in a single minute, her hands trembling heavily. Ajay had pushed her to a point where she would decide on what she would do instead of him forcing her.

"What the hell are you being so indecisive about!? There's only one thing you need to do! Point the gun at yourself! So I can get out of this fucking place!"

After all, she'd felt and heard, Olivia sighed and laughed to herself. She now understood the hypocrisy of her resolve. She wanted to live, but she also wanted to remain loyal to the organization. This was what Badala was trying to make her realise.

"Would you do me one favour, Badala?"

"Sure." He responded without hesistation to her smile.

"Please tell him that it was my choice." As she said to him, Olivia placed the gun to her chin and pulled the trigger again.

(click) The third time, fate had saved her from death. It made her feel so lost why she survived up to this point.

"Ho? Quiet the lucky devil you are Olivia Lowde. But it appears that luck has nothing to do with your fate. Please remember that it was your decision that this happened."

"Mn." She nodded, understanding it.

"Hurry up and gimme the gun!" Lynch demanded.

"And what makes you think it has another chamber? What if I made you think I put a shot inside?" Ajay questioned Lynch's eagerness despite the five consecutive clicks of an empty chamber.

"Huh! That's a Smith and Wesson .44, of course there are six shots! Hurry up and hand over so I can finish this bitch!" Olivia looked at the spook in front of her with some disbelieve at his character.

"S-Sir?-…"

Ajay took the revolver out of her hand even before she could react in reluctance.

"Your loyalty to your country is admirable, even if its just blind." Ajay gave her his last words and he walked over to hand it to Lynch.

"I have a question for you, Lynch."

"Mmm? What is it? Just say it!" All he really wanted was the gun.

"Were you really going to follow through with your word, I mean when you said you'd put her name for a recommendation?"

But instead of answer yes, he laughed maniacally.

"Why would I deprive our great nation of more meat for the grinder?"

"Uh- sir…" She was shocked by his total betrayal in promise.

"You have a sister or brother, right Lieutenant? I bet when the report comes in they'd despise your existence. One of them might even join the military, maybe as a pilot. So that they can wipe that name clean from the family. And I always have a soft spot for earnest folks like those, I'd welcome them with open arms!" He laughed.

"Lynch, you bastard!" She shouted angrily, but only made him laugh even louder.

"What do you think, Badala?"

"I think you're beyond cruel." He said calmly.

"You mean like you? We're not so different if you look at it from another perpsective." He cackled.

"The only difference between you and me is that I'm cruel to my enemies. But you…. Allies and foes have little in common to your advancement."

"Heh! Whatever! Hand me the gun will you? Or are you gonna go against your word for a useless grunt like her?"

"No. There's no reason to protect her. Here, enjoy your victory." He held out the revolver to Lynch who laughed as jubilant as could be. Olivia felt the strength in her body and in heart fade, she'd chosen honesty and courage. Yet she was still cast aside. Why?!

A chance to live had been with her so many times, fate had protected her in equal measure. Yet she still chose integrity over betrayal. Because she believed that everyone was just as good at heart as her. She got her just desserts.

"Yunno, I really regret killing a woman like you. Wonder if anyone else in your family is like that? I'll soon find out."

He raised the revolver at her and pulled the trigger. She didn't even shake or scream, she'd lost all hope in the high-ranking officer.

(Click) "Wha-…" (Click)(Click) "Wh-What the hell!" He frantically squeezed the trigger several times to rechamber that one round to fire but after several revolutions, it failed to fire.

"Well, what do you know. A misfire." Ajay chuckled to himself.

"Misfire? You've gonna be kidding me!"

"I guess that's the fault of my Arsenal employees for not seating the primer properly." He said after investigating the bullet with the primer struck but didn't go off.

Olivia couldn't believe what kind of experience she had to survive the entire six chambers.

"Well Olivia, seems lady luck shines upon you."

"I-….. I don't want this anymore!" She could hold back her tears as she cried.

Ajay pressed a handkerchief onto her hands for her to wipe away the moisture.

"So what will it be now, Olivia Lowde?"

She wiped the tears from her eyes and looked resentfully at Lynch with redden eyes.

"Kill that bastard!"

"What?! This is mutiny! Treason I tell you! You'll have to answer for this, Lieutenant! I swear it!"

"Pipe down." Ajay jabbed his throat to make him cough gasping for air instead of pollution the confines of the cell with his noise.

Ajay turned back to her.

"Do you know what you're asking of me, Olivia Lowde? You're contracting me to kill a high-ranking case officer in the CIA. Who has affiliation to military defense industry contractors that literally own the Military logistic infrastructure. The department of defense, and officials in the Special activities division."

"….."

"When he dies, you will automatically be rendered enemy of the state."

"If they know."

"They'll know. My company has several undercover agents from DGSI, MI6, DMI, Mossad, FSB, some branch agency to the CIA and many many more. And you'll be working with them, so there's more than a chance that they'll whisper back to their Directorates and Langley or NSA catching wind of it." Ajay confirmed, some were obvious and working with him. While others were tight lipped, some were feeding their agencies false intelligence on his orders.

"No. Let me kill him."

Hearing this from her made Lynch tremble.

"Are you sure?" Ajay asked for the last time as she closed her eyes to reflect on it and then flashed them open after making her resolve.

"I'm sure." Reaching into his holster, he drew out his trusty 1911 Shadow Custom and handed it to her.

She took the gun and checked the chamber by pulling the slide. It was a gun of American Lineage so there was no way she didn't know how it worked.

"Lieutenant. Lieutenant! Look at me- look here! This is what Badala wants, see? He wants you to make this call! Don't let him fool you!"

"No, Director. All this while, the fool was me."

He pointed the business end of the gun at his forehead, Lynch's eyes widen with horror as he screamed his last.

"NOOOOOO!-(Bang) (plop)" The bullet pierced his forehead with a .45 diameter hole and blasted the back of his skull. His body slumped down while tied to the chair.

The gun dropped from her weakened hands as Ajay caught her.

"You're one of the bravest soldiers I've ever seen. Hell, you're a fool. But so is everyone else in my outfit."

"Heh!..." She laughed dryly while still unable to recover some of her bearing.

"Welcome to Lupus Caelum, home of the Sky wolves." Ajay raised her up to support herself.

"I'll let you go out to tell Pravi the good news. Don't let that idiot worry about you that much." Ajay showed her to the door that the interrogator opened for her and allow her to leave the brig on her own.

The interrogator was alone with Ajay now, he had watched the entire drama play out and was amazed with the end result.

"So? How was my act?" Ajay smiled as he picked up his gun and the interrogator's revolver piece.

"Madarchod. No wonder you broke De Pleur." He said as he received back his gun and emptied the cartridge and handed it back.

"Why are you giving it to me?"

"I dunno, maybe you want your dud bullet back." The interrogator said as Ajay had told him previously about the bullet that wouldn't fire. Because it had no powder inside.

This gig was staged from the very beginning, because the end result was all he really wanted. Instead of a a forced recruitment, he'd earned the full cooperation of a US pilot almost if not as good as Pravi. Albeit at the lost of a valuable captive, but with a mentality of survival like his, Lynch was least likely to give up any intel worth noting.

"Keep it, I've taught you this trick. When an opportunity like this shows itself you're free to copy what I did today." As Ajay had said, he had schooled the interrogator in the art of non-aggressive persuasion without the use of direct threatening.

The interrogator accepted the bullet back and placed it in his revolver, swirling it in his finger cowboy-style before holstering it.

"You look nothing like a cowboy, try losing some weight first." He slapped the interrogator's potbelly as a joke.

"My lord."

"Yes?" He seemed to have an inquiry.

"What was the sacrifice of the spook necessary for this plot?" He asked like a diligent student on the craft of interrogation.

"I improvised, Lynch had just the right amount of cowardice and weak mentality. If it was anyone else, it wouldn't have worked. Never give your prisoners hope, because they'll take advantage of your kindness. Leave them a trickle without being directly related to it, and let them find their way on their own." Just like how he didn't give options of survival to Olivia Lowde, yet she soughted it out desperately. If he had given her accommodation, there was no telling when she would rebel and run with sensitive intel back to the states which would royally screw them.

"Let me give you an example, when you suffocate what do you do?"

"You desperately try to get a breath?" He replied without much difficulty.

"Same principle, you're suffocating her for intel and she's trying to find air to breath her freedom. Do you tighten the noose around her to give discomfort or do you let her hang with limited oxygen?"

The interrogator understood it, he also understood another fact. Which was that Ajay was a scary individual to have ever been crossed. He was truly an enigma to him, that he would earnestly engage with the ranks of soldiers as if he was one of them while conversing with the officers as well. It was just the level of charisma he had in him, the interrogator was not a popular job yet someone needed to fulfil it. The fact that Lord Badala, the second highest ranking commander of the Army and one of the last nobles of Kyrat would cooperate and share craft with him on equal grounds was a memory he would carry with him to the grave.

The interrogator bowed as he left, calling for the MPs to remove the body for disposal. Ajay remained behind for one last deed. Drawing his kukri and stabbing the corpse's chest where the heart was, he retracted the blade covered with the purest of Lynch's lifeblood and absorbed it through his trait of Blood Read.

The memories poured into his head as clear as he'd been wherever Lynch had been. It was in these memories that Ajay found his accessment of their purpose to be spot on with his assumption. Lynch had a fair amount of dealings with CNS and other military industrial corporations, including one Krieger Corp, some bioweapons research conglomerate that was destroyed by another category L by the name of Jack. Lynch had dozens of off-shore accounts under different names but all to him, billions of dollars worth of valuables including conflict diamonds from a certain African country. Ajay have every intention to withdraw and transfer the money over to Kyrats growth and investment of the future. He had everything planned out, all he needed was to finish with this Rakshasa business and the Himavanas debut into the world would be set.

He was not going to let the Rakshasa ruin this for the Kyratis. He had about two more days till retrieval of the Kalinag Thangkas, time was of the essence.

Ajay left the building to find Pravi comforting his new employee with a hug, from the traumatic experience she had endured for a new perspective it was difficult. He nearly lost the resolve of his own ace pilot with Pravi's distractions of her. The sun was setting and signaling the end of another daylight. The last lights casted down on their silhouettes.

"Quite a romantic setting, ain't it." The person that came up behind him had just read his mind.

"Happy the idiot isn't chasing you anymore?" Ajay poked fun at her.

"A little envious he can be so free spirited."

"…" Ajay and she were tied down not by duty but by their own beliefs.

"I spoke to your father this morning."

"He didn't respond well I take it." She said sighing.

"No. Some part of me thinks he wanted to believe me, it's just difficult to accept when your world gets invaded by things that should stay in legends."

"How are you holding up?" She inquired about his condition, especially since the reports told the story about a flaming deity overpowering the unknown Garuda entity and the unnatural stormclouds.

Ajay reached out and took her hand.

"Now, never better." He said with a warm smile and Saraswati followed him off to where they needed to go next.

* * *

The morning reveille was at the crack of dawn. Ajay and Saraswati loaded their equipment and weapons for a journey around Kyrat and then to the windy cold mountains of Akaash. Where an abandoned temple was said to be, that was the final point of their destination. He imagined it was swarming with Golden Path camps and Rakshasa.

Honestly, he wanted to just give her the Thangka and tell her to sod off to Shangri-la bringing them with her. But Sabal's awakened memories showed some very disturbing stuff. There was currently going to be a three-way conflict about to erupt, Ajay had to ensure it was just between the two factions fighting over Shangri-La and the Mountain and Valley.

They left the homestead to find three individuals seated and waiting for them, not to their anticipation.

"Maya?"

"There you go again, doing something all on your own. Haven't you learnt from the last time with Daisy Lee?"

"But I'm not." He pointed to Saras next to him who chuckled away.

"Don't argue with me, I am the king of argument and you'll lose without dignity." Ajay raised his hands in defeat. If she said so then, she was definitely prepared to accompany them. To be honest, having extra help might be useful in shortening the time to retrieve those Thangkas around their equally annoying natural obstacles.

"And you two?"

Sitting on their packs were Anish and Bipin, having a little puff of an old blend of smoke from a pipe.

"Some time away from the desk and back to what we used to do wouldn't hurt." Explained Bipin

"Ha! And you were telling me about how your mother-in-law invited Brody for dinner!" Anish laughed and earned a deserved kick to the shin.

"The boys can manage without me for a while. Need to stretch those Royal Guard Hunter muscles again." Anish gave his reason.

Ajay sighed chuckling, they just wanted to accompany him but made all these excuses.

"You should really try this stuff." Anish held out his pipe. "He always smoked this, but after taking a puff. I'm like a new man."

"He?"

Anish looked over to his left and motioned with his chin. Ajay turned to that general direction to find who he was referring to. Said person walked up to Ajay face to face.

"Did you find it?" Darshan nodded.

"There is a slight problem, I'll need your help to get it out."

"Fine by me."

"I heard what you intend to do from Saraswati. And to be completely firm with you, I'd object against it." He said from the intensity of his eyes to Ajay.

"…."

"But….. If she doesn't get what she wants, Kyrat will suffer her wrath. Giving her the Ghale legacy should give her forces more priority to Shangri-La. That will allow us time to resolve our affairs before they turn to us."

"Agreed." So Darshan too was coming along

"You still haven't forgotten our objective, correct?"

"You mean your objective to kill her, mine to safeguard Kyrat."

"….."

The rest watched as these two eyed each other down, it hardly resembled a student-master relationship at all. But two of them staring down one another. Darshan's eyes wandered to Ajay's arm, spotting the changes upon it.

"Let us discuss along the way." Darshan showed he was willing to hear Ajay out.

"Sure." Ajay accepted.

They loaded their equipment onto the jeeps which was not their final mode of transportation but still good enough to bring them to the nearby locations to visit first. Bishal and Vajra leaped onto one of the two assembled jeeps, sitting obediently and not barking or growling at one another. Darshan's presence had a factor to do with it.

With the vehicles loaded and the group ready as they'll ever be for another adventure, Ajay went into the homestead and left a note for Bhadra telling her he was sorry to leave her alone once again and she should stay at Pagan's or Khati's where she would be safe. Ajay went to his workshop to retrieve the damaged parts of a weapon he treasured greatly and mourned the lost of. With Darshan around, he hoped to repair it. He'd had the gunsmith apprentices build for him stock parts to modify on his trip. If time would lend itself to him, then perhaps the Slayer could be reborn.

Outside, they were all waiting for him to board as the jeeps engines were already warmed up. Taking his seat next to the driver who chuckled as she drove off.

"What?" He asked Maya as she rarely ever smiled so naturally.

"Nothing…" She tried to hide it.

But Ajay wasn't convinced so he stared at her, hoping she would give in. Maya couldn't hide her smile with him staring at her funny intentionally. So she shared her true thoughts and those sitting with them agreed with her wholeheartedly.

"It's just like old times."


	136. Chapter 124 - Upon ashes, a new nation

Author's Notes:

Sincerest apologies everyone, it took a long while that turned into a long break, but I finally consolidated my future works on the chapters. This chapter, I did almost ten iterations of, the end is nearing anyway. The beginning of this month has been hectic for me as well, applying for a government job has tons of paperwork and application forms to fill out. If successful, things will be a breeze.

I wanted to say this a while ago but didn't have the chance. Horray for 100,000 views! Another milestone in fanfic writing.

* * *

-I never wanted this.-

His mind repeated in a neverending loop, why was it that things would never turn out the way it was expected?

When he challenged Golden Path led by Sabal and Amita, they didn't falter but became even more aggressive and steadfast. When he suppressed them, his father re-entered the scene and pushed Golden Path back into its full glory. When he drove them out, the other states became involved. He nearly entered a war with the Chinese, Private Military Contractors conducted their activities with equal unrestraint, even the United States became involved. Last but not least, the Ancient Rakshasa were here to sweep all before them.

He was lying to himself thinking that with every challenge, Kyrat was growing stronger. That each occurrence would have happened anyway, even if he didn't wish it. But that was wrong….

He was the root of all this.

When a rat gets cornered, they don't simply cower. They fight back like there's no tomorrow, he put Golden Path, Shining Way, China and the United States in such a scenario. The Rakshasa, Esha returned because he'd constantly been tapping into the Demon. Because an individual of X-strength was in the vicinity, an opponent of X-strength would compete as well.

His ego was the primary magnet for trouble. But if he were to remove himself from the scenes, the Himavanas would be left vulnerable to these threats. And if he stayed, he was sure that more dangers would naturally choose to reveal themselves.

When did he get stuck in this dilemma? He wished the best for Kyrat. He did his best, but it wasn't what it needed. Did he make the wrong choice? Was Kyrat better off in that eternal cycle of limbo? The people he met, the people he interacted with. Didn't just want to survive, they wanted to live. To achieve that, he intentionally broke the cycle. Endangering hundreds of thousands in the process, despite their blessings upon him. Ajay now started to understand the meaning of the word Hero.

A Hero was a villain wearing a mask of a saviour.

The results of his campaign. One hundred and Forty thousand people dead, Kyrati, Yinkian, Papirese, Chinese, American. Thirty million over peoples' lives had been turned upside down by his push. It was a worse feeling than in another life where he doomed just the entire Kyrat, he was going to bring the entire Himavana lowlands into chaos thinking he was doing the right thing.

How did he make it this far where he would have failed in the last reality? Ajay constantly questioned his mind, he knew that his mind was never strong, to begin with. That was when he remembered. Maya, Bhadra, Kamala, Biraj, Saraswati, Kamran. Not just them, but over thirty-three million had dreams they wished fulfilled. In light of the atrocity he'd committed and the fellow blood he'd shed. They chose to absolve him, he was the only one reaching for these ambitious heights where their dreams would be achieved. He was their hero, the villain wearing the mask of a saviour.

And so, he came to a conclusion. If there was to be permanent peace in the future.

Ajay Ghale must disappear from history.

The very name shook the world as it was. He was his former adoptive home's number one enemy, if they could they would have dispatched all available resources to assassinate him. The Rakshasa awoke because of him. And the Golden Path stirred at the mention of his name. Once Kyrat was finally free of all, there was no place for Ajay Ghale, let alone Badala the Demon in these mountains. He did not feel as bad as he should if anything he felt greatly relieved. Karma was about to be resolved, a peace of mind he long sought would finally be reached.

A plan had been set in motion, all that needed to be accounted for was Esha's next move.

(crunch) His ice axe struck a void in the ice, almost causing him to fall off the ledge. His ice axe dangled from his free-fall from his strap.

"Careful!" Voices of concern called from down below.

"I'm fine!" He returned their worry with an assurance he was alright.

Looking back up, Darshan had effortlessly overtaken him in the climb. Ajay's eyebrows furrowed. There was no possible gauge of Darshan's true strength. Naturally, he chose to hide it because the Rakshasa could see through easily if Ajay could as well. But that was not all, there was something about Darshan that seemed unnatural- no. Artificial.

Both Rakshasa and himself feared Darshan. The man he was and what were his abilities they knew thus far. He was definitely capable of ending Ajay's life before any of Esha's plans could be put through or Ajay's ambition for Kyrat with a mere sweep. But he wasn't, and that scared them both. He was both a man of patience and unrelenting will. Before the day ended, he would kill them both.

On this, perhaps Ajay could sympathize with Darshan. If Ajay ever went berserk as Kalinag had, Darshan would be there to put an end to it. But at the same time, something told him that there was another reason Darshan kept him alive. Something unrelated to his revenge on Esha.

Then perhaps, Darshan was the other wild factor which he needed to watch carefully.

Ajay reached a point where there was a ledge which Darshan disappeared over. His arms swung onto the top and lifted his body up. A plateau with a cavern entrance guarded by two humungous statues of bulky warriors. If that were the most iconic point, he would have noted that in his entry, however his first word on the statues that bore faces of monkeys highlighted that this wasn't "man"-made.

"Vanara…."

Here lay the gathered heirlooms of the long dead simian tribe. The last hidden reliquary of the forgotten tribe. And the resting place of a certain item they needed.

* * *

The soldiers sat attentively watching the television broadcast in the hangar, anyone who missed this event would forever loathe witnessing the most important event in their history. Within the tv, a crowd cheered from the background as the head of state walked up to a podium where the camera faced straight on.

*Family, friends. I am glad to address you still as King and servant. The news I bring comes to both as good tidings as there is grave news to be bored. We have come onto a dark time for our existence, forces come in tides from different directions to strangle the sovereignty that is Kyrat and in time to come, our neighbours alike. From the West, the United States of America, the original instigators of our internal strife. In the Eastern mountains, where Mohan Ghale and the New Golden Path wait for the right time to strike. And the North…. Where an ancient enemy that assembles, awaiting their orders to run us down, Men, women and children, they care for none as they were herds of sheep. They are our greatest nemesis; our ancestors call them Rakshasa.*

There was much commotion upon Pagan's declaration, yet no unrest. For the residents of Lanka, this was no ruse or lie. For the soldiers, they were the worst nightmare.

*Yes, it is true. Many afar might not believe my words even now, but I will say them nonetheless. You all deserve the truth of it, and the truth I'll give. This enemy has challenged by our ancestors every millennia for the right to live in these mountains. One such milestone over a thousand years ago, you may recognize. It was the epic of Kalinag. This is why we hold so much pride for our nation and why our fathers before us held in similar regard as did their fathers and so on. Now, it is our turn to face this trial by fire and prove to our ancestors we still have the right to live in peace.

Yet, how then do we contend with this ancient force now that we've exhausted ourselves against a long and bitter Civil War? How especially with our enemies numerically superior? I have discussed this with our military commanders and with our neighbours on the solution here in Lanka for the past few days since Lord Badala's trial. And we have unanimously decided, Kyrat, Papir, Kumsa and Yinke may do little on our own but together…. Many things are possible. Possibilities like the repelling of the Chinese PLA, the disruption of Golden Paths progress, and most recently defeating the US expeditionary armies. From today onwards, Kyrat and its fellow membered states of the Himavana Pillar Alliance will henceforth be consolidated as one power! One Nation! Friends and family, today you shall be part of the Himavana Federation. Unity of nations under one mountain one valley…*

The crowd broke into wild applause. Pagan placed a hand on his heart with the other raised over his head in an "ave" fashion.

(Pagan): I, Pagan Min, King of Kyrat. Have been elected by the supreme authority of the Himavana Federation, to take the term of four years as its Head of State.

(Tenzin): I, Tenzin Vgru of Yinke. Vouch for his Royal Highness Pagan Min's elevation to power in light to the safety of the Yinkian people.

(Dhir): I, Dhir of the Republic. Valid his claim in the interest and prosperity of Papir, as the new state and Capital of the Himavana Federation.

(Surendra): I, Kumsa Surendra, King of the Kumsa fiefdom. Leave the care of our people in his Royal Highness's hands. The protection of our lands to his armies and commanders. Our country is theirs as theirs is ours.

Then I shall undertake this challenge gladly! I hereby order the states military forces to unify under this banner.

(Arjun): "The Royal Army of Kyrat hears and obeys!"

(Dema): "The Yinkian Liberation Army complies with the commander-in-chief!"

(Kumsan Chief of Army): "Kumsa swears allegiance to the Federation!"

(Republican Chief of Army): "Glory of the Federation is the Glory of the Republic!"

(Pagan): …. Very good. Then as Commander-in-chief of the Himavana Federal Army, I order you to seek out and destroy the enemies of the Federation! United States, Golden Path, and the Akaashian Rakshasa.

(Uniformed response): """Success or Death, Loyalty nonetheless!"""*

The parade of soldiers at Lanka roared at the top of their lungs, hearts and minds. The crowd cheered even louder than before, a flock of caged doves were released on cue by the event coordinator to make the event even more dramatic. Pagan held his hands out to calm the commotion.

* I understand that there is only so much our newly formed "Federal Army" can do in its current state. The defence of the Capital comes as the ultimate priority. Just as is retaking the Velvet Palace back from the disillusioned Royal Prince of Kumsa and the Golden Path movement.

I understand that many of my decisions from now will ring with complaints and misgivings. I look to my associates to advise me in times of need and for the betterment of our civilization. That is why…* Pagan seemed reluctant to say these words. The crowd did not know it, but he had been struggling to find an available unit to liberate Kumsa for some time. None of the quote on quote "competent" units were around. Jatayu, Yinkian Republican Guard and V4 were in Pakistan, wrecking havoc amongst the US bases under the PAF military's supervision. The Hussars were fortifying Shanath along with the Dragoons. Arjun restricted him from deploying units preparing for the attack by the Rakshasa and Golden Path. Then Yuma came to him with an idea.

A simple idea to their solution, yet one he was heavily in doubt with.

*By my authority as the current sovereign of the Himavana Federation. I, Pagan Min, Commander-in-chief of the Royal Army of Kyrat, Honoured chieftain of the Prachin Vyadh Tribe and King of Kyrat. Use my royal prerogative to reinstate Military Commanders involved in the Canton Rebellion back into Command of the new formation. I place Sun Kwan Tang in command of these elements.*

The soldiers in the hangar who were of the specified descent that Pagan had reinstated live on television cheered loudly. Sun Kwan was amongst these soldiers as he watched Pagan mouth something away from the mic. A sense of nostalgia washed over him as he recognized the movement of the lips to a common blessing they used to give to one another upon an important mission in the old days.

-May the mountains watch over you, brother.-

These words were Pagan's sole words to Sun Kwan over kilometres away.

Within the tv, the crowds' cheers rose to even greater heights than before. A formation of aircraft flew overhead to make this Hallmark event ever so noteworthy in everyone's memories.

*Glory to the Federation!*

Sun Kwan switched off the television broadcasting the feed from the Lanka Assembly which he did not attend for obvious reasons.

"Alright, you've all got to see it. Now back to your stations, we're on a tight schedule as it is. Manendra would have no doubt watched the broadcast an know we are coming."

The respective field commanders assigned their NCOs orders to have the men continue with their operations. All were greatly invigorated. Not just because it was perhaps the greatest day in their modern history where a new nation was born as one nation under the mountains. But this was also the day, the Cantons could finally claim back their dignity as equals under the mountain.

Three full-regiments were up and about on the tarmac of Sagarmatha Air Base, loading their logistics onto the heavy airlifters for airdrops over Kumsa. They had already been given the brief, their mission was to retake the Velvet Palace and capture Manendra Kumsa, the estranged Crown Prince. This was the easy part of the mission, however, what came next was from them to hold the City until reinforcements arrived to flush out the Golden Path forward base and neutralize their associates from the Rakshasa party.

Sun Kwan held a letter from Badala, known to few as Ajay Ghale. A contingency directive, when engaging the worst enemy to face on the battlefield. An enemy that was invulnerable to most conventional weapons and could only be suppressed not killed. Sun Kwan was sure they picked the short stick in this campaign, but he wasn't about to complain. It was this sort of operation that would ensure the peoples' trust in the canton minority once more. From now on, they were for king and country no matter how dangerous.

The methods and tactics written down were logical yet ingenious to a certain degree. It required trained and well-experienced soldiers to carry them out. Luckily, the former veteran Canton Royal Guards were such who fit the description.

It was sometimes scary, it was as if Ajay Ghale knew them from the inside. Both the Rakshasa and them as well. How he shut down their pitiful excuse for a rebellion in one day, storming their supposedly impregnable fortress in a crazed stunt was something no words could describe.

Yet for someone as crazy in that sense to be this charismatic towards the people where they failed to live up as nobles, never lavished his wealth. He spent all of it on infrastructure and defence where the national budget would not budge. That was how marvels such as the Royal Kyrati Airforce and Armour Regiments, the highways and upcoming railway system were possible. Hence no one could accuse him of hoarding or corruption. He visited and interacted with men in the ranks and blue-collar workers, so no one could say he did not understand the needs of the lower income. There was but one flaw which should not have been committed yet he did so intentionally.

He challenged the worlds' authority.

If he had respected it, Kyrat may have risen to a respectable member of the United Nations in time to come. But by not only spitting in the most powerful Nation's face who commanded majority power in the united free world, by damaging their reputation as the world enforcer. He had caused internal strife. It would be no surprise if the American Fleets were parked one after another outside the Indian Ocean just to flex their muscle and force their home to submit. Although, something was holding them back. It had to do with that nuclear accident in the Arabian Sea, triggered by the former president of the United States. Apparently, there was another story to it.

The byproduct of the annihilation of the Carrier Group was an irradiated sector in the Arabian Sea, the winds blew in unforeseeable directions and carried the radioactive matter with it. This greatly affected sea commerce for the Middle East around the Persian Gulf and anyone passing from the Mediterranean coming through the Suez Canal. Even if the seas weren't high in toxicity, commerce convoys were generally afraid to venture out without some sort of chemical treatment which meant expense. The consequence of this was oil prices skyrocketing due to a widespread panic that the sea-faring sailors' health would be compromised by passing through and near ground-zero. Who was to blame? Everyone was looking at the United States with ire, especially the oil nations of the Middle East and Pakistan. Their concern was for their populace near the ports where the radiation would blow inwards. Even if the US wanted to point their finger at Badala, no one was going to believe a minor warlord of a dysfunctional state in the Himalayas even able to do up such a feat. Furthermore, nuclear weapons had what was called a Permissive Action Link. A safeguard that rendered the nuke harmless unless the only one capable of authorizing a nuclear strike had given the word and pressed the button. That person was the now-former president of the United States. All in all, the United States was in deep shit with international condemnation that even UN opposed. That was what made Badala to them frightening when they could not retaliate without worsening their situation.

Sun Kwan understood that heroic figures were often the catalyst required for a nation's birth or survival in perilous odds. Every great nation had one or a few. Often, these were gallant and chivalrous heroes who won public appeal more than they won battles. But there was another type of "hero" that history chose to write out or place in the back of the limelight for their unsatisfactory deeds to achieve their goals.

These people didn't have the title of hero, most of them were labelled as Tyrant, Dictator or Barbarian. And the sole reason for this is the publics' dissatisfaction in their ways that did not align with their morals. They were cruel when it was needed and magnanimous not to seek attention, but because of the goodness of their heart.

Shi Huang Di founded the Chinese Empire, yet he was herald as a tyrant. Kublai Khan was called a barbarian by both the horrified West and the defeated East. But he was the only one who conquered almost the entire world until today. Julius Caesar was an enemy of Democracy and fellow senators, but he paved the way to the Roman Empire led by his adopted son Augustus.

Some part of Sun Kwan felt that Ajay Ghale fell into this category, in the future, historians would glorify the aftermath of his cullings than to the good he did for the Himavanas.

He was sure that Ajay Ghale would become demonized, even now there were signs of it coming true. The religious movement at Chal Jama whom dubbed their actions under the mandates of this so-called "Eternal Dharma" were protesting Pagan's rule and the continued tyranny of Badala over their traditionalists. They were actually shameless enough to demand his head to appease the gods, something to do with an impending oblivion. How backward they'd become in their hysteria, Sun Kwan thought. They were simply taking a book out of the current crisis and justifying their sway over the populous once more like before. When Pagan ruled, he never barred them from practising their faith, nor raze their temples. Yet this was how they took his charity. Badala was an exception, they were scared of him because the King did not protect them when he struck. Hence his title, Demon.

And yet, the Royal Kyrati Army's' orders encompassed protecting these types of people as well from the invasion. He knew that in time to come, they would be the reason Himavanas would return to their old days of barbarism. Badala should have wiped them out, but he wouldn't. And Sun Kwan could not fault him because it was the same reason he protected the Cantons.

If all of Kyrat in the future would call him a boogieman or a devil. Sun Kwan would be telling his grandchildren a different story.

The story of a young man that save an entire minorities destruction and from themselves. This was the story of why they existed today.

* * *

It felt awkward, to see the fellows who used to sneer at you salute you with such regards. They even stopped their work just to salute him and him back to them. For he was not only one of Badala's posse, but he had been aligned with them in their Rebellion, for other reasons of course. In any case, there was respect for both his authority and his character. Bipin Kadayat was not one to turn his back on comrades, even if it meant turning against a friend.

"Sir, here are the forms. All weapons, equipment and other accessories accounted for and distributed."

"Thank you, Major. Although I can't say I like these Israeli weapons…." Sun Kwan said as he picked up a Galil Ace rifle from a drop crate, it was just one of the many assortments of weaponry that were provided to them.

Jericho handguns, Galil and Tavor rifles, Negev Machine guns, P90 PDWs, Spike Missiles, and numerous weapon attachments sights from said country. The local weapons manufacturing capability could not even supply their immediate demand for weapons as they were currently churning out weapons for already in waiting for rear echelon troops, volunteer corps and units under refit.

Curiously, an entire supply shipment of weapons sent to them by the Israelis in the early days of dialogue had been lying in Longinus's cache. Some of it was distributed amongst the armed police force so as not to confuse the supply chain in the Army, and they were rather picky about what they chose being the Tavor rifles for their compactness and handiness. However, this time they were badly in need of rifles.

"Beggars can't be choosers, Sir. Plus, I heard some good things about Israeli weapons. They're pretty rugged and wouldn't fail on us." Bipin proved this by slinging one onto his shoulders, effectively telling him he'd bring this piece to battle. Sun Kwan did not know how to thank this person, it was he who provided the clearance to even access those caches. The arsenal supervisors still held contempt for the Cantons and for good reason.

"You're right, we can't be picky about the situation. I hope I can count on you in the field, Major." Sun Kwan exclaimed as he breezed through the reports.

"Yes, Sir." Said as he stood his ground awaiting dismissal.

Sun Kwan stared into the mountains for reasons, Bipin stood where he was. "I hope Ah Geng is alright…." He murmured on concerns with his son.

"I wouldn't worry about it, Sir." Bipin cut in although it was not directed at him. "While I wouldn't hastily declare it magic, but he has Badala's protection. Lord Khati and Hamal are with him on their deep strike."

"It's not the voyage I'm worried about, it's his return."

"Why, Sir? Wouldn't your son's return bring you delight?" Sun Kwan looked at him with a smile for his question.

"Nevermind, I know it was silly to bring it up." Bipin was quiet to this statement for a brief while, he knew though. Sun Kwan would have known what his son was about to embark upon, a black stain on the Kyrati Army's reputation. But as of today, the Kyrati Army no longer existed as its elements had been absorbed into the Federal Army. There were no organisations to point fingers at now.

"I don't support it either, Sir. Believe me when I say I'd prefer if we left them alone. But I'm no fool to them. Regardless of whether we show leniency or cruelty, they'll retaliate. It's now a matter of when. In a few weeks time or in years. I'd prefer if their privileges to carte blanche were taken from them."

"…." There were no good people in this world.

"I know it's not what you want to hear, Sir. But this is the reality. I foolishly thought that once."

"Heh! So did I, son." Sun Kwan's spirit seemed restored. "I won't keep you from your deployment. Tell the Colonel you can leave when ready." He handed back the chart with his signature on it.

"Aye, Sir." Bipin acknowledged and collected the report to bring back to his C.O.

"And you don't have to call me that. Sir I mean."

"Why, sir? King Min installed you as the leading commander of this Brigade."

"Then do you see this fool as a Commander?" Sun Kwan said wryly. There was no hiding it, Sun Kwan was one of the people who threatened him and the 1st Hussars into fighting on their side.

"… You are my commanding officer, and I will provide you with every tactical assessment of the battlefield should you wish it, Sir. If you don't feel confident, then you need only act the part of Brigadier. The Colonel, myself and Commandant Fang will take it from there." Bipin added a salute before departing after Sun Kwan hesitantly gave his own in return. He left the older man to reflect before the drop.

Heading to the parked Ilyushin for immediate dust-off, he watched the vehicles get loaded up onto the heavy airlifters. Right now, expense was the least of their worries so much as survival was the top priority. He asked to be here instead of scouring the lands in search of the remaining Thangkas of Kalinag, and Ajay warned him that if he did there was a high possibility that the Rakshasa would be there waiting in Kumsa, maybe even a Pillar. And they had no defence against that sort of power, Ajay could personally vouch on that account. His power was roughly on par with Purushartha for only a moment. And that was only one of four, what happens when they were struck all at once by them? They weren't even the "Final Boss", Bipin didn't want to imagine.

Even with the pooling of resources, they weren't able to get certain equipment initially requested. The upgraded Ratels, Patria AMVs and BMP fleets were held exclusive to the Armour Corps. The best they could source was 6x6 Ural and ZIL military trucks and a lot of them, these vehicles were, however, handier than one would think. For Kumsa was tropical country, soft ground capable of miring the heaviness of armoured vehicles and hot humid weather that played havoc on hot-running engines. The quantity of trucks at their disposal allowed from fluid maintenance should there be time to repair. Due to their versatile nature in flatbed configuration, a multitude of heavy weapons could be mounted behind, providing significant firepower in a greater axis than most armoured vehicles at the expense of protection, however. From AA 40mm Bofors guns to 120mm mortars, they would need them in keeping heavy firepower on the move in the semi-urban of the Capital City. Apart from certain infantry small-arms like the Slugger, that was all they had against both Golden Path and Rakshasa threats.

"Hello, Bishal." Well, not entirely.

The big cat followed alongside him, chaffing. Courtesy of his sister who left the Tiger to protect him in the event he was assailed. Darshan had said something about it being a Guardian, he was not so clear on the subject, but it wouldn't hurt to have him around. Unfortunately, Bipin was no Hunter, so taming the beast to follow his bidding wasn't something he was capable of.

Bipin sprinted as he noticed his plane on the tarmac awaiting approval for take-off. For this operation to retake and subjugate the Velvet Palace, the abode of the Kumsan Royal Family, he was to be the vanguard. He was no paratrooper, but if it wouldn't stop him from being open to new experiences.

"Welcome aboard, sir!" Shouted the doorman over the scream of the engines warming up.

"Thanks for waiting!" He replied, surprised that the door operator could even hear him when he couldn't.

"The Colonel is in communications cabin! We leave the runway, ten minutes!" He signed to Bipin as he noticed he couldn't hear as well. Bipin saluted and entered. The cargo holds currently configured for about a hundred paratroopers. Scouts from the Brigadier and a platoon of Yuma's remaining Special Deep Strike Group soldiers trained in para drop operations to lead the assault.

Passing the many soldiers who gave him their regards and looking cautiously at the White Tiger accompanying him. When he opened the pressurized compartment door to communications within the Ilyushin airlifters, he was quite relieved that he wouldn't have to hear the humming all the way to their destination. He held the door for Bishal to follow him in, big cats didn't like noise either.

"Big Kwan's got and signed the ledger, we have a green-light." He told the assembly of officers, some from the Hussars, others were retired Cantons undertaking this opportunity as well.

"All of you had better return to your planes and men. I'll see you all on the ground." The field commander of the Brigade Vanguard told the rest of the Commanders who were sharing their line of action once they were dropped off on the highway, the only place which the Ilyushin airlifters could land in Kumsa.

Now it was just the two of them and one tiger, all the Junior officers were with their men. The comms cabin, the door operator called it. But that man and all other personnel to these planes were mercenaries on Lupus Caelum employment. They had turned this place into one of comfort for the long hours away from their beds by making the communications cabin into a lounge for rest while they were flying long hours. Sofas, tables and even a bar with a cabinet full of hard liquors.

"Just like flying first-class." The Colonel commented as she noticed him looking around.

"I'd prefer not flying at all if you know what I mean." Bishal was already occupying a whole length of the sofa as his place, and Bipin was not going to dispute him on that.

The colonel reached for a drinking glass.

"Should you be drinking?" He asked as she poured a glass of scotch and walked over to the seat which he occupied.

"It's not for me." She handed it out to him, to which he took a gulp from.

"I know what you're thinking. And the answer is no." She said as she read his mind on the topic he wanted to touch on.

"…. I still wanna say it. I think you shouldn't involve yourself with them anymore." Their history with the Cantons was touchy, even if they were neighbours.

"I do too. Hell, even mom was against it. I had to run from the house so that she wouldn't cry for me. Be that as it may, half of me is still Canton."

"Sam….. you owe them nothing." When he pointed this out, she sighed.

"This isn't about them." She looked out the small window at the soldiers loading up supplies onto the adjacent heavy airlifter.

The aircraft began the rumble, with only a few seconds that it needed to clear the runway with max speed. They had taken off, there was no going back. Only then did Samuelle sigh in relief as she smiled at her lover.

She poured a glass of water, holding it out in front.

"Here's to us. All or nothing." She said with a sly grin on her face.

Bipin had only seen that on occasion, Sam was by no means incompetent in commanding battalions in operation. She was by far the best in her generation that old Guang Min was forced to accept and inevitably use her mother as hostage in case she defied them with her growing influence in the Army. She was ironically supposed to be the counter to Ajay when he first debuted as Badala, although her former rival was Saras from the Royal Army.

Deep within Samuelle was an ambition like no other. The Golden Path and Rakshasa alike would soon know the Snow Leopard's hunger.

* * *

The sound of an automatic shotgun discharging resounded within the lonely granite walls of the man-made cavern network.

Falling to the ground thoroughly dead after receiving a hail of fragmentation shells were the unfortunate bears who they had stumbled upon and awoken during a hibernation cycle. The pair of bears thought an intermediate snack had come to them and learnt in their horror that it was, in fact, a bigger predator that came to them.

Smoking was the modified USAS-12 automatic shotgun in Darshan's possession, snatched out of Anish's hands. He was not about to let mere bears get in his way of retrieving that Soul Stone. Emptying the entire drum of Frag-12 into the bears, their faces no longer resembled a member of their species. Darshan once again demonstrated how ruthless he was in accomplishing his goal no matter the cost. Should anyone get in his way, he would show the same amount of sympathy as he did to these bears.

The automatic shotgun fell into Anish's hands once again after it was spent, with Darshan taking point once again.

"You're welcome." Anish answered to the thank you Darshan never gave.

In truth, he was surprised. That his substance inhaling companion for so long was actually some kind of hidden exorcist that hunted magical entities, specializing in Rakshasa. His wayward personality was just a front to hide his real personality and agenda from untrained eyes.

"This way." Darshan once again informed them, expecting for them to pick up quickly.

"Come on." Maya tugged Anish's shoulder as they continued on down the narrow and dark tunnelway.

"Man, you just love his attitude don't ya." He commented whilst getting up from the stumble he had chancing upon the bears in the first place.

"Your expression was funnier." Ajay chuckled along with the rest at Anish's expense.

"Haha, very funny. You're just as surprised as I am on that guy, aren't you Ajay?"

"Honestly, at this point. There is no such thing as no surprises around him now." Even Ajay wasn't sure of what to make of him, was the enemy of his enemy his friend? Or just an enemy?

"We've been walking through this damn tunnel for so long, where's the treasure?" Anish reminded them all why he had come along. The mention of an ancient reliquary meant sacred artefacts and jewels to honour the gods there were stacked to the ceiling with riches.

And treasure hunt it should have been. However, the equipment they were carrying hardly seemed appropriate. A slugger anti-material gun, USAS-12, an MGL-140 grenade launcher with "Hellhound" shot and an appropriated CNS XM2014 "gauss" rifle kept in a thermal sleeve to cool the 7-megajoule capable capacitors when its superconductor fins were inactive, and the rifle was in standby mode. Why did they bring the biggest firepower a man could carry when this place had been deserted for millennia?

Ajay didn't know the answer, but he didn't waste time scratching talismans into the ammunition they used for maximum effective damage. Including the gauss rifle's 10mm Depleted Uranium Slugs wrapped in an aluminium sabot, there were only five shots so it had to count when fired. Ajay would have preferred to have his Slayer with him than the mass-produced "Slugger" weapon, but the weapon in question was in pieces with severe damage to the barrel. The most important part of the system as a weapon.

Not even Darshan could put it back together nor field him a replacement with a rebuilt gun. There was something special about that gun he brought down from the Lost Valley. The barrel wasn't made like a firearm was, but rather how a sword was made. Folded steel. The type which the slayer was made of was called Wootz Steel, a variant of high-carbon steel alloy made by many indus weapons makers of old. And someone made the barrel out of a pure crucible steel rod. The time it would have taken to mill out the rifling would have taken more than the gun would have actually been worth.

But not for the owner or builder of the gun. Due to its durable nature, it could resist hotter loads of powder than a conventional steel gunbarrel could. Or for the fated hunter's choice of ammunition, custom sabot slugs with power and punch to down Yetis.

There was no point lamenting, it did its job to the fullest. He would honour the weapon by giving it a long-deserved rest, for the battle ahead was beyond simple conventional weapons. A gun couldn't stop the invasion two-days away.

They had to hurry, there was no telling how long it too for Darshan to prepare what he was doing after obtaining the soul stone, a.k.a, the Blood ruby.

Darshan stopped at what appeared to be the end of the tunnel where there was light shining.

"Why have we stopped?" Gettign closer, Saras realized why.

Greeting them, was a cavern so wide and open, it could even house a city. And it did.

For up ahead in front of them, stood the ruin of an ancient city carved from the rock. Despite age, it still stood without significant wear or crumbling of its integrity. There were many holes in the ceiling which luminated the entire city under the mountain. The was the sound of water streaming, but that was not all that seemed perculiar about this place. Only by taking off his iconic cyan jumper did Ajay realise.

"It's warm here." The others were quick to notice but kept quiet as they weren't sure if it was just their body reacting to the cold causing a fever. Immediately, they took off their insulative coats and jackets to adapt to this rather strange local environment.

"Magic?" Maya asked.

"As if." Anish refused to believe that magic was capable of influencing the weather indefinitely. Although Pillars like Bhaskar and Purushartha pulled it off easily.

Ajay walked in the direction of where the sound of water could be heard, and where the heat seemed to get stronger and warmer. Behind some ruins, through the vapour mist of water condensation, he found what caused this unusual temperature.

The rest caught up to him and realized the same. A ziggurat stood before them, streaming water and mist down its stepped slopes down into an aqueduct system that ran the entire city. Even in their ancient time and age, it appeared there was some level of engineering ingenuity amongst the former occupants of this city, wherever they were.

"A geothermal deposit, what are the chances?" Being of engineering background with significant study in geomechanics, Saras was able to discern instantly.

Anish was already dipping his bottle into the water of the streams.

"We don't know if that's safe to drink."

Realizing he just made a big mistake of throwing his water haphazardly into what could be water with high mineral content, Anish just sighed. Ajay took it a step further by dipping his hand into the waters and smelling then tasting the water.

"It's sweet."

"Really?!" Anish did not hesitate to try and was surprised by the mineral rich water. Already ranting about turning this into a distributed mineral water operation. "Mineral Water from the Himalayan alps." Something similar to a major french mineral water company that sourced its waters from Lake Geneva.

"What say we rest here?" Ajay suggested, since they hadn't taken a break since the long climb.

"Aye!"

"Yep!" The rest were already agreeing to his proposal. But the last member said nothing.

"Darshan?"

"The rest can, we need to get to the Stone." He was already raring to go.

"You've already confirmed it was there the last time, the ruby isn't going anywhere, Darshan." Ajay told him as he rested his rifle and pack on the stone pavement and sat on the steps of a ruined house.

"In the meantime, you can start explaining about this place and what value it had."

"It has no value." Darshan said straight.

"No value? This is the biggest historic find in our history, dear. A hidden city within the mountains, the mountain walls as a natural barrier, a water source and sunlight to sustain vegetation growth, a geothermal deposit to simulate a warmer environment. This place makes the Lost City of the Incas look like a dull tourist attraction."

Darshan stepped in front of her glaring in a way that her comment didn't favour him.

"It has no value." He repeated as he turned and walked alone into the ruined city centre. Saras could not understand why he acted the way he did and turned to Ajay.

"Never seen him so excited."

"That's excited?" Saras had trouble believing Darshan's expression from Ajay's comment.

"This place, he couldn't give a damn. But he's anxious, alright." The soul stone, Darshan was thinking of nothing but the soul stone. The size of a human's head. His trump was one the size of a peach, imagine what this one could do?

Ajay huffed and picked up his weapon, slinging his gear on.

"You guys take a break, we won't be long….. I hope."

"I'll come along with you." Saras insisted as Ajay held a hand out to prevent her.

"Save your strength, we still need to climb down." She still looked unconvinced, more afraid if he was left alone with the unpredictable Darshan.

"I'll be fine, have a look around with Anish. Maybe you'll find something neat, or maybe you'll just go home with a souvenir." Saras shook her head but a smile was present.

Ajay held her hand for a brief moment. "I'll be back."

He said before moving to catch up with Darshan. As Ajay had indicated, Anish was already searching around for any gold or jewels in the many houses. One sweep and he'll be a millionaire in an instant. Saras was a little curious herself about the nature of the inhabitants of this once great city.

The Vanara ape tribes, sentient apes from ancient Sanskrit scriptures and epics of immortal heroes. Right here, lay the only evidence to a semblance of civilization built by them left and preserved in such excellent condition. It was an archaeologist's field day.

"What's say we go for a wal-…" As she faced where her other colleague was sitting to suggest a sightseeing, but all she found was her bag and kit left behind.

"Maya?"

* * *

Ajay caught up to Darshan in no time, yet not a word of thanks or acknowledgement came from the old guy. Ajay was here as expected.

"We need to do this alone." Darshan stated his true intentions.

"…." Ajay was not all that surprised.

What was it that Darshan needed from him that he who was so capable of doing things himself want? It was definitely not a feat easily accomplished by humankind.

Standing before them, another hole in the cavern wall. Darshan unhesitantly led him through despite the darkness and the illumination of a torch.

It was here that Ajay started to have an eerie feeling creep in from all over, courtesy of his newly-awakened third eye. A presence was still present within these mountain walls.

"Who?" Ajay asked.

"A disincarnate soul."

"A spirit can't remain that long." Ajay might be new to this supernatural stuff but even he knew that lost souls or disincarnate souls as they were called were lunch to evil spirits and other likes or creatures to ominous to mention.

"If it were ordinary I wouldn't be needing your help, right?" Darshan stated frustrated that even he couldn't understand this at very least.

After a long silence between them, Darshan continued to explain.

"It was intentionally left to protect this place."

"Which is?"

"A mausoleum." In other words, this ground they were in from that other tunnel away from the city was a sacred ground. But it made sense for the soul stone to be where the dead were kept.

"What kind of help am I giving?"

The only reply was a grimace and a response. "You'll know soon enough." What was worth being so secretive about? Ajay wished he could trust Darshan but he couldn't. If the old man wished to fuck around with him, he'll bury him here with the Vanara spirits. His hand hovered over the HE grenades on his belt.

"I think you've long contemplate my retaliation by now, no?" Darshan said almost as if he had eyes on the back of his head.

"What I said was true, I wish Esha's death."

"But I want Kyrat to be safe."

"These are the same." Darshan countered.

"No, they're not." Ajay shook. "The cost doesn't weight on you, it's held by millions who don't even know the ground beneath their feet is owned by someone else."

"So you'll kill me for the sake of your people?" Darshan glared.

"I'll do all I can to protect them, even if it means you too." Darshan laughed in such a disdainful way at his comment.

"So self-righteous! The irony that you are the same fool who destroyed Kyrat in another era!" He sneered to Ajay's disbelief.

He had never mentioned that he came from another time, Darshan only knew he held fragments of Yalung. So what led him to this line of thought. It was as he thought, Darshan knew much more than he led on to make them believe.

"I've witnessed over dozens of Ajay's throw themselves against a tide that was themselves and Esha's invasion. Not a single one accomplished their goal, but at the same time neither did she." Darshan closed in on Ajay till they were face to face.

"You were just their next attempt over many more."

Ajay's mind felt heavy upon the already distasteful aura surrounding this place. What did he mean other Ajay's? Did Esha, the Rakshasa and Darshan travel over many alternate realities fighting to attain what they yearned? Ajay spared a glance at the small icon hanging from his wrist, the wooden medallion that transcended space and time to follow him here. The Kalachakra Wheel of Time.

"This will be Esha's last jump, on this I can swear to you, Ajay Ghale. The Rakshasa, we'll stop here this time. I bet my life on it." And for once, Ajay saw a sincerity in the man's eyes. It made him want to trust Darshan just once. Although something about those eyes seemed nostalgically familiar, and not just to the extent of acquaintances but someone he'd seen every day in the past.

They arrived in a chamber lined with more statues flanking both ends of the corridor, only some of them were in pieces and in very weird positions, unlike the rest. Like they had moved from their spot only to be destroyed. Ajay couldn't help but look to Darshan who gazed strangely worried at the statues for some reason.

He began to adopt a stealthier approach as he threw a talisman of concealment over himself and flung one to Ajay. He crept up slowly to the wall and peeked around the corridor. Ajay didn't know what spooked him, but he also sensed some strange fluctuations of Prana in the air that didn't seem very much like a spirit or Rakshasa for that matter. Yet, there was something awfully disgusting about that scent. It was pleasant in reality, but for some reason, Ajay's stomach turned and his inner-self felt a strong sense of irritation when nearing that scent and aura.

Ajay did not dare to be careless in his stealth as he followed every step that Darshan made to keep the guile. When he peered around the corner which Darshan looked, they could make out shadows cast by an illumination from inside one of the many chambers that stalked the corridor.

 _[Another empty cesspit, even in death these apes stink as bad as they were alive.]_

They heard voices, the translating talisman converted the ancient tongue into something more intelligible for them. Whoever they were, they weren't human.

 _[This one most strongly agrees, my lord. But let us not forget that they possess the greatest treasure of them all.]_ A humbler voice agreed to the other one that spoke arrogantly in the resting place of many a great ape kind.

There was a laugh, so conceit it was as if the world was expected to please him.

 _[Who could forget, the Great ape Varish's principal weapon. Since he's already gone, he should naturally bequeath it to a worthy successor. One that will shake the mountains.]_

Ajay didn't know why, but every time those voices spoke a rise in his ability to control his composure lessened. Deep within, the blood of Yalung was blooding uncontrollably till it begun to feel extremely hot for him. Darshan was not oblivious to this and rested a hand on his shoulder to tell him to keep it to himself and under control.

 _[And who better to wield it to smite his enemies, that treacherous harlot and the Rakshasa mongrels than I. Who is destined to be King of the Mountains!]_

It was not just Ajay's temperament that seemed at a straining point. The demon banisher medallion shook even wilder than it had in the presence of entities like Purushartha, Esha or natural law of the mountains. Then the owner of the shadow walked out in full view of Ajay and Darshan. The Demon Banisher Medallion triggered off in its usual manner in the presence of certain fluctuations in prana.

 **Archenemy of Akaash,**

 **Usurpers of the Mountains.**

 **Kinsmen of Eternal Heaven,**

 **the Demon demands their blood.**

 **Son devours son within the Mountains,  
**

 **So is the mandate of the King.**

 **The Demon shall consume…**

…

 _[The audacious 4_ _th_ _Royal Prince, Andhakan!]_

…

" **The Yaksha."**

* * *

Author's Notes:

Edit on grammar 21/01/2018


	137. Chapter 125 - The Yaksha of Shangri-la

What was this person before them? Standing six-foot-tall, unblemished pure white skin wrapped in samite velvet green robes and ancient bronze finish armour. And a face Chiffon would have called the Adonis of the Himalayas. So unblemished was his appearance, it made most modern beauties look pale in comparison, especially since he was a male. Perfect in every way. Yet Ajay wasn't able to be astonished by the entities complexion, as the Demon Banisher medallion screamed even louder into his mind.

 **Consume the Yaksha**

 **Grind his bones,**

 **drink his blood**

 **Consume the Yaksha- Consume the Yaksha- Consume the Yaksha- Consume the Yaksha- Consume the Yaksha- CONSUME THE YAKSHA- CONSUME THE YAKSHA- CONSUME THE YAKSHACONSUMETHEYAKSHACONSUMETHEYAKSHACONSUMETHEYAKSHA-**

[AJAY! Get a hold of yourself!]

The voice in his mind shook him out of that bloodlust-ridden trance induced by the demon banisher medallion. Covering his mouth to hide his own inhales, he barely managed to get a hold of his consciousness that almost wanted to give in entirely to the demon resting in him. Deep within his psyche, said demon was losing control and urging on to abide by the demon banisher medallion's words. Ajay flung the medallion to Darshan for safekeeping, he was better away from that thing than with it.

[We have to get away from here.] Darshan was unusually cautious about encountering these entities, these Yaksha. As much as he wanted to continue his acquisition of the soul stone.

[No….. Let's wait and see what they're after.] Ajay counter-proposed, much to his surprise.

[Are you sure?] He asked again.

[…. I'll manage. But if they're here for the same thing…] Ajay implied the soul stone holding value to the Yaksha as well.

[…..] Darshan gave a nod.

Those entities would have to die.

They silently stalked what appeared to be five Yaksha accompanying that braggart self-proclaimed prince. Four were just as young as the Prince but that didn't mean anything since Yaksha weren't restricted to the ages like man was. There was one old one, who seemed the most dangerous out of the lot. He had eyes that had seen battle and carried himself with a heavy set of dignity of a veteran warrior. The old one wasn't going to be easily fooled by trickery or ruses.

The four younger ones flanked the Prince like his posse or bootlickers, only making him as haughty as he presented himself on this venture. The old one stayed close and watched his surroundings like a personal bodyguard.

[Ever seen Yaksha before?] Ajay asked through the talisman.

[No. This is a first for me as well.] It wasn't a very confident answer in Ajay's opinion. And it wasn't good either, they had absolutely no idea how these Yaksha moved when engaged.

Yaksha. The Hindu scripture's equivalent of the Greek nymphs or European fairies and dryads to compare them. Supposedly a natural inhabitant of the Himalayas found in natural formations such as mountains and forests. They were also rumoured to guard stashes of buried treasure like a Leprechaun with the exception that they don't share their stash with outsiders and go crazy if someone takes anything. These ones were supposed to be in a feud with the Rakshasa.

Darshan gave this short summary of what Yakshas were without any apparent knowledge of their powers or physical strength. They needed to provoke them into using their abilities.

[Any volunteers for bait?] Darshan stared back disinterested at his wisecrack.

The Yaksha strolled confidently in the direction of one of the many chambers at the end of the corridor that got Darshan expressing more worry than before. Clearly, the soul stone was there too.

Both him and Ajay crawled upon the floor centimetre by centimetre to such a degree, not even the rubbing of fabric could be heard. The veteran bodyguard was probably a professional of over hundreds of years of battle surpassing their own and so, they weren't taking any chances.

Ajay peered around the corridor as the point man of their two-man team. What he saw inside was something of a throne room. The most notable element was the skeletons packed on both ends of the room in a bowing posture as if to give homage to the throne at the end of the chamber.

(crack) _[Tsh! Smelly apes, they should have known when to give up.]_ One of the posses declared as he stomped a warrior ape's remains into dust with a stomping action and an invisible force crushing it.

Ajay bore witness first hand to an unusual ability he'd never seen from the Rakshasa.

 _[Hmph.]_ Their prince sneered and clenched his hand then thrusted it to the ground.

(Crush) Immediately the many skeletons surrounding the room were crushed into dust.

 _[I once again bear witness to my lord's extraordinary talent at wielding the will of the mountain!]_ The Yaksha follower licked his ass after a brief demonstration of his superiority over the more ordinary background members.

[Did you fucking see that?!] Ajay communicated to Darshan who was looming above him.

[Will of the mountain, huh?… a magic that harnesses the natural law.] Ajay did not like Darshan's assessment. These entities called upon the natural law as a form of magic, in a way it seemed overly dependent on the mountains for aid. But they were currently within the mountain boundaries.

The Yakshas faced the end of the chamber to a dais that dominated the room. Seated upon it was a skeleton lavished in jewels and superior armour to the rest of its subjects. A crown upon its head marked it as the supposed leader of what were the Vanara tribes. Ajay and Darshan crept around the many columns that provided some concealment, laying traps as they went up in coordination.

Ajay spared a glance as he moved forwards in rhythm to that skeleton that survived the Prince's ego. The Yaksha seemed to gather before it like they were seeking his audience. Darshan had also finished on his end, but he was looking at something else.

 _[On the dais left.]_ Ajay's eyes traced the direction he specified to see a stone stand, and resting upon it was none other than the object they sought.

Said Prince bowed his head slightly to the skeleton.

 _[Lord Varish, Chieftain of the long enduring Vanara Tribe of the mountains. I, Andhakan. 4_ _th_ _Prince of Shangri-la salute you.]_

His salutation was met with the blowing wind from the mausoleum air shaft. From Ajay's point of view, he was speaking to a skeleton which seemed ridiculous.

 _[I come before you as many have before me to prove my worth. To inherit your legacy.]_ Once again, there was no answer. The Prince seemed frustrated that no response was given, and he had been made to call out like a fool.

 _[It appears we have wasted our time on aged relics.]_

 _[Silence!]_ The prince snapped at his retainer along with sending a slap his way, pummeling the retainer to the ground in an instant.

 _[I beg forgiveness for my servant's disposition, oh lord.]_ The prince went on one knee to express sincerity.

Again, there was no reply. The skeleton sat where it had since it lay there over thousands of years ago.

[Nothing's happening.] Ajay communicated with Darshan.

[He's here alright, he's just toying with them.] A discarnate soul was unfortunately not a true soul of the being it once was, but a fragment left behind or what remained of the former. A fragment that troubled even Darshan and one, the Yaksha respected.

 _[Let me carry on your legacy. Let me wield the pride of the Vanara in its return to glory.]_

And almost immediately a thunder of the earth resounded from a voice that replied in kind.

 **[Even after millennia your kind is just as shameless as your ancestors were.]** It said in mockery of the young Yaksha aspirants.

 _[Greetings, my lord.]_ The prince bowed once more without giving any notion of lowering his head further. The discarnate soul was no fool to the prince's pride.

 **[I am not your lord. You are not one of mine, so expect nothing short of a curse upon your damnable kind.]** The soul of the dead chieftain taunted.

 _[Yet you allowed generations of my people a try at succeeding your legacy.]_

 **[Yes. It was fun to watch your pitiful elders struggle to attain something that will never belong to them.]** It teased.

 _[Yet we are the rulers of this land. Your kind, man and Rakshasa lost to us in the end.]_

 **[Lose to the likes of you? Ha! Your kind could not even manage a straight fight against "him" let alone "his" Pillars. Your lord came crying to us when "he" snatched away his bride!]** The soul lamented after it mocked the Yaksha prince in his stubborn debate. Regret was everlasting, and it would forever be tormented by their actions that day that led to the ruin of the Vanara.

 _[My lord father, Eternal-]_ (BOOOOOOOM) Just as he was about to continue arguing to gain the last word, the mountains shook and stones began to fall on the ground.

 **[Do not EVER say that name here! You nor any spawn of his are welcome here!]**

 _[Calm your anger, my lord. I mean no disrespect. Like the rest before me, I offer you the tribute of Prana.]_ The prince motioned to the retainers that pulled out ancient incense burners, opening their lids to allow the smoke to be let out.

The smoke magically gathered and flowed towards the soul stone lying upon the stone mantle next to the earthly remains of the discarnate soul. At first, Ajay was intrigued that Prana could sustain a discarnate soul and this was what had probably kept the soul alive all along. But then, as his eyes traced to smoke leading to the soul stone blood ruby, he could make out figures within the smoke. Faces, all wearing a similar expression of horror.

And the next thing the discarnate soul said confirmed his horrors.

 **[Sacrifices of man again, conceit as ever.]** It grumbled.

Not only was Ajay's gut feeling unwell, but another level of anger threatened to take over his consciousness. Human sacrifices, what did that mean?!

Darshan was already ringing to him to keep things in check, this wasn't worth compromising their concealment. As it appeared they weren't here for the soul stone but something else, as they just fed the soul stone… with human souls.

 _[No blood of the Yaksha shall ever be spilt again, our Lord has vowed upon this to his people. We do not seek your peoples' vast treasures nor their remains you have protected all this while, even in death. We only seek a trial of fire.]_ The Yaksha Prince reasoned.

The discarnate soul was silent. Ajay was now beginning to understand its situation. It did all it could to remain on guard of the fallen souls of his comrade-in-arms buried within this mausoleum with him, their treasures to the afterlife included. Keeping both safe from the hands of individuals like Demon Banishers from turning them into soul stones for magic consumption or evil spirits to devour. It was a valiant duty that even Ajay couldn't help but admire the courage and grit to carry out. While not obvious, the Prince and his kind had constantly threatened it with ransacking the reliquary if it did not allow them the chance to carry out some sort of ritual.

 _[Give me the chance to attempt that trial and you shall have me in your debt.]_ The discarnate soul sighed in grief as it was helpless against these words.

 _[Allow me to obtain the right to wield your mighty Astra. The legendary mace which our kin have long spoken stories about on the incredible feat you had accomplished in life.]_

-A weapon?- Ajay thought, so this was what this was all about. Darshan had once told him, magical weapons had a limited sentience to them. As the saying went, "The wielder chooses not the weapon, the weapon chooses its wielder." If he was not wrong, this was why they had kept the discarnate soul alive. Perhaps, the weapon had an equivalent to the modern biometric reader. If the owner did not approve of the weapon falling into certain individuals' hands, it would never obey. The owner was long dead, but a discarnate soul remained which was technically still him one form of another.

The Yaksha wanted his weapon. But what was so special about this mace? What the Prince would reveal unwittingly to them would explain why they valued it so.

 _[Let me bear the right to claim the weapon that broke the Rakshasa King's sword, let me claim_ kaalapatthargada. _]_

Upon hearing the name of the weapon they sought, the Discarnate soul remained quiet. The Yaksha Prince stared strongly at the skeleton of the long dead Vanara Chieftain until it would give its response.

 **[I will not break my word in death as I had not in life. He who proves worthy of my gada** (mace) **shall have the right to take it off my hands.]** The discarnate soul said seriously. It was abiding by a vow it made in life. Once again, the romance of the Vanara code of honour seemed to reflect heavily from this discarnate soul's personality.

Ajay took note of the Vanara's words. But most of all, he took note of what it said about this "legendary mace" of his. He clearly heard what the Yaksha Prince said, a weapon that broke Ishaan's Astra of rule. Was it referring to that broken sword Esha left behind and Vasu carried? He couldn't fathom what sort of weapon this was other than a superweapon.

 **[Then I take it all eight of you shall partake?]**

 _[Indeed we shall-…]_ The prince happily agreed, but suddenly stiffened when he mentioned above the number that was present. _[Forgive me, my lord. But did you not make a mistake?]_ The prince said almost wanting to chuckle rudely, he hadn't figured the Vanara would be so muscle-headed they couldn't even count properly.

But the discarnate soul was not so dense it could not make out his mirth behind its back. But laughed at the Yaksha themselves for good reason.

 **[For masters of illusion and secrecy, you sure have fallen unto troubled times if you could not even detect the presence of those two humans- no-… Demon Banishers amongst us.]** It chuckled so hard it almost busted a gut, except it had no gut to bust.

The Prince and his retinue went on guard almost immediately as they formed a circle with swords drawn.

 _[SHOW YOURSELF!]_ The prince roared mightily, hoping to frighten them into revealing some hints to their location.

* * *

Meditation seemed to be the only way to keep her emotions in check. Purushartha loomed close by to watch over his princess while the rest were away on preparations for crushing the resistance of man before their stepping into Shangri-la.

This was a plan, a thousand years in the making, they must absolutely have it run flawlessly or else it would be the end of their civilization. **[Where is the boy now?]** Purushartha asked the returning General of the North Gate once known as Bhaskar to the Golden Path.

 **[I cannot find him, Darshan has masked his presence too well.]** As worried as they were about where Ajay Ghale was, they also needed him to stay alive at all costs if the ritual was to succeed. He also had the Kalinag thangkas with him, the only means of acquiring safe passage into Shangri-la not controlled by Eternal Heaven.

 **[He will appear as promised.]** The General of the North Gate believed in him but Purushartha had other opinions.

 **[That is not the concern, Taral! He is next to the most dangerous man who has the power to end it all as and when he fancies!]** Still agitated, at least Purushartha recognized the threat Darshan posed. Although hard to believe he came all the way here and waited patiently for them even. That sort of willpower was capable of much greater feats if he was not suppressed.

 **[Hush. You'll disturb the princess.]** The General of the North Gate pointed to Esha, deep in meditation. Ascending her spirit also allowed for her spiritual awareness of the surroundings to be bolstered a hundredfold. Meaning she was already aware of the conversation they had.

Purushartha quietens down, he knew there was no point in getting flustered. Ajay Ghale would eventually come to them as agreed, he still held integrity to keep his word and won't break it. Even if it meant opposing Darshan eventually, if he was smart enough, he would also notice that Darshan wasn't in-line with his goals of saving the mortal humans of this land.

Unless something got else got in his way, Purushartha and his fellow Pillar Tarakeshwar who was also known as Bhaskar could not imagine any other threat to Ajay Ghale's life.

(Cough) A commotion happened where Esha was seated, falling forward on her hands, she coughed out blood.

 **[Your Highness!]** Both Generals were already attending to her. But Esha wore a grave expression as if she'd witness something terrible.

 _[They've found him…]_ She murmured with a horrified look on her face.

 **[Sister!-…]** Tarakeshwar called to her as he held her shoulders.

An iron grip grabbed tightly around Tarakeshwar's shoulders despite their slender nature. She stared straight into his eyes, elaborating the urgency.

 _[Go to Ashoka Peak, the reliquary! He is there!]_

 **[Who is, sister?]**

 _[Ajay Ghale is in danger! They're there as well!]_

They never did, Tarakeshwar nor any other Rakshasa miss who "they" was referring to. Their sworn enemy, the usurpers of the mountain. Tarakeshwar held both hands and clasped them together, he stared strongly back to his sister without a shred of conviction.

 **[I will ensure that no harm comes to him!]**

* * *

A real pickle they were in, not only did the discarnate soul know they were here, now those Yakshas did as well.

[Stay where you are.] Darshan instructed.

[It's too late for that.] Ajay stood out from his concealment and walked out into the open of the chamber where his appearance was met with hostility.

 _[A wise choice.]_

"I'm out because I don't want the discarnate soul to force me out. And could you do me a favour by shutting the hell up? Your voice irritates me." Already on the first appearance, Ajay wasn't going to make friends or grovel for his life to the likes of the Yaksha.

 _[Insolence!]_ The old one shouted and threw out some sort of flying disc blade that was poised to take his head. (thump) (BOOM) A 40mm grenade was fired from a sawn-off M79, blasting the chakram into smithereens.

The older Yaksha seemed shocked for a moment and was about to throw a second, however, a frightening aura appeared from behind. He turned to see Darshan, lining his fingers at him ready to commence banishment.

 **[State your name and business!]** The discarnate soul demanded and somehow ceased the Yakshas' hostility to let it get answers.

"Ajay Ghale, Demon Banisher. I couldn't give a rat's ass about some stupid mace, I'm here for that." He said pointing to the soul stone. Ajay decided that honesty was the way to getting around this standoff or else the Yaksha will try every opportunity to kill them as the discarnate soul would too retaliate.

 **[How typical of Demon Banishers. Essence is all you people really care about!]**

"We all have our obsessions like you have on guard your peoples' essence and treasure. Like pretty boy here and his lovers have over your bigggg…. haaard shaft." He teased.

Hearing the clear insult and the mockery he made of him, the Prince was infuriated beyond comprehension. This was the first time he'd been insulted in such a way. Yet he was forced to stay his hand in the presence of the discarnate soul to earn his blessing to try for the weapon.

 **[AhahahahahaaHAHAHA! You are a funny one, Ajay Ghale.]** Apparently, the discarnate soul took a liking to him instead. Darshan stepped toward where Ajay was to stand with him.

 **[Oh. It's you again.]** He also acknowledged Darshan from a previous encounter.

 _[My lord, they are Demon Banishers! Who knows what other ill intent they have for your peoples' legacy!]_ The prince tried to sway the discarnate soul's opinion.

"Well, I'm not gonna lie. I need your soul stone to repel the Rakshasa. Since these so-called rulers of the Mountains aren't even bothering about it."

 **[And what promise do you give it will only be just that?]**

"You've got no guarantee from me. I'm in too much of a rush to bother coming here for whatever it is they're here for and I won't deny that sooner or later human archaeological teams will come by in the near future to disturb this place."

 **[Ha! Honest, I like that! Wonder why your senior cannot be like you? Bashing through my formations and taking all he wants!]**

Ajay spared a glance towards Darshan who wasn't going to talk. Clearly, his previous aggressive behaviour had upset and dissatisfied the discarnate soul. Although it could be ruled out that Darshan was not expecting a discarnate soul to be this powerful still.

"How about it? If you do me this solid, I could probably do you a favour. Maybe blast the entire city with enough explosive it'll never be intruded again."

 **[Hmmm….]** The discarnate soul seemed to be attracted to Ajay's offer. As it had already stated, protecting its peoples' remains and treasure were its only concern. By collapsing the mountain upon the hidden city, no one would be able to enter it again. And it wouldn't have to be hindered by the Yaksha ever again.

A crushing aura was sent his way, carrying a magnitude of the mountains will with it.

 _[How dare you suggest such an audacious and senseless action!]_ The Prince wielded his magic at Ajay.

Ajay showed no sign of countering the incoming force, instead, he pulled out a detonator from his pocket and held it in front of him, clicking once to arm the devices nearby. The aura screeched to a halt as if its wielder understood what the device was in his hands.

"While you were licking the ape's feet, I took the liberty of planting about fifteen kilos of C4 throughout this tomb. And if you've ever played with explosives, these narrow confines only amplify their power."

 _[Tsh! You'll only destroy yourselves in the proce-.]_

"A strategic weapon on par with Nuclear Weapons and falling into hands whose alignment we don't know. I'd rather it never sees the light of day again. We have the resolve. Question is, do you?" Ajay was already rubbing the switch.

The Yaksha felt threatened, not because it endangered their immortal life. But the consequence of destroying the only chance of retrieving a certain legendary weapon which had great strategic value. Their own authority would punish them.

 **[Oh?]** The discarnate soul exclaimed intrigued by what the humans had done, or rather what this human was doing. By far, it kept quiet to see what he would do to the Prince, and this young demon banisher seemed quite interesting. In life, he had never seen the Yaksha so agitated. It was regretful he wasn't alive to see it for himself.

 _[You insolent cur! You are so ignorant of what you are about to destroy!]_ The Prince snapped at him, then turned to the skeleton. _[My lord, if he destroys this city no one will remember the glory of the Vanara. Furthermore, you will no longer be able to sustain yourself!]_

While it was as if all the Yaksha's fury was nothing but empty threats as he persuaded the discarnate soul to act on their behalf. The Yaksha Prince made valid points as well.

"How about this?" Ajay called out having a solution to their problem, and a wry grin on his face.

"Me and him, showdown for your magic Excalibur mace. Winner takes all. If he gets the mace, he can do whatever the hell he wants with it. If I get it, I'll do you a favour by burying this reliquary. Free of charge."

 **[Hmm…. Interesting.]** The discarnate soul became more and more entertained by his intent.

At first, the Yaksha Prince was flabbergasted. But then, he laughed so loud and his retainers followed in kind.

 _[A human contending with a Yaksha Aryan? Truly, human. You say quite the humourous boasts, but I accept! You'll have the honour of being the first victim of_ _kaalapatthargada's new master!]_

"Jeez, he talks a lot! Are all Yaksha like this, full of hot air? What was that you said about them not being able to have a straight-on fight?" Ajay intentionally spoke to the discarnate soul for approval, ignoring the prince every time. Somehow, it wasn't just the spiritual aspect that irritated him about the Yaksha and the prince in particular. There was something strangely nostalgic about their mannerisms of arrogance and conceitedness.

 **[I have decided.]** The discarnate soul declared, and chasted both sides.

Ajay never cease to amaze him, he had values of courage under unfavourable odds against six Yaksha. He had the cunning to discern their mission, using it against them. If anything, he wasn't like the Demon Banishers of its day. The discarnate soul felt strange, almost like he'd met him before. In life, there had been only one person who had both spat in the Yakshas' face and terrorized them, this included Eternal Heaven. And like the fool it was in life, it turned against this individual whom in another life might have been a great companion. Perhaps this young one was a reincarnation of that fellow, who knew. Fate and karma were always funny in how it intertwined coincidences. If the discarnate soul could have shown an expression upon the skeleton of its former self, it would have been a ferocious grin of excitement.

 **[You shall contest one another for the ultimate possession of my Vanara legacy! Sword Breaker,** **kaala patthar gada.** **]**

(rumble) The earth began to shake, and the room began to widen on its own. Solid blocks that seemed a ton each moved in like they were magnetized in their coordinated direction. Under a minute, the chamber had now become a sparring ground. The blocks that divided some hidden chambers revealed a mass cache of weapons still on their racks.

-Let the battle begin!- Ajay fantasized a crowd cheering for blood to be shed like in Shanath Arenas, not truly comprehending the sheer magnitude of the Yakshas' powers. Not noticing the heightened stare of daggers made by the Yaksha Prince at him.

Whatever the case, he swore that Ajay Ghale would die today.

* * *

Then the discarnate soul gave the order to commence the first task of the trial.

 **[Bring me one of the weapons you see before you and tell me why it is the strongest among the rest.]** A test of weapon understanding they thought at first, Ajay felt it rather poetic.

And so, the two teams set about searching through the weapon racks covered in dust. It would be assumed that the Yaksha had the number advantage, then Darshan threw talismans to increase his divine sense. It shortened the distance he had to look for strong weapons.

Ajay ran a hand over the weapons on a single rack. From the very beginning, Ajay understood that this test wasn't on identifying strong qualities, it was a riddle.

The Yaksha was only picking the large weapons, such as hammers and maces. Checking each and every one of them. Darshan did his own search to make them think he was doing the same for their group, even he knew that there was more to this than simply finding a weapon. Unfortunately, so did the older Yaksha who stood to watch.

The weapons Ajay looked over seemed to be all orientated around brute strength, Ajay intentionally searched for a weapon that would fit his dimensions. As this was a bounty in disguise. His main close combat weapon, tungsten-carbide kukri had broken when fighting Purushartha. Supposedly, the strongest material used with technology to make. And here he was, amongst a stash of weapons forged by entities with greater strength and techniques long forgotten by man. Even the weakest blade was the strongest there ever was. Vanara steel.

His hand floated and stopped upon the pommel of a rather light weapon. He drew it off the shelf and unsheathed it. It was significantly short, enough to be called a knife. Yet, it took the form of a sabre but only the dimensions of a knife. His eyes loomed over the rack once more to search for a complimenting piece. He reached out and pulled out an identical blade. Unsheathing that one as well to check the quality of the single-edge and fuller strength. The leather sheath, however, fell away and crumbled in his hand till it was dust. Revealing a shining brilliance of two complete blades, their handguard might have rusted a bit, but the blade itself seemed as if they were almost not used at all. Perhaps the Vanaras' favouritism towards powerful weapons was true after all. He was not aware that the discarnate soul had a close eye on him because it had no eyes to see.

 **[When you are ready, step forth upon the platform.]** It instructed.

Ajay did as it instructed and immediately made his way to the platform. A gust of wind blew, thrusting the Prince onto the platform before him. The prince passed a look at him and a smirk, promoting a rivalry in the beginning. But Ajay didn't really care, this wasn't a dick measuring contest.

Soon, the rest came one after another. It appeared that the supposed retainers were maybe candidates sent by their race to challenge the trial along with the prince. Darshan came back with a lot of weapons he stuffed into a bag to take back down. Resilient blades that would contribute to their future battles against the Rakshasa would do some good if these enchanted blades of superior quality could hurt and perhaps kill Rakshasa. Darshan also left a bag for Ajay to carry down later, he just gave a thumb up to tell him what an excellent job he did. Darshan was not interested, he continued his staring eye contest with the elder Yaksha.

 _[He! A pair of knives?]_ One of the Yaksha was already starting a conversation to mock him after seeing his weapon of choice. They all had maces, great axes and hammers, even the Prince was quiet as well equipped with a large sabre that stood out as an extraordinary weapon.

 _[Truly, it must be that they have not used blades other than the ones to tend to their crops.]_

They laughed in unison, although the Prince was not part of the conversation. It seemed he was smart enough to know that whatever they sent to him, a smart retort would come their way.

"It's not how strong or big it is, but how you use it. Clearly, you all lack experience in that department." Already, they were flushed red and glaring at him. The discarnate soul laughed quietly to himself.

The platform began to luminate.

 **[We shall begin with you, why have you picked this axe?]** Since there was only one with a great axe, he stepped forward and readied his explanation.

 _[This magnificent axe has excellent balance despite size, unlike the hammer it may still pierce and cut thanks to its weight.]_

 **[Hmm…. You next, the mace.]** The discarnate soul seemed hardly enthusiastic when he heard that simple explanation that was more practical than significance. He asked each and every one of them, leaving the best for last it seemed. All gave mediocre answers in his eyes and apparently even Ajay and Darshan wondered if they hadn't breastfed as children or something.

 **[You, now. Why this sabre?]** It was the prince's turn to explain why he picked the great sabre. From a single glance, even a simpleton could see that it wasn't ordinary, and the prince had been very fortunate to find it. However, it would weight on his explanation to prove his superiority.

 _[It has a good maintainable balance, with only a single-edge. Swinging only in one direction to deliver a kill requires resolve to cut straight and true. The balance portrays its level of speed, power and agility. There will be no compromises it gives to its wielder.]_

His fellow Yaksha and the older one applauded his recital, which sounded pretty cool in the ancient language that it translated from thanks to the talisman. Even Ajay was applauding, albeit with a deceitful smile on his face that even Yaksha couldn't trust.

 **[Straight and true, unyielding and unrelenting. Good.]** The discarnate soul was not opposed to these means of enlightenment, for it was describing the exact way of the Vanara tribe. The discarnate soul could not fault the philosophy of its own kind.

 **[Now, it is your turn. Demon Banisher.]** The moment the discarnate soul had been secretly waiting for.

 _[Yes, please enlighten us why you have chosen fruit knives.]_ The Yaksha laughed at the Prince's joke.

"Sure, but I didn't pick these knives as my choice."

 _[What?]_

"I just thought they'll be handy in future. After all, nobody's gonna miss them. You don't mind, do you?" Ajay asked the discarnate soul which sighed.

 **[After you and your senior have taken all you can carry, I hardly think you require my consent.]** Ajay smiled and tapped the two knives together.

"Much obliged."

 **[Then pray tell, what did you choose?]**

"It's gonna be hard to explain like this. For now, lend me those four so I can kick the shit out of them." Ajay's remarks were as crude as they were insensitive, but he wasn't winning any congeniality awards here.

The four younger Yaksha wanted to say how against they were before a hand rested on the two oldest belonging to the Prince who shared a wry smile.

 _[Very well, human. You may spar with them to your heart's content. But I must warn you, should there be injuries sustained, you have only yourself to blame.]_

"Far enough." With that sentence, the deal with sealed. Ajay walked over to the side where a ring circumference lit up for their sparring match, the four Yaksha followed him leaking their bloodlust. They weren't simply going to kill him, they were going to torture him slowly till he begged them to end it. If he surrendered, they would mute him so that the words would never be heard. They were too occupied with their fantasies to notice a ravenous grin on his face thinking the exact same thing but of a much crueller iteration.

 **[Using weapons only, no magic, no illusions and no external items. The sparring match ends when the opponent submits or leaves the circle. You may begin when you are ready.]** The discarnate soul laid out the ground rules just in case. Hoping they would respect its word.

"Let's save some time. You can all come at once." Ajay stated boldly to the four-lined Yaksha armed with brute force weapons that would cause serious damage if struck by it, possibly lose his life.

The Yakshas was convinced he was a fool not aware of the difference in Yaksha physiology to man. The first one to take the lead was the hammer wielder, half-taking it seriously as he lunged forwards with inhuman speed to smash him in. He brought the hammer halfway, just thirty centimetres from Ajay's face when he saw his world flip over. He did not even know what happened, from the outside it seemed Ajay had hooked the knife guards against the handle of the hammer and lifted the Yaksha off his feet.

(crash) The first opponent slammed headfirst into the pavement, unhurt save for his pride. His comrades stared in shock, unable to accept that a human just threw him out of the ring.

"I said all at once-(thrust)." They weren't playing anymore, swinging their weapons to decapitate a limb or just hit something. Again, their movements did not resemble a human. But for Ajay, when had he even not fought an abnormal? Their movements were both sluggish and inexperienced. Relying on simple strokes and the power of their physique to back it weren't the way to go. Ajay dodged and parried their combined attacks with minimal movement without even leaving the ground he stood on. Sometimes they resorted to attacking his back, but it seemed he had eyes there too. As one of his blades swept by and diverted the blow to a comrade of theirs.

The older Yaksha stared in shock and disbelief, a human was matching a Yaksha's strength with just pure skill. The Prince stared with bloodshot eyes, he had expected to see the human in a bloody mess by now, instead, he was toying with his retainers and fellow contestants like they were children.

 _[Who is he?!]_ He whispered to the older guard, to which the older Yaksha had no response.

 _[The Demon Banishers should have been extinct.]_

 _[Yet two are here, if royal father- ney, my royal brothers hear of this-… there will be a mass hunt.]_ That's what worried him the most, the competition between himself and his brothers for the throne.

 _[I see, then we must ensure that the glory belongs to Lord Andhakan.]_ The Prince was glad the old cunning Yaksha understood his intentions.

(plop) Another Yaksha fell out of the ring on his own jump, but this time covered in cuts.

Ajay was just as surprised at the lethal cutting edge of these knives that barely felt as heavy as his old ones, yet cut through steel and ancient armour like they were a hot knife through butter.

Ajay moved in very unpredictable ways, yet it seemed as if there was an order to them. A hidden martial arts technique. The counters were lightning quick, Ajay never took even the brunt of their swipes or thrusts of the heavy weapons. His knives grazed upon the edges of their weapons causing a cascade of sparks from the mass friction and temporarily rendered them in stupor due to their inexperience with actual fights.

His knife struck the bone in the shoulder of the mace wielder who screamed in pain and dropped his weapon. As Ajay pulled his blade out, a pair of arms wrapped around his right arm, preventing him from retracting. As was planned, Ajay was now exposed to the last fully capable member of the Yaksha wielding a spear with three prongs. _[Now! Do it!]_

As the bait had demanded, the spear wielder thrusted at Ajay's throat. A smile crept onto the Prince's face, it was the end of that nuisance.

(thang) (stab) _[Uh-…..]_ The spear had been deflected by a casual wave of his knife. But that was not what rendered the spear-wielding Yaksha mute and horrified. The spears thrust had been diverted towards the mace wielder and stabbed him through his neck, causing a fountain of gore to burst from his neck. Ajay shrugged the now dying member of their group off his arm and kicked the body aside.

 _[You-…..]_

"Now that's unfortunate. Damn, you stained my jacket. It's hell cleaning off blood from this!" Ajay complained to the now fatally wounded.

 _[You!]_ The Prince was already pointing his killing intent towards him.

"What was it you said? Should there be injuries sustained, you have only yourself to blame, right? This sucker accidentally shivved that poor fucker." The old Yaksha was busy tending to the fatal wounds of the Yaksha with what available wonder medicine he had. If he wasn't so busy, he would have gone for Ajay's head for a split second.

 _[I'll have your head!]_ The Prince waved his sabre at him.

"Oh please, don't act as if you care." Ajay swung the detonator in front of him to pacify his anger.

"Also, you said something about not a single Yaksha being allowed to die, right? Guess records are meant to be broken." The Yaksha whom had been stabbed in the neck spasmed about in an attempt to hold on, but finally gave in to the abyss. The old Yaksha ran a hand over the corpse's eyes and murmured a prayer.

"Anyway, back to the point of this," Ajay said without a care of their situation. The Prince glared at him harder, but the rest had felt for the first time, fear.

He killed a Yaksha.

A human, albeit a Demon Banisher, but a mere human. From their elders' accounts, Demon Banishers were never capable of even taking down Yaksha alone. They worked in teams of two and cadres to take down large more powerful foes. But they were, however, able to dispel their illusionary magic, the principle magic of the Yaksha. Which made them a force to still respect and be cautious of.

[You killed an Aryan….. one of noble blood. Now your line cannot be spared.] The older Yaksha said in a threatening undertone. But Ajay's response was something he'd never in his centuries of service.

The human smiled back with such a delightful grin and said. "Really? Darshan, harvest him into a soul stone."

Without realizing, the older Yaksha had actually taken a step back. [ _Y-… you-….. you're a monster.]_

"The fact that you think so, means a whole lot. You see a precious dead. But all I see is a sack of shit and water left behind. Darshan, knock yourself out."

"Immolate!" Darshan pointed his finger and sent an invisible force to incinerate the body. The Yaksha watched in despair as he incinerated one of their own and claimed the soul stone the size of a ping-pong ball into his pocket. Was it fear that stayed their hand or was it something else. The Prince was strangely calm.

[Darshan, prepare to break out soon. Something tells me, they're waiting for others to enclose this place.] Darshan heard his warning that felt reasonable. If these six Yaksha of a certain noble lineage were who they claimed to be, it was fair to say there would be a guard of some kind nearby.

 **[Yes, you were saying this spar had some hidden meaning.]**

"That, it did. I just need everyone to settle down." They weren't going to offend the discarnate soul, so Ajay got his chance.

"The weapon I brought forth….. is me."

 **[You?]** Ajay gave a nod.

"As you saw, I was just one against many. Their weapons outplay mine in raw power, yet they lost. Why? Not because of steel advantage and certainly not because of my strength which is that of just a human being."

The discarnate soul grew excited.

"Flesh grows weak, steel becomes brittle, but the will is indomitable."

 **[Well said!]** It exclaimed till the mountains boomed. Even the Yaksha was stunned by the comprehension he made.

 **[Then it is decided. The two of you shall qualify for the next trial!]** A gust of wind blew through the chambers and the surroundings changed once more.

As stonework began to fall away, the sky was revealed to them. Although this sky was purple in colour as were the rest of the sudden blooming forest they were in. Literally, anything the light touched was the same colour, except them. Now, the rest of the Yaksha were but spectators. Disgruntled that they'd lost to a human and even lost their right to compete in the first trial, they watched feverishly on their Prince nonetheless.

[This is an illusionary world.] Darshan transmitted via talisman. Even Ajay was not blind to see something was wrong with the picture.

The ground surrounding their walkway felt into an endless below covered in thick clouds. The path led up to a Mastaba pyramid with torches to guide them. At the peak, something was luminated but too far to discern. The Yaksha was quite excited, especially the prince. As Ajay had predicted, they didn't give two shits about their comrade. He didn't know why, but deep down he knew they were always like this. His hatred for them also stemmed from deep within as well.

[Where did you learn that phrase?] Darshan asked curiously as it didn't seem original. Ajay turned away, scratching his head awkwardly. It was embarrassing that he ripped it off from somewhere else.

[The riddle of Steel….. from Conan.] He was so glad only Darshan heard.

* * *

The family watched with anxiousness, they were truly helpless to the events that were unfolding. And worse still, they supported Manendra Kumsa in his rise to the throne and independence from the old rule. Effectively betraying the old King, Manendra had, of course, told them of his condition and his crazed declaration. To hand Badala their birthright as the Royals of Kumsa, to be suddenly robbed of the lifestyle they had and the destiny to rule the lands with fairness and equality. It was too great a feat to process or accept. So it was concluded that the old King, Surendra had gone mad or had been bewitched by the Demon himself.

The television set provided them with an update on the regional situation. Kyrat, Papir, Yinke and Kumsa sovereignty were no more. They were now part of the new Himavana Federation, and Manendra's reign was considered a rebellion to be put down.

An ashtray was flung at the television as the Crown Prince himself screamed at the betrayal of his father. To be fair, he had betrayed him first. But in light of that, Manendra never believed his father would raise his hand against family, especially his only son.

His princess consort brought their three-year old daughter and one-year-old son away with her to keep them away from seeing their father's awful side. The other members of the Royal Family left the lounge to give him time to himself, only the Golden Path lieutenant liaison officer remained. But even he too seemed troubled by the news.

"R-Rest assured, your highness! Regardless of the changes, your reign will remain."

"Says who?! Your boss, Mohan?!" Manendra shouted back in hysteria.

"They may have consolidated military force, but our reports indicate that their advance forces of paratroopers and heliborne infantry have been deployed to Pakistan. It would take days for any mobile units to reach this city. If they do, we would know the minute they arrived. The state armies are spread too thin with no reserves available."

Manendra got a hold of some of his composure as the liaison explained rationally.

"No one will come to "liberate" Kumsa."

"Oh, really?" A voice challenged the lieutenant's assurance to the Prince.

The Golden Path lieutenant turned to his shock and struggled to bring up his weapon.

(Boom) A massive discharge blew him off his feet and sent his smothering corpse slamming into the furniture. Despite his altered nature, the Golden Path warrior would never get up again.

(ping) An empty .700 Nitro casing ejected and fell to the floor, creating a rhythmic chime of brass against marble.

"Madarchod….. That was a helluva kick!" The assailant said rotating his shoulder to ease the soreness.

"Who are you?! Guards! Guards! There's an assassin here to kill your king!"

"Be at ease, your highness. We are not here for your life." A woman of mixed-descent wearing the same leopard camo uniform as the soldier who killed the supposedly invulnerable Golden Path warrior said to assure him.

"You!-…. You're the Kyrati Army!-…."

"Well, not quite anymore. Now it's the Federal Army of the Himavanan States or HFA for short. I am Colonel Samuelle Min of the 7th Autonomous Brigade, 2nd Vanguard Battalion."

"What do you want?!" He said cautiously, reaching back for a weapon. Yet, Sam showed no hostile intent in kind.

"Your cooperation, sir."

"Never!"

(click) "We're wasting our time, let's just stuff him in a room till daddy arrives to spank him sorry." Bipin said as he chambered another of these "silver" bullets into his slugger weapon. He was already loving this weapon, he was sure the rest of the boys would.

"Wei?" She asked the other commander of hers on his opinion.

"Orders were to neutralize if he becomes a nuisance." Fang Wei said as pragmatic as usual.

Manendra couldn't help but turn pale.

"But the General's instructions were to keep him safe," Samuelle said as she turned to the Prince and held out a hand with a smile on her face.

"No father will remain angry with his son."

Manendra seemed internally conflicted as he backed away nervously. "L-…. Lies!"

A gloved-hand roughly grabbed his collar and raised him before delivering a hard punch.

"Bip!" Sam exclaimed shock by his tough stance.

"You seem to enjoy having a father to hurt, I wouldn't know. Because mine was killed by the same people you allied with."

"I-… I am the King of Kumsa!"

"No, you're not! So long as your father is alive and so long as Badala says it, you'll never live to be King!"

"Again-….. Badala this! Badala that! What right does he have to take my birthright!" The Prince screamed back at Bipin, who had lost patience with Sam's more friendly approach. The Prince was in denial, period. He was going to throw him the hard truth.

"Burrgh!" A butt of the rifle he held struck Manendra's cheek, flooring him.

"You are whatever we say you are, Prince." He grabbed the Prince by his collar and dragged him along with him down the stairs.

They passed the Royal Family members being screened by a platoon of the vanguard force, bodies of the Golden Path lying riddled with holes, and the Kumsan Guards gathered in a corner disarmed.

They watched as an officer of the new Himavanan Federal Army pulled Royalty by his collars like a dog or prisoner. They knew their fate would be horrible if the Prince was already being treated that way. His children made noises demanding they release their father, the consort did all she could to quiet them down. Sam stayed behind to assure the Royal Family that no harm would come to them, provided they do not retaliate. And did all she could to pacify the two toddlers with the consort.

Meanwhile, Bipin followed by Fang Wei dragged Manendra to the balcony of the Velvet Palace. Down below in the courtyards, more of his own personal palace guard had surrendered while the Golden Path lay dead. How could all this happen without even the remote sound of a gunshot?

Then, Manendra bore witness to a scene that shook the very core of his beliefs that he would still have right to rule. Up in the sky, over a thousand parachutes slowly descending from a formation of heavy airlifters towards the city. The cries of the people in the streets of the city could be heard from here, panicking to the likely battle that was about to occur between Federal Army and what remained of the Golden Path garrison force.

"This is your fault, Prince. We're here because of you, and they're suffering because of your arrogance!" Bipin pointed out to the city running amok.

"But if there's even a remoteness of Royalty about you, then at least take the responsibility by carrying out your Royal duty for once!"

Manendra gripped the balcony stone rails and gazed out into the city, reflecting upon all that had happened. All because he accepted that deal with the troublesome Sabal.

All the assurance they gave was just empty talk. He realized why there were so few Golden Path garrisoned in the city, to begin with. When they entered an alliance, the Golden Path came and made off with three-quarters of their grain surplus. Leaving only minimal guards. Manendra was too slow to realize, he had been deceived. His pride had blinded him further from what was happening. Once he was no longer of use, his Golden Path buddies discarded him. They left a few in the city just to seem like they were still around, but they were not.

Manendra laughed at his miserable self, he understood why his father was hesitant to hand him the throne so soon. Despite his character and appeal to the people, he was still immature. He and his family members should be put to death for their treason. But once again, the charity and love of his father forgave them and pleaded with the Federation Army to grant amnesty.

"Where is Badala?" Manendra asked in a tone of composure.

"That's none of your business." The Prince was in a stupor but then smiled. He was right, there was no longer any affiliation between him and Kumsa.

His father had not given Badala the throne. Instead he have given the people of Kumsa. Something they as a small minor kingdom could not give.

They gave them a nation to be proud of.

"I will-… I surrender." Manendra said, prepared for the worst. "As a final request from a fool, I only wish that you protect my people from Golden Path." It was as he said, if he still wanted to have any semblance of royal disposition, he should act like one. His title no longer mattered, his kingdom too. Just the people.

Bipin holstered his rifle and held out a hand. Manendra took it and shook it. A grin leaked from Bipin's mouth, he nudged his chin towards the second line of parachutes that had just touched the ground from their low-altitude parachute-extraction via a low flying airlifter. This time dropping vehicles and heavy crew-served weapons on large-scale parachutes.

"That's what we're here for, your highness."


	138. Chapter 126 -Darkstone Mace of Rebellion

Author's Notes:

Looking back, there were a lot of things I would have liked to write about. But I guess I've come too far to change it. I can only ensure that quality stays consistent. Do forgive me now and then as in may screw up grammar due to mistyping or because I change a sentence and neglect to check punctuation.

 **Update from 18/03/2018:**

I know it's been a long while, sry guys. I'm applying finishing touches right now. Posting tomorrow ASAP.

* * *

The people of Kumsa were exposed to a very different kind of environment upon the arrival of the new Federal Army's 4th Autonomous Brigade. The repeating fire of machineguns, detonations of hand grenades and mortar shells, and the thunder of cannons were all too overwhelming. Tearing through the notoriously invulnerable Golden Path in split seconds. They had been introduced for the first time, to the sounds of war.

Living generations of simple agriculture and contentment, the Kumsans were largely ignorant to the wars fought between and within the other larger states. Kumsa should never have even been a monarchy, but the blessings upon the Kumsa Ancestor had spiritually protected the people in their domain by severing absolute karma. So Kumsa prevailed no matter the crisis within the mountains.

But now that the "blessing" was given to its rightful inheritor, Kumsa was just as susceptible to diplomatic strife. And it frightened them, it frightened the Crown Prince as it had most certainly frightened the old King. But he believed in the words of his Ancestors, he trusted in Badala's abilities and the potential of his own people to learn and adapt. The world around them was getting bigger, the only question was if Kumsa would still fit in or be left in the dust by its neighbours.

The sovereign of Kumsa made a gamble, he bet the eternal safety of his family and people for a chance for them to be better than now. They might not recognize the benefit even now, but in time their children would reap the fruit of their labours.

In just twenty minutes of the massive airborne descent, the garrison forces of Golden Path had all been eliminated to the last man. The Kumsan Army and Guards quickly surrendered without a fight.

The Crown Prince openly declared the surrender, there were some who held loyalty to the Prince than the King. So they reacted violently to the Federal Army despite his vying for peaceful methods.

He could only receive the ill news that the Federation Soldiers had gunned down some and arrested the remainders. These weren't former Royal Army soldiers, these were the former Elite Royal Guard. A fighting force that prided themselves over their troop quality even as the Royal Army underwent reforms.

The Golden Path of this generation had unfortunately not ever encountered them to know the difference in morale, individual prowess and communication efficiency to their Royal Army counterparts. Within three hours, trenches and high walls had already been set in a matrix similar to a tortoiseshell. An old Chinese strategy employed to destroy cavalry divisions known as the Stone Sentinel Maze, with a slight modern twist to it. Courtesy of Colonel Roka, the engineering genius who designed super fortress Lanka.

It was designed to allow enemies through the flanks easily by tricking them into going down a maze of gorges surrounded by high trench ground and vulnerable to explosives. Every once in a while, the formation moved. New trenches were dug and buried to reconfigure and confuse the enemy upon their second assault or those still trapped inside. Machine gun emplacements were highly efficient due to the narrow field of fire the enemy was bottlenecked as they advanced.

And did they. The first victims of this trap were a Golden Path Division sent as reinforcements but were too late and switched over to retake the city. Four thousand men, expended like they were cannon fodder, how many men did Mohan's Golden Path recruit in such a short span of time? This formation completely decimated the division of mixed infantry. Sun Kwan and the other senior officers realized how dangerous of a woman she was. Her defensive strategies and tactics actually defeated modern spearhead assaults like the Blitzkrieg warfare, she could force an asymmetric warfare situation back into trench warfare with them on the high ground.

The 4th Autonomous Brigade had just had a baptism by fire in their first successful deterrence of the enemy force and morale was at an all-time high.

The only one who didn't celebrate was Bipin. Scanning the horizon scarily hard, observing the routed Golden Path as they ran back into the forest like they had a purpose. He understood that the real enemy they were dealing with was nothing like what the Cantons had ever fought before, so now was not a time to get cocky.

As such, a small group of officers were in the same mind as him. Standing by him, awaiting his directions to avert what could possibly be a military tragedy out of underestimating the enemy. The enemy wasn't Golden Path, it was the Rakshasa. As much as he didn't want to admit it when he came as a contingency, just in case, the Golden Path was too liberal with their forces and spread too wide. They weren't sent to attack, they had been sent to recce the defensive formation.

Even now, the Rakshasa was studying and deciphering a means to defeat the Stone Sentinel Maze defence formation. They'd apply a new strategy to turn the formation against them and Bipin could not let that happen.

"We're abandoning Bagua Zhen (Stone Sentinel Maze)." He declared an order. Field command had fallen into his hands while Sam and the higher staff officers maintained the flow of troops, supplies and formations.

The field officers did not question him on that matter, if he said they'd give up the formation Saraswati designed for them, then they'd give it up.

"Rakshasa! One klick away!" A lookout informed them, as the infantry units awaited their next orders right after he had declared they were leaving the Stone Sentinel Maze.

"Battalions 2nd and 5th withdraw to the second line in an orderly fashion. 12th Company, cover their retreat. And…. Give our visitors a demonstration of the "dragon's breath"." Upon hearing his dispatch, the commander of said company grinned with delight.

Standing exposed above the stone sentinel maze trench formation, he peered through the binoculars to observe the Rakshasas' advance and their tactical withdrawal. The Rakshasa could not be seen clearly, an unnatural fog concealed their advance, only figures with inhuman proportions lurked in the fog. But there was one figure that remained unconcealed, a woman.

She looked like something out of a fantasy novel or art depiction of Hindu epics. Her smooth pale blue skin was only highlighted by the ancient yet mysterious venerable golden armour she wore. A pair of katars hung on her waist. She stood over a kilometre behind near the treeline, she had the same role as him. The enemy commander.

"Shall I call in artillery?" The artillery observer who shared the trench space with him for high vantage suggested since the enemy commander had been located.

Bipin continued to observe without replying, and to his surprise, the eyes of the Rakshasa Commander looked right at him. The next response was left to interpretation because she blew a playful kiss in his direction.

It was clear that the Rakshasa wasn't taking this as seriously as they were. What were they planning? Didn't Ajay have a one-week truce with them? It was still two days away until the due date. Unless these were clones again, but deep within. Bipin knew that wasn't the case. Rakshasa strategy never made sense, yet even Ajay fell for the outcome of their plots. They weren't just warriors of a thousand battles for nothing. Even the lowest, most inexperienced warrior probably saw more than an entire lineage of military soldiers.

"No. She'll be out of harm's way even before the shells reach. Let's not waste it, instead…. Smoke barrage, direction 055, five salvos, creep in increments of five metres."

"But, sir-…. That's the enemy's position!" Was he helping them cover their advance?

"Do as I say! Send it!" The signaler reluctantly relayed his orders to the 152mm field gun batteries out over the mountains, some twenty-four kilometres away.

The advance of the Rakshasa was only limited by the speed of the fog, apparently, they'd learnt from their previous encounter with the joint task force at point 2153 of the capabilities of 21st Century weaponry. Especially the line of 100mm field guns that pointed out intimidatingly towards their direction. However, the fog and stone sentinel maze would provide much-needed protection.

Bipin fiddled with his radio which seemed fine. It was good news that the Rakshasa dubbed "Lightning General" wasn't here disruption radio communications. But which substitute came in his stead? They would have to find out the hard way soon.

"Zeta Actual to all forces, the enemy has begun a slow and steady advance. Make no mistake, they will take every opportunity to flank and overcome our defences. But time is on our side. It's a matter of how long they'll last before their strategic withdraw. Good luck, and Godspeed to you all. Over." After his message and warning, he killed the comms and stood by the trench wall to watch the arrival of the Rakshasa.

12th Company was visible out in front, a whole line that stood between them and the Rakshasa fog. The whistling sound of the 152mm smoke rounds howled as they entered the vicinity and burst overhead, making the fog even thicker.

A few seconds passed, and figures began to burst out of the thickened fog. Charging with haste and bellowing a warcry the likes they'd never seen. Because no one manned the Stone Sentinel Maze, they passed through without deterrence just as he suspected.

They deciphered the formation in such a short span of time. Method tactics and strategy could not be used to fight against them. Only instinct and careful deployment could be employed from now on.

He looked through the binoculars to find the Rakshasa woman still standing watching over here men in the same spot.

"You managed to beat Saras's Bagua Zhen in less time than we took making sense of it together." He said as if she heard him from over a kilometre or more away.

Her forces were just a few metres from the line formation made by the 12th Company who raised up large rectangular tower shields that blocked the Rakshasas' charge. But who were they to stop a Rakshasas' strength?

"But don't think you've made sense of me."

The moment the Rakshasa reached the shields, they detonated reactively at point-blank. Blasting them back into shock with severe wounding effects. For these weren't ordinary shields, but ones rigged with exposed Kontakt reactive armour tiles taken from the vehicle depots. Originally a countermeasure to save tanks from anti-tank missiles, reactive armour had one fatal flaw. Which was the violent explosion of the 4S22 explosive compound upon impact, meaning that infantry was at risk of being killed if in the vicinity of the detonation? This flaw was used to their advantage in a different kind of scenario. Keeping them away.

"Fire at will!"

The 100mm field guns kicked back from recoil after expending a cartridge in a salvo towards the Rakshasa in their stand still.

What came next, was the rest of the weapons fire from behind being set upon the now-exposed and stunned Rakshasa assault wave.

"3rd Battalion, rise!" Upon his command, the walls of the Stone Sentinel Maze which the Rakshasa bypassed collapsed and out came a full force of eight hundred soldiers who flanked the Rakshasa who had lost their charging momentum.

The Rakshasa behind the frontline were surprised that such a strategy had been thought out to such great lengths to defeat them. As the vanguard had been suppressed, with some making a tactical withdrawal through a wormhole or by smoke.

Narmada stood with a look of wonder rather than surprise. It was not every day for the General of the West Gate to have witnessed a human commander having managed to defeat an assault by them and counterintelligence they knew of the human formation. She was where the human could see her, as he was for her, it was almost as if these troops of theirs were nothing more than chesspieces in this game of strategy. She obviously had better quality troops, but the human also had some quality to his in one way or another. Perhaps he would have figured it out by now, that both of them weren't method strategists, but instinctual commanders.

The reports indicated that this human was the vessel's comrade. His soul held no fear just like many in the vessel's company. It was a shame to have to kill such a commander she saw as an equal, but her orders were absolute. "Ensure Golden Path supremacy." Tarakeshwar's strategy for ensuring they reach Shangri-la with minimal losses had to be carried out. Or they won't be able to use every ounce of strength in their real fight against the rulers of the mountains. She was not at all deterred by the human's seemingly advantageous situation. After the battles she had fought over the centuries, this was considered child's play.

 **[Forgive me, boy. I truly wish you would have better in the next life.]** She said a silent prayer for his soul and those that stood in their way.

* * *

Here they were in a purple illusionary world grafted up by a discarnate soul of all things, a fragment of its former-self left behind due to an unfinished worldly concern.

That concern was the very item these two races competed for. Kaalapatthargada. Known widely by the Yaksha as the weapon that ended the reign of the Rakshasa, yet they weren't the ones in control of it. But they were trying their best to obtain it nonetheless, although they were a little late on acquiring it after so long.

If given the choice, the discarnate soul would rather scuttle the weapon than let them have it. But the weapon wasn't the greatest of his concerns. It was the numerous souls of his comrade-in-arms that had yet to pass on due to unfinished last rites or because of worldly attachments that chained them to the world as wandering ghosts. In any case, it was not leaving without them.

Century after century, the conceited Yaksha intruded its mausoleum to get it to hand over the weapon. Its people were gone so it didn't matter to the discarnate soul, but it held a deep grudge for the Yaksha. For it was they who destroyed its city and slaughtered its people after all it had done for them out of virtue and justice when it was alive. It was too stubborn to see that it was he who had been in the wrong, this was the price for committing that sin of destroying the true innocence.

The late Vanara Chieftain accepted that. When the time came to descend into hell and face Yama, it would at least say it had done its best in this life as Varish, Great Chieftain of the Vanara tribe.

Then one day, a curious individual stumbled upon this place. A human, coming alone and in his possession, three statues bearing the marks of the three clans. Clan idols. What's more, this human was not native to these mountains.

He had come as penance for the horrible things he had done to monkey kind in the past. Things like making restitution with them on account of "See-four" vests. It was not sure what that was but was probably some sort of torture device.

He was probably the first human to have come in thousands of years, alive and well that is. The Yaksha had kept it spiritually intact with souls of departed humans. How they sourced them could only be of one means.

Humans were worshipping the Yaksha, more specifically "him".

Dedicating their lives, body and soul. "He" was the most cunning of their kind after all.

The discarnate soul was quick to see the character of this human from the way he brought himself about and talked. Taking the effort to tidy the chambers with broom and rag, every fortnight he would return to make the place a little cleaner. He polished but never disappeared with a single one of the treasures that lay in the room. Despite the light in his eyes due to their dazzling splendour, he exercised restraint. But more than that, it seemed it wasn't he who desired the treasures but rather what it could do for others. There were earnestness, humbleness and moral qualities in this human.

And as if it were a presence the human felt, he talked about the recent happenings down below in a human country known as Kyrat. The kingdoms rising and falling, a certain seeker who ventured into Shangri-la by the name of Kalinag. Wonder how it went for him, the discarnate soul mused. Not too well it supposed since he had trodden in Yaksha grounds and they were a very selfish race, to begin with.

A local patron god had made its way into this Kyrat, the discarnate soul had some suspicions of its origin. And like any religion, a god must have an antithesis. A devil.

Such a role was taken by an entity known widely as Yalung. The discarnate soul was not a fool to the spiritual flow around the mountains. Once, long ago, it felt a spike of energy burst out from the earth and engulfed the mountains natural law. Never had there been an occurrence like that before, the discarnate soul did not know what happened and neither did the Yaksha tell him. Although, they seemed highly spooked when he inquired despite their cautious nature. This Yalung was the real deal, something that scared even the Yaksha and for good reason.

Years later to the present, Kyrat was engulfed in a civil war. Internal strife caused by outsiders, while twenty years were a blink of an eye to it. It was the longest war the country had ever endured. And this was when the human became excited, this was when Badala appeared in his story.

A man soon to be herald as the Demon God's spawn. The human exaggerated these tales a bit but were not too far off. He fought alongside him as an equal, he claimed. The discarnate soul found it humorous although the human's soul said it told no lie, but did not tell the entire truth either, just his perceived point of view. This Badala had done much for the human here, influencing him, teaching him to value himself more. Badala an important existence to him, like an older brother.

After his usual duration had ended in paying his visit, the human would return home. The discarnate soul felt weird, that it missed his conversation. Although it was clear the human did not have enough spiritual awareness to hear or see it. The human must have been a very lonely person in his years of living to be talking to empty wall from his perception, this was why Badala was such a treasured existence to him. The discarnate soul looked forward to his next visit every two weeks. For the longest time, it felt regretful. Not to be able to leave this place, to have the cold unkind winds as the only company. The human gave him the greatest experience of what it meant to be alive despite not having much himself.

Then lately, the human came to him emotionally compromised. A friend of his had been murdered by another sworn brother of his, and Badala was beyond enraged, swearing to hunt him down like a dog and kill him. The human implored for answers, yet the discarnate soul could give none even if it desperately wanted to advise or console him. The human deserved that much for all he had done for it. Then he went down, promising to find a solution to the problem himself. The discarnate soul was proud, that the human had indeed grown above his own self-esteem to save his brothers. The discarnate soul looked forward to hearing from him the news, whether it be good or bad. At least he had tried. If possible, the discarnate soul would be ready to relinquish Kaalapatthargada in its entirety to him. If it would even aid him a little. At least, in his hands, it was better off than with the Yaksha.

On the appointed day of his routined return, he did not appear. The discarnate soul wondered what had delayed the human. Soon, a day had passed, and the discarnate soul continued to wait with patience hoping it was just a minor change in schedule. But as the days went by, the discarnate soul grew more and more worried. A week passed, and the discarnate soul feared the worst.

It paced about in the confines of the soul stone that held its consciousness together. Until it finally made the conclusion, the human was gone. A month had gone all on its own. It was alone again, set to guard the tomb for eternity.

 **[He! This truly is a fitting punishment…]**

The discarnate soul slowly slipped back into slumber, only disturbed once by a Demon Banisher. But returned back into the endless limbo, until….

 **Consume the Yaksha**

It heard a rather distinct resonation coming from Demon Banishers stalking another group of Yaksha that had come to plead for a chance at its safe keep. And as much as it enjoyed seeing the Yaksha suffer even a little bit, its caution was with that Demon Banisher. Doing things that hardly resembled an initiate of the order, only in the name was he one of them. In the flesh, or underneath it, this Ajay Ghale was someone else.

 **[Make your stand in this world and discover the means to escape.]**

It gave its next trial to the two groups represented by Ajay Ghale and Yaksha Prince Andhakan.

* * *

 **[The sky around you, yet the earth beneath your feet.]** The Discarnate began reciting a poem that sounded like a clue to a riddle.

 **[A castle high above in heaven, a fortress resides within the underworld**.] They all listened attentively. A shine from the sky as an illusionary bastion floated on high and a dark glow from another under the earth below.

 **[How will you break the encirclement...?]** Ajay looked around the illusionary forest and found that the Yaksha was no longer near their proximity, warped in a different area of this world.

 **[If ascending nor descending may grant you relief from this world.]** The discarnate soul ended his recital.

 **[I bid you the very best of ventures and pray for your success. Your failure would only mean eternity here.]** It ended off with a chuckle of malice, both teams were unaware of who it was meant for the most.

Scanning their surroundings, it was easy to discern where they were, a floating mass of earth. Suspended by an unknown law of physics to act as the ground beneath their feet. Other islands were found in the distance as well.

Darshan took a seat to reflect alone, meditating with closed eyes.

"Shouldn't we be putting our heads together?" Ajay's suggestion was apparently ignored. Darshan clearly wanted to do things himself.

Ajay sighed, Darshan probably didn't think he was capable of getting past this stage due to his upbringing in the Bronx. But mostly because their reason for success in the last trial was a quotation from a movie starring Schwarzenegger. Ajay couldn't refute as he'd often slackened during literature classes and took the poet's society as a joke to him back then.

Ajay sat as well, gazing out into the scenery for god knows what answer. He took a rock and threw it down below, it continued to fall down a never-ending chasm. Letting him know that there were no physical limits to this place. In computer terms, this would be something like a sandbox. Everything confined to a miniature world with enough algorithm to keep it sustained indefinitely.

Ajay took a seat under a tree that shaded him from the shining light of the sky castle looming over their floating land. He wondered what kind of answer the Yaksha would give, probably one embedded in poetics like the discarnate soul intended.

As he sat thinking back on the riddle, he realized the analogy seemed coincidentally similar to his own situation with the Himavanan States. The heavenly and hellfire fortresses represented the real-world obstacles of the United States and Golden Path-Rakshasa pact, in the front and at their back.

Both had to be dealt with. Ajay smiled as it seemed to get easier for him to understand. It a way, it would also answer the big question to the Himavanas dilemma.

"So how will you do it?" Ajay posed this question to himself.

In truth, the Himavanas were no match for both. It depended on the way of the world to shamelessly protect it. For the United States, it was the international community. For the Rakshasa, it was the natural law of the mountains. The Himavanas was still in its infancy, with no one to stand up to protect it. While he did say once, that he didn't care for the rule of the mountain. That was exactly what the Rakshasa was aiming for if they were rulers once more, what right did they have to live in the mountains that were theirs? The Yaksha was not throwing anyone a bone either, it was exactly like his visions had told him. While they did let humanity live their lives in the mountains, he was sure there was some sort of price for it. The discarnate soul and Yaksha mentioned a tribute of souls which emulated the signature of human ones. Where did they get them? He was pretty sure the recently departed people didn't give their willing consent.

Since the Yaksha weren't doing anything, it was up to the people to save themselves. What can thirty million people do to defeat both adversaries?

 _[By building a kingdom upon the earth.]_

(rumble) With the Yaksha's answer came a tremor that shook the limited earth. The ground uprooted and reformed, stone walls began to form and overlap upon one another. Until a city popped out of nowhere to the East.

 **[Mmm. If one cannot ascend nor descend, they should make the best of what they have. A kingdom on the earth is still a kingdom.]** In other words, if you can't leave then become the very best in your territory.

A castle started to take shape amongst the city that had formed in an instant. And on top of it were the silhouettes of five figures, Ajay didn't need to guess who they were. They scanned the distance from the elevated ground just as the Prince had commanded, although he was the first to find what he had them looking for as he stared Ajay and Darshan's way. A grin crept upon his face with such satisfaction it could not be hidden well.

 _[Found you.]_

The figures dashed down their castle towards Ajay's position who knew a fight was upon them. He had wondered why the discarnate soul had not warped them out to intervene. But if they were awake back in the real world, Ajay and Darshan would not. And would, therefore, be helpless outside, although they weren't much different in here, he figured.

But at least, in here, he could fight back.

He gripped the handle of one of the knives made of Vanara steel. The other held his bow drawn and deployed. Passing a glance towards Darshan who remained motionless in his own meditation. It appeared he was doing this alone.

Two talismans were thrown at Darshan to create a field, Ajay dug into Darshan's pocket and placed a soul stone upon the paper talisman. The most recently acquired one from the Yaksha Aryan.

The forest before him rattled as a force approached him with such speed and killing intent, it wanted to not just kill him over and over but make him crave death forever.

He threw two smoke grenades to mask his surroundings, his bow drawn and ready to meet the threat.

Then, a figure burst from the smoke not where he aimed but on his flank. Sending a chakram flying his way.

(pow) (BOOM) Firing off an explosive shot, the chakram blew into bits. But it had achieved its purpose to draw fire and allow the elder Yaksha the opportunity to come into close combat.

The bow was cast aside to draw the second knife in a two-handed defence. (clang) The vibration of the strike delivered by a sword pushed Ajay back a few steps. Taking advantage of his stumble, the elder Yaksha took the offensive.

The elder Yaksha attacked with an overhead swing which Ajay deflected weakly, but that was nothing more than a feint. A knife popped out of his shoe as he kicked upwards with intent to pierce his jaw. Only to be parried.

 _[Oh? So you do have some skill and not talk after all.]_

Ajay only responded with action, flinging talismans upon him and around him to act as protection. He drew out his slugger slung on his back and pointed the threatening end towards the elder Yaksha.

(Boom) A .700 Nitro round blasted a tree behind to smithereens but failed to hit the Yaksha as it rebounded off some sort of energy shield similar to the talisman one protecting Darshan, but more powerful.

-Troublesome.- He flung a bag full of incendiary explosives at the Yaksha who dodged effortlessly as it detonated behind him. And effectively created a wall of fire sustained by blessed incendiary fuel harmful to spiritual entities. The elder Yaksha realized that Ajay always thought two steps ahead of him, every move he made had a purpose or two. Regardless of how he avoided or countered, it would be repurposed for some other benefit.

The elder Yaksha was in an agreement with himself, this Demon Banisher was too dangerous to be left alive to interrogate for the whereabouts of the remaining members.

 _[For my lord, you shall die here, Demon Banisher!]_ The elder Yaksha declared as he turned back from the firewall only to find him in the midst of presenting the first ever Demon Banisher spell he'd seen in a long time.

"My will is the mountains, my karma is the mantra!..." Sensing a build up in demon banishing aura from Ajay's unfamiliar recital, the Elder Yaksha put him on the defensive, using his natural agility to outplay him. Hurling the powerful staff to keep him on his toes and distract him from reciting.

The other Yaksha seemed to be getting closer from behind, as the flames began to die down. It would make it more difficult to fight against all five where two were already exceptional. To slow down his advance, Ajay sent two talismans to the ground and activated "Mire".

"Banish all creation against nature!"

 _[Don't underestimate me!]_ The Elder Yaksha roared and donned a pair of gauntlets that caused the talisman to burn into flames.

He charged once more as his brethren closed in. Although, Ajay didn't send the spell his way but dropped a grenade his way.

(BOOM) The Elder Yaksha was blown back a few metres but relatively unharmed due to an ancient armour under his torn robes.

Now, Ajay had his window. He grinned as he pointed in the direction of the approaching Yaksha Prince. The Elder Yaksha had realized who his spell had been intended for but was too far to intervene.

"8th Demon Banishing Hex! Seal!" A karmic thread flew out of his fingers like a potent lightning strike towards its intended and surprised target.

The Yaksha Prince demonstrated ruthless cunning and wit as the first response to this was pulling a comrade into the line of the writ of karma. The Yaksha Aryan companion of his was in disbelief as he had been sacrificed for the Prince's survival. Crying out in pain as his body was forcefully frozen.

During this time, Ajay had the time to finish nuancing the second Hex.

"Banish this writ of Karma. 4th Demon Banishing Hex! Sever!" Now that Karma had been formed between Ajay and the helpless Yaksha, he could employ the 4th Hex of Karmic Severing. In this spell, he not only destroyed his own Karma to the Yaksha but the Yaksha's karma to everything. Thereby erasing his existence forever.

Like a thread had been cut within him, the Yaksha dropped to the ground motionless and vanished into the mist. This was, after all, an illusionary world. But the Yaksha was likely dead in the real one too. Highlighting the threat that Ajay was. Ajay dropped to a knee as he coughed out blood, a small price for killing an entity physically and spiritually stronger than a human.

The Yaksha retainers of the Prince stumbled in their horror, in just this simple trial, two Yaksha had been killed off by a single Demon Banisher. Whoever he was, he wasn't an ordinary initiate. A Legacy Disciple? They guessed, someone of the same importance as the Prince within the Demon Banishing Order. Someone who succeeded a Patriarch, it could only be.

They noticed the older Demon Banisher in a protected field meditating. It confused them as their roles seemed to be the opposite of what they'd expect.

 _[That man is not your protector?!]_ The elder Yaksha asked in surprise.

"No." Ajay rolled and unslung the slugger in his possession.

"He's my handler." He said with an intimidating grin as he wiped the blood from his lips with his tongue. The Elder Yaksha realized that Ajay was more dangerous than they originally foreseen. He was no prince to the Demon Banishers, wherever they were. But a weapon without conscience.

The Yaksha formed an encirclement around him while two Yaksha were probing Darshan's field.

(Boom) He sent another .700 Nitro slug their way, managing to only graze a Yaksha. Shearing his upper right arm to a greater degree. He ejected the round with a "ping" sound from its breech block mechanism, giving them an indication he was reloading.

 _[No!- Stop!]_ The elder Yaksha called out in vain, he was familiar with Ajay's cunning to deceive them into taking advantage.

They gathered too close which was a perfect opportunity for an airburst grenade. A 40mm hellhound struck one of the Yaksha dead-centre on his armour and detonated. Sending hot molten shrapnel embedding into their flesh. Several wails of pain could be heard within the smoke, with the exception of the Prince. His quality of armour was of a different level, protecting him fully from many of the powerful small-arms Ajay employed and modified with Vedic talismans and consecrations. Hence, he was the only one standing in shock, that a single human was pushing the very best and brightest of the Yaksha youths back by himself. Even the elder Yaksha.

But right now, they were together no longer separated. They stood around his flanks as did the Prince to engulf him the same way a wild animal was surrounded by the hunt. He won't stand a chance against all four of them this time attacking all at once. And to their surprise, he lowered his weapon and grinned uncomfortably to them.

"So a kingdom, huh?" Ajay commented on the Prince's answer.

"You chose not to challenge heaven or hell but built a domain on earth. Therefore, becoming its king."

The Yaksha Prince suddenly felt like indulging him in his last few words. It wouldn't be a story of how he killed a Demon Banisher without telling tales of their conversations. His raised hand was the only consent the rest needed to back off.

 _[Even you should know where to stop, a Yaksha cannot challenge a Deva. Just as a mere Human cannot kill a Yaksha. Your demon banishing kind has been the biggest blight on the mountains since their arrival.]_

"Well, when you wake into this world so ignorant to your surroundings, no guide, no teacher. Sometimes you just have to find out where your limits are. And then you'll see that God wasn't actually god, but a mere figment of your imagination."

The Yaksha seemed highly offended despite not mentioning them. They viewed him as a blasphemous infidel, the irony that he was among the most holistic of orders.

"You laugh at humanity, you smirk at their unknowing. But in the same instance, you couldn't even do half of what we do. One of these days, humanity will be the kings of their own mountain." As Ajay spoke in such rebellious spirit, he suddenly realized what they should have done all along.

The answer to the riddle was right there all along. Ajay looked to the illusionary sky and spoke of the path which he chose to tread.

"My answer is… we won't accept our fate. If heaven restricts us, we'll smash it! If hell drags us down, we'll shrug there undead hands! This world isn't theirs any longer….."

If the discarnate soul could laugh with his lips, it would.

"This world is ours!"

 _[Heresy!]_ The Prince roared with such distortion on his expression, he no longer looked beautiful.

(rumble) The world shook, and the sky began to collapse like a mirror that shattered. Peeling away to reveal an empty void. The heavenly fortress and hellish keep crumbled as did the Yaksha's kingdom on earth. As Ajay's answer triggered a change in the landscape. A distance yet close voice cackled with mirth and elation. A voice belonging to the discarnate soul of the Vanara Great Chieftain Varish. Never in his life would he imagine such an individual would exist, especially not in an era where the Yaksha reigned the mountains and the Humans were the lowest and last species inhabiting it.

 **[Not bowing to the heavens nor submitting to hell. A mortal that knows no greater audacity. Yet even at such adversity, what can the heavens do, what can hell do when man rejects both?! They can do nothing!]**

The last sentence resounded louder than usual. They first thought that even the discarnate soul disapproved of his answer. But they were mistaken. The discarnate soul was awed.

 **[You truly are an embodiment of Rebellion against nature! Ajay Ghale.]** The discarnate soul laughed with a twist of insanity.

Darshan awoke, flashing open his eyes. The elder Yaksha had his wits about him, if he was this human's handler, then it took serious skill to reign him.

 _[Wh-….Who are you?!]_ The Yaksha Prince stumbled back wondering who he was, for no human could dare dream up such audacity. He had never heard of such.

The human turned his way with an expressionless look.

"I'm Ajay Fucking Ghale."

The world crumbled, and their vision turned black.

* * *

In a blink of an eye, he was standing where he had been before. As did the rest who had entered the illusionary world.

Ajay glanced over to Darshan who to his surprise, gave him a nod of respect. The day was hitting off quite well.

The Yaksha had been rather quiet for a while, so he looked over to find the elder Yaksha cradling the lifeless body of the Yaksha he shot with the 4th Demon Banishing Hex. This Hex could be cast in a variety of ways, at a single target or area of effect. This Yaksha exhibited the effects of a concentrated spell, a spell that could rob life.

When they saw him staring, the other Yaksha dared not look him in the eye. Today, they had experienced the horror of two Yakshas' deaths at the hands of a single…. Monster. The Prince, on the other hand, was a different breed of leader as he stared knives at him and pointed his way. The elder Yaksha kicked off the ground and swung some sort of hidden weapon under his garb.

 _[He must not be allowed to live! Kill him!]_

The order was given, the Yaksha weren't waiting for another trial for him to ace. They had to kill him now or else the possibility of Kaalapatthargada falling into the wrong hands was high. In his hands, they didn't want to fathom the threat he posed.

As the elder Yaksha reached five metres from him and deployed his hidden weapon, who else was there to stand in his way but Darshan. Flinging a wooden sword that impaled his arm holding what appeared to be a glass dagger. Said weapon fell from his hand as the wooden sword denied him responsiveness to his fingers and shattered onto the ground, releasing an eerie mist. As if it carried some kind of poison.

 _[Kill him!]_ The Yaksha Prince called out once more, but not to the elder Yaksha. This time, it was five more guards that gave off the same aura as the elder Yaksha. Royal Guards.

It seemed that Ajay was right, after all, there were more hidden away somewhere and/or on their way to assist the group.

Darshan and Ajay ended up being back to back.

"Would love to have said I told you so-." Ajay wisecracked.

"Later!" Darshan responded as he latched Ajay's arm to be spun to deliver a kick at one of the many Yaksha guards that converged on them all at once. Ajay used the Vanara knife to stab another in the throat as he lunged to close. But a repulsing force seems to keep the blade from reaching the Yaksha's vitals. He was right, they were just as dangerous.

Ajay's sixth sense was going off like crazy, they attacked from all angles in a coordinated effort to outflank them. If Darshan didn't have his back and him of his, they'd be in real trouble. He had to resort to depleting his explosive munitions, instead of attempting to hit them he tried to predict where they would be and fired.

"Don't waste explosives, you'll hit the C4!" Darshan reminded him, forcing him to stow away his M79 for the "Slugger" Anti-material weapon.

"No… I have him where I want him." Ajay grinned with delight as a Yaksha entered his path that had been wrecked by the explosives into craters. The Yaksha was slowed down by the incline of the craters, allowing him to take an aimed shot instead of a wasteful potshot.

(Boom) The force of the .700 Nitro round's kick was absorbed by a piston assembly as the round flew true, the bullets properties negated the repulsing force and struck. Impacting the Yaksha Guard in the jaw and pulverizing his head into a wet mist with the full force of a wildcat cartridge.

The Yaksha Guards who witnessed the weapon that killed their comrade were appalled and slightly shaken. But they were combat veterans unlike the "Princes", and they recognised the capabilities of the two of them. By far, he had not seen a single spell from their end. What was keeping them? Weren't these the Yaksha, beings just as powerful as the Rakshasa?

He looked over to the skeleton, as he recalled the events that transpired. Then to Darshan, recalling what he said about their magic being associated with the natural law. And then it hit him, a great big smile was plastered over his face, much to the dread of the elder Yaksha who watched while tending to his wounds.

"They can't use their magic in here." Ajay spelt it out to both Darshan and the Yaksha listening. They realized the severity of these Demon Banishers and their own disadvantage. Ajay remembered the basic principle of the mountains natural law. No being exceeds a certain limit to their strength and magic power, beings that do were subjected to the tribulation lightning. Yet the Discarnate soul unleashed pretty powerful illusionary magic and influenced these powerful formations within this mausoleum. The Natural Law never once sought it all this time, it was either out of boundary or was being negated somehow. Because the natural law wasn't here, then their magic would not function either. The magic that the Prince and the Yaksha Aryans' released that one time was powerful, but after the Discarnate soul appeared, all the aura of their principle magic disappeared.

"Aathva Rakshash ko Nirvaasit Karna Tantra! (8th Demon Banishing Hex)" Darshan was already employing his Demon Banishing Magic at maximum efficiency, striking all of the Yaksha guards that encircled them. It was pretty well established that his ability to use the Banishing Hexes were a level above Ajay's. As the Yaksha guards stood rigid and unmoving.

Slitting their weapons across their throats, it was like smothering a baby in a crib. As heartless as it was, these fellows were still going to kill them for even a shred of mercy. The Vanara steel blades made it too easy a job, imagine if these weapons were given to their ordinary troops.

The spell dissipated, and the bodies fell to the ground. Now, all that was left were the four remaining Yaksha, standing on their guard as the Demon Banisher pair had just exhibited that they were much more capable than previously anticipated.

Then, Ajay walked over to Darshan and placed his hand upon his raised sword.

"…." In that short and unspoken passing of thoughts, Darshan huffed a sigh and sheathed his weapon.

The Yaksha were astounded by the humans' relinquishing their intent against them after all they'd done.

"Get lost. You're no longer qualified to bother this place again." Ajay said directly to the Yaksha Prince in particular.

 _[You…. How dare you! A lowly insect of the mountain!]_ But the Prince was fuming mad. Ajay had not only insulted and humiliated him many a time, but had also for the time crushed his unyielding pride with sheer overwhelming dominance. This show of mercy could be no greater an insult.

 **[And how dare you! Bastard son!]** The discarnate soul boomed, the Yaksha ended up puking out fresh blood from their mouths. The Prince was on his knees, holding his chest that seemed afflicted.

 **[You disgrace yourself with your dishonourable actions! I had kept my evaluations of your race to myself! But all you have done is hardened my resolve on your race! You are all nothing but shameless and arrogant thieves!]** A gust of wind blew, conveying the discarnate soul's fury with it that heated the wind. And yet, the wind only seemed to blow gently upon Ajay and Darshan. As the Yaksha, dead and alive were thrown out.

The Prince hung around the longest, he stared at Ajay with eyes of insanity. Burning the image of Ajay into his mind so that he wouldn't miss him by chance again. For every minute that he was alive, was suffering to the Prince. Ajay did not realize it at the time, but Karma had a big impact on entities like the Yaksha especially. His encounter and interaction had bred ill karma between him and the Prince, causing detriment to Andhakan's future.

The soul stone sitting on the altar seemed weak. The energies of the discarnate soul that inhabited it was fading.

(rumble) The ground shook like a ram battering a gate in a rhythmic bang.

 **[Now that the trash has been cleared…. Come forward, Ajay Ghale.]** It said weakly.

Ajay obediently came forward to the dais where the remains of the former Vanara chieftain lay.

 **[Those Yaksha have gone and done it now…. He-…he-..]**

"Ajay, there's a build-up that's approaching this place!" Darshan informed him and confirmed his sixth-sense feeling.

It was a similar feeling to the natural law but felt more fractured and then consolidated. He was not outside of the mountain to witness it, and if he had, Ajay would never have believed it possible. The aura of the King of the Mountain erupted from emerald clouds that gathered and broke away to reveal the sunlight. And coming through that light in a fashion similar to an angel's descent, the kinsmen of Prince Andhakan had arrived.

An Army of Yaksha.

Standing amidst the cloud like some kind of celestial army, looking down at the earth with a disdainful arrogance. Somehow, Ajay and Darshan were able to see this as the discarnate soul projected its spiritual divine sense into them, seeing what it saw.

 _[By decree of the Lord of the Mountains, all remnants of Vanara shall be wiped from material existence!]_ A brilliantly armoured Yaksha taking the lead proclaimed as he pointed condemningly towards the mountains that held the tomb city of the Vanara.

With a deafening roar, the horde of Yaksha descended like comets, smashing into an invisible shield constantly. This was why the discarnate soul seemed weakened. One or a few individual entities, it could handle without problem. But an entire army was a different matter.

 **[Here me, Ajay Ghale….. Time is short, I entrust to you not only the weapon the Yaksha coveted so. But this soul stone which you desire so, use it as you see fit. Whatever treasures you may carry, if this place is to be destroyed, I can only hope some of it may survive away from this tomb.]**

Darshan was already walking towards the soul stone as he sensed all oppressive might around it dissipate.

 **[Ajay Ghale, will you fulfil a selfish request that this one has?]**

Ajay was all ears as he gave the discarnate soul a nod. After the bounty he received a little favour wasn't so hard if it was within his means. The rumbling of the mountain siege was ever prevalent.

 **[Please…. Gather as many jewels as you can, and pass them to my devotee.]**

"Your devotee?" He was finding it strange that a discarnate soul would even have a follower. This place was a treasure trove, instead of worshipping a dead spirit all the treasures of a forgotten race were here for the taking. Who would bother to spend time with statues and skeletons in this dusty place?

Although, thinking about this chamber, in particular, it was rather clean for a place not visited for thousands of years. No cobwebs or obvious rubble seemed apparent for the ruins this place was. So someone was here after all. Darshan halted and gave Ajay a look that said he also believed it, he had the same feeling when he first arrived here.

 **[Rather than devotee… perhaps I may be allowed the honour-… a friend.]**

"Where do I find him?" The discarnate soul was uncomfortably quiet for a long while.

 **[….. I do not know.]** Its response was not helping him.

"Then does he have a name at least?"

At the time, Ajay had not realized it nor would he have with the current situation at hand and one key factor…

 **[His name is….. Hurk.]**

He was not the only one who remembered the forgotten soul of Kyrat.

* * *

The discarnate soul knew not what shook Ajay Ghale so greatly by that name. Naturally, a devotee of his would no doubt be well renowned within the human kingdoms.

 **[Do you know where he is?]**

A shimmer of hope yet existed. Or so it thought. The demon banisher's silence was too long.

 **[Ajay Ghale?]**

"…. So he was here…" The discarnate soul barely caught what Ajay had murmured to himself.

 **[Are you his enemy?]** What other reason would it be then for the reaction he gave? Then the most surprising thing happened.

Tears dropped from his eyes.

The discarnate soul found it hard to believe, yet it felt he was sincere. **[Are you-…. Badala?]**

It could only piece together what it knew from Hurk's visits and gossip. The description almost fell into place when it thought about the resemblance between Ajay Ghale and the Himalayan Demon. What was most unbelievable was that this demon fellow, described as fearless and indomitable, he could personally endorse it. But to see him cry after the mention of this Hurk.

The discarnate soul feared the worst, only for it to be true.

"… Embodiment of Vanara… answer me." Ajay wiped his tears which he did not know how to control after hearing that Hurk's existence was not entirely erased, inquired of the discarnate soul. He even addressed it in a formal title.

"Is it possible to erase a person's entire existence, all the karma he's gathered and bound?" One question continually eroded him. Darshan specifically stated that only the person himself could sever every part of his karma to his entire existence. The 4th Demon Banishing Hex severed their lives but the memory of the victim remained. The memory of Hurk was removed entirely from everybody's minds.

 **[….. Possible.]**

"How? And who did it?"

 **[What will you do with such details?]** The discarnate soul asked, yet it already came to a conclusion from the expression that hardened upon Ajay's face.

"…. Karma!" He growled in a strong undertone of malice. What goes around comes around, he was going to make the one who erased him suffer. Be they allies he once knew, or allies all the same. They would suffer.

 **[Who was Hurk to you?]**

Once again, hatred vanished from his face in an instant. Replaced with a look of deepness then a slight smile appeared on his face.

"He was my brother."

The discarnate soul felt no lie of his words.

"He died-… protecting his other tatbro." The discarnate soul, upon hearing the word which Hurk had used affectionally for Badala believed Ajay wholeheartedly that it was as he said.

 **[That is good….. Then at least he will have place in paradise.]**

Paradise? Where was that? Ajay believed in no god nor did he think he had a place in any religious haven or paradise. The things he'd done, even he was conscious of it. But if there was a paradise willing to take his companion's soul, he would be eternally grateful. What were the criteria for entering that Hurk had fulfilled?

"Do you think you'll end up there yourself?"

 **[I am a fragment of Great Chieftain Varish. Once my time comes, I will fade into nothingness as my whole self had intended.]** So, no.

"I see….."

(rumble) The battering sounds grew louder as pieces of stone fell from the ceiling.

 **[There is no time to waste! Ajay Ghale, my Vanara legacy lies within the wellspring of the city! Now go! And my the gods look upon your valiant soul with favour!]**

The rumbling grew greater and even Ajay knew that the tomb was beginning to collapse. (BOOM) (BOOM) Some of his C4 charges were getting set off due to the homemade sensitive explosive trigger firing off.

"We have to go now!" Darshan shouted as he lifted the soul stone off its stand and into his bag strangely easy for such a bulky item. Ajay was about to do the same as he grabbed the bag of ancient Vanara weapons when the discarnate soul stopped him once more.

 **[Ajay Ghale. Will you fulfil another of my requests?]**

Once more, Ajay halted his footsteps, despite the urgency of the situation.

 **[I have nothing more to give in return-.]**

"You've given me plenty, you may not understand it. But you've saved possibly millions."

Seeing that Ajay was willing to further indulge in his selfishness, the discarnate soul was obligated to say his last words.

 **[There is only one who is capable of destroying one's all-karma.]** Ajay's eyes strained when the discarnate soul pointed him to a potential culprit.

"Why wasn't your karma destroyed?"

 **[Karma here and Karma among the mountains are two different things. Which is why all who fell under the influence of the Mountains have forgotten your brother ever existed. You do not fall under its influence, that is as clear as daylight and neither does this place.]**

"…" Ajay understood, but what did that mean?

 **[The only one capable of destroying Karma under the mountains…. Is none other than the Lord of the Mountain himself.]** The discarnate soul explained.

"That's impossible…" How and why would the Lord of the mountain whose name shall not be spoken be responsible if Hurk, such a small existence hardly seemed a threat to that type of being?

 **[There is a catch, are you listening?]**

"I am."

 **[The lord of the mountain must have some sort of Karma to Hurk for it to be severed. In other words…]**

"In other words?"

 **[Someone who Hurk knew, was also associated with the Lord of the Mountain. A friend that perhaps even you know, was the one who did it.]**

Ajay scrapped his head in internal conflict. A friend had done this. A friend betrayed Hurk. It kept revolving around in his head. Someone who had a deep association with the current Lord of the Mountain. Who was the Lord of the Mountain?

Eternal Heaven.

Esha, the Rakshasa and most recently the Yaksha had all pointed to that loathsome entity that usurped the mantle millennia ago. What was the closest thing to being associated with Eternal Heaven? Ajay didn't need to second guess it. The "Son of the Mountain". There was only one person with that title, which no one save Ajay knew had it.

Sabal.

Ajay was washed over with a sense of emptiness. If it really was Sabal, who all evidence pointed to since Sabal was present during Ajay's rescue, then it was meaningless to pursue. But some dreadful feeling gripped his heart, something was telling him that it wasn't Sabal. And if it wasn't him then it meant…. That there was another "Son of the Mountains". One that Ajay was not even aware of, lurking amidst his ranks. Ajay understood the graveness of the assessment that the discarnate soul conveyed to him.

There was an agent for the Lord of the Mountains in his company.

Ajay knew that he could not stay any longer, with the place beginning to collapse upon itself.

"I'll find out the truth." He declared with strong resolve as he ran off to the exit. Leaving the discarnate soul to its last moments of oblivion.

It had given up everything to the demon banisher. The soul stone that fuelled it, Kaalapatthargada, many of the weapons that lay unused, and perhaps, the hope of the Vanara tribe. Humanity was indeed to go through tough and troubling times, to be sucked into a war between the Yaksha and Rakshasa when their current descendants knew next to nothing of their existence. The only thing standing in front to shield their people were these two Demon Banishers.

Even now, the Yaksha battered against its weakening barrier. How was Humanity to fight against the likes of demi-gods? But as it came in close proximity to Ajay Ghale, when he approached the skeleton in which its soul rested, not that soul stone. It sensed a familiar aura it had not felt in a long time. An aura that had once overwhelmed the Natural Law of the Mountains in its entirety. Maybe, there was some hope for the Human race after all.

 **[I know you will.]**

* * *

The archaeological gold mine was now in danger of collapsing permanently. The group outside was exposed to major tremors that threatened a cave in of the magnificent tomb city. They gathered at where they originally split, it was around the time that Ajay had also returned. He found Saras discussing heatedly with Maya over something about disappearing off somewhere, that conversation ended when they saw his arrival as the last man.

"Did you get it?" Saras asked them, as Darshan unravelled the football-sized ruby out of its wrappings.

"Then let's get the hell out of here!" Anish said as any sensible human being would say.

"We've got just one more thing to collect."

"Forget it, we got what we came for." To his surprise, Darshan opposed of him getting it.

"I'm not letting the Yaksha take it!" Ajay shouted back.

"Yaksha?" The group seemed too confuse.

"Wellspring of the city…. Wellspring of the city…." Ajay recited what the discarnate soul had told him on where the weapon was placed.

The collapsing of the vicinity grew louder, some explosives left behind were discharged as well, increasing the area of the ceiling falling upon the city. The discarnate soul was now burying everything itself.

"We can't stay here, Ajay!" Saras advised him.

"Go… Get out of here! I'll catch up! Go!" He shooed them instead as them leaving would reduce the possible casualties.

Ajay looked to Darshan who was ready to leave. "You do what you need to do."

Upon hearing his ok, Darshan gave a curt nod and went off on his own. But Saras and the others were defiantly staying.

"I'm not even going to argue anymore."

"Just tell us how we can help," Anish said annoyed as he reluctantly stayed around.

Ajay looked around, the crumbling ruins of the city were not a very good sign for a search bound by a riddle.

"Where is the wellspring of the city?" He posed the question to them as they thought deeply.

Even as the city collapsed, they maintained their ground. Until Saras had the epiphany and turned to where they discovered the source of water.

"The ziggurat!" They were quick about on their feet as they arrived at the "wellspring of the city".

And as they turned the corner of the street facing the water-stream ziggurat. Who would appear before them other than the most recent acquaintance?

 _[Human filth!]_ A sabre came cutting down right in front of him as his reflexes allowed him to avoid a near-death blow. As he dodged, the next thrust was already on the way, what stopped it was only his ancient Vanara steel blades. (clang)

Maya, Anish and Saras were no longer sceptical about what he meant by Yaksha. Confronting Ajay was an entity that barely resembled a human in its all-perfect complexion and brilliant bronze-finish armour. Here was some magical entity out of mythology attacking their comrade.

"Jesus fuck! You're annoying!" Ajay delivered a roundhouse kick that was deflected by the flat end of the sabre. Instead, Ajay used that opportunity to kick off from it and gain distance. His fast hands already dug into his back harness to retrieve and loob a 40mm grenade from his M79.

(slice) But the same tricks couldn't be played twice, as the sabre parted the tub in half, effectively destroying the grenade launcher.

 _[Where is it?!]_ The Prince roared at him.

"Fuck off!" Ajay had no time to deal with this nuisance, the city was collapsing, and a weapon needed to be retrieved. A parasite which persisted in its claim for the mace was not what he asked for.

Seeing him occupied with the aggressor, Saras accompanied by Anish scaled the slippery slopes of the ziggurat with the aid of a grappling hook. Maya stood guard in case the Yaksha went beyond as he began to suspect it was where they were heading. The desperation of Ajay was another clue to its whereabouts.

 _[Its here, isn't it? Eka!]_ The Yaksha called out to the elder Yaksha who left concealment, the other Yaksha were no longer with them apparently.

 _[Pay this Demon Banisher company in my stead.]_ The Prince detailed him to Ajay as he planned to approach the ziggurat himself.

"As if!" As Ajay went to apprehend him, the elder Yaksha moved in to attack his opening.

But to the latter's surprise, Ajay did not defend as he went straight for the Prince's jugular. The chakram grazed Ajay's skin with a deep diagonal cut as the price he paid for ignoring the incoming weapon.

 _[My Prince!]_ The Elder Yaksha called out to warn his liege who responded barely in a nick of time. (clang)

 _[Tsh! You persistent-….]_ But Ajay continued to push the initiative onto attacking the Prince. If the Prince was defending himself, then so would the elder Yaksha who was definitely prioritize his charge's life over the value of the weapon.

(Beww) A strange whistle resounds after a hypersonic projectile struck the ground next to the Elder Yaksha.

The superconductor fins sizzled as they tried to rapidly cool the gun barrel of the weapon Maya held. The Elder Yaksha passed a look towards the devastation wrought by that projectile weapon in her possession and turned to her as a critical threat.

Ajay saw what was happening and quickly devised a means to keep him from coming.

"Maya! Aim here!" He orders her to place them both in her crosshairs, him and the Yaksha Prince.

"But-…"

"Do it!" No sooner did he yell out did she point in his way. That moment the elder Yaksha turned pale, for the line of sight with where his lord was. He looked back to Ajay fearfully as he rushed forwards. This human greatly scared him not with prowess, or abilities. But pure resolve.

He had witnessed it multiple times already. He proclaimed defiance against heaven and earth, he let himself get hurt for strike opportunities, and he was not afraid to die when taking down his opponents. In all his hundred years of living, he had never seen a more vicious human ever to come into existence. Except maybe perhaps that one seeker.

 _[Noooo!]_ When he saw the reaction of Maya actuating the trigger, he used all his strength to get in the trajectory of the round.

 _(Beww)_ A second discharge happened, what followed was a powerful kinetic explosion against the Elder Yaksha who had successfully got in the way of the shot. The 10mm DU projectile struck hard and wrecked his ancient armour like burning through paper, by some miracle, what stopped the shot from going through him was a shattered Vanaran axe. The Elder Yaksha was now clinging to an inch of his life, yet he got up staring at Maya with bloodlust as he limped towards her.

Instantly, she raised the gauss rifle to fire another shot. And upon pulling the trigger was a dry click sound. She fiddled around with the weapon at the most inconvenient of times to find the weapon in a malfunction. An internal warning blinked off warning this, however, she had no remedy since the manual to the weapon was not available to them.

"Maya, run!" Ajay told her as he pushed off and cast talismans to deter the Prince.

 _[You will not hold me back from my destiny!]_ The Prince roared as he rushed through the talismans and received their effects. His destination was still the ziggurat.

"My will is the mountains, my karma is the mantra. Banish all creation against nature. 8th Demon Banishing Hex, seal!" Apart from the rather long enunciation, he was undeterred from chanting. As a result, the Prince was forcefully frozen solid against his will.

Ajay ran pass and grabbed Maya's hand to pull her along to the ziggurat peak. A pair of bloodshot eyes stared venomously at his back the entire way. In the Prince's conscience, Ajay was stealing what was rightfully his.

Ajay did not waste time with climbing, he used the grapple to immediately scale the ziggurat. Against the winch's original specification for only one person as it hummed in strain from two. On top, they found Saras and Anish looking down into what appeared to be a pool that seemed to go deeper than the entire height of the ziggurat.

"Ajay-.."

"Any clue?" He asked, but all they could do was look down into the deep pool.

Ajay understood what he needed to do, he took off his heavy harness and chucked his weapons aside as he neared the pool.

 _[Human! DIE!]_ The Prince screamed at the top of his lungs as he lunged at him from the air. Ajay was barely able to raise his holstered knives which only deflected the sabre from stabbing a fatal wound. Its end struck his shoulder instead. "Urgh!"

(splash) One collided with the other and fell into the water together.

As he entered head first, Ajay was quick to overcome his disorientation. Surveying his surrounding, he noticed a glint right at the bottom and began swimming downwards without taking in another breath of air up top. The Yaksha Prince had also recovered and swum down as quickly as his Herculean Yaksha strength could. Albeit sloppier than Ajay who adopted a proper breaststroke swimming style thanks to a certain someone who taught him during her training for the interstate swim.

They did not interrupt one another in their competition, they didn't have the breath to be fooling around other than collecting the prize.

The closer he swam to the bottom, the stronger the water pressure, but also the bottom seemed clearer. Right below, was a blurry protrusion sticking out of an elevated step underneath this mass of water that served as the city's reservoir.

(bang) Ajay suddenly felt a pressurized force strike him unprepared, causing him to lose some oxygen in his mouth. His opponent swum right by with haste and bubbles streaming from his sabre, he had delivered some sort of pressure attack at him. Greatly reduced by the body of water, but enough to shake him in this environment where his air reserve was everything.

He was now at a point where if he still swam up, he could make it. Casting a look down to where a weapon lay further down, the Yaksha continued without stop. In was undoubtedly going to be his. There was no sign of protective seals upon it, and those that were around had been turned off by the discarnate soul. It was now unlocked for anyone to take.

If he surfaced, he would live to protect his Kyrat. If he continued to swim down, there was no telling if he might die. Why did this instance feel so familiar? It felt like a turning point to something, where a single choice affected the fate of Kyrat. That weapon, Kaalapatthargada was a game changer that the Yaksha desired greatly. The weapon that broke the Rakshasa King's sword. Ajay understood the strategic importance it had, but that was not why it interested him. This weapon, it belonged to the only other soul that remembered Hurk. There would come a time when even he would forget about the person that believed in him despite his poor quality as a human being in the previous timeline. This memory, he didn't want to lose it. He didn't want to lose that karma to Hurk! He will never forget!

He'd rather die than let anyone else have it. But how could he close the distance between himself and the Yaksha to where the weapon lay. Upon patting around his body, his hands fell on the grapple hook and winch system. Within this body of water, it would not launch the grapple hook to much effect due to the resistance of the water. But he didn't need the grapple to get closer to the weapon. He pulled apart the back canister that contained all of the highly-pressurized air used to propel the grapple hooks forward. He couldn't use this air as an oxygen tank because it was pressurized, but that didn't mean he didn't have other ways of using it. Pointing the back end towards the direction he wanted, he used his knife to cut off the cap. (pssssssssssss)

With the stopper slightly exposed, the pressurized air sought to escape the confines of his canister and in doing so propelled him forwards. His speed continued to increase as he passed the Yaksha who stared in disbelief and was also shaken by the disturbance caused by the release of pressure.

His sixth-sense kicked in and he made a quick high angle manuever as a disturbance wave passed him, the same pressure attack from the Yaksha.

 _[This weapon is mine! If you take what is mine, I shall do the same to you!]_ Although he didn't say it, his eyes spelt it over and over. But Ajay ignored it as he came close to what he did not expect from the description of a mace. The Yaksha was already dust in the wind in terms of distance.

At the raised steps, floated a weapon suspended off the ground by two sets of stone clamps linked to giant chains on the stepped square. The part after the handle which was supposed to be the weaponised part did not seem bulbous like an ordinary mace.

It peculiarly resembled an Egyptian obelisk, four-sided with a pyramid top, and no bigger in dimension than the handguard. Ajay felt confused after approaching the weapon which had given off a glint at him from up top. What he was looking at was nothing shiny, only a mace entirely made out of stone, there were faded markings of an intricate design that had once been upon the guard and around the mace striking end. But after so long underneath this pool, without proper maintenance had resulted in a completely ruined weapon. The grip used to be wrapped in leather that was now flayed off, exposing the metal of the hilt that oxidized as well. But most of all, there was not a single hint of aura coming from this stone weapon. If anything, there was no sign of the legendary weapon here. It was just a weird empty stone-shaped mace.

(rumble)

Even within the pool, the imminent collapse of the city could be felt. Ajay turned to the chained weapon, was this the weapon the discarnate soul guarded and the Yaksha coveted for so long?

Not too long later, the Yaksha arrived as well. Wearing a different face though confused. His expectations were just as high for the weapon that decided the turning point of the War for Shangri-la. A sneer took hold of his expression as he figured that it was all a trick, the Vanara never meant to give it to anyone. And so, misled all of them, that being said, it had to be here somewhere. He just needed to look hard enough.

 **[Take it.]** A familiar voice resounded in his mind. **[Bear the might of the Vanara tribe in your grasp, our woes, resentment, and our spirit at your back!]** The voice in his head encouraged. Here Ajay wondered why he ever let appearance fool him. It didn't matter how it appeared if it helped him or not. He wanted it as a remembrance.

And he did reach out.

The weapon suspended and chained in water seemed to turn its handle towards Ajay to grab hold of. Like a force was making it so that the weapon sought his grasp.

This sudden reaction from the weapon caught the Prince by surprise as he had misunderstood, thinking that it was not what he sought. Seeing the weapon about to fall into Ajay's hands, the Yaksha Prince swam furiously towards the mace in order to snatch it. Just as he was but a mere metre away, a traction force grew in strength. Pulling him away from the mace altar and Ajay, in the upward direction which was out of the pool.

Defiance remained within him as he stabbed his sabre into the stonewalls to fight the mystical current pushing him away. As he hung on the best he could, Ajay was inching closer to the weapon of his dreams.

 _[No!- It was by divine providence that I- Andhakan Eternal would achieve heights to become Son of the Mountain!]_

Words were transferred through thought somehow in the body of water by Darshan's translating talisman.

The weapon rattled within its stone bindings and chains as if it were alive, the mace began to heat up as Sanskrit texts appeared around the circumference of the striking end.

At last, his hand touched the mace. In response, the weapon stopped shaking about. Ajay slowly ran his hand over the bludgeon

-Hey, I dunno if you can answer me, if you're alive and conscious or not. I had no intention of coming here initially, but my Karma to a very important friend led me here. Fate, perhaps? I dunno…..-

He then undid the light blue bandana around his arm used as an armband.

-A couple have spoken of the incredible past you had as a sword breaker, I for one believe it wholeheartedly. But that power isn't what I want indefinitely. Someone erased my brother's Karma to the world, you are the last strand that the Discarnate soul of Varish bestowed upon him if he were still alive. I intend to find that bastard and beat him with you! Once that's done, I'll return you here to continue your rest.-

Ajay said his thoughts in the hope that it would transcend a vocal expression through his touch. He bound the fabric blue bandana around the hilt as a substitute for the leather wrap that used to be there. Now as he wielded it, it would always convey his wrath against those that wronged Hurk just as he had once been wronged to death.

-That's why Kaalapatthargada…. Lend me Justice!-

His hand gripped firmly around the restored hilt and pulled at the stone restraints, the huge iron chains, and the square which they were bound to. Wrenching it as if to tear it free of all that held it down.

(rumble)

The world around them shook, drowning out the rumbling of the city in terms of magnitude. The water that blew against the Prince grew even stronger, more like the water was beginning to get purged from the place where the weapon was.

 _[NOOOOOOOOOOOO!]_ A wail of utter pain came from where the Yaksha Prince was being forced up out of the pool.

A soft glow around the obelisk-shaped bludgeon began to light up with Sanskrit text written around it. The chains that held the weapon at bay strained but would not relinquish its hold. The stone restraints were crumbling slowly until finally- (crack) the mace broke free from the restraints, everything that had contained it had been broken, it was now free to reign in this new world.

Ajay hefted the surprisingly hefty mace with two hands, as the end returned to the base of the pool. It was too heavy for him to even raise! Ajay realised how different Vanara physiology was compared to a human being. A hundred kilos might weight absolutely nothing to them. This weapon weighted even heavier, and as the water was being forcefully flushed away the mace was almost getting to the point where he couldn't even lift it.

 _[Thief! DIEEE!]_ Up on high, the Prince managed to get past the water forces and descended with gravity as he pointed his newly-acquired sabre downwards to plunge into Ajay. His bloodshot eyes held all the possible resentment he had for anyone he ever encountered, he wished Ajay vanished, he never wanted to see him again. On his way to the afterlife, he would pluck his soul on the verge of reincarnation and personally torment for eternity.

 **[I leave the Legacy of the Vanara in your hands, Ajay Ghale. Do with it as you so wish. Our Karma to Hurk may have brought us closer, but your actions are what define your destiny. Succeed where we have failed. Be better than we have been. And most of all, never forget who you are. I wish you the very best, I am sure you will not let us down.]** With this last conveyance of will, the aura of the discarnate soul vanished completely into thin air. With no barrier to withhold the Yaksha outside, they were free to enter. And with no Discarnate soul to distort the will of the mountains, a rumble of stormclouds began to form over the mountain of the Vanara.

The natural law was no longer obstructed, bringing with it stormclouds bearing the all-powerful tribulation lightning with it. It had detected the presence of a weapon that transcended natural law and not in the possession of those that were aligned with it like the Yaksha were. Bolts of precursor lightning struck the mountain to get past the multiple layers of rock. But these were of no consequence to Ajay yet.

The Yaksha Prince had also sensed his magic no longer restricted and released the full unrestrained power. His sabre began to light up purple as an energy coating it, increased its lethality and raw power. The Yaksha Prince also called upon the will of the mountain through his magic as an aura to crush Ajay where he stood. The stone around Ajay's feet began to crack as the gravity-like force pushed him into a stance of submission to the incoming blade.

Even before this, he was helpless to lift the weapon which he underestimated in terms of weight. Why was he letting another minor detail stop him from fighting back? It's not like he didn't possess the ability to call upon in lifting it.

There were no Rakshasa Pillars that cancelled his Demonic powers, there was no need to burn Karma indiscriminately.

"Yaksha!" Ajay called out in rising confidence as he tightened his grip till his palms bled, his muscle sinew bulged around his arm and leg. The Yaksha continued to descend with madness in his eyes, and the sabre tip aimed for Ajay's neck in an attempt to skewer and roast him.

Using the unhindered Demonic strength that was now his to swing the mace around in revolutions. With its building up momentum, was a howl of wind passing through its intricate groves, creating a sound similar to the howl of wolves. He continued to twirl it until the last possible moment where he would unleash it in a single thrust.

 _[DIEE!]_ The Prince said just metres from him.

Ajay looked upon with an expression of absolute defiance. "No-….."

He directed the release of the spinning mace upwards to where the Yaksha Prince descended and where the top was. The mace sky-rocketed with the demonic strength assisting its weight and took flight with Ajay holding onto it. If there was a similar image to describe it to the Yaksha who saw this he would have to live in the human realm and acquaint himself with Marvel's Thor and how he got around with Mjolnir.

"- you die!"

The mace sent him and itself flying like a projectile towards the astonished Yaksha Prince. But even he knew the limits of a human, he was on the other hand, a Yaksha. The pinnacle of strength under the mountain, obtainable to none but their own. He poised his blade to meet the mace with the intention of overpowering his puny human strength under-utilizing the powerful weapon.

(CLANG) The weapons collided.

(ting)

There was barely a second that went by when the next sound of cracking metal was overwhelmed by the first noise of the sabre striking, then snapping in half from the force and power delivered by the mace. Its repertoire as the sword breaker once again took hold of the Prince as it devoured its first sword victim in over thousands of years.

(Gong)

The Prince barely had time to be horrified, as the mace tip struck his protective boon armour with a loud gonging sound. The next minute, Ajay was flying upwards with the Prince's ancient armoured breastplate at the tip of the mace. There was no sound from the Prince, only a pained expression of being struck in the gut by an unearthly force, taking the breath from his lungs entirely.

The force of the blow he previous delivered was not enough to stop the mace, him and Ajay from rising out of the empty pool that was now just a deep ditch. It was a sight that surprised, Ajay's companions, and the approaching Yaksha warriors in the city outskirts, it made them stare wide-eyed as someone bludgeoned their Prince.

While wrestling the forces acting upon him as he reigned the mace, he felt the mace start to lose mass. While the ancient armour of the Prince seemed to be dented at the place that was struck, the mace did not go unscathed. Upon cracking, the stone of the blunt striking area above the hilt began to peel off to Ajay's initial shock, then it revealed an opaque black limestone finish underneath as more of the stone that apparently acted as a sheath to the actual component of the mace hidden within the stone outer layer.

The weapon was now truly free of all restraints. A powerful intimidation aura exuded from this hidden dark stone surface as black as night. This was where the glint came from, the weapon signalled him to release it from its prison. Apart from its domineering might, there was another felting that came out of it, a void. A nothingness that surrounded this weapon, no magic could go near it, no prana was allowed to be within its presence. It would absorb any living energy that was near it. It cancelled out the will of the mountain that was directed at it and its new master.

This newly-unveiled appearance matched its original name or rather its designation.

Kaalapatthargada…

Or Darkstone Mace

* * *

Author's thoughts:

This has to be the longest chapter I've done, the things I wanted to show almost couldn't be shown and would have had to be put in two chapters side by side. Not what I want. On another side note, officially one millions words. Damn. As always, the end is near.


	139. Chapter 127 - Day of Wrath

Dragon's Reverse Scale (Chinese Idiom);

A thing, person or place upon the individual which one should never touch, less they wish to incur an unsatiable wrath. A madness that cannot be stopped.

* * *

The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

So which is my enemy? And which is the enemy of my enemy? Rather, which is more of my enemy than the other?

One one hand, the Yaksha. Usurpers and hidden rulers of the mountain and valley realm we know as the Himavana lowlands. Both the mortal, spiritual and immaterial realms were theirs. They sat on their asses growing fat in gluttony and limbo. Their haughtiness and arrogance stems right down to their throne. Thousands upon thousands of years of Vanity.

If they were the rulers of the mountain, why didn't they save their subjects, my people? Why did they continue to let them suffer in ignorance and the cruelty of nature? Why didn't they share Shangri-la with the others like the Rakshasa did? That was a forgotten past and I initially want nothing to do with them.

So why are they here now, why do they block me on my mission to save Kyrat? Send an army and threaten to kill me? Even before meeting them I already hated them, and that isn't my nature as a Demon Banisher or as a bearer of Yalung's blood and Kalinag's will talking.

Every time I see their smiles or indifferent expressions, it makes me think of the Vanity they've enjoyed at the suffering of my people. They fed Varish's will with Human souls. Human Souls! I know what I saw! They handed it over like it was water in a bottle, meaningless.

I want to drink their blood!

I don't need the Medallion to remind me….. I want to know what makes them tick! What is their known culture and history to compare to ours? Where Shangri-la is and how to get there! I want to burn down their cities! Trample on their pride! Slaughter every last one of their wretched offspring!

Despite their control over the will of the mountains…. In the end-

"YOU ARE JUST THIEVES GALLIVANTING AS KINGS!" Ajay roared his intentions and thoughts on them to the Shangri-lan Army that had barely managed to keep it to together in their combined assault of ten thousand over warriors. Their reward was just being able to restrain him under the weight of overlapping spears and tower shields against his frame to prevent further build of momentum which would further their casualties. Though insignificant to their ranks, were devastating to whichever units had taken the blunt of his new weapon. And psychologically, the damage could have been worse if he had been let free.

They sighed in relief, as he had only just acquired the weapon and did not fully master it, or it would have been a very different saga. They were troubled greatly by the weapon's primary ability to cancel magic, making them extremely vulnerable to his physical attacks. While in proximity to the Darkstone, none of their illusionary and inferior Natural Law magic could function properly outside of their bodies.

Chains were swung around the mace to hold it in place, although they could never ply it from his hand. No one was willing to risk their lives further after the deaths of over forty warriors all missing faces or body parts. The strike of the mace ensured that no protective armour or magical boon would save them from the ancient weapon's bite. They had taken losses which had not been rivalled since the first War of Shangri-la.

 _[Hold him down, until the Prince dispatches justice!]_ Their general ordered as the Yaksha collectively held him down.

Even as he struggled, he spat in loathe as at the shamelessness of the Yaksha. There was nothing great about them, even their win over the other races was an empty one that only they would appreciate. But it didn't change the fact that he was the one suppressed and they were about to deliver a killing blow. Specifically, that spoilt whinging Prince, the entire time he was fighting the Army that little bastard was stumped in a corner walloping in self-pity. The Army had to serve him on a plate to that useless bum.

If there was any consolation Ajay got was that he managed to lead the rest out before things became dicier. Sealing the exit with explosives, the only problem was that he didn't see the Elder Yaksha with the Prince, and that worried him as to where that cunning geezer was. Hopefully, they would have caught up to where Darshan was and the later would sense their distress.

The Prince marched up with the General alongside him to where Ajay was held suppressed. He was strong, but not that strong to overpower an Army on his own, especially the Shangri-lan Army which he knew next to nothing except appearance till today.

The General held out an ornate dagger respectfully to the Prince who took it with zero appreciation like it was his birthright in the first place. And Ajay had ruined the moment and stole what was originally his. Their eyes met and said all of that to Ajay.

Ajay didn't know why he even bothered to verbally abuse this stubborn self-righteous mule.

Although he was in a bit of a pickle, he really didn't want to, but the situation was calling for him to sacrifice more memories to wield Yalung's power and access to that wellspring of prana. Now it was a question of whether he would be forced to use the power of his blood.

 _[I must admit. You exceed my expectations for a Demon Banisher. Eka painted a far different epic of that troublesome order. But you have-… you have reaffirmed it amongst us all.]_ He motioned to the Shangri-lan Army, expressing who "us" meant. The Prince reach a face to face distance from Ajay, placing the knife against his throat. The likely victim to a slit throat stared back without fear or any visibly surprised emotion, making it difficult to read and ominous to the Prince and his warriors deep down. Ajay understood more about the Yaksha from just this. They always sought to affirm their actions with themselves and others through meaningless talk and false bravados. Like a little kid telling tales to his peers, if he didn't he'd just be a lonely and alienated child. That was what the Yaksha of the Himavanas were.

 _[A wonder how long you will hold that façade of bravery for, will it be till this blade runs through your skin?]_

"Boo!" Ajay's only response was a cheap scare.

And in response, the Yaksha Prince had actually stumbled backwards in front of his Army, the knife fell from his hand with a thang, hitting the floor. Despite the thousands that held him down, the General to protect him. His reaction showed his inner cowardice to not just to Ajay, but his army and most of all himself. Furthermore, he was made to acknowledge it before the whole Army. Wouldn't his Royal Brothers' like to know of what happened here today. He had just lost his own dignity.

And in his humiliation, was a ravenous smile from his supposed-to victim. The warriors began to tighten his restraints and raise their spears to plunge into him.

 _[Stop! Do you want to deprive our Prince of his belonging?!]_ The General raised his hand to halt their actions. If they killed him instead of the prince, there was no telling who the mace would fall to and be killed by the Prince for it. Upon meeting that belittling smile, the Prince could feel his inner spirit forming a cloud of doubt that would affect his road to ascension to newer heights of enlightenment.

 _[I end your life for the greater good of the mountain! Be glad that it was I who gave you peace!]_

Ajay was at his wit's end, not his state but the Prince's vanity and condescending attitude. He didn't even feel like answering anymore. He only looked at the Prince was a sharp and disdainful look, all the while chuckling at in ridicule. And so, Ajay's silence became more of an insult to the Andhakan than him opening his mouth.

The Prince honed his patience to his very limits, performing a proper stance to lob off Ajay's head in one clean swipe, when the air suddenly went quiet and- (BANG)

A violet whirlwind appeared behind him and the Army, a rift. The Army was caught by surprised and stared in confusion, but the General had his wits about him and quickly ordered his elite guards to surround and protect their Prince. Even when he shouted threats for removing him from his acquisition of the mace, they shielded him in a phalanx of tower shields and spears.

(Awwwwwwooooohhoohoooo) A collective howl of wolves daunted those nearest to the portal rift.

The legions shuddered at the powerful cries as if they recognised it as something of a legend. (Growl) Warriors near the rift were hurled into the air by the dozen, and those numbers doubled then multiplied further with every second. The warriors in the middle of the formation reformed into their front as those out where their surviving comrades were being tossed, trampled and torn in mid-air retreated with haste.

The area which had been obstructed from his view was now clear for him to see. Who had come to disrupt the Yakshas' operations?

 _[By his name-… L-Lord Tarakeshwar!….]_ Somehow by chance, he managed to catch what one of the warriors had murmured.

"Tarakeshwar?" Ajay murmured under the weight of the spears and shields. His eyes strained to see in the distance who those individuals were. He saw a dust cloud approaching from that violet rift and also what was making that mini-sandstorm.

Wolves.

Rakshasa riding upon wolves. But there was something already wrong with that picture, for Ajay roughly knew the height and size of a Rakshasa. But their mounts were twice as big as them, it was deceivingly tricky to tell from a distance where only silhouettes where visible. Although they were getting closer and appearing bigger than originally speculated.

Riding in a cavalry charge wedge formation, were the Akaashian Wolf Riders, mounted upon the near-mythical giant Ash Wolves. At the tip of the wedge was a very familiar face, but more Rakshasa than before.

Where the wolf riders went, Yaksha warriors were being flung from their ground stance and formations. As they were being trampled upon, cut down and devoured by their great wolves.

"Hey!" Ajay called out to one of the spearmen who turned back from the rest that had been enchanted by the recent arrival of the Rakshasa Wolf Riders led by a certain someone mowing down their retreating brethren. Yet all they did was watch as they refused to go up and meet with this grizzled enemy, veterans of a thousand campaigns. These Yakshas were born in the new era while these Rakshasa were already full-fledged warriors who fought in wars of unimaginable scale.

"Catch." He threw to the warrior a cylindrical object with a strange handle. Out of reflex, the warrior dropped his spear and caught it in an unsteady grip. (ping) The handle was string-loaded and so flung off.

(BOOM)

The explosion of a mixture of Composition B and iron fragmentation blasted the Yaksha containment formation and shook their hold over him.

(Clang)

With the grip over him loosened, he swung the Darkstone Mace in the angle of opening. Breaking many of the spear heads of their lances, and denting their tower shields.

(ping) A second grenade was flung at them as they tried to lock him down again. Witnessing what the first one did, they

(BANG) Instead of explosive mix, a bright flash instantly blinded and deafened their keener senses. Making the entire unit stumble on their knees as the flashbang completely crippled them.

He had no time to cover his own eyes or ears to prevent their spears from piercing him, so he was exposed to the flashbang's effect just as much as they were. He was disorientated, and a ringing sound persisted in his ears. However, he could hear a faint and muffled disorder happening around him. Shouts, screams and the constant thunder of cavalry circling around. The brightness dissipated from his eyes as he rubbed them a couple of times. Large blurry figures encircled him with an uneasy calm to their strides. To restore his eyesight quicker, he closed them and meditated standing. The sounds of low growls could be heard now as well as the scoffing of large-sized men.

When he opened his eyes, his full vision was restored and lo and behold. Who had come before him but none other than the Rakshasa General himself.

"To what do I owe the pleasure, General?" Ajay gave a bloodied smile, hiding his fatigue from his combat.

The Rakshasa he knew as Bhaskar looked down from his mount, staring at the mirth of the reckless soul that brought them here.

* * *

Bhaskar stared at him unusually long, or rather not at him but at the weapon he was holding. His companions were in an equal amount of bewilderment as him, though the General of the North Gate failed to show it on his expression.

For who could forget the cursed weapon that defeated their lord. Bhaskar was being unusually analytical as compared to his brethren by virtue of his calculative methods. He didn't spend twenty years incognito as Golden Paths former-scribe for nothing. In a way, Ajay had to be the most cautious around the North Gate General. He felt that Bhaskar was sort of a strategist than a meat head like Purushartha was. Narmada was more of a balanced General between the two. What about the yet-unheard of East Gate? If there was one more General held in reserve, he could never tell what their true strength was not that he could tell even now.

Ajay raised the mace and leaned it on his shoulder. "Are you gonna stare at it all day or are we getting on with what you came here for?" He said to break their stupor.

 **[We have come to escort you to her Highness]** Bhaskar said while his eyes were still on the Darkstone mace. His face did its best to conceal it, but Ajay could read his eyes clearly. He had once again thrown the Rakshasa General's expectation out of the window. It was no secret that the Vanara hated just about everyone. But they were especially cautious of the Demon Banishers who used their skin as leather armour, their souls for soul stones and their organs for other life-enriching tonics. The Human exorcists didn't regard the Vanara as equals even though they were physically weaker. To them they were just game animals. The vessel, Ajay had just about every known trait of each of the races they despised into a cocktail that was his very being. Kaalapatthagada was the symbol of their existence, to have gained possession of it, what did the vessel do?

"I've had a change of plans. I'm going to leave this place on my own, and there's nothing you can do about it." Ajay's tone was cold yet undaunted.

 **[Change of plans? You are bound by vow to meet her highness. And in this kind of situation? Huh! I would like to see you try!]**

Then an object came flying the Rakshasa's way, too slow for it to be missed by a being of his level. Bhaskar caught it with reflex and looked down at the cylindrical object that was clutched between his pale blueish fingers.

At first, he didn't want to believe it. But then he could smell a scent upon it he hadn't for a very long time. The aromas of the hide of an animal which had come from only one place, Shangri-la. Bathed in those scented waters. What lay in his hands was the Kalinag Scroll. The closest aide to Esha looked up in bewilderment and stared into the pair of strong eyes as he said another absurd thing.

"I'm not meeting her at Akaash anymore. From here on out, it's all out war with you." Ajay said without a care in his cold voice.

The General of the North Gat nearly lost his composure to what Ajay had been implying from this statement.

 **[After all she has done for you-….. You would break a promise that you made with her-.]**

"YOU BROKE IT FIRST!" He shouted back to the former's surprise as Ajay exhibited how short a fuse he was at this very moment. And a face of one being betrayed.

"A week we agreed, fine! You think I don't know, huh?! That you Rakshasa would attack Kumsa?"

 **[You would consider mere breakaways as your own?]**

"They're all my people, Rakshasa! Not just Kyratis, but everyone who calls me their Lord! And- hehe….. Here I thought Rakshasa always kept to their words. But in the end, you're just as much of liars as those damn Yaksha!" The Rakshasa did not expect to be criticised by the very person they had been dispatched to save.

"I'm not owing you anything today, and from now on, she owes me nothing. Tell Esha, I will kill her if I ever see her on the battlefield. You had better keep her away from me, Bhaskar. You'd better keep her away! Even if its against her will." When spoken in a low threatening undertone, Bhaskar stared into Ajay's eyes with every bit of seriousness in those black orbs.

The vessel was declaring war upon them. There was no hesitation in his ideals any longer, he won't let sympathy for their cause infect him and his resolve. He was their enemy through and through.

"Good day to you… Rakshasa." The General would never have believed it if he didn't turn to face the might of the Shangri-lan Army himself.

And he did.

Without batting an eye, once he was lined up he charged at the Yaksha Army all on his lonesome. Shocking both the Rakshasa and the Yaksha who believed he would have sought protection from these ancient enemies of theirs.

 _[Have not learnt your lesson, have you?]_ The Prince taunted.

 _[Archers, to the front!]_ The Army began to form itself as commanded, bowmen answered the call and strung their bows with jaded-tipped arrows.

They were poised to let fly, yet the lone human continued to run their way. Some felt he was seeking death, but the Yaksha General felt uneasy. The will of Varish wouldn't chose such a regrettable figure to be its inheritor.

 _[Fire!]_ When the command was given, a stream of whistling arrows launched from their bows.

-Why does he continue?- Ajay made no preparation to evade or block, he just kept running towards them. The howl of the arrow feathers against the wind grew closer and closer to their final destination. Why was he letting a single human scare him?

 _[Fire at will!]_ After their first volley, the archers fired at their own time.

He was continually advancing but released his grapple anchor in his free hand and began to twirl it with great force.

(Ding)(Dingdingdingdingding) The arrows either deflected off or broke when colliding with the anchor. He managed to ward off the first wave, and then the stream of arrows came non-stop.

Raising the Darkstone Mace, he struck those that would impale his torso. Breaking them into harmless pieces. His strides seemed slow and patient, yet he travelled ten steps every second.

 _[Javelins, ready!]_ The frontline infantry locked their shields and raised their heavy armour-defeating javelins. Waiting anxiously as the human reach an unsafe range for the archers to continue and not yet in their throwing spear radius. All the while, he seemed unhurt and without breaking a sweat.

Their comprehension of humans had always been narrow, yet this single human had done things as of recently that shook the Army. It was by the virtue of their General's patience and experience in battle that enabled his suppression at first. And now the human was trying again to attack them, even fools knew he wouldn't fall for the same trick twice. Disregarding the aid of the more fearsome Rakshasa to fight them alone. Where did that confidence come from? What kind of hidden trump did he have hidden away? What was his purpose in attacking?

He was just seconds away from reaching that point where they would first send the wall of spears towards him. And there was no change in his actions, only a frighteningly piercing gaze that shook those right in front.

 _[Fire- hold!]_ The front deputy commander was in the midst of ordering the release of javelins and actually changed his last order.

(Growl)

 _[Ahhhhh!][Gaaarghh!]_

But it was too late. As the frontline warriors fell victim to the giant ash wolves that leaped into the air and landed their paws upon them, crushing them to death. No phalanx nor shield wall could be erected in time to hold against the onslaught that Ajay had provided with their focus on him. The Rakshasa riders exploited this to take them by surprise, already the first column showed signs of breaking as warriors were being hurled in the air by the giant wolves and a swinging mace that echoed an eerie wolves howl. Causing the giant wolves themselves to howl in a unified orchestra.

(Aaawwwwoooooohhh)

Ajay pulled his mace out of a bludgeoned skull as the gallant figure of the General of the North Gate casted a glance back without saying anything. But actions had been transmitted in place of words here. Here, if he went into the thick of it, the Rakshasa will follow until their mission was complete. They had no power over him to make him return to Esha, but the could ensure his safety. Ajay had his misgivings about working with the Rakshasa even now, but to have them keep the Yaksha Army off his back for even a brief moment made this uneasy truce worth its weight. If they wanted to be used, he'll use them till they expired.

Even if it meant being in the most inhospitable area to be at the moment. Ajay gave a curl nod to respect their decision as they had of his then turned to look pass the many layers of Yaksha right at the rear line where the General of the Shangri-lan Army lay. Although he wasn't looking at him, but next to him.

Where the 4th Prince of the Shangri-la could not help but feel slight dread at those pair of glowing yellow irises gazing upon him…..

Hungrily.

* * *

Dies Irae, in Latin, translates to Day of Wrath, the hymn of an impending oblivion. The destruction of our world, the self-destruction of man. The day sinners were sent to hell and the faithful risen to heaven en masse.

No matter how the world tried to stitch itself back from chaos, wars would always spark. Differences between fellow man would be pointed out, the innocence of one's ignorance of the other would become sacrilege. For it would allow sins of greed, obsession and tyranny to prevail. Innocence, once a virtue became limbo.

The nation of Pakistan was beginning to spark the very flames of these hostilities between nations and itself. First were the demonstrations and strikes by workers and various institutions of the vast industry. Then came the riots, and threats to the government to act out according to their desires.

The tragedy in the annihilation of 10th Carrier Fleet was not solely felt by the families of seven thousand sailors, but nearly every port city inhabitants facing the Arabian Sea. Signs of radiation sickness were already showing, fish stocks contained unsafe levels of radiation. To make matters worse, the West winds blew these clouds containing radioactive matter inland. The ports of Karachi and Keti Bandar had been forced to close their seafaring activity, affecting overall sea commerce within the nation itself.

Many an industry were forced to close or layoff their workers causing greater unrest. Wages could not be earned, families could not be fed and with the radiation setting in, no money to afford medication. The people had to direct their rage and dissatisfaction somewhere, the government? Or the main culprit? Why was a nuclear device brought to this region and who was it actually meant for? They asked themselves deep down, they had been tolerant of western foreigners for so long. The latter's biaseness and silent bigotry. But now, not only did they want them gone, if they every saw one roam their street they would tear the clothing of him and parade him under a barrage of stones and dirt as they did to great sinners of their god.

By the time, the Himavanan Army units had been granted access covertly to raid the US bases. Intelligence reports already indicated sixty percent of US owned facilities and sites were being attacked. It didn't matter to the disgruntled local populace whether it was military bases armed to the teeth or housing reserves inhabited by American citizens. Angry mobs were the least serious of these attacks with the worst being suicide truck bombings by unidentified terrorist cells who took advantage of the disorder. It appeared that despite different beliefs, all of Pakistan was hoping to purge the foreign menace. During the entire period of the week since the nuclear detonation, the government dispatched no orders to its armies to enact martial law, their soldiers stayed in their camps, the civil police authorities concentrated solely on domestic crime prevention.

Pakistani Government tried to exhibit themselves as neutral but showed indifference to those they thought were allied nations. While their rival India, unhesitantly dispatched medical relief and aid. China sent experts in decontamination to help contain the situation at the port cities. All of these actions were noble in their exterior but were intentionally shown to spite the US and their inability to contain the act as responsible members. Casting further doubts of the United States among the international community and to a large extent the UN.

So by the time their attack begun and Operation Hai Ba commenced, they had no element of surprise. The US forces were already by then at full operational capability. 8th Armour Brigade formerly the Yinkian Republican Guard clashed with a US Army Stryker Regiment and supporting Marine Infantry elements. 38th Mountaineer Regiment formerly one of Yuma's Snow Guards went in to raid US Military Depots with the support of air cover. If there was one group that had the element of surprise in the method of deployment and their targets' unsuspectance were the Jatayu Commandos. Who had the most difficult job of all after their paradrop amidst active air defences and fortified positions of the Air bases. Flying in on appropriated C-17s with falsified IFF and clearance codes to cheat the Air Defense and loitering Air Force long enough to release its payload of killers. While the US Airforce assets had been denied to friendly forces in need of their aircover by virtue of the Jatayu bombing their runways and squadrons of Sukhois and Migs battering their warplane in the air bingo on fuel. The small scattered brigade of five thousand were outnumbered by the presence of not just the stationed US specops groups, US Army expeditionary forces to Afghanistan but the Special Activities Division operatives under the umbrella of the CIA. But the Jatayu were no longer ordinary as they once were.

Over the period of eight months since its conception, the mix-mash of soldiers and fighters had undergone a drastic metamorphosis. When the tribal Huns joined, they imparted the value of close quarter combat techniques, strength through camaraderie and constantly evolving critical thinking for adapting to environments and situations. The former Golden Path scouting commanders of Loken shared their original traits of mountain combat and street-fighting. The improvisation and logistical efficiency of the Royal Army attach ensured all were well-equipped no matter the strain. The Hunter Cadres operating with them allowed them to experience what superior pathfinding and irregular combat tactics were over supposedly superior weaponry. With each force and discipline joining their outfit, their strength grew. Their leader was renowned for strength and charisma only further solidifying their prestige and fortitude as warriors. They fought Golden Path on many an occasion, innumerable in size and resilient before and after exaltation with Mohan's appearance. They fought Yinkians, Chinese, Americans, PMCs, and not forgetting Rakshasa. Beings that could not be harmed easily by small-arms, with reaction speeds surpassing human limits, and utilized a wide array of weapons and magically abilities that put one-on-one combat in their favour. So their combat experience was nothing to laugh at, so much as they had fought on par with monsters the likes of which the modern world had never seen.

The only flaw of the Jatayu was their evergrowing pride, pride in their mastery of special operations and unconventional warfare against opponents' human and otherworldly. What the US expedition fell helplessly to was what they survived and lived to tell the tale of.

But the American forces were quick in adapting as they always were. Han Feng was left to command the entirety of the Jatayu in the absence of Badala, Maya and Jeevan, the primary officers. Yet, his composure, balance and ability to lead the officers in the field were said to be like he had been touched by the "Bear's unrelenting". His undaunted expression kept the morale of the troops steady and confident in his strategy.

Vasu was somewhere on the outskirts of the Capital City of Islamabad with 8th Armour Brigade led by Dema's successor. The Yinkian and Kyrati tankers had travelled a long way from home via train and their T-80 tanks were all warmed up to begin devouring other armoured units. Providing a presence of an unearthly warrior not seen in thousands of years. "Unstoppable as a Rhino" Armour met with Armour, Warriors fought against Warriors.

Jeevan accompanied the teams of combat engineers and computer experts to raid the CIA black sites using the intel gathered by the local partisan sympathists. To destroy all of the intelligence agencies assets in Pakistan and steal information from their military servers with the codes Ajay absorbed from one of the earlier Expedition Officers. One who works in the dark, "Dragon of the shadows."

"This shouldn't have happened!" All Former Marine Captain David Goh could do was stare at the aftermath of the carnage wrought by the Jatayu on Shahbaz Airbase in horror and despair. They were late to the scene, but the air smelt of fear and disbelief. Vehicles and aircraft were burning wreckages, bodies riddled with holes lying all over and the stench of blood so heavy it almost suffocated them. Curious Pakistani citizens entered the once guarded compounds to start looting the place and corpses of valuables. Until the Pakistani Army arrived only to do the same. David watched coldly but could do nothing unarmed against a Battalion-sized group of armed soldiers.

"But it did." His friend Perkins had an expressionless face, but his grief was just as great.

For their friends were now their country's latest enemy on the highest priority.

"We should've been there…" David lamented the fate of the first Expeditionary Force.

"To do what?"

"Something."

"There was nothing we could do."

"There is always something! Always a choice!" David screamed into his ear whilst pointing accusingly.

"Yeah! Washington made their choice, and now our boys are paying for it!"

Perkins knew of the hypocrisy in his words, but like his old superior, they both had a clearer picture of what really went on in the obscured nation of Kyrat now-Himavana Federation by CIA intelligence reports. They saw the suffering of the people at the hands of brigands armed by their own military, powerful conglomerates invading to attain riches of the land. Their own country's bureaucracy responsible for the deployment of thousands of troops to Kyrat only to be utterly crushed. And a nuclear weapon? They didn't even want to know how it went for Badala or how USS Harry S. Truman had a live thermonuclear weapon detonate on its deck.

Now Badala has manipulated the world into demonising the US, affecting the balance of order. Who knows, without them as a major player in the world events things would spiral out of control and they might have themselves a world war again. But Badala certainly didn't care, in fact it was fair to say that was what he wanted. To show to the world that rules meant nothing. An insignificant power such as the Himavanas would dare to challenge the might of the US, what would the world come to? That was the message he had just pointed out. And knowing his temperament, there was a high chance he would use the last nuclear device as the "final touch" in fanning the flames of war. Why would he do that? He had plenty of reasons. But the strongest would be that the Himavanas would never be bothered by anyone in future. In other words, in the interest of the Himavana Federation. Everyone would be too busy fighting each other for their own excuses. And the Himavanas? To try and take from the Himavanas was to await the same failure as the United States and People's Republic of China.

Perhaps Washington already knew. To retaliate would mean they would have to stick by their principle once quiet but now loud and clear, in a world where the strong oppressed the weak. To bypass these two contradictions, they had to suppress the Himavanans here in Pakistan now! So that "peacekeeping" could begin in the Himavanas. Because if they lost, it would mean total chaos. Winning would mean they lost the right to influence the world any further. The doomsday clock would be another strike from oblivion. Badala had the power to start a world war in his hands, as revenge? David didn't really know.

"The Pakistani Governments been acting really weird recently." David couldn't get it out of his head. The only way the Himavanan Army could come through was if the government authorised it. If that were the case, then it meant that they were really losing their grip over this theatre of operation. Friends were now possible enemies. This implied a mass evacuation of US forces somewhere, Washington would have known even before the two of them. David and Perkins were back here by virtue of helping their jarhead friends' families pack up ahead of time to leave, as Pakistan was becoming a hotpot. Though there was no evacuation notice, they knew the reality in the Himalayas better than most. The United States had disturbed a sleeping tiger and paid dearly enough. But this tiger had a voracious appetite and wasn't the kind which knew how to control its hunger.

"Dave…" Perkins could see David deep in thought. His captain had felt a great responsibility for the events that had transpired. In a way, it was their fault that such things occurred in the first place. David believed there was a way to end what Badala sought. They couldn't kill him, David knew that from day one. It just wasn't possible, their efforts to do so again would be fruitless. But they simply couldn't let him have his way.

They had to do the unforgivable. To beat Badala's atrocity upon the US, it needed to be outweighed by an even great action. So how does one beat Badala in terror?

"We're gonna make Badala the hero."

"What?"

Perkins could not believe even half a word of what David was saying. When the later gazed into his eyes with deepness and meaning.

"Gregor, have you made your peace?"

Even without asking, Perkins had already guessed. What David asked for was to voluntarily sign himself for hell with him. To be branded traitors. But even still…..

"All day every day." He would still follow him there.

The question was, how many others would follow them?

* * *

How did our ancestors fight these monsters?

It was the question that rolled through every one of the soldiers of the 7th Autonomous Brigade that were still alive and kicking. Even with Bipin's unorthodox tactics, it only seemed to push them back a step as they took two more on the next turn. Did they take casualties? Even at the proximity they were to the Rakshasa in the firefights, they couldn't tell how many they killed.

Because after sustaining a certain amount of damage, they seemed to melt back into the shadow and smoke of the intense fighting. On the other hand, the brigade sustained heavy casualties that was stacking higher and higher as time went by. Two hundred had perished in the first hour they engaged the Rakshasa. It was now the fifth hour, they had lost a total of four hundred soldiers in that short time. Worst of all, the Rakshasa kept coming like stamina was not a big issue.

Another issue took root which dampened the morale of the brigade even more, they couldn't give their fallen a proper burial in the time to come. Because the dead were rising against them. A general order was issued to destroy the corpses of their dead immediately, some took to donning vests strapped with explosives to take Rakshasa with them to their grave and leave an absence of a body to further endanger their living comrades. The situation was reported back to High Command in Lanka who were reluctant to send any further support. Until the King intervened, personally promising a Helicopter Battalion to provide gunship support and relief infantry on the comms. Providing a smidgen of hope for the Brigade in such dire times.

Bipin refused to be taken off the field to be substituted in order to rest. He knew his adversary was still testing him. This Narmada, General of the East Gate. A Rakshasa Pillar whom was largely responsible for the demise of the US expeditionary forces. A full-strength Rakshasa, yet the will of the Mountains wasn't clamping down on any of the Rakshasa after such a long time. Their boon couldn't have lasted this long. Bipin read all the accounts and reports on the Rakshasa, but it seemed all the complied knowledge on the Rakshasa were either incorrect or incomplete. New understandings of their methods and abilities were costing him more and more men. He'd already lost the first frontline company along with two companies in worst order. Bipin was finding it hard to believe it, but the Rakshasa were just too quick adapting to modern weaponry. During the battle of point 2153, they were still relatively new to ordnance larger than hand-held firearms. But now, they seem to understand that their mortars, anti-aircraft cannons and other heavy weapons were what gave the soldiers more confidence in fighting them. They devised tactics to get closer to these weapons to disable them.

The "slugger" single shot anti-material weapon was one of the few weapons they underestimated and became highly valued among the soldiers for its solid power at hand. But ammunition was becoming scarcer and scarcer even as they did their best to conserve it. They were standing between the annihilation of the Kumsa Capital and its salvation, and by extension their own salvation as Cantons redeemed in a shared struggle of the Himavanas.

(Boom) **[Raaargh!]**

A Rakshasa that had slipped through their ranks to take his head was shot in the chest where the heart was, the assailant popped into smoke and his silhouette vanished. Wounded by said weapon that was on a tight logistical burden.

"Argh…." But the Rakshasa did not entirely fail.

"Sir!" An adjutant officer came to catch Bipin, as the latter fell to his knees. A red bloom of thick blood appeared on his left where the ribcage was. The rest of the men wanted to get him out of the field to receive medical treatment, yet he pushed them aside.

"Let go of me! Let go!" He slapped away the hands that tried to help as he struggled to get up and balanced upon the rifle as a crutch.

"But, sir!-."

"I'm not dead yet! Have 4th Company and 7th switch places now while the left flank is relatively light!" They dare not slow down or waste even a single second of his time.

"Word on reinforcements?" He turned to the radioman who shook his head.

He didn't want to get their hopes up but still bothered to ask. The 152mm artillery batteries had been quiet for some time now, the report was that they'd expended all of their ammunition, not even illumination or training coloured smoke was left. Ordnance was what kept the Rakshasa from advancing without a problem, so the loss of artillery was serious.

"Sir, orders from staff. You are to return to the command post." Another dispatch officer came to the scene and demanded the same as the other few before.

"Officer Pang He, remove this idiot from my sight!" He told one of the officers in his command staff.

"Sir! This is an order from the Brigadier!" The dispatch officer retorted and waved a group of MPs attached to bring him out by force.

In response, he raised his slugger at the MPs.

"Take me off and I'll be the one that kills you!" He stared at them with blood-shot eyes, all they could do was stare helplessly as they could see blood actively flowing from his wound. The dispatch turned to his command staff instead with a look of a plea.

"Help him!"

"What are you doing? Get your hands off me!" His command staff grabbed hold of him and plied the weapon from his hands, someone delivered a strike to his head in an attempt to knock him out cold but only angered him further as it hurt to have his head bludgeoned by a rifle butt.

The Command staff left a trusted officer behind as they assisted the MPs in bringing him off the field back to the city.

At first, he struggled for a while and cursed at them for being cowards unable to face what was in front of them. But as they passed by the roadside which was filled with wounded soldiers and pieces of dead ones, his aggression died down. He only watched as they took him through a gauntlet of horror. Those surviving the blunt of the Rakshasas merciless assaults were screaming in pain or fainted from blood loss and a missing limb or two. And they were the luckiest of all the soldiers now to have any sort of rest.

While he was being carried on and tied to a stretcher, the combat medics quickly poured coagulating agents to clot his blood and seal the wound. He still had the luxury of medicinal treatment; their medical supplies were officially gone. The civilians were doing all they could to hospital the wounded soldiers with whatever they had, but there was a limit of care they could give as rural villagers.

He was brought into a two-storey residence where the higher-level commanders were. Before entering their sight, he shrugged off the MPs grasps and went up voluntarily.

His strides were fierce from the tempo of the battle raging on as were his eyes frozen in an ever-intimidating look. Just five hours of continual tug of war with the Rakshasa had done that to him.

So most of the senior staff were taken aback by their desire to reprimand him faded. The only ones that seemed unaffected were Sam who was more of concern than anger, Sun Kwan and the uninvolved to military matters Manendra.

"You have better have a good explanation for taking me off the field-."

"ENOUGH!" His initially calm composure was overwhelmed with a visage of a fiery deity in a single instance.

"You may lead in the field, but I command here, Major. Don't ever forget that!" He had to put his foot down on this to Bipin as much as the young person held materially more power and sway over the brigade than him.

"You might think that your absence will harm the overall struggle, but so is your deteriorated state! What you show to your men harms their morale further! Not all of them are as hard-boiled as you!"

"Sir-."

"I'm not done, Major!" Sun Kwan swiftly silenced him.

"When I first called you to return and you denied, I took it as a brief struggle. The second time I sent for you, I gave the benefit of doubt. But by the third, it became clear to me you were still prioritizing company-level tactics over the entire strategic thinking of the Brigade!"

"With respect-…sir….. The men are dying in the hundreds!" He countered.

"And I'm glad! They are at least performing their duty and doing their heritage proud! But you shame them with your insubordination!" Sun Kwan was so angry that he exaggerated with a throw of his helmet lying on the table at him. Even while Bipin might have been right to stay, it was still wrong to go against his superior.

"…. Don't ever question my authority while I command, is that clear?" Sun Kwan had said his part and awaited Bipin's answer.

"…Yes, sir. Crystal."

"Good, sit." He ordered Bipin as the latter cast a glance to the battlefield that continued to rage on, helpless to watch. He turned back to see Sam smile at him in an assuring way that his time would not be wasted here.

"As it stands, we cannot hold the Rakshasa at bay." Sun Kwan made it very clear to all of them, Bipin knew this fact even before arriving. Yet he stubbornly tried to stay there to fight to the end, he reflected upon his stupidity. He didn't know if it was a characteristic of his passed down from his father or just him. An unrelenting and ferocious behaviour that didn't regard superiority of others or enemies with the due respect. Almost like a particular ferocious beast of Kyrat.

"The time his royal highness replied was 1600hrs, this puts us around fifty minutes till their arrival, the soonest."

"Should we really be relying on that?" One of the field commanders was ever-doubtful they would come in time.

"Whether they do or they don't we will still hold. Someone still needs to come and evacuate His Highness Kumsa and the Royal Family out of here." Manendra suddenly looked sullen from Sun Kwan's next agendas.

"My family can go, but I will stay."

"I agree, no good will come out of leaving the Crown Prince here." Bipin joined in on Sun Kwan's side to which the Prince looked on upset.

"But the people-."

"Let's evacuate them, sir." Bipin proposed both to Manendra and Sun Kwan.

"There is nowhere to go, Major. As His Highness as already pointed out, there is no route other than the one where the Rakshasa is out of this valley."

"Precisely!" Now all of the officers looked at him like he was crazy.

"… Explain." Sun Kwan demanded.

Bipin walked up to the maps and pointed down at the river that went down towards the North where the next town city was.

"If we take the river, it should speed up their evacuation. Maybe build several rafts for those who cannot walk long distance. Meanwhile, our forces will move progressively in a line that shields the exodus trail."

"That would leave us susceptible to flanking and the civilians will be at our backs, we cannot haphazardly turn to engage." Countered Fang Wei.

"For a moment, you mean." Once again, Bipin seemed to have concocted an idea out of this.

And so, he shared his plans with them, awaiting their endorsement to begin the evacuation as soon as possible. Manendra did not disagree this time after Bipin asked his permission for a massive evacuation, truly to leave the capital city behind. For his father's words rung deeply in his mind. The people are his kingdom, so he would go where the kingdom was, land was nothing in comparison without people to inhabit it. Kumsa will be where its sovereign and people go.

On the other end of the field, the enemy commander observed a sudden drop in combat effectiveness within the ranks of the humans. Tenacity was not a word that could fully describe their ability to hold them off for so long and incur such damage upon them continuously. The vessel had turned them into something else both in quality and fighting spirit. Their ancient predecessors were never this robust and ferocious.

Narmada instantly knew that the Human commander had been temporarily relieved from the frontlines because the defences did not incorporate as aggressive counterattacks. Despite her absorption of modern military tactics and strategy from the outsider commander of a foreign land. This commander seemed to utilize tactics that had a combination of new and old incorporated into them, making it an entirely different kind of strategy and combat that Narmada and the Rakshasa of her Army were used to and had learnt.

These Himavanan Humans were of a different class altogether, and to neglect their status as an equal would be foolish of them. Narmada truly regretted having to kill off such people, even now as the villagers of the city seemed to be preparing for a mass exodus, the army was still protecting them at great cost even though they weren't of the same lineage or clans. They were true warriors.

But there was a master plan in order. If she could not mass murder this entire population, then somewhere else would have to pay in the same amount of blood. They had just not expected the humans to defend such a backwater region so direly. Her Highness was right, the humans were changing. And they, the Rakshasa?... Were already running on borrowed time to be here.

(pop)(BOBOBOBOOM) (pop)(BOBOBOBOBOOM) The sound of the light artillery weapon known as the mortar crept a barrage. The left and right flanks of their forces had been the targets, and yet the shells were still off by a barn from their positions. Another strategy without straightforward logic behind it. Narmada could not help but grin widely, she had not had this much fun since she sparred with her lord. As the General of the East Gate, her responsibility in the past was to watch the Vanara. The sentient apes however weren't the type to indulge in the complexities of strategy or tactics. It was purely martial prowess and strength that dictated their actions.

 **[What are you doing?...]** Narmada pondered the meaning behind the human's move.

The human soldiers began to leave their fortifications under the protection of their heavy weapons mounted on trucks and technical utility cars. Divided into two parts, one to reform a wall to safeguard the fleeing villagers and apply pressure upon her right flank forces.

While the other half were doing something they hadn't done before. Heading towards the central commitment of her forces. Even in their initial stage, the humans had never been bold enough to try a head-on attack. So why were they doing so now? Desperation? Narmada doubted that was the case, the Human commander might be fierce, but he still kept his reserves in check.

They even brought trucks with them as they moved up to confront the main units of her army.

(BOOM) The dirt next to her blew up as a shell from a Bofors gun landed right next to her, but not enough to kill someone like her. It still indicated how close they were to the rearguard where she was. It was still a fluke nonetheless, the dirt caked her face which she proceeded to wipe it off quickly.

 **[Mmm?]** As she wiped her face and picking off a lump of dirt which simply streamed out of her hand, indicating high moisture. For a moment, she looked down at the crate the shell caused. Noting a lack of puddles despite the high moisture content. Narmada gazed back at the Human contingent that were still charging dangerously close to them. Scanning each of their vehicles and persons with inquisitive scrutiny.

Then, against her initial thoughts about the convoy of trucks heading her way. They halted and formed a line of defence again. But to be so far from their supply units and too near to the Rakshasa to employ artillery at danger close proximity, it was almost too provocative.

A Rakshasa messenger appeared before her and knelt as he conveyed his information.

 **[Adjutant wishes to accept the enemy's foolishness.]**

 **[By showing them the same in turn?]** She scoffed at the temperament of her brethren, too willing to meet challenges head-on like real warriors should. Perhaps that was why the King had put her in charge of the East Gate Army, knowing that physical strength and combat ability was not enough to hold off the Vanara tribes.

 **[He can personally charge up at the enemy if he so wishes.]** Was her reply.

 **[Adjutant also wishes to inform your ladyship, the Adjutant has already left to do so.]** Narmada sighed shaking her head, they were just too predictable.

In the distance, she could see her adjutant commander of the vanguard meeting the human's attempt to test their frontlines. Narmada had her suspicions about the vehicles with them until they parked them in a defence line instead of proceeding towards this area just below the cliffside at their backs.

Narmada waved to have her composite bow brought before her, a carrier brought it out and held it up for her to take. Which she did so along with pulling out an arrow with a bulbous tip containing something. With a murmur, the rag caught fire as she strung and drew the arrow back on her heavy bow.

Once her target had been marked, she let loose the arrow from the bow with a powerful twang that sounded more like a ballista than the simple bow she used.

The high-velocity projectile arced through the air and landed upon a covered-canvas truck which she had been eyeing for some time. At first, there was nothing as it struck against the hull of the truck, but then-

(BOOOOOM) In a massive eruption of high explosive, engulfing many of the soldiers nearby. Their comrades could only hear them scream instead of helping put out the fires because the Rakshasa were too close. The explosive-tipped arrow revealed the true nature of their intentions of coming here.

If she was correct, that truck was meant to detonate right where the vanguard was. But its purpose wasn't to damage her central forces who would take measures to ensure it didn't hurt them. It was to trigger a massive landslide where the soil was close to eroding. But her adjutant had stopped them from getting close enough.

 **[All forces, we will crush this group and then move on to the next.]** With a word, the entire force committed themselves to eliminating the contingent that had separated themselves on their own accord.

Narmada felt it was time for her to move as well. Once this contingent force was gone, the other half wouldn't have enough to protect its flank. Her opponent had just expended a move and failed miserable, costing him everything. But perhaps not the memory of their five-hour play, she'd never met a man that could hold out that long.

 **[To the General!]** The Rakshasa roared ferociously like a pack of hungry wolves as they followed her in the charge towards this force.

Narmada became the tip of the vanguard that formed around her taking point for the army.

She and her brethren were about five hundred metres from the contingent when they brought out those tower ballistic shields. The ones lined with explosive reactive armour (ERA). When they first encountered it, the shields had the ability to kill the momentum of their charge which was the primary concern of the Humans since Rakshasa were extremely fleet-footed.

With a raise of her hand, the spear wielders took point ahead of her, the ends had the same explosive compound as the arrow she fired prior. A field modification they made to counter the shields as once the explosive reactive armour detonated, there was nothing left to stop them. Having it detonate from a spear length distance would reduce casualties and prevent the charge from losing power.

That was till she caught sight of her strategy opponent standing in the middle of the shield wall with a composure that hardly resembled his previous angst and desperation to keep them away from the city.

The canvas of one of the trucks unravelled and the back seemed to turn on an axis to face them with 127mm tubes. They hid a rocket artillery battery from their plying eyes! From her stolen memories, she instantly discerned the firepower of the BM-21 multiple rocket launcher systems. They were sufficient in pinning down her entire army which had bunched up together in this single swarm, but they weren't faced at them. She knew that it was part of the original plan.

His expression said it all in one look.

"Checkmate." (Click) Down he pressed the solenoid wire which actuated the launchers to send a screaming symphony of "Katyusha" at the base of the cliff behind them.

(BOBOBOBOBOBOBOOOM….) (Rumble)

A tremor followed as the 127mm high explosive rockets had softened the cliff soil beyond its load to keep the top part stable and upright. Thousands of tons of rock, soil and vegetation were forcefully uprooted and began to tumble down kilometres of cliff and mountain towards the exposed rear of her army.

The Rakshasa fell into a stupor just as she had. The lower warriors did not anticipate the humans to bring down a cliff which would, in turn, destroy their crop fields. But apparently, the human commander had made that resolve for all of them.

Narmada turned back to the human commander and gave a light smile that confused the young man a little and robbed him of his victory expression.

The landslide came like a tidal wave, sweeping the Rakshasa into its mixture little by little. Soon, it engulfed their General and vanguard in the front as well and was now heading for the contingent of a thousand that Bipin had brought with him to undertake the daring offensive to buy time.

He and the soldiers went into foxholes dug hastily and anticipated the arrival of the landslide to their wall of ERA shields and other trucks carrying explosives. He had not anticipated that the Rakshasa Pillar would actually fire an arrow all the way here and nearly uncovered his plot. But now, their patience had paid off.

(click) The detonator linked to all of the explosives was pressed the moment the landslide arrived at the shields.

(BOOOOOOOOM) An enormous explosive wall of controlled destruction blasted in the direction of the landslide. Sending tons of pulverised rock and dirt a few kilometres into the air as if a volcano had formed right where they were. The ground rattled like the deity of the earth was enraged with the wanton destruction of nature around them in their endeavour.

But to their relief, the landslide changed its direction towards the East, away from the city and river where the people evacuated. But towards the rice fields that had been tended for generation by the Kumsans. The evacuees could not help but sigh in disappointment, their way of life will never return to what it had once been. And the one who permitted it was none other than Manendra Kumsa, the Crown Prince of Kumsa. When Bipin had finished explaining his new plan, Manendra was in a constant battle with himself. This was a turning point with no return, this decision would mean they could not go back to the way things were ever again.

But in return, the destiny of four million Kumsans had been altered for the first time and on their own accord. Kumsa would never be locked in normalcy again.

When the landslide ended, and their heads popped up to look around seeing no sign of the Rakshasa.

"Bijjooooo!... Bijjoooo!... Bijjooooo!" A cheer rose out from the contingent which grew in tempo. The word they shouted, was a name. His name.

"""Bijjoooo!... Bijjooooo!... Bijjoooooo!""" The cry had infected the rest of the brigade standing guard by the rivers. Until the Kumsan people heard the name of the warrior that fought and defended them against monster.

Bipin sighed as the contingent was using his ridiculous army pet name as a joke to remember if they survived. Which meant…..

… Honey Badger.

* * *

Author's Notes:

I will try to bring the next story up within the week. Have been trying to get settled back in school, to be honest, I'm enjoying it more than these past few years.


	140. Chapter 128 - The Lamb Broke the Seals

Author's Notes:

I did April Fools last year, didn't have anything figured out for today and tomorrow, depending on your timezone. So you guys and girls get just another chapter, no-nonsense.

Really. There is no April Fools. I'm serious.

 **[Edited: 2/4/2018 (Several outstanding grammar issues)]**

* * *

If only… they could only say to themselves in reserve or at the verge of death. If only the Rakshasa hadn't appeared and why of all in Akaash did it have to be Tarakeshwar, General of the North Gate? If only they had never gotten in the Demon Banisher's way, as much as they relished their Prince, they despised him for being the jinx in dragging them into a fight with a fearsome opponent in which they had no defence. But first and foremost….

If only they could bring out the full potential of their magic against these threats, it was their gifts in the arcane that defined them as Yaksha. Yet they could not call upon their illusionary magic nor were they strong enough to use the will of the mountain. Only the General and Prince Andhakan had been given the privilege of reading those tomes of Eternal Heaven.

The reason was a rather obscure one that was not noticeable to first time visitors of the Reliquary City. Every being had a weakness. The Rakshasa were perhaps the most enviously balanced in terms of abilities, physically and magical in nature compared to their counterparts. The Yaksha were physically frailer than the other more powerful entities. The humans may be all around weak, but their willpower and favour of the gods made them stand amongst them. Vanara were the pinnacle of physical strength but were unblessed with magical potential. It left them vulnerable to more magically inclined opponents who wouldn't bother with fair duels. That vulnerability was rectified with their aptitude for the works of the forge. Vanaran Steel was unmatched in its ability to cut through high quality steel as it would of magical defenses.

Their weapons were built not with normal steel but a material unique to the mountain which the reliquary had been built on.

Darkstone.

An obsidian-like stone that could be smelted as iron. Indestructible to ordinary alloys and resilient to corrosion. The Orichalcum of the Himavanas. However, there was one other feature that made it especially coveted even amongst the other races.

Darkstone held anti-magic properties.

Magic was like a current in the sea of winds flowing freely. But Darkstone like a dam devoured it and rendered the local area null of magic residue. No one knew where it came from or how it came into being save perhaps the Original Trimurti. This was a terrifying trait the Darkstone material held to magical users as it both weakened them and dispelled manifestations of magic beyond their bodies. It was also what kept their city safe from harm, built right within the Darkstone-rich deposits of the mountain. Not even the will of the mountain could enter freely, and it still couldn't.

Their sole monopoly over this metal was the edge in which the Vanara ape tribes held against all other races and the Rakshasa in particular, and it had become their most closely guarded secret in its manufacture as weapons.

Yet, on the eve of the war of the heavens, Varish, the High Chieftain of the Vanara. Brought forth their hidden trump out into the light of the Himalayas. The ultimate expression of their talents in the forges. A sword mace that possessed the highest concentration of Darkstone possible, the bane of weapons fueled by magic, like the Rakshasa King's sword. One of a kind and no other would ever be made again.

When the war had ended, and Eternal Heaven had emerged victorious, the weapon was sealed by its user, the mines were buried and the artefacts of the Vanara were protected by ancient spell traps. With his last breath, Varish. The last living Vanara alive, buried himself and the secrets of the Darkstone in the Reliquary City forever.

The Yaksha remembered the bite of Darkstone as magically incline entities as much as they envied it. And there was no greater treasure unmastered in the mountains than Kaalapatthagada. They could only hope for what power it could give to its wielder. The strength, the power, and the glory.

So how should they have known it would fall into the hands of the worst possible enemy to wield it in place of them?

Ajay could only answer this question with "actions that spoke louder than words". In other words, he smashed their heads into a pulp, rented their armour and broke their swords and spears. He would have never expected that this mace would have such a rich history, let alone the mountain itself.

Darkstone, the reason why the Yaksha couldn't employ magical abilities in the vicinity. The only exceptions seemed to be the Yaksha General and their nuisance of a Royal Bloodline. The will of the mountain magic seemed to be fundamentally different, much like the Demon Banishing Hexes. Both magics could be used within the proximity of this Darkstone material. Did that make them magic at all? Ajay had already tested it plenty on the Yaksha warriors in his way.

(BANG) (Rumble) Far to the west of here, the Yaksha General had engaged his Rakshasa counterpart in a fierce battle of melee combat. Their blows seem to rock the earth on which they stood. Bhaskar seemed to hold back on spell casting due to the mountain material while the Yaksha seemed to heavily rely on Natural Law magic. The very earth distorted and cracked as he manipulated gravity through this power and all it seemed to do was keep him from losing to the highly skilled Rakshasa. To a veteran of thousands of years of warfare, this was hardly something to phase him.

Ajay had inadvertently learnt this amidst the mass killings, Yaksha gore was thrown about and some entered his lips. But as much as he learnt about the Vanara and their trump card now in his possession, there was nothing about Shangri-la. Only gaps like there were of his childhood.

As if there was a content filter or some sort of safeguard in place upon their memories. A wise decision which delayed him from knowing more about the unseen forces of the Himavanas. However, he was not too disappointed. Because there was a much bigger dish than these lowly grunts for scrounging intel. While the warriors might have their memories safeguarded, the same might not be said for the haughty Prince.

"Where's that justice a moment ago, Coward Prince?!" He called out at the highest tone for the charge of the Elite Guards to hear him amidst the sounds of battle. His taunt was heard by every participant of the battle.

Today was a living nightmare to the Yaksha of the Shangri-lan Army. The human demon banisher was already hard enough, their generation had once heard of these human exorcists from their forefathers. Fierce warriors that were a force to be reckoned with due to their immunity to illusionary magic, the core of Yakshas' magic tomes and power. Wielding the power of the mountain, Lord Eternal was said to have defeated the Demon Banisher order along with the rise of Yalung, the unholy Asura.

The other was the remnants of the Rakshasa Akaashian Empire. And Bhaskar in particular, who was known by his real name as Tarakeshwar. The General of the North Gate, the significance of the direction did not only mean the race which the respective army faced and would defend against. But in the case of the North, there was no foes or at least potential foes. A reserve army that would turn the tide against a union of races rising against the Rakshasa. So, a very special task was given to the North Gate army, and that was to act where others would not, to fight battles the other armies would lose and emerge victorious. The races of the Himalayas feared the Northern Army the most despite many an Akaashian King's reign over them to withhold violence upon the races.

Ajay wiped the blood that splattered all over his body from the killing. It was either there wasn't enough blood, or the memories seem to be locked away with some sort of failsafe. Because he wasn't getting any additional information on the whereabouts of Shangri-la or the strength of Shangri-la. Someone was interfering, the mountains? Or was it this Eternal Heaven fella? In any case, their patience in safe guarding their intelligence had paid off against someone like Ajay who could Blood Read. If there was one thing he learnt, it was the Yaksha were weak. Incredibly weak from the long-enduring peace they had enjoyed for so long, whereas the Rakshasa were constantly at odds with the mountains. Things weren't too kindly as well for humanity either, in this they shared a common ground. But the Rakshasa saw everyone involved in the great betrayal of races and the death of their lord. This included humanity, just because it was a thousand years ago, this blood debt seemed to be passed on through generations.

(AAAAHHOOOOO)(BANG) Was it the bellow of the ash wolves or was it the howl of the mace?

The Yaksha had long dispelled the difference, they were both just as terrifying and always lead to the death of more of their brethren. So much death, they were not accustomed to seeing so many falling in front of them, especially their own.

His objective stood amidst the artificial fort of Yaksha shields and spears, caught between running and confronting him. At moments, it made sense for him to take advantage of his presence to rally his brethren. But when he met eyes with the monster that stole his inheritance, his body locked in place against his own will.

Ajay took the next stride towards him and death.

 _[Shields!]_ The Yaksha shouted in reply to their commander and locked their shields into a wall in front of Ajay.

It was inconveniencing him more than he had expected, not having firearms with him especially the slayer was beginning to get tiresome. The only reason the Yaksha was less than a threat they should have been was due to their magic being locked and the General wasn't leading them in suppressing him any longer.

This moment of no interference gave him the opportunity to unholster and deploy his bow. Although, he had seen what explosives did in the face of these magically imbued shields, nothing. Carefully observing his surroundings, he strung one of his remaining explosive tip arrows on the rest and pointed it over his head.

In response, the Yaksha recreated a Roman Legionnaire Testudo (Tortoise) Formation of the shield wall. (pow)

He let the arrow fly into the air, but the shaft continued to fly upwards to their confusion of why he wasted his shot. Ajay strung another shot and let fly the arrow slightly angled from his previous shot and it too flew upwards.

And then….

(BOOM)…. (rumble)

The sudden shaking of the earth caused both Yaksha and Rakshasa to halt and pass glances at their surroundings that tremored violently.

(BOOM) the second arrow impacted the ceiling, and that was when the tremor grew into a deafening sound as rock and boulder started to loosen from the remainder of the ceiling after the Yaksha breached a part of it.

The Yaksha in the area which of which he had fired upon the ceiling above was becoming disorganized as they saw the thousand tonne boulders imminent arrival. All they needed was the first boulder to crush the forward shield wall formations. These weren't ordinary boulders either, but unmined darkstone ore. With density greater than tungsten even in its raw form, and what's more was the Yakshas' inability to use their magic to aid them in defending themselves because of the nature of this ore.

The General of the Shangri-lan Army stared his way with bloodshot eyes, but he was unable to come to his prince's rescue, as Tarakeshwar put him at odds with his own survival.

 _[Get out of the way!]_ He said twirling the halberd at his opposition.

 **[Try me!]** The Rakshasa blocked with one sabre and retaliated with the other one in hand in a dual wield fashion. His sole job was to give Ajay the time he needed to break this army, by depriving them of their prince. If his knowledge was correct, and Ajay did kill the Prince. The Army, who were ten thousand strong and yet could not protect him against a small force of Rakshasa and a human would not live to see tomorrow under the mandates of Eternal Heaven.

 _[Stay in formation! Damn you!]_ A forward commander roared at his soldiers that placed falling boulders as a priority over keeping the "Demon" back.

He spent too much focus on keeping the soldiers in order that he was too late to notice the monolithic darkstone come down upon him. (Spurt) The sound of his head getting crushed conveyed the brutality of Ajay's strike to the nearby Yaksha, further dampening their spirits and causing them to back away. This gave him the space to run between their lines to his objective.

But he knew the rocks would only fall for a while and they would reform again, it was difficult when he was the only one fighting an army. Albeit, he had the advantage of high bell slopes and the Rakshasa to watch his back.

As he moved quickly through the faltered lines, a shade of grey ran streaked on the side of his glance. An empty saddle bound to the giant ash wolf said its rider had been slain. It ran with a purpose, in the direction of the edge of the cliff opening and back to where it belonged. In its mouth, was a fallen Rakshasa. Ajay was willing to guess it was bringing its master's body home to the mountain of Akaash.

Then, a crazy thought passed his mind as quickly as he thought about the dead Yaksha in his way. Placing his thumb and middle finger against his lips he created a dog whistle similar to how he would always call Vajra.

The giant wolf turned to him but was caught between returning and answering the call. Ajay did not call out to it, nor did he use any other luring sounds. He simply stared deep into the wolf's yellow matching irises. His eyes blazed with determination and belief, translating a language beyond common tongue or animal sounds.

-Help me, and we'll avenge your master together!- was what he conveyed to the wolf.

 _[Die!]_ A Yaksha pikemen seemed to have forgotten the General's orders in the face of killing the threat once and for all. Perhaps it was for his own glory, since even the Prince was not facing him, then it was justifiable to spare him and reward him as well.

(Growl) _[AAARRGGHH!]_

But that possibility became non-existent as a trap shut full of five-inch fangs gorged deep into his body and his armour as if paper. His corpse ragdolled after being tossed aside. Ajay was face to face with one of the forgotten inhabitants of the Himavanas. Yet, he bravely held out a hand and rested it upon the wolf's head for a moment. Vapour from its nostrils blew against him powerfully, almost as if it were a mighty thoroughbred warhorse. But an Akaashian Ash Wolf was something more. Ajay ran his hand along its heavy grey pelt, running along till it touched the reins of the saddle on its back. With the reins in hand he clasped the saddle hook and lunged over the broad back of the wolf, landing in the saddle. When he did, a brief flash of memories went pass his mind quicker than he could say what.

"Jaa'o!" Almost out of instinct, Ajay knew the word to command his temporary mount to advance. He called out as he swung the reins to give it a tung indication.

(Growlll) "Hurrgh!?"

Like a spring being wound up till it was ready, the wolf leapt explosively and far quicker than Ajay had anticipated. The wolf already knew where he wanted to go. It covered ground quicker than Ajay took to get by every formation and was leaving an afterimage of himself far behind. With all that hidden sinew and muscle power propelling it forwards, the giant ash wolf didn't bother to run through and trample the Yaksha. It instead leapt over and kicked off the raised shields of the Yaksha warriors, crushing the shieldbearers in the process under its massive weight and force.

Catapulted through the air with each trample, Ajay and the wolf pounced upon the line right in front of the Prince.

[Guard!] A semi-important looking Yaksha stood behind the last phalanx of shields and spears, calling to the formation to keep on guard against the menace.

"Oi! Coward Prince! Save me the trouble and let me drink you." He grinned madly. This was the first they had ever heard of a human-devouring a Yaksha high blood, let alone mentioning it. It decayed their will little by little. But it was not as bad as the Prince who stood with a swearing forehead.

Ajay had little idea of how big a commotion he had caused amongst the Yaksha and Rakshasa alike. In their struggle to suppress the General of the Shangri-lan Army and the remainder of the forces, they witnessed an inextinguishable fire that dwelled within the soul of a vessel. A mortal coil, so frail it would come apart on its own through natural cause. Yet, this human fought against the Shangri-lan Army on his own. Beat them, terrorized them and enacted tyranny upon their very souls. Standing before his prey, mounted on a riderless ash wolf.

How could they, the Rakshasa wolf riders be at odds with this army then? He might be the vessel, but before that, he was Ajay (invincible). The very meaning of his name was visualized from his near-triumphant stand over the cornered Prince and his guard.

Just like "he" had been before.

 **[RRRAAAAKSHHASSAAAA!]** Tarakeshwar released from his diaphragm a mighty roar that echoed throughout the mountains.

 **[[[RAKSHASA!]]]** The rallied wolf riders answered along with the howl of their wolves, reminding their foes of who they were as they did themselves. And turned their attention back to the Yaksha with reignited strength from within.

The echo of the cries reverberates in his mind.

Suddenly, he was no longer within the mountains of the Reliquary City. But standing high over a battlefield, thousands of Rakshasa Warriors cladded in shining silver armour. Roaring his name in triumph. And at their feet were slain Vanara, Humans and Yaksha. It was a victory over one of the many defeats of the alliance of races in the Himavanas. Perhaps, it was the very last victory they savoured over the races.

Before the betrayal.

Who's betrayal? With a blink of his set of eyes, the scene before him returned to the anarchy of the Reliquary City. Ajay bit his lip in dissatisfaction, more hidden memories were pouring in to fill the gaps of his life as Ajay Ghale.

-I am Ajay Ghale. I am Ajay Ghale.- He reminded himself.

Ajay looked up at the Prince that lay before him.

"And I'm gonna devour you here, one way or another!" Following his desires, the ash wolf lunged at the commander of the formation with an open jaw.

* * *

There was a name going around for them, these crazed soldiers of the Himavana Federation.

Geronimo Jims or by their acronym GeeJays.

A sarcastic joke by a supply and maintenance Captain in regard to their willingness to go complete suicide bomber when they received enough hits from bullets or were mortally wounded somehow. It was the behaviour mostly adopted by desperate defenders of a losing fight, or jihadist extremists which the middle east had no shortage of. Even if the acronym had no remote connection to their country of origin. But these were supposedly professional soldiers, and they were winning this battle despite the attrition losses. Their will was perhaps the greatest edge against the US forces.

It still didn't change the fact that they, the United States Military had been attacked on an ally's soil. Who the hell were these guys? One thing was clear from their tenacity, they were pissed and they came with a purpose.

The operatives dragged the most recently acquired prisoners for questioning. Their case officer was most eager since this was the first time they'd captured actual soldiers that surrendered. Or so his Pakistani counterpart in the ISI intelligence informed him when they were turned over. Cuffed with bags thrown over their heads and bruises from some roughening to soften them for the interrogation. Entering a basement room with no windows through a courtyard of the two-acre compound, lined with barbwire and a two-storey building at its centre.

A cold damp place, with only a single bulb to illuminate the place. By a sink with a mirror, was a middle-aged man in the midst of a lengthy shave. Neatly aligned on the basin were his numerous balms, shaving creams and spare razor clips. He used a good old fashion razor to swipe off the last rebel hair that made up his wild moustache into a neat one with a decent amount of beard left. Now, he was almost indistinguishable to any wandering follower of Islam. He knew it was useful to grow it out in case of shit hit the fan and required him to escape. No wonder the special forces boys all grew out Amish beards.

"Nice work, Jim. Leave the rest by the wall, bring that one on the chair.

As instructed, the operative brought said prisoner to the chair and cuffed him to it while the rest were tied against separate pillars that supported the structure above.

"Alrighty then, what do we have here today?" The spook rubbed his hands together after wiping the residue aftershave off them with a towel.

The operative pulled off the bag off the seated prisoner, revealing an expressionless Asian. The spook was taken a little aback by the appearance of the GeeJay even though it failed to show on his face. But upon internal reflection, he was affirmed that this wasn't a fake his Pakistani counterpart sent over. The Himalayas, specifically the Kyratis were noted to having Nepali Sherpa, Sikhs, Hong Kong Chinese, Indians, Punjabis and apparently some distant descendant of the Huns. How true was that, is another story.

"Hope your trip was comfortable." The spook started off, but the only reply was a silent composed stare.

"You don't need to put up a front, kid. You're in safe hands, in fact. You and your buddies are the lucky four that'll tell me what I want to know." The spook turned around rolling his sleeves as he ran a hand over the table with a white sheet, numerous sharp yet precise instruments lay their neatly. Where it may have been designed with a medical application in intent, it was being repurposed in the hands of the spook, also a skilled interrogator.

"I'm thinking of a letter, A. Do you wanna guess?" He asked while tapping a syringe filled with truth serum fluids.

"I'll give you a spoiler then, but the next try I won't be giving hints. It's admiration." He wiped an alcohol swipe over the soldier's neck. The spook was just inches away from the soldier's face and said, "We've not been this screwed since Cuba. Hell, your boss might be the second coming of Fidel Castro, although I can't ever imagine a Cohiba in his mouth."

The entire time he talked, the soldiers showed no signs of troubled expression, it was the same dull look.

"…. I'm thinking of something that starts with B." The syringe hovered over the soldiers, neck and went in. Fluids were pumped into his bloodstream quickly rushed to his head.

There were some signs of irritation but not a word came out from the soldier.

"I'm thinking of the letter B!" The operative delivered a punch to the soldier when he failed to answer the pop quiz.

"You feel that? It's a concoction I had some input in, we call it "Fringe Sunkist" It multiplies all sensations tenfold, any sensation. Jim has just given you some light taps and you can already feel every inch of his fist."

"Now, the letter B." He awaited a response, but the soldier still didn't give him an answer. In fact, his eyes showed no tolerance against what should have been extremely painful.

"You're an interesting fella, you know that?" The spook laughed as he was overjoyed to see shave a resilient captive.

"I'll have to use a secret weapon on you, my friend." He tapped the soldier's cheek with his palm. The operative released the cuffs and placed a hand in front of the spook on the table.

"This is gonna hurt….. a lot." The spook said before thrusting an iron needle into the base of the soldier's palm, passing close to a vital spot.

The soldier gritted his teeth but nothing more. This still showed some progress in the eyes of the spook. Twisting the iron needle that impaled his hand from the palm to cause maximum discomfort. The last time they did this to an ISIS member, the prisoner fainted. The spook was not impressed, in the end, the Daesh were simply amateur radicalists with upstart ideals.

"I'm a generous man, kiddo. I'll still give you time to think about it." The spook missed the old days where an al-Qaeda equivalent would still be able to swear curses at him and threaten to murder his family. But it seemed that these GeeJays were now his favourite clients.

"One more time, what starts with the letter B?" He said to the soldier, but again, reluctance to talk. The spook sighed and waved to his right-hand man as he unholstered his sidearm. The operative gagged the soldier and placed the bag over his head.

(Bang) The spook's pistol discharged and the operative ordered his other operators to move the gagged soldier behind the curtains.

"He didn't do so well, let's hope the rest of you are up for it." The spook declared as he pointed to the next soldier to interrogate.

The head operative lugged the next man onto the chair and removed his bag after cuffing him to the chair. This time, it was an actual Kyrati.

"You've heard how the game works, so shall we get started? What starts with B?"

The reply the Kyrati gave was a goblet of projectile spit that managed to reach the spook's face from quite a distance. (paak) The spook slapped the soldier in retaliation.

"You hit like your wife." The soldier responded in the thick Himalayan accent but in English nonetheless.

"At least we know you can talk. And don't you mean your wife?" The soldier stared at him with a grin and replied with satisfaction.

"No." The operative slugged him good with a haymaker punch, smashing his teeth together until it almost came apart. Although, that was the doing of a pair of brass-knuckles he donned.

"Will you have what your friend was having or would you prefer-.."

"One cuck torture supreme- Gurgh!" The operative threw another punch.

"It's a good thing I'm not married." The spook chuckled as he forcefully turned the soldier's head.

"It's a tragedy no one'll love you except mom."

"She died long ago. I was raised by dad."

"I see… the way you touch me seems to reflect that." Quite the gibbed tongue this one had, the operative's hands were worked quite a lot that he had someone else substitute him while he watched.

"What starts with the letter B?"

The soldier spat out blood from his puffed up and bruised face.

"B is for the bitch that quit halfway from those love taps." He said with glee at the operative who walked forward quickly and stuck down at the soldier with twice the amount of ferocity.

"Jim! Stop!" But the violent man continued to pummel. With a snap of his fingers, the other two operatives came forwards to pull him away.

"Still yapping now, huh?!" The operative taunted him.

"Look, buddy, you really need to start giving me something or I'm gonna let him go wild on you again."

The soldier chuckled in pain but gave the same indifferent answer as the first prisoner. The spook sighed, but he still had two more others to try the warm-up session before they were taken with them in the withdrawal to a safehouse out of the Himavanas reach. He was actually feeling annoyed they were this resilient, it showed he was losing his edge due to the weakness of the current sport.

The spook waved the head operative to proceed with the beatings since it got him to talk more, but not before injecting the truth serum cocktail into the soldier.

"One last chance-."

"Fuck your chance!"

"Fine. Jim, he's all yours." The spook jumped on the table and sat back.

The operative was about to proceed with his treatment when a reply came from the remaining bagged soldiers.

"Badala."

With a raised hand, the operative held up to indicate him to stop.

"Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Right answer! Someone finally got it. So….." A motion to the prisoners told the other operatives to go over and retrieve the right one depending on who talked.

"How'd you guess it?"

"You kept insisting on B when you could have gone to the next alphabet, your thoughts are as predictable as they come." His words struck a nerve in the spook's pride. But the operatives found the talker and pulled him up and threw in on the chair after removing the other soldier they cuffed to the pillar again with the bag.

The prisoner who talked seemed to be very young from the tone. Yet, there was something unnerving about the way he expressed his words that made the spook a little reluctant to pull the bag off his head.

"You seem like a more compliant among the other two, will the last be better than you, I wonder."

"Farhan had a bet with me, so he wasn't obviously going to admit it hurt like hell. Eh, Sandha pela?"

"Kameenay (Bastard)." The previous soldier coughed out a reply to the present one's words.

The spook seemed a little more comfortable with taking off the bag himself and did so. Underneath was another Kyrati, even younger than the other two but an air of arrogance dwelled from his look and expression that seemed to be from birth.

"And what would your name be?"

"Isn't it customary to give yours before asking for another's?" The prisoner posed this question/

"It's Winslow."

"The Winslow?" The soldier asked him which made him feel weirded out.

"Yeah?" Was the spook's answer anyway.

"Hmmm, the Punjabi specifically expressed you were a really fat fuck."

The Punjabi? Did he mean his Pakistani liaison intelligence officer? The spook named Winslow wondered.

"Perhaps it was a translation error…." The soldier murmured to himself.

"Hey!" The head operative called out to make him focus back on the spook Winslow as he was going at his own pace.

"Where were we?- Ah! Yes! Jeevan Hamal. Solder of the Federation."

"Pft!... Really? Is that it?"

"What? Not mainstream enough? Oh! I'm from special forces, the most elite prestigious and fanciful establishment in all the army." The soldier named Jeevan obviously made a mockery of all the special forces operatives in general, including the ones in this basement with them.

Just as the operative stepped forward, Jeevan turned specifically to him and asked, "Are you going to prove me, right?" And for once, the operative's steps were halted and actually took a step back after those sharp eyes looked at him.

"Poor lighting, damp place, low roof. This is a bad place to work." Winslow didn't know whether to laugh or not as it would affect his first impression upon the prisoner. He was supposed to be the interrogator here.

"Well, your friends out there are making an excellent mess out there that we have to rely on here for now." Winslow got off the table and stood in front of him.

Jeevan turned and faced the head operative but called out to the soldier with him named Farhan. "Oi, Chutiye! How many times did this behnchod punch you?"

While the operative didn't know what that meant, he knew it was some sort of insult he used to address him specifically.

"Twenty-two. Were actually fifteen soft ones, but I'll give him the pity card and say it was the first number. Ok?" Even in his state, the soldier Farhan continued to taunt that operative in particular. Because those punches meant nothing to him, the operative only shouted for him to shut up.

"Right, that'll be forty-four punches in return before we put you down for good." For the first time, the operative had realized he'd been threatened and was caught between a reflex of slugging a punch at Jeevan, which missed his face with a slight cant of his head. But the eyes were planted deeply on the operatives which made him step back quickly. "That's not including the dishing you gave Xiang Lou. By the way, if you knew he was dumb would you still beat him?" Jeevan asked of the operative to see how he reacted to forcing a handicap mute to "speak".

"You really say the funniest of things!" Winslow was too cracked to continue.

"Am I?" Jeevan asked calmly, too which Winslow stared at him with an unamused expression.

"Since you answered correctly, let's hear all about Badal-."

"I'm thinking of something that begins with C." Not only was he interrupted, but this time Jeevan was the one asking him that question. The tied up soldiers that could hear laughed their asses off, including the one they faked killing.

Winslow delivered a powerful slap from his rubber-gloved hand.

"I'm the one asking the questions here!"

To which Jeevan replied, "There's no need to be upset, Officer Darryl Winslow." And surprised Winslow deep down, he had not spoken of his first name at all, yet this Jeevan knew it.

"To be brutally honest with you, me and the boys were expecting more from a person of your status. We even had Four Virtue agents run counter-interrogation exercises just to prep for today."

"Wait, you intentionally turned yourselves in?"

"Yeah." Jeevan's simple reply caused Winslow's hairs to rise as he became suspicious of such an act.

"Be happy, Darryl. Your name turned up on the highest roll out on the CIA database of who's the best "hands-on" case officer in the Pakistani theatre." A hand reached out a grasped Jeevan's uniformed collar.

"Now you listen here, you better start spilling your guts out or Jim will do it for real!" The operative was already preparing his large bowie knife.

"Don't worry, Darryl. You'll soon know everything. In fact, you my friend have a very special ticket from Badala to Durgesh."

"What?"

"It's a little place up on the snowy mountain tops. It's like Fantasy Island, except it won't be like it."

The operative was already stepping forward to physically kill one of them for real.

"Willis Huntley is currently there. You can ask him yourself."

An eerie atmosphere stalked between them with a long prevailing silence that was broken with nervous laughter from Winslow's end.

"You're a keeper, I'll give you that, kiddo. I bet, you'd be a wonderful teaching instrument to all the little CIA agent wannabes in the "Farm"." He laughed it off whilst revealing some of the plans that were for Jeevan. But the latter just smiled even wider.

"Perhaps, you would be a better training aid for our up and coming agents."

"I don't see that happening."

"Oh, but I assure you, Darryl…. It already is." (rumble) The dust from the ceiling falling down under the illumination of single bulb said there was a commotion up top. It said a lot considering that the basement to their knowledge was double brick layered to trap sound from inside and outside. So it had to be a really big explosion to rock them.

"That must be the signal," Jeevan said as he looked at the ceiling.

"What signal?" Winslow asked as he motioned to the two operatives to go up and check.

"Say, what begins with the letter C?" Once again, using his own methods against him with greater intimidation. Winslow became anxious to see up top for himself than await the reports of those he could not trust over his own eyes.

(ching) The sound of a metal link breaking resounded in the small confines of the basement. Then the light bulb suddenly shook around its single dangling wire and gave momentary lumination to other parts of the basement except for in front of Winslow.

"Gurrgh! Garrggh!" The sound of someone getting beat up could be heard. The wrestling was happening nearby, yet he could not see clearly as the light bulb broke against its cover and shattered. Making the whole basement pitch black, then the wrestling sounds stopped and daunted the room with silence.

"Jim?!" Winslow called out as he fumbled with his pistol as well as a zippo in his pocket to light up the surrounding.

(flick) (flick) Of all the times it his trusty zippo chose to fail him for anything other than lighting cigarettes was beyond him.

"Here, lemme get that." A hand took the zippo from him and flicked it several times before it lit up.

"Jesus, Jim. Thought you actually lost to-." His sentence halted when he saw that the person who took the zippo from him wasn't Jim, his enforcer. But Jeevan the prisoner, and all three prisoners untied and uncuffed.

His master hand holding the pistol raised towards its target but was stopped at a half angle by a firm hand wrapped around his wrist. "Gurrgh!" A kick was delivered to his gut which floored Winslow, he coughed out heavily as the kick had weight to it and took the air out of his lungs.

Then his collar was pulled, and he was dragged along with a strong force towards the steps. He ascended roughly, banging his elbows and tailbone against the steps as the force that dragged him was bringing him out of the basement faster than his feet could lift his body.

(bump) Then the door opened to the outside and the harsh glare invaded his eyes that he had to shield them to reaccustom them to the light.

"Huh!" He physically gasped as he witnessed the scene before him. The compound, which was their safehouse and staging area for operations around the region had been flattened into rubble. All that was left were jutting pieces of brick and wooden structures.

The sounds of a war machine traversing behind him made him turn to see an entire battalion of Grey and Navy-Blue pixeled uniforms unlike the Himavanan Grey and Red ones the GeeJays wore. He caught sight of an emblem on the shoulder of a sentry, a swooping golden bird clutching a sabre. The words below were in Latin, yet Sunday school for Winslow forty years ago paid off at this very moment. Per Cicatrices, Meministi Nos. Or affectionately, in English: "By our scars, you remember us." This was a different kind of unit from the fanatics the Army and Marines were dealing with out there, these were the special forces of the Federation. A line of operatives kneeling with their hands to their head could be seen under the supervision of some of these soldiers. Jim was already being kicked around by that Kyrati he roughed up earlier in an eye for an eye manner. Winslow was not oblivious to the events that occurred here, even if a stinging pang of pain hung over his heart to accept the facts here today.

He had been caught. While his compound was heavily manned by at least fifty men, they couldn't fight off a battalion easily, yet he only saw a fifth of the original number left of his operatives from Special Activities Division.

"Be grateful, Darryl Winslow. You were worth sending an entire battalion of Jatayu Paras to capture. Your country will forget about you, but we won't. It's time the United States relinquish its mantle of responsibility to everyone else." Winslow looked up in horror at the auditor of his capture, wearing an expression that didn't fit his age or supposed maturity. A belittling smile.

A squad of men came forward and lifted him from the ground and cuffed him.

"Actually, there's one last thing, Darryl. I wanted to ask you." The men stopped and turned him around. Giving clear notion that this soldier Jeevan was of a higher rank amongst these soldiers than he had anticipated.

"In this situation that describes your predicament, what starts with C?" He asked before letting out an insatiable and diabolical laughter that would forever reverberate in his mind so long as he continued to be of use to the Interrogators and jailers of Yuma's dungeons of Durgesh.

The soldiers gagged him and restraint his limbs with iron rods to prevent him from trying to do anything that would benefit him. Someone came over with pliers and a light and inspected his forcefully opened jaw whilst on the move. The entire process was agonizing, yet they continued. Plucking out a soft enamel that contained his only means of "escape" in the literal form. A cyanide capsule. From here on out, he already knew it was hopeless.

"… This is a nice knife." Jeevan picked up and twirled Jim's knife within his fingers skillfully. An NCO came to him informing him of the latest developments. But these were no longer related to Winslow.

What starts with C and describes his predicament?

C is for catastrophe.

* * *

The screams were the loudest from the corner where the Prince and the approaching demon were. The giant ash wolf that had become a temporary companion saw to that, flaying the caught Yaksha in its mouth until the gore spread everywhere.

The Yaksha who enjoyed a long enduring peace without the sight of bloodshed in their midst bore witness to the cruelty of the world under the mountain. With the help of the ash wolf, Ajay was able to quickly manoeuvre wherever he wanted to go at that spilt-second the formations underwent changes. Soon, fifty of the personal guard had been killed out of the hundred assigned.

And to his utter surprise, after the fifty-first had perished under the jaws of the wolf, the sea of Yaksha between him and the Prince parted for him.

 _[What are you doing?!-…. Your Royal Bloodline needs you! Protect me, fools!]_ Sensing he was in a state of utter peril, the prince backed away slowly even as he shouted at the non-compliance of the demoralized men. The Yaksha had yet to learn the craft of war and the importance of keeping morale amongst men. The elder Yaksha was nowhere to be seen to ensure that.

 _[Traitors! I will inform Royal Father of your treachery! Human!... I will remember this!]_ This was the last time he ever got to scream at the soldiers he depended on all this time. He also roared at Ajay before digging his hand into his pocket and pulling out some sort of mirror badge.

With a chant, the air surrounding the area seem to undergo a shift in reality. This change grew gradually, that even Ajay sensed he was doing something. -I will remember this!- He said, meaning that he would have the luxury to recall this. Therefore, he was escaping.

Tugging the reins, the Ash Wolf lunged forwards at maximum speed towards the Yaksha Prince. Distortions were beginning to form in realspace, that was when he confirmed what the Yaksha was really doing. While he couldn't manifest magic within the reach of Darkstone, he could still use magical items in the vicinity.

Ajay was not going to let this opportunity slip by as he escaped and left the army that was supposed to rescue him.

"Jaa'o!" Ajay commanded the Ash Wolf to run as fast as wolfly possible.

The ash wolf opened its mouth to gorge into the Yaksha Prince, but then he threw something in quick succession at them that materialized into a shield. (thung) The teeth of the wolf struck the magical object and caused it to flinch as the shield seemed undamaged.

(THUNG) With a swipe of the mace, the shield was like paper against a brick. The shield was blasted away in an out of shape form like discarded rubbish.

 _[Tsk! Damn the gods!]_ Nervously, more items were being thrown their way. This time, it was flying swords with talismans attached to them. Hovering and flying through the air from some distortion in physics surrounding these objects.

With a point of his finger, five of these swords shot towards Ajay and the Ash Wolf like a pack of angry bees. His wits were sharpened as these flying swords gave a dangerous feeling. They didn't directly come for him at first, instead encircled him from all directions in a gyroscopic outline motion.

At first, they were cruising through the space around him. But then pivoted 90 degrees towards him and flew at him like a bullet from a rifle. For the first second, his location displaced from the point of attack thanks to the wolf's natural instincts. But the next time that happened, he wouldn't be so lucky. Another one came from his left flank, which he dodged easily. Immediately, another came from behind in an attempt to strike him from the blindspot. His body pivoted out of the way, but Ajay was beginning to understand what would happen next. The next two came exactly at the same time from different directions.

Kicking off the saddle and turning in mid-air, he had been forced to dismount the wolf. These "remote" weapons seemed enchanted to limit an opponent's movement for an opportune moment for the user to strike while they left an opening somewhere. Why didn't the Prince use this sooner when he got to understand how Ajay operated? These weapons might have a limit to them, perhaps a one-off use. He probably didn't think Ajay was worth using it on. Either way, it was doing a good job at keeping him occupied while the Prince continued to chant to open the rift.

A sword came awfully close and shredded his shirt but failed to graze him, for the time being. With so many swords coming in from different attack vectors and at such speeds, it would have disheartened most who came up against such a system of weapon.

-I'm not most people.- (Thang) Predicting the probability of where one of the swords would come in from, he raised his weapon at the ready by the time it arrived. His mace struck a sword that came at him from the left flank, bring the true meaning of sword breaker back into the picture, crumpling the swords into a hideous piece of bent metal. The presence of Darkstone didn't seem to affect it to Ajay's surprise. The Prince was visibly shaken, as Ajay destroyed another of his precious protective treasures with a mere swing of "that" mace.

With one gone, he would have thought his job would get easier. However, as if sensing the loss of their brethren, the swords came screaming at him with quicker recovery and heavier killing intent. Almost as if there were alive. With an even fiercer approach, Ajay was sure they would come down hard if one more of their brethren fell to his mace. He continued to have a close brush with death as the swords now grazed the armour that barely protected him from their sharpness. There was something about these swords that his instincts said if he was cut, it was game over. He was put in a bad spot without further ammunition for his range weapons and expendables like grenades. And the Prince was getting closer to completing his chant with that boon object in his hands.

Ajay also noticed the collapsing ceiling was starting to drop fewer rocks and in a smaller size as things were getting settled. Sooner or later, the army would come to the Prince's aid once more and he'd be back to square one or even miss this chance to kill the prince.

Kill the prince? Why did he want to kill him? Was that the whole point of all this? When did his objective of escaping and buying time for the rest to escape become a manhunt for the haughty Yaksha Royalty? Even if he was the auditor of all of these events, Ajay should have just let well alone. But every fibre of his being screamed for the death of this being. Why?

(Thang) "Argh!" His momentary distraction cost him dearly as the swords flew closely packed and struck him in unison, taking him off his feet. Ajay had fallen at the mercy of mere objects.

(Growl) (Thang) Not to be left out of the picture, the ash wolf joined him in his struggle against the scary flying swords. Biting onto one of them that circled around to reenter attack by the fuller, the sword actively tried to break free, but the wolf held it down with the intent to prevent its further interaction with the other swords. The part which made Ajay affirmed the swords' consciousness was when they turned away from Ajay. The remaining three swords went for the wolf instead. Ajay and the ash wolf had a split-second glance at each other. If he was the wolf's rider and for Ajay his wolf, perhaps he would have come to his aid immediately. For a rider was bonded to their mount for life. That moment, barely a second passed yet seemed like an eternity.

The wolf's eyes burned with the fury and resentment it held for the Yaksha. For slaying its master and companion Rakshasa. The wolf made the call and applied its hatred coursing through its jaw, through its adamantine razor teeth, crushing the enchanted flying sword in its teeth.

Enraged, the vengeful swords plunged into the wolf, smearing its ash pelt with ruby red blood. The wolf was unflinching as it limped its way towards the corpse of its companion. And finally, before the corpse-

(AAWWWOOOHHH) The wolf unleashed a powerful death cry, one that would forever be etched into memory by those that remembered it. Its carcass slumped against the hand of its departed master.

That visage, Ajay etched into memory. And with it, a stinging pain in his heart made heavy.

Why did it hurt? Ajay questioned himself. To see the struggle of an enemy. Why were they so adamant on their affairs with him? Why were the Rakshasa throwing their hopes on him?

Ajay had no answer to that question. Once again, his heart became conflicted. Because while both sides gave their earnest desires and dreams of innocence. Neither of them could live side by side with one another.

Just like Golden Path Amita and Sabal. Two heads could not cooperate in one body, they wanted total control they wanted only their freedom.

-Stop throwing your hopes on me! I am nothing!-

"(Sigh)…." It was happening again. Two sides were making him pick them over the other. The Rakshasa wanted all of the Himavanas, the Human inhabitants just wanted to live like they always had or better. And Ajay felt deep down that whichever he picked, the other was certain to die out.

-Esha, is there really no way for you to spare my people?-

To watch the two-sides fight over their cause more just than the other, Ajay was just too tired of it all. But what if the option never existed? Those two sides would still fight to the bitter end.

Ajay got up with the help of his mace.

"….. I will save everyone who needs saving." Ajay swore a new oath to himself, past, present and future. Be it Rakshasa or Human, he would save them both, even if it was from themselves. He would intervene in their strife, the strife that Eternal Heaven most certainly approved of.

This time, this life would not go to waste. At the last moments of his previous life as Ajay Ghale, he cried out against the cruelty of the world for no being able to do anything noteworthy of a cause.

He was not going to make the same mistake twice. It would be a difficult venture, a process that would most certainly cost lives in equal measure, perhaps even his own. But he would still do it, he believed there were means for co-existence. If it cost greatly, he would still search for a way to achieve it. If both sides could finally come to terms with one another.

He may just be some sort of hybrid between the two races, but he held their respect in some form or another. Somehow, he felt there was someone to thank for making him realize this, but his memory failed to even give a description of one. But before that could be achieved, there was still one deed left to be done.

The wolf entrusted him with the continuation of their retribution upon the Yaksha, he saw it in its eyes. If the giant ash wolf had been a human or Rakshasa, the words transitioning through expression would have been no different. The Yaksha were interlopers, he didn't care if they were lords of the mountain. The Himavanas had more than one race.

To break this army's will and allow the Rakshasa to leave, he had to kill this son of a bitch right here, right now.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" He called out to the swords still impaled within the wolf as their hatred for the wolf ran beyond the notions of death, he faced the chanting Andhakan as well.

Raising the Darkstone mace with its edge pointed towards its target, Ajay flung the mace like a javelin towards the helpless Prince whose eyes widened in fear at the moment a life-threatening motion was inevitable. Should he dodge? Then, he would have to start the chant all over again because the gate would collapse. Could the boon hold for a retry? He was not sure.

 _[Keh!- Return!]_ He called out to the swords that swung out of the carcass, prioritizing his commands above all else. The swords bypassed the flying mace with unmatched speed and stood between the mace and their master.

(Thang) The first sword broke and screamed out its will into the air. Yet the mace still flew true to its target.

(Thang) The second swords broke as well, managing to slow the mace gradually only.

(Thang) But by the third sword, both successfully stopped the mace that fell to the flow and was still intact….

" …. -Banish this writ of karma! 4th Demon Banishing Hex, Karmic Severing!" Lacking interference from the swords meant that Ajay could have a chance to chant his own form of magic in the form of Demon Banishing Hexes.

The one he chose to deal with the final sword was Karmic Severing. Severing the karma, the sword had bonded to its master, the Yaksha Prince.

An immaterial blade passed effortlessly through the writ of Karma that existed between the Prince and the enchanted sword. Making it collapse to the floor lifelessly.

 _[Purrrt!]_ The forced severing caused the Prince to spit out blood, but with concentration, he managed to maintain his focus on the rift.

(BANG) A burst of air pressure signalled the newly formed rift between here and somewhere safe, his patience had paid off.

With such a powerful rift in their centre, there wasn't a being within the Reliquary City that didn't see what was going on over at the Prince's corner. He was trying to escape. But not just that, he had provided everyone else a means of leaving this nightmarish ground, unlike the eternal paradise that was Shangri-la.

So the most natural thing happened. A stampede of Yaksha warriors from the Shangri-lan Army opted to leave over fighting for their own possible demise be it a Yaksha victory or not. The Rakshasa Riders watched as the warriors shamelessly abandoned their pride as warriors. Abandoned their post, deserted their General and left their liege to his own demise.

Seeing that his Prince had opened the rift that should not have been opened, the General too turned and speed off in the direction of the rift. Smashing the lesser Yaksha in his way aside, like it was every man for himself. The Rakshasa riders were going to report this when they returned, and how high morale would be for their brethren to know how shallow the hearts of their enemy were.

The stampede came so fast that Ajay barely had time to react to the hysteria the Prince had inadvertently caused for abandoning his troops in their dire need coming back to bite him. His priority was retrieving the mace over going for the Prince since it would boost his survivability rate.

Members of the yaksha began to enter the rift and disappear through the other side, all the while the auditor of the rift was roaring over the crushing stampede that blocked him from his own planned escape. In the distance, the Yaksha General floated closer which spelt trouble for Ajay since that was a serious opponent to contend with.

Even when being within a metre from the terror of the Shangri-lan Army, they seemed to prioritize their own well-being over everything else. Ajay was slamming his mace into warriors that were pushed along the stampede, to keep them from making him a part of their Yaksha river of bodies crushing each other.

 _[You are all cowards! Your bloodlines I will erase!]_ The Prince yelled in anguish! But the Yaksha amongst the crowds shouted back at him.

 _[To hell with your campaign!]_

 _[All of Shangri-la will know of Andhakan's cowardice!]_ His face turned visibly pale upon their threats.

He might live but they would be the ones to tell the tale of his stack of humiliating failures today.

 _[Raaargh!]_ Without distinction, he slashed through the hordes of his own brethren with his sword. Surprising them and surprising the General of the Army who wrinkled his brows. Close by, Tarakeshwar and his mount were doing their best to catch up, trampling some of the Yaksha in the process.

Ajay was a few bodies away from the Prince who was just as close to the rift as he was. But in his desperation, he cleaved through his own soldiers to get to safety. Ajay had really no other shortcuts but to keep at his killing to get to the Prince just as he was fighting for survival.

-Just him at least! I will not let you escape to harass me another day!- Ajay decided that keeping the tide behind him away was getting in the way of an escaping target. So he turned to focus entirely on getting to the Prince. The wave stuck him from the back, yet the Yaksha couldn't lift a hand on him because their limbs were squashed or Ajay wasn't impeding in their escape so much as assisting in removing competition in front.

The rift was showing signs of weakening and all who were trying to get through were moving in more frantically. With a final push from all sides, Ajay was right before Andhakan as he reached the rift. Raising his mace whilst in the air to strike down upon that accursed Yaksha. The General of the Yaksha too had reached the rift and thrusted out his halberd. Tarakeshwar had caught up and swung his swords down to behead the General before he lay a hand on Ajay.

(VRRRRRRRRR-BANG) The rift collapsed, and a white light engulfed them all.

Ajay brought a hand up to his eyes to rub them. They were open slightly, but the brightness had yet to go away. But there was something strange about the air, the instant it wavered past his nostrils. Not just the air, but the overall climate was different. The sound of a stream, a breeze blowing gently, and the call of birds echo in the distance gave a very different atmosphere to the City of the Dead in the snowy mountains.

His eyes seemed to recover as vibrant colours now entered into his view, rich dashes of red, orange and gold. Even when the blurriness was beginning to subside, Ajay's heart felt unsettled by the complete change in environment. A sense of nostalgia washed over him, a frightening one at that.

Because the details of the place he had seemed to land up in did not resemble the mountains or any place he was familiar with personally.

There in the distance, floating cliffs, a forever dawn sky, red soil. He had been here before, just not in person.

-Holy-…..-

This was a place…. remembered by Kalinag.

 _[Gurggh!]_ The sound of a Yaksha dying returned him to the overwhelming turn of events. He should not have come here, but here he was. Alone in the home realm of the Yaksha.

And before him were hundreds of those that escaped the clutches of death back in the Reliquary City, unconscious on the floor and yet to stir as he had. The rest, they would conclude were as good as dead.

His eyes landed on a Yaksha that slumped to the ground with a sabre piercing through him from the back. As he fell forward, the silhouette of another familiar face stood behind him pulling the sabre out.

And then, they met eye contact. Both, shocked by the appearance of the other in this place.

Ajay that he was still around and Andhakan that the human had actually come through the rift with them. Behind him, were the corpses of the Yaksha he killed in their unconsciousness. For the sake of his dignity, everyone who witnessed his failure needed to die. And who should he see here of all people but the one who caused his heart to grow weary and doubt himself?

But that look of surprise and fear was unexpectantly turned around into a ravenous grin. For the situation down there was different from here….

In Shangri-la.

* * *

The Prince had completely discarded the notion of killing his brethren. Here before him, was the human that ruined everything. Furthermore, he had brought with him Kaalapatthagada all ripe for the taking.

 _[ahahaahahahahahahahahaahHAHAHAHAHAHA!]_ The Yaksha Prince let his insane laughter echo out into the vastness of the realm they stood in. There was never a moment so redeeming than this, no.

 _[This is fate! I thank whichever god decided to carve this twist in our destinies, Human.]_

Ajay stood on guard. He was in an unfamiliar place with an unknown number against him, with no visible way home at the moment. And for the Yaksha, he was in home territory. Ajay had never been more alert of his surroundings than he was now, his mind raced to calculate all his future moves and strategies of getting home while he still had the chance.

(BOOM)(rumble)(BOOM)(rumble) Over to where some floating cliffs were, crumbled apart as two comets smashed into the ground nearby.

When the smoke cleared, the Prince's relief great stronger as one of them was the General of the Shangri-lan Armies.

 _[General. You and your men have failed to live up to my expectations. You will, therefore, be summarily executed along with your bloodlines!]_ The Prince declared ruthlessly with a grin. The expression of the General was obviously rigid.

 _[However….]_ Of course, there was always a price for redemption.

 _[Can we agree that what happened down below, only the two of us know?]_ Hearing this, the Yaksha warriors that had stirred fully became white with fright once more, they were home but they were about to die again. Many pleaded for mercy and a second chance but all he did was laugh insatiably, everything was about to go his way in the end.

Then the General made up his mind. _[Your will be done!]_ A General had cast his army aside for his own survival. The other comet who had been contending with him since his unexpected arrival once more felt disgusted with the way the Yaksha of the Himavanas were.

Immediately, the General floated like a celestial and swung his halberd to slaughter his own men, slicing their bodies in half. The Yaksha warriors screamed and ran for dear life, cursing their initial enthusiasm to descend on their Lord's orders. Tarakeshwar didn't stay, he clashed with the General who was preoccupied with silencing his own men. Ajay didn't know why he did that but apparently, he didn't do things for nothing.

 _[Now I have you all to myself.]_ That sentence was directed at Ajay this time.

Looking back at the Prince whose every inch of arrogance and confidence had returned, Ajay knew exactly what caused this.

His third eye was already picking a buildup of magical energies, Prana. Towards the prince, gathering the essence of the very earth, rich in lifeforce. Where the Darkstone of the mountains had previously hindered his entire magical potential till his still-developing Natural Law magic. Shangri-la was the prefect place to unleash his maelstrom of magical arts upon the one who humiliated him worst than death.

 _[Here I come!]_ He bellowed like a maniac with a grin permanently planted on his face. Kicking off and flying towards him like there was no gravity.

 _[Tribulation Flames!]_ He cast several bolts of fireballs ahead of him towards Ajay.

Ajay was careful about his next move after he swiped his mace down to cut the fireball into nothingness thanks to the Darkstone properties. But then, Andhakan unleashed more techniques that no human had seen for as long as the mountains belonged to them.

As he raised his hand to point a Banishing Hex at the Prince in flight, the Yaksha's image distorted or rather produced afterimages as he manoeuvred in the air like he had a jetpack or something. Ajay was still unfamiliar with the laws of this place, but for Andhakan, this was home. Then his images multiplied and stood in a ready stance encircling Ajay with six other mirror images.

"… Illusionary magic…." Ajay didn't need to second guess it.

The six figures came for him all at once. Two fired their flaming magic whilst the four others continued charging.

 _[Be careful!]_ A sadistic word of caution came from every one of these images of the Prince.

 _(Bang)_ Ajay struck the mace into the ground, causing a tremor and air burst that caused a distortion of the images one after another. They were hard for the human eye to see, but Ajay managed to find the one he was looking for.

 _(Thang)_ The mace collided with the sabre of the Yaksha. Yet, unlike before, the Yaksha pushed his advance. (Thang) (Thang) The home ground gave him the confidence to beat Ajay and take what was rightfully his.

But overconfidence was something he still needed to watch out for. As Ajay readily employed the Four Seasons Martial Art style, warding off attacks and performing unbelievable counters that the Yaksha didn't think possible until today. He parried a risky counter before jumping onto a boulder near a stream flowing into a void down below.

 _[I forgot, here I am a demi-god to all. But you are no weaker than before. Still, to think you would see through all of my illusionary tricks I guess it is to be expected of a Demon Banisher.]_

Ajay took this time to absorb his surroundings, plan his next line of attack and what he could use from the surroundings. Here, the Prince had forever, Ajay didn't.

 _[If it is true that Demon Banishers are immune to our illusionary magic, then it is highly possible you are just as vulnerable to what I have in store for you next.]_

Lifted off the ground through unexplainable physics, he channelled the lifeforce of the area and gathered it to him. Raising his hands over his head (Author: "Everyone pls, share your energy with me!") a vortex of swirling energies began to form.

While unnerved if the Yaksha was going to fire a spirit bomb at him or something close to it. He didn't forget he was holding an item that could dispel magic of any kind. If it could break an Astra, he was damn sure this was nothing!

He had no choice but to depend on the Darkstone Mace to make it out of here in one piece. So then he should take this opportunity to fully master it.

And yet, as he thought of these things to keep his optimism up. Ajay couldn't shake the eerie feeling from the moment the energies of the vortex seemed to settle.

 _[I would never have thought a day when a magic that could only be used here would be of such great use. Be grateful, human!]_ It seemed that expression of lunacy was forever planted upon the beautiful face, he had himself to thank for that.

The Prince cast the magic by swinging his arms down to the ground but no energy ball came, instead it dispelled confusing Ajay for a while. Did he misinterpret the spell that was used? But the combined energies did not go to waste, as a figure materialized with a shadowy blue outline. An illusionary figure of an object. Gradually, the colour seemed to fill in the places of the outline and that colour was golden. Again, a shape that started resembling something he might have seen before many times in Kyrat yet couldn't put a finger on it.

-That…. bell.-

It's shape… where had he seen it before? Did he actually see it in person? It was at the back of his mind yet wouldn't materialize.

He would have thought more about it, except that his sith senses were going out of control. His heartbeat increased in rhythm and that same eerie feeling only grew into a nauseous one. Something was really wrong, and his instincts were telling him to flee now or there would be no turning back. Correction, it was screaming to him.

Ajay was not oblivious to his better judgement and turned to make for a safer place. Even as he ran, the nauseating feeling only grew stronger and stronger.

Not far enough! Not out of its reach! His instincts were rattled so heavily that he had not felt this endangered since when he first awakened Yalung's blood.

 _[Behold! The Bell of Enlightenment!... Absolve!] Like the last word was the keycode to activating it the bell raised itself and-_

(GOOONNNNGGG)

The deafening sound echoed throughout Shangri-la. Letting every being inhabiting those lush landmasses that someone of noble blood had called judgement upon an invader.

(ding)(plop) First his mace fell out of his hand and struck the stone pavement in front of him. Then his legs gave way and he fell on his knees. "Buueeghh!" Without control, a stream of blood poured out from his mouth, blood that came from his damaged internals. He soon realized that it wasn't just puking of blood but flowing from other areas as well. His ears had a constant ringing to them as it bled.

(GOONNNGGG)

By the second chime, Ajay had his hands clamped around his ears as it was hearing this sound that caused him inexplicable agony unlike any other. His face unbeknownst to him, was wrought in utter pain. yet no sound came from his open mouth. Realising the effectiveness of the illusionary bell upon him, Andhakan relaxed himself.

But little did both of them know, that this pain was not merely felt by Ajay alone. It didn't matter how far these people who shared a very special connection to him were.

In the midst of a counterattack from special forces operatives, Jeevan dropped his rifle behind cover clutching his ears. "STOP ITT!" He shouted out over the deafening sound of combat, making his comrades wonder what became of him.

Vasu collapsed in the heat of battle against US Marines who outmanoeuvred his infantry forces protecting the Armoured Units from anti-tank weapons. "STOP-… THAT RINGINNNG!"

Jason yelled at the top of his lungs. "TURN IT OFF! TURN IT OFF!"

And Bipin… who lay in a wounded open-eyed vegetative state after failing to stop the General of the South Gate from her onslaught. His mouth could not move, but he was experiencing a pain worse than the stab wound through the spine that should have taken all his feeling. -SHUT IT OFFFFF! For the love of God! SHUT IT, I BEG YOUUU!-

The illusionary bell struck something deep within all of them, a connection they had to Ajay as he, in turn, had with a certain entity.

Seeing his enemy fall into own indignity in utter agonizing pain was a sight more pleasing than anything thus far. The Prince only laughed louder till he could barely even hear himself think more means to torment the Demon Banisher.

(GOOOOOOONNNNGGG)

"EAAAAARRRAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" Screaming out as if he experienced the worst of pains, worse than a rhino horn impaling his heart but multiplied over and over repeatedly. The only thing rivalling it in loudness was Andhakan's cacophony of delight and madness.

What happened to the others who were affected by the Bell of Enlightenment was equally excruciating to the point of fainting.

In the distance, where Tarakeshwar battled with the Yaksha General. They heard the chime and knew what it was. But unlike the Yaksha, Tarakeshwar's face was utterly pale. He had the Yaksha General in the corner, yet he abandoned the opportunity to return to where Ajay and the Prince were with absolute haste.

When he arrived, it was by the third chime and not a moment too late from what was about to happen that no one, not even the ignorant fool who cast the Bell of Enlightenment spell upon Ajay could imagine the monstrosity it was about to unleash.

 **[Prince of Shangri-la! I demand that you stop at once! I implore you to release that spell! Or you will doom not just yourself but everything here!]**

 _[Who are you to demand from me, Rakshasa?!]_ The Yaksha general had just arrived and found Tarakeshwar and his liege in this strange conversation.

 **[No. You don't understand!-… If you finish that spell, you will release something which you nor anyone here will have hopes against!]** While listening to a Rakshasa plead to him, and a General no less. The fact that he wore such a face of concern did make him feel some truth to it.

Even after the chime subsided, the human Demon Banisher was still wriggling on the floor in pain.

Yes! That was right, it didn't matter what happened. So long as he could repay all his pain and suffering back to the foolish human, then his heart would be at ease. As for the warning which the Rakshasa gave. Who did he think would frighten them in their own home ground? If anything was beyond his or his Royal Brothers' control, there was always his father.

 _[Worth it!]_ Cackled the Yaksha Prince who had it all.

And so, Tarakeshwar soon realized his words were in vain, his face held a look of despair worse than any before. A face that made even the Yaksha General feel unnerved. As the lips of the fool curled upwards and shouted the command for the Bell of Enlightenment to enact its fourth and final chime. the whole world bowed in reverence to the Bell by dedicating their silence.

(GOOOOOOOONNNNNNGGGGG) Echoing out to the whole of Shangri-la that the Bell of Enlightenment had finished its last chime.

And there was just quiet. But only….

Too quiet.

Andhakan should have detected it sooner, but instead of the louder screams of agony he was promised from each bell chime, there was a daunting silence.

And then-…

...

...

...

...

...

...

 **[EEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!]**

The nightmare of the Himavanas returned.


	141. Chapter 129 - Four Horsemen of the Asura

Author's Notes:

Lots of cool ideas, lots of interesting opinions. I value both sides of the coin, praise and criticism. Thank you, you all. You do not know how large a pivotal role all of you play in defining where this story takes its route and where it takes a stand.

I originally had the plot and summary written out for reference, but with so many good inputs being made available by eager contributors, to name a few:

Omegas Prime

WisdomOfCelestials (formerly Darsassan)

Beccalliluigi 96 (formerly beccalliluigi)

Stormdragon981

And many others which I have failed to mention. Not forgetting those that stuck around since 2016, thanks guys.

A recent review made me try a song whilst writing and proof reading this chapter, and my perceptions have been totally whacked! (Andrew W.K. – Ready to Die) Courtesy of the F* k-mothering Vampire.

* * *

For thus says the Lord God, "How much more when I send upon Jerusalem my four disastrous acts of judgement, sword, famine, wild beast, and pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast!

Ezekiel 14:2

…

Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

…

Shangri-la was one second a paradise and in an instant, it had become a hellscape. Their eternally blissful dawn sky had been robbed of its splendor and replaced with a heavy aura of death, a frightful visage of a blood red sky stood in its place.

Nature, flora and fauna screamed as the very ground became contaminated with ill karma manifesting into poison. Igniting to viscous blackened flames until the only thing the flames ignored were the lifeless ashes. Animals and Livestock alike ran from their habitats and pens as the awful pressure weighted upon their better instincts.

The Shangri-lan Army converged immediately. Not that small army sent to rescue the haughty prince, but the entire army. A threat had come to paradise, one they had feared for all eternity. The last time a threat of this magnitude had ever occurred, it was when the Himavanas learnt the name Yalung. The demon god ravaged the Himavana lowlands save for Shangri-la still out of its reach. Now another with the same aura as the Asura trapped under the mountain posed them a serious threat. And worst of all, he was IN Shangri-la.

Coming from all flanks to encircle the demon loose in their home. A figure surrounded by an aureole of blackened flames emerging from his body obscured by the harmful flames. An illusion of a crown formed from dark light. The sight of it was enough to shake the hearts and minds of the Yaksha warriors, young and old who recalled the terrifying stories told by their ancestors. Four princes of Shangri-la arrived one after another to oversee the assembly of the armies, to lock the rogue demon and suppress any further action. Tarakeshwar had disappeared from the scene, the only clues of his whereabouts would likely be from the mangled corpse of a Yaksha General lying on the floor with an expression twisted in horror. One Rakshasa was not as important as the new threat to paradise.

With all their attention to the abrupt awakening of the quasi-Demon, the monk was free to tread the lands he had long ascended from once more. His presence within the mountains was not something the Natural Law of the Himavanas was capable of denying or rather, had no authority to do so. His khakkhara (monk sounding staff) rings rattled incessantly at the flow of ill karma that the Yaksha had sown, or rather, all the ill karma they bred was now undergoing a full circle by returning to them in calamity.

The monk immersed himself within prayer as he sat at the ledge of one of the floating islands overlooking the Yakshas' attempt to contain the threat. Flipping his prayer beads one at a time with his thumb.

He read the history of the vessel which the quasi-Demon inhabited, it was not a difficult task as the threads of Karma were all over the place.

He, "Ajay Ghale" had done everything in his capacity to protect the Human inhabitants of the Himavana Lowlands as he possibly could. His heart was in their survival and prosperity. Much had changed from his original personality. The monk felt it all. The suffering, the pain, the hatred, the love and joy. Everything that defined "Ajay Ghale's" one year of living, the monk learnt it all. Including his run-in with the last of the Demon Banishers of the Himavanas and the latter's true plans.

(BOOBOOOBOOOM)

" **EEEERRRRRRRAAAAHHH!"**

"…."

The Yaksha armies were not capable of anything save spreading their bodies into paste over the ground which was flattened by an incomplete paragon's aura. Now, it appeared the Princes and Generals were undertaking the cautious effort to take him down, viciously attacking it from all corners with their larger numbers.

The monk got up from his meditative position with the aid of his sounding staff. He waved his hand across the battlefield and read the leylines. Soon, when the Yaksha were unable to stop him he would intervene for the sake of Shangri-la and his karma to the home that assisted his ascension.

"Ten Vedic Talismans, Ten Sacred Guardians… (sigh)"

The vessel had only two unsealed hexes, the 4th and 8th. Two was not enough to break the final seal which gave the Demon a chance to change his destiny and oppose the prophecies. He had encountered five more hidden from plain sight but in front of him nonetheless. Three were in possession of the last inheritor along with a Demon Banishing Hex of his own creation, the next to succeed in the line. The 9th Demon Banishing Hex. And one, had fallen into the hands of the worst possible individual to hold it.

If he didn't seek to to change the world that Eternal Heaven moulded within the mountains, all of his will eternally remain Eternal Heaven's. A heavy sigh escaped from the monk carrying both weight and a mysterious aura of ascension.

Everything done, the good and the bad will be returned. That was the law of the universe, Karma. Not even gods diverted from it. So, what the current lord of the mountain sowed with his adversaries and peers will eventually return back in full to him. The good and the bad.

The monk's part in balancing the scale had long been done. Even so, he worried for the vessel, for what was about to happen to him. He had altered one part of the Rakshasa Princess's plans and/or Eternal Heaven's without either of them knowing and if they did, would change nothing. Only "Ajay" could do that. This was his gift to the vessel who called himself "Ajay Ghale".

Noticing a familiar object on the ground, dropped by the Quasi-Demon in its rampage no doubt, the monk reached down to pick it up. He had once given it away, and now it had returned to his side.

"I can give you no further chances…"

Twirling in his fingers familiarly. The wooden icon, Kalachakra.

* * *

Thoughts clouded in darkness, yet there was no feeling of the cold chill of the void. What was this shearing heat? His mind felt…. Hazy.

When the first bell struck.

Memories played before him as if they were his and playing only at a time of imminent death. But they weren't his.

A windy mountain where a domain lay below, that valley was the city of Akaash. Five siblings lived under the roof of their father, a Regent of a castle. A witness through the eyes of the participant, a son of this Regent. He was a daydreamer and a hopeless fool, or so his peers thought. The gift of intelligence was under utilized, because nothing challenged him. So, his peers thought him dumb….

Except her, the adoptive child of the Regent. His adopted sister. A complexion that made the sun rise and starry night bend at her moods of innocence. Her love for him was unwavering, despite their origin, despite their favor in the household, despite she was the crown jewel and he the roadside trash.

He swore to rid the mountains of forces to harm his city and in turn, her. Climbing the bloodied battlefields and pulled the ranks of the military with monstrous prowess, navigating the thorns of bureaucracy and politics to emerge at the very top of the hierarchy. Pulling a divine weapon from its sheath of stone. Defying the will of the heavens and mundane destiny was all for her.

He became the King of the Rakshasa, a Lord of the mountains. With him at the very top, there would be no force that would endanger her.

He was the will of the mountains, and she was Esha. And how terribly wrong he was to have made that assumption.

When the second bell struck.

A seeker returning home to tell his family and liege the treacherous yet vibrant adventure he'd endured in Shangri-la was met with spears impaling his body. His wife taken away, his mother and father slain. The perpetrators were the king's men, Royal Guards. And a smiling woman he had never seen before.

After retrieving their spears from his ragged corpse, they did not even have the courtesy of finishing him off. She stayed and toyed with his body, tormented his soul. And once satisfied, she left. All he could do was await death slowly and painfully. And so, he waited.

He waited and waited and waited….. to no apparent change. Hours became days, days became months. How could this be?! His body already stopped moving, his flesh decomposing. How was he still awake, living in hell on earth. Or had his spirit refused to leave his body. No. He had reached the threshold between life and death, but something was chaining his corporeal to his corpse.

His exposure to Shangri-la had changed him in ways he did not yet fully understand. He was about to undergo metamorphosis between leaving his mortal coil and ascending. He should have ascended, but he didn't. For a single emotion chained him like an anchor to the earth, the chain of rage. Months passed, years, then a decade then two.

His body ceased decomposition in the ditch he was thrown into, the animals avoided him, and blood flowed from his body in unseemingly real amounts. Carrying his hatred and animosity for the one he once served. His body began to morph, blood formed a lake which became Visalakhutta. His body suspended underneath this wellspring of poisonous toxic essence of hatred.

And then, with a mighty roar that shook the four corners of the Himavanas. The Demon God of the Himavanas made his debut.

When the third bell struck

The prodigal son returns to his homeland to scatter his mother's ashes. Mere casual words decided the result of the Rebellions triumph over the ruler of the mountains. All that would have been his became scraps for the hungry dholes at his feet. And then the dogs bit their master's hand… and his life ended abruptly.

When the fourth bell struck

A burning mountain and valley. Rakshasa droning over the cliffs in an avalanche of extermination, Yaksha delivering loyal devotees off realm to paradise. Those mortals that were abandoned -no, discarded. A young man was the last line of defense for these helpless people, as he led the remnants of the Army and Rebellion he had subjugated under his new rule to stave off the vengeful Rakshasa. He was no longer a lost sheep, he was the King of Kyrat. But even that was not enough, his friends fell one by one, overwhelmed, by suicide attack and through saving a life not theirs.

Yet, he persisted until he had been left the only remaining inhabitant of Kyrat. The Rakshasa had taken his country, the Yaksha had taken his people, and Esha….. took his wife, devouring her.

This was not past, nor was it present.

This wasn't his memory. Or was it?

He felt the tremor of the King of Kyrat roar till his vocal cords snapped, his tears amixed with blood and a hole in his heart that would never recover. He saw the reflection of the Kyrati King looking down upon the puddle of blood flowing from his own body. A lifeless expression of his own face, a face that held similarity and striking resemblance to his own. Yet, what was this feeling compiled one upon another? It grew with every bell chime. Amidst the pain, he tried to suppress it from welling inside. But it flowed through his body as if it were alive.

The Rakshasa King lost his kingdom.

The Seeker, his loyalty taken for granted.

The Prodigal Son was discarded and left for dead.

And the Last Kyrati King witness the destruction despite his all.

He… The demon was not feeling the resentment of any one of these fragments of memories.

He was feeling all of their resentment, their hatred and malice pooled into one chalice. All of them, faced the same outcome at the hands of the same action that triggered the spiraling of events to the collapse of their dreams and their meaning of life.

Four lifetimes of loss.

…

Four lifetimes, betrayed.

…..

…..

Four Lifetimes of Fury.

(BANG) A projectile Vajra that struck both the power of lightning and speed interrupted the Demon in its reflection of thought upon the fragmented memories of the four victims of fate as if its own.

The Demon growled at the sudden show of aggression towards it, its injury caused by the spatial weapon boiled and dissipated in an instant. It still showed to the attacker and the demon that it was still affected by his weapons.

 _[Outsider, you have no right to cause any further havoc! You are in violation- what am I saying? You have lost all sense of awareness. You are nothing more than a wild animal right now!]_ The gleeful aggressor floated in mid-air, donned in majestic armour that made the cornered Prince's wrecked and ruined one seem as if they were leagues apart. Several more Vajras hovered around him. Three other similarly dressed individuals flanked him mid-air in the unspoken physics of Shangri-la. He bore an unspoken resemblance to the former who had been nervously pressing his way through the army that had slowly but surely mustered in sufficient numbers.

 _[You truly have outdone yourself in the art of ridiculing one's self once again, Royal Fourth.]_

 _[Shut your mouth!]_ He retorted angrily,but even then, he had no way of consoling himself after what he had done. He would never have guessed he would be cornered in this way, or for assistance to come in the worst possible way.

If it were lowly serfs who knew the saga, he could still silence them or bribe them off. But his brothers who competed with him for the throne, this was no laughing matter. Not only did they know he was the cause for bringing such a calamity to Shangri-la, but to see the mace not in his hands spoke much of Andhakan's failures in acquiring the weapon.

 _[You are a disappointment onto yourself, fool. If this had been your own mistake it would have been that. But you have dragged Shangri-la into this.]_ Beneath the calm and composed voice, the Fourth Prince sensed a tone of disdain and mockery. Yet, everything his elder brother, the Second Prince said was true.

 _[How was I to know he carried a fragment of Kalinag!?]_

 _[Oi. Oi. Making a problem somebody elses. It appears that protector of yours has failed you as well.]_

 _[What will Holy father's subjects say of your unbecoming attitude towards all of this?]_ His other brothers took this opportunity to slight him, feeling rather refreshed from speaking out their spite against their overly aggressive younger brother. The Youngest of the five, yet still vying for the throne as an equal.

 _[You-…]_

 _[Now Now. I think we are all in agreement that this is all on Andhakan. However, that does not change the fact that "he" is still on the loose.]_ The Second Prince faced the demon who had preoccupied itself with trampling through the armies with the seeming ease of an adult blocked by infants.

The figure cladded in blackened flames leaped through the ranks with ease, it barely struck down at the warriors in its way. Simply brushing its flames against them, set them ablaze with viscous irremovable flames. Terrified screeches and death cries amplified as it converged on its prey that had escaped.

Andhakan knew who it was after. Moments ago, he was savouring his torture of the Demon Banisher, the mace was just a stone throw away as well. The one in a million chance, it had to be a foul remnant of Yalung here. Why weren't there guards detailed to watch that mountain for whatever curious inhabitant wandered in? And the Bell of Enlightenment? After those flames burst out of nowhere, the aura leaked from his body. A vacuum strike struck the illusion of the bell and shattered it into pieces.

That was the most powerful unique magic aside from the will of the mountains used only in Shangri-la. Andhakan's signature, one he had learnt under personal tutelage from his father.

 _[Hmph! Fragment of the Demon God, huh? I would like to see it!]_

The uncultured one moved forwards with his cavalry slaying sword in the ready stance as he flew elegantly at the Demon. His arrogant approach now had the Demon's full attention.

(BOOM) (BOOM)

" **(Growl)!?"** Attention taken off those levitating Vajras which should not have been taken lightly.

 _[Here we go! HAA!]_ The Yaksha Prince swung down his seemingly unwieldlycavalry slaying sword with uncharacterized ease.

 _(THANG)_ The sword contacted the Demon's physical manifestation with a resounding metal upon metal strike. Did it hit his flesh or something else?

Its teeth.

 _[Hoh? We have ourselves a wild beas-(BANG)]_ It was only a second, but his distraction caused him to ragdoll in the air before stabilizing himself near his brothers' side once more. The absence of his weapon and the footprint embedding his destroyed life-saving armour. The breastplate had taken the life-threatening strike in his place to live another day.

 _[Careless.]_ The older brother commented on the reckless younger one.

 _[Silence! I was unprepared- that's all!]_ He said in his stumbling.

 _[Then why are you sweating?]_ Moments ago, Andhakan held the very worst of expressions. But seeing his brothers fail as miserably as him gave some redeeming consolation he was not incompetent or at least not alone unworthy.

 _[Ey! This is still your fault!]_ The Third Prince roared back, unable to take the embarrassment of losing focus and nearly getting killed.

 _[Yes, and it will soon be all of ours if we are unable to suppress him.]_ A wave from the elder Second Prince halted what would have been another spat between them.

 _[….]_

At least on that, they agreed. Andhakan looked amongst the brothers of his and noticed a certain fellow missing.

 _[Where is that whoreson?]_ The Second Prince's eyes looked down on him with sharpness that indicated a sense of disgust.

 _[Oh, Royal Fourth. While your words are honest, they should not speak your thoughts. You never know, the skies and earth have eyes for which we will never see. Be it him or Holy Father.]_ He told his sibling in a playful way of passing a word of caution.

 _[What does it matter if he's here on not! We will be the ones holding the glory!]_ The Third Prince exclaimed.

 _[We?]_ The Second Prince's snort caught him by his tongue, showing his reluctance to cooperate with him. His face showed more caution than before. Previously, the Second Prince's weapons gave him the window to strike the Demon. Yet now he was questioning their joining of hands. If anything, he was unwilling to share victory with the likes of them. Even being of the same mother, their ambition outweighed their family ties. This was a battle for the throne of Shangri-la and the title of Son of the Mountain, one who should succeed the Lord of the Mountain. There was no greater power on the earth in this era.

But…..

 _[I guess we will. Although, we will have to play this one cautiously. This incident must not fall onto Holy Father's lap, especially now during his cultivation cycle. Are we in agreement?]_ Unanimously, they agreed.

With a wave of his hand, the Shangri-lan Army converged albeit reluctantly to act as cannon fodder. Commanders scattered throughout the ranks kept them in line and order to comply with their directives.

 _(CRUNCH)_ Their attention went back to the Demon who crushed the lodged sword in his mouth by biting down into it. Actually devouring the precious enchanted metal.

 _[You can keep it. I am not a petty Prince like Little Fourth, here!]_ With a swish of his hand, a new more elegantly master-crafted sword appeared from a spatial rift and into the Third Prince's hands.

As the Armies converged upon the Demon who swung its fists sending a powerful vacuum that crushed all within the vicinity of its strike, the Princes of Shangri-la moved in carefully to deliver effective blows onto the Demon to gradually weaken and subdue their prize.

While they had agreed to cooperate with one another, no one had agreed on who would take the killing blow. Each Prince carefully weighted their strengths and weaknesses along with their options, hoping the others would do most of the work on their behalf.

An unnoticeable smile underlined his lips as he thought of the humiliating things happening unto his brothers, or even better. Their utter demise at the hands of the second coming of the Demon God.

And who liberated Shangri-la from this terror, no one but himself. He would be the most patient amongst the Princes as he always had.

This might be a bounty in disguise after all.

* * *

Pestilence –

The US embassy in Islamabad was subject to the largest congestion it had had in years. The attacks by mobs and the terrorists were taking their rage upon citizens and soldiers stationed here in Pakistan. Civilians demanding asylum and a means to return to the States. But most recent, were the remaining soldiers of units detailed to certain military bases in the country. The news they brought was far graver.

An audacious aggressor had crossed the Hindustani mountains of the Himalayas just to boldly come here and destroy them. They were by no means a small force, no rag-tag group relying on unconventional tactics to fight like the insurgents and terrorist cells. These were conventional armies make in the image of their own. Possessing paratrooper regiments, armoured fighting vehicles, modern infantry implementations in communication and weaponry. But most concerning of all, airpower.

Early-warning systems failed to report the arrival of bombers and fighters that bombarded the runways and hangars not because they couldn't see, but rather because they had been silenced.

The latest arrival to the embassy was a wanted fugitive codenamed "Snow White" by Central Intelligence. Pleading rights to asylum and protective custody for his companions in exchange for information regarding the Himavanan Forces both in Pakistan and back in their mountain home. He had company, the security forces quickly dispatched these operatives. As convenient as it was for him to indulge them of the operatives identifies as agents from a network known only as V4. They had no time to play games with him, extracting information was faster to save their own people than four to five of his friends lost in the mountains. The needs of the many (them) outweighed the needs of the few (Jason Brody and his friends).

He was taken to a quiet room to be interrogated, no restrictions were given to the methods, it was complete jurisdiction given to the interrogator, much to his glee. Even from the outside, they could hear the screaming. But after an hour, the screaming suddenly stopped and then intensified. That was more than one person screaming. Armed security forces went to investigate the sealed room. Upon opening the heavy locked door, fumes rushed out carrying a heavy odour of rot. Out flashed figures, foaming from their mouths rabidly attempting to bite their fellow man. The interrogator and his assistants' feral actions indicated rabies infection.

Few had been bitten and that was all it took, less than ten seconds later, these victims joined the ranks of those overcome with the unknown rabies-inducing virus. Soon, ten spread out and infected forty, forty became a hundred, a hundred became three hundred and the numbers continued to grow till by the time the authorities had been alerted, it became too late to contain.

The soldiers that mustered, the civilians seeking asylum. Feral instincts had no discrimination towards its next victims. And so, these unfortunate victims became members of the new horde growing in numbers.

The carrier of this "virus" was suspected of being "Snow White" himself, while their armed forces still had the convenience of manpower to find him before failing to access the situation of the outbreak. Was no where to be found, only sightings and glimpses of him appearing around had been caught. He moved too fast through the labyrinth of walkways and open-air spots as if this was his playground. Only spreading whatever plague, he brought with him further until it became too late to suppress.

Apart from their rabid behaviours, the "infected" were easy to discern. Skin started to flay as if from leprosy, bloodshot eyes, and the unending drooping from their lapsed and spasming jaw muscles. This outbreak became worse than an ordinary Wild dog bite.

War –

The soldiers on both sides were in the state of pandemonium. As a human figure struck and turned over a 60-ton tank, tearing the turret of another before tearing the crew to ribbons. With a swing of his broken blade, a vacuum was sent to cut down his enemies. It didn't matter if you had survived with just a mere graze or a nick, that was all the broken Astra required to slowly corrode your body into ashes.

The air was filled with frantic shouts and screams, the monster who possessed Kshatriyan Lord Vasu Khati no longer hunted the Marine infantry. It went for the Army tank and Stryker battalions that lay heavy ordnance at him to no effect as an emerald aura enveloped him, causing rounds as powerful as 120mm Depleted uranium penetrator sabot to ricochet and shatter off the unearthly green veil. The Himavanan Armoured Regiment was left in a daze, some swore they saw an illusion or mirage of a Rhino engulf his figure. When it charged at an opponent, there was nothing that could stop him.

Unyielding, insatiable, never-ending was the lust for battle and warfare.

And then that lust seeped into their minds, clouding their thoughts, corroding their mental strength with thoughts of mindless destruction and slaughter. The men abandoned their vehicles, drew their bayonets rushed to the closest enemy to flay his skin over their faces. The aura infected the demented soldiers and gave them strength inferior to only the Conqueror.

Famine –

He should have been a vegetable, Narmada was clear on this after striking his spinal cord with precision. Her Vanguard finished off the rest effortlessly. All that was left, was to clear this valley of human presence for the final stage. A mere landslide to stop them? If they were human mortals that would have been a total victory for the human commander. But they were not.

And now, here he was. Standing amidst the very first casualties to be sustained on her end, death of warriors she'd fought in a forgotten era besides. One Rakshasa warrior was another piece they will go without, this was no longer a game she could afford to play. She was forced to cover for her troops' retreat alone, why? Because this ravenous beast had attacked her vanguard with his barehands, he received more than his fair share of stab wounds from the vanguard lances. Yet, like a deadly marionette hanging on to whatever flesh that still hung onto his bone struck with terrible consequence to those that were not in the position to block his insanely ferocious assault. It was a speed that Narmada was confident in handling, but with the limited window, all they could do was withdraw.

It was all she could do, as the beast showed another one of its deadlier traits in combat. Wounds, fatal and grievous in nature boiled and vanished at an insane rate of regeneration. The arm a warrior had severed off him, he reattached it to the joint and his arm moved as if there was never a loss of it. Their weapons had the coating of venom and neural-toxin, enough to kill a human many times over, the beast showed complete immunity to that as well. The beast had no limit to his stamina and relentlessness.

But as time went by in their stalemate, she noticed the earth around her begin to decay, the soil hardened, the remaining crops withered, the waters turned polluted. She understood now, where the source of the beast's unnatural power came from. Drawing life force from the very place her mastery of magic fell under. The earth had its life taken from it, worsening the field against her.

Death –

The grim reaper laughed over the fools that dared confront him, to dare say that in face of him, they feared no death. An unnatural smog surrounded the rubble of the second CIA installation where the Jatayu Paras fought against the CIA operatives protecting the numerous server banks. At first, nothing seemed wrong apart from the inconvenience of being unable to see directly in front of you. Men were isolated from one another amongst the rubble from both sides.

Then came the shoutings of an unsound mind, screaming, crying, laughing, the lunacy of joyfully playing. The operatives were overcome with emotions of all variety except the ones that mattered the most, solemnity and temperance. The Himavanan soldiers too were caught in this smog that caused hallucinations and madness but seemed unaffected. Trying their best to consolidate their ranks lost in the sudden freak of nature event. All around them, victims of the smog began to crackdown, killing their comrades in a fit of rage, tearing their flesh because it burned from the inside, cut out their eyes because they were seeing nothing but illusion.

The Jatayu were witnesses to hearing the terrifying sounds of men's ego being eviscerated, but none as terrifying as the silhouette of a giant serpent slithering through the unnatural purple smog. They could hear as men were being devoured, cries of salvations, final prayers for God's deliverance. A snake? A serpent? Or a Dragon?

Before closing in, the Dragon's cunning robbed its host's enemies of the very weapon that gave them their potency and undeniable edge in combat, turning it against themselves.

Their minds. Proving to all, that it was all but uncertain. No one would cheat Death.

* * *

They already had their hands full with reorganizing the newly formed Federal Army to the defense of the four states of the reunited Sacred Himavanas. The United States had done what had been expected in response to the public rising of hostilities, albeit a little late. The enacting of an arms embargo.

As they warned, Russia reluctantly dropped all weapons supplying as did numerous countries whom Arjun and Ajay had established arms contracts with for first and second-hand weaponry. Although, not all hope was lost. The resilient Jewish state continued their sympathizing under the radar to continue the titanium supply they needed. In the same respect, India no longer respected the United States enough to keep to the sanctions, silently supplying arms in the same measure as they had before. Badala had done them a favour worthy to repay in Karma's worth.

In the western media, the Demon of Kyrat had already been revealed to the public for the first time as a cunning and cruel dictator. Hiding behind the theatrics of a mask and twisting morals for the sake of ambition. Meanwhile, in the rest of the world that wasn't pro-American, he made an incredible feat of building a resilient power in the Hindustani Mountains. Opposing neighbouring superpowers with incredible versatility. No formation of a country/nation went without bloodshed, the Himavanas were no exception. This was the nature of Humanity and its limitations that they can only hope to one day surpass.

The Command and Control of Himavana Federations' Army High Command were in chaos. They had lost communication to the units in Pakistan, neither could they reach Kumsa where the 4th Autonomous were engaged, the shadow force accompanied by Jason Brody had also gone quiet.

Command and Control of Operation Hai Ba, deep within the Command Module of Lanka were in chaos. At first, there was a struggle to contact certain individuals of the conflict, mainly Kshatriyan Lord Khati and Captain Hamal since they were marshalling the units within the operation. Particularly when things were getting awry with the resistance the United States Military Forces garrisoned in Pakistan were putting. All contact was lost with Jason Brody as well, within the opinion of many field commanders' expectations.

But now, they were receiving nothing but reports from auxiliary communications specialists about strange occurrences revolving around their overseers going "berserk" or "possessions". Mainly, Lord Khati, Captain Hamal, Major Kadayat. If anything, they had in common, it was their interaction with the Demon of Kyrat. No words could clarify the meaning behind that summary, only an order to video tape whatever occurred for later analysis.

A calmness stalked the Marshal of the Himavanas as he sat in a glassed-off waiting room with his wife and the newly-elected Chief of the Himavana Yinkian district forces, Dema. With the power of technology at their side, Arjun and Dema did not have to be in the same room as the radio operators and comms specialists to know the most current situation and be affected by their moods.

Dema was here because his forces were involved in Operation Hai Ba, his presence in their command facility was to mediate for his groups in the event that the overall commander chose to cut losses. He had been anxious inside, but the Lady of the Roka household was here, and he dare not show disrespect in front of her. Arjun controlled the military, but Manisha Roka was so heavily networked with society that with a wave of her hand, relief supplies could be sent to places in desperate need of aid…. Or not. Instead, his worry was translated into shaky hands as he held up the teacup to drink.

"No contact still?" Arjun asked Layak his secretary who shook his head. He had tried other means of getting in touch with the parties they had lost contact with via auxiliary units. But the endeavour proved for naught.

"Marshal, what is happening?..." Dema was the one who showed the most concerned expression wise, but Arjun was no different deep down.

"What can you provide us, Layak?" Arjun was no alright with even the smallest of rumours.

"We believe it's a phenomenon like in Point 2153." Hearing this suspicion made him all cramp up inside. That was electrical interference caused by the highly magnetized iron ore in the area and to a large extent, an artificial climate created by their fearsome enemy.

"Rakshasa?"

"No one can say for sure. Although it seems unlikely, Lord Badala told me once they were only roaming the Himavanas. They had no reason to venture all the way out into the flatlands, especially Pakistan or India for that matter."

That was just an opinion, yet Badala had no reason to lie. Arjun felt that Layak knew more than he let on.

"What do you think, son?" Layak was surprised for a moment that Arjun wanted to hear his opinion without dissing him.

"I think….." Layak seemed like he wanted to say but in the presence of Lady Roka and Chief Dema….

"I will allow it for once, you're free to speak, they are also free to listen." With a word, the confidential restriction was lifted. Layak had no worry about anyone else hearing because of the glassed-up rooms two-layer vacuum sandwich in the walls, preventing sound from escaping.

"I think it's them."

"Them?"

"The Kshatriyan Lords, Sir."

"Why would they be emitting the same kind of phenomenon?" Dema was baffled and so was Madam Roka.

Layak bit his lip as he remembered what Noore had made them promise not to say when Ajay was in a comatose state. But in a time like this, there were eight thousand soldiers on the other side of these mountains.

"Because they possess the same power that Badala has."

"Power?" Again, only Dema and Manisha were not too clear on the subject.

But Arjun had a faith idea of what he was referring too, as he looked to the floor with wide eyes reflecting on what he knew. There was that incident with the "Garuda" flying monster in the Papir Capital City of Bhagawan ka Nivas. The monster that an entire helicopter battalion and gunships failed to destroy, let alone suppress. And who was it on the ground facing that nightmare alone? Kyrats own Demon living up to his name. There was always something strange about him, it wasn't just grit or mastery of combat prowess.

"There is no conclusive evidence, but over the course of the recent civil war there have been reports of radio interference where Lord Badala operated and difficulty reaching him and soldiers in his proximity. It is highly possible this phenomenon also Lord Badala's doing, at least unintentionally."

There was something….. magical. He had passed out before seeing all of it. But not only that, Badala told him himself. This theoretical phenomenon Layak spoke of seemed to support his assumptions about what was currently happening.

"So you knew as well." Layak retreated a step back after Arjun mentioned his failure to inform him this sooner. Ashamed he had to keep it from his superior.

"He was probably told not to say." To his surprise, House Roka's matriarch came to his defence against her husband. "And what did you mean you knew as well?"

Now it was Arjun's turn to fall into awkwardness. "Uh-… No, Badala told me a week ago."

"There, so you can't really fault him for keeping it a secret then if you were doing the same with me." Manisha had a smile on her face, but thirty years of marriage told him it was anything but a smile.

"I want to hear everything. Layak, you will validate whether what my husband says is true or false. Can I count on you for that?" To help her instead of his boss, what sort of situation had they gotten themselves into? Arjun on the other hand, was not allowed to refuse.

And so, Arjun poured out the story told to him by Badala, who unbeknownst to him was Ajay Ghale. Manisha listened and showed no reaction, exhibiting how elegant she was in the face of such troubling news and information, like a Dowager.

Dema just listened and was reluctantly dragged into a world where magic and lore were living by their side in obscurity all this while. Manisha quietly sipped her tea with a mellow expression, proving to be the calmest amongst all of them.

"Thank you, husband." When Arjun had finally given everything she'd asked for, she finally smiled at him genuinely.

"In recognition of your sincerity, I will indulge you something I had learnt in regards to the information I have gathered. You claim Badala has a fragment of the Demon God Yalung's power. And that Yalung is the Demon God formed from Kalinag's vengeance, are you saying that Badala is a descendant of Kalinag?"

"I should think….."

"Then here's my point. How would there be descendants if he was betrayed by his liege and his family robbed from him, furthermore being locked away under the mountain? The opportunity for further offspring no longer exists and his existing ones if any would have formed entirely different bloodlines since they were not conceived after his return from his adventure."

"Ah-." Arjun had never really dabbled nor pondered on that gap in the story, even though he was sure Badala told no lies as he never had.

"It would either be A, he was lying or B, there is a gap that even he doesn't know."

"What use is this information?" Manisha sighed as her husband was only interested in the summary and not the details which could prove fatal.

"If Badala is a descendant, then theoretically there could be more than one?"

"…. Are you-…. Are you suggesting that not just Badala, but some of the Kshatriyan Lords are also descendants?" Dema had inquired in place of Arjun, too stunned after reaching revelation to answer. Even Layak did not consider this.

"Perhaps it is by fate that they were brought together, but it need not be just whoever interacted with Badala the most, our enemies…. Mohan might even possess some himself." This was just pure assumption, but the reality of it if true could prove worst than they anticipated.

"What do we do?..."

"You are the Marshal of the Army, you tell us." Manisha couldn't believe how weak he was after being pushed into a corner mentally.

"Sir, if I may." Layak was the one to open his mouth this time, with a nod from Arjun he continued.

"This calls for an emergency protocol, if Golden Path does possess individuals of this nature that theoretically puts them at strategic asset value of Lord Badala himself, we need to start developing tactics and weapons to deal with them."

"I agree, draw out a framework immediately, son. And I will endorse it as soon as possible."

"Also…." Layak didn't seem to be finished.

"In the event that something may… happen to Lord Badala….."

"Happen?"

"Turn on us." Layak's words carried a heavy scent of trouble that weighed on Arjun's easily doubtful heart. Of the notion that Badala would-

"Watch what you sprout, Major." A word of caution passed over him to tell him not to cross his bounds that Arjun had haplessly loosened.

"Wife-."

"(Sigh) I am done helping you apes with even the simplest of cognitive thoughts." She just waved her hand to blow it all off, taking her steps off the front stage.

(pop) Then, the tablet PC received a notification from the communications hub.

Arjun quickly brushed through the lock and inspected the report.

"Jatayu Paras Battalion 2 and 3 have re-established contact via local hardline. Hah! This is good!" The mood of the three improved considerably, as it was the first step to recovering their lost comms.

"What will you do now, sir?"

"Find the overseers, Lord Khati and Captain Hamal. Apparently, Sun Kwan's boy is the one we found and isn't under any of the rumoured effects. So he isn't one of those fellows, they are inquiring about the sudden loss of communications. It appears they probably don't know what became of the other units."

"Are they close enough to the 8th?" Dema sought the news from his Armour Regiment.

"No. The only one they seem close to is… hmmm…"

"What?"

"Layak." Arjun called him, and he stood ready.

"Sir?"

"Pass the order to them through a secure one-way channel on our end, have them look into Objective Trojan-Beta, re-establishing comms with the rest of the units will be their secondary mission. However, the Primary objective remains the same as well as the pickup point."

"Aye, sir." Layak went about his duty to dispatch the order right from the top.

Arjun and Dema continued to discuss the fate and contingency to be applied for the Armour Regiment in their retrieval. Those T-80 and T-72 main battle tanks especially weren't exactly airborne transport friendly, and they had initially arrived by railway. Although, they sounded more positive than before and believed it was possible to return all of them in one piece.

Manisha was left to herself once more, as her part in assisting her husband in keeping Dema at bay from bombarding him with the Armour units' welfare was completed. In truth, Manisha had found out something else from her findings between Arjun and Layak.

Badala was raised by Ishwari, she knew of this because he had said so before. When did Ishwari pick him up? Before she fled to the United States? That didn't seem right. And what she went through wouldn't have called for her thinking of helping anyone else other than herself and her boy. Badala was a decendant of Kalinag who in turn was Yalung. What were the chances of a Kalinag bloodline member already being in the States beforehand? There were no Kyratis in the states in those days because they had only dwelled within the mountains and only as far as India during the last days of the Devi Dynasty.

Badala called Ishwari his mother, in the event that he was truly related to Ishwari- no. It should not be possible. King Min and her conceived Lakshmana during the spring to summer period, that was two years after her boy was conceived. And Ishwari had been heavily involved with herself away from her husband for that time. She stayed in Manisha's maternal household the entire period so if she wasn't around, then her Roka family members would have kept a close eye on her.

So Ishwari had no further children, Lakshmana was killed, and Ajay has been missing for a year. There had been many speculations on her end, she had spread out as wide a net as Arjun had searching for the boy to no apparent luck. The biggest assumption was custody of the King, knowing his relation to Ishwari.

But even for him, there was a limit to how long someone can be kept safely away from the public eye. Even among trusted servants who aided in limiting his movement outside of the safehouse, rumours will be passed around, reaching the farthest places imaginable. That included Golden Path.

There was a rebellion that occurred quite recently as well, if anyone knew what King Min was hiding around his place, it would have been the Canton Families. Seeking to capture him to extort the King, knowing his favouritism for the son he never had. But that did not apparently happen, instead the Cantons ordered the rebel soldiers to kill the king, meaning either they couldn't find him and didn't know where he was, or he was never hidden to begin with.

But hiding in plain sight.

And among the people she knew, who was the one person who would appear to be so public yet obscure. Someone whose past was as unreadable as his intent for the future. There was only one person that fell into this category, she didn't even need second thought about it.

Her heart palpitated, but her face once again was made of porcelain to deceive the men. Because piecing together all the things that went on since the day they heard that Ajay Ghale was returning to Kyrat were more explosive than anything she had ever known. The things he'd done, the changes he'd made, and what were the things and thoughts that were the driving factor for all of this? To think that even her daughter had hidden this from her and Arjun spoke much about how deep she was involved in these developments. Arjun had never been playing the front stage, he was merely a front, a showman for the public to keep their eyes on.

The real auditor and creator of the image "Badala", who had been rebuilding and reuniting the Himavanas, was none other than the Prodigal Son they had been looking desperately for.

Ajay Ghale.

She had realized who had been playing the entire crowd into thinking a fictional individual was responsible for the earthshaking movements. But that wasn't the only detail to arise from her findings. Something else far worse had been made plausible through these assumptions that Ajay was Badala.

And that was who among his parents was his progenitor to Kalinag's bloodline.

* * *

Their orders were to investigate on Brody and the Four Virtues agents first. Then a certain group got in their way.

"I remember you…" Han Feng exclaimed as he recognized two of the hundred individuals that had turned themselves in. A minor discomfort had caused his heart to swell, but not to the point that it required medical attention. As for those men and women. Surrender, as in put their weapons down and their hands up.

"You're Force Recon."

"Were." David corrected him with past tense.

Han Feng cast his eyes upon the jarheads that surrendered before the two battalions of Jatayu left in his command to raid all of the remaining bases. Leopard and Bear battalions had cleared up resistance in three bases, applied scorched earth upon whatever loitering cargo planes of Lupus Caelum and the 38th Mountaineers couldn't salvage.

"Is this some kind of joke?" They were the aggressors of this fight, they weren't expecting the Marines of all people to surrender.

"Badala was right." David started off.

"Of course, he was. But you're welcome to continue struggling. But instead-…. Heh! Did you marines suddenly forget the meaning of your own creed?" Han Feng was one of the overseers of the battle group, but Lieutenant Colonel Sandesh was the commander of the two battalions. Han Feng noted how Ajay had always told them of Sandesh's loyalty to King, Queen and country that was unmatched. So to see others' loyalty falter was distasteful in his eyes.

David just shook his head.

"He knew how we'd act. Our first strike policy, our confidence in our capabilities and mistake in underestimating you lot." David said it in a solemn way.

"Damn right, he did!" Sandesh said almost shouting as he kicked David alone to the floor and pressed a gun to his head.

"Colonel!" But Han Feng's call was no use, it was in Sandesh's eyes.

"We don't have to keep them alive, you remember Lord Badala's words better than anyone. Spare no one-."

"-But those of value!" Han Feng retorted as he completed his orders.

"Huh! You mean war booty?" Sandesh leered at him with a smirk on his face.

"I'm sorry, did you just presume to know what Lord Badala thought?" Han Feng said with a threatening glare that caught even Sandesh off his guard, not expecting the younger man to actually maintain his footing as was given in his premium status.

Han Feng took extra steps by walking up to Sandesh to confront him, causing the latter to step off David and walk back.

"Don't overstep your boundaries, Colonel." His cold tone put Sandesh in a dilemma and his troops in question, who was the real boss.

"Damn, he sounds like him." Perkins got off whispering whilst helping David to his feet.

Han Feng turned back to the former marine captain after displaying a show of authority that he was the one in command. How ironic the situation was in Kyrat, they, David and Gregor thought. A month ago, Han Feng's relatives tried to overthrow the monarch. Now, the Kyratis had seemed to let their past enmity be water under the bridge. They had a common enemy now.

"What are you proposing, Captain?" David was thankful they still had force commanders willing to be diplomatic at this stage of the wars.

"At this rate, Badala's policies will put the Himavanas at odds with the world."

"And?"

"But you know better than any of these fellas, no offence.." David didn't wait for the Jatayu around them to respond or Sandesh at this point.

"The Federation of the Himavanas can't fight on two fronts. Especially the one at home." David had heard of the Rakshasa, he had even seen a glimpse from the video feed. They were monsters unlike anything he'd ever seen. So even the Himavanas had a limit.

"….."

"But at the same time, our country cannot be allowed to defeat the Federation. Or else-….."

"The monsters of the mountains will develop a taste for the foreign delicacy." Answered Han Feng smirking in a ravenous way as he understood David's grounds.

"That's how they see us?" Perkins asked on the side as an unwanted distraction.

"You have quite the audacity, Captain." Han Feng said with a smile. "To propose using our Himavanas as a buffer against an impending threat like that. Well, of course you'd be afraid. At what sort of power can turn all of your nuclear arsenals against you with a mere thought."

Han Feng had been open about it, while Perkins and David had been tight-lipped to a certain extent. But hearing that some other faction was responsible for the Nuclear Carrier Disaster caused the remaining marines to feel sweat trickle down their spines. They had cast their lot with David and Perkins in a call beyond duty, so both of them indulged their comrades of the true happenings of the Himavanas and what really went on behind the mountains.

"You'd better be offering something worthy of keeping your homeland safe from those monsters in the attic, Captain. But the way I see it, there isn't a lot a "former-captain" can contribute." He said in an almost ridiculing tone, it was clear Han Feng nor the Jatayu believed he had anything of value.

"All of us."

Han Feng cast his eyes disdainfully over the assembled marines that somehow trusted this discharged Captain enough to follow him here.

"Two hundred is a good number, but I'm afraid you aren't worth the weight." He said frankly.

"You misheard me, Sir." But David corrected him.

"I'm not dedicating the services of two hundred marines willing to be disavowed. I'm dedicating all operational forces in Pakistan to the service of Bada-…"

"Ahahahahaha!- Ahhahahahahaha…." Han Feng and Sandesh laughed like they hadn't before. Some of the Jatayu who heard also joined in and spread what nonsense the respected Captain sprouted.

"And why should we believe that a modest Former-Marine Captain is capable of turning ten thousand soldiers, operatives and civilians against their country?"

"… Because…" David wore the grimmest expression possible as he leaned over to share to Han Feng through a whisper of what he intended to do to achieve their ends.

A flash of shock and then of anger overcame Han Feng as he grabbed his shirt and tightened his fist that loomed beside his face. But now delivering the punch, his fist hovered for a moment and then receded.

"You're a monster, Captain David Goh!"

"It's for you to decide."

"I want no part of this! I'm a killer, not a fucking lunatic!" Han Feng glared over at the Marines in his company.

"And you! All of you, agree with this?!... Diu Nei! Kill them all!" His word was all they needed to raise their weapons.

"You can't win against the Rakshasa yourselves!" Argued David.

"… Then we'll die trying." Han Feng said as he raised his own rifle. The Jatayu had not heard what was spoken between them, but it spooked their leader so much that it wasn't worth knowing. Han Feng who understood what David was getting at would rather fight to the death than do what he suggested.

*(Static) -elp! (Static) -URRGhhhh! (Static)* The radioman's comms were filled with erratic sounds and static causing their momentary conversation to be distracted. Standard Frequency Comms had long stopped functioning properly even when there was no magnetic interference like in a certain region of Kyrat. Yet this Marine's radio worked just fine, perhaps it broadcasted from a more advance mode of communication, like satellite laser communication.

"You! Which channel is that?" Han Feng asked the signaler Marine. Who kept mum, forcing Han Feng to get Sandesh to tell his men to lower their weapons for the time being.

David checked with the Marine first. "That's the US Embassy. Sounds like somethings chewing up the place."

"Brody…."

"…. So he's on your side now, eh?" David said with a wry smile seeing how much they'd changed in their absence. Another known Category L was supporting Badala now.

Han Feng's looked held greater hostility. He was more than clear about Jason Brody's profile and mission. He was only supposed to nab the Head of Mission, and it was supposed to be done in stealth. Snatching the radio set from the marine he listened in on the commotions, only to hear hordes of moans, drooling and animal noises along with screams. Whatever was happening, didn't go according to plan.

"He's not on our side." He said throwing back the radio set and approached Sandesh. "Colonel, I'll take a Company with me to check if that's ok with you." Han Feng said to David before turning to Sandesh to requisition a strike force. They still had places to be, but Han Feng couldn't miss this chance to check while they were nearby.

"I'll leave you with two, what do I tell Command?" Sandesh motioned two Company commanders to accompany him.

Han Feng's expression was grim and foul. "Tell them… Jason Brody will no longer be a liability." He explained after pulling off a slugger anti-material rifle from the jeeps seat rack and the appropriate number of .700 Nitro slugs. Knowing Jason, there was always surprises with that damn blight. Why did Ajay bother to keep him around? It can't be because of that chick he had a relation with once. To think that he found common ground with Jeevan in regard to "Snow White", Jason Brody was too much of a wild horse to be kept around.

And… there was something bugging him to go there. It was just a mere thought, but just thinking about it made the mark on his hand burn. A gut feeling was telling him something had happened in the North where Jason was, the Southwest where Jeevan was, and the East where Arjun fought. He had to go.

"Let me follow." David was barricaded by two of the closest soldiers before he came forth.

"Why?"

"That's the US embassy, and well-…we're American. I'll prove to you I can do what I promised." In truth, it would allow them to assess the situation before entering the compounds or vicinity thereby saving lives.

Han Feng was still not convinced about David's nonsensical plan to convert the entire infrastructure of the overseas military forces of the United States in Pakistan over to them. But the pros of having him investigate what became of Brody was important. If Jason leaked intel to the US, there was going to be setbacks in the near future. Jeevan believed one of them should have been supervising Jason instead of the Four Virtue agents, but Ajay gave his order.

"You're far from convincing me, Captain. But we'll see where this takes us." He handed back Perkins his confiscated M4 carbine, as the Jatayu companies did the same to David's odd bunch.

Han Feng still did not believe what came out of Captain David Goh's mouth that time. Especially someone so driven to the core of protecting his country. Perhaps his zeal was what inevitably led them here, had David concoct that absurd plan.

But David was right about one thing, Ajay was creating too many ripples in the status quo. It was upsetting the balance, imperfect but still bearing notions of peace. Will the world ever settle down after what he intends to do? Han Feng couldn't say. David actually wasn't asking much of them other than believe and trust, and if his plan went through, no one was going to thank him. The United States would only remember them in time to come…..

As the Iscariots of Peshawar.

* * *

It became obvious to the Demon, that they were all holding back their true strengths. They were simply poised to wear him down for any particular one of them to deliver the final blow, so they were careful about how much strength was used and the damaged that had been done.

This point was not just noticed by the one on the receiving end, but the soldiers of Shangri-la as well. For they knew better than anyone, the strife that went on between the Royal Bloodlines in the hopes of securing the throne to King of the Yaksha and all the other perks of being the overlord of Shangri-la. For like the current King, the path to godhood was within reach with the sacred treasure that was the Himavanas.

If they were holding back, then so should it. Instead of acting further like a berserker, the Demon lowered his guard, showed a weakened self to those seeking its life. With lowered resistance, the Princes thought this was the extent of his strength. Its anger was there, no doubt. The Second Prince had not been wrong when he claimed the demon ran on just animalistic instincts. But how does a Tiger, a Lion, a Crocodile catch its prey, the Gazelle, faster and more agile than itself? Through the element of surprise and making prey underestimate their capabilities to allow them to lower their guards. And when the time was right…..

 _[Already done for? Is this all the Demon Banishers risked their all to put down?]_

He said so boldly yet was huffing. It was an assurance there was no threat to life that dictated this, the Natural Law was looming close by in the event they were endangered. The Third Prince, wielding a more lavished over-sized sword swung at the Demon's limbs that blocked with consequence of deep gashes that recovered instantly but weakened its metabolism from observation. The demon swung its talon sharp nails at the Prince in a weird martial art style that had no predictable pattern that they could make sense of. But the floating Vajras of the older Second Prince covered the openings for his younger brother.

Although, they moved a lot slower, as if running out of juice or following their user's stamina. This was where the Fifth prince fit into the bill with a sword and buckler combination, providing openings for the heavy hitter to do the denting. And where did the Third Prince, Andhakan fit in? Borrowing a treasure off one of the Generals, a single-razor tail whip sword. Striking down at the Demon with his illusionary magic to be a force multiplier.

But while his brothers thought of slaying the demon, his mind was still on the sword mace, Kaalapatthagada. Embedded in the ground as it had before. Since the awakening of this Quasi-Demon, it left the mace as its hands were enough to deal with him and then his brothers. Never attempting to retrieve it, Andhakan didn't know why. Perhaps the mace now repelled its existence.

But he still couldn't retrieve it because though the demon now stood in his place, Ajay Ghale was technically still alive. And the mace was still bonded to him through the will of Varish.

" **EERRAAAAHHHHHHH!"** The demon swept its talons like a wounded tiger from the injury sustained by the Third Prince.

 _[Look!]_ As he pointed towards the Demon, they all noticed it. The wound that should have healed no longer did. The Demon's metabolism could not keep up with their pounding.

The moment he noticed and declared it, they were already moving in to take the killing blow. Seeing this, the Third Prince also pursued the Demon that went on a kneel, its blood flowing and corroding the local earth.

 _[Out of the way! I am the one who dealt the most toll to the Demon!]_ The Third Prince shouted in disbelief that they were really going to steal the kill.

 _[A victory wasted on you, Royal Third.]_ The Second Prince sneered. _[Will you truly make a difference with this slaying?]_ He continued to tease as he began to gain the lead from flight and headstart.

 _[If no one can decide, then to whom the blade first touches will be his.]_ The Fifth Prince already set the boundaries as he casted aside his buckler that weighed his speed down.

 _[Heh! How coy of you, Royal Fifth?]_ The Second grinned mercilessly like he would slay his own sibling to get this kill. Yet, only verbal threats were passed, no one lay the first hand on each other and only raced towards the downed Demon.

The adrenaline pumping through their hearts had made them fail to notice the absence of Andhakan, seemed to satisfy themselves with the thought that the Fourth Prince had given up.

At this point, the Shangri-lan Armies were literally sitting down to enjoy another show of Royalty bickering over spoils. There was no longer a need for them to be involved.

From a long distance, another new entry had seemed to arrive on the battlefield. Although it seemed too late. The Princes were too preoccupied to notice who it was and what his thoughts would be in regards to the Demon's actual strength.

The Third Prince seemed the quickest to catch up and overtake, but he was again a victim to the Second Prince's usual acts of trickery and deceit. His Vajras aligned themselves into a wall to block him, gaining extra seconds of advance movement. The Third Prince bellowed in rage, while the Second Prince mirthlessly smiled at his lack of ability to outplay his opponents. He had been preoccupied to much that he almost failed to notice the Fifth Prince taking advantage of their distractions to advance on his own. In speed, they were evenly matched.

(Thang) (Thang) [Hah-…. Hah-….. JAIVANT!] The Third Prince roared out the Second Prince's name as he charged through the air with matchless speed induced through a secret technique he had kept hidden from knowing eyes.

His velocity shocked his trickster of an older brother and younger, he did not wish to use this technique unless challenged. And now they knew he had this trump, but in consolation, he would have the Demon's head to present to their father.

 _[Become my stepping stone!]_ He laughed with madness as he enchanted blade loomed over the Demon like an executioner's guillotine.

He brought it down with the might of his swing and hidden technique to sever the head of its shoulders. Andhakan had reached the sword mace successfully without any of them realizing.

But the Third Prince was too overjoyed while the Second and Fifth were disgruntled and upset as they weren't able to catch up in time. He had won it all.

 _[Hahahaha-GURRGHH?!]_ The downward swing had created a dust cloud from all of the ash created from the Demon's flames. So, no one could see the Third Prince nor the Demon after his sword swung down to behead.

" **(Growl)!"**

 _[No-…..NoNoNONONO- Please!- For the love of-(CLANGG) AAARRRRRRGHHHHHHH!]_ A scream rung out from the dust cloud, that sounded exactly like the one who should have claimed the Demon's head as a trophy.

As the Princes halted their pursuit and awaited the dust to clear, an unnerving silence daunted the surroundings that were felt by everyone _. [Royal Third?]_

The Second Prince called out to inquire about his brother's status, but no response came. Only the familiar wet growls of the beast they were hunting together.

The Shangri-lan Army immediately went to arms, while the Princes were on their guard. Only Andhakan didn't seem to know as he continued to try and lift the sword mace from the ground but proved impossible. He turned back to where the Demon was as it was clear the mace had not lost its master yet.

When the dust settled, an unrecognizable silhouette presented itself as a shadow over the harsh light. It didn't resemble anything they had encountered before. And as the silhouette became clear as the dust no longer obscured their view….

Shangri-la bore witness to the beginnings of the horror that was the Demon God's shadow.

It was the Demon, standing with vitality. Its wounds healed at the initial rate, proving that the entire act of fatigue before was merely a ruse. But their horror was channelled from the grotesque shape that the Demon held out in one hand.

The greatsword belonging to the Third Prince, had just found its owner. As in... the cavalry slaying swords had been used to impale the Third Prince. Or at least, the upper half of his remaining body. A horrified expression filled with agony, frozen for eternity. Raised in the air like some sort of show of triumph over a monster.

It went through their heads too slowly to process by the time the Natural Laws Tribulation Lightning Clouds had arrived in exacting punishment upon he who had slain a Prince of Shangri-la.

The Second and Fifth Prince stared in disbelief at the sudden turn of events. It was simply inconceivable in their eyes, unless…..

The Demon had been holding back all this while, watching. Waiting for a chance to strike while their guard was down. And his reward for that was the one who irritated it, on a kebab.

Then, the Demon created another act in order to send the Yaksha of Shangri-las' hearts into despair.

Reaching its blazing hand out where the Fourth Prince was, the Darkstone Mace trembled then shot into the air through an invisible traction force that pulled it into the Demon's free hand. Giving Andhakan the worse kind of scare he had possibly ever experienced.

At the same time, the tribulation lightning, the same in function as the one in the lowlands but on an entirely different level here. The Tribulation Lightning of Shangri-la struck down with bolts that made the former seem minuscule and insignificant in comparison of potential.

The Demon growled as it raised the Darkstone Mace and made the simplest of motions of swinging it downwards with an ungodly force, causing a massive vacuum to converge on the Tribulation Lightning bolts. The moment the bolts struck the vacuum, they did not detonate nor spread, instead, it was sucked into an ever-growing blackhole that had not been there before. One after another, the bolts entered the blackhole and disappeared from reality.

And then, it reached the source of the Lightning bolts themselves. The Tribulation Lightning cloud swirled like a tornado, fighting the artificial blackhole with every fibre of its form that it could. But it wasn't enough. The black hole absorbed what was left of the Tribulation Cloud and with a-

(BANGGG)

It disappeared from existence as if it was never there to begin with. The will of the mountains had just been suppressed.

And that was when all of Shangri-la knew, this wasn't a fake, nor was it a mere fragment of the original. With a triumphant roar that reintroduced itself, they realized-

" **EEERRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"**

This was THE Demon God.

* * *

Updates 12th July 2018:

Apologies for the long hiatus, was finishing on my exam which turned out very nicely. I have the next chapter in workshop, hanging around. During that mean time i was quite happy doing the God of Cookery, which is less stressful as there is a plot to follow behind, unlike RaK which has deviated significantly off canonic plot for obvious reason of story expansion. I have the support of some lovely people as hindi translators, idea brainiacs and the time now to continue with the epic of Ajay. hang on to your chandis babies!


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